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atmostaj.bsky.social
Joel Thornton
@atmostaj.bsky.social
400 followers 58 following 130 posts

Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Science at the University of Washington. I study the natural and perturbed chemistry and composition of the atmosphere and how it interacts with weather and climate. But, I like other things too. Opinions my own, etc. .. more

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Environmental science 44%
Geology 20%
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwenvironment.bsky.social
UW College of the Environment @uwenvironment.bsky.social · 2h
Congratulations to Ángel F. Adames Corraliza, @uwmad-aos.bsky.social associate professor and UW Atmospheric and Climate Science alum, for being named a 2025 MacArthur Fellow!

https://bit.ly/3IIHxHQ

@uwnews.uw.edu @macfound.org
UW Atmospheric and Climate Science alum Ángel F. Adames Corraliza named 2025 MacArthur Fellow
University of Washington Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science alum and University of Wisconsin–Madison atmospheric scientist Ángel F. Adames Corraliza has been awarded a prestigious MacArthur...
environment.uw.edu
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

holz-bau.bsky.social
Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 5d
the work underway to produce positive energy buildings (buildings that produce more energy than they consume) is really quite rad

renplushomes.eu
Homepage - Ren + Homes
As the urgency to combat climate change intensifies, RENPLUSHOMES takes the lead in developing a universal methodology for Positive Energy Homes and residential districts. This approach addresses the ...
renplushomes.eu
2 15 95

Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwenvironment.bsky.social
UW College of the Environment @uwenvironment.bsky.social · 11d
Join us for our flagship fall event on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at Town Hall Seattle.

More info and tickets: https://bit.ly/42AiP39
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwatmossci.bsky.social
UW Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science @uwatmossci.bsky.social · 15d
🥇🥇TWO @agu.org AWARDS
📢@chriskenseth.bsky.social, a NSF AGS Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department, was selected as the recipient of the 2025 James R. Holton Award.
📢Professor Dale Durran received the Jule Gregory Charney Lecture.

Congratulations to both and all the 2025 AGU Honorees!
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atmostaj.bsky.social
Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · 19d
Just doing some Chemical Ionization research with Google AI - I'm learning a lot!
Google AI says HOCl is more acidic than acetic acid because it has a higher pKa Google AI says a higher pKa means a weaker acid.
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atmostaj.bsky.social
Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · 20d
Thanks!
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atmostaj.bsky.social
Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · 20d
Dear Manu-

Can you please add me to the science feed? I am an atmospheric chemist:

www.atmos.washington.edu/~thornton/
Thornton Lab – atmospheric chemistry and instrumentation at the University of Washington
www.atmos.washington.edu
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwenvironment.bsky.social
UW College of the Environment @uwenvironment.bsky.social · 29d
Scientists long believed that Prochlorococcus, the smallest and most abundant phytoplankton on Earth, would thrive in a warmer world. But new research suggests the microscopic bacterium will decline sharply as oceans heat up. @uwnews.uw.edu

Read the @apnews.com story: https://bit.ly/46celQV
Warming seas threaten key phytoplankton species that fuels the food web, study finds
New research suggests that a tiny phytoplankton that is an essential part of the marine food web may decline sharply as oceans warm.
bit.ly
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Reposted by Scott C. Doney, Joel A. Thornton, Debra Wunch , and 4 more

envchemjen.bsky.social
Jennifer Murphy @envchemjen.bsky.social · 29d
Atmospheric Physics faculty position at Univ of Toronto - help us make use of satellite and aircraft capabilities that are on their way in Canada! jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
Assistant Professor - Space-based and Suborbital Experimental Atmospheric Physics
Assistant Professor - Space-based and Suborbital Experimental Atmospheric Physics
jobs.utoronto.ca
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwnews.uw.edu
UW News @uwnews.uw.edu · Sep 10
For years, researchers have hypothesized that westerly winds were ferrying warm water toward the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, accelerating ice melt. A new @uwess.bsky.social study flips the existing narrative on its head, pointing toward winds from the north instead.
www.washington.edu/news/2025/09...
Penguins walking across sea ice by a large iceberg
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atmostaj.bsky.social
Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · Sep 6
Oh, I meant the river of smoke extended all that way. Flow has been from SE today, and yes a big flare up just east of Mt Rainier visible from GOES this afternoon.

