Sign in

Tom Higgs

@thiggs.bsky.social
57 followers 131 following 7 posts
PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Mike Berners-Lee @mikebernerslee.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Delighted to welcome Scotland’s First Minister, @johnswinney.bsky.social to deliver a keynote at a screening of the People’s Emergency Briefing at Holyrood yesterday. He committed in his address to working collaboratively to ensure the film is “𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝”.
Mike Berners-Lee shaking hands with John Swinney, First Minister for Scotland.A seated audience with John Swinney at a lecturn, and the People's Emergency Briefing logo being shown on two large TVsMike Berners-Lee speaking with a microphone, behind him is a slide showing a map of the UK colour coded in shades of red.A panel with Mike Berners-Lee, David Barratt MSP, Claire Baker MSP, Dr Kate Donovan as panel Chair, Ariane Burgess MSP and Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP.
13416
Reposted by Tom Higgs
James Bullock @jmbecologist.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The big lie peddled by developers about ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’ is that that they can destroy natural places & somehow make it good by habitat creation elsewhere Ecological restoration is about reversing historical damage to nature It is not about justifying further destruction
54921
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 22/09/2026
This is going to be a thread of AI greenwashing getting pumped out at New York Climate Week Here's one from today: Siemens, raking in MOUNTAINS of $$ from selling gas turbines to data centres (not mentioned) says: “we are racing to mitigate this as fast as possible" apnews.com/article/clim...
On the other hand, Eva Riesenhuber, the head of sustainability at the German automation company Siemens, and Evelyn Wang, vice president for energy and climate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said AI is too important to humanity and will help tackle climate change.

Data centers adding to climate and water problems “is not forever,” according to Wang, who told The Associated Press that data centers are five years away from being water neutral and about a decade away from no longer adding to planet-warming emissions.

Acknowledging these concerns, Riesenhuber said “we are racing to mitigate this as fast as possible because we are hooked on the intelligence, and we do need the intelligence to design the future that this planet needs.”a chart showing siemens gas turbine sales will add emissions the equivalent to pakistan
719498
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Adrift Lab (Marine Science) @adriftlab.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Each year “the record” is broken, despite our team thinking “surely the birds can’t possibly fit anymore plastics in their stomachs!” But then, in 2025, we found 894 plastics inside a single chick that was only 90 days old 💔 📸 caption: worst chicks in 2010, 2015, 2021, 2025
11811
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Small World Consulting @smallworldconsult.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The pistachio problem - a fashionable food that's sinking the ground it grows on from its thirst for water. In a changing climate, carbon footprints don't show everything about how sustainable our food really is. Pistachios - time to be a treat, not a staple? theconversation.com/can-producer...
theconversation.com
Can producers keep up with our hunger for pistachios?
Pistachio production will require even more water use by 2050 if temperatures and greenhouse gas levels continue to rise.
101
Tom Higgs @thiggs.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
New article out in The Conversation today: climate change-driven droughts and warmer winters will hit pistachio production quite hard theconversation.com/can-producer...
theconversation.com
Can producers keep up with our hunger for pistachios?
Pistachio production will require even more water use by 2050 if temperatures and greenhouse gas levels continue to rise.
010
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Michael Burchert @michaelburchert.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
It is no longer enough for a material to be capable of being produced in a climate-neutral way ‘in theory in the future’; it must be low-carbon or carbon-negative right now. THREAD
Page from Straw Building Patent from 1921 by Emil Feuillette showing stacked compressed straw bales with plaster
45031
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Giulio Mattioli @giuliomattioli.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Wow, in 7 EU countries aviation CO2 emissions are higher than those from cars, and in countries like Spain, Germany and France still more than 50% of them And yet in sustainable transport circles aviation remains a bit of a niche topic relative to cars transportenvironment.org/state-of-eur...
1613973
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Euronews @euronews.com · 17/08/2026
The People’s Emergency Briefing has been screened nearly 2,000 times around the UK - and Germany is preparing its own.
l.euronews.com
The inside story of a climate briefing that made experts cry
The People’s Emergency Briefing has been screened nearly 2,000 times around the UK - and Germany is preparing its own.
