Mike Morecroft

New blog out today naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2025/10/07/n... The Nature Returns Programme has been running since 2021, bringing together science and practice in one pilot programme testing nature-based solutions in a real world context. Find out more and link to our summary report.

Renewables have overtaken coal in the global electricity mix for the first time, @ember-energy.org has found
www.linkedin.com/pulse/renewa...

It is "established fact" that humans have warmed the Earth by burning fossils fuels and that our emissions have made climate extremes more frequent and intense (IPCC AR6)

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

www.carbonbrief.org/...

Global investment in renewable energy up 10% on 2024 despite Trump rollback Growth rate slightly lower than previous first-half years but sector still strong and resilient, experts say

Global investment in renewable energy up 10% on 2024 despite Trump rollback

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

In a UN speech today, President Trump said that "all of these [climate] predictions were wrong".

Back in 2019 I led a research effort to digitize old climate model projections and assess how well they did. Turns out they got future warming pretty spot on!

Visited Muckle Moss in Northumberland yesterday with Natural England colleagues. Great restoration work has restored hydrology, rewetted the bog, reinvigorated the plant community and restarted growth. Note the disappearing fence line as the peat builds up.

The time has come to value tropical fieldworkers as equal partners.

With billions spent on watching forests from space, the skills of foresters and botanists have never been more vital. In our #Nature correspondence we show why - and what needs to change.
#GEO-TREES
rdcu.be/enT5S

This iconic NASA office changed climate science forever. DOGE plans to kill it The NYC space is where the term ‘black hole’ was coined and where James Hansen became famous for his warnings about climate change.

we’re getting evicted, it’s stupid, and I’m mad

www.fastcompany.com/91333946/thi...

Absolutely- fantastic project!

Great that you were asked to speak. Maybe one day I’ll go to the lunch but can’t say I envy the tutti men! More seriously the commoners rights have really helped to maintain nature and given great benefit to the whole community. Lessons to learn there!

The EU has released its latest GHG emission inventory, with data up to 2023.

The good news, GHG emissions continue a downward trend, currently 37% below 1990 levels.

The bad news, a significant downward revision of land-use removals (LULUCF).

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Sad to hear of the passing of Pope Francis. Extraordinary Christian leadership on the environment and the needs of the poor and vulnerable. His encyclical Laudato si on care for the Earth is a tremendous legacy for all churches and the world. www.vatican.va/content/dam/...

Much of this cannot be done by the federal government, due to state rights: but I’m not an expert on that. So here’s @govjayinslee.bsky.social’s take on how federal EOs do and don’t impact state climate action and the clean energy revolution.

It wasn’t net zero — it was fossil gas that drove up UK electricity prices.

Spot on, @pilitaclark.bsky.social! Gas sets the price most of the time.

As @dharavyas.bsky.social Energy UK, says: "It’s the volatile cost of fossil fuels and our dependence on them that have driven up energy bills."

People suffering most from climate crisis unable to cope – activist The best way to solve the environmental crisis is to tackle the problem of inequality - that's the argument made by Tony Juniper in his new book ‘Just Earth’.

“Inequality and environmental destruction are two faces of the same coin”
- Tony Juniper
@tonyjuniper.bsky.social
www.channel4.com/news/people-...

CCC: Reducing emissions 87% by 2040 would help ‘cut household costs by £1,400’ - Carbon Brief The UK should cut its emissions to 87% below 1990 levels by 2040 under its...

To no one's surprise, UK newspapers are full of truly dreadful - and, at times, outright bizarre - "reporting" of the Climate Change Committee's new carbon-budget advice.

For a sane and nuanced summary – with lots of charts - here's our detailed coverage...

www.carbonbrief.org/ccc-reducing...

Science under threat | Royal Society The Royal Society will use its voice and the expertise of our Fellows to resist the various challenges to science.

Science advances our economic, physical, and social and cultural wellbeing, and is key to a sustainable future. However, we live in times of great change, and the values that have driven science for the benefit of humanity are under threat. Read our statement here: royalsociety.org/news/2025/02...

That new land use policy that the Tories call ‘national suicide’? It’s urgent, essential – and their idea | Henry Dimbleby No, it isn’t a leftwing plot, it’s a proposal I authored for the Conservatives in 2021. And it could be brilliantly transformative for England, says Henry Dimbleby, managing partner of Bramble Partner...

“We need to reverse the collapse in biodiversity, before it threatens our own survival. Without pollinators or healthy soil micro-organisms, we won’t be able to grow enough food to feed ourselves.”

Henry Dimbleby speaking about the land use policy.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It's been a long time since Private Eye's satire has made me audibly wince, but this is so to the point if it were a knife people would demand it be banned.

Predicted bird abundance and ± SE per 4 ha for (A) all species; (B) farmland birds; and (C) woodland birds across the three different land-use classifications. Dark bars represent all species and light bars represent Red- and Amber-listed Birds of Conservation Concern, per group.

Our new paper, free to read in Bird Study, compares bird counts on solar farms and adjacent farmland. For solar farms with infrequently cut/grazed grass and bounded by hedges/trees, both farmland and woodland birds were more abundant than on adjacent arable land www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Thanks to the over 1000 climate colleagues pre-registering to help accelerate adaptation! At a tough time for USA researchers we extended the submission deadline to 1 March! We look forward to seeing you on line or in person! Thank u for your climate leadership! #AF2025 adaptationfutures2025.com

Great day at #NatureReturns conference last week. How can we get the most out of nature based solutions for nature, climate and people: we’re learning by doing! More information here www.kew.org/science/natu....

Jumping on line and going on again about Adaptation Futures 2025 as it’s the biggest climate adaptation event- held in both virtual & in person formats because we can’t keep flying to save the planet but come and stay longer - first time NZ & Pacific has hosted this

@mikemorecroft.bsky.social @naturalengland.bsky.social describes the evidence that #NatureBasedSolutions can work, but sometimes fail when done in the wrong way. Building the evidence of how they can be done well to deliver for both nature and people (and climate) is essential.

@mikemorecroft.bsky.social @naturalengland.bsky.social summarises some of the key findings of the Nature Returns partnership so far...

Adaptation Futures Conference 2025 The 8th international Adaptation Futures Conference (AF2025) will be held in Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand from 13 to 16 October, 2025. It is hosted by the…

You have until 25.2 to submit an abstract to the Adaptation Futures 2025 conference (hybrid). Look here to see the exciting themes and follow @adaptationfutures.bsky.social

adaptationfutures2025.com

Did climate change contribute to the LA wildfires?

Yes

"human-induced warming from burning fossil fuels made the peak January Fire Weather Index more intense, with an estimated 6% increase in intensity, and 35% more probable"

Barnes et al (2025)

www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-chan...

Was hoping to spend my Sunday selling Girl Scout cookies with my daughter. Instead I'm trying to find and download Federal datasets and reports on climate change, trade and foreign aid so I can actually teach and research on these topics. USDA Climate Hubs still up for now - grab info while you can!

The first ever US national nature assessment has been terminated and its USGCRP and DOI webpages have been removed.

A PDF of the zeroth order draft is still available here: review.globalchange.gov/system/files...

We don't here much about Ash Dieback these days. But here's what it's done to an ancient woodland in eastern England after 10 yrs.
On the left: summer 2014, as Ash Dieback first arrived.
On the right: summer 2024, massive tree mortality/morbidity, vast amounts of deadwood, canopy opened up.
Wow.