Category Archives: Policy

Stepping outside my comfort zone

Posted on October 14, 2019 by

I noticed that I was getting some flack in the comments on another climate blog (to which I won’t link), with some commenters claiming I’d lost whatever credibility I had. This seemed a little surprising, as I didn’t think I … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, ClimateBall, Environmental change, Personal, Policy, Scientists, The philosophy of science | Tagged , , | 170 Comments

2025?

Posted on October 11, 2019 by

One of the demands from Extinction rebellion is that the [g]overnment must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. This has been criticised as being so unrealistic as to potentially damage … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Global warming, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 48 Comments

Should climate scientists admit failure?

Posted on September 26, 2019 by

Hopefully my readers will recognise Betteridge’s Law. James Dyke highlighted an article on Twitter that suggested that [t]he climate crisis demands new ways of thinking – scientists should be first to admit failure and move on. The suggestion is that … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Policy, Politics, Scientists | Tagged , , , , | 196 Comments

Solar Radiation Management

Posted on September 3, 2019 by

Ray Pierrehumbert has a new article in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists called There is no plan B for dealing with the climate crisis. The focus of the article is the possible use of geo-engineering, specifically solar radiation management, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Environmental change, Global warming, Policy, Research, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 50 Comments

Sigh

Posted on August 11, 2019 by

There’s been a rather contentious Twitter thread about RCP8.5, a concentration/forcing pathway I’ve discussed before. It started with a claim that it was “bollox” followed by a suggestion that it was mainly used for generating headlines, scaring gullible folk and … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon tax, ClimateBall, Policy, Scientists, Sound Science (tm) | Tagged , , , , , , | 100 Comments

A human extinction denier?

Posted on June 4, 2019 by

Mike Hulme has a new essay that some are promoting on Twitter. He suggests that he is a human extinction denier and objects to the climate emergency narrative. Although I have my own concerns about some of the extreme rhetoric, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, ClimateBall, ethics, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 114 Comments

Promises and perils of the Paris agreement?

Posted on June 2, 2019 by

A few people were sharing, on Twitter, a Science article called Promises and Perils of the Paris Agreement. It mostly seemed unobjectionable. It discusses the linear relationship between warming and emissions, and how this allows one to define carbon budgets … Continue reading →

Posted in Carbon tax, Climate change, Policy, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | 32 Comments