Nearly every climate denial argument I’ve ever heard falls into one of these five categories.

1 - it’s not real
2 - it’s not us
3 - it’s not bad
4 - it’s too hard/costly to fix
5 - it’s too late

And you know which is growing the fastest these days? The last one 😳 That’s because it’s growing at both sides: from those who understand it’s a great excuse to continue to delay action, as well as from those who are so paralyzed by fear that it’s more comforting for them to give up then to keep fighting.

#COP28 wrapped up in the early hours today. Where do we stand? With a stronger mandate to tackle the root causes of climate change than we had before--but with much less than what we need to avoid "dangerous interference with the climate system" and meet our Paris goals. 🧵 According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the terms of the agreement provide about 30% what's needed to reach the 1.5C target. iea.org/news/iea-asses…

There's lots of announcements and news coming out of #COP28. I'm here to rank them for you from a climate scientist's perspective, using 🌴 for the wins and 🤦‍♀️ for the facepalms.

Did I miss something? Let me know and I'll add it to this list! #ClimateAction #COP28FromHome 🧵 On Day 1, 198 nations ratified the framework for making COP27's loss + damage fund operational, and the first pledges were made. The EU led with $245M, while the US pledged $17.5M or about 0.002% of its defense budget.

I rate this one 🌴, and here's why:
lemonde.fr/en/environment…

Today, the 5th US National Climate Assessment was released. I've been an author now for 4 assessments - so what's new with this one, and why does it matter? (thread) nca2023.globalchange.gov First, previous NCAs are still very relevant. If you want to know more about everything from climate scenarios to tipping points, check out the 2017 Climate Science Special Report and for great answers to the most common FAQs, see science2017.globalchange.gov
nca2018.globalchange.gov

Today, @pontifex released Laudato Deum, an update on the 2015 encyclical. It's not so much a breath of fresh air as it is a bucket of ice water, straight to the face of those who are standing in the way of and delaying climate progress. Here are a few highlights: On the science: "Despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here + increasingly evident. No one can ignore the fact that in recent years we've witnessed extreme weather phenomena." I agree. nytimes.com/2021/08/17/opi…

45 climate scientists were asked what we thought of this years' climate disasters. Here are the highlights of what we said (thread) theguardian.com/environment/20…
We all pretty much agree that "despite it certainly feeling as if events had taken a frightening turn, global heating to date is entirely in line with 3 decades of scientific predictions. But being proved right is cold comfort, as our warnings had so far been largely in vain."

Climate change is real. The warming we’ve observed is entirely human-caused.* Its impacts are serious, including making heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, droughts and floods more severe and more dangerous.** But there are solutions and we can fix it.*** 💪🌱 * This thread explains how we know that all of the observed warming (and then some) is human caused. Without it, the planet would be very gradually, slowly cooling.

https://twitter.com/KHayhoe/status/1032652591841386497

As a female climate scientist, blocking is the only thing that makes my engagement here on Twitter/X possible.

Daily, I receive comments that range from disparaging to downright vile. Since Oct, my tweets can attract thousands of trolls (real people) and bots (not real). 🧵 Why does blocking help? Here are three reasons.

1/ It is discouraging to be called a whore and told to kill yourself. The same people often repeat the same messages, so by blocking them I don't have to see them again.

2/ So why not just mute? Because then they still ...

The 2023-2024 academic year is the first where students have unlimited access to ChatGPT.
What's your best idea for an ONLINE (not in-class) assignment that either (1) teaches them to use it effectively, or (2) asks them for something they can't easily produce with an LLM? I'll go first! Since 2020, I've added journaling to all my classes. I ask students to reflect personally on what they learned in each module, with examples from their lived experience. It's easy to see if they use an LLM to write it (not just improve it) b/c it won't be personal.

Amid the devastating Maui fires, I see many arguing, "it's weather, arson--anything but climate change."

Let's set the record straight. Climate change doesn't usually start the fires; but it intensifies them, increasing the area they burn + making them much more dangerous. 🧵 Imagine someone tosses a match into a pile of relatively green, wet wood. What happens? Not much.

Then, imagine they toss that same match into a pile of bone-dry kindling. It sets off a conflagration.

What determines the condition of the wood? Increasingly, it's climate change.

