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Prof Friederike Otto

@frediotto.bsky.social

18K followers 53 following 82 posts

🇬🇧 🇪🇺 physicist, philosopher, lead https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/, author of Climate InJustice https://greystonebooks.com/collections/current-affairs-politics/products/climate-injustice, she/her

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Friederike (Fredi) Elly Luise Otto is a climatologist who as of December 2021 works as a Senior Lecturer at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London. She is an Honorary Research Associate of the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on answering the question whether and to what extent extreme weather conditions change as a result of external climate drivers. A highly recognised expert in the field of attribution research, she examines the extent to which human-caused climate change as well as vulnerability and exposure are responsible for events such heat waves, droughts and floods. Together with climate scientist Geert Jan van Oldenborgh she founded the international project World Weather Attribution which she still leads. In 2021, she was included in the Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. She was also one of ten scientists who had had important roles in scientific developments in 2021 highlighted in the scientific journal Nature. .. more

Environmental science 54%

Geography 16%

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Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · 7d

Very exciting “job” I’ll have over the coming months. Can’t wait to see how & where this dearly needed field of fiction is moving. 📕📗⚖️🔥

climate-fiction.bsky.social @climate-fiction.bsky.social · 7d

2026 Climate Fiction Prize Announce Stellar Judging Panel as Submissions Open!

📚 @arifa.bsky.social
📚 Jessie Greengrass
📚 @kitdewaal.com
📚 @frediotto.bsky.social
📚 @savidgereads.bsky.social

Publishers have until 13th November to submit novels published between 1 Sept 2024 – 31 Aug 2025.

Reposted by Friederike Otto

climate-fiction.bsky.social @climate-fiction.bsky.social · 7d

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Reposted by Friederike Otto, Gavin L. Foster

Gaia Vince @wanderinggaia.bsky.social · 10d

Terrible headline on a good article. It’s the world’s taste for MEAT that’s fuelling Amazon destruction. The soya is cattle feed.

How the world’s taste for soya is eating Brazil’s Amazon

Cultivation of the crop has made a few wealthy but at a huge cost to untouched forest as it spreads across vast areas of former wilderness

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Du Toit

Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · 14d

Planetary boundaries sound very abstract & high level, this year, for the first time @eraju.bsky.social & I contributed a chapter how breaching these boundaries has affected people around the world: losing lives, livelihoods, health… & for whom the limits of adaptation have been reached.

PIK_climate @pik-potsdam.bsky.social · 15d

Seven of nine planetary boundaries now breached – ocean acidification joins the danger zone," says PIK director Johan Rockström presenting the key findings of the Planetary Health Check 2025 today. #PlanetaryBoundaries
➡️ www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

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Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · 14d

I was wrong! @eraju.bsky.social is here!

Reposted by Friederike Otto, Rob Marchant, Du Toit , and 4 more Friederike Otto, Rob Marchant, Du Toit, Thomas Backhaus, Paul Lehmann, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Fiona Armstrong

PIK_climate @pik-potsdam.bsky.social · 15d

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Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · 16d

After almost a decadal hiatus, back at KMD in Nairobi, running a @wwattribution.bsky.social workshop with three superstars: @clairbarnes.bsky.social, Joyce Kimutai & Emmanuel Raju (who somehow didn't make it to blue sky yet).

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Reposted by Helmut Haberl, Wim Thiery

Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · 23d

The summer is over - and for about 16,600 people across 854 European cities that doesn't mean autumn comes, but death. People who would still be alive if it wasn't for our burning of fossil fuels. - New study with @lshtm.bsky.social www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/pub...

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Reposted by Friederike Otto, Kristie L. Ebi

Rupert Stuart-Smith @rupertstuartsmith.bsky.social · Sep 10

Out now: our new study shows that climate change caused nearly 1,700 heat-related deaths in Zürich over 50 years.

We assessed the effects of changing vulnerability to heat, heat-mortality within and outside of heatwaves, and the contribution of individual companies' emissions to heat deaths.

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Reposted by Peter Thorne, Du Toit, Paul Lehmann

Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Sep 4

Heat & very dry air that used to be rare, now very common in Spain & Portugal, putting huge strain on EU firefighting resources - at 1.3C global warming. Every additional ton of fossil fuels burnt will make European summers even more deadly & dangerous www.worldweatherattribution.org/extreme-fire...

a graph of high temperatures, daily severity rating and radiative power, showing how heat and DSR built up before fires broke out

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Reposted by Friederike Otto, Mariana Madruga de Brito

Johannes Quaas @jquaas.bsky.social · Sep 4

Hosted by @meteoleipzig.bsky.social @unileipzig.bsky.social @tropos-de.bsky.social , ECO-N research training group funded by @dfg.de
Great lectures by @sebastian-sippel.bsky.social @frediotto.bsky.social @mdebrito.bsky.social @zscheischlerjak.bsky.social and more!

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Reposted by Friederike Otto

Johannes Quaas @jquaas.bsky.social · Sep 4

The current Advanced Training Module on "Climate Attribution", joinly by our interdisciplinary research training group "Economics of Connected Natural Commons" and the Leipzig Graduate school on Clouds, aerosols and radiation sparked large interest: 65 PhD researchers from 7 countries!

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Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Aug 28

Innocent! Eating kale.

