David Kirchman
@dlkirchman
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Francis Alison Professor, U. of Delaware. Past work was in microbial oceanography and ecology. His book about climate change and microbes is now available.
Lewes, Delaware
Joined September 2012
I'm moving to Bluesky too. https://t.co/DQZfZQbpEs
science.org
After recent changes to Elon Musk’s X, a gradual migration turns into a stampede
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I am proud to have represented @ecomicrolyon and our research #MicroRescue and THE MICROBES at the recent colloquium by the Fondation Pierre Verots My talk (in English!) is an accessible overview as to why microbes are important for climate change https://t.co/qWe5YZgYTi
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Submit your abstract for the @ASMicrobiology @Microbe2025 annual meeting in Los Angeles I'm organizing a symposium on Microbial Dormancy and I hope to see your abstract and discuss with you there. Early abstracts close Dec 3, don't delay! https://t.co/Wgf5aqvGRK
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Even if you don't want to read the entire review (but you should), at least check out the list of related books at the end. The Story of Earth's Climate in 25 Discoveries: How Scientists Found the Connections Between Climate and Life https://t.co/5RBI5qzPCw via @inqbiol
inquisitivebiologist.com
A palaeoclimatology chronicle with character, this book successfully continues Prothero’s approach of tackling earth science topics in 25 interesting chapters.
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"Chlorophyll-induced solar absorption leads to colder Pacific coastal upwelling but warmer Atlantic coastal upwelling." Diverse Responses of Upper Ocean Temperatures to Chlorophyll‐Induced Solar Absorption Across Different Coastal Upwelling Regions
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Chlorophyll-induced solar absorption leads to colder Pacific coastal upwelling but warmer Atlantic coastal upwelling In Pacific, chlorophyll-induced temperature variations intensify ocean stratif...
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Rather than Bjornerud's latest, I picked up an earlier book, Timefulness. Although a geologist she says the biosphere is a "microcracy" & microbes will take over when "larger, arriviste lifeforms falter." Of course they already rule. https://t.co/5e8oxb3W3r
press.princeton.edu
Why an awareness of Earth’s temporal rhythms is critical to our planetary survival
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I discovered Marcia Bjornerud from a great review of this book in the New Yorker (8/26/24) . Wish she were teaching when I was at Lawrence where she's on the faculty. @LawrenceUni
us.macmillan.com
Winner of the 2025 John Burroughs Medal for Natural History Writing“A beautiful book—at once intimate and sweeping, informative and moving.” —Elizabe...
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"Our results support the USA–Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement recommendation of a 40% P reduction, but also indicate that a parallel reduction of N input by 40% would be most effective in controlling bloom magnitudes." Hans Paerl et al. https://t.co/N6D8rLbTmS
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"If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of carbon, behind China and the United States." Only water is used more than cement. https://t.co/5ab29xAVDi
washingtonpost.com
Concrete is Earth’s second-most-used material behind water, creating about four times more CO2 emissions than planes. Some companies are trying to revolutionize the industry.
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"..significant decrease in soil microbial biomass over the past three decades, possibly attributed to climate warming..." Exploring Global Data Sets to Detect Changes in Soil Microbial Carbon and Nitrogen Over Three Decades -
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Global MBC and MBN declined at rates of 0.033 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 and 0.007 Mg N ha−1 yr−1 from 1988 to 2019 possibly due to climatic changes MBC in boreal biomes decreased 4.3 times faster than in te...
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"Japan’s Mount Fuji remained snowless on Tuesday, marking the latest date that its slopes have been bare since records began 130 years ago.." https://t.co/4445xxHn0G
theguardian.com
As of 29 October, the iconic mountain was still without snow, marking the longest period since records began 130 years ago
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But we are still the ultimate cause. Rapid shift in methane carbon isotopes suggests microbial emissions drove record high atmospheric methane growth in 2020–2022 | PNAS
pnas.org
The growth rate of the atmospheric abundance of methane (CH4) reached a record high of 15.4 ppb yr−1 between 2020 and 2022, but the mechanisms driv...
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"The total heat-trapping potential of the atmosphere is now 51.5 percent higher than in 1990.." Planet-warming pollution is growing at the fastest rate in history, scientists say
washingtonpost.com
Most of the growth comes from people burning coal, oil and gas, the report said.
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"... inconsistencies of the [N] loading vs. size model in recent years indicates that there is a tipping point beyond which the hypoxic zone size decreases.." A temperature tipping point in hypoxic zone size - Turner - Limnology and Oceanography
aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Temperature increases will have ubiquitous effects on aquatic food webs, from microbes to consumers, and affect the quality and quantity of carbon flows within and between water layers. A decline in...
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"We reviewed 37 years of data on hypoxic zone size and water quality in the northern Gulf of Mexico to determine...." A temperature tipping point in hypoxic zone size - Turner - Limnology and Oceanography
aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Temperature increases will have ubiquitous effects on aquatic food webs, from microbes to consumers, and affect the quality and quantity of carbon flows within and between water layers. A decline in...
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Not in current models: "..the experimental site observations generally show an immediate increased ecosystem respiration response to warming followed by a decline in respiration after about 5 years" Simulating Arctic Carbon Emissions in a Warming World
eos.org
Not all climate models include carbon from thawing permafrost, and those that do often disagree. Scientists are working to better inform models and assess how these crucial materials are simulated.
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"In 2023, the hottest year ever recorded, preliminary findings by an international team of researchers show the amount of carbon absorbed by land has temporarily collapsed." https://t.co/wWWR6HPhJn
theguardian.com
The sudden collapse of carbon sinks was not factored into climate models – and could rapidly accelerate global heating
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"Earth’s wildlife populations have fallen on average by a “catastrophic” rate of 73 percent in the past half-century, according to a new analysis the World Wildlife Fund released Wednesday."
washingtonpost.com
The Living Planet Index tracks thousands of vertebrate species globally and found the worst declines were in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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This slim book is a mix of science, history & natural history, beautifully written, as to be expected from the author of "The Shipping News," one of my favorites. https://t.co/f1KS5IMjbj
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Congrats to Ben Van Mooy, a microbial oceanographer at @WHOI, for being named a MacArthur "genius" fellow. https://t.co/eMoWlftUrJ
washingtonpost.com
This year’s list of MacArthur “genius grant” fellows includes author Jason Reynolds and “Reservation Dogs” co-creator Sterlin Harjo.
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