Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Joel Thornton

Mike Eliason @holz-bau.bsky.social · 4d

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

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Reposted by Joel Thornton

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 Thornton

UW Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science @uwatmossci.bsky.social · 14d

🥇🥇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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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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Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · 19d

Thanks!

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Joel Thornton @atmostaj.bsky.social · 19d

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 Thornton

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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Reposted by Joel Thornton

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

jobs.utoronto.ca

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Reposted by Joel Thornton

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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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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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 Thornton

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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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 Thornton

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 Thornton

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 Thornton

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 Thornton

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 Joel Thornton

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