Jeremy Bassis
@bassisjeremy.bsky.social
University of Michigan Glaciologist interested in climate change, ice sheets, sea level rise and equitable adaptation and mitigation | he/him/his |
Geoengineering will never be a meaningful climate solution because the lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere is thousands of years and that fact will never stop the quasi-monthly think pieces about how we need to do more "research" on geoengineering.
The idea that opposition to geoengineering is largely just lefty extremists and loopy right-wing chemtrail guys feels very much like part of the broader project to normalise it with the ultimate aim of ensuring it is actually deployed as a tacit replacement for mitigation
archive.ph/IYgEB
archive.ph/IYgEB
November 24, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Geoengineering will never be a meaningful climate solution because the lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere is thousands of years and that fact will never stop the quasi-monthly think pieces about how we need to do more "research" on geoengineering.
Funny story. Back in 2022 we won an *Emmy award for a documentary we made about an expedition to Greenland. Due to an elaborate game of paper-rock-scissors, the Emmy award now sits in my office and I like to joke that I want to be introduced as an Emmy award winning climate scientist.
November 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Funny story. Back in 2022 we won an *Emmy award for a documentary we made about an expedition to Greenland. Due to an elaborate game of paper-rock-scissors, the Emmy award now sits in my office and I like to joke that I want to be introduced as an Emmy award winning climate scientist.
With COP going on (again) and sea level rise back in the headlines, I have been reminded how much the major controversies in glaciology echo previously controversies. For glaciology, these have always revolved around flow, fracture and friction. 1/
November 13, 2025 at 3:17 PM
With COP going on (again) and sea level rise back in the headlines, I have been reminded how much the major controversies in glaciology echo previously controversies. For glaciology, these have always revolved around flow, fracture and friction. 1/
I have been vigorously lobbying for a Crime Scene Investigation Antarctica (CSI-Antarctica) for the past decade, but the networks seem strangely uninterested.
Glaciologists are "kind of like one of those crime shows…‘Who Killed the Ice Shelf?’"
A record-breaking glacial casualty gets unraveled today in @science.org: www.science.org/content/arti...
A record-breaking glacial casualty gets unraveled today in @science.org: www.science.org/content/arti...
Antarctic glacier shows fastest retreat in modern history
Tides and glacial earthquakes caused record ice loss at Hektoria Glacier
www.science.org
November 4, 2025 at 12:38 PM
I have been vigorously lobbying for a Crime Scene Investigation Antarctica (CSI-Antarctica) for the past decade, but the networks seem strangely uninterested.
Alright let me tell you a story about a prominent scientist in my field and my first conference. This was in the days when most had adopted PowerPoint, but some of the older folks still showed up with actual physical slides to show on one of those old fashioned overhead projectors.
Nobody makes enemies by finishing their talk early…
October 29, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Alright let me tell you a story about a prominent scientist in my field and my first conference. This was in the days when most had adopted PowerPoint, but some of the older folks still showed up with actual physical slides to show on one of those old fashioned overhead projectors.
I'm in Toronto and it is hard to express how much an entire nation is willing the Blue Jays to win to spite Trump.
October 25, 2025 at 2:30 PM
I'm in Toronto and it is hard to express how much an entire nation is willing the Blue Jays to win to spite Trump.
The question isn’t will the seas rise, but what are we going to do about it because even the most optimistic projections tell us that sea levels are going to continue to rise and it increasingly looks like the more pessimistic scenarios are more plausible.
I was interviewed for this great piece about sea level rise.
Solid reporting here on the scientific controversy, but I like that Evan ended with my bigger picture quote that a lot of the controversy doesn't really matter because by 2100, we will be talking about a radically different coastline.
Solid reporting here on the scientific controversy, but I like that Evan ended with my bigger picture quote that a lot of the controversy doesn't really matter because by 2100, we will be talking about a radically different coastline.
How Soon Will the Seas Rise? | Quanta Magazine
The uniquely vulnerable West Antarctic Ice Sheet holds enough water to raise global sea levels by 5 meters. But when that will happen — and how fast — is anything but settled.
www.quantamagazine.org
October 22, 2025 at 1:08 PM
The question isn’t will the seas rise, but what are we going to do about it because even the most optimistic projections tell us that sea levels are going to continue to rise and it increasingly looks like the more pessimistic scenarios are more plausible.
I was interviewed for this great piece about sea level rise.
