Rob Larter
@polarrobs.bsky.social
Polar marine scientist. UK Science Lead in Science Coordination Office of International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration. Views are my own. On Mastodon @PoLaRobs@fediscience.org
After hearing news that July was the #driest month in southern England since records began I went to look at the situation on the #river Granta (upstream from the Cam) near where I live. Video shows the tiniest trickle of water going through the sluice into the overflow channel around the local mill
In Cambridgeshire, chalk streams are already being artificially filled by the Environment Agency because of over-extraction of water. Building 150K homes in Greater Cambridgeshire is planned, all needing water, plus a water hungry data centre in Sutton. Is desalination a way to magic up water?
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 4d ago‘We cannot magic up more water’: the supply problems putting housing targets in England at risk
A data-driven picture of our rapidly changing planet - updated through June 2026... Download the graphic at zacklabe.com/climate-chan...
Open letter to the Prime Minister on new North Sea drilling 📢 Prof. Kevin Anderson & other Tyndall Centre scientists at the University of Manchester have urged Andy Burnham to rule out further development of the Rosebank/Jackdaw fields: buff.ly/aGbyTqM
🧵 Please no, don't do this. We urgently need to accelerate global action on #decarbonisation and UK leadership on this is now more vital than ever. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Burnham risks first revolt as PM over apparent support for North Sea drilling
Labour MPs fear No 10 team lack up-to-date energy insight and don’t fully recognise voters’ climate concerns
theguardian.com
"Antalya on fire..." Yes, this is the Turkish city due to host the next UN climate conference, COP31, this November
The leader of a failing political party is choosing to ignore, or is ignorant, of the fact the requirement to reach net zero to halt global warming is a conclusion from scientific research rather than a political programme. The conclusion was stated clearly in the IPCC 5th Assessment Report in 2013.
Leo Hickman@leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 6d agoThe Daily Telegraph ends its rollercoaster week of comment pieces about climate change with one by Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservatives. Note how, yet again, she doesn't explain how she will "replace" the Climate Change Act. Just vibes about "markets, innovation and competition"
🧵UK media has been duped about net-zero (again) The playbook is identical: 1️⃣ Find a big scary number 2️⃣ Speed-dial non-specialist hacks 3️⃣ Do say “serious economic damage” 4️⃣ Don’t say “we pretended gas is free” 5️⃣ That's it! Many papers still fell for it 🤷
Follow the money bit.ly/4pOAYVc always follow the money. Fiona Cottrell gave money to Reform UK it it came from her son, the convicted fraudster George
Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK
Exclusive: Sources say Fiona Cottrell told bankers the transfers, received 24-72 hours before her donations to Reform, came from her son
bit.ly
Wildfires: why media coverage doesn’t always make the climate connection A fire is an event. Climate change is the story behind the event. Journalism has to tell both. theconversation.com/wildfires-wh...
Wildfires: why media coverage doesn’t always make the climate connection
A wildfire can be explained by today’s barbecue, yesterday’s wind direction, a dry spring, four decades of land use change, or a century of emissions.
theconversation.com
I’m pretty sure the river isn’t supposed to look like this. Just below Jesus Green lock.
Even if you treat 1991-2020 as your reference for 'normal', the present sea-surface temperature anomaly is heading off the chart.
Prof. Eliot Jacobson@climatecasino.net · last wk.Breaking News! Code: y-Axis Alert! / UFB!!! On July 25th, global sea-surface temperatures set a record high anomaly of 0.80°C above the 1991-2020 mean, breaking the previous record of 0.76°C set in January, 2024. I had to extend the y-axis to show yesterday's SST anomaly.
Surprised nobody has corrected my basic arithmetic error in the post below. The 1953 storm surge high water level was in fact 2.04 m higher than the mean high water level at spring tides.
Rob Larter@polarrobs.bsky.social · last wk.They show that the high water level during the storm surge at the end of January 1953, which caused devastation along many parts of the east coast, was just 2.14 m higher than the mean high water level at spring tides.
🧵🧪I believe this is the post at the mouth of the Great Ouse showing heights above the dock sill where the King's Lynn Conservancy Board have recorded tidal heights for decades. Their records are very useful to show how a relatively small rise is sea-level could be incredibly damaging to East Anglia.
Spoonbills, shelduck, hundreds of black tailed godwits and an avocet having an identity crisis at the @rspb.bsky.social Snettisham reserve yesterday.
Net migration has fallen from 944,000 to 171,000. Yet that headline conceals major movements in both directions – including substantial emigration by British and EU+ nationals. So, asks Jonathan Portes, what exactly is the problem people want politicians to solve?
Reducing net migration was never the real issue
Our immigration statistics have served to legimise racism. Reduced net migration was not what people wanted
eastangliabylines.co.uk
"Current wildfire situation in Europe" joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/projects-and... What is the risk of fires breaking out and where? Swathe of eastern, central, southern England is 'Extreme' 😱
Alix Mortimer@alixmortimer.bsky.social · 2w agoFire raging across Europe today from Spain to Scotland. Gods help us all.
