David Spratt
@djspratt.bsky.social
410 followers 200 following 27 posts
I write about climate. Author “Climate Code Red” book & blog which first articulated the term “climate emergency” climatecodered.org. Focus on climate as threat to human security and the existential risks. Research Director at breakthroughonline.org.au
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
djspratt.bsky.social
A big thanks to Arjana and Kathy from MEER podcasts for this discussion on #climate risk realism and the case for cooling to a livable planet youtu.be/bTQ-xjgtA5E?...
8. Risk Realism: Cooling a Livable Planet w/ David Spratt
YouTube video by MEER SRM
youtu.be
djspratt.bsky.social
Will Australia's new National Climate Risk Assessment – more omission than commission? johnmenadue.com/post/2025/08... Will it describe full spectrum of climate risks Australians will face, or be marred by a poor approach to risk analysis, bureaucratic incompetence and a limited vision?
New National Climate Risk Assessment – more omission than commission?
The Albanese Government will soon deliver Australia’s first domestically-oriented National Climate Risk Assessment, which was due in December 2024.
johnmenadue.com
djspratt.bsky.social
#Climate warming has reached 1.5°C. What does that mean for climate activists? These are the hard questions policymakers and advocates are avoiding: www.climatecodered.org/2025/07/the-... And what would it really take to restore a safe climate?
https://climatecodered.org/2025/07/the-15…
Reposted by David Spratt
radreduction.bsky.social
"How was 2°C ever considered a reasonable goal? Answering that question — it wasn’t science-based, but first proposed by an economist — may provide insight into why 1.5°C isn’t either."

Safety = < 350 ppm and < 1°C.

www.climatecodered.org/2025/07/the-..., by @djspratt.bsky.social.
The 1.5 degrees climate advocacy conundrum
The climate emergency requires actions at emergency speed for a rapid transition to a post-carbon, safe-climate future.
www.climatecodered.org
Reposted by David Spratt
thomas-boettcher.bsky.social
#Spratt.4.7 @djspratt.bsky.social
We have just lost 15 years.
1.5°C is here 15 years faster than policy makers thought it would be.
The IPCC risk analysis, the mitigation, the emergency management you know policy is
based on 1.5°C in 2040.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7zh...
Reposted by David Spratt
thomas-boettcher.bsky.social
#Spratt.4.10 @djspratt.bsky.social
From a risk management the worst case is relevant (plane crash..)
Policy makers, science, IPCC, doesn't look at the worst case scenarios.
Policy IPCC look at the middle range only.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7zh...
Reposted by David Spratt
f2r3e5d4.bsky.social
WE WERE "ALL HANDS ON DECK" OVER 10 YEARS AGO @djspratt.bsky.social.
WE'RE SO FUCKED @davemilbo.bsky.social.
www.motherjones.com/politics/201...
SO, SO, FUCKED @allouryesterdays.bsky.social *sighs*
#climatecrisis #climate #SundayShot
djspratt.bsky.social
How bad can #climate damage get? Worse than you imagine. There is reason to worry that the physical reality of accelerating climate disruption will mug Australia's risk assessment and leave us poorly prepared. www.climatecodered.org/2025/06/how-...
How bad can climate damage get? Worse than you imagine
The climate emergency requires actions at emergency speed for a rapid transition to a post-carbon, safe-climate future.
www.climatecodered.org
djspratt.bsky.social
So in a consistently rising sequence of numbers an average over 20 past years understates current situation? That is, it is an indication of the trend 10 years ago? If warming has accelerated to ~0.3C per decade isn’t the current situation the average over last 20 years + 0.3C? Serious question.
djspratt.bsky.social
As some have suggested the last 10 years plus projections of next 10 years would be more realistic. 2023 was 1.5C. 2024 was 1.6C and first 3 months of 2025 was 1.65C. It is wilful blindness to adhere to a reticent measure and not see that in practical terms we have arrived at 1.5C.
djspratt.bsky.social
In a rising sequence of numbers an average over 20 past years will always understate the current trend. That’s the norm #climate scientists have adopted and it is reticent.
Reposted by David Spratt
useyourbrain.bsky.social
"This is a field in which knowledge is relatively new and growing quickly ... uncertainty can become an excuse for political delay; and the cost of not understanding the systemic risks may be the viability of major Earth systems and human societies."
@djspratt.bsky.social