44231
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Zach Boren @zdboren.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
as britain endures its worst harvest on record, it's worth knowing: 85% of UK farmland is used to feed livestock. and half of our wheat harvest doesn't feed people, it feeds animals
815669
Reposted by Tom Higgs
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Not to be some wild-eyed innocent, but I think it should be slightly bigger news that The Lancet have crunched the numbers and found that Musk's USAID cuts will kill 14 million people. And that's just by 2030. That's 9,600 people a day, every day, until the next world cup rolls around.
7350462752
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Cold War Steve @coldwarsteve.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
The Haywain 2026
501950812
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Hunt Saboteurs Association @huntsabs.org.uk · 12/08/2026
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐭𝐡: 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 Today is the 'Glorious Twelfth' - the start of the grouse shooting season. But our uplands should be so much more than playgrounds for bloodsports. Read our article on why it's time to take them back: www.huntsabs.org.uk/grouse-moors...
huntsabs.org.uk
Grouse moors in England – let’s take them back! - Hunt Saboteurs Association
The HSA fights on many fronts and, while we have been focussing on hunt opening meets in recent weeks, we don’t forget the injustices taking place elsewhere. With this in mind, moorland campaigner and...
0177
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
“AI-driven productivity gains in the oil and gas industry will substantially increase global emissions, according to a report led by two former Microsoft employees, outweighing any potential gains from clean energy.” www.ft.com/content/8f16...
ft.com
AI will boost oil and gas production more than green energy, report finds
Debate over tech impact on greenhouse gas emissions stoked by latest study
37753
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
European summers aren't what they used to be! Grey curve is the climate of 1950-90. Every coloured line is a summer since 1991. Every one since 2005 sits beyond the 95th percentile of the curve. This isn't a shifting #climate. It's already a new one! 🤯🥵 Plot inspired by Barriopedro et al. 2011
Distribution of European summer temperature anomalies, June to August, over 25°W-40°E, 35-70°N, land only, the region used by Barriopedro et al., relative to 1961-1990, from ERA5. Grey bars show the 41 summers from 1950 to 1990, with a normal curve fitted through them, centred near zero. Coloured vertical lines show every summer from 1991 to 2025, shaded yellow through dark red by year, and almost all of them fall to the right of the grey distribution. The ten warmest are labelled, with 2024 furthest right at 2.74°C and 2022 next at 2.54°C. A dotted line marks the 95th percentile of the 1950-1990 distribution at 0.76°C.

Both run long, which is fine, since alt text has no practical limit and screen reader users benefit from the detail.
4228146
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Guardian Environment @environment.theguardian.com · 06/08/2026
All bodies of water in England polluted with toxic chemicals, official data shows
theguardian.com
All bodies of water in England polluted with toxic chemicals, official data shows
Environment Agency assessments find just 14.3% of country’s surface waters in good ecological status
03222
Reposted by Tom Higgs
NationCymru @nation.cymru · 30/07/2026
Animal agriculture’s destructive impact on the planet is clear. Research shows that 90% of water now taken from natural systems for irrigation is used to feed the world’s over 80 billion land animals killed for food each year ✍️Dr Carys Bennett
nation.cymru
Wales Is on Fire. Meat is Fanning the Flames
Dr Carys Bennett A mountain is burning on my doorstep. Since 19 July, wildfires have ripped through Mynydd Garnclochdy near Blaenavon. When the smell of acrid smoke drifted across the valleys, it felt...
21915
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
We're often told that capitalism and market liberalisation are closing the gap between rich and poor countries, and the old colonial inequalities are fading. Is it true? We explored this question in a new paper, just published in NPE. Buckle up for some interesting results! 🧵
314169
Reposted by Tom Higgs
flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Everything I’ve seen about the spycops inquiry suggests that it was always about bullying, molesting and generally fucking with a bunch of greenies and antinuclear protestors, because they are the kind of people the state can fuck over and stomp on with impunity, for fun.
theguardian.com
Undercover police unit closed down over unjustified surveillance, spycops inquiry told
Senior officer behind closure says SDS caused ‘incalculable harm’ by infiltrating groups that posed no threat
521961
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Dan McQuillan @danmcquillan.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
AlphaFold was always bait-and-switch; now Google confirms it. A hyper-narrow bioinformatrics model with actual science bolted on whose guesses can be experimentally checked was never a licence for socially-applied slop at scale, but it's done its job. Effort transferred to LLMs.
