Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Peter Thorne

@peterthorne.bsky.social

5.2K followers 480 following 290 posts

Climate scientist, director ICARUS Climate Research Centre, Maynooth University, Ireland, author IPCC AR6, member Ireland's climate change advisory council, Chair GCOS AOPC. www.peter-thorne.net

Videos

Peter William Thorne is a climatologist and professor of physical geography in the Department of Geography, Maynooth University.

Source: Wikipedia

Environmental science 55%

Geography 19%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Sam Tranum @samtranum.bsky.social · 6h

The International Energy Agency "found that the gap between what it costs to produce energy in this country and what it is sold for is one of the largest in the world". 1/

Energy firms accused of ‘price gouging’ as international report shows they fail to pass on lower costs

Electricity companies in Ireland are failing to pass on falls in the cost of wholesale energy to consumers and businesses, a new report has found.

www.independent.ie

2 14 20

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Paul Thistoll @pault.bsky.social · 8h

This is utterly embarrassing.

www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

There’s a major climate summit in Christchurch but the minister’s party won’t let him go

Climate Minister Simon Watts had been due to deliver the closing address at the global Adaptation Futures Conference, but National Party whips refused his leave from Parliament.

www.stuff.co.nz

12 22 74

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Gilles Louppe

Benjamin Pope @benjaminpope.bsky.social · 8h

Thrilled to have two years' of work out, in a pair of papers led by @gradientrider.bsky.social and @maxecharles.bsky.social.

We've built a data-driven calibration of the James Webb Interferometer to near its fundamental limits for high-res imaging - explainer at @aunz.theconversation.com!

How we sharpened the James Webb telescope’s vision from a million kilometres away

The only Australian hardware on board the legendary telescope is starting to fulfil its duties.

theconversation.com

1 25 100

Reposted by Peter Thorne

John Kennedy @micefearboggis.bsky.social · 10h

It should take weeks to get from the US to Australia, stopping at islands, becalmed for days, sea monsters. If we’re going to throw money at anything why not use it to give folks the leisure to experience the immensity of the Earth.

2 3 46

Reposted by Valerie M. Delmotte, Kimberly A. Prather, Peter Thorne , and 5 more Valerie M. Delmotte, Kimberly A. Prather, Peter Thorne, Amir Attaran, Trevor A. Branch, James Goodwin, Jason Lyall, Paul Nightingale

Reuters @reuters.com · 16h

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers reut.rs/4302N2L

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Monday it will cut nearly 550 jobs as part of a restructuring, not related to the current U.S. government shutdown.

reut.rs

41 280 450

Reposted by Peter Thorne

RTÉ News @news.rte.ie · 16h

Northern Ireland has confirmed its first sighting and capture of an Asian hornet

First Asian hornet found in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has confirmed its first sighting and capture of an Asian hornet.

www.rte.ie

2 7 17

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Kelsey Malloy @kmalloy.bsky.social · 16h

An atmospheric general circulation model you can run on a Python Jupyter notebook?! Heck yeah! Check out this project- both an educational tool for undergraduates/graduate students, and a research tool for scientists interested in idealized climate modeling.
journals.ametsoc.org/view/journal...

journals.ametsoc.org

1 21 61

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Nick Lutsko @nick-lutsko.bsky.social · 16h

There's a good essay in @science.org about the importance of free global access to climate and weather data. The atmosphere doesn't know about borders, so paywalls anywhere hurt predictions everywhere; even more so for those who can't pay

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Free global access to climate and weather data must continue

Last month at the 80th session of the United Nations, the call to be “better together” was especially appropriate for discussions on the Early Warnings for All global initiative. About half the world’...

www.science.org

11 25

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Kevin Healion @healionk.bsky.social · 18h

I’ve recently begun a PhD, part of which is to discover missing historical meteorological observations recorded across Ireland. Meteorological tables contained within the short-lived Dublin Magazine of 1820 were recently found. The observations were taken by a J. Pim at 55 City Quay, Dublin 1/

A digitized image taken from Dublin Magazine (1820) showing a meteorological table containing observations for barometeric pressure, precipitation, max and min temperature, and wind direction. The observations were taken by a J. Pim at 55 City Quay, Dublin.

1 5 10

Peter Thorne @peterthorne.bsky.social · 18h

Second job is for a research associate position: my.corehr.com/pls/nuimrecr... . Both position adverts close on 2nd November.

my.corehr.com

Reposted by John Kennedy, Ed Hawkins

Peter Thorne @peterthorne.bsky.social · 18h

Two job opportunities on new @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social contract until 30/06/28. Both looking at aspects of data rescue and preparation and provision of global historical land meteorological data. Looking to fill ASAP. First job is for a senior postdoctoral position: my.corehr.com/pls/nuimrecr...

eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

1 14 9

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Clare Noone @drclarenoone.bsky.social · 19h

🌍 First episode now live!

