Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
@fkearns.bsky.social
Scientist-communicator working on water, wildfire, climate, & disaster issues in AZ + CA | Words: High Country News, New Republic, & more | Book: Getting to the Heart of Science Communication | Water Talk podcast co-host | www.faithkearns.com | views=mine
Pinned
Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
@fkearns.bsky.social
· Aug 15
Grand Canyon’s Dragon Bravo megafire shows the growing wildfire threat to water systems
Water systems are vulnerable to melting plastic components, toxic contamination and failures that can leave firefighters without flowing water.
theconversation.com
The Dragon Bravo Fire at the Grand Canyon hit a water system facility, setting off a dangerous chlorine gas leak that halted the firefight at a critical time.
That was just one of many water-related challenges on this fire, and is indicative of a larger pattern across the western US.
New, from me.
That was just one of many water-related challenges on this fire, and is indicative of a larger pattern across the western US.
New, from me.
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Lee Canyon, an hour west of Las Vegas, has received more snow than California’s Donner Pass so far this season. Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff, Ariz., is having its snowiest November since 2004, with nearly five feet of powder.
Tahoe and Colorado are mostly dry. Here’s where you can still ski out West
While many Tahoe ski resorts delay opening day, a surprising corner of the West has experienced its snowiest start to the season in decades.
www.sfchronicle.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Lee Canyon, an hour west of Las Vegas, has received more snow than California’s Donner Pass so far this season. Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff, Ariz., is having its snowiest November since 2004, with nearly five feet of powder.
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
It's weird to not only have lived through an information revolution but also now living through its undoing, all within less than a generation.
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 12:19 PM
It's weird to not only have lived through an information revolution but also now living through its undoing, all within less than a generation.
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
"Online and in private, however, some Vietnamese have begun to criticize the government’s lack of preparedness and slow response...Why, many ask, aren’t alarm and evacuation systems providing more help to residents as rivers rise?"
Vietnam’s Year of Floods, Mud and Death
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:08 AM
"Online and in private, however, some Vietnamese have begun to criticize the government’s lack of preparedness and slow response...Why, many ask, aren’t alarm and evacuation systems providing more help to residents as rivers rise?"
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
"I look at that, and I have affection for a young man. It’s a Saturday night, and I’m at a typewriter with the fucking headphones on. I’m putting in the work. I’m doing it."— @themountaingoats.bsky.social's John Darnielle to Grayson Haver Currin for @GQmagazine.bsky.social
The Story John Darnielle Lived to Tell
When he was a teenager, the Mountain Goats founder never expected to live to 21. He has since become one of this century’s best songwriters. The lessons of his survival, life, and work feel endless.
www.gq.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:16 PM
"I look at that, and I have affection for a young man. It’s a Saturday night, and I’m at a typewriter with the fucking headphones on. I’m putting in the work. I’m doing it."— @themountaingoats.bsky.social's John Darnielle to Grayson Haver Currin for @GQmagazine.bsky.social
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
New episode of Misguided just launched with @noupside.bsky.social!
We discuss her path into social media research, how online groups shape belief, and why AI is shifting the information battle upstream, plus what institutions must do to rebuild trust.
We discuss her path into social media research, how online groups shape belief, and why AI is shifting the information battle upstream, plus what institutions must do to rebuild trust.
Bespoke Realities, Invisible Rulers, and the Battle for Truth
Renée DiResta joins me to discuss how online influence networks shape belief, who steers the information ecosystem, and why AI’s reference layer is becoming the next battleground for truth.
matthewfacciani.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:43 PM
New episode of Misguided just launched with @noupside.bsky.social!
We discuss her path into social media research, how online groups shape belief, and why AI is shifting the information battle upstream, plus what institutions must do to rebuild trust.
We discuss her path into social media research, how online groups shape belief, and why AI is shifting the information battle upstream, plus what institutions must do to rebuild trust.
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Data centers popping up on Indigenous lands everywhere, but especially perilous to us desert tribes where water availability for crops and for communities have new competition.
The data center boom in the desert
The AI race is transforming northwestern Nevada into one of the world's largest data-center markets—and sparking fears of water strains in the nation’s driest state.
www.technologyreview.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Data centers popping up on Indigenous lands everywhere, but especially perilous to us desert tribes where water availability for crops and for communities have new competition.
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
To be clear: he is in no way a "man in science." The entire premise here is laughable.
Over many interviews, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Michael Scherer about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he’s spent much of his life crusading against?
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
November 24, 2025 at 6:29 PM
To be clear: he is in no way a "man in science." The entire premise here is laughable.
