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David Ho

@davidho.bsky.social

110K followers 2.7K following 11K posts

Climate scientist; ocean carbon cycle and climate solutions. Professor, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; Visiting Faculty, Arizona State University. https://linktr.ee/david_ho

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Oct 29

In recognition of us doing fuck all to reduce emissions, let me remind y'all that carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is useless unless we decarbonize drastically.

rdcu.be/dbFbB

Carbon dioxide removal is not a current climate solution — we need to change the narrative

Drastically reduce emissions first, or carbon dioxide removal will be next to useless.

www.nature.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 10h

Nobel Prize given for showing the importance of investing in science for innovation and long-term economic growth. Basically the opposite of what the US is doing. 😭

Nature @nature.com · 14h

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.

go.nature.com/4hj9NNV

Economics Nobel prize won by researchers who showed how science boosts growth

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by David Ho

Reuters @reuters.com · 14h

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers reut.rs/4302N2L

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Monday it will cut nearly 550 jobs as part of a restructuring, not related to the current U.S. government shutdown.

reut.rs

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 11h

Apple TV Max was right there

Apple TV+ Being Rebranded as Apple TV

Buried in its announcement about "F1: The Movie" making its streaming debut on December 12, Apple has also announced that Apple TV+ is being...

www.macrumors.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 11h

Microplastics are released from plastic when exposed to heat, including leaching from tea bags into hot tea and plastic containers releasing nanoplastics when microwaved. While health effects are still unclear, minimizing heating plastic is a simple way to reduce exposure.

Microplastics are everywhere. You can do one simple thing to avoid them.

The biggest sources of microplastics have one thing in common: Heat.

wapo.st

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 19h

Wait, y'all are getting paid? Where do I collect?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 22h

Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it."

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 19h

Ok, since many people are obviously not reading the article, here's a pertinent figure from it showing the top actions to reduce emissions.

A horizontal bar chart titled “19 climate-friendly choices, ranked” shows actions individuals can take to reduce their carbon footprint, ordered from most to least impactful. The x-axis represents projected impact in tons of CO₂ equivalent per capita per year (tCO₂e/cap/yr), ranging from 0 to about 2.5. Each action is color-coded by sector: transportation (blue), energy (orange), and food (green).

Go car-free – highest impact (blue bar extending to about 2.5 tCO₂e).

Fly less (blue, about 1.5).

Shift to renewable home energy (orange, about 1.4).

Switch to EV or hybrid car (blue, about 1.2).

Go vegan (green, about 1.0).

Walk, bike, or take transit more (blue).

Make energy-efficient renovations (orange).

Use clean cooking equipment (orange).

Go vegetarian (green).

Shift driving habits (e.g., carpooling) (blue).

Increase telecommuting (blue).

Shift to regional/seasonal diet (green).

Move to energy-efficient home (orange).

Decrease food waste (green).

Eat less meat (green).

Use less energy at home (orange).

Reduce packaged food, dining out (green).

Use energy-efficient appliances (orange).

Compost – least impact (green, under 0.1).

A note clarifies that these are meta-analytic estimates of greenhouse gas reduction potentials, drawn from 659 estimates across 47 academic journal articles. The average person emits 6.28 tonnes of CO₂e per year, though this varies widely by income and country. Wealthier populations may emit up to 110 tonnes per year, while lower-income populations may emit as little as 1.6 tonnes.

Source: WRI, based on data from Ivanova et al., 2020.

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Reposted by David Ho

Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick @sarahinscience.bsky.social · 1d

For so long, fossil fuel projects have said their contribution to climate change is "negligible".
Turns out that's wrong.
Our research in NPJ Climate Action proves it.
Every tonne of CO2 matters.
@21stcenturyweather.bsky.social
@minderoo.bsky.social
#climatechange
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Quantifying the regional to global climate impacts of individual fossil fuel projects to inform decision-making - npj Climate Action

npj Climate Action - Quantifying the regional to global climate impacts of individual fossil fuel projects to inform decision-making

www.nature.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 22h

“Living car-free is the most impactful behavior by far in terms of reducing emissions.”

WRI Climate @wriclimate.bsky.social · 23h

🚲🥗🚗 Small choices matter, but big change happens when systems support them.

WRI Climate ranked 19 climate-friendly behaviors to show which ones cut the most emissions and why policies & businesses must make them accessible.

See the list 👉 bit.ly/4q0pWvC

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Reposted by David Ho

Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 23h

New Zealand accused of ‘full-blown climate denial’ over cuts to #methane reduction targets

- Farmers praised the move, but scientists and opposition parties criticised it as ‘weak’

- NZ has 5 million cows and 23 million sheep

#climatecrisis
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

New Zealand accused of ‘full-blown climate denial’ over cuts to methane reduction targets

Farmers praised the move, but scientists and opposition parties criticised it as ‘weak’ and ‘unambitious’

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by David Ho

Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 23h

Western Alaska was hit hard by the recent storms. Houses floated away in Kipnuk, houses flipped over, people lost everything from the flooding that came with the storms. Please donate if you can. This group has a long history of supporting AK communities.

alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

Does the plan involve relocating Israel to northern Baja California, given its similar shape and latitude?

AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 1d

🔴 LIVE: US President Donald Trump addresses Knesset

Trump arrives at the Israeli parliament where he is to address lawmakers on his plans for Middle East peace.

