Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 1h

As a longtime Bombshell and now @sirenspod.bsky.social fangirl, I was so delighted to join @emsetc.bsky.social and Radha Iyengar Plumb for this mini episode!

Sirens: A Bombshell Production @sirenspod.bsky.social · 2h

New mini with the brilliant @erinsikorsky.bsky.social to dig into her new book Climate Change on the Battlefield. What is the threat militaries are facing from climate change? How is it shaping the landscape they operate in? And what are they doing about it? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

Climate Change on the Battlefield

Podcast Episode · Sirens: A Bombshell production · 10/08/2025 · 27m

podcasts.apple.com

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 1d

Great news on solar and wind. Hate to be a downer, but the decline in hydro, especially in Europe due to droughts and heat, according to Ember -- is concerning, and a trend that will likely increase in the next few decades.

Solar and wind power has grown faster than electricity demand this year, report says

A new analysis of solar and wind power shows its generation worldwide has outpaced electricity demand this year.

apnews.com

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 1d

Don't get me wrong, I bop along to Swift's songs regularly and enjoyed taking a group of preteens to the movie version of the Eras tour like everyone else. But I also think the new album's not great, and the marketing around it is enshittification capitalism like everything else.

Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 1d

🔥🔥

"The Life of a Showgirl is made of Shein quality rip-offs of other people’s songs that are constructed shoddily and sold in ginormous quantities. Art takes time and care. This is profit. It’s content."

No Good Art Comes From Greed | Defector

The packages arrived square and thin and carefully wrapped on Saturday afternoon. There were three of them, but only one was mine. If I could have rejected my package, sent it back from whence it came...

defector.com

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 1d

🔥🔥

"The Life of a Showgirl is made of Shein quality rip-offs of other people’s songs that are constructed shoddily and sold in ginormous quantities. Art takes time and care. This is profit. It’s content."

No Good Art Comes From Greed | Defector

The packages arrived square and thin and carefully wrapped on Saturday afternoon. There were three of them, but only one was mine. If I could have rejected my package, sent it back from whence it came...

defector.com

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 2d

Great @billmckibben.bsky.social piece on the natsec benefits of solar. This is exactly what @councilonstrategicrisks.org has found in our Renewable Energy is National Security project -- countries that invest in clean energy are more resilient in today's competitive geopolitical environment.

It's hard to drone a solar panel

The war in Ukraine may be adding resilience to the list of clean energy's virtues

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Erin Sikorsky

AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 3d

Landslides and floods triggered by heavy downpours in Nepal and neighbouring India have killed more than 60 people, officials said on Sunday, as rescue workers raced to reach cut-off communities in remote mountainous terrain ➡️ u.afp.com/SmTh

Photo taken and released by the Nepali Army on October 5, 2025 shows army personnel carrying a landslide victim evacuated by a helicoper following heavy rain-triggered landslides and floods in Nepal

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Reposted by Erin Sikorsky

Jon Stewart @codeslack.bsky.social · 7d

This Air Force cover of Miley Cyrus’s hit song Flowers? Lethal.

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 4d

Greater love hath no parent than the one that spends Saturday morning in McLean at a training to become a debate judge.

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Reposted by Erin Sikorsky

Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 5d

Really cool story - bird species from across the world make the same sound to warn against cuckoos, and they can even understand each other. Feeds into ideas Darwin had about the origin of language! www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

20 bird species can understand each other’s anti-cuckoo call

Several species of birds from different continents use and understand similar alarm calls when they see an invader that might lay an egg in their nest – this shared call hints at the origin of languag...

www.newscientist.com

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Reposted by Erin Sikorsky

Josh Busby @busbyj2.bsky.social · 4d

Interested in the impact of climate change on transborder migration? I was part of an interesting online seminar yday w UCSD's Barbara Walter & Stanford's Helene Benveniste hosted by California Council on Science and Technology moderated by @americaadapts.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlsO...

