James Renwick
banner
cubaraglanguy.bsky.social
James Renwick
@cubaraglanguy.bsky.social
Kiwi guy living in paradise. Climate scientist, cyclist, woodworker, whisky drinker.
Born at 315ppm carbon dioxide.
Reposted by James Renwick
Record high ocean temperatures continued across the North Pacific in October 2025, with recent warming really amplifying since the early 2000s.

This graph shows the average for a band across the midlatitudes for every October from 1854-2025 using
NOAA ERSSTv5 data (psl.noaa.gov/data/gridded...).
November 9, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by James Renwick
It would be nice to see a bit more incredulity about AI generally.
Scientists just called out Ursula von der Leyen for claiming that AI will match human reasoning by 2026. Her "evidence" consisted, it turns out, of CEO statements from OpenAI, Anthropic and Nvidia. Not research. Marketing materials. 🧵
#AI #PublicServices #TechHype #Politics #NHS #EUPolitics
November 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
This is a criminal government. Vote these clowns out & we can start from scratch in a year's time. Sigh.
newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/07/g...
Govt's climate strategy: Let it burn
Comment: The Government has relentlessly pursued policies that boost climate pollution – even if they cost more or jeopardise NZ's reputation, Marc Daalder writes
newsroom.co.nz
November 7, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by James Renwick
they are destroying US climate science on purpose, and it hurts my heart. but take it from an MIT-trained nerdass:

all most of us need to know is that we have to stop burning stuff

stop burning stuff for heat

stop burning stuff for make car go

stop burning stuff for power

we have the tools
September 30, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Reposted by James Renwick
I was a climate reporter

I got so tired of writing the same 3 paragraphs different ways in every single story

it boils down to: stop burning stuff

yes, it matters

yes, us here, us too
September 30, 2025 at 2:29 AM
I'm really looking forward to Catherine Knight's talk on her book "An Uncommon Land", at the Paraparaumu Boating Club, Tuesday 11 November from 6:30. Register at www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/do-it-online...
November 2, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by James Renwick
What AI hype, its hour come at last, slouches towards LinkedIn to produce statistically average thought leadership pieces.
Next week LinkedIn will use your personal data for AI training by automatically enabling permissions.

To manually turn off go to:

Settings ➡️ Data Privacy ➡️ under
“How LinkedIn uses your data” click “Data for Generative AI improvement” ➡️ toggle off
November 2, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Reposted by James Renwick
You might have seen that Siouxsie won her legal battle against the UoA, but even after the damages were awarded she ended up massively out of pocket.

So she's asking for help - There's been lots of support already, which is cool to see - Siouxsie deserves it!

www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/852...
Support Dr Siouxsie After She Supported Us! | PledgeMe
Support Dr Siouxsie to recover some of the money she spent fighting her legal case to protect employees experiencing online abuse
www.pledgeme.co.nz
November 1, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by James Renwick
Spread the word: Labour's CGT is a simple, targeted tax on residential & commercial property to fund 3 free doctor's visits for every Kiwi.

The family home is exempt. Farms are exempt. KiwiSaver is exempt. Businesses are exempt. Nine in 10 Kiwis will not pay a dollar on any property they own #nzpol
November 1, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Reposted by James Renwick
Global methane action pays for itself at least six times over

And for fans of GHG metrics: "[...] Lastly, although the best basis for comparing methane and CO2 abatement should be relative social costs, we have found that the convention of using GWP100 is a reasonable approximation."
Global methane action pays for itself at least six times over
We provide a comprehensive assessment of the economic benefits and costs of global methane emissions abatement, anchored on the Global Methane Pledge. We use an integrated assessment model to estimate...
www.science.org
October 30, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Reposted by James Renwick
This is just mind-bendingly wrong-headed. ‘Let’s just adapt, tech will save us’ has always been a reckless strategy, but as evidence mounts that natural carbon sinks are failing it really does start to sink into a form of climate denialism.
www.newsweek.com/bill-gates-d...
Bill Gates Delivers ‘Tough Truths’ on Climate Just Before Big U.N. Talks
Bill Gates argues against focusing on emissions goals in favor of measures of human development.
www.newsweek.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by James Renwick
Rising heat killing one person a minute worldwide, major climate report reveals

- The biggest analysis yet finds millions are dying each year due to the failure to tackle global heating

@lancetcountdown.bsky.social
#climatecrisis
Story by me
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Rising heat kills one person a minute worldwide, major report reveals
Biggest analysis of its kind finds millions are dying each year because of failure to tackle climate crisis
www.theguardian.com
October 29, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Reposted by James Renwick
friend shared this, immediately updated my settings
October 27, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by James Renwick
We’re spending all our money on roads that suck
We’re spending all our money on roads that suck
At this point, the New Zealand government is basically just a road-building authority with bits tacked on. And not even a very good one....
thespinoff.co.nz
October 27, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Two months to Christmas (yesterday), Labour Weekend, time to start on the 2025 Xmas cakes.
October 26, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Reposted by James Renwick
Is it a critical mineral or a Tolkien invention? Take the Guardian’s quiz

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/24/critical-mineral-or-tolkien-invention-quiz
October 25, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by James Renwick
October 25, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Reposted by James Renwick
Thank unions for this long weekend
…actually, thank unions for weekends. Period.

It’s always a good time to join a union union.org.nz/find-your-un...

Unions are collectives of workers but you can join as a solidarity member to support the work they do. #nzpol
October 24, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by James Renwick
It's tea towel pre-order time!

This round is open until Sunday, and now is the time to order for guaranteed delivery in early December.

PS if you're sneaky and order four, a coupon will magically be applied to your cart, saving you $15! ($35 each becomes $125 for the 4). It repeats if you order 8!
Elisabeth's Nasturtium tea towel was a hit last summer, someone even contacted us after Xmas to ask if they could order another after giving their one away...

Pre-orders are open 'til Sun, for delivery early Dec.

Will Nasturtiums or Pōhutukawa be this year's fav?
birdandbeach.co.nz/product/art-...
October 24, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Reposted by James Renwick
You know, there’s this pervasive view that people don’t care about climate change / are bored of it / find it overwhelming but I wrote this story this week and social media went crazy over it. People care!!!! They really care are they need a way to channel it www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
New Zealand guts climate policy it bragged about on the world stage
The law was once held up internationally as a model of transparency. The government just weakened it.
www.rnz.co.nz
October 23, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by James Renwick
A sometimes overlooked but very siginficant part of the cost of climate events is disruption and lost productivity, rather than direct damage. We see the damaged infrastructure, but what's the economic impact of a good chunk of Wellington taking the day off tomorrow?
October 22, 2025 at 6:43 AM