Solid reporting here on the scientific controversy, but I like that Evan ended with my bigger picture quote that a lot of the controversy doesn't really matter because by 2100, we will be talking about a radically different coastline.
Solid reporting here on the scientific controversy, but I like that Evan ended with my bigger picture quote that a lot of the controversy doesn't really matter because by 2100, we will be talking about a radically different coastline.
How Soon Will the Seas Rise? | Quanta Magazine
The uniquely vulnerable West Antarctic Ice Sheet holds enough water to raise global sea levels by 5 meters. But when that will happen — and how fast — is anything but settled.
www.quantamagazine.org
October 20, 2025 at 8:59 PM
I was interviewed for this great piece about sea level rise.
Solid reporting here on the scientific controversy, but I like that Evan ended with my bigger picture quote that a lot of the controversy doesn't really matter because by 2100, we will be talking about a radically different coastline.
Solid reporting here on the scientific controversy, but I like that Evan ended with my bigger picture quote that a lot of the controversy doesn't really matter because by 2100, we will be talking about a radically different coastline.
Most climate scientists strongly believe our mission is to provide better climate information for decision making. The mantra at every meeting is let’s reduce uncertainty and provide full probability distributions!
My soapbox for today is that physical climate scientists need to be exposed to qualitative methods.
October 12, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Most climate scientists strongly believe our mission is to provide better climate information for decision making. The mantra at every meeting is let’s reduce uncertainty and provide full probability distributions!
It should be obvious to everyone, but for the hedge fund managers at the back, a compact that restricts academic freedom isn't about merit or access. The goal is control and a return to a segregated system where elite institutions solely serve the interests of the wealthy. 1/
Opinion | Academia Is Broken. Trump’s University ‘Compact’ Can Help Fix It.
www.nytimes.com
October 11, 2025 at 2:34 PM
It should be obvious to everyone, but for the hedge fund managers at the back, a compact that restricts academic freedom isn't about merit or access. The goal is control and a return to a segregated system where elite institutions solely serve the interests of the wealthy. 1/
My soapbox for today is that physical climate scientists need to be exposed to qualitative methods.
October 10, 2025 at 11:34 AM
My soapbox for today is that physical climate scientists need to be exposed to qualitative methods.
The University: We need to become leaders in climate and sustainability and there is an urgent need to develop climate science courses.
Me: Our department has climate in the name and we already offer courses on climate science at every level.
The University: Who invited you to this meeting?
Me: Our department has climate in the name and we already offer courses on climate science at every level.
The University: Who invited you to this meeting?
October 8, 2025 at 11:48 AM
The University: We need to become leaders in climate and sustainability and there is an urgent need to develop climate science courses.
Me: Our department has climate in the name and we already offer courses on climate science at every level.
The University: Who invited you to this meeting?
Me: Our department has climate in the name and we already offer courses on climate science at every level.
The University: Who invited you to this meeting?
This isn't important, but I'm getting tired of academics using "climate" and "sustainability" interchangeably. There is overlap between climate and sustainability work. Conflating the two and not being precise about what you mean creates confusion.
October 3, 2025 at 12:31 PM
This isn't important, but I'm getting tired of academics using "climate" and "sustainability" interchangeably. There is overlap between climate and sustainability work. Conflating the two and not being precise about what you mean creates confusion.
Here are some takeaways from the panel on AI and climate. AI is being used to speed up some research tasks, but this comes with significant costs. Those costs includes the environmental impact, which can be immense and will be paid by future generations. 1/
Panel on AI and climate actually went well? At the end I had the audience and panelists get up and move to one side of the room or the other depending on whether they thought AI was a net harm, neutral or positive for society. That is a real histogram.
I am scheduled to moderate an AI and Climate panel tomorrow for climateweek at umich and, remembering that I thought the iPhone would bomb and picked betamax over VHS, I might be the worst choice to moderate any tech related conversation.
October 3, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Here are some takeaways from the panel on AI and climate. AI is being used to speed up some research tasks, but this comes with significant costs. Those costs includes the environmental impact, which can be immense and will be paid by future generations. 1/
Panel on AI and climate actually went well? At the end I had the audience and panelists get up and move to one side of the room or the other depending on whether they thought AI was a net harm, neutral or positive for society. That is a real histogram.