Screenshot of Financial Times headline reading "Google DeepMind dismantles Nobel-winning AlphaFold team in strategy shift" with photo of Demis Hassabis & John Jumper
5305126
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
This is one of the best things I've read in a while about the psychology of car supremacy, and how those of us who even *question* it are viewed as heretics. Thanks to @pflax1.bsky.social for sending this my way.
medium.com
We Don’t Have a Culture of Convenience in North America. We Have a CULT of Convenience.
And you can tell the difference by what happens when you question it.
525993
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Aline Telek @alinetelek.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I designed this yesterday (firstly just for myself, out of anger, now I postet it on Insta). Maybe I will print some posters.
Post with the slogan „you‘re not angry enough, #climatebreakdown“
1267
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Ed Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I've confirmed that the UK's new Sovereign AI Fund does no due diligence on whether AI companies use copyrighted work without permission before investing in them. It took me 3 Freedom of Information requests to find this out: 🧵 1/10
11788465
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Kevin Anderson @kevinclimate.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Open letter to the PM on Rosebank & Jackdaw oil and gas fields, covered in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/environment/... Full letter here: climateuncensored.com/letter-to-th...
Quote from the letter - the link is in the post.
1215597
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Phil Sturgeon 🌳🚵⚓️ @philsturgeon.com · 27/07/2026
Remember the “108 ancient woodlands” HS2 was going to destroy? The actual ancient woodland loss for HS2 in full would be 39 hectares. This one ancient woodland that Reform wants to destroy is *40 hectares* This quarry will produce mostly crushed aggregate. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Kent council accused of 'ecocide' over Oaken Wood quarry plan
Campaigners are "horrified" by the plans but the council says "no decision has been made".
215179
Reposted by Tom Higgs
The Exchange @theexchangeleeds.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
If you stood on Briggate at 8am on a weekday in 1957, and stood there again in 2026, in which year could you reach more of the city in half an hour? Samuel Bancroft has crunched the numbers. Since the 1950s, Leeds has got bigger - but the city has effectively shrunk.
1023878
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Erik Ostrom @erikostrom.com · 26/07/2026
Favorite passage from Life After Cars
“Streets used to be for people. They were incubators for style, slang, politics, love, and simple neighborly affinity.
They were places where we could do things together, make things together, simply be together. Cars roll over all of that human activity and crush it.“
214438
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Alison Stenning @alisonstenning.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
25 tonnes of nurdles, more than 1 billion nurdles, were spilled into the Tyne last week and are washing up on our beaches, north and south of the Tyne. Likely one of the largest ever plastic pollution events in the UK. There is remarkably little mention of this on here.
Guardian headline from Weds 22nd July reading:

“One billion plastic pellets spilled into River Tyne after two ships collide
Up to 25 tonnes of nurdles, the raw material for plastic manutacturing, have spread further than initially feared”

With an image of a beach covered in nurdles.
9176120
Reposted by Tom Higgs
George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
A barrister represents his clients in court. Clients who are political dissidents. He now faces criminal prosecution for doing so. Not Turkey. Not Egypt. Not Russia. England. Astonishing, deeply disturbing, and part of a long slide towards authoritarianism. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Palestine Action barrister’s prosecution criticised as ‘chilling’
CBA chair says contempt charge over closing speech by Rajiv Menon KC has left lawyers fearful of doing their job
611434737
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Mike Berners-Lee @mikebernerslee.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Here's a letter in the @financialtimes.com today from me and others at the @nebriefing.bsky.social making the case that the national renewal Burnham is calling for of trust, hope and 'good growth in every postcode' is enabled by the country being properly informed on the climate and nature crisis.
