Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
@ericagies.bsky.social
Author of "Water Always Wins," National Geographic, Explorer, TEDx speaker, independent journalist for Scientific American, Nature, NYT, the Atlantic, bioGraphic, and others. Fan of critters, plants, democracy, kindness.
Pinned
Climate science and the case of the missing moisture
Nature Water - Expected air moisture is missing over drier areas worldwide, possibly because climate models undervalue the effects of plants and other life. This finding could be a fingerprint of...
rdcu.be
Do plants affect global climate through water? Some climate scientists say yes, but others say plants' effect is only local or regional. If the plant-power proponents are right, it means, to solve climate, we need more than the energy transition. We also need to restore land to health. My story:
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
Trump's censor in chief at the FCC, Brendan Carr, just sent a letter to the heads of BBC, NPR and PBS informing them he's launching a "news distortion" probe into the BBC's editing of a documentary on Trump's Jan. 6 activities.
Here it is:
Here it is:
November 19, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Trump's censor in chief at the FCC, Brendan Carr, just sent a letter to the heads of BBC, NPR and PBS informing them he's launching a "news distortion" probe into the BBC's editing of a documentary on Trump's Jan. 6 activities.
Here it is:
Here it is:
Snaps from an epic weekend speaking at TEDx Boston Planet Action at MIT's Kresgy Auditorium, where I met so many brilliant people. Special thanks to family members who came to support me and to the incredible organizers and coaches, Alison Sander, Davey Bakhshi, Caty Byerly Rezendes, & John Werner.
November 19, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Snaps from an epic weekend speaking at TEDx Boston Planet Action at MIT's Kresgy Auditorium, where I met so many brilliant people. Special thanks to family members who came to support me and to the incredible organizers and coaches, Alison Sander, Davey Bakhshi, Caty Byerly Rezendes, & John Werner.
I’m speaking TODAY! At 1:30 or thereabouts. I’m so excited to be here with so many brilliant, interesting people. If you’re in Boston, come on down! I don’t think you even need a ticket.
🌍 Join me at #PlanetAction — a festival of the future.
Nov 15–17 | Cambridge, MA
3 days of breakthrough ideas in biodiversity, energy, and planetary intelligence.
🔬Turn insights into action
FREE TICKETS → luma.comideas-in-action
TEDxBoston | MIT Kresge Hall | New England Aquarium
Nov 15–17 | Cambridge, MA
3 days of breakthrough ideas in biodiversity, energy, and planetary intelligence.
🔬Turn insights into action
FREE TICKETS → luma.comideas-in-action
TEDxBoston | MIT Kresge Hall | New England Aquarium
November 15, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I’m speaking TODAY! At 1:30 or thereabouts. I’m so excited to be here with so many brilliant, interesting people. If you’re in Boston, come on down! I don’t think you even need a ticket.
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
i was also struck by how many people receiving SNAP are employees of wal-mart and other big corporations. almost seems like we taxpayers are subsidizing private companies 🤔
November 9, 2025 at 3:14 AM
i was also struck by how many people receiving SNAP are employees of wal-mart and other big corporations. almost seems like we taxpayers are subsidizing private companies 🤔
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
"The future is still being written. Through choices in policy, investment, education, and care for one another and the Earth, we can still create a turning point. It begins by embracing our shared humanity and recognizing the profound interconnectedness of all life on the planet"
The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink
We are hurtling toward climate chaos. The planet's vital signs are flashing red. The consequences of human-driven alterations of the climate are no longer
academic.oup.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:37 AM
"The future is still being written. Through choices in policy, investment, education, and care for one another and the Earth, we can still create a turning point. It begins by embracing our shared humanity and recognizing the profound interconnectedness of all life on the planet"
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
CBS News — fresh off its acquisition by Skydance Media and the installation of anti-woke opinion writer Bari Weiss as editor in chief — fired most of the reporters who specialize in covering climate change.
CBS News just gutted its climate team
Paramount and Bari Weiss aren't off to a great start. Here's why David Ellison should change course.
www.climatecoloredgoggles.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:05 PM
CBS News — fresh off its acquisition by Skydance Media and the installation of anti-woke opinion writer Bari Weiss as editor in chief — fired most of the reporters who specialize in covering climate change.
🌍 Join me at #PlanetAction — a festival of the future.
Nov 15–17 | Cambridge, MA
3 days of breakthrough ideas in biodiversity, energy, and planetary intelligence.
🔬Turn insights into action
FREE TICKETS → luma.comideas-in-action
TEDxBoston | MIT Kresge Hall | New England Aquarium
Nov 15–17 | Cambridge, MA
3 days of breakthrough ideas in biodiversity, energy, and planetary intelligence.
🔬Turn insights into action
FREE TICKETS → luma.comideas-in-action
TEDxBoston | MIT Kresge Hall | New England Aquarium
October 30, 2025 at 9:27 PM
🌍 Join me at #PlanetAction — a festival of the future.
Nov 15–17 | Cambridge, MA
3 days of breakthrough ideas in biodiversity, energy, and planetary intelligence.
