Paul Behrens | Lightnews

Bring Science to Politics - for Climate, Nature & Our Survival @sciencetopolitics.bsky.social · Apr 28

Listen to @chrisgpackham.bsky.social personal invitation to Scientists to join him, notable figures & scientists from across the U.K. at Parliament on 13 May

⁉️ Find out more: tinyurl.com/Scientists2025
🥼 Pledge to join: tinyurl.com/SciParl25

#ScientistsOnSurvival
#ActOnFacts

youtu.be/sBXHiiOF5Rg

An invitation to Scientists to join me at parliament on May 13th 2025 | Chris Packham

YouTube video by Chris Packham

youtu.be

petercracknell.bsky.social @petercracknell.bsky.social · Jun 18

We need a frequent flyer tax not a 3rd LHR runway.

2.8% of UK people are ultra-frequent flyers, 6+ flights/year,
7.7% are frequent 3+ , 17.1% regular 2+
& 72.4% fly once or never in a year.

New Economics Foundation @neweconomics.bsky.social · Jun 18

📊NEW ANALYSIS📊
Just 3% of the UK population take 30% of the fights. When this government expands UK airports, this 3% benefit the most.

Who are these people? Introducing... the ultra-frequent flyer. Our research with Possible. 1/5

Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment @granthamicl.bsky.social · Jun 21

⚠️ Nearly 600 heat-related deaths are expected in England and Wales heatwave as a result of high temperatures from Thursday to Sunday, researchers estimate.

It is the first real-time analysis in 2025 on excess heat deaths by ‪@lshtm.bsky.social‬ and @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social‬ 🧵

Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · Jul 25

The most important story in the world right now.

ECIU @eciu.net · Jul 25

British potatoes, Californian vegetables, South African maize and Indian onions are among many foods affected by recent price shocks driven by climate extremes, according to a study led by a team of international scientists.

See more below ⬇️
eciu.net/media/press...

Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · Jul 25

I see that the Daily Mail has commissioned...

*checks notes*

...a viscount who inherited a landed estate (est: 1698), privilege, access and titles to lecture its readers about "transfers of wealth"

Incredible

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

- @seatsixtyone.bsky.social has heaps of good tips on many routes and stations at: www.seat61.com
- The Eurail app is really pretty good now, a huge improvement from how it used to be!

The Man in Seat 61 - for train travel

How to travel by train in Europe & worldwide: Schedules, fares & how to buy tickets.

www.seat61.com

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

- They will also often provide compensation for hotels if you can't make the next train and have to stay the night.

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

- If you get delayed on a train for another connection, don't panic. There is a Hop On The Next Available Train HOTNAT program on many providers. You see the conductor and tell them you need a voucher saying you've been delayed. Show this to the conductor of the next available train.

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

A few tips for long-distance rail:
- If you buy a Eurail pass, do it with the 20% discount
- There are extra supplements for some services with Eurail (often international or high-speed trains)(e.g. a Eurostar leg is 35 or 40 euro on top of the pass cost, an Italian fast train is $17 etc)

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

Also, I'm lucky that I can plan and be flexible (I don't have caring duties or other things in life that would make me more restricted). Addressing structural issues about work and prices as well with making the planning for the travel itself easier will go a long way.

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

Price-wise it's hard to compete against an aviation industry that gets so many tax breaks and perks. The difference in price between flying and trains seems to be narrowing for EU trains but is still noticeably higher, which is a deal-breaker for many.

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

I really enjoy travelling by trains and get so much done - the wifi seems to be getting better in most places, there is generally power available for laptops/phones etc., and for some reason it's easy to just lock into work (it's not just energy and carbon efficient but work-efficient, too!)

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

The Slovenian trip to give a talk at the University of Ljubljana was London -> Paris -> Milan -> Trieste and a bus to Ljubljana (a bit different to rome2rio's solution in the pic above).

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

The Swedish trip to the Swedish Royal Academy Climate and Health Symposium was London -> Brussels -> Köln -> Hamburg -> night train to Stockholm. You can do the return in less than 24 hours - sleep on the train from Stockholm and then travel from Hamburg to London in the same day.

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

Having just moved back to the UK I was wondering what big train trips from the UK would be like. Turns out, not a problem (mostly!). Even when the cables were stolen on the Eurostar lines we were lucky enough to make it through. (I wasn't going to start flying after 7-8 years of staying grounded!).

