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Mike Morecroft

@mikemorecroft.bsky.social

Ecologist, conservationist, head of Climate Change Science at Natural England. Visiting Prof at Reading University. President John Ray Initiative. All views my own.

1,428 Followers  |  120 Following  |  28 Posts  |  Joined: 16.02.2024  |  1.9976

Latest posts by mikemorecroft.bsky.social on Bluesky

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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

27.05.2025 11:05 β€” πŸ‘ 29    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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This iconic NASA office changed climate science forever. DOGE plans to kill it The NYC space is where the term β€˜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...

15.05.2025 12:54 β€” πŸ‘ 478    πŸ” 174    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 9

Absolutely- fantastic project!

04.05.2025 22:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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!

04.05.2025 21:24 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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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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22.04.2025 09:18 β€” πŸ‘ 138    πŸ” 52    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 5

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/...

21.04.2025 10:58 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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.

09.04.2025 17:31 β€” πŸ‘ 162    πŸ” 45    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2
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It wasn’t net zero β€” 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."

19.03.2025 10:11 β€” πŸ‘ 266    πŸ” 117    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 9
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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 β€˜Just Earth’.

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

13.03.2025 20:57 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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CCC: Reducing emissions 87% by 2040 would help β€˜cut household costs by Β£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...

26.02.2025 09:06 β€” πŸ‘ 377    πŸ” 176    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 10
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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...

25.02.2025 14:11 β€” πŸ‘ 145    πŸ” 83    πŸ’¬ 47    πŸ“Œ 59
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That new land use policy that the Tories call β€˜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...

β€œWe 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...

15.02.2025 06:54 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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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.

15.02.2025 08:16 β€” πŸ‘ 1016    πŸ” 366    πŸ’¬ 16    πŸ“Œ 18
Predicted bird abundance and ± SE per 4β€…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.

Predicted bird abundance and ± SE per 4β€…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....

14.02.2025 14:16 β€” πŸ‘ 64    πŸ” 33    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 3
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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

14.02.2025 06:22 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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....

13.02.2025 18:50 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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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

09.02.2025 08:10 β€” πŸ‘ 47    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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@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.

06.02.2025 10:15 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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@mikemorecroft.bsky.social @naturalengland.bsky.social summarises some of the key findings of the Nature Returns partnership so far...

06.02.2025 11:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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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

03.02.2025 17:41 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Climate change increased the likelihood of wildfire disaster in highly exposed Los Angeles areaΒ  – World Weather Attribution

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...

02.02.2025 09:59 β€” πŸ‘ 139    πŸ” 47    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 1

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!

02.02.2025 16:48 β€” πŸ‘ 76    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

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...

31.01.2025 04:36 β€” πŸ‘ 1009    πŸ” 500    πŸ’¬ 63    πŸ“Œ 32
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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.

29.01.2025 17:30 β€” πŸ‘ 92    πŸ” 24    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 2
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The share of wind & solar in primary energy has gone from 5-10% in IPCC AR5 to 20-40% in IPCC AR6, for deep mitigation scenarios.

Scenarios are often used to explore uncertainties, but uncertainty in solar & wind does not seem to be a dimension that was explored in AR5.

rdcu.be/d7jWG

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24.01.2025 07:29 β€” πŸ‘ 47    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

You can say, β€œgravity isn’t real,” but if you step off the cliff, you’re still going down.

And if you convince other people it’s not real, you are responsible for what happens if they make decisions based on the information you withheld.

21.01.2025 20:53 β€” πŸ‘ 888    πŸ” 276    πŸ’¬ 23    πŸ“Œ 13
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Trump announces second withdrawal from Paris Climate Agreement President Trump announced the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement on Monday shortly after his inauguration, echoing a similar decision in his first term that was later reversed …

USA withdrawal from Paris is unsurprising, worrying & frustrating. Last time this happened an amazing campaign by states & cities (β€˜we’re still in’) continued an emissions decline despite their federal government. USA joins just 3 nations not in Paris: Iran, Libya & Yemen thehill.com/policy/energ...

20.01.2025 19:10 β€” πŸ‘ 50    πŸ” 15    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 6

🚨I recommend checking out our new commentary on the neutrality myth in climate science and activism, together with @lydiamessling.bsky.social and @katharinehayhoe.com in Nature Climate Action #openaccess
nature.com/articles/s44... 1/3

07.10.2024 07:46 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Passion for the environment? The Christian Rural and Environmental Studies course brings together an understanding of the environment and Christian Faith. Competitively priced, with no entry requirements, CRES is a distance learning course that can be taken anywhere. bit.ly/CRESc

18.01.2025 23:01 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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I was struck this morning by the sense of dire urgency expressed by Dame Glenys Stacey, Chair of the @OfficeforEP, on the need to quickly ramp up efforts to get on track to meet legally binding Nature goals. Time is running out, & so is Nature.

www.theoep.org.uk/report/gover...

16.01.2025 16:27 β€” πŸ‘ 49    πŸ” 20    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

@mikemorecroft is following 20 prominent accounts