Author | Lightnews

Reposted by Tom Lancaster

Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · Jul 9

There are some TRULY idiotic "I hate net-zero" takes on yday's OBR report, which set out long-term risks to govt finances

It's right there in the report, but to repeat, OBR makes it crystal clear that climate action will be far less costly than inaction

www.carbonbrief.org/...

OBR: Net-zero is much cheaper than thought for UK – and unchecked global warming far more costly - Carbon Brief

Reaching net-zero will be much cheaper for the UK government than previously expected – and the economic damages of climate change far more severe.

www.carbonbrief.org

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Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment @granthamicl.bsky.social · May 21

☀️It’s been an exceptionally sunny & dry spring – what role is climate change playing?

Dr Clair Barnes, an Imperial College climate scientist, explains the shifts in spring weather.

And Colin Chappell, a farmer, lays out how these changes are impacting UK agriculture.

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Jess Ralston @jessralston.bsky.social · May 21

Yesterday, Ross Clark claimed in the @thespectator1828.bsky.social

"The likely fall in the energy price cap will be purely a reaction to lower wholesale prices on international markets... it is simply markets at work"

Is this the same Ross Clark who blames "net zero" every time bills go up? 🧵😂

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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · May 15

These are foods mentioned in this article, but many more everyday food items from broccoli 🥦 to bananas 🍌 are becoming more costly. Extreme weather conditions in the UK and globally are threatening food production and causing price spikes. This is a crucial part of the story!

Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · May 15

3️⃣: 🥔

Potatoes can be grown in the UK, provided we have suitable growing conditions. Relentless wet weather in 2023 (made worse by climate change) delayed harvesting, caused crops to rot and led to a shortage before Christmas. Prices have since shot up.

www.theguardian.com/food/2023/de...

Low UK potato harvests raise fears about Christmas supplies

Experts say supermarkets may have to rely on imports from as far afield as Egypt, pushing up environmental impact

www.theguardian.com

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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · May 15

2️⃣: ☕

Coffee is also in the midst of a spike in price. This has been exacerbated by extreme temperatures and erratic rainfall in producer countries like Brazil 🇧🇷 and Vietnam 🇻🇳

www.thegrocer.co.uk/kvi-price-tr...

Coffee prices hit new highs over fears of global shortages

Unseasonable weather in Vietnam and Brazil is causing coffee prices to hike

www.thegrocer.co.uk

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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · May 15

1️⃣: 🍫

Ivory Coast 🇨🇮 is the UK's top supplier of cocoa, totalling 84% of our imports. It's been pummelled by climate impacts recently - extreme rainfall in 2023, drought in early 2024 & a humid heatwave shortly after, all made worse by climate change.

eciu.net/analysis/rep...

Climate impacts on cocoa

Average price per kilo of cocoa beans imported into the UK has risen 32% over the last three years.

eciu.net

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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · May 15

Interesting @theipaper.com story highlighting claims by the Food & Drink Federation that higher NI contributions and new food packaging levies are increasing prices.

But here's something they don't mention... what about climate change? 🧵 inews.co.uk/news/politic...

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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · May 8

The deal apparently includes 13,000 tonnes in tariff free beef access to the US for UK farmers, and 13,000 tonnes in tariff free beef access to the UK for US farmers.

No one's standards change.

By way of context the tariff free quota Australian beef gets into the US is 448,214 tonnes per annum.

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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · May 2

A sound long gone from British villages & gardens - a singing Wryneck. There’s Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts, Hawfinches, Tree Sparrows and Swallows around this garden too. It’s like going back in time, challenging the shifting baseline and reminding how much birds have declined in Britain.

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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · May 1

Maps from here

www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/cli...

And the Sep one from here (it was off the standard scale…)

www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new...

UK actual and anomaly maps

Maps of climate variables for previous months, seasons and years

www.metoffice.gov.uk

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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · May 1

This is what farming with climate change looks like

After the second worst harvest on record in 2024, farmers in England have had record breaking rain in September, followed very little rain and record breaking sun & heat in March & April

Good for berries I guess, less good for lots of others!

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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · Apr 30

FACTCHECK: Almost all the headlines on Tony Blair / net-zero are *wildly* inaccurate

REALITY:

1️⃣Net-zero is *only way* to stop warming
2️⃣Blair calls for tech to "turbocharge our path to net-zero"
3️⃣He categorically *does not* say "net-zero is doomed to fail"

🧵
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Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · Apr 30

Thousands more people could die from overheating each year if Britain does not adapt to a warming world to avert
“tomorrow’s disasters”, the UK government’s climate advisers have warned.