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

Tip: buy a Eurail pass when they do their frequent 20% reductions. You don't have to know when you want to go when you buy it so you can avail of the discount and activate it much later.

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 24

This past couple of months have been full of high- & low-speed trains, night trains, buses, and the Eurostar several times! A total of 7,000km ish at a carbon saving of around 96%-ish compared to flying. 🧵

Science of the Times Podcast @scienceofthetimes.bsky.social · May 15

New podcast episode just dropped! How to build a #sustainable world - with guest scientist, @paulbehrens.bsky.social. Paul discusses everything from plant-based foods to the production of Lego! @timcoulson.bsky.social @sykhalid.bsky.social

scienceofthetimes.transistor.fm/episodes/how...

Science Of The Times | How To Build A Sustainable World

If we don’t build a more sustainable world our civilisation will collapse, potentially in the coming decades. Paul Behrens spends his time researching our impact on the world, and working out how c...

scienceofthetimes.transistor.fm

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 22

I spoke into a broccoli about why I think we'll probably be eating more plants in the future with @rebelwrit.bsky.social

Was a lot of fun in the middle of the @britishecologicalsociety.org Nature, Farming, and Food conference!

Didn't get to eat the broccoli though...(see the full video for more!)

TABLE @tabledebates.bsky.social · Jul 22

🥦 Is eating more plants in the future actually a choice? 🥦

@paulbehrens.bsky.social breaks down how the plant-based future will arrive in this #FoodTakes video with @rebelwrit.bsky.social

Watch the full video here: buff.ly/SJ1L1EY

@oxfutureoffood.bsky.social @oxmartinschool.bsky.social

TABLE @tabledebates.bsky.social · Jul 22

🥦 Is eating more plants in the future actually a choice? 🥦

@paulbehrens.bsky.social breaks down how the plant-based future will arrive in this #FoodTakes video with @rebelwrit.bsky.social

Watch the full video here: buff.ly/SJ1L1EY

@oxfutureoffood.bsky.social @oxmartinschool.bsky.social

Climate Extremes Documentary @climatextremes.bsky.social · Jul 19

"What used to be basically impossible 20 years ago has become almost mainstream these days". Watch Climate Extremes: Extreme Weather to learn about climate change and extreme weather from leading scientists such as @retoknutti.bsky.social! youtube.com/watch?v=X6VC...
#extremeweather #climatechange

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jul 1

We have a paper going into submission this week on this! Will email you.

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jun 27

I think this is a different discussion (and one I’ve written about - it’s important!) - you’re talking about security, not defence spending. Do we think that the 5% of GDP targeted could include heat pumps and transmission infrastructure? I don’t think that would be the case!

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jun 27

100% spot on. The UK climate change committee estimates long term net costs to be just 0.2% GDP (if that in practice) and even in the year of max net investments/costs approx. 1% GDP. We could x2 climate action & still have 3% GDP for defence (a better plan & would deal with a run-down Russia, no?)

Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · Jun 27

It is remarkable that the west is committing to spending 5% of GDP on defence, and almost no one has made the case that the most pressing threat to our security this century is climate change and we should be spending more on tackling that.

Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · Jun 27

It is remarkable that the west is committing to spending 5% of GDP on defence, and almost no one has made the case that the most pressing threat to our security this century is climate change and we should be spending more on tackling that.

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jun 26

Not a problem at all! That’s a great paper. We look at the amount of material needed to be used - the mining activity so it’s a related but different perspective.

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jun 26

Thanks for the nice read, you might also be interested in some work we did here on the mining activity required for the transition (we find it’s much less than just coal today) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Energy transition will require substantially less mining than the current fossil system

Joey Nijnens holds a Master’s degree in industrial ecology from Delft Technical University and Leiden University, as well as a Master’s degree in supp…

www.sciencedirect.com

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jun 21

climate change will never be on death certificates, e.g.

Heat stroke (climate change)
Drowning (climate change)

But its fingerprints will be everywhere

Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment @granthamicl.bsky.social · Jun 21

⚠️ Nearly 600 heat-related deaths are expected in England and Wales heatwave as a result of high temperatures from Thursday to Sunday, researchers estimate.

It is the first real-time analysis in 2025 on excess heat deaths by ‪@lshtm.bsky.social‬ and @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social‬ 🧵

Paul Behrens @profpaulbehrens.bsky.social · Jun 20

Correction - UFFs were responsible for 39% of new traffic. Frequent fliers (>3 flights/yr) were responsible for 63% of traffic.

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