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George Smeeton

@gsmeeton.bsky.social
2.1K followers 580 following 369 posts

Former head of communications at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), currently part time on Climate Action Tracker @climateactiontracker.org

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by George Smeeton
Fiona Harvey @fionaharvey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Climate and nature collapse threaten national security of govts across world, UK tells UN based on spy chiefs’ warnings www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
UK shares findings of damning climate crisis national security report suppressed under Starmer
El Niño poses critical threat to nations’ defences, says Ed Miliband in presentation to global foreign ministers
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
🚨 🚨 🚨 ‘Jaw-dropping’: Super El Niño bursts through temperature record months ahead of peak 🚨 🚨 🚨 - The ‘Godzilla-level’ phenomenon is supercharging the climate crisis and will heavily impact communities across the world #climatecrisis Story by me www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘Jaw-dropping’: Super El Niño bursts through temperature record months ahead of peak
The ‘Godzilla-level’ phenomenon is supercharging the climate crisis and will heavily impact communities across the world
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Fiona Harvey @fionaharvey.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Net zero is a description of scientific fact: if we do not meet that target, we are doomed to repeat summers much worse than that just gone, with all of the accompanying damage to food supplies and infrastructure. So why are our politicians so weak on the climate? www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Burning forests, emptying rivers, €180bn in damage: Europe’s politicians face reckoning after ‘summer of truth’
Amid record-shattering heatwaves and popular demand for climate action, why are politicians often timid or in denial?
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Climate Action Tracker @climateactiontracker.org · 17/09/2026
🇹🇷 Türkiye is preparing to host the COP31 climate summit in November 2026; but while calling for accelerated climate action, its own targets are weak and lack the ambition necessary to drive much-needed emissions reductions: climateactiontracker.org/countries/tu...
climateactiontracker.org
Türkiye
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George Smeeton @gsmeeton.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The UK must fully commit to reaching net zero by 2050, says Andy Burnham: www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Andy Burnham: UK must fully commit to reaching net zero by 2050
Exclusive: PM, who is facing pressure over whether to approve North Sea oil and gasfields, makes strongest comments yet on issue
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Kees van der Leun @sustainable2050.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Glaciologist @matthias-huss.bsky.social shows that the centre of the Great Aletsch glacier in Switzerland (the biggest in the Alps) lost 6 meters(!) of thickness just this summer. "No words...", he adds on LinkedIn.
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Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment @granthamicl.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
🌎 August was the joint warmest month ever recorded, @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social today confirmed, with global temperatures reaching 1.65°C above pre-industrial levels. Western Europe experienced its warmest summer on record, surpassing a record set in 2003.
Graph showing monthly mean of global surface air temperature, with August 2026 highlighted at 16.96ºC.
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Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Nepal demands $20m in climate compensation from world’s most polluting countries for recent devastating floods Scientists believe the climate crisis triggered the floods when a melting glacier partially collapsed, leading to death or disappearance of 6000 people www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Nepal says big polluters must ‘wake up’ as it calls for climate compensation over flood disaster
Foreign minister Shisir Khanal tells the Guardian the world’s biggest economies need to help Nepal, which contributes less than 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions
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George Smeeton @gsmeeton.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The world has entered a "danger zone of extreme weather" as the impacts of El Niño start to be felt globally, UN head António Guterres warns: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
El Niño 'supersized' as countries race to prepare for extreme weather, UN warns
The WMO has warned that the natural weather phenomenon could bring disruption to global economies.
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Reposted by George Smeeton
Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 01/09/2026
Summer 2026 is provisionally the UK’s warmest summer on record with the season’s mean temperature made around 130 times more likely due to human-induced climate change. Here, we delve into the numbers 🧵
Mean temperature for 2026 in the UK. The map shows widely above average temperature, particularly in the south. Rainfall amounts in summer 2026 in the UK compared to average. The maps shows widely dry conditions, though the west of Scotland is slightly wetter than averageSunshine duration in summer 2026 compared to average. The map shows widely sunny conditions in the season, with the south of the country particularly sunny.
