Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 13h

Very cool @carleton.edu geology team & others on your @geosociety.bsky.social story that will help people with designing effective district geothermal systems. www.geosociety.org/GSA/GSA/GSAT...

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 14h

It was amazing to see a packed room for the “teaching in the arboretum” lunch & learn today. Next year is the centennial. www.carleton.edu/arboretum/

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 1d

Our understanding of vulnerability & increased risks are really only just starting to build…

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 1d

Have been thinking about the increased climate risks we face in places where people live & work, & schools. One thing this reminded me of was trying to pull data on schools in Ohio that had air conditioning…it was only possible by reaching out by district.

www.brookings.edu/articles/sch...

Schools' vulnerability to climate hazards according to FEMA's Risk Index | Brookings

See your school's exposure to climate hazards induced by climate change, including heat waves, flooding, and hurricanes.

www.brookings.edu

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 1d

I definitely feel like the numbers part is disconnected from the reflection on how to adapt to specific context & implement. In campus sustainability there is a really long way of tallying food receipts & thinking about too many categories, when really one metric is powerful & respectful of time.

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 1d

From a higher ed implementation perspective I see three opportunities. 1) tracking red meat purchasing & trying to reduce it, 2) creating education & educator community around high emissions reduction behaviors, 3) ensuring we invite culture & connection with how to implement & not shame.

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 1d

A reality check for me was working with students on an internal carbon accounting platform that Bon App our food provider uses. Beef was less than 5% of our purchases but around 50% of our food emissions even with international work to be plant forward.

apnews.com/article/plan...

A recipe for avoiding 15 million deaths a year and climate disaster is fixing food, scientists say

Scientists are presenting new evidence that the worst effects of climate change can’t be avoided without a major transformation of food systems.

apnews.com

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 2d

Good to see this. microgridmedia.com/us-solar-to-...

US Solar to Pass Wind in 2025, and Coal by 2028 - Microgrid Media

Solar keeps leading new electricity additions in the United States. From January to July 2025, developers added about 16 GW ... Read more

microgridmedia.com

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 2d

There is no investment in future.

“There’s a focus on dismantling rather than building. It’s hard to see. We’re not present for a major global issue and are ceding that ground to our competitors, which is not good for the United States.”

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Trump’s hatred for renewables means the US is falling behind the rest of the world

As well as embracing ‘beautiful coal’, the president has set about obliterating clean energy projects

www.theguardian.com

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 3d

Indeed, its almost like we have records of past temperatures or even crazier forecasts that help us determine what’s next under different choices….

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 3d

In my childhood we’d hit temperatures above 90 once or twice every other yr in September. Now it’s much more common. It’s 90 today in the Twin Cities & even out of the heat island in Northfield…in October.

Deleting data, & federal support doesn’t lessen change.

bringmethenews.com/minnesota-we...

Temperatures hit 90F in Twin Cities, an increasingly common landmark in September

The mercury hit 90 at 12:39 p.m. Tuesday.

bringmethenews.com

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 5d

Great contest & use of LIDAR:

“While they do not weigh individual bears during the contest because of safety concerns, Chunk and others have had their density scanned to bolster weight estimates in the past using laser technology called LIDAR”

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Chunk, a 1,200-pound bear with a broken jaw, wins Alaska's popular Fat Bear Week contest | CBC News

Chunk, a towering brown bear with a broken jaw, swept the competition Tuesday in the popular Fat Bear Week contest — his first win after narrowly finishing in second place three previous years.

www.cbc.ca

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Fortner

ACLU @aclu.org · 5d

Journalists should never have to fear government retaliation for reporting on government activity, and showing up to work shouldn't result in your family being torn apart.

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 5d

What times we are in…

Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 6d

Well said, Carrie Jennings, Freshwater Policy Director reflecting on the policy landscape for data centers.

“what we currently lack is a very clear path for stakeholders to figure out who to talk to” when it comes to standing up for their communities.”

www.womenspress.com/data-center-...

DATA CENTER SERIES: The Impact on Minnesota Waters

Residents worry that the data center will overshadow their own water needs, especially in the summer months. Tract developers convinced city officials to let data centers use municipal water supplies ...

www.womenspress.com

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 6d

Beautiful fall on the @carleton.edu campus!

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 7d

Ha!

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 7d

This propaganda is not ok. www.hud.gov#close

HUD Home | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

www.hud.gov

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 8d

Best part of the UMACS meeting, hearing from students about what they valued, for many it was a first professional meeting & their values truly reflect their individual identities in sustainability & climate work.

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 9d

At the UMACS meeting I was so thrilled to hear of many campus-community joint climate resilience efforts in Northfield, Collegeville, Morris, Bemidji, LaCrosse, Stephens Point. Colleges are deeply joined with climate planning & implementation in these communities.

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Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 9d

The CASCS do important work of supporting communities with climate decisions, which are really economic & community life decisions. Thinking about colleagues working at CASCS now & the communities served with a knot in my stomach. We’re losing critical work.

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...