Paul Voosen
Dad of two. Earth, climate, and planetary science reporter @Science.org magazine. Mistrusts narratives; still writes them.
science.org/content/author/paul…
sciencemastodon.com/@voooos
voosen@protonmail.com
Signal: @voosen.01
- Reposted by Paul Voosen*taps mic* ahem May I interrupt the nonstop tidal wave of doom with a tidal wave of LAVA? They're as high as a skyscraper, ooze at the speed of a human sprinter, and are really, really hot. By me for @science.org, reported from the #RockyWorlds4 conference: 🔭🧪
- The Europeans are moving ahead with their constellation of smallsat microwave radiometers, following the success of Arctic Weather Sat. A sea change for weather satellites is on the way.
- For context, see our story from the much simpler time of 2024:
- Reposted by Paul VoosenOne year into Trump's second term, we parse the lasting impact of his policies and executive orders. Here's the first of a four-story package appearing this week. www.science.org/content/arti...
- A small silver lining: Yes, NASA and NOAA did not do briefings for their global temp data sets released today. And they certainly do not emphasize the human causes. But they *did* release them. The work is still happening. data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/grap... www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monit...
- Reposted by Paul VoosenAt ArcticNet's ASM 2025 in December I presented on some really troubling developments in Canada's premier weather and climate observing network. I'll share a couple highlights (or lowlights depending on your perspective) in this thread. /1
- My latest: The compromise spending bill is mostly full of good news for NASA science. But there is one off note: Mars Sample Return, as it's been currently devised, has no way forward.
- Reposted by Paul VoosenIf anyone is at #AGU25 and wants to hear about the history of satellite altimetry and science advocacy I'm giving the Bowie lecture at 10:55 today in La Nouvelle C
- My latest for @science.org: Researchers at Nokia Bell Labs have done something remarkable -- turned a submarine telecom cable in the Pacific Ocean into, in effect, an array of 44,000 (!) seismic sensors. That's potentially DAS-like precision -- and it doesn't need its own dedicated fibers.
- There's a lot to be seen still of just how precise this data is -- it's early days. And there are other innovative methods like Mermaid floats and SMART cables out there. But still, very cool. (And with that I meet my little bit of AGU reporting quota, despite not attending this year.)
- Crowd source question: What *major* NASA SMD missions are in active Phase C or D now? Dragonfly, NEO Surveyor, Viper (ish), Grace-C, Roman ... What am I missing? Am I missing something?
- So begins that special time of year when my photos app reminds me of the ghosts of AGU posters past. (I'm missing AGU this year, and some FOMO is setting in.)
- New Icarus study using Chang'e 5 and 6 samples finds that the Moon formed 4.516 billion years ago, soon after Earth. (I haven't dug into the methods.) Looks like more evidence for a very old Moon, as we flagged in @science.org back in March. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Our previous coverage of the rising Old Moon:
- My latest: Let's start with the easy part. Yes, long-lived airplane contrails warm the Earth and it's great to not do that. But just how much they warm, and where -- and how much more CO2 you can add to the atmosphere to avoid them? That's where it gets harder.
- Reposted by Paul VoosenHi freelancers, I just posted a call for pitches for @technologyreview.com's upcoming print issue. The theme is Nature. Pitch deadline is December 5. More info here! www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
- Reposted by Paul VoosenScience People: We at NSF are still recovering/catching up/getting our lives together. But the agency posted these FAQs about post-shutdown resumption of operations which might answer a lot of Qs for you: www.nsf.gov/resumption-o...
- My latest for @science.org: A remarkable set of high-resolution climate model runs, computed over 900 (!) days of supercomputing time, are revealing how warming-induced changes to Earth's wind patterns due can prime huge spikes in extreme rainfall. But the MESACLIP runs also do much more than that.
- By better reflecting the influence of ocean eddies and storm systems like hurricanes and atmospheric rivers, these runs could be a huge boon to those attempting to project climate change regionally, including its influence on extreme weather. (The caveat being, of course, this is just one model.)
- There are other insights baked in there, too. They reflect the strange cooling seen in the eastern Pacific and Southern Ocean in recent decades, which other models have struggled to replicate -- and they suggest it could be a knock-on effect, in part, of the ozone hole.
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View full threadThe results have spurred NCAR to make sure its next climate model, CESM3, can run well at similar resolutions, and the authors hope other centers will follow suite -- a big ask. (Other climate models have been run at even higher resolutions, BTW -- what's new here is creating a whole CMIP-ish run.)
- Reposted by Paul Voosen❄️The Antarctic field season has officially started! EarthScope engineers at McMurdo Station are kicking things off by testing seismometers and magnetotelluric equipment before these instruments are installed in the field. #FieldworkFriday 📷Photo: Sam Jannke/EarthScope
- Reposted by Paul VoosenHuge. If this is successful, it would seem to open the door to these cars really starting to become a viable transportation option.
- As our coverage last year pointed to, using AI to combine SWOT-derived gravity measurements from space with seafloor sonar soundings is already producing stellar global bathymetry models. One new example here:
- And our story last year, for background. www.science.org/content/arti...