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Reposted by Garry Peterson, Du Toit

Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Aug 28

One of the strongest, clearest increases in likelihood & intensity, attributable to climate change, I've seen in a complex index like fire weather - the more intense & frequent events in Greece & Türkiye are already outpacing efforts to adapt.
www.worldweatherattribution.org/weather-cond...

map of the Aegean coast depicting change in vapour pressure deficit due to climate change

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Reposted by Friederike Otto

Leo Barasi @leobarasi.bsky.social · Aug 27

One of the best climate science comms jobs around, helping journalists explain how climate change has influenced extreme weather events, working with a top bunch of scientists at @wwattribution.bsky.social including @frediotto.bsky.social. London based, closes 5 Sep

Media Relations Manager (World Weather Attribution and Grantham Institute) at Imperial College London

Explore professional services job openings, including the Media Relations Manager (World Weather Attribution and Grantham Institute) position, on jobs.ac.uk. Apply today and discover more about this r...

www.jobs.ac.uk

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Reposted by Peter Thorne

Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Aug 22

Do you want to be part of our amazing team @wwattribution.bsky.social team? If you are a science/comms expert, you can! Please do consider applying - www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

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Reposted by Peter Thorne, Jussi T. Eronen

Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Aug 14

In July Fennoscandia was hit by a heatwave similar to one that hit the region in 2018. In just seven years, similar events have become almost twice as likely due to increased global temperatures from 1.1 to 1.3°C.

Every fraction of a degree matters! www.worldweatherattribution.org/intense-two-...

Sunset over the sea with a big rock in the sea, distorting the light reflecting from the setting sun

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Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Aug 7

Heavy, deadly monsoon rainfall in Pakistan has become more intense with climate change - about 15%, but it could be as high as 40 - 80%: www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-chan...

population density over the study region

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Reposted by Friederike Otto, Peter Thorne

RTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social · Aug 6

Are hot Irish days worsening due to climate change? A climate attribution study has examined if last month's mini-heatwave can be linked to human-influenced climate change. Analysis by @clairebergin.bsky.social & @peterthorne.bsky.social @maynoothuniversity.ie www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Are hot Irish days worsening due to climate change?

A climate attribution study has found that last month's mini-heatwave can be linked to human-influenced climate change

www.rte.ie

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Reposted by Friederike Otto, Danny Dorling

Simon Pirani @simonpirani.bsky.social · Aug 6

Thanks @theecologist.org for publishing my review of Climate Injustice by @frediotto.bsky.social. It's a great contribution to desperately-needed dialogue between climate scientists and social movements. theecologist.org/2025/aug/06/...

Climate breakdown 'an injustice multiplier'

Simon Pirani reviews 'Climate Injustice: Why We Need to Fight Global Inequality to Combat Climate Change', by Friederike Otto (Greystone Books, 2025)

theecologist.org

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Reposted by Peter Thorne, Danny Dorling

Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Aug 5

My book - ClimateINJustice is shortlisted for the @wainwrightprize.bsky.social ! Really happy about this, as it's not traditional conservation writing - but conserving & fighting for us humans & our rights wainwrightprize.com/shortlist-20...

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Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Jul 25

@dralaaclimate.bsky.social‬ & I were part of a small team of scientists talking to the judges as part of the process. To see how much emphasis on the science is in this AO highlights how much we know & that there is really no justification to hide behind uncertainty instead of act.

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Reposted by Friederike Otto, Glen P. Peters, Christopher Millett , and 3 more Friederike Otto, Glen P. Peters, Christopher Millett, Garry Peterson, Markus W. Gehring, Béatrice Cointe

Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment @granthamicl.bsky.social · Jul 25

🌍📜 Licensing and subsidising fossil fuels can now "constitute internationally wrongful acts,” write Dr @frediotto.bsky.social and ‪Dr Alaa Al Khourdajie.

Read their commentary on why The ICJ's new advisory marks a turning point for climate accountability: ow.ly/7aix50WvkuM

The ICJ’s climate ruling goes far beyond legal battles between small states and big polluters

Written by Professor Friederike Otto, Professor in Climate Science at the Centre for Environmental Policy and Dr Alaa Al Khourdajie, Research Fellow at Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London. O...

ow.ly

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Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Jul 24

yes! The causality is clear, from GHG to extreme weather!

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Wim Thiery

Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Jul 23

Advisory opinion from ICJ is big (in more then 1 sense), but this summaries a lot:"The Court is of the view that a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a precondition for the enjoyment of many human rights, such as the right to life, the right to health ..." www.icj-cij.org/sites/defaul...

peace palace in the Hague in November in the dark

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Reposted by Friederike Otto, Béatrice Cointe

Alaa Al Khourdajie @dralaaclimate.bsky.social · Jul 23

Three key takeaways:
- Fossil fuel subsidies and licensing can now constitute internationally wrongful acts
- The 1.5°C limit is no longer aspirational - it's a legal obligation
- States cannot hide behind "concurrent causes" to avoid climate reparations

2/5

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Reposted by Friederike Otto

Dr Adam Levy @climateadam.bsky.social · Jul 18

How is climate change boosting deadly heat?

And - crucially - what can we do about it??

feat. my old pal @frediotto.bsky.social!

youtu.be/y3pbc0rjKX0

How Climate Change Supercharges Deadly Heatwaves

YouTube video by ClimateAdam

youtu.be

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Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Jul 17

FYI - I was not asking for a 101 on landslides, we actually thought of including regional experts in the study. I'm making a point about problematic practices on making rainfall observations inaccessible for research. Including researchers in country.

Reposted by Michael Wehner, Du Toit

Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Jul 17

What caused deadly landslides in Colombia? Finding out, should be easier. Tropical climates are complex, but if data are held by companies & organisations hiding them behind walls of bureaucracy it becomes impossible. @wwattribution.bsky.social study: www.worldweatherattribution.org/growing-expo...

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Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Jul 16

Happening tomorrow!

Prof Friederike Otto @frediotto.bsky.social · Jun 5

I'm doing a fancy talk at the Linnean Society in London on 17th of July: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/climate-in...

Climate Injustice | Fighting Global Inequality to Combat Climate Change

Join Friederike Otto for a bracing investigation into extreme weather’s impact on the world’s most vulnerable.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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