Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · 9d

Beyond the obvious remarks of how dystopian this is, fire smoke is no joke - it elevates serious health risks (cancer) and causes respiratory problems.

Unless necessary or unavoidable, exposure to fire smoke needs to be avoided at all costs
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

MrBeast defends trapping man in burning building for chance to win $500,000

The world's most popular YouTuber is notorious for his stunt videos and challenges, and insists he takes safety seriously.

www.bbc.co.uk

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · 26d

excited for wario's land, mario's clash, man's baseball

Reposted by Luke Richardson-Foulger

Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · Jul 28

Look, I know asking for any organisation to say ‘oops we seem to have made a number of sizeable mistakes here’ is a big ask, let alone a big government organisation like @naturalengland.bsky.social

however…
The new natural England peat map is chaos on an epic scale and should go away! Please.

The screen shot of the peat map launch material showing that it’s mapping limestone as peat while claiming to be great!

2 5

Reposted by Luke Richardson-Foulger

David Olefeldt @olefeldt.bsky.social · Jul 20

CBC highlights the issue of greenhouse gas emissions from peatland fires in Canada.

www.cbc.ca/news/science...

Carbon emissions from Canada's wildfires are spiking. But that's not counting our vast peatlands | CBC News

A new government model to estimate peatland emissions and their impact on climate change could provide a new perspective on the problem — and spark new discussions about solutions.

www.cbc.ca

12 24

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · Jul 7

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Toxic metals found in UK peatlands could pose health risk

Wildfires and climate change could see decades' worth of pollutants released into the water courses.

www.bbc.co.uk

1

Reposted by Luke Richardson-Foulger

Chris Packham @chrisgpackham.bsky.social · Jul 6

Watch @oliviablakemp.bsky.social’s brutal takedown of driven grouse shooting in just 90 seconds from last weeks debate in Parliament.

@wildjustice.bsky.social

52 650 2.5K

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · Jun 27

Peatland wildfire emissions dynamically evolve according to its stage and condition - with potential consequences for global fire emissions models. #LPS25 #peatlands

5

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · Jun 25

Hyperspectral imaging of disperse methane emissions from #peatlands! Presented yesterday at the Living Planet Symposium...

3

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · Jun 24

First day of the Living Planet Symposium #LPS25 in Vienna! Debut image from the Biomass mission was fantastic to see. Exciting times ahead...

4

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · Jun 18

Excellent swamp 💚

1

Reposted by Luke Richardson-Foulger

Cat Frampton @catframpton.bsky.social · Jun 16

It’s been a whole month since the peat map of England was launched!

It’s still very wrong
And it’s still online

So I’ve written a open letter to @naturalengland.bsky.social

I am starting to worry that massive mistakes are just a thing with the whole organisation.

What else is wildly wrong?

My letter screenshot. Dear Sallie Bailey.
I am really very sorry, but your new peat map, the England Peat Map (EPM) is deeply flawed and should be taken offline as soon as possible, and all conclusions drawn from any of its data should be removed from public discourse and decision making.
I have raised this matter on social media with Natural England, Tony Juniper, Steve Reed, and Mary Creagh, and have not received anything back so I am now bringing it officially to your door.
While I fully understand how so many massive mistakes can have happened during the making of the map, I cannot understand how it was launched without the mistakes being flagged up and fixed. I can only come to the uncomfortable conclusion that within the organisation there is no space for mistakes to be made, aired without blame, and learnt from. I worry that a culture of bluster and sweeping issues aside is prevalent. Did nobody speak up about the obvious mistakes? Are people still truly sticking to the party line of 'a few minor errors' when so many large errors are easy to see?
If this is not the case, and the maps flaws are due to a systemic lack of attention to detail or ground truthing then you have an easier job when it comes to fixing the issues. With a bit of time and some extra work we can have a map that does want it was supposed to do. As it stands even the original purpose of the map, (of helping people find the peat grips so they can be fixed), does not work, let alone the additional layers and uses.
The mistakes so large and so scattergun it is impossible to find a work around when using the map. If every river was mapped as peat, then you could accept that, or if all rocks were deep peat, but as it is just some, you never know what's good and what's not.

There appears to have been no cross referencing with other maps within the
EPM let alone elsewhere in the organisation. Quite why I do not know. The data is there, priority habitats and living England mapping along with the basic maps available showing road networks and waterways could have been used to double check the data, yet they have not been.
The obvious mistake I have found so far are:
Almost all the limestone pavement in England mapped as peat including SSSI areas and the area in the launch video, malham tarn, one of the most studied areas in the country for ecology and geology.
As far as I can see every Dartmoor tor is mapped as peat, along with large areas of rocks and shallow mineral soil surrounding the tors.
Some reservoirs mapped as peat, including Colliford, Cornwall second largest, holding 28,000 mega litres of water.
Shadows of trees, hedges and walls mapped as bare peat across broad sweeps of landscapes to such an extent that it is obvious what time of day the original images were taken
Rivers mapped as peat
China clay works mapped as peat
Known SSSI bogs not mapped as peat
Alluvial river deposits mapped as peat
The vegetation layer mapping known woods (on the tree inventory map) as open bog vegetation
Large areas of semi-improved grassland shown as Eriophorum Bog
Bracken mapped as molinia bog at a vast scale
Roads mapped as peat gullies again and again
Ridge and furrow field systems seen as peat grips along with other archeology mapped as damaged peat
Natural streams and rivers mapped as peat gullies
And