@thecccuk.bsky.social says no sign Labour are taking climate adaptation more seriously than Tories

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Steve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · Apr 28

NEW: Who are the voters Labour risks losing to Reform?

How might Lab unite them with the rest of its election winning coalition? How might Reform win them over?

Some big new research out today with @persuasionuk.bsky.social as featured by @greenmirandahere.bsky.social in today's FT 🧵👇

Getting to know 'Reform curious Labour voters'

exploring the attitudes, demography and values of Reform curious Labour voters and the coalitional dilemmas they lose

persuasionuk.org

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Ryan Katz-Rosene, PhD @ryankatzrosene.bsky.social · Apr 18

A considerable amount of the Northern hemisphere's landmass has already warmed more than 2C since the industrial era. The cold blob in the North Atlantic is a telltale sign of a weakening AMOC current.

Visual by @edhawkins.org

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Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster.bsky.social · Apr 17

Great thread this

If I was Prime Minister for the day and wanted people to feel a material improvement to their day-to-day, I’d throw what money I had at local government

And not just at pot holes, but at stuff like the services that get drinkers and addicts off the streets

Jennifer Williams @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · Apr 17

Agree people don’t know what councils do etc. But I also think the public is reasonable enough to question why the local area looks dirty/declining etc while council tax bills have gone up and up and up and up and up. Politically it’s therefore currently ripe for undeliverable promises

Reposted by Tom Lancaster

Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · Apr 15

ICYM

Solar panel push still won’t cover as much land as golf courses, even if the UK government's 2030 solar power goals are met

www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

Solar panel push still won’t cover as much land as golf courses

A study shows that Ed Miliband’s 2030 green energy targets are set to require up to 0.4 per cent of the UK, compared with 0.06 per cent today

www.thetimes.com

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Gareth Redmond-King @gredmondking.bsky.social · Apr 14

This is an, ahem, interesting piece from Jawad Iqbal in today's Times: "Miliband has in the past boasted about the previous Labour government’s decision to phase out coal power… Miliband claimed other countries would follow “our example”. Really? It seems highly unlikely."

Here’s why he's wrong 🧵

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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · Apr 14

Very important point. It's not green energy that is making UK electricity expensive: it's mostly gas

Jess Ralston @jessralston.bsky.social · Apr 14

3) "What you call green energy [is] driving those prices up, and making it unsustainable to produce steel"

This is a statement from Nick, and it is wrong.

UK Steel: "The main driver of the price disparity is...driven by the UK’s reliance on natural gas power"

www.uksteel.org/electricity-...

Industrial Electricity Prices – Barrier to growth and competitiveness

New UK Steel report on industrial electricity prices demonstrates that a sizable gap remains between what UK steelmakers and their European competitors pay. The report sets out three recommendations t...

www.uksteel.org

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Shaun Spiers @shaunspiers1.bsky.social · Apr 14

I've just caught up with Nick Robinson's interview with James Murray MP on #r4today. 1) Green energy isn't driving energy prices up. As Murray said, our high energy costs are down to reliance on foreign gas. We need *more* home grown renewables! Robinson seems keen to reopen UK coalmines... 1/

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Jess Ralston @jessralston.bsky.social · Apr 14

🚨Some major errors & misleading claims from experienced presenter Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4 Today, when discussing British Steel with Treasury Minister James Murray

I hope these are corrected on tomorrow's programme, and Robinson sticks to the facts in future.

Here's what he got wrong... 🧵

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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · Apr 7

This is really important for everyone to be aware when out & about in the British countryside. 15 years ago I rarely had ticks on me during fieldwork. Nowadays I have several every time I'm in the same woods. Ticks can & do cause life-changing health problems.

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) @ukceh.bsky.social · Apr 7

NEWS: Scientists have mapped parts of Britain at risk of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), which has become a growing health problem in Europe.

Cases are rare here but climate and land use changes could increase risk.

Read more: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med...

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Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · Apr 3

Would be sad if these went. Only been to Romania once but these haystacks across the landscape were one of the things that made the place special & different

As this story points out, they're also important habitats for fauna and flora

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Big, biodiverse and beautiful: can Romania’s centuries-old giant haystacks survive modern farming?

Traditional methods benefit hundreds of species but as new agricultural techniques take over, the distinctive haystacks mark a vanishing way of life

www.theguardian.com

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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · Apr 2

29 years of natural colonisation, woodland expansion. Oaks, hawthorns, blackthorns. This 2 ha of new woodland, all self-sown creates new habitat and future ancient woodland, but also buffers the existing woodland next door from drying winds and agri-spray drift. Win, win, win.

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