David N. Thomas

Trio of tree misty silhouettes to celebrate the start of #NationalTreeWeek

There are only around 50 Rice's whales (confined to the Gulf of Mexico) - this new publication describes how difficult it is to raise issues about the conservation and management of one of the rarest species of whale on the planet

I'm seeing claims that progress was made at #COP30, but it really wasn't. Each passing year with no fossil fuel phaseout comes at great opportunity cost as we further burn through the vanishing carbon budget that remains for averting dangerous warming. See my commentary: michaelmann.net/bad-cop/

We had only recently passed 350 ppm when I started my PhD in Earth System Science, already a value understood to be dangerous and a threat to society.

And now, 33 years and 30 COPs later, we are at a value that is unprecedented for the past 3 million years and maybe even the past 8 million years.

There are only around 50 Rice's whales (confined to the Gulf of Mexico) - this new publication describes how difficult it is to raise issues about the conservation and management of one of the rarest species of whale on the planet

The transformation-mainstreaming conundrum: Making sense of tensions in adaptation practice - Ambio As the scale of climate change impacts become apparent, organisations globally are seeking to adapt. They face dual imperatives of transformation—going beyond business-as-usual to embrace disruptive c...

New publication:
The transformation-mainstreaming conundrum: Making sense of tensions in adaptation practice

open access link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Discovering the world’s most endangered great whale species did not advance an issue-attention cycle in news media: Implications for Rice’s whale conservation and management - Ambio Issue-attention cycles (IACs) follow the predictable rise and fall of media and public attention to topics through five defined stages. Using content analysis and critical discourse analysis, we analy...

New Publication:
Discovering the world’s most endangered great whale species did not advance an issue-attention cycle in news media: Implications for Rice’s whale conservation and management

Open access link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Exporting environmental democracy to international forums: Understanding the role of the Aarhus Convention - Ambio This socio-legal paper examines how the duty under Article 3.7. of the Aarhus Convention to promote principles of environmental democracy in international environmental forums is being interpreted and...

New publication:
Exporting environmental democracy to international forums: Understanding the role of the Aarhus Convention

Open access link:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

My wife - "is there a reason you only gave me half a cup of tea?"

Me - "I didn't have my glasses on & couldn't see the surface"

#BeyondHope

My wife - "is there a reason you only gave me half a cup of tea?"

Me - "I didn't have my glasses on & couldn't see the surface"

#BeyondHope

It’s 2 oC at 04:16am in Helsinki and I am glued to the screen …..why?
Of course waiting stupidly excited for #Ashes2025 to start
#BBCCricket #BBCTMS

National biodiversity and ecosystem assessments for conservation impact: Uptake and lessons learnt from the South African experience - Ambio To combat global biodiversity decline, countries must identify priority ecosystems and species, often through National Ecosystem or Biodiversity Assessments (NEAs/NBAs). In developing nations, resourc...

New Publication:
National biodiversity and ecosystem assessments for conservation impact: Uptake and lessons learnt from the South African experience

Open access link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

To reform universities, first tackle global rankings Universities are in thrall to a rankings system that prioritizes narrow aspects of academic life. Three changes would give institutions the freedom to explore fresh ways of working.

Academia is plagued by not-fit-for-purpose metrics that are then used ranking individuals and institutions
Will we ever move away from these? - there is a lot of talk but not a great deal of action?
The comment ⬇️ is a refreshing look at the problem.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

To reform universities, first tackle global rankings Universities are in thrall to a rankings system that prioritizes narrow aspects of academic life. Three changes would give institutions the freedom to explore fresh ways of working.

Academia is plagued by not-fit-for-purpose metrics that are then used ranking individuals and institutions
Will we ever move away from these? - there is a lot of talk but not a great deal of action?
The comment ⬇️ is a refreshing look at the problem.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Blue economy for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in Egypt: Towards resilient food security - Ambio This study examines Egypt's blue economy, focusing on fisheries and aquaculture, through a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) analysis to enhance food security. Egypt holds significa...

new publication:
Blue economy for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in Egypt: Towards resilient food security

link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Beyond the finite pool of worry: War experiences and climate change concerns in Ukraine - Ambio This study explores the relationship between self-reported war impacts on personal lives and climate change concerns in Ukraine, challenging the "finite pool of worry" hypothesis. Based on survey data...

new publication:
Beyond the finite pool of worry: War experiences and climate change concerns in Ukraine

open access link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Ecosystem accounting through first nations’ lenses: Integrating the SEEA-EA and Indigenous knowledge systems - Ambio The UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting-Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) provides a framework for integrating information about the environment and the economy, organising information about e...

new publication:
Ecosystem accounting through first nations’ lenses: Integrating the SEEA-EA and Indigenous knowledge systems

open access link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

new publication:
Making water knowledge with Artificial Intelligence: A qualitative study of expert interviews on water diplomacy

open access link: Making water knowledge with Artificial Intelligence: A qualitative study of expert interviews on water diplomacy

The costs of connection: Socioenvironmental risks of the Brazil-China railway across the Amazon - Ambio The proposed Brazil–China transcontinental railway, connecting Brazil’s Atlantic coast to Peru’s Pacific port of Chancay, has re-emerged as a flagship infrastructure project under China’s Belt and Roa...

new publication:
The costs of connection: Socioenvironmental risks of the Brazil-China railway across the Amazon

link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Best wishes for the recovert
the set up I am using is 55-21
If you look at the picture the still exciting aspect of the bike for me (even after having the bike for >13 years) is the belt drive rather than a chain. It is so quiet & of course saves a whole deal of mess.

What really interesting is that I take exactly the same time using the single speed as I do on my normal bike with gears.
I clearly have to work a lot harder on the no-gear format to achieve this....effort that on normal days I am unconsciously content to not do,,,, hence the "lazy" comment. 😂😱

Nothing like riding a single speed bike in rain, mud and wind for a few days to remind you how convenient gears are
……or just how lazy I have become on the #HelsinkiBikeCommute

We live in hope that one day.....🤣

Nothing like riding a single speed bike in rain, mud and wind for a few days to remind you how convenient gears are
……or just how lazy I have become on the #HelsinkiBikeCommute

Many congrats 👏

A seriously important paper about the links between health and climate change in Polar regions ⬇️
This really is an urgent call

#Arctic #COP30 #ClimateChange

Well remember our winter days in Liverpool in the mid 1980s taking solid frozen nappies/diapers off the washing lines and defrosting then all around the house 🤣

A framework for assessing global health impacts of polar change: An urgent call for interdisciplinary research - Ambio Research on the human health risks of climate change is expanding, yet the influence of polar region shifts on these risks remains underexplored. This paper presents a framework to assess global and r...

New publication:
A framework for assessing global health impacts of polar change: An urgent call for interdisciplinary research

Open access link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A seriously important paper about the links between health and climate change in Polar regions ⬇️
This really is an urgent call

#Arctic #COP30 #ClimateChange

Towards improved ecosystem service assessments in marine systems: A systematic review and evaluation of effectiveness - Ambio Ecosystem service assessments (ESA) are widely used to support marine management, yet their application varies across regions due to differences in governance frameworks, data availability, and method...

New publication:
Towards improved ecosystem service assessments in marine systems: A systematic review and evaluation of effectiveness

Link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...