Climate Change and Human Mobility Across Borders

YouTube video by California Council on Science and Technology (CCST)

www.youtube.com

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 5d

Reflects findings of research we did at @councilonstrategicrisks.org a few years ago on China's climate security vulnerabilities:

councilonstrategicrisks.org/2022/11/29/n...

New Report: China’s Climate Security Vulnerabilities - The Council on Strategic Risks

explores China's security vulnerabilities in the face of expected climate change effects, focusing on its key risks, the Chinese response so far, and identifies important uncertainties as conditions c...

councilonstrategicrisks.org

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 5d

Fascinating look at China's resilience to extreme weather events -- investments in physical adaptation capacity unparalleled and innovative, yet information control that limits local officials' ability to build trust/tell truth limits effectiveness. (1/2)

How China was ready for Super Typhoon Ragasa – and what still needs to be done

Chinese cities have been hit by a series of deadly storms over the decades, but this time no one died on the mainland.

www.scmp.com

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 5d

“This is proof that things are getting worse,” Dr. Santín said. “We need to adapt to live with fire. This is our reality, and it’s not going anywhere.”

Costly and Deadly Wildfires Really Are on the Rise, New Research Finds

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Erin Sikorsky

Reuters @reuters.com · 5d

FEMA stops release of key grants and requires states to prove population counts, CNN reports reut.rs/3IM0U2D

FEMA stops release of key grants and requires states to prove population counts, CNN reports

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency has stopped the release of emergency preparedness grants to states until they prove their populations, CNN reported on Thursday, citing a notice by the agency.

reut.rs

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Reposted by Erin Sikorsky

Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 6d

“It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.”
― Jane Goodall

💙 RIP to a real one. My childhood hero

Jane Goodall with monarch butterfly scarf

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 6d

🔥 The crisis is already here. The conversation continues to move beyond cutting future emissions to managing today’s climate risks—including more serious discussions than ever before on climate intervention—with all the opportunities and risks such interventions may bring. (5/5)

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 6d

🇨🇳 China sees the opening. Its emissions pledge may fall short of Paris goals, but its clean tech investments are shifting the global energy order—and filling the vacuum left by U.S. inaction. (4/5)

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 6d

🇺🇸 The world is moving on without Washington. Allies are no longer waiting for U.S. leadership—they’re building climate security strategies on their own terms. (3/5)

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 6d

🌍 Climate Week and UNGA need each other. The private sector can’t afford to ignore Turtle Bay politics, and governments can’t solve the crisis without investors and innovators. These communities must engage more, not less. (2/5)

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 6d

Do you need another roundup of NY Climate Week "key takeaways"? Of course you do -- and I promise not to mention AI. Four thoughts on the week... (1/5)

Reflections on Climate Week, Power & Politics

Why NY Climate Week Matters

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Erin Sikorsky

Scott Fenstermaker @scottfenstermaker.bsky.social · 6d

One of the world's most phenomenal people.

Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 6d

Oof, one of my heroes.

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91

www.nytimes.com

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 6d

When my daughter was little we read this delightful book about Goodall by Patrick McDonnell on repeat. His illustrations + Jane's story are magic together. shop.janegoodall.org/product/Me-J...

A photo of the book cover of a children's book about Jane Goodall called Me...Jane. Illustrations on the cover include her as a child with her stuffed monkey, and lots of other jungle animals.

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Reposted by Erin Sikorsky

Bernhard Voelkl @bernhardvoelkl.bsky.social · 6d

For the last decades she was best known for her indefatigable commitment for conservation, but her contribution to science can't be overestimated as well. I feel priviledged to have met her on several occasions. We will miss her.

Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 6d

Oof, one of my heroes.

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91

www.nytimes.com

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Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 6d

Oof, one of my heroes.

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Erin Sikorsky

Phil Klay @philklay.bsky.social · 6d

‘The appeal to the mystical image of the “warfighter” is that it avoids having to discuss war in concrete terms. It sells the attractive myth that by doing more of the parts of war that look cool and really make you feel like a man, you can actually win wars.‘

www.deadcarl.com/p/clausewitz...

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