In similar vein, Bass beer is a fine pale ale that originates from Staffordshire, the county I was born in. Not to be confused with the institution I work for, @bas.ac.uk Follow them and you'll see a lot of content from the current research cruise to #Greenland on the ##RRSSirDavidAttenborough
David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 2w agoI’ve been told Soest is also a town in the Netherlands. It’s 3:30 by train from Soest in Germany, but very far from SOEST in Hawaiʻi. Anyway, follow @soest.hawaii.edu because it’s the only one on here.
Global sea-surface temperatures just reached their 50th consecutive record hot day and are expected to continue to rise for another month. This is so far beyond 'bonkers' (technical climate science term) that the Climate 8-ball has decided to start drinking early today.
"And a 40 - 60cm rise by 2100 is massive wishful thinking" Indeed. The rate of global mean sea-level rise over the past decade is double what it averaged through the 20th century, and has increased more than 25% since the start of this century. There's every reason to expect this trend to continue.
Prof Bill McGuire@profbillmcguire.bsky.social · 2w agoThis will transform the shape of the UK and require the resettlement of millions And a 40 - 60cm rise by 2100 is massive wishful thinking Sea level is rising at close to a centimetre every 2 years and the rate has doubled in the last decade Do the maths www.theguardian.com/environment/...
expert reaction to study modelling impact of sea-level rise on UK coastal flood exposure to 2300 www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-react...
expert reaction to study modelling impact of sea-level rise on UK coastal flood exposure to 2300 | Science Media Centre
A modelling study published in Nature Communications looks at the impact of sea-level rise on UK coastal flood exposure. Dr Joanne Williams, Expert in Sea-Level Extremes at The National Oceanography…
sciencemediacentre.org
This will transform the shape of the UK and require the resettlement of millions And a 40 - 60cm rise by 2100 is massive wishful thinking Sea level is rising at close to a centimetre every 2 years and the rate has doubled in the last decade Do the maths www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Millions face long-term coastal flooding risk in UK without climate action, scientists warn
A ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’ suggests need for large-scale movement of populations away from reshaped coast
theguardian.com
Quantifying UK coastal flood exposure under future sea-level rise to 2300 - @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Quantifying UK coastal flood exposure under future sea-level rise to 2300 - Nature Communications
1 million extra people will be exposed to coastal flooding in the UK by 2100 due to sea-level rise. Under a plausible worst-case scenario this rises to 13 million by 2300, but most of this risk can be...
nature.com
Important hashing for today #AndyDon'tBurn'Em Some informative content posted by @thierryaaron.bsky.social Science tells us there is no scope to develop new oil & gas fields if we are to maintain a habitable climate.
If you’re wondering why UK press has suddenly woken up to Farage, please read this. It’s because: Brexit. The r/w press refused to scrutinise the money behind Farage & the lawsuit against me scared off the rest. But this isn’t a new scandal. It’s the same one I’ve been reporting on for a decade
THE NERVE@thenerve.news · 2w agoNEW: Who funds Nigel Farage? And why has it taken till now for any journalistic scrutiny? @carolecadwalla.bsky.social who has tracked him for a decade exposes how the UK press & regulators looked the other way 🧵👇
"An end to UK exploration would send a clear signal to investors and consumers that the UK is committed to the 1.5°C global temperature goal. That would also help the UK in its diplomatic efforts to strengthen #climate ambition internationally." - @thecccuk.bsky.social #AndyDon'tBurn'Em
Letter: Climate Compatibility of New Oil and Gas Fields - Climate Change Committee
This is a letter to the Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP in connection with the ongoing consultation on the proposed Climate Compatibility Checkpoint for oil and gas licensing in the North Sea.
theccc.org.uk
Responsible politicians need to act now, despite uncertainties, as they do for other security risks. For we won’t have scientific certainty until it’s too late. #AMOC www.bbc.com/news/article...
After record heat, could the Atlantic make Britain's weather even more extreme?
As temperatures rise, scientists are investigating whether a changing Atlantic could bring more volatile weather to the UK
bbc.com
1/7 After @georgemonbiot.bsky.social exposed deep flaws in carbon capture &storage—and the extraordinary sums this Govt is committing to it—CCS industry lobbyists and pro-CCS scientists responded. @sioldridge.bsky.social &I answer them here www.theguardian.com/environment/... 🧵
Carbon capture is a fig leaf for fossil fuel expansion | Letters
Letters: The predicted £264bn cost by 2050 could be even higher, plus renewables avoid a far higher total of emissions than can be captured, writes Andrew Boswell, while Simon Oldridge calls out veste...
theguardian.com
George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 4w agoDespite all the noise today I'd really like you to read this, as I think it's crucial. The government's in the process of p*ssing up to £264 billion into the ground, at the behest of the fossil fuel industry. Yes, £264 *billion*. It's utterly mad, and has to stop. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
