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Michael I. Westphal

@peacewestphalia.bsky.social

1.2K followers 2K following 24 posts

Climate change, cycling, cocktails, and the Oxford comma. Westphal in a non-Westphalian world. Head of Science, IPCC Working Group III TSU; Adjunct Prof, Georgetown University.

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Environmental science 27%

Economics 20%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Valerie M. Delmotte, Glen P. Peters, Peter Thorne , and 10 more Valerie M. Delmotte, Glen P. Peters, Peter Thorne, Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Wolfgang Crämer, Ed Hawkins, Alessandro Tagliabue, Roland Séférian, Paul Lehmann, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Daniel Huppmann, Andy Reisinger, Michael Westphal

Prof. Sonia I Seneviratne @soniaseneviratne.bsky.social · Sep 6

New starter pack with @ipcc.bsky.social #AR7 scientists (bureau, authors, REs)! Full list: apps.ipcc.ch/report/autho...
For SR cities scientists see separate starter pack!
@dianaurge.bsky.social @sherilee.bsky.social @siir-kilkis.bsky.social @janfuglestvedt.bsky.social
go.bsky.app/2FuXb3Y

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Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Aug 18

Living in Berlin, working in Potsdam.

Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Aug 18

30% of the WGIII authors have no prior IPCC experience.

Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Aug 18

51% of the authors come from developing countries/ Economies in Transition.

Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Aug 18

58% of the WGIII authors are men; 42% are women. In AR6 overall, one-third of the authors were women.

Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Aug 18

For Working Group III (mitigation), we received 1211 nominations, and the WGIII Bureau selected 222 experts from 79 countries.

Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Aug 18

Congratulations to all Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors, and Review Editors for the @ipcc.bsky.social Seventh Assessment Report.

Glen Peters @glenpeters.bsky.social · Aug 15

Honoured to be Coordinating Lead Author (CLA) in IPCC AR7 Chapter 2 on "Past and current anthropogenic emissions and their drivers"

And quite happy with the author list... This will be a great team!

Check out the author lists here, for all WGs: apps.ipcc.ch/report/autho...

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Reposted by Rosie A. Fisher, Michael Westphal

Glen Peters @glenpeters.bsky.social · Aug 15

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Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Aug 11

I am very happy to announce that I have joined RIFS Research Institute for Sustainability | at GFZ, where I am continuing my work as Head of Science for the IPCC Working Group III Technical Support Unit.

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Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Aug 7

Imagine if people moralized about how heat in winter is unnecessary and unsustainable the way they do about AC.

Reposted by Richard Waite, Esther Turnhout, Caroline Fohlin , and 2 more Richard Waite, Esther Turnhout, Caroline Fohlin, Michael Westphal, Cullen S. Hendrix

McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · Aug 7

"Reducing our dependence on whales as an energy source will send us sliding down the slippery, spermaceti-lubricated slope to socialism. If we give up whaling, what will those lackwits come for next? Will I have to surrender my peg leg for a titanium prosthetic?"

I’m Captain Ahab and I Say We Must Never Transition Away from a Whale-Based Energy Industry

When I heard that the globalist oligarchs and fat cats in the Washington marshland were conspiring to invest in alternative, non-whale-based energy...

buff.ly

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Reposted by Katharine Hayhoe, Marco Festa‐Bianchet, Julie L. Lockwood , and 2 more Katharine Hayhoe, Marco Festa‐Bianchet, Julie L. Lockwood, Jonathan A. Foley, Michael Westphal

Dr. Julia K. Baum @baumlab.bsky.social · Aug 5

Attention Climate Solutions Scholars! @uvic.ca seeks its next Canada Excellence Research Chair 🇨🇦: www.uvic.ca/research-inn...

You: world class scholar, looking to make a move

Us: #5 in world for climate action, collegial, stunning location (B.C.) w award-winning climate policy

Pls share widely!

Canada Excellence Research Chair - University of Victoria - University of Victoria

Find information about applying to be Canada Excellence Research Chair at the University of Victoria

www.uvic.ca

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Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Aug 2

Subtract days in July in Washington, DC.

