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Prof Richard Betts

@richardabetts.bsky.social
18K followers 788 following 228 posts

Climate scientist, University of Exeter & Met Office. Expert Adviser to Adaptation Committee of the Climate Change Committee. Lead author IPCC AR4, AR5, AR6 & AR7. Live music lover, supporter of grassroots venues. Cycles a lot, rock climbs occasionally.

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Reposted by Prof Richard Betts
Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Register TODAY (25th Sep) by 23.50 CEST if you’d like to review our First Order Draft! All expert comments welcome - please help us make this a robust and well-informed report 😊
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Register TODAY (25th Sep) by 23.50 CEST if you’d like to review our First Order Draft! All expert comments welcome - please help us make this a robust and well-informed report 😊
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20's Plenty for Us @20splenty.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Great to see this article published today
nation.cymru
Reform UK accused of twisting 20mph road death figures
Emily Price  Road safety campaigners have slammed Reform UK Senedd Members and the right-wing press for wrongly linking an increase in Welsh road deaths to the default 20mph speed limit. Official Welsh Government statistics show that 91 people were killed in road collisions in Wales last year, seven more than in 2024. The figures have […]
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Una Mullally @unamullally.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The Irish musician Aaron Rowe has said he is withdrawing as a support act on Ed Sheeran’s tour.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
opener for most of ed sheeran’s shows in south america just now on IG:
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
i can't think of anything similar to this happening
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Remind me again why we think very high emissions scenarios can be ruled out?
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Remind me again why we think very high emissions scenarios can be ruled out?
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Kate Marvel @drkatemarvel.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Literally setting $120 billion on fire
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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The rule they are overturning was predicted to give $120 billion in public health benefits by 2047, with projections that by 2035, it would would prevent up to 1,200 premature deaths, 870 hospital and emergency room visits, 360K asthma attacks, 48K school absence days and 57K lost workdays each year
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Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Regenerative grazing has gotten a lot of buzz — maybe thanks to big money from the beef industry? — but it’s NOT an effective climate solution. I wish it was. But it’s time to move on from greenwashing and focus on things that work.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“Copenhagen reported that 62% of its residents are now commuting to work or school by bike — an increase from 52% in 2015 & 36% in 2012, when the City Council launched a 14-year-plan to improve the quality, safety & comfort of cycling.” #Copenhagen chose. They keep choosing even better every year.
latimes.com
Copenhagen has taken bicycle commuting to a whole new level
Cycling has been a part of that good life in Copenhagen for decades. In recent years, it has enjoyed yet another unfathomable surge in popularity — taken to the next level thanks to constantly improvi...
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Prof Ian Hall @ianhall.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
In case you’re interested…and if you're in the UK, you should be. Carbon Brief factcheck www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-re...
carbonbrief.org
Factcheck: Reform UK’s 45 false or misleading claims about climate and energy - Carbon Brief
Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, has emerged as a major force in UK politics in recent years – pushing…
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Lee West @whodat35.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The hottest summer in American history is no longer 1936; it is now officially 2026. #ClimateChange
America Just Had Its Hottest Summer on Record

Chart shows Contiguous U.S. June-August temperature, difference from the 1901-2000 average
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1936, the Dust Bowl summer, held the record for 90 years
2026
74.4°F
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Andy Behrman @electroboyusa.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
🚨 5.4 MILLION views. And counting. Trump doesn’t want you watching this interview. So naturally, we should get it to 10 MILLION. Let’s make sure Trump sees just how many people are watching. 10 million views. One Texas Senate seat. Let's fucking go Texas. Let’s fucking go, Texas.
youtube.com
Jimmy Kimmel’s Interview with James Talarico That the FCC Doesn’t Want You To See
YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Easy to donate: rnli.org/support-us/g...
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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 10/09/2026
A dark blizzard of disinformation is warping the public’s perception of our great city. But we know the truth: our homicide rate is lower than every major US city, neighbourhood crimes are down and we’ve been ranked #1 city in the world 11 years in a row. My piece for The Times.
thetimes.com
We must fight back against troll army’s lies about London
There is a dark blizzard of disinformation online, where our capital is described as a lawless dystopia in decline — this couldn’t be further from the truth
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Meredith Glaser @cyclingprofessor.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Weather and hills aren't what stop people from riding bikes—it’s fear. We can’t expect people to cycle if we ask them to put their lives on the line every time they get on the saddle, especially with their kid next to them. Cartoon by Dave Walker
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Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Imagine the police response if they had been carrying 'Palestine Action' placards or blocking a road to protest against climate inaction. #Dover www.kentonline.co.uk/dover/news/l...
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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 05/09/2026
I'm old enough to remember how the right-wing media and populist politicians reacted to Just Stop Oil blocking some roads...
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This summer was the hottest on record in the UK The summer of 1976 that some folks my age keep banging on about is now only the SEVENTH hottest on record The top five hottest summers all happened since 2003 We're heating the planet by burning fossil fuels www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new...
metoffice.gov.uk
Summer 2026 provisionally hottest on record for the UK
The season’s mean temperature was made around 130 times more likely due to human-induced climate change.
