Simon Donner

Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 12:47 UTC

Seems relevant that if Trump wins in November, and remains in office until the end of his term, he will become the oldest president in history, beating President Biden by a few months.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 23:15 UTC

I'm finding everything works better if there are also intervals during the semester. Takes commitment to stick to it though!

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 19:37 UTC

Maybe it is my youth sprint training talking... but I'm a fan of interval training. Stretches of intense and more focused work, followed by periods of lighter schedules. So on top of a good daily routine you need to have weeks or months that are more intense followed by lots intense stretches.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 18:13 UTC

Who is most vulnerable to climate change? The answer might be surprising. One of a few videos I shot while working with folks in the Republic of Kiribati, a low-lying island country in the middle of the Pacific.
www.instagram.com/reel/C9CnU9c...

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 17:19 UTC

We found the 2005 event would be exceedingly rare, a >1000 year event, without the effects of climate change... but that it would become commonplace in 20-30 years unless we shift to a ~2 C or less warming trajectory. Well, it's now almost 20 years.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 17:15 UTC

We analysed the likelihood of the event with and without climate change. Here's a figure from the paper, showing the coral heat stress from late summer 2005 for the study region. At the time, attribution studies were new, so the work took us about a year to complete! www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 17:12 UTC

At left is current surface temperatures (shown as departures from normal). Notice the warm blob in hurricane alley of the tropical Atlantic. This also happened in 2005 (right). It caused a record hurricane season as well as widespread coral bleaching. Now, of course, it looks cute in comparison.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 17:05 UTC

Hurricanes are heat engines powered by warm ocean surface. Beryl's strength is a direct consequence of that extreme warmth in the Atlantic Ocean. It is also giving me night sweats... we did an analysis almost 20 years ago that warned climate change is making this exact type of event more common 🧵

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 14:58 UTC

Yes, that's my point, regardless of Biden's health, the very structure of such a debate doesn't work because the two sides follow different rules and norms. That's why I won't debate climate denialists - it is a bad way to evaluate their arguments, allows rhetoric to trump data, no pun intended.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 14:48 UTC

It's like a boxing match in which one side is following the Olympic rules, and the other is bringing brass knuckles, razor blades, a bat and a chair into the rig, and has tried to intimidate the judge. It is unfair by design, and a ridiculous way to evaluate people or evidence.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 14:46 UTC

Scientists follow a systematic approach to building knowledge, and speak from empirical evidence. Denialists grab whatever argument supports their conclusion, regardless of relevance, accuracy, or whether the arguments are consistent with each other. That's Trump method.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 14:46 UTC

While I can't defend Biden's debate performance, we can't understate the pitfalls of debating someone with no incentive to adhere to facts or decency. Reminds of why legitimate scientists usually won't debate creationists or climate denialists. The denialists play by different rules.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 02, 2024 at 18:35 UTC

Looking for a summer listen? Check out Pacific Voices, to learn some Pacific Islands' perspectives on climate change, how to pronounce Kiribati, just how long local free divers can hold their breath, and more open.spotify.com/show/17Nc11J...

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 18:20 UTC

Oh Canada, you warmed by 2 degrees True human cause, not the sun's command...

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 17:56 UTC

we stand on guard for robust datasets

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 17:54 UTC

(nation-wide instrumental records only go back to 1948; this is based on Canada's rate of warming over that time vs. global rate since 1867 in the Hadley CRUT5, Berkeley Earth, and NOAA global datasets)

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 17:52 UTC

Oh Canada, you have warmed by roughly 2 - 2.5 degrees Celsius since 1867.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 02:17 UTC

Beryl is a very powerful hurricane for late June, way before the height of the season. Already Category 4, with winds up to 130 mph.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 18:24 UTC

Appreciate this sober response to the debate from historian Heather Cox Richardson. Perhaps we should not overreact to appearances, unfortunately I worry that nuance is lost in today's information ecosystem, and appearance is mostly all people notice. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 15:11 UTC

There's a difference between being able to do the job and being able to tell the story. There are a lot of brilliant scientists that are poorly suited to public communication. Unfortunately, the US President has to be able to do both, and that's the problem Biden faced in the debate.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 04:12 UTC

Hello folks disturbed by the debate, you can escape to Canada and work with us on cool science problems (too soon?)

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 03:24 UTC

Appropriate post debate beer

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 03:06 UTC

President Biden has done more than any president in US history to slow climate change and shift the country towards clean energy. The Democrats need someone who can tell that story, and continue the work.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 02:54 UTC

Meant to say "combat the erosion of democracy." Pardon my poor wording, this debate was so disturbing, so divorced from reality, full of Trump's blatant lies, and affected by Biden's age that it is hard to adequately respond. The world needs better.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 02:43 UTC

We're living at a pivotal moment in history. We need to make transformational changes to slow climate change, deal the erosion of democracy, and manage emerging technologies like AI. I don't know what the hell I just watched.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 02:07 UTC

Only one candidate completely ducked the questions about climate change, arguably the greatest challenge of the century.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 02:06 UTC

The world has warmed by over 1 degree C since the candidates were born.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 01:18 UTC

$&#&@% At this rate, RFK is going to win this debate

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 27, 2024 at 23:33 UTC

I know Bronny James being drafted by the Lakers is being criticized, questioned etc., but it is pretty damn cool that LeBron James, a guy that grew up without a father, is now going to play professionally with one of his own kids. There are worse things in the world.

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 24, 2024 at 20:16 UTC

Postdoc opening! 🪸 🌊 🌡️ We're looking for someone with a marine ecology or climate science PhD to work with us at UBC on the causes and effects of marine heatwaves and other climate extremes. It is an interdisciplinary job and setting: simondonner.com/post-doctora...

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 21, 2024 at 18:58 UTC

Postdoc opening! We're looking for someone with a marine ecology or from climate backgrounds to work with us on research related to marine heatwaves and other climate extremes. It's a chance to work in a very interdisciplinary setting: simondonner.com/post-doctora...

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Simon Donner @simondonner.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 21, 2024 at 18:58 UTC

Postdoc opening! We're looking for someone with a marine ecology or from climate backgrounds to work with us on research related to marine heatwaves and other climate extremes. It's a chance to work in a very interdisciplinary setting: simondonner.com/post-doctora...

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