Decades ago, scientists started asking whether humans had changed the planet enough to start a new geologic epoch: the Anthropocene.

Now, a humble lake in Canada may hold proof of that change -- and end up redefining our history of the Earth.
washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro… Crawford Lake is like nowhere else on the planet. Its unique chemistry allows it to capture signs of environmental change in layers of sediment that get deposited year after year on the lake bottom.

It's like a diary of the Earth.

THREAD: The @IPCC_CH report details how global civilization must transform in the next few decades to avoid a dangerous and destructive climate future.

@brady_dennis and I read all 2,913 pages so you don't have to. Here's what you need to know:
washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro… First and foremost: Humanity has all the scientific knowledge and technological tools to achieve safe and sustainable world in which all people have a good quality of life. Tackling climate change will be hard, but it is well within our capacity -- if we choose to do it.

1/Today, leading scientists issued a dire new warning about the future of our warming planet.

I know this news feels like anvil falling on the chest of someone already crushed by the weight of the world. But it needs your attention. Here's why:
washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro… 2/Climate change is already disastrous, destructive and deadly. We don't need the IPCC report to tell us that -- we just need to look out our windows.

This is not a novel or particularly deep observation, and I know I am lucky to even have these choices, but it is so mentally exhausting trying to weigh what I want to do vs. the right thing to do vs. what I can afford vs. everything I don't know about covid-19 risk right now If someone is boosted but will be in close proximity to unvaccinated folks, should they assume they will get covid? If a person can't afford to quarantine away from home, should they cancel their travel plans? Is it unethical to take a rapid test every day if there's a shortage?

My own nice vaccine story: My 83-year-old grandma had her appointment cancelled when a hospital ran out of doses, so she walked to another hospital where she'd heard they were allowing people to put themselves on a waitlist. (1/6)

https://twitter.com/Jacob_Brogan/status/1364995362839285761

They weren't. But while she was talking to hospital staff, another woman in line overheard her and said she'd accidentally gotten two appointments and couldn't figure out how to cancel one. So could she give her spare appointment to my grandma? (2/6)

One of the many wrenching consequences of our completely inadequate science education and tolerance of conspiracy theories.

If every American truly understood how mRNA vaccines worked, perhaps we would not be so easily deluded by these patently false ideas.

https://twitter.com/bylenasun/status/1346267218682802180

My brilliant colleagues @bylenasun @Carolynyjohnson @lauriemcginley2 have written comprehensive answers to all your vaccine questions -- including safety concerns.
washingtonpost.com/health/interac…

A few months ago, when @PostPolls asked Americans about their views on climate change, majorities of people said it made them feel angry, helpless and afraid. (1/n)
washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro… Those emotions are understandable. The scale of our current crisis is devastating.

@chriscmooney and others on the Post's climate team have spent the past year documenting its toll in places where temperatures have already gone up 2 degrees C.
washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/…

I'm not linking to that Jonathan Franzen essay (which is not only poorly argued but completely mischaracterizes the scientific understanding of climate change and its impacts on society), BUT... 1. "Climate Change" is not a bomb that's gonna go off in 2030 if we don't cut emissions. It's an ongoing process (that is already well underway) and every day we don't take action to mitigate it, it gets worse.

But the flip side of that is: everything we DO do makes it better.

56 million years ago, the Earth heated up faster than any time in its history — except the present. Now @NMNH paleontologist Scott Wing is looking at the past to understand what our future might hold

Here are a few lessons from that ancient catastrophe:
washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-… 1. Extinctions.

Global warming made the oceans more acidic and decreased the availability of oxygen in some areas. That triggered mass die offs of tiny, single-celled creatures called foraminifera, which have calcium carbonate shells — a lot like today's corals.