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This summer was the hottest on record in the UK The summer of 1976 that some folks my age keep banging on about is now only the SEVENTH hottest on record The top five hottest summers all happened since 2003 We're heating the planet by burning fossil fuels www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new...
metoffice.gov.uk
Summer 2026 provisionally hottest on record for the UK
The season’s mean temperature was made around 130 times more likely due to human-induced climate change.
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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Can't get a moment's peace on this bloody planet.
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🇺🇸𝕀𝕟𝕕𝕪 ℝ𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕘𝕖𝕖🇺🇸 ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖˡᵉˢˢ ᵁˢᴬ @indyrefugee.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Millions of people rely on the information they obtain via a search engine corporation which just proved it would alter digital reality if instructed to do so by those in political power. That’s some crazy shit, Google.
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Prof Ian Hall @ianhall.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A striking finding from global drought experiments: Trees show little evidence of physiological acclimation to drought. The inner hydraulic machinery stays the same. The safety margin shrinks. That’s a very different, more vulnerable picture of forest resilience. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Declining hydraulic safety in a drier world | PNAS
Forests worldwide are increasingly exposed to soil drought under climate change, with their fates depending on the ability to maintain essential fu...
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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
On the one hand, some people want to make it so that kids and other people aren't crushed to death by cars. On the other hand, some people are upset that they might have to pay attention, slow down or be inconvenienced by about 15 seconds. So you can see how it's a "war on cars."
bbc.com
Birmingham 20mph limit: a 'life saver' or 'a war on cars'?
Birmingham City Council is proposing the city becomes England's first 20mph city.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
The bicycle is a simple solution to some of the world’s most complicated problems.
nature.com
Historical patterns and sustainability implications of worldwide bicycle ownership and use - Communications Earth & Environment
High bicycle ownership does not necessarily correlate with high bicycle use, with substantial health and environmental gains possible by worldwide pro-bicycle policy implementation, suggests a global ...
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ClimateBook @climatebook.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
My article with Gidon Eshel showed that CO2 release from deforestation is by a large margin the worst climate impact of Brazilian beef. The methane is not insignificant, but it's deforestation that is the big number. users.physics.ox.ac.uk/~pierrehumbe...
users.physics.ox.ac.uk
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
As well as health concerns, another reason to avoid Brazilian beef is that it's linked to Amazon deforestation Of course beef in general is bad for climate because cattle produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas I used to love steak but don't miss it at all www.theguardian.com/food/2026/au...
theguardian.com
UK urged to ban imports of Brazilian meat over health concerns
Brazil has failed to prove compliance with EU rules on use of antibiotics in cattle and poultry farming
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The catastrophic flood in Nepal reminds me of the meeting @profbillmcguire.bsky.social @profmarkmaslin.bsky.social and I convened in 2009 on climate forcing of geological and geomorphological hazards. Back then it was about future risks, now it's a reality royalsocietypublishing.org/rsta/issue/3...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Volume 368 Issue 1919 | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A | The Royal Society
Influential themed journal issues across the physical mathematical and engineering sciences.
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Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Hey there’s a sign that says “Free Tcks for Coyote Vs Acme” with a big arrow pointing at this detonator on the edge of the cliff I’m standing on. Should I push it??
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The catastrophic flood in Nepal reminds me of the meeting @profbillmcguire.bsky.social @profmarkmaslin.bsky.social and I convened in 2009 on climate forcing of geological and geomorphological hazards. Back then it was about future risks, now it's a reality royalsocietypublishing.org/rsta/issue/3...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Volume 368 Issue 1919 | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A | The Royal Society
Influential themed journal issues across the physical mathematical and engineering sciences.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
People can "just adapt" to a changing climate, a thousand rightwing voices keep telling us. Either they lack imagination or they don't care. Try "adapting" to this. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
theguardian.com
Nepal flash flood: more than 1,500 missing, mostly tourists, after disaster kills at least 165 at Tibet border
Entire populated areas swept away after glacial collapse causes catastrophic flood in mountainous region popular with trekkers and pilgrims
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Dr Dan Shugar 🇨🇦 @watershedlab.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The source of the flood in Nepal is a collapsed glacier 🧪⚒️
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Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Heat kills
theguardian.com
At least 35,000 excess deaths recorded in Europe’s back-to-back heatwaves
Figure only covers about half of continent and does not include August totals
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Vikki Thompson @vikkithompson.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Climate change is increasing the intensity of extreme rain, and using multiple methods can increase our confidence in this. We've been working on a new storyline technique:
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Kevin Anderson @kevinclimate.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I normally keep my Twitter/Bluesky posts climate-focused. In more than a decade, this is only my second non-climate post. This link climateuncensored.com/where-were-t... is to a short reflection on Jason Arday’s death, focussing on the responsibility of the academic community of which I am part.
climateuncensored.com
Where were the rest of us? - Climate Uncensored
Note: My contributions to this site have always focused on climate change. Today, however, I’m posting something rather different. It concerns the
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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 19/08/2026
For years, London's children’s lungs lagged behind. Now they’re catching up. A major new study shows the ULEZ cut exposure to toxic NO₂ and reduced impaired lung function from 14% to 9%.
theguardian.com
Introducing Ulez was my hardest decision as mayor of London – but now we know its astonishing impact | Sadiq Khan
Critics said I was attacking motorists. It’s more important for me that the city’s children are no longer breathing dangerous levels of pollution, says London mayor Sadiq Khan
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John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @thinkorswim.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Here’s a graphic projecting massive and devastating #climate driven drying out of soils right across Europe by mid-century… …oh wait, sorry, that’s an ACTUAL reading from August 10th last. My mistake.
