Prof Richard Betts
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richardabetts.bsky.social
Prof Richard Betts
@richardabetts.bsky.social

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. .. more

Richard Arthur Betts is Head of the Climate Impacts strategic area at the Met Office Hadley Centre in Exeter, United Kingdom. He is also chair in Climate Impacts at the University of Exeter and the Principal Investigator of the EU FP7 project HELIX. He was a lead author for Working Group I and a contributing author for Working Group II of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. He was a lead author for Working Group II of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. He is an editor for the International Journal of Global Warming, the Journal of Environmental Investing, and for Earth System Dynamics. He was appointed MBE in the 2019 Birthday Honours. .. more

Environmental science 58%
Geography 17%
Pinned
The scientific evidence is absolutely crystal clear:

We are certain the world is warming because we're burning fossil fuels and putting more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

So we have to stop doing that

We also need to adapt to the changes we've already caused

www.channel4.com/news/uk-alre...
UK ‘already seeing impact of climate change’, says Met Office scientist
The Met Office announced today that 2025 was the warmest and sunniest year in the UK since records began, beating the previous record set only three years ago.
www.channel4.com

Reposted by Richard Betts

The Brexit campaign was fuelled by misinformation, and new polls have found that the majority of Brits want to reverse it. We must continue to fix our relationship with Europe, and rekindle our ties with the biggest free market in the world.

Reposted by Stacy D. VanDeveer

I've never been tear-gassed. It's not normal

When an environment and education journalist is not only saying "I got tear gassed and so did children" but is comparing it with their previous experiences of being tear-gassed, you know stuff is going seriously and systematically wrong
Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Yes, an incredibly ignorant, selfish and dangerous attitude!
This new video from @climateadam.bsky.social is even more brilliant than usual - insightful and hilarious 🧐🤣❤️

www.youtube.com/watch?v=py0X...
Climate Scientist Reacts to AI Overlords
YouTube video by ClimateAdam
www.youtube.com
Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Reposted by Richard Betts

In the middle of everything, Minneapolis is holding the Great Nothern Festival, which celebrates our winters, our culture, and local climate solutions.

The amazing Dr. Ayana Johnson @ayanaeliza.bsky.social is the keynote speaker tonight, along with many local climate heroes.

Proud of Minnesota!

Reposted by Richard Betts

Yet another report calls for a national urban/village default speed limit of 20mph. This time its from the Faculty of Public Health, Transport and Health Science Group and the Royal Society for Public Health. See action No. 5

www.fph.org.uk/media/tr2bnu...
The big question is whether this will cause journalists working in mainstream for-profit corporate media to

(a) Become even more obsequious,

or

(b) Become defenders of the civil liberties, rule of law, and democratic institutions upon which their profession depends.
Don was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles.

Reposted by Richard Betts

Budgets cut. Jobs lost. Pulling out of the IPCC. The consequences of climate science policy changes under the Trump administration are already showing. Climate scientist Dr. Zeke @hausfath.bsky.social joins @worthingtonbry.bsky.social to discuss. Catch up now: www.cleaningup.live/socials/
Don was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles.

Reposted by Richard Betts

Guan Heng went to Xinjiang to photograph the detention camps where the Chinese Communist Party imprisons Uyghurs. He fled China via Hong Kong, Ecuador, and the Bahamas, reaching Florida on an inflatable boat. The US was considering his asylum case when ICE arrested him. DHS has not released him.
Opinion | Guan Heng Gets U.S. Asylum
A judge grants refuge to a worthy dissident, no thanks to DHS.
www.wsj.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Mariana Mazzucato, Stephen M. Walt , and 181 more

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be

Reposted by Peter Thorne

An eye-opening aspect of working closely with international colleagues on things like IPCC reports is that you can compare being hit by contrasting weather extremes in real time

