Prof Richard Betts
@richardabetts
Climate scientist, University of Exeter & Met Office. IPCC lead author, Expert Advisor to Climate Change Committee. @richardabetts.bsky. social
Approaching 1.5°C: how will we know we’ve reached this crucial warming mark? The Paris Agreement does not define "temperature rise", so recognition of 1.5°C being reached may be delayed In @nature we propose the Current Global Warming Level metric nature.com/articles/d4158…
📢Calling all scientists / science postgrads! Can you spare even just half an hour next Tuesday at 12pm to join me, Chris Packham & 100+ scientists to urge that government policy be informed by science? 💪Let's fill Parliament Square with scientists! tinyurl.com/Scientists2025
A typical European car is parked 92% of the time. It spends 1/5th of its driving time looking for parking. Its 5 seats only move 1.5 people. 86% of its fuel never reaches the wheels, & most of the energy that does, moves the car, not people. Sound efficient? HT @circulareconomy
I just read this on Facebook: Someone asked "Why do many British people not like Donald Trump?" Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England, wrote this magnificent response: 1/
Trump’s calls with British leaders reportedly left staff crying from laughter ift.tt/TvViRI8
Met Office: Atmospheric CO2 rise now exceeding IPCC 1.5C pathways | @richardabetts @metoffice Read here ➡️ buff.ly/4htVQLN
NEW – Met Office: Atmospheric CO2 rise now exceeding IPCC 1.5C pathways | @richardabetts @metoffice Read here ➡️ buff.ly/4fVVvRb
The next UK National Meeting on Climate Impacts and Risks will be held at Bristol on 18/19th Sep 2025. Day1 is all impacts/risks, Day2 is health focussed. Academic, industry and policy all welcome. Stayed tuned for updates and sign up @richardabetts @HayleyJFowler @AndyChallinor
The COP29 successfully negotiated key agreements on finance and carbon markets but has left a huge amount of work on both mitigation and adaptation action ahead of COP30. Our latest briefing is out now. theccc.org.uk/publication/co…
A range of global datasets, including @metoffice HadCRUT5, contribute to the temperature section of #StateOfClimate global report. Consensus shows January–September 2024 period was 1.54°C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900). 👉 bit.ly/40P9lk6 #GetClimateReady 🧵1/5
🌐 Today at #COP29 we release the latest #StateOfClimate global update and the message is clear: 📈 2024 is on track to be hottest year on record as warming temporarily hits 1.5°C 🔗 Full report: wmo.int/publication-se…
Cop29: world leaders must be held to account on climate with scientific evidence theconversation.com/cop29-world-le… @PriestleyCentre @theCCCuk
as mainstream climate science leaves twitter, climate denial here will deflate like a balloon. there is no alternative scientific theory, no alternative science of climate denial. climate denial here is just people saying "you're wrong" to the mainstream. it's boring and lazy.
Very pleased to be working with the Climate Change Committee @theCCCuk as an Expert Advisor I'm advising the CCC's Adaptation Committee on the preparation of the 4th UK Climate Change Risk Assessment
The Adaptation Committee has three new members. They will cover infrastructure, farming and health. They will support our work on assessing progress and advising the Government on the risks of climate change. theccc.org.uk/2024/11/07/new…
More than half a trillion hours of work lost in 2023 due to ‘heat exposure’ | @AyeshaTandon w/ comment from @ollie_jay13 @MarinaRomanello @JeremyFarrar Read here: buff.ly/3CeeNTD
Valencia: "heavy 1-day rainfall events, as intense as the one observed, are about 12% more intense and about twice as likely in today’s climate, that is 1.3°C warmer than it would have been in the cooler preindustrial climate without human-caused warming" worldweatherattribution.org/extreme-downpo…
Insufficient rainfall in 2023-2024 has taken a toll on vast areas of South America. GRACE-FO data shows shallow groundwater storage for the week of Oct. 7, compared to long-term records. Blue areas have more water than usual, and orange and red areas have less.
THIS IS HUGE. Paris City Hall has announced that starting on Monday, Paris will limit (not ban) car traffic in the city centre, as cities like Ghent have done. They’re creating a limited traffic zone (ZTL) about 2 sq miles in size, to clean the air & create more space for people.