The rise in Niño 3.4 region sea surface temperatures over the past few weeks has been nothing short of astonishing. We are now hotter than any days during the 1997/1998 super El Niño event, and we are still many months from the peak.
Ben Barclay
@benbarclay.bsky.social
Translator and textbook writer. Post on climate, energy, health, Spain, Brexit and other stuff. Produce VoiceMap audio tours of Andalucía: https://voicemap.me/publisher/ben-barclay#tours https://andalucia-bound.com @andalucia-bound.bsky.social
🧵 about some of the local festivals and other events taking place in Andalucia in August.
Andalucía Bound@andalucia-bound.bsky.social · yesterday💃🐴 Malaga celebrates its feria (fair) this year from 15-22 August. The main festivities take place at the fairground on the edge of town, but during the day there is also street music and dancing in the historic centre – mostly traditional Verdiales – as well as horse shows and bullfights. 1/
From the rest of the article, I I don't think the Corbyn reference means that he joined or was involved in Labour, just that he saw them as allies on this narrow point. A drive-by on Corbyn to muddy the waters. But Rafael may be right and I may be wrong.
Rafael Behr@rafaelbehr.bsky.social · 15h agoInteresting passage in the mea culpa on antisemitism from Tory council candidate at centre of selection row, supporting the view - fiercely denied by most on left at the time - that Corbyn was a magnet drawing antisemitic cranks into Labour.
Climate change, drought, aquifer depletion: climate deniers can put that all on ignore til the cows come home, but when the economic consequences land they are in for a rude awakening. Spoiler: those consequences are landing right now, and are affecting the financing of the dairy industry.
Ben Barclay@benbarclay.bsky.social · 20h agoReally interesting article in a trade publication for dairy farmers about how the depletion of the Ogallala aquifer in Kansas/Texas is affecting what banks are willing to finance, and at what cost and for how long, and how that relates to the underlying situation of the aquifer. 1/2
Just as in France, the June-July period was record hot in Spain, although not by the same insane margin. Still a substantial 0.7 C hotter than the years in joint second place: 2022 and 2025.
AEMET@aemet.es · 18h ago🧵 El verano de 2026 por ahora (junio-julio) es el más cálido de la serie histórica en España, que arranca en 1961. ➡️ Con una temperatura media de 24,5 ºC, supera en 0,7 ºC a los bimestres junio-julio más cálidos, los de 2022 y 2025. Es 2,9 ºC más cálido que el promedio 1991-2020.
Really interesting article in a trade publication for dairy farmers about how the depletion of the Ogallala aquifer in Kansas/Texas is affecting what banks are willing to finance, and at what cost and for how long, and how that relates to the underlying situation of the aquifer. 1/2
Dairy Bet $1.6B on the Fastest-Drying Part of the Ogallala
Hilmar and Leprino built 8-million-pound-a-day cheese plants right over the thinnest Ogallala water — and the lenders financing the dairies that fill those tankers are already pricing the decline. Exe...
thebullvine.com
From Rocciamelone (3,538 m, Graian Alps) Aug. 2026 | Aug. 2013 Astonishing demise of one of the main glaciers in the Upper Maurienne Valley over last decade View towards Pte de Charbonnel (3,752 m asl), highest peak in the Graian Alps (see also: bsky.app/profile/subf...) 📷Via @meteoinpiemonte
Melaine Le Roy@subfossilguy.bsky.social · 3w agoLove this view of the Avérole Valley showcasing the perfect pyramid of the ice-capped Pointe de Charbonnel (3,752 m asl), the highest peak in the Graian Alps! 🏔️🧊 Background left is Baounet Glacier, one of the largest of the Upper Maurienne Valley 📷 Paul Helbronner (first decade of the 20th c.) ⏳
As someone who politely replied to his previous post: I feel like the QTs and replies to this pretty gracious mea culpa are an illustration of most of the worst of Bluesky.
Ben Goldacre@bengoldacre.bsky.social · 2d agoApologies: I’m not online much, I haven't paid any attention to Rod Liddle for a long time, I didn't really know his extremes. I do now: I wouldn’t have posted if I'd known. I’ve seen death of difficult people up close (and its impact on others): that’s the only reason it was on my mind as an issue.
Tomorrow is the Romería de la Virgen de las Nieves, when the faithful head high into the Sierra Nevada to pay their respects to the Virgin of the Snows.
Andalucía Bound@andalucia-bound.bsky.social · 2d agoTowns and villages in Andalucía all have their own local festivals and patron saints. In the Sierra Nevada, the Romería de la Virgen de las Nieves is celebrated on 5 August. A romería is a religious pilgrimage, and this one in honour of the Virgin of the Snows is quite special. 1/
This is Dutch company doing iron-air batteries like Form Energy in the US. A couple of words of caution: Round-trip efficiency is probably quite low - perhaps ~50%. A 100-hour battery is only better than a shorter duration battery if it is much cheaper per kWh, particularly factoring in low RTE.
Electrek@electrek.co · yesterdayEurope is betting big on a battery that runs for four days
Update: now at least 15 countries/territories which have had their highest ever recorded temperature in 2026: Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Guernsey, Hungary, Jersey, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Uzbekistan. Possibly Kenya too.
Ben Barclay@benbarclay.bsky.social · last mo.That means at least 7 countries and two territories have had their highest temperatures ever recorded in the past week or so, in some cases beating their old records on several occasions and by large margins.