🔬Turn insights into action
FREE TICKETS → luma.comideas-in-action
TEDxBoston | MIT Kresge Hall | New England Aquarium
Nov 15–17 | Cambridge, MA
3 days of breakthrough ideas in biodiversity, energy, and planetary intelligence.
🔬Turn insights into action
FREE TICKETS → luma.comideas-in-action
TEDxBoston | MIT Kresge Hall | New England Aquarium
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
"These notes describe orphan wells spewing toxic water near homes or into streams, leaving scars of salt residue. A homeowner reported that his grandchildren often play near a purging well. Ranchers have lost calves, which, drawn to the salty water, died after drinking it."
NEW: Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, keeps shooting out of the ground in Oklahoma.
Experts say it means even more wastewater is spreading underground, poisoning the state’s water supply.
Experts say it means even more wastewater is spreading underground, poisoning the state’s water supply.
Toxic Wastewater From Oil Fields Keeps Pouring Out of the Ground. Oklahoma Regulators Failed to Stop It.
Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drinking water.
www.propublica.org
October 29, 2025 at 4:28 PM
"These notes describe orphan wells spewing toxic water near homes or into streams, leaving scars of salt residue. A homeowner reported that his grandchildren often play near a purging well. Ranchers have lost calves, which, drawn to the salty water, died after drinking it."
😮 indeed!
😮
Talk about an in-flight meal.
For the first time, researchers have captured rats hunting bats by grabbing them from the sky. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Jqldmn
For the first time, researchers have captured rats hunting bats by grabbing them from the sky. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Jqldmn
October 28, 2025 at 12:10 AM
😮 indeed!
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
Seven of nine planetary boundaries now breached – ocean acidification joins the danger zone," says PIK director Johan Rockström presenting the key findings of the Planetary Health Check 2025 today. #PlanetaryBoundaries
➡️ www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...
➡️ www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...
September 24, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Seven of nine planetary boundaries now breached – ocean acidification joins the danger zone," says PIK director Johan Rockström presenting the key findings of the Planetary Health Check 2025 today. #PlanetaryBoundaries
➡️ www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...
➡️ www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
Just published: The new edition of my newsletter for journalists (and anyone else) interested in biodiversity, the ecological crisis and nature-based solutions to climate change. It has news, resources, jobs, great stories, and more. 🌏🧪 thenaturebeat.substack.com/p/nature-bea...
Nature Beat #83
Updates, stories, resources and opportunities
thenaturebeat.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Just published: The new edition of my newsletter for journalists (and anyone else) interested in biodiversity, the ecological crisis and nature-based solutions to climate change. It has news, resources, jobs, great stories, and more. 🌏🧪 thenaturebeat.substack.com/p/nature-bea...
Melanie Winter @whaddaworld.bsky.social was a visionary, and fierce, with a mind like a microfiche of all the city reports that have ever been. RIP, Melanie, I'm so glad I had a chance to know you. @ianjames.bsky.social, what a lovely obit. www.latimes.com/environment/...
Melanie Winter, who fought for embracing nature along the Los Angeles River, dies
Melanie Winter led efforts to embrace nature along the L.A. River, touting the potential for a restored river to heal the city's relationship to water. She was 67.
www.latimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Melanie Winter @whaddaworld.bsky.social was a visionary, and fierce, with a mind like a microfiche of all the city reports that have ever been. RIP, Melanie, I'm so glad I had a chance to know you. @ianjames.bsky.social, what a lovely obit. www.latimes.com/environment/...
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
Retired intelligence analysts confirm what the political scientists are telling us — and what the world outside is telling us — the goal of these people is the end of law, the end of democracy, and the end of a recognizable republic.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
US ‘on a trajectory’ toward authoritarian rule, ex-officials warn
A network of former intelligence and security officers says democratic decline is accelerating under Trump’s rule
www.theguardian.com
October 24, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Retired intelligence analysts confirm what the political scientists are telling us — and what the world outside is telling us — the goal of these people is the end of law, the end of democracy, and the end of a recognizable republic.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
Great piece about efforts to save and plant seagrass meadows. Two key lines:
"Seagrasses account for an estimated 10% of all the carbon stored by the world’s oceans."
"At current rates... a football field’s worth of seagrasses disappears every second."
"Seagrasses account for an estimated 10% of all the carbon stored by the world’s oceans."
"At current rates... a football field’s worth of seagrasses disappears every second."
A 'Secret Weapon' for Fighting Climate Change Comes Surging Back
Capturing carbon 35 times faster than the Amazon, seagrasses have faced centuries of decline. Now restoration projects across North America are seeing their meadows quadruple in size.
reasonstobecheerful.world
October 22, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Great piece about efforts to save and plant seagrass meadows. Two key lines:
"Seagrasses account for an estimated 10% of all the carbon stored by the world’s oceans."
"At current rates... a football field’s worth of seagrasses disappears every second."
"Seagrasses account for an estimated 10% of all the carbon stored by the world’s oceans."
"At current rates... a football field’s worth of seagrasses disappears every second."
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
In early October, 50 African gray parrots were released into the wild by the Lukuru Foundation, after having been rescued from poachers and undergoing rehabilitation for a year at a refuge run by the foundation.
