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Madeleine Cuff

@tinymaddie.bsky.social

Environment reporter for New Scientist mag, covering all things climate change

101 Posts4899 Follower841 Folgt
Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · 7h ago

This really surprised me: a major source of certain pesticides in rivers is hand-washing by pet 🦮🐈 owners 🧪 “We detected [pesticides] in the wash-off even before we asked people to stroke their pets, so they’re just constantly on the hands of pet owners” www.newscientist.com/article/2583...

Should you stop using preventive flea treatments on your pets? | New Scientist

It has been assumed for decades that tick and flea treatments for pets pose no threat to wildlife or people, but there’s growing evidence that we have got it wrong

newscientist.com

Dr. Aaron Thierry@thierryaaron.bsky.social · 2d ago

A first year above 2C in the mid-2030s now looks plausible. 0.5C was first passed in 1980, 1.0C in 2010 and 1.5C in 2024. The 15-year trend runs at 0.42C per decade. The 2026 and 2027 points for the current El Nino are estimates. We're not remotely ready!

Line chart titled "A first year above 2 C in the mid-2030s looks increasingly plausible". It shows global mean surface temperature from 1940 to 2050 as the annual anomaly against the 1850 to 1900 baseline, in degrees C. Data is ERA5 from Copernicus, running to 31 July 2026. A thin gold line shows individual years, wobbling around a thick dark blue smoothed trend. Both sit near 0.2 C through the 1940s to the early 1970s, then climb steadily from the mid-1970s onward. Three red dots mark the first year each threshold was passed. 0.5 C in 1980, 1.0 C in 2010 and 1.5 C in 2024. Labels beneath note the gap of 30 years between the first two and 14 years between the second and third. Everything above 1.5 C is shaded pink. Two dashed lines run forward from 2025. A blue line follows the 15-year trend of 0.42 C per decade and reaches 2 C in 2037. A fainter grey line follows the 30-year trend of 0.27 C per decade and reaches 2 C in 2044. Two orange circles mark estimates for the developing El Niño, at about 1.5 C for 2026 and about 1.7 C for 2027.
New Scientist@newscientist.com · 2d ago

The super El Niño now developing in the tropical Pacific has a 90 per cent chance of becoming the strongest in 150 years, breaking global temperature records and unleashing extreme weather

This El Niño will be the hottest by a huge margin | New Scientist

The super El Niño now developing in the tropical Pacific has a 90 per cent chance of becoming the strongest in 150 years, breaking global temperature records and unleashing extreme weather

newscientist.com

Madeleine Cuff@tinymaddie.bsky.social · 2d ago

Back to (paid) work today after quite a few months off caring for the newest and tiniest member of the gang. If you've got any story tips, promising research, gossip, good memes pls share

Jacob Aron@jjaron.bsky.social · 10mo ago

The future of solar power is bright, finds @tinymaddie.bsky.social *Solar panels are cheap, and getting cheaper *Batteries are good, and getting better *Economic case for solar will overwhelm political apathy In short, we're going to run the world on sunshine www.newscientist.com/article/2500...

Solar energy is going to power the world much sooner than you think

Solar electricity is growing rapidly, but can it really dominate the global energy system? Here is what it will take for us to power the planet on sunshine

newscientist.com

Jacob Aron@jjaron.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Here is our exclusive survey asking leading climate scientists to give their views on solar geoengineering: *66% believe we will see it attempted this century *52% say it will probably be done by a "rogue actor" *81% want an international treaty to manage risk www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

Exclusive: Climate scientists expect attempts to dim the sun by 2100

An exclusive New Scientist survey of leading scientists reveals widespread concern that schemes to tweak Earth’s atmosphere could launch within decades in a risky bid to cool the planet

newscientist.com

Madeleine Cuff@tinymaddie.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Climate scientists believe humans will launch risky schemes to block radiation from the sun in a desperate bid to cool global temperatures before the end of the century - read more in our @newscientist.com excl from myself & @jamesdinneen.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

Exclusive: Climate scientists expect attempts to dim the sun by 2100

An exclusive New Scientist survey of leading scientists reveals widespread concern that schemes to tweak Earth’s atmosphere could launch within decades in a risky bid to cool the planet

newscientist.com

Madeleine Cuff@tinymaddie.bsky.social · 10mo ago

For those interested in this topic, @jamesdinneen.bsky.social wrote a great feature on the faltering land carbon sink this month for @newscientist.com www.newscientist.com/article/2497...

