Colin Seftor
@cseftor.bsky.social
230 followers 88 following 33 posts
Mostly retired, worked as a NASA contractor during atmospheric research on ozone and aerosols at Goddard Space Flight Center. Still keep my hand in things one day per week.
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cseftor.bsky.social
And Cassidy's medical license should be taken away for betraying that oath.
cseftor.bsky.social
Rubio gave up his soul for power (or what he perceived was power) a long time ago, we shouldn't be surprised he's toeing the line here.
Reposted by Colin Seftor
tonyveco.bsky.social
🔴⚠️🌡️Hell is ongoing in #Spain where #wildfires are burning many thousands of hectares pushed by dry weather and strong winds. This #Sentinel2 📸shows the situation at the border of Galicia and Castilla y León,the most affected regions. with visible pyrocumulonimbus #climateemergency
Reposted by Colin Seftor
nasaearthwatch.bsky.social
🚀 🧪#NASACuts

NASA’s Unsung Workforce: Contractors

Over half of #NASA’s workforce are contractors.

Depending on the center, the proportion ranges from 50% to 70%+. Goddard—the most science-focused of all NASA centers—is at the upper end.

There are two main types of NASA contractors.
1/8
Reposted by Colin Seftor
localworld.bsky.social
SpaceX is altering atmospheric chemistry. Over 525 Starlinks deorbited in the past few months. A Starlink satellite produces 30 KG of aluminum oxide vapor which erodes the ozone layer. These oxides have increased 8-fold between 2016 and 2022. NOAA predicts this could heat the stratosphere 1.5°C
Starlink satellites orbiting Earth. https://heavens-above.com/StarLink.aspx
Reposted by Colin Seftor
mikeflannigan.bsky.social
The area burned in the Canadian 2025 fire season has hit 5 million ha. Third active fire season in a row that combined has burned 7% of the Canadian forest. Currently we have 346 fires out of control (192 monitored out of control (OC) and 154 OC that are being actioned) so expect the number to rise.
cseftor.bsky.social
I would say shame on them, but shame is such a foreign concept to those currently in power.
Reposted by Colin Seftor
jfallows.bsky.social
An email that appears to have come from the real Social Security administration.

Which until now had been considered a non-partisan federal agency.

Time for another look at 'The Origins of Totalitarianism.'
Email from Social Security Administration saying "Social Security Applauds Passage of Legislation Providing Historic Tax Relief for Seniors."  As if it were a MAGA campaign mailer. More from Social Security making Trump talking points.
cseftor.bsky.social
A series of pyroCb events in Alaska over the last few days have combined with high altitude windws to produce a smoke plume that stretches across Alaska, through western Canada / US, and into California / Nevada. This image shows N20 OMPS AI measurements. The length of the plume is over 4500 km.
Reposted by Colin Seftor
mparrington.bsky.social
So far the five provinces all have above average estimated emissions to date with Manitoba already setting its highest annual total, and Saskatchewan & Ontario highest total for time of year, in the 23-year dataset #CopernicusAtmosphere dataset
Reposted by Colin Seftor
mparrington.bsky.social
Total estimated emissions from Canadian #wildfires continuing to increase sharply (to 10 June) with many intense fires in BC, AB, SK, MB & ON. #CopernicusAtmosphere GFAS data based on MODIS🛰️ active fire obs ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/datasets/cam... @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social @ecmwf.int
cseftor.bsky.social
I was expecting this to happen ever since the election; every week or so I'd check to see if it was still up. I'm surprised the site has stayed up this long. What a sad, sorry state this country is being dragged into.
cseftor.bsky.social
Imagery using the N20 OMPS NM aerosol index shows that the smoke did go over the pole (watch the AI signal inside the circle). It's now in the easternmost part of Russia.
Reposted by Colin Seftor
physicsworld.bsky.social
On our blog, our online editor @drmlharris.bsky.social writes about the surreal experience of attending a space conference where no-one seems keen to mention the biggest threat to the sector's future: drastic proposed cuts to US science funding, including NASA. 🧪⚛️🔭 physicsworld.com/a/theres-an-...
There’s an elephant in the room at the Royal Society – and for once, it’s not (just) Elon Musk – Physics World
A conference on the future of the UK space sector makes stunningly little mention of how proposed cuts to NASA funding might affect it
physicsworld.com
Reposted by Colin Seftor
capitalweather.bsky.social
Look close at this recent satellite view and you can see the thin layer of smoke. We've got the current smoke situation, and the latest DC area forecast for mid-to-late week heat, at cwg.live
Reposted by Colin Seftor
climatescibreak.bsky.social
US climate scientists need all the help they can get. Including from foul-mouthed comedians! 🤡😱😱

Watch Emmy Award-Winning David Cross team up with Prof Michael Oppenheimer in the US launch of the hit series "Climate Science Translated".

#climate #arresteddevelopment #climatescience
Reposted by Colin Seftor
rivergirl202.bsky.social
Sun rising Tuesday through smoky #Haze over the Jefferson Memorial in #DC! @capitalweather.bsky.social @ianlivingston.bsky.social
Reposted by Colin Seftor
johnmoralestv.bsky.social
Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV 📺
cseftor.bsky.social
Here's the aerosol index image from the OMPS nadir mapper sensor onboard the NOAA 21 satellite. Note the definition of the AI is different from what TROPOMI (the instrument on Sentinel 5P) uses. I "pulled out" a bit so you can see the plume that spans across the Atlantic and over Europe.
Reposted by Colin Seftor
sangasso.bsky.social
An update from my previous posting, surface photometer confirm the presence of very thick smoke with values similar to thick citrus cloud. This why it feels like "the sun is not toasting much today"
NASA Goddard Aeronet photometer shows the Angstrom exponent ,a parameter that is above 1.5 in the presence of smoke (if it was cirrus cloud it should be one or below). Therefore we have an objective confirmation of the presence of smoke. The aerosol optical depth displayed here is a parameter measured by the Aeronet  photometer at NASA Goddard. It is a proxy of atmospheric aerosol concentration. These are very high values similar to that of cirrus clouds.