We wrote a paper about wildfire shelter-in-place ideas in 2009 - headed by Scott Stephens with AUS colleagues - and they have always been largely and pretty vocally opposed by the fire service…until now? iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
November 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM
We wrote a paper about wildfire shelter-in-place ideas in 2009 - headed by Scott Stephens with AUS colleagues - and they have always been largely and pretty vocally opposed by the fire service…until now? iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
The idea that we somehow understand, or are likely to do so in the near future, even remotely how to dial in a particular magnitude of surface temperature change -- let alone rainfall -- is just not realistic (that's me being nice). 2/2
October 26, 2025 at 5:58 PM
The idea that we somehow understand, or are likely to do so in the near future, even remotely how to dial in a particular magnitude of surface temperature change -- let alone rainfall -- is just not realistic (that's me being nice). 2/2
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
data center water use goes down when they use renewables. whatdya know
How to make data centers less thirsty
There’s a way to reduce both the climate and water harms of data centers: build them in places with lots of wind and solar energy.
grist.org
November 24, 2025 at 2:59 PM
data center water use goes down when they use renewables. whatdya know
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
You all MUST READ this piece by Kaitlyn Greenidge about the power of art to “exist outside of a tech lord’s algorithm.”
www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-...
www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-...
The Artist Who Reminds Us that Another Way Is Possible
The late artist Abigail McGrath cultivated a creative life for herself filled with freedom, joy, and a commitment to beauty. In an age of authoritarianism and algorithms, it’s a kind of life worth pro...
www.harpersbazaar.com
November 23, 2025 at 6:09 PM
You all MUST READ this piece by Kaitlyn Greenidge about the power of art to “exist outside of a tech lord’s algorithm.”
www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-...
www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-...
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
“Heartbreaking scenes from Elit, Iran, where wildfire is damaging parts of the ancient Hyrcanian forests — a @unesco.org World Heritage treasure and one of Earth’s last temperate rainforests" Kaveh Madani, director of the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Turkey sends aircraft to help battle Iran wildfires
Two Turkish firefighting planes, one helicopter and eight personnel will arrive in Iran on Saturday to help quell fires in the Hyrcanian forest in the country's north, Iranian environment chief Shina ...
www.iranintl.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:39 PM
“Heartbreaking scenes from Elit, Iran, where wildfire is damaging parts of the ancient Hyrcanian forests — a @unesco.org World Heritage treasure and one of Earth’s last temperate rainforests" Kaveh Madani, director of the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Tehran is cutting water pressure 12-5 am. “If it doesn’t rain in Tehran by late November, we’ll…[formally] ration water,” Iran’s president said. “And if it still doesn’t rain, we’ll have to evacuate.” Drought & long-term sanctions have major reservoirs nr dry.
www.motherjones.com/environment/...
www.motherjones.com/environment/...
Iran's capital must relocate due to dire water situation, president insists
Tehran's troubles are a red flag for thirsty cities around the globe.
www.motherjones.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Tehran is cutting water pressure 12-5 am. “If it doesn’t rain in Tehran by late November, we’ll…[formally] ration water,” Iran’s president said. “And if it still doesn’t rain, we’ll have to evacuate.” Drought & long-term sanctions have major reservoirs nr dry.
www.motherjones.com/environment/...
www.motherjones.com/environment/...
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
🚨NEW: Iran will move its capital due to an ecological catastrophe. Experts warn the move won’t help the nearly 10 million people living in Tehran, who will continue to face the impacts of corruption and climate change.
“We saw this coming,” one source told me.
My story @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
“We saw this coming,” one source told me.
My story @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
Iran's Capital Is Moving. The Reason is an Ecological Catastrophe
The move is partly driven by climate change, but experts say decades of human error and action are also to blame
www.scientificamerican.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:01 PM
🚨NEW: Iran will move its capital due to an ecological catastrophe. Experts warn the move won’t help the nearly 10 million people living in Tehran, who will continue to face the impacts of corruption and climate change.
“We saw this coming,” one source told me.
My story @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
“We saw this coming,” one source told me.
My story @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
““If they’re not gonna run the programs, then what are we paying them for?” she said. “It’s like, you know, you’re paying us for a service and they’re not delivering. So let’s stop paying for it.”
👀 @mikiesherrill.bsky.social goes there …
👀 @mikiesherrill.bsky.social goes there …
New Jersey may stop paying federal taxes under new governor
Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill said on a podcast with Jon Stewart it's a "great idea."
www.politico.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:15 PM
““If they’re not gonna run the programs, then what are we paying them for?” she said. “It’s like, you know, you’re paying us for a service and they’re not delivering. So let’s stop paying for it.”
👀 @mikiesherrill.bsky.social goes there …
👀 @mikiesherrill.bsky.social goes there …
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Super interested to read this one - I have family impacted by the fires. I want to know what "building back better" ACTUALLY looks like.
As the one year anniversary of the LA fires approaches, the wildfire and water supply/infrastructure beat continues with a new peer-reviewed, open source paper our team wrote. It's a solutions oriented look at what is both feasible and relatively affordable iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
November 22, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Super interested to read this one - I have family impacted by the fires. I want to know what "building back better" ACTUALLY looks like.
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Southern CA just experienced one of its wettest mid-November periods on record, and Phoenix is having a welcome wet start to the cool season. Also talking about some flash flood and severe weather risk next couple of days. open.substack.com/pub/balanced...