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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · Aug 1

Firing the BLS Commissioner — the wonk in charge of the statisticians who track economic reality — is an authoritarian four alarm fire.

It will also backfire: You can't bend economic reality, but you can break the trust of markets. And biased data yields worse policy.

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Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Anna O. Law , and 57 more Anne Applebaum, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Anna O. Law, Nandita Sharma, Dorothy Bishop, Glen P. Peters, Will Jennings, Jon Pierre, Peter Thorne, Brendan Nyhan, Paul R. Bierman, Ana Bastos, Wolfgang Crämer, Neil Pederson, John R. Hutchinson, Samuel L. Perry, Serge Guimond, Elizabeth Robinson, Michael Nelson, Elizabeth Pisani, Vu, Jenni Barclay, Gernot Wagner, Sabine Pahl, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Nick Pearce, Laura Pereira, Carolyne Larrington, Michael Kevane, Göran Bolin, Beth E. Scott, Devon Greyson, Keith Head, Melanie C. Green, Daniel Huppmann, Vincent Noël, Erol Akçay, Anne Norton, Juan Rocha, Mark Robinson, Thomas Hale, Daniel Angus, Christian Fisch, Scott Hamilton, Jos Akkermans, Andrew Novak, Stefan C. Aykut, Michael Westphal, Björn Heile, Halley E. Froehlich, Jack Stilgoe, Federica Genovese, Hisham Zerriffi, Alexandra Cirone, Hong, Colin Talbot, Prakash Kashwan, Jeremy Fisher, Michael Warren, Vincent Raoult

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Jul 30

Motherfucking wind farms…

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Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Michael Westphal

Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · Jul 30

Reading Rebecca Solnit & I love this:

""The remains of the swamp grass, the ferns ... turned into coal. And to this cemetery we intend to go, drag the dead out of their tombs, and force them to work for us." That language frames it as a zombie movie, a horror story, the dead come back to haunt us."

"The remains of the swamp grass, the ferns, the horsetails rotted under the layers of sand and clay and the
clay, became black, and turned into coal. And to this cemetery we intend to go, drag the dead out of their tombs, and force them to work for us." That language frames it as a zombie movie, a horror story, the dead come back to haunt us, in this case with their carbon.

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Reposted by Lilian Edwards, Michael Westphal

James Ball @jamesrball.com · Jul 11

Bizarre discussion on the radio likening air condition to passive smoking because it accounts for 3% of CO2 emissions.

But: we don’t moralise turning heating on in winter, and heating accounts for 15% of emissions. If aircon is intrinsically immoral, so are radiators.

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Reposted by Kai Chen, Amy McGovern, Michael Westphal

Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · May 2

Last week, the govt dismissed 400 researchers working on the US National Climate Assessment. I was one of them. Today, @agu.org & @ametsoc.org announced they are joining forces to sustain the momentum. It's not a replacement, it's a reminder that science is unstoppable. news.agu.org/press-releas...

AGU and AMS join forces on special collection to maintain momentum of research supporting the U.S. National Climate assessment

Congressionally mandated, the NCA draws on the latest scientific research to evaluate how climate change is affecting the United States. The new special collection does not replace the NCA but instead...

news.agu.org

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Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Jul 19

I first came to DC to work on a scientific cooperation program between ORD scientists and researchers in the former Soviet Union. What a tragic loss. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/c...

E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Daniel E. Jones, Vincent Noël , and 4 more Rebecca Solnit, Daniel E. Jones, Vincent Noël, Zerina Lokmic‐Tomkins, Eoin Daly, Michael Westphal, Jeremy J. Schmidt

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Jul 13

How do I feel about air conditioning? I’m very hot – but it’s destroying the planet | Emma Beddington

Yes, temperatures are rising. But more and more AC means more and more CO2 – and then more and more global heating. Let’s have some long-term thinking instead, writes Guardian columnist Emma Beddington

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Michael Westphal

Laurence H. Tribe @tribelaw.bsky.social · Jul 11

Susie Essman, the brilliant comedian from “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” recently offered some wise advice: focus on the small things in life that give you happiness. As Susie memorably put it, “The macro is fucked. We gotta go micro.” — @borowitzreport.bsky.social (July 11, 2025)

