Richard H. Clarke
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cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
Richard H. Clarke
@cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
130 followers 450 following 54 posts
Climate Risk Specialist, Ortec Finance | Model, write, campaign about the impacts of extreme weather | Fellow, Institution of Chemical Engineers | Fusion | Cryogenics | Co-Editor Future of Helium as a Natural Resource | Lake District, UK | views are my own
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cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
Richard H. Clarke @cost-of-carbon.bsky.social · Nov 23
A year ago today I was thrilled our Comment article was published in Nature in time for #COP28 #lossanddamage but despite all our efforts the funding fell through. Still working on ways to take this forward... #climaterisk #geospatialrisk www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Climate loss-and-damage funding: a mechanism to make it work
Compensating for the devastating impacts of heatwaves, hurricanes and floods after they occur is too slow. With climate risks accelerating, the world must predict who needs funds and when.
www.nature.com
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
c.org/rBRKhSwDQN
Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?
Make it a crime to discharge sewage in Windermere
c.org
November 2, 2025 at 12:26 PM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
#Helium The Future of Helium as a Natural Resource (eds. William J. Nuttall, Richard H. Clarke and Bartek A. Glowacki) www.routledge.com/The-Future-o... is still a go-to source if you want to know where helium comes from, how much helium gas is left, what helium is used for now and in the future...
Richard Clarke in 2012 holds up a copy of 'The Future of Helium as a Natural Resource' edited by William J. Nuttall, Richard H. Clarke and B.A. Glowacki (Routledge)
October 28, 2025 at 5:26 PM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
#Helium is a vital high tech gas. Its importance is growing. Rising prices drive diversity of supply. Helium is a now global business. Much He is wasted e.g. in Algerian natural gas piped to Europe. Balloons (don't release!) are usually filled with transfill waste gas www.nature.com/articles/485...
Stop squandering helium - Nature
Establish a global agency to build a sustainable market for this precious commodity, say William J. Nuttall, Richard H. Clarke and Bartek A. Glowacki.
www.nature.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:57 AM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
#Helium since the US Helium Privatization Act 1996, there have been periods of helium supply glut / shortfall but, as we showed in this article, we not about to run out of helium any time soon. Indeed, the high helium prices have spurred helium 'pure play' mining www.researchgate.net/publication/...
In a Dec 2013 edition of The Chemical Engineer magazine, Richard H. Clarke, William J. Nuttall and Bartek A. Glowacki show that despite supply shortfalls on and off over many years, we are not about to run out of helium any time soon
October 26, 2025 at 2:01 PM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
#Helium has a vital role in advanced technologies ranging from #MRI medical imaging to #aerospace, #semiconductors, #quantumcomputing. Reflecting this, Grade-A 99.996% helium prices keep rising in line with our estimate. Ultra-pure liquid helium costs much more www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
In our 2005-2009 helium resources study involving the University of Cambridge, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy and BOC Linde (industrial gases etc), PhD student Zhiming Cai used a System Dynamics model to examine the interplay between known and projected helium resources and likely demand, to determine production volumes and price. The price trend up to 2020 largely followed this curve, and more recent prices have reflected the ongoing importance of helium in advanced technologies ranging from aerospace, medical imaging, high power magnets/fusion and quantum computing
October 25, 2025 at 1:47 PM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
#Helium If the Russian helium recovery facility at Amur (E. Siberia) is fully online by 2030, that may mark the point of #peakhelium production according the to Helium Resources research project 2005-2009; Z. Cai, W.J. Nuttall, R.H. Clarke, B.A. Glowacki, N. Ward
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Monte Carlo simulation of expected helium consumption rate from 1991 to 2150 (millions of cubic feet per year). This chart was produced using a System Dynamics model developed in a project exploring future helium resources in the context of fusion energy and high tech needs. PhD student Zhiming Cai developed the model along with William Nuttall and Bartek Glowacki (Cambridge University), Nick Ward (BOC Linde industrial gases), Richard Clarke (Culham Centre for Fusion Energy)
October 24, 2025 at 11:58 AM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
#Helium 12 years ago I gave a keynote at Creon's Helium 2013 Moscow summit. I predicted by 2030 the centre of global helium production would be Eastern Siberia. Recent reports agree en.igascn.com/global/detai... In 1963, it was Texas Panhandle/Cliffside. Thanks to LNG, Qatar was the centre in 2015.
The centre or geo-center of global helium gas production has moved over the decades. In 1963, as this map shows, the United States was the leading producer of helium. Demand for the Apollo space programme created a huge demand for helium for use as a rocket fuel propellant. When liquid natural gas (LNG) production in Qatar was developed it became economic to produce liquid helium from fields containing just 0.04% helium. So, by 2015, the geo-center had moved to the Middle East. What's next? Recent reports support my prediction at the Creon 'Helium 2013' summit in Moscow - that Eastern Siberia will become the most significant helium producing region by 2030. 4He Solutions is a consultancy I developed. It looks at helium resource questions and at the engineering challenges of using helium in cryogenic applications such as high-field magnets and fusion.
October 23, 2025 at 5:24 PM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
#LSEEvents launch of Pete Betts' #ClimateDiplomat. Lord Stern invites Fiona Betts up, as book editor Grace Pengelly, and former & current ministers Ed Davey, John Selwyn Gummer (Lord Deben) & Ed Miliband look on. A shared understanding of the science demands global action, an industrial revolution!
September 5, 2025 at 12:20 PM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
Last week these groups came to the 'Global Tipping Points' Conf, Exeter, UK. #AMOC #Amazon #foodsystems #GIS #WAIS #CoralReefs #mindsets these are the concerns of leading scientists www.carbonbrief.org/experts-whic... My poster "Economic Impacts of Acute Physical Risk Under a Prompt AMOC Collapse"
A treemap showing which groups of people came to the Exeter University 'Global Tipping Points' Conference (29 June - 03 July). Academics, researchers, finance professionals, government officials, science media, insurance professionals, health researchers, legal professionals, independent scientists, creative people Exeter University Global Tipping Points Conference - crochet design depicting the coral reef crisis Exeter University 'Global Tipping Points' Conference - an art installation on Day 1 depicts how the climate has changed and will likely get worse during the 21st Century
July 11, 2025 at 12:37 AM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
What a great idea!
ldelaigue.bsky.social Louise Delaigue @ldelaigue.bsky.social · Jun 13
🌊 My TEDx Talk is live!