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Rewilded land remains green amid drought-stricken English countryside, images show #climatecrisis www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Rewilded land remains green amid drought-stricken English countryside, images show
National Trust’s Holnicote estate says restored wetlands and rivers offer proof of resilience to drought, wildfires and flooding
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George Smeeton @gsmeeton.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
El Niño event that is developing over the Pacific Ocean is likely to be the strongest in living memory, Met Office warns: www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti...
bbc.co.uk
El Niño set to be 'strongest in living memory', says Met Office
Scientists say the growing El Niño weather pattern is an "unprecedented event" and means 2027 is likely to be the world's hottest year on record.
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Simon Oldridge @sioldridge.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Fed up with people shirking responsibility by arguing that the UK causes just 1% of emissions? Here are two fantastic analogies from a primary school teacher, Mark in Coventry, who called Sheila Fogerty on @lbc.co.uk - one involving dog poo 😆 Other arguments here: www.nebriefing.org/mp-dialogue
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Will Vowell @willvowell.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
🔥 📰 From the start of the first heatwave in late May until the end of July, only 1 in 3 articles in UK national newspapers which referred to wildfires also mentioned climate change. New analysis by me for @eciu.net out today in @themedialeader.bsky.social 👇🧵 uk.themedialeader.com/two-thirds-o...
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Ben Spencer @ben-spencer.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
A joy to spend a day on the Norfolk Broads with some of Britain's few remaining reed cutters, who have been providing thatch for the £10m refurbishment of Shakespeare's Globe. Read why this is vital for climate and nature. 👇🏻 www.thetimes.com/article/e9e6...
thetimes.com
Inside the £10m project to rethatch Shakespeare’s Globe
The theatre is relying on East Anglia’s dying art of reed cutting to extend the life of a London landmark
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George Smeeton @gsmeeton.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
NEW: UK's arable harvest now expected to be even smaller than previously forecast, with production of key crops forecast to fall to just 18.5 million tonnes in 2026, which would make this year's harvest the smallest on record, by a wider margin than previously expected: eciu.net/media/press-...
eciu.net
UK harvest even worse than previously thought – new data
Updated figures released by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) suggest the UK's arable harvest is now expected to be even smaller than previously forecast.
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Ed Hawkins @edhawkins.org · 13/08/2026
A temperature above 37°C has only been recorded on nine days in the UK since records began – three of those occasions have now been in 2026, including today. Reading University has recorded its warmest August day on record (since 1908), and second warmest day overall.
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Simon Nixon @nixonsimon.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
This summer’s extreme weather should alert investors to the risks of extreme climate-driven market events, including a European climate-sovereign doom loop giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
Alarm bells are ringing for investors on climate
Damage wrought by wildfires in Europe should be a wake-up call to pay more attention to environmental risk
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Revealed: just 20 out of of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation, as UK burns in fifth heatwave of this summer - FOI request by me @andyburnham.bsky.social needs to level with the country about the climate crisis & set out radical plan to tackle it 🧵 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Just 20 of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation amid drought and wildfires
Exclusive: England ‘desperately unprepared’ for effects of crisis including water shortages and heatwaves
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George Smeeton @gsmeeton.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
"The truth is, it requires dedicated ideological belief to argue against the scientific evidence that net zero is needed to stop ever more expensive and destructive warming." www.ft.com/content/e16e...
ft.com
How to stop global warming
The answer is obvious to all except the real climate change zealots: the anti-net zero movement
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Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 05/08/2026
The rise in Niño 3.4 region sea surface temperatures over the past few weeks has been nothing short of astonishing. We are now hotter than any days during the 1997/1998 super El Niño event, and we are still many months from the peak.
