Peter du Toit
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peterdutoit.com
Peter du Toit
@peterdutoit.com

I speak about climate futures, mitigation and adaptation in the face of the climate crisis. 🇿🇦

I am a huge fan of ephemeral social media, so my posts delete after 60 days. Content that I want around longer will be on my blog.

https://peterdutoit.com .. more

du Toit is an Afrikaans surname of French origin, originally from François du Toit, a Huguenot who moved to South Africa in 1686. It translates as "of the roof". People with the surname include:Alexander du Toit (1878–1948), South African geologist Anri du Toit aka Yolandi Visser, South African musician Braam du Toit, South African composer Christiaan du Toit (1901–1982), South African military commander Daniel du Toit (1871–1959), South African astronomer Dirk du Toit (1943–2009), South African politician Elize du Toit, South African born, British actress Flooi du Toit (1869–1909), South African cricketer Francois Jacobus du Toit (1897–1961), South African journalist and economist Gaffie du Toit, South African rugby union Jacob Daniël du Toit, South African poet and translator Jané du Toit, Namibian rugby union footballer Lydia Lindeque (1916–1997), South African actor Natalie du Toit, South African swimmer Nick du Toit, South African arms dealer Paul du Toit (1965–2014), South African artist Pieter-Steph du Toit, South African rugby union player Rachel Alida du Toit (1916–1997), South African actor Sarel Petrus du Toit (1864–1930), Second Boer War Boer general Simoné du Toit, South African shot putter Stephanus Jacobus du Toit (1847–1911), South African Afrikaans language pioneer Wikus du Toit, South African actor .. more

Environmental science 54%
Geography 13%
Pinned
Ignore the blah blah blah and remember this:

"Since atmospheric GHGs [which increased by +2.3% in 2024] drive global warming, [this is] ultimately the metric that matters for meeting the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement."

Unless these decline we are on a steady march to hell

#ClimateCrisis

🤔

Well they’re not wrong.
🇪🇺 A half of Europeans surveyed in seven EU countries view US President Donald Trump as an “enemy of Europe”, according to a poll published Friday.
➡️ u.afp.com/SBXj

Reposted by Du Toit

🇪🇺 A half of Europeans surveyed in seven EU countries view US President Donald Trump as an “enemy of Europe”, according to a poll published Friday.
➡️ u.afp.com/SBXj

Keep in mind that the sector responsible for most emissions in the US is transportation.
Just updated: USA, California (two sources), Singapore.
The bounce induced by policy change in the US is clear in the data.
robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/

This is a world at ~1.5ºC

We are rapidly moving into the era of physical environment destabilisation.

Do you have a resilience plan in place?

www.climatecentre.or...

#ClimateCrisis
‘This is a total transformation of the Australian summer’ – Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
The Climate Centre supports the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and its partners in reducing the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on vulnerable people.
www.climatecentre.org

Reposted by Du Toit

Just updated: USA, California (two sources), Singapore.
The bounce induced by policy change in the US is clear in the data.
robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/

"Skate where the puck is going, not where it is" and all that.

Reposted by Du Toit

As energy appetites grow quickly across developing countries, China hopes to move them onto its new systems of solar, wind and battery power rather than fossil fuel technologies and markets still dominated by the U.S. insideclimatenews.org/news/2101202...
Economic Interests Drive Chinese Climate Leadership Amid U.S. Retreat - Inside Climate News
As the United States retreats from climate policy, China signaled its rising intent to lead a transition away from fossil fuels and toward Chinese-made renewable energy technologies in remarks to worl...
insideclimatenews.org
While Australian heatwaves were some of the very first extreme events attributed to climate change, people still underestimate how much worse they got - killing more people than all other natural hazards combined. New @wwattribution.bsky.social study. www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-chan...

Reposted by Du Toit

A decade ago if someone from the future came to tell me that at the 2026 WEF in Davos *China* would be leading the charge on climate, and the US would be bolstering fossil fuels and stymying green energy development, I would have not believed them. Yet here we are...
[from Bloomberg]

For reference

Source: robbieandrew.github.io/GCB2025/

Small correction in wording used here.

“CO₂ emissions from the world's second-largest polluter today and largest historically have started rising again”
US greenhouse gas emissions rise before Trump policies even kick in
CO₂ emissions from the world's second-largest polluter have started rising again due to a cold winter and the use of coal to power data centers. The consequences of Donald Trump's attacks on climate action are expected to soon make the situation even worse.
www.lemonde.fr

The devastation in Mozambique is staggering.

Climate Chaos at ~1.5°C of heating.

There is a 75% chance we will cross 2°C

We need urgent adaptation because we are completely unprepared

📹 UN OCHA
Trump: "I haven't been able to find any windfarms in China."

Reality: China has far more windfarms than any other country on Earth

Few people are aware of the extreme precipitation event that transpired here over the last few days.

Again those who contributed the least to atmospheric pollution bearing the brunt of climate chaos.

Heating currently at ~1.5°C
Mozambique's disaster agency has shared footage of a rescue of stranded residents in flood-stricken Gaza province. Weeks of heavy rain and storms in Mozambique and neighboring South Africa have killed at least 150 people.
I know this is all just very stupid but come on

Reposted by Du Toit

Response from VP Gore: “I sat and listened to his remarks. I didn’t interrupt him in any way. It’s no secret that I think this administration’s energy policy is insane. And at the end of his speech I reacted with how I felt, and so did several others.” Our story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Status of the most recent monthly-averaged greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide.

Observational data provided by gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/

There is that phrase again:

"faster than scientist thought"

#ClimateCrisis

Reposted by Du Toit

About half the large lakes of the world are shrinking. A great reason to be more careful in how we use water.
www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023...
Climate change is drying out lakes faster than scientists thought
Study finds a warming climate and human water consumption are largely responsible for a rapid decline in lake levels, with implications for billions of people.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Du Toit

It would be good right now to be seeing a bunch of stories / talking heads every single day screaming at full volume how fossil fuel reliance has made Europe vulnerable to being yanked around by the US

Just fixed something on the wsocial.eu signup page:

#wsocial

This is the way. Decouple from US tech.
New European social network, being launched at Davos, owned by corporate-aligned climate group We Don't Have Time and helmed by a former eBay executive.

Tried to find out if it's compatible with any open protocol but no info

Reposted by Du Toit

New European social network, being launched at Davos, owned by corporate-aligned climate group We Don't Have Time and helmed by a former eBay executive.

Tried to find out if it's compatible with any open protocol but no info

What an absolute joke the US has become.

This is one year into project 2025.

3 more to go.
Lutnick at Davos: "Why are you going to do solar and wind? Why would Europe agree to be net zero in 2030 when they don't make a battery? They don't make a battery! So if they go 2030, they are deciding to be subservient to China." (Get a load of the looks on the other panelists' faces)

Reposted by Jussi T. Eronen

The ocean will:

• Absorb excess heat first
• Then redistribute and re-emit it over time

We are on a highway to hell.
And here is the corresponding global upper ocean heat content (0 to 700 m depth) for 2025 and set a new record too... 🔥

Data (shown as anomalies on the graph) and methods from: www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/globa...

Project 2025 outcomes:
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

NEW mid January IRI ENSO forecast:

“According to the January 2026 CCSR/IRI ENSO plume forecast, the probability of La Niña conditions persisting during Jan–Mar (JFM) 2026 is 31%, while ENSO-neutral conditions are the next most likely outcome, with an estimated probability of 69%.”
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