#ClimateCrisis
Is scientific reticence hindering climate understanding?
The bulk of climate research has tended to underplay worst-case scenarios, preferring cautious projections and scholarly reticence. This reticence is clearly displayed in the work of the IPCC, which c...
thebulletin.org
Reposted by David Spratt
urbandavidsimon.bsky.social
Deserves to be widely read - not least by those of us engaging with IPCC AR7, just starting with the Special Report in Climate Change and Cities
Reposted by David Spratt
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
But @djspratt.bsky.social's critique gets at how scientists themselves might be underestimating risks. There are multiple reasons for this, he explains: methodological, political, and social.
Reposted by David Spratt
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
7 yrs ago the IPCC estimated the world would pass 1.5C between 2030-2052

The problem? We're already there.

Another fantastic article from the tipping points issue out from behind the paywall: @djspratt.bsky.social on the underestimation of climate threats at the intersection of science & policy
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
Next, @djspratt.bsky.social on the "scientific reticence" that could result in understudying and underestimating the impacts of climate tipping points thebulletin.org/premium/2025...
One study examined a number of past climate research predictions and found the scientists to have been “conservative in their projections of the impacts of climate change” and that “at least some of the key attributes of global warming… have been under-predicted, particularly in IPCC assessments of the physical science.” There was a tendency of scientists to “err on the side of least drama,” whose causes may include adherence to “the scientific norms of restraint, objectivity, skepticism, rationality, dispassion, and moderation,” and this may cause scientists “to underpredict or downplay future climate changes” (Brysse, Oreskes et al. 2013).
Reposted by David Spratt
djspratt.bsky.social
Australian government refuses to articulate "frankly terrifying" #climate security risks - johnmenadue.com/government-r.... Government opens itself to charge of playing politics with security issues by selectively briefing an intelligence report it has classified.
johnmenadue.com
Reposted by David Spratt
jessimckenzi.bsky.social
Next, @djspratt.bsky.social on the "scientific reticence" that could result in understudying and underestimating the impacts of climate tipping points thebulletin.org/premium/2025...
One study examined a number of past climate research predictions and found the scientists to have been “conservative in their projections of the impacts of climate change” and that “at least some of the key attributes of global warming… have been under-predicted, particularly in IPCC assessments of the physical science.” There was a tendency of scientists to “err on the side of least drama,” whose causes may include adherence to “the scientific norms of restraint, objectivity, skepticism, rationality, dispassion, and moderation,” and this may cause scientists “to underpredict or downplay future climate changes” (Brysse, Oreskes et al. 2013).
Reposted by David Spratt
takvera.bsky.social
Must watch: Climate change and Australian security: a conversation with Admiral Chris Barrie. A Town Hall conversation with Independent @mon4kooyong.bsky.social, Climate analyst @djspratt.bsky.social and Admiral Chris Barrie. #climatesecurity #climatecrisis www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iVS...
Climate change and Australian security: a conversation with Admiral Chris Barrie
YouTube video by Dr Monique Ryan MP
www.youtube.com
djspratt.bsky.social
#Climate shock and awe. The prime minister's climate speech we've been waiting for. Next Tuesday at 7pm. sustainabilityfestival.au/event/the-pm...
Reposted by David Spratt
climatejanine.bsky.social
It shows in insurance. Uninsurable properties don’t get a mortgage!

All people in power accept, knew & know about the harm of #ClimateBreakdown. Even if they are silent or deny! #TheyKnew

Thankyou SLF, @djspratt.bsky.social @mon4kooyong.bsky.social ADML C Barrie
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXNx...
Reposted by David Spratt