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Lyle Lewis

@race2extinct.bsky.social

2.9K followers 630 following 5.2K posts

My book “Racing To Extinction” analyzes the imminent disappearance of humanity through the lens of my 30+ years as an ecologist with federal environmental agencies in the U.S. https://race2extinct.com

race2extinct.com

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · Aug 17

Why is humanity headed for disappearance? My book, Racing To Extinction and website race2extinct.com explores our deep-time journey—2.5 million years of evolution leading to the ecological crisis we face today.

A thread on what you’ll find in my work and website 👇

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1h

I’ve been sparring with Hank all afternoon. 😜

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1h

Saying the climate is too complex for tipping points is like saying your body is too complex to die. Complexity doesn’t prevent collapse…..it just gives you more ways to reach it.

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Reposted by Lyle Lewis

Kyle Horton @kyle-horton.bsky.social · 2d

Another massive movement of migratory birds underway tonight — nearly 1 Billion Birds! With the full moon, you might be able to see some silhouettes zipping by. You can make your own flow maps here (just hit record): aeroecolab.com/uslights

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Reposted by Lyle Lewis

lights out for migrating birds @lightsoutforbirds.bsky.social · 4h

from the transcript:
www.pbs.org/video/uncove...

tisha schuller:
I'm gonna look at everything and see an upside and you're gonna look at everything and see chimpanzees with machine guns? nate hagens:
- No, but I think there's a fundamental question here about what we ought to do or what is, and I'm looking at the reality now and we are not valuing nature, and we are running into limits and we're papering them over with more and more debt and short term rule changes and things like that.
So my main point is that we're gonna have to prepare for a period, a long period with less material and energy throughput than we've come accustomed to in our generation.

nate hagens:
Human centric, that's what got us here, is we're so anthropocentric, we put humans at the center of everything.
We are part of the web of life.
We're part of a living planet, the only planet in the known universe to harbor life, let alone complex lives.

nate hagens:
We are losing insects at one to two percent a year biomass.
We've lost 70% of the population of reptiles, birds, fish, animals since 1970.
There's a list of environmental problems as long as my arm that are not related to carbon per se.
And so, the issue here is there's different layers in this conversation.

nate hagens:
And we are in a period of ecological overshoot.
Given our amount of consumption, given our amount of population, given our amount of resources and impact, something's gotta give here.
But I do think the anthropocentric, looking at everything from human and human value, is part of the problem.

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Reposted by Lyle Lewis

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 7h

@natehagens.bsky.social tries the impossible: injecting reality into a PBS discussion on climate and energy. Worth watching.

www.pbs.org/video/uncove...

Energy Switch | Uncoventional Wisdom | Season 7 | Episode 1

Oil companies must lead decarbonization, because solar and wind can’t replace them.

www.pbs.org

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 5h

Iran faces “water bankruptcy”—wells collapsing, rivers dying, over 10,000 villages without drinking water. A preview of what happens when economies run on the illusion of an infinite planet.

time.com/7321571/iran...

Iran's Water Crisis Is Its Greatest Threat

The collapse of water security in Iran has been decades in the making and is rooted in a mania for mega projects.

time.com

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 7h

I admire the ambition here — but evolution doesn’t “call for” change any more than gravity calls for falling. It just happens, and sometimes chaos wins. Humans aren’t outside nature; we’re just the one species that forgot how feedback loops work.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 7h

@natehagens.bsky.social tries the impossible: injecting reality into a PBS discussion on climate and energy. Worth watching.

www.pbs.org/video/uncove...

Energy Switch | Uncoventional Wisdom | Season 7 | Episode 1

Oil companies must lead decarbonization, because solar and wind can’t replace them.

www.pbs.org

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 9h

We never learn anything from history.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 9h

My family killed porcupines and badgers based on myths and inconveniences. My family may be gone, but it still happens today.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 13h

“We must do everything we can to stave off the catastrophes of climate change, but, in doing so, we may create a whole other set of catastrophes,” says Beiser.
We’re not juggling unknown risks; we’re juggling known harms and pretending it is progress.
apple.news/AFbd_S5wKQXq...

There Is No Green Transition Without Consequences — The Atlantic

A new book argues that simply replacing fossil-fuel extraction with critical-mineral mining is no way out of the climate crisis.

apple.news

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 14h

It’s not the problem. It’s a problem.

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 15h

🐾🌿🦫

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 16h

We’ve called so many things “tipping points” that the public can’t tell when one really tips. Antarctic sea ice may have just crossed a threshold for real. The crisis is clearer than the language.
apple.news/A5tAA09s3SQm...

Antarctica may have crossed a tipping point that leads to rising seas — New Scientist

Scientists are beginning to understand the sudden loss of sea ice in Antarctica – and there is growing evidence that it represents a permanent shift with potentially catastrophic consequences

apple.news

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Oregon just passed laws to protect beavers — but only because they “benefit humans.” As soon as they start doing beaver things that benefit beavers, they’re killed. We will never see ourselves as part of nature. #RacingToExtinction

www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Ranch owner highlights surprising benefits of so-called 'pest' on his property: 'They're doing me a favor'

"I don't want to run them off."

www.yahoo.com

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Yup

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Humanity constantly creates environmental quick-fixes with no thought or regard for their future ramifications. The possibility exists that one of these cherished solutions will be our swan song.

Hubris and desperation are dangerous bedfellows.

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

😁

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 2d

8.2B people is unmitigable. I use “less.” It won’t make a difference but I don’t feel as much guilt about my role in what is happening.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 2d

I appreciate the thought you’ve put into this. But ecological overshoot doesn’t care about governance systems. No political structure, however well designed, can outvote biophysical limits.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 2d

…or mercury? lead? PFAS? Dioxins? No shortage of options! 😜🤣

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 2d

Salmon collapse? Someone else’s fault.
Colorado River running dry? Someone else’s fault.
Climate breakdown? Someone else’s fault.
Scapegoating is our national pastime.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0610202...

As Colorado River Nears Collapse, It Faces Leadership, Transparency ‘Crisis,’ Environmentalists Warn - Inside Climate News

A new report from a coalition of environmental organizations offers recommendations on how to address the declining water supply in the river as negotiations over its future stall.

insideclimatenews.org

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 2d

About 117 billion humans have lived on Earth. The math is tidy and even accounts for our recent surge. But in ecology, exponential growth isn’t elegant; it’s terrifying. On a finite planet…..what goes up, will come down.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

How Many Humans Have Ever Lived? The Math May Surprise You

Is it really possible that half of all people who have ever been age 65 or older are still alive today? We explore the amazing mathematics of demography to find out

www.scientificamerican.com

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 2d

Blocked me. Ha! People literally and figuratively run from the truth. It’s simply too much.

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Reposted by Lyle Lewis

lights out for migrating birds @lightsoutforbirds.bsky.social · 2d

ecori.org/some-snail-p...

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