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Reposted by Colette L. Heald, Michael Westphal

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Jul 11

Seriously

Britain and Europe need to get serious about air conditioning

In a rapidly warming world, a former extravagance is becoming a necessity

on.ft.com

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Reposted by Mark Harrison, Michael Westphal

Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · Jul 11

Sitting here bleary after another poor night's sleep, disinclined to engage in a day of cognitive effort, this chart from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com really strikes home on.ft.com/4eFZG4l

Shows death rates in US and eu cities by temperature, air con being the decisive factor

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Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · Jul 6

www.wsj.com/articles/the...

The U.S. Gave Up Its Lead in Clean Energy Sectors Before. It Might Be Doing It Again.

The Trump administration’s move to roll back hydrogen, carbon capture and green energy initiatives is likely to play into China and Europe’s hands, say industry leaders.

www.wsj.com

Reposted by Michael Westphal

Alex Miller @notamiller.bsky.social · Jun 27

And here's a full copy of the NCA5 website. I backed it up earlier this year, before Trump took office: replayweb.page?source=https...

ReplayWeb.page

replayweb.page

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Reposted by Sabine Pahl, Christian Flachsland, Michael Westphal

Bob Kopp @bobkopp.net · Jun 12

Attention US scientists: The @ipcc.bsky.social has issued a call for expert nominations for upcoming workshops on Engaging Diverse Knowledge Systems and Methods of Assessment. If you wish to apply via the US Academic Alliance for the IPCC, do it here, before July 11: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Aims of the workshops

Specific aims of Workshop 1 on engaging wider knowledge systems are:

to address how Indigenous Knowledge systems could be accessed and assessed by the IPCC, in particular considering effective and equitable engagement of Indigenous Knowledge holders and building on experience built up in other fora as appropriate;
to address how Iocal knowledge could be assessed by the IPCC, building on experience built up in other fora as appropriate;
to make recommendations for funding agencies as to how to support the engagement of knowledge holders in the IPCC programme of work.

The specific aims of Workshop 2 on methods of assessment are:

to make recommendations as to how systematic review methods could be applied within and outside IPCC assessments and how they could contribute to strengthening established assessment practices including uncertainty assessments;
to make recommendations to the IPCC, the Bureau and authors as to how new and extended methods of assessment such as artificial intelligence might be built into the IPCC programme of work;
to address how ex-post evaluation evidence could be assessed by the IPCC, building on experience built up in other fora as appropriate;
to identify precautionary measures or limitations that might be necessary to ensure adherence to IPCC’s principles and procedures for the preparation of reports; and
to make recommendations for scientific communities as to how new and extended methods could be used to develop literature which can more easily be assessed by the IPCC.

The goal across both workshops is to make recommendations as to how new and extended methods of assessment could be applied to different types of knowledge systems (such as scientific, Indigenous, local, practitioner).

Reposted by Michael Westphal, Aykut Kibritçioğlu

Chris Kennedy: ‘MALTHUS ENIGMA’ @malthus-enigma.bsky.social · May 12

Delighted to announce that Malthus Enigma: Technology, Science, and Policy for a Fragile Earth is now published in hardcover and paperback.

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Reposted by Michael Westphal

Chris Bataille @chrisbataille.bsky.social · May 12

I've seen a lot of people writing recently that #netzero is dead. While #netzero may have developed a political dimension, the concept is fundamentally scientific; the world will keep warming until our net additions of CO2 & then GHGs fall to zero & possibly negative given earthsystem feedbacks.

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Bob Kopp @bobkopp.net · May 7

There’s so much happening right now, I thought I’d put together a running thread on the dismantling of #climate and research and knowledge infrastructure in the United States 🧵

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Michael I. Westphal @peacewestphalia.bsky.social · May 5

Europe knows science is the key to economic growth and prosperity.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/w...

As Trump Targets Researchers, Europe Makes a Pitch to Attract Scientists (Gift Article)

The continent’s leaders are hoping to benefit as the Trump administration cuts support for research and threatens universities such as Harvard and Columbia with the freezing of federal funds.