I must say this is one of the best things I've read in days. Absolutely dripping with charts and insights on the scale and intricacies of the wildfire season in Europe, as things currently stand. It is a complex picture - and yh, it's *bad* in many places. hannahritchie.substack.com/p/europe-wil...
Is Europe having a bad wildfire year?
Several countries in Europe are having a very large wildfire year; this is offset by lower burn in the Balkans
hannahritchie.substack.com
Oh, and while we're on a data binge this morning, if you're not seeing European gas storage corrected for actual demand (and not total storage capacity that was built for the market in the 2000s) then you're not seeing the actual picture:
Destination of the Month: Almería The province of Almería has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, but the provincial capital, on the coast, is less oppressive in August than inland, and Almería is a laid-back alternative to Málaga. We wrote a thread on it when we launched our audio tour ↓
Andalucía Bound@andalucia-bound.bsky.social · 4mo agoNew audio tour: Almería: Sun, Sultans and Sheriffs in Andalucía’s Wild East Almería is a Mediterranean port city in the south-eastern corner of Spain. An up-and-coming cruise destination, it's had a facelift in the past few years. So why Sun, Sultans and Sheriffs? 1/ #voicemap #audiotour #almería
Israeli strikes on Gaza only intensified in the days following a US-brokered agreement billed as a 'breakthrough' https://aje.news/ucdvq6
Émilie du Châtelet, French Enlightenment mathematician & physicist (1706-1749); author of Institutions de Physique (1740), acclaimed translator of Newton's Principia. Portrait by Maurice-Quentin de la Tour, c. 1740 Château de Breteuil
Former neo-Nazi activist selected as Tory candidate for Somerset council election
Former neo-Nazi activist selected as Tory candidate for Somerset council election
Joshua Bonehill-Paine, creator of satirical Crewkerne Gazette, has convictions including for harassing a Jewish MP A former neo-Nazi activist with convictions including for harassing a Jewish MP has been selected as a Conservative candidate for a local election in Somerset. Joshua Bonehill-Paine, the creator of the viral Crewkerne Gazette series of AI clips, is due to stand for election to Somerset council next year in a new Crewkerne South district. He told the Guardian he was an executive member of the Tories’ Yeovil branch, working as an events organiser. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
If you have to choose between predictions made by climate scientists and predictions made by random people on the internet, I'd still go with the scientists
I'm sure that there are some (even on here) who will say "serves her right", but the human cost of the hybrid warfare in Ceuta is people like Faten, drowned at 20, and tens of others.
Rob Heirbaut@robheirbaut.bsky.social · 2d ago
🚨 NEW: @danneidle.bsky.social claims Scotland’s 48% tax rate has lost public revenue. But is this actually true? My new deep-dive says no – Dan’s analysis doesn’t prove anything. It’s a long read, so buckle up 🧵
This mosaic comes from the east church at Theodorias (modern Qasr in Libya 🇱🇾) & shows a fish sinuously swimming. Originally, the church had 50 mosaics on its floor. They have now been removed and placed in the nearby, purpose-built museum. 🕰️c540AD 📷 @jonalendering.bsky.social #MosaicMonday
Pondering the difference in perspective re schools between people like me, and people like @lewisgoodall.com, arguing for a shift of balance towards school reopening; I think much comes down to the specifics of the maths, and for me, the significance of the tipping point above Vs below R=1 1/
Adam Squires@adsquires.bsky.social · 3d agoSo then it really is helpful to discuss the maths. R>1 just means cases go up and up exponentially (albeit more slowly). It's still effectively out of control - the total impacts of staying with R=1.1 are massive vs R=0.9.
Just a devastating wildfire day in Spokane yesterday. I already know far too many people who lost their homes or had to evacuate and don't know their fate yet. www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
Wildfire in northwest Spokane destroys 640 structures
The Old Trails wildfire in northwest Spokane destroyed 640 structures Saturday, according to Cody Rohrbach, Spokane County Fire District 3 fire chief.
spokesman.com
“I completely understand the inconvenience and distress this late change will cause millions of parents and pupils. … The answer is simply that we have been doing everything in our power to keep schools open, because we know how important each day in education is to children’s life chances.”
Prime Minister's address to the nation: 4 January 2021
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's address to the nation on coronavirus on 4 January 2021.
gov.uk
Damn... 300% higher yields for peppers 200% for tomatoes. 65% lower water use for jalapenos. #agsky #agrivoltaics ,🌱🌞🔌..
hoergen@hoergen.bsky.social · 4d ago*American farmers slid solar panels over 62,000 acres of farmland, and the biggest payoff had almost nothing to do with electricity* #Erneuerbare #Renewable #Solar #Photovoltaik energiesmedia.com/solar-panels…
Escaped the heat for a few hours by heading up into the high mountains.
"Europe has never been serious about stopping migration", says Camilla Long in an entirely research-free piece. She claims that Spain/the EU are lying about the fact that most people in Ceuta have returned to Morocco. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Ceuta is what happens when you’re not serious about migration
Ursula von der Leyen doesn’t seem to care about the tide of people rushing the Spanish border. Voters in Britain will
thetimes.com
It is quite strange how little the actual public inquiry we're having into the UK's Covid response - the one that's publishing in-depth reports every few months - factors into the "you're not even allowed to ask these questions" complaints. We are, in fact, officially asking these questions!