A picture of an open letter to Andy Burnham in the Financial Times, entitled 'The country deserves the full picture'
25830
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Pan African Marxist-Leninism and chill ✨ @contestedmilk.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Part of being on "the left" is understanding the history of other countries, especially those in the global South The Dig is not the only game in town, but it certainly is one of the best 🏆
0249
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
"We, the undersigned, urge the Prime Minister to convene a live, televised emergency briefing, delivered by independent experts." We've an open letter in the FT today calling on Andy Burnham to hold a national emergency briefing on climate and nature.
716074
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Ariel Brunner @arielbrunner.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
During the green deal, the farm lobby killed the attempt to reduce farmers dependence on nitrogen fertiliser. Now the EU just spent 540 milion €, in one go, on extra fertiliser subsidies. This is money taken from taxpayers and handed to Russian and Gulf regimes.
422473
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
I'm pleased to share this new paper, "The myth of 'catch-up' development". The paper assesses trends in core-periphery inequality since 1960, and draws several main conclusions: 🧵https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13563467.2026.2659076
tandfonline.com
The myth of catch-up development: trends in core–periphery inequality from 1960 to 2023
The conventional narrative in international development holds that poorer countries are “catching up” with richer countries through the process of capitalist growth. This paper assesses this claim ...
111251
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Hard to think of a more deeply damaging start to Burnham’s premiership than giving green light to new oil & gas in N. Sea, if true. It won’t lower bills or lead to greater energy security but will drive an even hotter planet. What a terrible signal to give to rest of the world #ClimateVandalism
x.com
BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) on X
Andy Burnham will announce plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea when he becomes prime minister on Monday, the BBC has been told. The announcement will form part of a flurry of policy m...
31034281167
Reposted by Tom Higgs
George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Why Britain’s privatisation experiment is so extraordinary by international standards. www.arguably.uk/p/can-andy-b...
10261123
Reposted by Tom Higgs
David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
It's World Emoji Day, so here's a friendly reminder that we have 🚷 and 🚳 but not
11654147
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Andrew Ahern @andrewonearth.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
We're going to pass 2 degrees of warming for the simple fact that food and agriculture alone will bring us there. Until climate activists, the labor movement and political parties take agriculture seriously we are just putting lipstick on a pig. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Future warming from global food consumption - Nature Climate Change
Although the role of the human diet in climate change has been widely acknowledged, current practices fail to capture its realistic effect on warming. In this Analysis, Ivanovich et al. develop a glob...
145
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Rachel Salvidge @rachelsalvidge.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I'm MANIFESTLY UNREASONABLE, according to the Ministry of Defence. Well, sometimes, yes. But not in this case. Asking whether they're polluting air, land and water with carcinogens seems perfectly sane to me. substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
The Ministry of Defence says I'm 'manifestly unreasonable' for wanting to know whether they're polluting air, land and water with carcinogens
I've been called many things. Some stand up. This doesn't.
04816
Reposted by Tom Higgs
WildDartmoor @tonydartmoor.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
This is a deeply disappointing U-turn by the Government, driven by misinformation and conspiracy theories about "pony culls" that were never on the table. Removing ponies from stocking calculations doesn't remove the need to manage grazing on Dartmoor. www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Government secures the future of Dartmoor’s iconic ponies
New measures will protect Dartmoor ponies and support those who keep them on the moor.
25328
Reposted by Tom Higgs
John Duncan @johntheduncan.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Socialism or barbarism yet again...why not watch this instead of the England game?
0111
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Jennifer Clapp 🇨🇦 @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Today is publication day! I explain how agricultural inputs - which weren't even widely traded market goods 200 years ago - have become giant industries dominated by just a handful of transnational firms today. mitpress.mit.edu/978026255170... Many thanks to those who helped me along the way!
