Category Archives: Policy

Plausible emission scenarios

Posted on April 12, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

A paper by Roger Pielke Jr, Matthew Burgess and Justin Ritchie has been submitted that suggests that the most plausible 2005-2040 emission scenarios project less than 2.5oC of warming by 2100. It’s generated a bit of debate on social media, … Continue reading →

Posted in ClimateBall, Global warming, Policy, Roger Pielke Jr | Tagged , , , , , | 44 Comments

Solar Radiation Management

Posted on March 31, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

It seems the latest controversy in the climate debate is whether or not we should be studying Solar Radiation Management (SRM). As Stoat points out, there is a new National Academy of Sciences report on Reflecting Sunlight, which seems to … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Policy, Research, Scientists, The philosophy of science | Tagged , , , , | 48 Comments

‘Net zero’

Posted on March 3, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

There’s been some recent debate about the term ‘net-zero’. Just to give some basic background, given that the zero emission commitment is close to zero (i.e., when we get anthropogenic emissions to zero, global surface temperatures should soon stabilise) means … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, ClimateBall, Environmental change, Policy | Tagged , , , , | 23 Comments

Deferential?

Posted on February 3, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

I was listening to a podcast interview with Steve Keen, whose work I’ve written about before. It was about his paper the appallingly bad neoclassical economics of climate change. I have a lot of sympathy with what he’s presenting. Some … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, economics, Environmental change, physicists, Policy, Scientists | Tagged , , , | 53 Comments

Where have all the STS’ers gone?

Posted on December 21, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

There’s a recent paper in Science and Technology Studies by Jaron Harambam called The Corona Truth Wars: Where Have All the STS’ers Gone When We Need Them Most? The topic is, fairly obviously, the current coronavirus pandemic, and the abstract … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Environmental change, Philosophy for Bloggers, Policy, Research | Tagged , , , | 21 Comments

Climate change doesn’t work like that

Posted on November 17, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

A couple of years ago I wrote a post where I tried to explain why I thought climate change was a different kind of problem when compared to most of the other issues we might face today. I find it … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Environmental change, ethics, Policy, Science | Tagged , , , , , | 72 Comments

Policy in the language of science

Posted on October 24, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

I was listening to the a Received Wisdom podcast. It’s a podcast by Shobita Parthasarathy and Jack Stilgoe, which I have written about before. At the beginning of the podcast, the hosts were discussing the Great Barrington Declaration, and Jack … Continue reading →

Posted in Policy, Politics, Science, Scientists | Tagged , , , , | 77 Comments

Understanding methane

Posted on September 26, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

There was a recent Conversation article about methane called Climate explained: methane is short-lived in the atmosphere but leaves long-term damage that caused a bit of a stir on Twitter. One way people assess the significance of different greenhouse gases, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Global warming, Policy, Research, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Matt Ridley – How Innovation Works

Posted on August 23, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

Despite having been a regular critic of Matt Ridley’s Lukewarmerism, I’ve just finished reading his new book How Innovation Works. I actually quite enjoyed the book and found it quite an easy read. Ridley is clearly a very convincing writer. … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy for Bloggers, Policy | Tagged , , , | 90 Comments

Deep Adaptation

Posted on July 20, 2020 by ...and Then There's Physics

Something I haven’t paid much attention to recently is the Deep Adaptation arguments. I think it originated with a paper by Jem Bendell. The reason it’s of current interest is because of a critique called the faulty science, doomism, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, ClimateBall, Philosophy for Bloggers, Policy | Tagged , , , , | 56 Comments