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George Smeeton @gsmeeton.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
British farmers are facing a "completely brutal" year, with analysis suggesting the 2026 harvest could be the worst on record due to extreme summer weather: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
independent.co.uk
Farmers warn ‘brutal’ harvest could be worst on record sparking food shortage fears
The exceptionally hot, dry spring and summer could have cut the country’s cereals and oilseed harvest by 2.5 million tonnes compared to earlier forecasts, new analysis shows
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Josh Gabbatiss @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
🤔
Chart showing the US has more wind power installed than any country in the world, apart from China
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James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Latest blog is on how Kemi Badenoch can insist she’s not a climate denier, but she clearly doesn’t understand the nature of the threat, fails to comprehend why net zero was adopted, and currently has no plan on how to cut emissions. www.businessgreen.com/blog-post/45...
businessgreen.com
A hot messy summer
As the wildfires rage, what passes for climate discourse on the right of British politics is plumbing depressing new depths
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 30/07/2026
🧵UK media has been duped about net-zero (again) The playbook is identical: 1️⃣ Find a big scary number 2️⃣ Speed-dial non-specialist hacks 3️⃣ Do say “serious economic damage” 4️⃣ Don’t say “we pretended gas is free” 5️⃣ That's it! Many papers still fell for it 🤷
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Fiona Harvey @fionaharvey.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Ed Miliband makes first major foreign policy intervention, signalling clearly that climate and development will be at heart of UK international relations. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Ed Miliband indicates development and climate will be at heart of UK foreign policy
Exclusive: Foreign secretary to take up World Bank seat and play active role in shaping changes to global lender
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Peter Gibbs @petergibbs.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Evacuation of the sixth biggest population centre in France under active consideration and some will still say "it's just Summer"
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George Smeeton @gsmeeton.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
This may be the photo of the summer. By Maximilien Lamy.
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Adam Bell @adambell.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
If I can, let me explain today's Times story. This is less to do with renewables and much more to do with where generation is located and how it shows up at a system level. /1
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Climate crisis-driven heat ‘sucking soils dry’ as extreme drought hits Europe - Analysis shows heatwaves are making atmosphere thirstier, damaging water supplies, food production and power generation @wwattribution.bsky.social #climatecrisis Story by me www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Climate crisis-driven heat ‘sucking soils dry’ as extreme drought hits Europe
Analysis shows how heatwaves are making atmosphere thirstier, damaging water supplies, food production and power generation
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Fiona Harvey @fionaharvey.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Miliband - they attack him because they know what he’s done has worked, and attack net zero as it’s against their vested interests. Physics and chemistry remain true whoever is in charge. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Miliband has been relentlessly attacked for net zero; what will happen now?
Tories, Reform, fossil fuel industry and some in his party lined up against decarbonisation target as energy secretary
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
"Overall carbon emissions have increased" in the UK, because of Net Zero, Kemi Badenoch repeatedly tells the BBC, to no pushback. Just completely untrue
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Attracta Mooney @attractamooney.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Meanwhile the Fire Brigades Union warns the incoming PM that fire services are not prepared for the increased fires and flooding climate change will bring - and calls for him to reject Rosebank
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Jill Rutter @jillongovt.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
People want to take functions away from HM Treasury. I want to give it a new one - getting the UK's act together on climate adaptation www.ft.com/content/2789... (£) - much more than an environment issue..
ft.com
The UK is forgetting the dull bit of climate change policy
Adaptation has never been the priority, but this summer’s heat is a message that the Treasury needs to act
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Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 13/07/2026
With all the July model runs now in, it is very likely that 2026 will see the largest El Niño event since records began in the late 1800s – and potentially by a truly mind-blowing margin. The median estimate is now 3.6C, roughly 0.8C hotter than the prior record (2.75C). www.theclimatebrink....
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Emily Beament @emilybeament.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Around 2,700 died in the record-breaking heatwaves in May and June, as climate change makes heatwaves more deadly, experts estimate www.standard.co.uk/news/environ...
standard.co.uk
Deadly climate impact: 2,700 heat-linked deaths in recent heatwaves, experts say
Researchers estimate hundreds more people died in May and June’s record hot spells than would have done without climate change.