- heatwaves & fires in Australia
- storms & floods in UK

www.reuters.com/business/env...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ce...
Australian heatwave fans bushfires, towns evacuated, Melbourne endures hottest day in 17 years
A major heatwave across Australia's southeast stoked bushfires, forced hundreds of residents in rural towns to evacuate and brought record-breaking temperatures, with Melbourne recording its hottest d...
www.reuters.com
New discussion paper just dropped that’s taken shall we say a little work to get this far … essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es... please be kind. Not on an at all sensitive topic in the slightest.
How well can we quantify when 1.5 °C of global warming has been exceeded?
Abstract. Parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement agreed to limit the long-term increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C and pursue efforts to keep temperatures below 1.5 °C relative to p...
essd.copernicus.org
As the world quickly approaches 1.5C, researchers have a call in Nature to rethink the utility of temperature targets – and to potentially replace them with more actionable and precise targets around clean energy:
As we breach 1.5 °C, we must replace temperature limits with clean-energy targets
Nature - Actionable goals are needed to guide the world towards what needs to happen most quickly: shifting economies to clean energy sources.
www.nature.com

Reposted by Richard Betts

🚨 This should alarm everyone.

The #UK has lost measles elimination status — not because vaccines failed, but because vaccination rates fell.

The US is on track to lose it too.

#Measles is highly contagious, dangerous, and vaccine-preventable.

www.bbc.com/news/article...
UK loses measles elimination status
Decision made after outbreaks in 2024, when there were nearly 3,000 cases in England and Wales.
www.bbc.com
Minnesota National Guard members have arrived at a federal building and were directed to distribute donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate to anti-ICE protesters. Guard members were issued reflective vests so they would not be mistaken for federal agents.

Reposted by Richard Betts

Keep your tiny hands off Greenland.

▶️ youtu.be/mIdPgSgvmwE
Trump's Greenland Grab is a DISASTER for the climate
YouTube video by Dr Gilbz
youtu.be

Reposted by Richard Betts

I NEED EVERYONE YO UNDERSTAND THAT THE BUDGET IS NOT THE ISSUE. THIS MONEY IS ABOUT TO BE SPENT ON UNETHICAL PSEUDOSCIENCE.
RFK Jr. appointee Kirk Milhoan has just clearly stated, out loud, that he wants to experiment on the people of the United States by seeing what happens as vaccination coverage plummets and infectious diseases spread.

Reposted by Richard Betts

UK Gov could reduce killed and serious injuries on UK roads by 30,000 over the next decade. It just needs to facilitate the same initiative that already exists in one half of the UK for the other half. And its a key component of the Road Safety Strategy it has just announced.
The guidance is dead - long live the guidance
Some thoughts on the Road Safety Strategy and implementing 20mph limits
www.20splenty.org
Climate scientists are also obsessed with Greenland, not because of the Mercator projection, but because the melting of the Greenland ice sheet is going to raise sea levels significantly, change ocean circulation, and be generally very bad for humanity.
Geopolitical shocks can - and must - be an opportunity for Europe.

The seismic shift underway makes it both possible & necessary to build a new European independence.

From security to the economy.
From defence to democracy.

Europe is gathering speed.

link.europa.eu/6qt6hC
A fast moving coronal mass ejection (CME) means the northern lights may be visible overnight, and perhaps on Tuesday night too

The arrival time of the CME is uncertain, but aurora sightings are possible in northern Britain and perhaps in southern areas depending on cloud cover.
Danish Parliament Deputy Speaker Lars-Christian Brask:

"If I could come with some advice, it would be for the Senate & House to start to take control of political power in America because with this erratic & mad behaviour, you have to ask the question, is the President capable of running the US?"
Copenhagen town hall square, Denmark right now.

Massive solidarity with Greenland demonstrations.

Source: dr.dk

Reposted by Richard Betts

There are some who say we don’t consult on our newest Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.

If that’s the case, it’s worth taking a look at the West Ham LTN engagement report.

Reposted by Richard Betts

Anti-ICE demonstrators at 5th Avenue and 54th street, stretching back several blocks.

Reposted by Richard Betts

As an Indigenous person, watching Trump make plans to invade an Indigenous territory is fucking terrifying. Everyone is making this about Denmark, but it will be Inuit facing this new wave of violent colonization.