Gavin Foster
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thefosterlab.bsky.social
Gavin Foster
@thefosterlab.bsky.social
Palaeoclimatologist and isotope geochemist at the University of Southampton. Love/hate relationship with mass spectrometers. Researcher of climate science, coral reefs, biomineralisation, laser ablation, isotopes and geology. Views my own
Pinned
Fully funded PhD projects available in my group (Please share with interested parties, details here: www.thefosterlab.org/blog/2025/11...):
PhD Topics - Entry September 2026 — The Foster Lab
This year we are involved in 3 fully funded PhD projects via IGNITE our NERC DLA. The deadline is Thursday Jan 8th 2026 .  1.      Is the world already 1.5 C warmer?...
www.thefosterlab.org
Reposted by Gavin Foster
The 50 wealthiest families own more wealth than the bottom 50% of the population.

How can this Labour Government say this is a "cost of living" budget and refuse to tax the rich?

They care about protecting power and wealth. And cost of living is a buzz phrase for them. Dire.
November 26, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
🔥 Rachel Reeves says there’s a “hole” in the public finances.

A new decade-long Brexit study quantifies it:

A 6–8% hit to GDP

That's £180bn-£240bn a year

It means less tax revenue and so less money for everything.

Brexit made Britain MUCH poorer.
New: Boris Johnson’s ‘Brexit Titanic success’ was half right
Nearly ten years on, the first full assessment of Brexit confirms what millions warned: Britain made itself poorer
eastangliabylines.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
🚨BOOM!! The Petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy has now rocketed past 50,000 signatures! Let’s get it to 100,000. If a petition is what it’s going to take let’s get this done!

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
November 25, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
November 26, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
This is an incredible image of comet 3I/ATLAS, taken by Satoru Murata ICQ Comet Observations group on 16 November 2025 from western New Mexico.

Structure within the major dust tail from the comet is clearly visible, together with two smaller jets trailing the nucleus and maybe even an anti-tail.
November 24, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
Asked again and again whether he ever racially abused his fellow pupils, as 20 people at his old school have now said he did, Nigel Farage will only say that he never did so in a "hurtful way" or "with intent"
November 24, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
This petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy already has over 26,000 signatures. Let’s get it to 100,000 this week.

Please sign and share 🙏

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
Petition: Call a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy
We are concerned about reported efforts from Russia to influence democracy in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere. We believe we must establish the depth and breadth of possible Russian influence campaig...
petition.parliament.uk
November 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
COP30 showed who’s really steering climate policy: not the EU, not the US — but a coalition of fossil states on one side and a solar-powered China on the other
November 23, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
Boris Johnson didn't apologise to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, even when she told him in person the lasting impact his comments about her had on her detention in Iran, her husband tells the BBC
November 23, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
“Have they given up? Are they just deciding to build up herd immunity by watching us die? The government has given up, hasn’t it? They are throwing us into the slaughterhouse.”
It’s not hindsight - we knew this at the time @drrachelclarke.com writes:
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
We had only recently passed 350 ppm when I started my PhD in Earth System Science, already a value understood to be dangerous and a threat to society.

And now, 33 years and 30 COPs later, we are at a value that is unprecedented for the past 3 million years and maybe even the past 8 million years.
November 23, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
Two billion kids would REALLY appreciate it if we did more about this than just make a few non-binding promises every year & then instantly forget about them.
#COP30
November 22, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
"Warming is going to exceed 1.5°C. We are heading into “overshoot” within the next few years. The world is going to become more turbulent and more dangerous. So, what comes after failure?" Some thoughts from Johan Rockstrom & me 10 years after Paris Agreement.

theconversation.com/the-world-lo...
The world lost the climate gamble. Now it faces a dangerous new reality
The world bet on collective but voluntary action to keep global warming at a safe level.
theconversation.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
⛺️ up! Drill down! Just another day in paradise looking for Earth’s oldest ice.
November 21, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
I might have failed at my assignment from @fisherdanar.bsky.social to say what makes me hopeful about climate, but I think @frediotto.bsky.social and her team's work that would enable us to hold polluters responsible should be a source of hope.

Tune in to Episode 4 of the #COPOut Podcast tomorrow!
November 20, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
"Yorkshire Water was privatised in 1989 under the Water Act, launched debt-free and promoted as the start of a new, efficient era.

Today, the company carries almost £7bn in debt...."
Yorkshire Water: it’s time to end the rip-off
Handing the company back to local people would return both control and value to those who need it most
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
Where are global CO2 emissions heading?

Middle-of-the-road? But just because we have followed the SSP2-45, SSP4-60 path for 10 years, does not mean we follow it for the next 70 years.

Policy & technology have pushed the world away from the high-end, but 2.7C in 2100 & rising is not a good outcome!
November 21, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
Get ready for lots more of this.

Right across England & Wales! 🎉

Join.greenparty.org.uk
Macclesfield Central (Cheshire East) Council By-Election Result:

🌍 GRN: 41.8% (+19.7)
🌹 LAB: 28.6% (-25.7)
➡️ RFM: 15.8% (New)
🌳 CON: 9.1% (-4.5)
⚖️ EQU: 2.5% (New)
🔶 LDM: 2.2% (-7.7)

Green GAIN from Labour.
Changes w/ 2023.
November 21, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
Tragic news. That’s Fools Gold on repeat in my house for the evening then. Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist Mani dies at 63 www.bbc.com/news/article...
Gary 'Mani' Mounfield: Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist dies aged 63
Gary Mounfield's playing was an integral part of the Stone Roses' sound, and he was in Primal Scream for 15 years.
www.bbc.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
Reposted by Gavin Foster
As an Leicester palaeo PhD alumni, I am shocked and appalled by this seemingly uncosted and short sighted descision by the @uniofleicester.bsky.social.

Please sign the petition.
My alma mater, Leicester University, is dissolving its Geology Department leading to the loss of 14 staff. Palaeo is being completely axed, despite Leicester's long and storied history in this area (and its current strengths). Please sign this petition!!: www.change.org/p/save-geolo...
Sign the Petition
Save Geology at the University of Leicester
www.change.org
November 20, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
Instead of banning the use of the name “veggie burger”, the world would be a better place if meat burgers were banned. 🙃
Ban on veggie ‘burgers’: plant-based products may lose meaty names in UK under EU law
Exclusive: Trade agreement means UK is subject to some food labelling rules, with vote on vegetarian food terms this week
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Reposted by Gavin Foster
Fully funded PhD projects available in my group (Please share with interested parties, details here: www.thefosterlab.org/blog/2025/11...):
PhD Topics - Entry September 2026 — The Foster Lab
This year we are involved in 3 fully funded PhD projects via IGNITE our NERC DLA. The deadline is Thursday Jan 8th 2026 .  1.      Is the world already 1.5 C warmer?...
www.thefosterlab.org
November 11, 2025 at 1:46 PM