Looking at a record wet mid-November for parts of the Southwest, while record warmth persists in the Southeast
Some flash flood and severe weather risk early next week in the south central US, plus a look at Thanksgiving travel weather
open.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Southern CA just experienced one of its wettest mid-November periods on record, and Phoenix is having a welcome wet start to the cool season. Also talking about some flash flood and severe weather risk next couple of days. open.substack.com/pub/balanced...
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
There’s a lot of political commentary about Marjorie Taylor Greene resigning, but one important point is this: she entered Congress in 2021 with an estimated net worth of about $700,000, and is leaving in 2025 with a net worth of roughly $25 million.
November 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM
There’s a lot of political commentary about Marjorie Taylor Greene resigning, but one important point is this: she entered Congress in 2021 with an estimated net worth of about $700,000, and is leaving in 2025 with a net worth of roughly $25 million.
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Our peer-reviewed, Open Access perspective is out in IOP Publishing's Environmental Research Letters:
"Adapting urban water supply infrastructure and policies for wildfire in the 21st century"
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
"Adapting urban water supply infrastructure and policies for wildfire in the 21st century"
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
November 21, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Our peer-reviewed, Open Access perspective is out in IOP Publishing's Environmental Research Letters:
"Adapting urban water supply infrastructure and policies for wildfire in the 21st century"
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
"Adapting urban water supply infrastructure and policies for wildfire in the 21st century"
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Good chat about emergency management in these strange times on the Water Talk podcast!
We were thrilled to have @samlmontano.bsky.social on Water Talk for a conversation about all things disaster and emergency management, where things stand with FEMA, and public engagement. Give it a listen wherever you get podcasts! www.watertalkpodcast.com/episodes/epi...
Ep 79: Disasters and Emergency Management — Water Talk
A conversation with Professor Samantha Montano (Massachusetts Maritime Academy, author of Disasterology) about the stages of emergency management, needs following different types of disasters, and the...
www.watertalkpodcast.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Good chat about emergency management in these strange times on the Water Talk podcast!
As the one year anniversary of the LA fires approaches, the wildfire and water supply/infrastructure beat continues with a new peer-reviewed, open source paper our team wrote. It's a solutions oriented look at what is both feasible and relatively affordable iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
November 21, 2025 at 9:40 PM
As the one year anniversary of the LA fires approaches, the wildfire and water supply/infrastructure beat continues with a new peer-reviewed, open source paper our team wrote. It's a solutions oriented look at what is both feasible and relatively affordable iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
We were thrilled to have @samlmontano.bsky.social on Water Talk for a conversation about all things disaster and emergency management, where things stand with FEMA, and public engagement. Give it a listen wherever you get podcasts! www.watertalkpodcast.com/episodes/epi...
Ep 79: Disasters and Emergency Management — Water Talk
A conversation with Professor Samantha Montano (Massachusetts Maritime Academy, author of Disasterology) about the stages of emergency management, needs following different types of disasters, and the...
www.watertalkpodcast.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:31 PM
We were thrilled to have @samlmontano.bsky.social on Water Talk for a conversation about all things disaster and emergency management, where things stand with FEMA, and public engagement. Give it a listen wherever you get podcasts! www.watertalkpodcast.com/episodes/epi...
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
The Rio Grande basin is running out of water, too, thanks in large part to growing hay for cows
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Overconsumption gravely threatens water security in the binational Rio Grande-Bravo basin - Discover Water
Discover Water - The Rio Grande-Bravo basin shared by the United States and Mexico is experiencing a severe water crisis demanding urgent attention. In recent decades, water storage reservoirs,...
link.springer.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:09 PM
The Rio Grande basin is running out of water, too, thanks in large part to growing hay for cows
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
"That’s what really turned my stomach: Nuzzi’s repeated use of climate-fueled wildfire as atmospheric mood lighting for her emotional affair with a man who helped bring a climate-denying administration into power"
@emorwee.bsky.social w/ the climate angle -->>
@emorwee.bsky.social w/ the climate angle -->>
Climate disaster is not ambiance
Especially not for an illicit affair with a politician who helped a climate-denying administration come to power.
heated.world
November 21, 2025 at 11:05 AM
"That’s what really turned my stomach: Nuzzi’s repeated use of climate-fueled wildfire as atmospheric mood lighting for her emotional affair with a man who helped bring a climate-denying administration into power"
@emorwee.bsky.social w/ the climate angle -->>
@emorwee.bsky.social w/ the climate angle -->>
Reposted by Faith Kearns, Ph.D.
Arizona water department defends new alternative to groundwater compliance
www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report...
www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report...
Arizona water department defends new alternative to groundwater compliance
Facing challenges over cost and constitutional liberties, the Arizona Department of Water Resources says a new groundwater rule will promote housing development, not hamper it.
www.tucsonsentinel.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Arizona water department defends new alternative to groundwater compliance
www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report...
www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report...