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Jesse Damiani

@jessedamiani

Foresight for Polycrisis. Adjunct Prof, NYU. I write realitystudies.co & host the Urgent Futures Podcast @urgentfutures.bsky.social. Bylines: Flash Art, Forbes, NBC News, The Verge, WIRED

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Latest posts by Jesse Damiani @jessedamiani

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Pretty crazy how important the blockade of a trade route is right now

10.03.2026 21:30 πŸ‘ 22699 πŸ” 6121 πŸ’¬ 198 πŸ“Œ 375
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Metaculus v Polymarket predicting the Iran attack -- @kikollan.llaneras.es in @elpais.com: elpais.com/actualidad/n...

08.03.2026 21:35 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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NEW: Watch this report just in from CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen. It is raining oil in Tehran this morning.

A city of 10 million is being actively poisoned.

(πŸŽ₯ CNN)

08.03.2026 07:59 πŸ‘ 873 πŸ” 624 πŸ’¬ 43 πŸ“Œ 91

Hitting desalination plants is so bad. Not just evil but strategically incomprehensible. Without desalination 75% of the entire population of the Middle East will be refugees. Israel and Kuwait depend on desalination for 90% of their water and other Middle East states aren’t far behind.

08.03.2026 08:46 πŸ‘ 2293 πŸ” 643 πŸ’¬ 51 πŸ“Œ 62
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Had to doublecheck the date on this

07.03.2026 16:00 πŸ‘ 11693 πŸ” 3313 πŸ’¬ 363 πŸ“Œ 230

Imagine all the cool, fast trains we could have with the billions we spend on bombs.

07.03.2026 01:59 πŸ‘ 4215 πŸ” 776 πŸ’¬ 28 πŸ“Œ 66

One of the all-time great tweets. Reference this at least once per year.

07.03.2026 20:35 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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UK must stockpile food in readiness for climate shocks or war, expert warns Prof Tim Lang says country produces far less food than it needs to feed population and is particularly vulnerable

These warnings about food security are happening almost weekly now

But does anyone think the government is taking a blind bit of notice

The UKs 3 worst harvests have been in the last 5 years

By 2050, the number of calories per head globally could be halved

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

07.03.2026 10:42 πŸ‘ 190 πŸ” 91 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 6

Quite an opening paragraph.

06.03.2026 09:27 πŸ‘ 1076 πŸ” 428 πŸ’¬ 44 πŸ“Œ 93

Polymarket pulled nuclear detonation markets after public backlash. There's a right way to forecast existential risks and a wrong way. The right way: aggregate judgment for reliable foresight. The wrong way: let anonymous wallets profit from mass death--or worse, corrupt the decisions themselves.

06.03.2026 15:39 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The fate of fossil fuel systems in the "mid-transition" I talk with Emily Grubert about the hidden dangers of letting the free market manage the decline of our legacy energy infrastructure.

Today on Volts: for the next few decades, we'll be in the "mid-transition," with clean energy systems growing as FF systems decline. Those FF systems will not decline smoothly -- there will be thresholds, "cliffs," where they suddenly crumble -- so maybe we should, I dunno, plan for it?

04.03.2026 17:47 πŸ‘ 286 πŸ” 94 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 23

Is this good, chat?

04.03.2026 14:44 πŸ‘ 71 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1
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RFK Jr. wants Dunkin’ to prove drinking its iced coffee is safe - The Boston Globe The warning comes as Kennedy is leaning heavily into his agenda to improve American diets.

Congratulations to 2028 Democratic National Convention keynote speaker Ben Affleck www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/04/n...

04.03.2026 14:56 πŸ‘ 451 πŸ” 42 πŸ’¬ 16 πŸ“Œ 12

Should we be gambling on war? For so many reasons, no.