That said fires are also in BC too 😬
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atmostaj.bsky.social
Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · Sep 5
Today has taken a turn. A river of smoke from BC through WA
Purple air sensors map of Seattle and western Washington showing elevated PM2.5 from wildfire smoke
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwnews.uw.edu
UW News @uwnews.uw.edu · Sep 3
“We are developing a tool that examines the variability in our current climate to help answer this lingering question: Is a given event the kind of thing that happens naturally, or not?” said Dale Durran, @uwatmossci.bsky.social.
This AI model simulates 1000 years of the current climate in just one day
University of Washington researchers use AI to simulate the Earth’s current climate and interannual variability for up to 1,000 years. The model runs on a single processor and takes just 12 hours to.....
www.washington.edu
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atmostaj.bsky.social
Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · Sep 1
More measuring while biking (funded by Beckman Foundation): air pollution measuring, mass spectrometry development, & e-bikes

w/Tofwerk @uwchemistry.bsky.social @uwengineering.bsky.social @uwenvironment.bsky.social

goes back to a dream I had as grad student (in which the bike was always stolen) 🧪
Cargo e bike with battery powered mass spec to measure air pollution Nitric acid (HNO3) in the air along the ride, it comes from air chemistry of nitrogen oxide emissions (mostly from gas or diesel cars/trucks)
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwenvironment.bsky.social
UW College of the Environment @uwenvironment.bsky.social · Aug 18
@uwess.bsky.social Assistant Research Professor TJ Fudge talks about the status of glaciers in the Pacific Northwest and the dangers of shrinking glaciers.

www.king5.com/video/tech/s...

#UWEnvironment
UW professor on threats to glaciers, impact on western Washington
UW Assistant Research Professor TJ Fudge talks about the status of glaciers in the Pacific Northwest and the dangers of shrinking glaciers.
www.king5.com
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwenvironment.bsky.social
UW College of the Environment @uwenvironment.bsky.social · Aug 18
A familiar bird of Northwest summer takes a perilous journey to Costa Rica. #UWEnvironment #UWPOE

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
A familiar bird of Northwest summer takes a perilous journey to Costa Rica
The Swainson’s thrush is a common sight here in the Northwest. But this is only its summer home. Join us on a trip to Costa Rica.
www.seattletimes.com
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwenvironment.bsky.social
UW College of the Environment @uwenvironment.bsky.social · Aug 16
Seismic waves from the magnitude 8.8 #earthquake that struck the #Kamchatka Peninsula July 29 reached a seafloor observatory offshore from Oregon just 9 minutes later. The vibrations were so intense they rattled a seafloor instrument for over four hours. Listen: environment.uw.edu/news/2025/08...
Offshore observatory detects Russian earthquake and tsunami
The July 29 magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia and unleashed seismic energy and a tsunami that surged across the Pacific Ocean was captured in remarkable detail by ...
environment.uw.edu
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwatmossci.bsky.social
UW Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science @uwatmossci.bsky.social · Aug 13
Former graduate student Aodhan Sweeney and Prof. Qiang Fu's paper, "Recent Warming of the Southern Hemisphere Subtropical Lower Stratosphere and Antarctic Ozone Healing," is featured on EOS Editor's Highlight. <2% of all AGU papers are selected to be featured this way!

eos.org/editor-highl...
Southern Hemisphere Subtropical Lower Stratosphere is Warming - Eos
Warming of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) subtropical lower stratosphere is due to slowing of Brewer-Dobson Circulation, thus cooling the Antarctic lower stratosphere and masking anticipated ozone recov...
eos.org
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Reposted by Scott C. Doney, Joel A. Thornton

agu.org
AGU (American Geophysical Union) @agu.org · Aug 12
Know a dataset making an impact for people, planet, or prosperity?

🌎 Nominate it for AGU’s upcoming commentary by 10 Oct. You may be featured!