The peat depth and vegetation layers are wrong across so much or the map that it is unusable as a resource.
This list is not exhaustive.
So, in short:
areas that Natural England know are not peat mapped as peat, areas that Natural England know are peat not mapped. Infrastructure like the road network ignored and other open source maps not cross referenced.
The scale of the errors clearly show that any data taken from the EPM cannot be correct up to and including the GHG emissions figure and the restoration potential figures, and any site specific or landscape scale decisions will be made much harder by the maps bad data.
It begs the questions, firstly why is the map still online? A lightweight disclaimer, put up three days after the launch, in no way mitigates the potential harm this map could cause.
Another question about the workplace practices around normal human errors, and how the whole organisation deals with them are also starting to become more pressing as time goes on. If this is allowed to happen what else is equally wildly wrong? Can any of the data coming out of Natural England be trusted?
As I said, 1 am very sorry about all of this, especially after everyone's hard work on the project, but the fact remains that the new England Peat Map is badly wrong and needs to be taken offline.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter

3 20 33

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · Mar 31

Important step made today in the UK for our #peatlands!

Fire is one of the largest risks to carbon stores worldwide (particularly in peatlands)

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Peatland burning ban aims to protect wildlife and England’s carbon stores

Labour’s measures to ban deep-peat burning aim to safeguard habitats, tackle carbon emissions, and protect wildlife, so why are hunters up in arms?

www.theguardian.com

1

Reposted by Luke Richardson-Foulger

Miles King @milesking.bsky.social · Mar 31

Good News that the Govt is taking action to stop peatland burning for Grouse Moors. www.gov.uk/government/n... Includes redefining peat bog as >30cm peat depth.

New proposals to ban heather burning on peatland to protect air, water and wildlife

Extension to ban of burning on deep peat proposed by Government, so that an extra 146,000 hectares are protected

www.gov.uk

2 13 45

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · Mar 26

Was glad to help review this interesting piece on elusive 'zombie fires'!

Cabin Radio @cabinradio.ca · Mar 26

Overwintering ‘zombie fires’ aren’t doing what we thought they’d do

A major new study of NWT wildfires that smoulder through the winter surprised the scientists involved and has some lessons for the territory's firefighters.

Overwintering ‘zombie fires’ aren’t doing what we thought they’d do

A major new study of NWT wildfires that smoulder through the winter surprised the scientists involved and has some lessons for the territory's firefighters.

cabinradio.ca

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · Mar 13

Last month, @space4climate.bsky.social hosted a methane community workshop, uniting UK expertise from academia, industry & government ahead of #COP30.

Methane is a major climate driver—better management of #wetlands, #wildfires & industry can often curb extreme emissions.

Thanks for having me!

Wetland site with scientific equipment measuring it.

2

Reposted by Luke Richardson-Foulger

Paul Wennberg @paulowennberg.bsky.social · Jan 20

@caltech.edu’s Haroula Baliaka on the composition of smoke from the Eaton Fires www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/c...

Airborne Lead and Chlorine Levels Soared as L.A. Wildfires Raged

The findings give new insight into the dangers of urban wildfires that burn plastics and other chemicals in homes and property.

www.nytimes.com

2 24 57

Reposted by Luke Richardson-Foulger

Mike Brown @plutokiller.com · Jan 17

Just had a sample of the Eaton Fire ash that is in my driveway run on the department XRF. Is there titanium (new house paint)? Yup. Lead (old house paint)? You betcha. Heavy metals? Check. Treat that ash like it's toxic folks (because it is)

$A computer screen with a display showing output from an xray diffraction spectrometer.$ $Close up view showing fraction of metals. Fun stuff.$

120 2.1K 4.7K

Reposted by Luke Richardson-Foulger

Dr. Vin Gupta @vinguptamd.bsky.social · Jan 8

Smoke inhalation — even for seconds - can impair consciousness.

To anyone in the immediate vicinity of this unprecedented fire in the nations most populous county, urgently heed the evacuation orders NOW.

Smoke is as dangerous as the flames behind them.

250 3K 11K

Reposted by Luke Richardson-Foulger

Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society @centrewildfires.bsky.social · Jan 8

Congratulations to our Associate Director, Prof Martin Wooster at King's College London, for being made an MBE for his contribution to wildfire science! 👏🥳

www.kcl.ac.uk/news/kings-e...

King's expert in wildfires and satellite imaging awarded MBE in New Year Honours

Recognition for researcher who helped bring global attention to landscape fire and smoke

www.kcl.ac.uk

3 6

Reposted by Luke Richardson-Foulger

Dr. Merritt Rae Turetsky @queenofpeat.bsky.social · Dec 17

Help restore my faith in the world. Who loves a good bog? Make yourselves known! For bogs are - time keepers, death defiers, artifact protectors, carbon trappers, water purifiers, food providers, beautiful mysterious places

61 99 760

Luke Richardson-Foulger @lukemrf.bsky.social · Dec 17

Hello World! I'm Luke, a PhD student at @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social, NCEO, & @centrewildfires.bsky.social studying peatland wildfires 🔥🌿: their emissions, climate impact, and human health effects. My work utilises infrared remote sensing, earth observation, and a lot of soil.

1 2 11