And yes — it involves deep-sea robots, underwater sound, and the surprising role of wind in the fight against climate change.

Dive in!

🔗 youtu.be/mPi08_HC6cg?...

#TEDTalk #OceanScience #ClimateChange #ScienceCommunication #BGCArgo #PostdocLife #OceanResearch
LISTENING TO THE OCEAN’S CLIMATE CLUES | Louise Delaigue | TEDxEDHECNice
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
youtu.be
July 9, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Richard H. Clarke
indianaclimate.bsky.social
Forecasts for tomorrow morning show that smoke from the prairie province fires will have already crossed the border -- affecting visibility across the north-central states and air quality closer to the border. Air quality in northern Saskatchewan remains terrible.
Forecast map of vertically integrated smoke across North America for Friday 30 May 2025 Forecast map of near-surface smoke across North America for Friday 30 May 2025
May 29, 2025 at 7:18 PM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
What's the chance the world will warm more than 3°C? An #EDHEC report indicates that #IPCC expert opinion (15%) lags the science (35-40%). This matters a lot. If IPCC scientists underestimate risk, it reduces our capacity to prepare for it.
EDHEC lnkd.in/enhYHjNB
The Guardian survey lnkd.in/e3SpBmcE
Histogram shows results from The Guardian survey of IPCC scientists (8 May 2024). 380 scientists responded to the question 'how high above pre-industrial levels do you think global temperatures will rise between now and 2100?'. Just 58 (15%) said it would be more than 3°C
May 29, 2025 at 11:06 PM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
In Trump 1.0, Scott Pruitt, E.P.A Administrator (until forced to resign) imposed a non-sensical 7% discount rate on the #socialcostofcarbon, a tool used by planners and courts to assess the environmental damage from CO2. In Trump 2.0, they just killed the whole thing! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/c...
What’s the Cost to Society of Pollution? Trump Says Zero.
www.nytimes.com
May 11, 2025 at 12:41 AM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
#Electricity is having a rough week! What with #Spain #Portugal & #TonyBlairInstitute. Here I’m on a train to London Paddington. Line overheating & power trip. Are we going backwards? Or is this a bump on the road to the future? Too many eggs in one basket? www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
May 1, 2025 at 11:21 AM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
Very high tariffs are being imposed on some of the most economically and environmentally vulnerable countries. What did they do wrong? The parties involved, the suppliers, buyers and customers freely entered into contracts to trade. The US' problems stem from decades of bad policies by both parties.
A chart showing Trump’s country specific tariffs plotted again and “economic vulnerability ratio” which is a ratio of a country’s economic impacts from extreme weather divided by its GDP. Many of the countries being hit with tariffs have a vulnerability higher than the US and China (yellow) which have the resilience to cope with extreme weather – for now.
April 5, 2025 at 11:02 AM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
People in Delta, Ohio, want "a level playing field"*. I get that. How do these vindictive, random tariffs, that cut in today, help achieve that? China (yellow), EU can fight back. But #Lesotho, #Cambodia, #Laos, #Madagascar & #Myanmar? These countries need supporting.
* www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A chart showing Trump's country-specific tariffs (%) plotted against the GDP per capita of the countries affected (PPP). Many of these low and middle income countries will suffer from higher tariffs than China's. All bar 3 of these countries have a lower GDP per capita than the US.
April 5, 2025 at 11:01 AM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
Is it just a coincidence that atmospheric methane concentration started escalating around the time that US shale gas production took off? I don't think so... fugitive CH₄ emissions can make natural gas worse than coal! US Gov has removed fugitive emission controls:
www.linkedin.com/posts/peters...
Chart shows US natural gas production in TWh v. atmospheric concentration of methane (CH4) from 1983 to 2023. From about 2007, US gas production increased significantly as shale gas production methods took off. And at about the same time CH4 concentration started increasing from about 1775ppb to around 1925ppb in 2023.
March 29, 2025 at 2:31 AM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
What decarbonisation tools remain in a hostile climate policy space? @profmarkmaslin.bsky.social and I explore the ways in which professional #engineers could use virtual carbon pricing as they build the new energy, transport and built environments we now need.
journals.uclpress.co.uk/ucloe/news/72/
In a hostile climate, keep on decarbonising with a virtual carbon price
Reaching the Net Zero 1.5°C goal now requires Direct Air Capture. With US climate action under siege, how can public bodies, corporations and individual engineers keep on track towards decarbonisation...
journals.uclpress.co.uk
March 5, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Richard H. Clarke
ecmwf.int
We have taken our Artificial Intelligence Forecasting System (AIFS) into operations today to run side by side with our physics-based weather forecasts. The #AIFS outperforms traditional models for many measures, at a fraction of energy use. ➡️ www.ecmwf.int/en/about/med...
#AI #MachineLearning
Background of world map with grid overlaid. Text: "AIFS operational"
February 25, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Reposted by Richard H. Clarke
climatecasino.net
Using data through Feb. 23, 2025 and assuming warming is accelerating, the planet is now set to cross the 1.5°C line in mid-2026.
February 25, 2025 at 1:46 PM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
Cutting the UK's #overseasaid budget from 0.5% GDP to 0.3% is not what is needed - Sky News lnkd.in/eexizRTd
Worsening #extremeweather means UK's share should now be 0.7% (the pre-Covid goal). Unless warming is limited to 2°C, the % of GDP needed increases. Nature Comment shows why lnkd.in/ewxFbKA5
World map showing which countries in 2025 should contribute overseas aid and which countries should receive aid. Among other factors, it is fundamentally cumulative CO₂ emissions that drives the need for hashtag#lossanddamage funding** Unless or until those historic emissions are drawn down, relatively rich countries like the UK, the rest of Europe, Canada - and Russia - need to step up to help Central America, Pakistan, Somalia, Vietnam etc. to cope with the extreme weather-related consequences of climate change. In future, China may emerge as a donor nation and, using the Nature Comment method, Australia and the US already would qualify for funding because of the extent of their climate change induced extreme weather impacts - so I excluded them. ** ** Grantham Institute https://lnkd.in/ej6ujkHF
February 25, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by Richard H. Clarke
frediotto.bsky.social
This is a really good job for someone who might be a bit disenthraled with academia. A job that will really make a difference - we need a difference. climatelitigationnetwork.org/recruitment/
Recruitment - Climate Litigation Network
Recruitment Science Advisor CLN is looking for a Science Advisor to support climate litigation efforts by ensuring that best-available science is fully integrated into legal and advocacy strategies ai...
climatelitigationnetwork.org
February 3, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Richard H. Clarke
climatecentreuk.bsky.social
The UK produces 60% of its own food, 114% of its lamb and mutton, but only 16% of its fruit.

