Category Archives: Policy

Science-based targets

Posted on October 6, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

It may just be my bubble, but I seem to be encountering quite a lot of criticism of things like deadlines, net zero and carbon budgets from people who – as far as I can tell – support aggressive climate … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Global warming, Policy | Tagged | 66 Comments

Implications for mitigating methane emissions in agriculture

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

Since I was discussing methane in yesterday’s post, I thought I would highlight a paper on [u]nderstanding the implications for mitigating methane emissions in agriculture (H/T Miles King). The reason I found it interesting, is that it uses GWP* (which … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Environmental change, Policy | Tagged , , , , , | 47 Comments

A methane emergency?

Posted on August 30, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

There was an article a couple of days ago about why the climate emergency is now the methane emergency. I appreciate that the general argument is about limiting future warming, but some of what is suggested is essentially wrong. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Global warming, Policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 46 Comments

A chat with Mallen Baker

Posted on August 19, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

Mallen Baker is a commentator who runs a youtube channel called Dangerously Reasonable. He tackles contentious issues and tries to assess the various lines of evidence that may, or may not, support what someone is promoting. For example, Mallen did … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Climate sensitivity, Global warming, Policy, The philosophy of science | Tagged , , , , | 174 Comments

CO2 emission reductions

Posted on July 14, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

At the risk of sounding rather arrogant, I find myself getting more and more frustrated by people justifying their position on the basis of a flawed understanding of the scientific evidence. One that seems particularly prevalent at the moment is … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Policy | Tagged , , , , | 60 Comments

Independent SAGE – Climate

Posted on June 20, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

Sir David King, who has been leading the Independent SAGE group, is planning to set up a similar group that will focus on climate change (H/T Doug McNeall). It will apparently have 14 experts, from 10 nations, and every continent. … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Environmental change, Global warming, Policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 32 Comments

Some reflections on (corona) truth wars

Posted on June 9, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

I wrote this in response to a paper by Jaron Harambam called The Corona Truth Wars, published in a journal called Science and Technology Studies. I submitted it to this journal but it was (desk?) rejected because they felt that … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Climate change, Philosophy for Bloggers, Policy, Scientists, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 57 Comments

Declaring a climate emergency?

Posted on June 6, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

Matthew Nisbet, Professor of Communication, Public Policy, and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, has a new article called Manufacturing Consent: The dangerous campaign behind climate emergency declarations. It makes similar arguments to those made by Mike Hulme in an article … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Philosophy for Bloggers, Policy, Politics, Science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 57 Comments

The is-ought distinction

Posted on May 21, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

There was an interesting panel discussion, as part of Andy Revkin’s #SustainWhat webcast, involving Naomi Oreskes and Mike Hulme. Andy was highlighting it because of what Naomi Oreskes was saying about people staying in their lanes. There can be a … Continue reading →

Posted in advocacy, Philosophy for Bloggers, physicists, Policy, Scientists, The philosophy of science | Tagged , , , , , , | 55 Comments

Halting the vast release of methane is critical

Posted on May 1, 2021 by ...and Then There's Physics

A week or so ago there was a New York Times article called Halting the Vast Release of Methane Is Critical for Climate, U.N. Says. As the title suggests, it was reporting on a United Nations Report that (according to … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Environmental change, Global warming, Policy, Science | Tagged , , , , , | 94 Comments