🔗: buff.ly/XLFfYqM
#ImpactfulData #EarthScience
Nominate an Impactful Dataset
You are invited to nominate a dataset to be included in a commentary about the impact of Earth, space, and environmental data using the dimensions of people, planet, and prosperity. Selected…
docs.google.com
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwenvironment.bsky.social
UW College of the Environment @uwenvironment.bsky.social · Aug 11
Seismologists tapped into the fiber optic cable network to study offshore faults #UWEnvironment

www.washington.edu/news/2025/07...

@uwnews.uw.edu @uwess.bsky.social @ooi-cabledarray.bsky.social #UWOceanography
Seismologists tapped into the fiber optic cable network to study offshore faults
University of Washington researchers showed that they can monitor seismic activity at the ocean floor using fiber optic cables without disrupting telecommunications. They developed this technique in.....
www.washington.edu
3 6

atmostaj.bsky.social
Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · Aug 2
Gonna need a bigger orifice on my mass spec
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwenvironment.bsky.social
UW College of the Environment @uwenvironment.bsky.social · Jul 31
What makes a tsunami — and what to do if one comes.

www.npr.org/2025/07/30/n...

@haroldtobin.bsky.social @pnsn1.bsky.social @uwess.bsky.social #UWEnvironment
What makes a tsunami — and what to do if one comes
Several factors help determine whether a given earthquake will generate a dangerous tsunami, but the process is not yet fully understood.
www.npr.org
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atmostaj.bsky.social
Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · Jul 31
One door way opens, another has a deer in the way. #fridayharbor
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atmostaj.bsky.social
Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · Jul 24
Thornton group outing for a Tianyi send off. Missing two Chris's...
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

seattletimes.com
The Seattle Times @seattletimes.com · Apr 22
Pike Place Market is going car free. Kind of. Beginning Wednesday, the tourist draw will begin limiting what type of traffic can access the market at First Avenue and Pike Street.
Pike Place Market banning most vehicle traffic in test run
Regular traffic on Pike Place will be cut off, with certain exceptions. The goal of restricting cars is to improve Market access and safety for pedestrians.
www.seattletimes.com
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

solomonmissouri.bsky.social
Solomon @solomonmissouri.bsky.social · May 14
The thing about most professors… they actually want to teach… so if you want to learn they will help you
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

pssindiana.bsky.social
Phil Stevens @pssindiana.bsky.social · May 16
OH NO! NOx this again…
commsearth.nature.com
Communications Earth & Environment @commsearth.nature.com · Apr 30
💨Measurement interferences may explain some discrepancies between hydroxyl radical measurement and modelling results, as opposed to an unknown chemical mechanism.
@pssindiana.bsky.social

👉Read more here: www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Re-assessing hydroxyl radical chemistry in the atmosphere: Instrument interferences may explain previous measurement discrepancies - Communications Earth & Environment
Measurement interferences may explain some discrepancies between hydroxyl radical measurement and modelling results, as opposed to an unknown chemical mechanism, according to analysis of hydroxyl meas...
www.nature.com
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Reposted by Joel A. Thornton, David Merrett, Robert Marten

lumberjackwharfie.bsky.social
lumberjack wharfie @lumberjackwharfie.bsky.social · May 23
It doesn't get reiterated enough that "human on a bicycle" is not only the most efficient way that a person can move, it's the most efficient form of motion ***ever observed in land animals***.
exp-log scale chart showing various animals and forms of human motion with the X-axis being kilograms on an exponential scale and the Y-axis being cost of transport in calories per gram per kilometer on a logarithmic scale
70 660 2.3K

Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

wutangforchildren.bsky.social
WuTangIsForTheChildren @wutangforchildren.bsky.social · Jul 24
Kids playing Ozzy's Crazy Train on xylophones
140 1.1K 3.4K

Reposted by Joel A. Thornton

uwenvironment.bsky.social
UW College of the Environment @uwenvironment.bsky.social · Jul 21
@uwess.bsky.social Eric Steig elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences. #UWEnvironment @uwnews.uw.edu

www.washington.edu/news/2025/07...
12 UW professors elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences
Election recognizes the new member’s “outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement and willingness to assist the Academy in providing the best available scientific information and...
www.washington.edu
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