Rescued African gray parrots return to DRC forests
LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo — Fifty African gray parrots have been released back into the wild in the Democratic Republic of Congo following their rescue from the illegal wildlife trade.…
news.mongabay.com
October 22, 2025 at 4:14 PM
In early October, 50 African gray parrots were released into the wild by the Lukuru Foundation, after having been rescued from poachers and undergoing rehabilitation for a year at a refuge run by the foundation.
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
'Another unoccupied house collapsed into the ocean along North Carolina's Outer Banks on Saturday night. It's the 11th house to collapse since mid-September.
In total, 22 homes have collapsed into the ocean in the area since 2020.'
via AccuWeather [X] #ClimateCrisis #SeaLevel
In total, 22 homes have collapsed into the ocean in the area since 2020.'
via AccuWeather [X] #ClimateCrisis #SeaLevel
October 20, 2025 at 11:04 PM
'Another unoccupied house collapsed into the ocean along North Carolina's Outer Banks on Saturday night. It's the 11th house to collapse since mid-September.
In total, 22 homes have collapsed into the ocean in the area since 2020.'
via AccuWeather [X] #ClimateCrisis #SeaLevel
In total, 22 homes have collapsed into the ocean in the area since 2020.'
via AccuWeather [X] #ClimateCrisis #SeaLevel
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
California is protecting environmental expertise by hiring fired federal EPA scientists for key state roles.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
'I have no regrets': Ex-federal officials flock to California
California officials are using the government shutdown to recruit more federal workers.
www.politico.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:34 PM
California is protecting environmental expertise by hiring fired federal EPA scientists for key state roles.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Wind damage
October 21, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Wind damage
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
Three high schoolers founded a book club that reads some of the country's most frequently banned books after a state law removing books with sexual content was signed in 2023. Two years later, many of the books have been reshelved and parts of the law can't be enforced.
When books were being pulled from Iowa classrooms, these teens started an after-school club to read them
Three Iowa City West high schoolers founded a book club that reads some of the country's most frequently banned books after a state law removing books with sexual content was signed in 2023. Two years later, many of the books have been reshelved and parts of the law can't be enforced.
n.pr
October 20, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Three high schoolers founded a book club that reads some of the country's most frequently banned books after a state law removing books with sexual content was signed in 2023. Two years later, many of the books have been reshelved and parts of the law can't be enforced.
The judge "acknowledged the Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders’ decades-long fight to affirm the nation’s rights and title — and the B.C. and Canadian governments’ failure to engage meaningfully in negotiations." This
"directly led to the land defenders blocking access to the pipeline route."
"directly led to the land defenders blocking access to the pipeline route."
A BC Supreme Court judge has strong words for BC and Canada — and their failure to settle outstanding land claims with the Wet’suwet’en — as he suspended the sentences of three land defenders Friday.
thetyee.ca/News/2025/10...
thetyee.ca/News/2025/10...
Supporters Cheer After Indigenous Land Defenders Avoid Jail | The Tyee
Judge rejects the prosecutors’ call for more jail time for protesters arrested at a Coastal GasLink pipeline work site.
thetyee.ca
October 20, 2025 at 5:43 PM
The judge "acknowledged the Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders’ decades-long fight to affirm the nation’s rights and title — and the B.C. and Canadian governments’ failure to engage meaningfully in negotiations." This
"directly led to the land defenders blocking access to the pipeline route."
"directly led to the land defenders blocking access to the pipeline route."
Thank you Melissa! Boston-area peeps, come check it out.
Excited that my sister-in-law @ericagies.bsky.social will be giving a #TED Talk at MIT on November 15.
tinyurl.com/mxp5nb76
tinyurl.com/mxp5nb76
October 19, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Thank you Melissa! Boston-area peeps, come check it out.
Wow, handcuffing Lady Liberty now?
This is absurdly bad PR. These are the images that need amplified. If you're online, think strategically about which images need to go viral to tell the story of the horrors of this moment. RT and share the shit out of them.
October 19, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Wow, handcuffing Lady Liberty now?
Beautiful. I have a nephew who is largely nonverbal and taught himself to read when he was 3.
Proud papa moment: my son J published a letter in the @nytimes.com today (in print tomorrow) on the need to think our definitions of autism.
October 19, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Beautiful. I have a nephew who is largely nonverbal and taught himself to read when he was 3.
Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world
“Today, globally ~$200 billion/yr is invested in nature, vs over $7 trillion to activities of environmental degradation...trying to increase nature-positive finance to forests/critical natural systems, without addressing the negative, is fighting a losing battle” globalwitness.org/en/campaigns...
Banks make $26bn in decade of financing deforesting companies
US, EU and UK banks have made over $10 billion in income since Paris Agreement by financing companies involved in deforestation, new analysis ahead of COP30 reveals
globalwitness.org
October 18, 2025 at 11:44 PM
“Today, globally ~$200 billion/yr is invested in nature, vs over $7 trillion to activities of environmental degradation...trying to increase nature-positive finance to forests/critical natural systems, without addressing the negative, is fighting a losing battle” globalwitness.org/en/campaigns...