With the inspirational @peterthorne.bsky.social

🎧 Climate Change: Off the Record — with @roisinmoriarty.com and myself.
@maynoothuniversity.ie
@ucc.ie @universityofgalway.bsky.social

#ipcc #icca

open.spotify.com/episode/4PWP...

Episode 1: IPCC Scientist Professor Peter Thorne

open.spotify.com

1 6 13

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Du Toit, Stacy D. VanDeveer , and 2 more Peter Thorne, Du Toit, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Els Torreele, Federica Genovese

Rei Takver @rtakver.bsky.social · 20h

OpenAI *really* isn't hiding its intention to power the AI boom with fossil fuels.

New from me @desmog.com

www.desmog.com/2025/10/13/o...

OpenAI’s New Energy Chief Is a Trump Administration Natural Gas Evangelist

The ChatGPT creator hired John McCarrick, a gas-loving former Trump energy official, to guide how the company will source huge quantities of power for its colossal supercomputers.

www.desmog.com

3 90 150

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Peter Thorne, Steve Peers , and 5 more Anna O. Law, Peter Thorne, Steve Peers, Juan Cole, Alan Lester, Kevin Carey, Scott A. Imberman, Dariusz Galasiński

George Gantsoudes @pedsortho.bsky.social · 23h

Please remember that the disgust people have over Christopher Columbus is not based on some modern, 21st century “woke” ideology, but rather on contemporaneous accounts of atrocities that make many modern genocides appear quaint in comparison.

Below, are the accounts of Bartlomé de las Casas.

But too many of the slaves died in captivity. And so Columbus, desperate to pay back dividends to those who had in-vested, had to make good his promise to fill the ships with gold. In the province of Cicao on Haiti, where he and his men imagined huge gold fields to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months. When they brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks. Indians found without a copper token had their hands cut off and bled to death.
The Indians had been given an impossible task. The only gold around was bits of dust garnered from the streams. So they fled, were hunted down with dogs, and were killed.

After each six or eight months' work in the mines, which was the time required of each crew to dig enough gold for melting, up to a third of the men died.
While the men were sent many miles away to the mines, the wives remained to work the soil, forced into the excruciating job of digging and making thousands of hills for cassava plants.
Thus husbands and wives were together only once every eight or ten months and when they met they were so exhausted and depressed on both sides... they ceased to pro-create. As for the newly born, they died early because their mothers, overworked and fam-ished, had no milk to nurse them, and for this reason, while I was in Cuba, 7000 children died in three months. Some mothers even drowned their babies from sheer desper-ation.... In this way, husbands died in the mines, wives died at work, and children died from lack of milk ... and in a short time this land which was so great, so powerful and fer-tile... was depopulated... My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write....

20 2.5K 6.4K

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Patrick Dunleavy, Peter Williams , and 2 more Peter Thorne, Patrick Dunleavy, Peter Williams, Andréas Nilsson, Greg Linden

Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 1d

Grid scale batteries are changing our electricity system. Excellent new visual story on batteries in FT today shows just how far this technology has evolved.

Fasten your seatbelts, this is just the beginning.

ig.ft.com/mega-batteri...

36 390 1.2K

Reposted by Sonia I. Seneviratne, Peter Thorne, James P. Collins , and 1 more Sonia I. Seneviratne, Peter Thorne, James P. Collins, Andrew Watkins

Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick @sarahinscience.bsky.social · 1d

For so long, fossil fuel projects have said their contribution to climate change is "negligible".
Turns out that's wrong.
Our research in NPJ Climate Action proves it.
Every tonne of CO2 matters.
@21stcenturyweather.bsky.social
@minderoo.bsky.social
#climatechange
www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Quantifying the regional to global climate impacts of individual fossil fuel projects to inform decision-making - npj Climate Action

npj Climate Action - Quantifying the regional to global climate impacts of individual fossil fuel projects to inform decision-making

www.nature.com

4 82 160

Peter Thorne @peterthorne.bsky.social · 1d

This is an interesting piece www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... but amen in particular to the two paragraphs in this screenshot

Screencap from the piece arguing to stop the travelling circus that is cop to base it on a few places that are easy to reach and to cut the numbers of side events right down

2 10

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 1d

Takeaways after fab 2 days hosting at Everything Electric:

- vehicle-to-grid charging might FINALLY be here

- sodium-ion batteries are advancing quickly and could be made in the UK with local materials, reducing reliance on China for lithium.

- People want this. This was our biggest UK show yet🎉

Jack Scarlett, Imogen Bhogal, Robert Llewellyn & Helen Czerski

10 28 150

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Peter du Toit @peterdutoit.com · 1d

EDGAR 2025:

“According to the latest data, global GHG emissions in 2024 experienced an increase of 1.3% compared to the levels in 2023.”