I am scheduled to moderate an AI and Climate panel tomorrow for climateweek at umich and, remembering that I thought the iPhone would bomb and picked betamax over VHS, I might be the worst choice to moderate any tech related conversation.
October 1, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Panel on AI and climate actually went well? At the end I had the audience and panelists get up and move to one side of the room or the other depending on whether they thought AI was a net harm, neutral or positive for society. That is a real histogram.
I just got a spam email asking me if I'm attending Fruit Attraction this year and I have so many questions.
October 1, 2025 at 12:38 AM
I just got a spam email asking me if I'm attending Fruit Attraction this year and I have so many questions.
I am scheduled to moderate an AI and Climate panel tomorrow for climateweek at umich and, remembering that I thought the iPhone would bomb and picked betamax over VHS, I might be the worst choice to moderate any tech related conversation.
October 1, 2025 at 12:36 AM
I am scheduled to moderate an AI and Climate panel tomorrow for climateweek at umich and, remembering that I thought the iPhone would bomb and picked betamax over VHS, I might be the worst choice to moderate any tech related conversation.
Heat kills more people than flooding, but we invest way more money in preventing flooding than cooling people. Strategies like more air conditioning, accessible cooling centers and strategic green space are all effective at reducing mortality and need to be promoted.
September 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Heat kills more people than flooding, but we invest way more money in preventing flooding than cooling people. Strategies like more air conditioning, accessible cooling centers and strategic green space are all effective at reducing mortality and need to be promoted.
A new study point out that polar geo-engineering is both dangerous and unfeasible. This study is getting press, but the article is accompanied by a curious response from a handful of authors that have been strongly advocating for polar geo-engineering. 1/
Frontiers | A new paradigm from the Arctic
Key points • Academics, activists, and Arctic inhabitants are deeply concerned about cryosphere systems at imminent risk of collapse, and yet decades of &quo...
www.frontiersin.org
September 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
A new study point out that polar geo-engineering is both dangerous and unfeasible. This study is getting press, but the article is accompanied by a curious response from a handful of authors that have been strongly advocating for polar geo-engineering. 1/
Alright so I think after the RFK hearing, the DoE climate report, attempt to rescind the EPA endangerment finding and *waves hands* everything, it is clear that we are seeing the most sustained attack on science in my lifetime. And, believe me, I’ve seen some shit.
September 5, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Alright so I think after the RFK hearing, the DoE climate report, attempt to rescind the EPA endangerment finding and *waves hands* everything, it is clear that we are seeing the most sustained attack on science in my lifetime. And, believe me, I’ve seen some shit.
Lots of misunderstanding about sea level rise and the potential for extreme sea level rise and collapse of ice sheets. 1/
August 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Lots of misunderstanding about sea level rise and the potential for extreme sea level rise and collapse of ice sheets. 1/
The sea level rise chapter is silly. You can’t infer global sea level rise from a handful of tide gauges in the US because global sea level is *global*. 1/
Ch7 moves to sea level rise, focusing (and we're seeing a pattern now) on noisy data from individual tide guages - ignoring global data from satellite altmetry which identify with high confidence a global-scale acceleration in sea level rise. www.climate.gov/news-feature...
July 31, 2025 at 7:54 PM
The sea level rise chapter is silly. You can’t infer global sea level rise from a handful of tide gauges in the US because global sea level is *global*. 1/
Columbia now has a vice provost for authoritarian compliance.
As part of the $200 million deal Columbia made with the Trump administration, an outside monitor will assure the school complies. To critics, this represents an unprecedented governmental intrusion into the affairs of a private university.
Columbia agreed to a monitor, stoking fears about independence
An agreement between Columbia University and the White House this week is an unprecedented intrusion that could erode the independence of universities, observers say
www.washingtonpost.com
July 26, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Columbia now has a vice provost for authoritarian compliance.
I have never used AI nor do I ever intend to because if I actually wanted to be more productive I can stop procrastinating, but where is the fun in that.
July 25, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I have never used AI nor do I ever intend to because if I actually wanted to be more productive I can stop procrastinating, but where is the fun in that.
I talked to a journalist today about glacial geo-engineering and the thing that stuck to me was how much of the interview kept coming back to the “debate” in the community. Not everything is or should be a debate. 1/
July 22, 2025 at 3:06 PM
I talked to a journalist today about glacial geo-engineering and the thing that stuck to me was how much of the interview kept coming back to the “debate” in the community. Not everything is or should be a debate. 1/