Across the globe - north and south, ocean and land - climate change is super-sizing our heatwaves and heat extremes. While this puts us all at risk, some are much more vulnerable than others. Here's why. 🧵 First, people living in cities experience up to 4C (7F) hotter temperatures than surrounding rural areas due to the urban heat island effect. epa.gov/heatislands/le…

For the last few years, “climate activists are setting the wildfires” (to fake climate risks?!) was the dominant denial talking point; but now it’s gone even further…claims that the fires were set to clear areas for wind farms, critical mineral extraction, and more. (contd) As @JustinWorland discusses here, there’s a psychological effect: the more obvious and dangerous, the impacts become, the stronger and more forceful the pushback to deny the urgency of action. (contd) time.com/6298586/extrem…

With climate records being shattered weekly, this cartoon is even more apt.
July global avg temp is the latest to fall; a new analysis by @khaustein finds it's the hottest ever recorded, possibly the hottest in 120,000 years.
Here's what this means & why there’s still hope.🧵 July's average global temperature is projected to be 1.3-1.7°C above the average before human-induced warming began. That's 0.2°C hotter than the previous record set in 2019. For reference see below for July temps through 2022. Source: https://t.co/J6zKe0c9whncei.noaa.gov/access/monitor…

This iconic graph tracks how rapidly our planet is warming. Yet every time it's shared on Twitter, someone always asks, "Why does it begin in 1850?"

The answer is simple: it's when we first had enough thermometers to compute a truly representative global temperature average. The oldest continuous thermometer-based temperature record is Central England Temperature. It began in 1678 ... when Charles II was King of England! It shows how unusual today's warming is compared to the last four centuries of temperature variability. metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/

On climate change, we often assume people are either believers or deniers.

I don't like either label, because climate change is not a religion.

Instead, I prefer the 6 categories identified by @YaleClimateComm for the US. climatecommunication.yale.edu/about/projects… At one end, 53% are already alarmed or concerned. What's critical, though, is that most still aren't ACTIVATED. That's right: only 8% of people in the US are activated! So there's plenty to do in those categories to move people from worried->active. climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/s…

I face abuse on social media more days than not. Most of it comes from accounts who identify as male, and the slurs used are often gendered.

For me, Twitter has the highest number of trolls. LinkedIn is next. Website email, Facebook and Instagram tie for third.

https://twitter.com/profmarkmaslin/status/1643533691317043200

Facebook used to be a lot higher…similar to Twitter…but in Aug 2018 they moved “climate change” and “clean energy” to the list of “sensitive topics” and shadow-banned my account. Since then, growth virtually ceased and the number of people-incl trolls-seeing my posts plummeted.

Looking for more from me than tweets? I regularly share unique content on a dozen other online platforms...and you won't see most of it on Twitter. Browse this thread for direct links and dive in! 1/ Every week, my free newsletter shares good news, not so good news, and something you can do about climate change. It also has links to join my online talks and read things I've written recently. Subscribe here: mailchi.mp/fae4224ba66d/s…

Much has changed here since Elon took over. Based on my own before-and-after expts, climate denial responses are up 15-30x. Changes in followers are even more dramatic: Stef's analysis shows that climate accounts have seen little change while denial accounts have boomed.

https://twitter.com/Wikisteff/status/1640914997294297091

I've tested a few hypotheses and I think there are a few different factors contributing to this.

First, there was an exodus in Oct. I lost several thousand followers myself and about 10% of the people on my list of "scientists who do climate". Not huge but still real.

Here are the big takeaways from the @IPCC_CH Synthesis Report released today.

First, climate change has already caused widespread and substantial losses to almost every aspect of human life on this planet, and the impacts on future generations depend on the choices we make NOW. Second, every bit of warming matters. The warmer the planet gets, the more widespread and pronounced the changes in both average climate and climate and weather extremes become.

The latest @IPCC_CH 6th Asst Synthesis Report comes out tomorrow; but after three decades of these assessments, it's already clear that --
Climate is changing
Humans are responsible
The impacts are serious
We aren't doing enough to prevent them
And our future is in our hands. How would Shakespeare say this?

Hark! The climate, she doth change,
And for this, we do bear the blame.
The impacts grave, they do ensue,
Yet we fail to do what we must do.
Our future rests within our hands,
Pray, let us act, and make amends.

Climate change is causing atmospheric rivers to become stronger and more hazardous. This is contributing to the devastating flooding in California this year. Source: science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/9/ It is also making heatwaves stronger and more frequent; droughts longer and more intense; wildfires burn greater area, heavy precipitation increase, and hurricanes intensify faster and dump more rain. The more the world warms, the worse they will be.