To keep under 2°C emissions should have fallen by 5.5% in 2024 and EVERY year thereafter until 2030.

Source: edgar.jrc.ec.europa....

Global GHG emission trends by sector and key years

1 4 6

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Simon Roux, David A. Ellis , and 4 more Peter Thorne, Simon Roux, David A. Ellis, John Mullahy, Rebecca Tushnet, David R. Miller, Stacy D. VanDeveer

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 1d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

Archives banned making copies.

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 1d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

New library catalogue website.

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 4d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

310 38 580

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Andréas Nilsson

Jonas Algers @jonasalgers.bsky.social · 1d

Genuin fråga: Har någon ledarskribent skrivit om att EU stämmer Sverige på grund av att man inte implementerar mer effektiv tillståndsprocesser för förnybar energi?

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

Commission decides to refer SWEDEN to the Court of Justice of the European Union in order to ensure accelerated permitting procedures for renewable energy installations\u202F\u202F

The Commission is taking legal steps to accelerate the development of renewable energy across the EU, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen energy independence and lower energy price...

ec.europa.eu

5 13 32

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Royal Irish Academy @ria.ie · 1d

Join us on 14 Oct at the RIA for a Panel event to discuss the future of funding for fundamental scientific research in Ireland. The event includes a keynote by Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, former @erc.europa.eu president.

Tickets available: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/royalirishacademy/1861191

3 2

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 1d

Unfortunately still no #Arctic sea ice thickness and volume update for the month of September on my website... data issues from the U.S. government shutdown

PIOMAS notice: psc.apl.uw.edu/research/pro...

Screenshot that says "August 2025 Monthly Update [September update delayed due to US Govn’t shutdown resulting in unavailable data]"

5 34 120

Peter Thorne @peterthorne.bsky.social · 2d

Politician?

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Josef O'Shea @josefoshea.bsky.social · 2d

A cynical person might suggest that - just as with the recent huge ecocide on the river Blackwater - nobody will ever face consequences for this www.thejournal.ie/cork-tree-fe...

Investigation after more than 30 acres of native trees - some centuries old - felled in Co Cork

The Department of Agriculture has been formally alerted to the incident by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

www.thejournal.ie

10 49 120

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Peter du Toit @peterdutoit.com · 2d

It CANNOT be said that we didn't have the technology AND know-how to radically cut emissions.

As per this example from the #EnROADS simulator, we could, if we wanted, to slam the brakes on our current emissions trajectory by acting on these areas!

Test it for yourself!

en-roads.climateinte...

Screenshot of the En-ROADS climate simulator dashboard showing all the areas we can act on to reduce emissions:

Energy Supply
Transport
Buildings & Industry
Economic & Population Growth
Carbon Dioxide Removal
Agricultural Emissions
Waste & Leakage
Deforestation

2 16 36

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Tom Shakespeare, Ilko−Sascha Kowalczuk , and 1 more Peter Thorne, Tom Shakespeare, Ilko−Sascha Kowalczuk, Kathi Wilson

Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 2d

9-yr-old Ukrainian Sasha Paskal has won gold&bronze medals at the All-Ukrainian Rhythmic Gymnastics Competition "Black Sea Cup"

In the summer of 2022she was seriously injured by a Russian strike and underwent a leg amputation

Sasha didn’t give up.She went through rehabilitation
📹bokareva.solovey.m

310 2.1K 7.3K

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Jenny Wilson Leader of the pack 🐺🐺🐺 @jenchef.bsky.social · 2d

So we don't care about climate change. Farmers can sit back and continue to pollute while being paid well for their milk and meat.

3 9 30

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Jonathan Wolff, Jonathan M. Gilligan , and 6 more Peter Thorne, Jonathan Wolff, Jonathan M. Gilligan, Rebecca Tushnet, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Scott A. Imberman, Michael D. McDonald, Clayton Littlejohn, Timothy D. McBride

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 2d

About a month ago, the Trump administration got rid of the de minimis exemption, whereby packages valued under $800 could slide in without import duties. Now there's a backlog as the government can't process all of this paperwork, leading to UPS just destroying packages

Business Insider headline reads: UPS is telling customers that their packages coming to the US are marked for destruction.

220 3.7K 9.4K

Reposted by Peter Thorne

flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 2d

One of the many things I wish I had been wrong about is saying that back in the nineties, our leaders looked at climate change and said: We can’t do shit about this without measures we find unacceptable, so future generations will just have to deal with it via machine guns, fences and attack dogs.

Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsk... • 2d
"I don't think we can mitigate for climate change."
- Mícheál Martin, Taoiseach.

12 130 350