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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world

@ericagies.bsky.social

7.7K followers 560 following 650 posts

Author of "Water Always Wins," #slowwater aficionado, independent journalist for Scientific American, Nature, NYT, the Atlantic, bioGraphic, and others. Fan of critters, plants, democracy, kindness, and respect.

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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · Jun 20

Do plants affect global climate through water? Some climate scientists say yes, but others say plants' effect is only local or regional. If the plant-power proponents are right, it means, to solve climate, we need more than the energy transition. We also need to restore land to health. My story:

Climate science and the case of the missing moisture

Nature Water - Expected air moisture is missing over drier areas worldwide, possibly because climate models undervalue the effects of plants and other life. This finding could be a fingerprint of...

rdcu.be

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Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world

Erik Hoffner @erikhoffner.bsky.social · 12h

🍄 👀

Humongous #fungus amongus via @mongabay.com

"It is so large that I could sit on it, and it remained firmly attached to the tree.”

Massive fungus from India is newly described species

From the forests of northeast India’s Arunachal Pradesh state, researchers have described a new-to-science species of fungus with “exceptionally large” fruiting bodies that can hold the weight of a pe...

news.mongabay.com

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Stand.earth @stand.earth · 12h

Six unoccupied homes in North Carolina’s Outer Banks collapsed into the ocean last week after being battered by waves from Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda.

The shocking footage has spurred discussion online, with many asking “why did these homeowners build so close to the ocean?”

6 homes collapse as waves from hurricanes Imelda, Humberto slam North Carolina's Outer Banks

Six unoccupied homes have collapsed and been swept into the Atlantic Ocean along North Carolina's Outer Banks since Tuesday as powerful waves from hurricanes Humberto and Imelda slam the Southeast coa...

www.foxweather.com

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 13h

Flagging Trump this afternoon:

"We took the freedom of speech away. Because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech — but what has happened is, when they burn a flag it, agitates and irritates crowds."

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16h

Pritzker: "I think it's important to recognize that the Trump administration does not seem to respect any laws in the United States. They just do what they want to do and they'll keep doing it unless someone stops them. Here in Illinois we're stopping them."

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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 17h

Neighbor

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Nearly Wild @nearlywild.bsky.social · 2d

Food production for people (food forests) can overlap with natural biodiversity.

"In Ecuador, the figure is striking: 99% of all Afro-descendant land is in biodiversity hotspots, while in Colombia almost 92% of Afro-descendant lands are in the top 5% of areas for biodiversity."

Tobias Plieninger @plieningerlab.bsky.social · 3d

Fascinating article: Afro-descendant communities manage rich food forests across 2M km² in Latin America—yet only 5% are legally recognized. These biodiverse landscapes store carbon, curb deforestation & reflect a deep legacy of resistance. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Food forests are everything’: creating edible landscapes helps nature thrive in Afro-descendant lands

Agroforestry systems in Latin America practised by local communities are a boon to biodiversity, according to research

www.theguardian.com

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Gerry Flynn @geraldrflynn.bsky.social · 3d

Our latest data analysis shows nearly 1 million Ha of tree cover was lost across Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam in 2024.

Nearly a quarter of this was primary forest, but - more alarming - ~30% of tree cover losses occurred inside protected areas. Read the breakdown on @mongabay.com

Protected areas hit hard as Mekong countries’ forest cover shrank in 2024

BANGKOK — The Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined area of tree cover of nearly a million hectares in 2024, or an area almost the size of Lebanon. That’s a...

news.mongabay.com

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Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world

bioGraphic @biographic.bsky.social · 5d

🍄🧪🚨GLOW-IN-THE-DARK TREE SCIENCE🚨🧪🍄

Scientists have identified 125 species of bioluminescent fungi, and there are likely many more. One of the latest discoveries is a species that doesn't just glow on its own -- trees interlaced with its filaments also emit an ethereal greenish light (!!)

Glowing from Within - bioGraphic

With more scientists and artists turning their attention to bioluminescence, new information about glowing fungi is coming to light.

www.biographic.com

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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 5d

Very cool! I also highly recommend the Pavilion d' l'eau for history of water development in Paris and a rotating exhibit. I saw a really cool one on the invention of hydropower

Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 5d

Chairman Mao Mao questions our decorative choice of his Birmingham Peaky Blinders doppelgänger.

Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 5d

Only 2-3 percent of old growth remains on Vancouver Island & some may be logged soon. Colonizers pushed First Nations to form elected councils, at odds w/their hereditary governance. Now some nations are split over land management. By Robyn Bell, Capital Daily www.capitaldaily.ca/news/old-gro...

Old-growth protesters in Walbran Valley stay put as BC Supreme Court approves injunction

The injunction was approved last Friday and could be enforced at any time.

www.capitaldaily.ca

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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 5d

Super cool story by Robyn Bell for Capital Daily www.capitaldaily.ca/news/orcas-s...

Orcas sharing prey with humans may be their way of learning about us

Scientists studied two decades of interactions where orcas appeared to share food with people.

www.capitaldaily.ca

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ACLU @aclu.org · 6d

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.

Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 7d

Go, Jane, go! She's rounded up hundreds of Hollywood figures to revive the First Amendment organization her father championed. Fonda, in her late eighties, is in her prime as a climate champion and a powerful voice for justice.

Jane Fonda Relaunches Committee for the First Amendment With Support of 550 Celebrities Including Pedro Pascal, Viola Davis and More

Jane Fonda has relaunched the Committee for the First Amendment with the support of Pedro Pascal, Viola Davis and more.

variety.com

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Samantha Maldonado @smaldo.bsky.social · 8d

ICE agents shoved multiple journalists while they were doing their jobs. One had to go to the hospital.

www.amny.com/immigration/...

ICE agents assault amNewYork reporter at Federal Plaza immigration court; another journalist seriously injured after shove | amNewYork

ICE agents assaulted amNewYork's own Dean Moses, and allegedly attacked another journalist, on Tuesday morning as they were documenting the ongoing arrests of

www.amny.com

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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 7d

Jane Goodall whooped a chimp greeting at Cal Academy, and held the audience rapt. I got to interview her, and she was so kind, & clear in her message that she spent 300 days/year traveling to tell. Her Roots & Shoots org stoked wonder, love, and protection for nature in children worldwide. RIP

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 7d

Jane Goodall, ethologist and conservationist, has died. She was 91

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ACLU @aclu.org · 10d

"My father’s vocation is journalism. He is a storyteller, a truth-seeker, a man who believed — and still believes — that people deserve to know what’s happening in their communities..."

Mario Guevara has been detained away from his family for over 100 days. He could be deported at any moment.

Opinion | My father is a journalist. The Trump administration is about to deport him.

I will continue to fight for his freedom, and the freedom of all those who ask the hard questions

www.msnbc.com

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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you!

Reposted by Erica Gies / SlowWater.world

Evan Frost @wildwoods.bsky.social · 13d

"This morning Medford District BLM excluded the public & the press from attending auction of the 'Take a Chance' old-growth timber sale located in the Cascade Mtns of s Oregon. Federal agencies are now handing over our forests to the timber industry behind locked doors. (from K-S Wild)

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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 13d

Spotted stapled to a telephone pole in Cumberland, BC. #MAHA

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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 13d

Using an emergency declaration, Trump’s timber production executive order would ease environmental protections so as to greatly expand logging in the national forests.

A report from our friends at @highcountrynews.org:

The dismantling of the US Forest Service is imminent

The public has less than a week remaining to comment on the administration's plans.

www.motherjones.com

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 13d

Van Hollen: I will just say that anybody who thinks we're on the way to authoritarianism is wrong. We are there

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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 13d

projects we need globally to rebalance the water cycle and help stabilize the climate. In his memory, I hope people will read about Sponge Planet and think about what they can do in their own places to move us toward that vision. RIP, Kongjian. You left a remarkable, spongy impact. I will miss you.

Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 13d

Over the years he became more than a source; he became a friend. Earlier this year we co-authored this piece (below) together for Nature Water. His full vision was to go beyond Sponge Cities and create a Sponge Planet -- an elegant way of articulating the many thousands of Slow Water ...

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Erica Gies / SlowWater.world @ericagies.bsky.social · 13d

He made himself available to show me his projects, office, club, home and rooftop garden, and was so full of life and vision. He became the focus of a chapter in my book, "Water Always Wins," and he ended up writing a beautiful foreword to the Chinese edition.

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