➡️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4b4...

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

A reminder.

Humanity has never removed an atmospheric pollutant at a global, continental or, even, regional scale — we have only ever shut down the source and let nature do the clearing up. This is the case for chlorofluorocarbons and stratospheric ozone destruction, for sulfur dioxide and acid rain, and for sulfur and nitrogen oxides and photochemical smog. We must be prepared for CDR to be a failure, leaving us to rely on the environment to stabilize atmospheric CO₂ over thousands of years. This is another argument for rapid decarbonization.

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Reposted by David Ho

Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 1d

There's "no easy throughline to draw from the lab to our everyday lives. Often that line is a culmination of expertise that outweighs the contributions of one or a few scientists; it is an idea here, a breakthrough there + many failed experiments in between, sometimes over the course of decades"...

Nobel Prizes This Year Offer Three Cheers for Slow Science

www.nytimes.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

The natural weather rate I used in the original post was from Gaillardet et al. (1999), and the estimate includes both silicate and carbonate rocks. @blueicedude.bsky.social's number is just for silicate rocks.

Global silicate weathering and CO2 consumption rates deduced from the chemistry of large rivers

The main problem associated with the study of silicate weathering using river dissolved load is that the main control of solute chemistry is lithology…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by David Ho

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 1d

“We’re cold, but not as cold as ICE,” said a sign on one rider’s back.

Portland cyclists strip down in pouring rain to protest ICE facility and Trump troop deployment

“We’re cold, but not as cold as ICE,” said a sign on one rider’s back.

www.oregonlive.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

@blueicedude.bsky.social has thoughts about enhanced rock weathering.

www.linkedin.com/posts/john-h...

As an Earth scientist I find articles like this very 😤. Everyone is like Yay! Enhanced rock weathering is just accelerating something the 🌎 already does! Super easy! Super scalable! 🧑‍🌾 love it! Models suggest it can suck up 4 Gt of CO2/yr if deployed at scale! Amazing! That's a lot of CO2!

Except.......hardly anyone bothers to ask how this compares to what the 🌎 is already doing. Turns out the 🌎 removes CO2 in this way VERY SLOWLY. Like a rate that is 10-20x lower (0.2 to 0.4 Gt CO2/yr) than the modeled number in this article. How does the 🌎 get this rate? By moving ~40,000 km3/yr of H2O (the global river/groundwater runoff) over ~140,000,000 km2 of exposed land (the area of continents). All of the rocks and all the water on the surface of the 🌎 get you 0.2 to 0.4 Gt CO2/yr. And yet we're supposed accelerate this rate by 10-20x through a little grindin' and spreadin' 🪨?!

Proponents of this approach would say they MEASURE rates that are consistent with these sorts of large global extrapolations. While getting into the weeds of ERW MRV is beyond the scope here, I would just say that if I had modeled a global number that was 10-20x the natural global rate I would have just assumed that my model (or my understanding) is missing something in how the natural process actually works (rather than I have invented a way to accelerate nature by 10-20x).

On a related note, all of these discussions of accelerating natural weathering processes seem to conveniently ignore the fact that the ocean crust (66% of our planet's surface area) is made out of the same mafic rocks (e.g. basalt) that they want to spread on fields. Seawater flows through this basalt on the seafloor at a rate of ~5-10,000 km3/yr and you get the same natural process of chemical weathering as ERW is trying to accelerate on land. Earth scientists can't even agree whether its chemical weathering on the seafloor or chemical weathering on land that is more important for Earth's CO2-🌡️ ! e.g. see Coogan…

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

The Trump regime's cuts to early carbon removal projects, like DAC hubs in Louisiana and Texas, cause industry uncertainty. Though the DOE says these projects aren't terminated, the risk of further cuts remains. This highlights the fragility of early projects and inconsistent government support.

Is Trump about to squash America’s carbon-removal moonshot?

Nascent direct-air-capture projects were hit with funding cuts last week. A new list has caused confusion over the fate of DAC hubs in Louisiana and Texas.

www.canarymedia.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

I don’t want to be ratioed, but I would like to follow some chicken-heart who needs the approval of the thought-police.

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4-word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

Need a bigger boat.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 1d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

Archives banned making copies.

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 1d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

New library catalogue website.

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Reposted by David Ho

southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 1d

The deportation order is based on Vedam’s conviction for murder—a crime he did not actually commit and for which he’s now been wholly exonerated. He entered the US at 9 months old and was a legal permanent resident before his conviction. We are so, so, so far from the light of justice.

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 2d

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

Calder 😍

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

I read it and I summarized his answer for you.

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

Tl;dr: no!

I think most of us left for our mental health because who wants to argue with trolls and bots?

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 3d

The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it is still shaping policy. So were we all wrong to leave?

Was the left wrong to leave X for BlueSky?

The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it's still shaping policy

www.newstatesman.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 2d

We can’t solve climate change without behavioral change. Maybe disruptions like this will force us to consider buying less stuff or shopping at Goodwill, which is one of the changes we need to make).

(This is not an endorsement of anything that the Trump regime is doing)

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 2d

About a month ago, the Trump administration got rid of the de minimis exemption, whereby packages valued under $800 could slide in without import duties. Now there's a backlog as the government can't process all of this paperwork, leading to UPS just destroying packages

Business Insider headline reads: UPS is telling customers that their packages coming to the US are marked for destruction.

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