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Gavin Esler @gavinesler.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I had measles as a five year old. It was awful. Failing to prevent something so horrible in 2026 when safe vaccines are available is ignorance or child cruelty or possibly both.
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Alaa Al Khourdajie @dralaaclimate.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
New publication in Environmental Research Letters: overshooting 1.5°C then cooling back down does not undo the damage. We map where, for whom, and through what mechanisms temporary overshoot becomes permanent loss. Paper (OA): iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1... 1/12
"Three stacked panels sharing a time axis. Top: global temperature rises past 1.5°C, peaks, then declines (the overshoot pathway), with a flat permanent-exceedance line at the peak for comparison. Middle: biophysical responses to the same trajectory diverge; some track temperature down, some recover with a lag, one keeps intensifying. Bottom: socioeconomic impacts of the same biophysical change diverge by adaptive capacity; high-capacity systems recover, while one crosses a dashed adaptive-capacity threshold and never recovers: the permanent overshoot legacy.
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 17/08/2026
14 hours later and my mentions are still full of angry treatises about badly behaved cyclists. Bike lanes are not a reward for good cyclist behavior! They are infrastructure proven to make cities safer for ALL ROAD USERS. Whatever way cyclists have wronged you is irrelevant to the discussion!
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 16/08/2026
[redacted person who does not know whose mentions they wandered into]: In my city, the cyclists are so entitled, they act like they own the roads. Me: LET THE BIKES OWN THE ROADS. THE BIKES ARE FAR LESS DANGEROUS AND POLLUTING BY ABSOLUTELY EVERY MEASURE. MAKE THE CARS PAY TOLLS TO THE CYCLISTS.
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Still just speculation, but a train derailment on the hottest day of the year also makes me wonder whether heat-induced track buckling or subsidence played a role It’s a growing climate change risk to UK infrastructure I hope those injured make a full recovery www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
telegraph.co.uk
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Still just speculation, but a train derailment on the hottest day of the year also makes me wonder whether heat-induced track buckling or subsidence played a role It’s a growing climate change risk to UK infrastructure I hope those injured make a full recovery www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
telegraph.co.uk
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Nope, it’s the weeks of hot, dry weather made more severe by global heating due to fossil fuel burning that has increased the risk of wildfires. The landscape is so dry that any ignition can start a fire that becomes uncontrollable. Fields of crops and grasses are not “rewilded” but have burned
Front page of the Daily Mail newspaper “eclipse special” with headline “Rewilding link to record fires”, beneath a photograph of people watching the near-total eclipse of the sun with the title “Britain finally gets a break from the sun (for a few minutes!)”
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Nope, it’s the weeks of hot, dry weather made more severe by global heating due to fossil fuel burning that has increased the risk of wildfires. The landscape is so dry that any ignition can start a fire that becomes uncontrollable. Fields of crops and grasses are not “rewilded” but have burned
Front page of the Daily Mail newspaper “eclipse special” with headline “Rewilding link to record fires”, beneath a photograph of people watching the near-total eclipse of the sun with the title “Britain finally gets a break from the sun (for a few minutes!)”
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
An important, popular and safe cycle route in Exeter is at risk of being made dangerous by proposed changes to the road system. Local campaigners are raising money for legal costs to try to keep it safe for everyone www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dryden-roa...
crowdfunder.co.uk
Dryden Road- Safe for Everybody
Fund specialist legal advice to keep Dryden Road safe
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Time Traveler Causes of Death xkcd.com/2976/
A modified XKCD comic titled "TOP CAUSES OF DEATH FOR TIME TRAVELERS BY GEOLOGIC ERA:" features a tall, vertical rectangle representing Earth's timeline from its formation down to the present day. Along the left axis, tick marks indicate time intervals from "EARTH FORMS" at the top down through "4 BILLION YEARS AGO," "3 BILLION YEARS AGO," "2 BILLION YEARS AGO," "1 BILLION YEARS AGO," "500 MILLION YEARS AGO," and ending at "NOW" at the bottom. The vertical column is divided into stacked sections labeling the leading cause of death for each period: beginning at the top with "LAVA," followed by a section for "ASPHYXIATION," a thin band for "METEORS," a large section for "ASPHYXIATION," an even larger block spanning roughly 2.2 billion to 700 million years ago labeled "SLIGHTLY SLOWER ASPHYXIATION," and then smaller bands near the bottom labeled "FREEZING," "STARVING," "EATEN BY FISH," "TRAMPLED," and "EATEN BY MAMMALS." Next to the very bottom sliver representing the present day, an arrow points to the text "HIT BY SUV."
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