- Reposted by Paul VoosenToday's the big day — we're officially on strike all day! We'll be picketing from 8am to 8pm at 1776 Massachusetts NW. Come show your support! @wbng.org @newsguild.org
- Reposted by Paul VoosenPer NOAA/AOML/HRD’s Sim Aberson, the 219 kt reading will be the fastest wind ever measured by a dropsonde if it passes final quality-control checks.
- ICYMI: NSF has followed through with its plan to end the lease on its Antarctic icebreaker, many years before necessary, with almost no congressional pushback. Now there's a mad scramble to fill the gap with less capable ships. @science.org's Jeff Mervis followed the story up:
- Doing research in Antarctica was plenty hard before NSF cancelled its lease on its main ship, the Nathaniel Palmer. Read how scientists are coping. www.science.org/content/arti...
- If you listen closely enough, the sea can tell you how humanity is changing it. Like, literally. The sound of breaking waves can now be used to measure ocean acidification.
- This is the second part of the work we covered here, highlighting that CO2 is the dominant forcer in temperature and sea level changes during ice age cycles. (It's also a great chance for others to cover; this has not been widely reported. There's even an old ice core now that can test this!)
- In Science, a new reconstruction of global sea levels spanning the past 4.5 million years reveals that oceans once stood up to 20 meters higher than today and links the waxing and waning of ancient ice sheets to shifts in Earth’s temperature and carbon dioxide cycles. scim.ag/42STXUm
- So I've been away. For the past month and a half, my family and I have been navigating the end of my sister's life, from the ICU to, last weekend, interment of her ashes. She was wonderful and sharp, and I'm grateful for the 14 extra years that breakthroughs in targeted chemo gave us with her.
- I'm fortunate to have editors who allowed me time to be there for my family -- and an incredible spouse who handled my sudden absence from the day-to-day of little kids with grace and love. I'm getting back to work. But only haltingly on here for now.
- Reposted by Paul VoosenSo very excited to share this news
- Just in from the @planetarysociety.bsky.social: The counter CR proposed by the Dems to keep the government open includes language protecting NASA missions in "operation, including extended operations, or under development or formulation." This is not in the CR proposed by House Rs. So we'll see.
- It also specifically calls out continuing NOAA Research (OAR) at current levels, "including for research laboratories, cooperative institutes,and scientific awards," and renewing cooperative agreements.
- I don't see any language in there protecting the Nathaniel Palmer research icebreaker, however.
- Okay okay back to feature writing.
- Reposted by Paul VoosenI've been asked a few times over the last few days what I think the chances are that the "leopard spots and poppy seeds" on Mars will turn out to be actual evidence of life. People are naturally skeptical given the history of possible signs of life on other planets. Strap in: long thread ahead...
- Reposted by Paul VoosenI'd love to follow other early-career and early-ish-career science journalists on here. Who's out there? What do you write about? Please say hi and maybe post a recent story you're proud of — or shout-out someone who's writing great stuff. #scicomm
- Reposted by Paul VoosenOnline chatter suggests that the DOE Climate Change (Denying) Working Group has been disbanded and the report will be withdrawn. 😂 Seems that violating FACA and the Information Quality Acts have consequences. Not seen any official announcement though.
- Sorry to miss the debunking and deflating fun on Mars rocks. But this story from last July on this same result is still as relevant today.
- Reposted by Paul VoosenWhat's more newsworthy: a NASA briefing about analysis of a Mars rock sampled by Perseverance, or that the briefing will include Sean Duffy, who has not participated in any NASA pressers since being named acting administrator 2 months ago? www.nasa.gov/news-release...
- Reposted by Paul VoosenIn the 1st half of 2025, @climate.noaa.gov 's staff were terminated, shutting down daily operations. Now, former members have joined w/ nonprofit partners to launch Climate.us, where climate info can be safeguarded from politics. Check out our website and join the effort today.
- Reposted by Paul VoosenEvery climate model out there has a different AMOC sensitivity to the relatively freshwater introduced by the pacific water flowing in to the North Atlantic (it’s about a psu less). But wait - how does that scale with the freshwater input by arctic rivers. (Half as important PI) -
- Reposted by Paul VoosenThe Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS) put together an anonymous survey to better understand the challenges faced by Arctic researchers under the current U.S. landscape to determine how to best support researchers. Complete the survey here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
- My latest looks at an audacious new geoengineering proposal: Damming the Bering Strait to save the Atlantic's overturning circulation from collapse. It would bring all the ecological, social, and political problems -- and it could cause the collapse it's trying to forestall. (Or not.)
- Note also: it's a very open question if AMOC would ever collapse, rather than gradually weaken. And as always with geoengineering, the first best answer is to not do this -- and curb CO2 emissions instead.
- Reposted by Paul VoosenThis is incredible work. In a just world it would win some major reporting awards. I’m saying that now bc I don’t think it will. There’s a particular kind of scoop you only get by being a really effing good beat reporter for a long time who sources trust. Investigative reporting doesn’t prize that.
- A lot of people are being misled by that paper. They separate the continents into areas getting dryer or wetter -- but then only emphasize the dry while leaving out how the wetter areas are subtracting from SLR. Look at this graphic from it.
- Brown is the dryer areas and blue is the mostly counteracting wetter areas. Red is the melting glaciers. There's nothing to counter that. Groundwater pumping is totally an important issue! But this framing seems a little problematic.
