Opponents to action on the climate crisis have used various strategies over the last 25 years including denial (‘there is no climate crisis’), claiming it isn’t man-made (‘the climate has always been changing’), spreading doubt (‘the evidence isn’t strong enough to justify action at this point’) and claiming a lack of scientific consensus (‘climate scientists … More Debunking Climate Action Sceptics

There are many ways of comparing individual countries’ contributions to the climate crisis; none of them are perfect and some are deliberately deceptive. The Climate Change Performance Index looks like one of the better studies; it carefully explains the method it uses. Each of the 61 rated countries earns a score (where a high score … More How is my country doing?

The Pyrénées are my local mountains and I try to get out there hiking or riding my bike every week or so. A month ago I climbed up le Taillon (a 3000+ meter peak on the French – Spanish border) passing through la Breche de Roland, a spectacular slot in the sharp border ridge. As … More Ghosts of Glaciers

We are pumping out more greenhouse gases – principally CO2, methane and nitrous oxide – more quickly than they can be absorbed by the planet. Above this limit, they accumulate in the atmosphere and cause the temperature to rise. We’ve been doing this with CO2 since the start of the industrial revolution (around 1800) with … More Emissions, Concentration and Warming

Let’s assume I want to plan a return journey from London to Edinburgh (city center to city center), going up on the Friday and coming back on the Monday. I’ve got 3 choices – to drive, fly or take the train – and the journey is in about 10 day’s times, so the cost of … More Figuring in the Social Cost of Carbon

I’ve produced this web site to record my ideas on how we should address climate change and other crises that are affecting us. The site is derived from a document and it’s very text-heavy – you may prefer to read the document directly. In any event, I’m hoping to refine the site and would welcome … More This Web Site

Earth Overshoot Day is the day of the year when we’ve used up a year’s worth of planetary resources; once we are past that date, we’re consuming resources non-renewably. In 2019 we hit that date on the 29th of July; as a general rule, it gets a little bit earlier each year. It’s a date … More Earth Overshoot Day