There's huge scope to increase the amount of fruit and veg that we produce –– and in a way which is very land efficient, @tommlancaster.bsky.social tells @alexisconran.bsky.social.

@eciu.net
February 3, 2025 at 11:51 AM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
Whiplash #hydroclimate #volatility is seen in acute physical risk / extreme weather modelling. Emerging in the 1980s, it is evident in oscillations: periods of excess rainfall HYD flooding, plant growth followed by periods of drought CLIM boosted wildfires
www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/cl...
The ‘tadpole’ diagram illustrates two things, I suggest, (1) that the effects of climate change on extreme weather really kicked in during the mid-1980s, and (2) the climate whiplash effect between HYD (excess rain, flooding) and CLIM (drought, wildfires) is strong. Less clear, how MET (hurricane, sever convective storm) events are correlated – something the climate attribution scientists also see.
January 17, 2025 at 7:55 PM
cost-of-carbon.bsky.social
A factor behind the Los Angeles #firestorms:
"Hydroclimate volatility refers to sudden, large and/or frequent
transitions between very dry and very wet conditions. This review examines how #hydroclimate #volatility is anticipated to evolve with anthropogenic warming" www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Fig. 5 | Cascading hydroclimate whiplash hazards in a warming climate. The pathways through which hydrological extremes and rapid whiplash transitions between wet and dry states can lead to complex effects in the broader Earth system. The dark arrows represent cascading relationships (in which the initial event causes indirect but substantial downstream effects via an intermediate step or process), and the red vertical arrows show increases or decreases in specific impacts under anthropogenic warming. The processes labelled in blue represent effects caused by wet events alone, those labelled in yellow represent those caused by dry events alone and processes labelled in grey represent those specifically caused by rapid whiplash transitions. Together, natural variability and anthropogenic climate change contribute to meteorological extremes that can cause hydroclimate whiplash events — with subsequent cascading and wide-ranging impacts that are often distinct from wet or dry extremes occurring in isolation.
January 17, 2025 at 7:21 PM