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Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Britain is facing a very rare “extreme” marine heatwave that scientists warn could be the country’s worst on record. They said the exceptional sea temperatures could result in mass die-offs of fish and be contributing to the warm nights on land. Story: www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 06/07/2026
FACTCHECK: A guide to manufacturing headlines, by the Times 1) highlight upfront costs of an “eco” home (EV, heat pump, solar) 2) pretend that petrol cars and gas boilers are free (yes really) 3) count upfront “eco” costs twice, for good measure 4) that’s it!
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Will Vowell @willvowell.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
“The UK only counts for 1% of global emissions, so why should we bother trying to stop climate change?” You hear this a lot from UK media and politicians. But many countries around the world also account for around 1% of emissions. And guess what – they’re all saying exactly the same thing. 🧵
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Prof Penny Endersby @pennyend.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Don’t know when we last broke a monthly record three days in a row but this breaks the previous 1976 record by a wide margin
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Rowan Hooper @rowhoop.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
It's not "the new normal": this heatwave shows that we're never going to have "normal" again - by @mjflepage.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2531...
newscientist.com
If you aren't terrified by this heatwave, you should be
The extreme heat currently being felt in Europe isn’t the new normal – much worse is to come, and we are doing far too little to adapt, says Michael Le Page
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Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 25/06/2026
Temperatures have reached 36.4°C at Yeovilton, provisionally making it the hottest June day on record, surpassing both the previous record set yesterday and the longstanding record from 1976 🌡️
A map showing Yeovilton reaching 36.4°C making it the UKs hottest June day on record, surpassing both the previous record set yesterday and the longstanding record from 1976.
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Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 24/06/2026
Temperatures have continued to climb this afternoon, and we now have a new provisional June record of 36.0 °C, recorded at both Wisley, Surrey and Gosport in Hampshire
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Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 24/06/2026
Provisionally, today is now the warmest June day on record in the UK, with 35.8 °C recorded at Wiggonholt, West Sussex
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 24/06/2026
Letter in today's Times by climate scientist Sir Brian Hoskins: "The discourse around net-zero is increasingly decoupled from…science and our changing weather. "Net-zero is not an arbitrary slogan, rather it is dictated by the laws of physics."
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Press Gazette @pressgazette.co.uk · 24/06/2026
Climate scientists express 'concern' over heatwave coverage which they say "increasingly overlooks the fundamental ‘why'" Broadcasters responded that they have been reporting on the hot weather "within the wider context of climate change" pressgazette.co.uk/news/climate...
pressgazette.co.uk
Climate scientists say news coverage ignores cause of UK heatwave
Connection between greenhouse emmissions and extreme heat in UK 'indisputable'.
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George Smeeton @gsmeeton.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
UK temperatures nudging 40 on Wednesday, when MPs will be debating the seventh carbon budget, and some will likely be calling for the climate change act/net zero to be scrapped…
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Akshat Rathi @akshatrathi.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Revenue tied to environmental products and services climbed to $5.5 trillion last year, expanding at its fastest pace since 2022. Flobal listed companies that generate revenue from climate solutions now boasts a record high market value of $10 trillion. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Green Economy Tops $10 Trillion as Revenue Growth Accelerates
The green economy — the business lines of global listed companies that generate revenue from climate solutions — now boasts a record high market value of $10 trillion.
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Record winter temperatures in Antarctic raise fears over speed of climate breakdown - Temperatures above 15C ‘very strange’ say scientists, as snow melts and rain falls on glaciers in usually frozen region #climatecrisis Story by @jonathan-watts.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Record winter temperatures in Antarctic raise fears over speed of climate breakdown
Temperatures above 15C ‘very strange’ say scientists, as snow melts and rain falls on glaciers in usually frozen region
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