2124377
Reposted by Tom Higgs
elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Jesus. 35 UK universities quietly- without debate - joined the Ministry of Defence’s “Battlefield Alliance” which seeks to “reorientate academia towards Defence and National Security” They’re destroying the social sciences and humanities while militarising the institutions
• Durham University
• Newcastle University
• Northumbria University
• Lancaster University
• University of Cumbria
• University of Lancashire
• University of Liverpool
• University of Manchester
• University of Huddersfield
• University of Sheffield
• University of York
• Loughborough University
• University of Lincoln
• University of Nottingham
• Aston University
• University of Birmingham
• University of Warwick
• King's College London
• Kingston University
• Queen Mary University of London
• University College London
• University of Oxford
• University of Portsmouth
• University of Surrey
• University of Bath
• University of Bristol
• University of Exeter
• University of Plymouth
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Glasgow
• University of Strathclyde
• Cardiff University
• Swansea University
• Queens University Belfast
• Cranfield UniversityFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 July 2026
UK Universities Betray Public Trust by Joining MoD's 'Battlefield Advantage' Alliance
Without Debate
A coalition of campaign groups has accused UK universities of quietly integrating themselves into Britain's defence infrastructure after 35 institutions signed up to the Ministry of Defence's Defence Universities Alliance (DUA).
The Ministry of Defence says the alliance aims to "reorientate academia towards Defence and National Security", strengthen links between universities and the defence sector, and translate research into "battlefield advantage".
Campaigners say the move represents a significant shift in the role of higher education and has taken place without meaningful public debate.
Among the founding members are the University of Oxford, University College London, King's College London, the University of Manchester, the University of Edinburgh, Cardiff University and Queen's University Belfast.
"We are witnessing the formal incorporation of Britain's universities into the defence ecosystem," said Jinsella Kennaway, Founder and Executive Director of Demilitarise Education.
"The Ministry of Defence is explicit about its intentions. Universities exist to advance knowledge and foster critical inquiry, not to become pipelines for military research and defence recruitment.
Students and staff deserve to know who agreed to this and why."
Campaigners are calling on all 35 universities to publish the governance documents and board minutes relating to their decision to join the alliance, and to explain whether staff and students were consulted.
Many UK universities already maintain relationships with major defence companies, including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo, Thales, Lockheed Martin and QinetiQ. Critics argue that the DUA formalises and accelerates the integration of academia, industry and the state.
The coalition warns that, at a time of rising defence spending, universities risk becoming increasingly aligned with governme…
71019572
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 19/07/2023
Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface
11188452999
Reposted by Tom Higgs
fife4europe #FBPE #RejoinEU @fife4europe.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Cutting peatland restoration funding in the Lakes, Dales, and Dartmoor is a disastrous step backward for our climate goals. These bogs are our best natural carbon sinks and flood defenses. Halting these projects for short-term savings will cost far more in environmental damage later. 📉🌱 #Climate
168
Reposted by Tom Higgs
David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
This is a damning overview of ways that Waymos have obstructed emergency response San Francisco. "In at least four cases, officials reported that emergency vehicles encountered stalled or stopped Waymos while responding to life-threatening 'Code 3' calls." sfstandard.com/2026/07/10/w...
615452
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Alex Nurse @alexnurse.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Once again, for those in the back.
Smeed's law - highlighting a prediction made in 1949 that the average speed of traffic in a London would be 9mph. It was 8.98 after the congestion charge came in.
06730
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Timothée Parrique @timparrique.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
This isn’t even a real attack – it’s a mosquito on the back of an elephant. My response to the recent column in the Financial Times about degrowth. timotheeparrique.com/a-response-t...
23210
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Nic Wilson @nicwilson.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Fill it and they will come! A celebration of my new pond in today's @theguardian.com country diary. #countrydiary #naturewriting
theguardian.com
Country diary: Our pond is a year old – already dragonflies are emerging | Nic Wilson
Hitchin, Hertfordshire: The broad-bodied chaser is often the first to arrive at a new pond, and sure enough, I spot an exuvia clinging to a leaf blade
64914
Reposted by Tom Higgs
Nicola Chester @nicolawriting.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Birdsong & the richness we’ve laid (are laying) waste to. An astonishing, heartbreaking demonstration of shifting baseline syndrome, & what I remember. Wrote about this @environment.theguardian.com + a real recording made in my village by a fierce & wonderful woman conservationist in 1975. 1/3
theguardian.com
Listen to Britain’s dawn chorus of 1976: the dramatic loss of birdsong in 50 years
Guardian recreates audio landscape of past filled by loud morning symphony before 73m wild birds were lost
77546