02.03.2026 21:27 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

holy fuck holy fuck holy FUCK

01.03.2026 21:47 πŸ‘ 267 πŸ” 192 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Vehicle fuel economy and vehicle miles traveled: An empirical investigation of Jevon’s Paradox There has been, in recent decades, a concerted effort to promote energy efficiency as a means to reduce energy consumption. The general thesis is that…

STUDY: Despite conventional wisdom that increases in vehicle fuel efficiency results in decreased gasoline consumption, Jevons’ Paradox holds. For every 1 mile per gallon of increased fuel efficiency there’s an associated 1.2 mile increase in vehicle miles travelled.

Better cars = higher emissions.

01.03.2026 06:38 πŸ‘ 133 πŸ” 63 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 1
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28.02.2026 12:14 πŸ‘ 3396 πŸ” 826 πŸ’¬ 62 πŸ“Œ 50
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I will continue the fight for environmental justice in Black communities Nicknamed the father of environmental justice, Robert Bullard argues that researchers in the field have more reason than ever to back up their work with action.

β€œI might have written 18 books over the past four decades, but it’s really all just one book on fairness, justice and equity,” @drrobertbullard.bsky.social, the father of environmental justice.

His nature.com interview ends the Changemakers Q&A series, started by @kendallsciwrite.bsky.social.

27.02.2026 18:14 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Cover of The Lancet:

@thelancet.com
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

27.02.2026 11:15 πŸ‘ 8158 πŸ” 3441 πŸ’¬ 158 πŸ“Œ 220

I first thought "there aren't words" when I first saw this story. but there are

26.02.2026 16:52 πŸ‘ 476 πŸ” 124 πŸ’¬ 17 πŸ“Œ 5

Quite a flex to host Brendan β€œWe Can Do This the Easy Way or the Hard Way” Carr as the headline speaker for your β€˜Restoring Trust in Media’ conference…

25.02.2026 16:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Here’s my ask: if you’re a climate denier, please explain this.

25.02.2026 16:03 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The ICE Contractor Down the Hall A tour through the Midtown intelligence firms and courier services that help keep the agency running.

new from me at @curbed.com: everyone ICE did business with in New York City last year www.curbed.com/article/ice-...

24.02.2026 13:46 πŸ‘ 305 πŸ” 177 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 3

Excellent work from excellent team. And let's be sure to not bury the headlines here: coral reefs are GONE. Beyond 1.5Β°C we should expect >90% dead. North Atlantic currents very vulnerable at this temp. These are potentially v fast tipping points that could cause havoc with weather, farming. 1/5

24.02.2026 10:24 πŸ‘ 171 πŸ” 84 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 5

Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus.

FOSS nerds: the Torment Nexus cannot be ethical until it is Open Source

24.02.2026 02:37 πŸ‘ 1427 πŸ” 348 πŸ’¬ 30 πŸ“Œ 25

these people treat being called racist like it is a slur, and treat slurs like they're mere differences of opinion

23.02.2026 21:45 πŸ‘ 9994 πŸ” 2147 πŸ’¬ 131 πŸ“Œ 36
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Biodiversity on the Brink: Ecological Rhythms & Human Urgency - Jonathan Tonkin | Rapid Response #20 Biodiversity underpins life on Earth as we know itβ€”ecologist Jonthan Tonkin lays it all out, including his research on freshwater biodiversity and climate extremes.

I had the chance to join @jessedamiani.bsky.social for a Substack Live conversation last week. We covered a lot of ground β€” from ecological rhythms to extreme events. We talked rivers, a bit about my back story, and even the importance of finding joy.

YouTube link: youtu.be/sTv7L4xfeVY?...

22.02.2026 22:21 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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The hidden ICE blueprint that should horrify every American | Will Bunch An internal Department of Homeland Security document shows how ICE plans to cram thousands of detained human beings inside a Georgia warehouse.

What's more shocking than ICE's plan to cram as many 8,500 humans into massive, soul-crushing warehouses?

Seeing the actual DHS floor plan that echoes slavery ships and history's worst gulags with no rec space but a gun range for guards

My new column on the camps www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...

22.02.2026 18:10 πŸ‘ 8094 πŸ” 4396 πŸ’¬ 339 πŸ“Œ 376

Appropriating NIMBYism for good 🀌

22.02.2026 19:20 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0