One of Earth’s most vital carbon sinks is faltering. Can we save it?

For decades, forest, grasslands and other land ecosystems have collectively absorbed up to a third of the carbon dioxide we emit each year - but this climate buffer may be collapsing far sooner than a...

newscientist.com

Madeleine Cuff@tinymaddie.bsky.social · 10mo ago

This is.... not good www.newscientist.com/article/2500... Particularly because scientists increasingly suspect that the planet is locked in a vicious feedback loop, where climate impacts like drought & marine heatwaves are dampening the planet's natural ability to take up carbon

Madeleine Cuff@tinymaddie.bsky.social · 10mo ago

This is.... not good www.newscientist.com/article/2500... Particularly because scientists increasingly suspect that the planet is locked in a vicious feedback loop, where climate impacts like drought & marine heatwaves are dampening the planet's natural ability to take up carbon

CO2 levels in Earth's atmosphere jumped by a record amount in 2024

The global average concentration of CO2 surged by 3.5 parts per million to reach 423.9 ppm last year, fuelling worries that the planet’s ability to soak up excess carbon is weakening

newscientist.com

Michael Le Page@mjflepage.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Aargh! Needless to say, a record rise in CO2 is really bad. By @tinymaddie.bsky.social 🧪 I think this means the CO2 rise was even higher than forecast by the Met Office, but that's based on a different measure so I'll need @richardabetts.bsky.social to confirm www.newscientist.com/article/2500...

CO2 levels in Earth's atmosphere jumped by a record amount in 2024

The global average concentration of CO2 surged by 3.5 parts per million to reach 423.9 ppm last year, fuelling worries that the planet’s ability to soak up excess carbon is weakening

newscientist.com

Jenny Chase@solarchase.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Get a heat pump, get a job installing insulation or selling EVs, go to local council meetings in support of bike lanes or solar parks or dense housing near public transport. Run for political office, or at least vote. Recommend flight-free holiday destinations to others. (Delete as applicable).

Kate Marvel@drkatemarvel.bsky.social · 10mo ago

my takeaway from climate week nyc is that "climate storytelling" is a little too much "we must reimagine our deepest souls in relationship to mother nature and the moral abyss of the polycrisis into which we must now stare" and not enough "ok but get a heat pump"

Jacob Aron@jjaron.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Really cool story - bird species from across the world make the same sound to warn against cuckoos, and they can even understand each other. Feeds into ideas Darwin had about the origin of language! www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

20 bird species can understand each other’s anti-cuckoo call

Several species of birds from different continents use and understand similar alarm calls when they see an invader that might lay an egg in their nest – this shared call hints at the origin of languag...

newscientist.com

Rowan Hooper@rowhoop.bsky.social · 10mo ago

More climate positivity today from Tim Lenton and @drkatemarvel.bsky.social - positive tipping points and harnessing emotions around climate change. Interview by @tinymaddie.bsky.social and me www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

Two climate scientists on how to use emotion in the climate crisis

From anger to hope, Kate Marvel and Tim Lenton explain how to tackle the tricky feelings aroused by climate change and harness them to take action

newscientist.com

Madeleine Cuff@tinymaddie.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Carbon capture technology has promised much, but delivered relatively little. But now it's finally being rolled out to cement plants, offering a decarbonisation route for one of the economy's dirtiest sectors www.newscientist.com/article/2497...

Could we have cracked one of the world's toughest climate problems?

It is almost impossible to make cement without emissions, but carbon-capture-and-storage technology is finally being deployed to decarbonise the sector

newscientist.com

Zeke Hausfather@zekehausfather.com · 11mo ago

In a UN speech today, President Trump said that "all of these [climate] predictions were wrong". Back in 2019 I led a research effort to digitize old climate model projections and assess how well they did. Turns out they got future warming pretty spot on!

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James Dinneen@jamesdinneen.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Whoa! First long-term ice core record of atmospheric *hydrogen*, which amplifies warming effects of methane, shows there has been a 60% rise since the industrial revolution. rt/ @tinymaddie.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2497...

Atmospheric hydrogen is rising, which may be a problem for the climate

Ice core records of atmospheric hydrogen reveal a huge rise in concentration since the Industrial Revolution which has contributed to global warming – and could sway the debate over hydrogen as a fuel

newscientist.com