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Reposted by Kate Littler

Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · 2d

It's also not "just another" extinction, it's the first from mainland Europe in centuries. CENTURIES.

And there will be others within our lifetime.

That's biodiversity loss.

We'll never hear this sound, ever again xeno-canto.org/398794

XC398794 Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris)

Awful wind noise in the original! See sonogram and notes of the recording circumstances on p12 of Gretton A. (1991) The ecology and conservation of the Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris). ...

xeno-canto.org

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Reposted by Kate Littler

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 2d

🧵🚨

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

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UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Reposted by Kate Littler

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 4d

"The day had begun with Robert Jenrick accused of racism. This is of course quite unfair. Racists believe in something." Absolutely fantastic sketch by @roberthutton.co.uk. Every line is a banger:

Rob whistle | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine

The day had begun with Robert Jenrick accused of racism. This is of course quite unfair. Racists believe in something. Some of us remember Jenrick as a chubby-cheeked fan of David Cameron fighting…

thecritic.co.uk

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Reposted by Kate Littler

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 5d

The @iea.org's guess at the variable renewable energy share in various countries by 2030 - Denmark will be around 78%.

None of this was meant to be even remotely possible!!

iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/48ecc...

a chart showing various VRE shares by region

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 6d

Nothing nicer than an early morning trip to Hayle estuary with a friend. So many amazing birds! 🐦

Various gulls, waders, ducks, and even a spoonbill 😍

Love huddling in the hide with a flask of tea and a biscuit. Bliss.

View out over Ryan’s field near the Hayle estuary on a quiet Sunday morning. Blue sky breaking through the cloud.

A lone spoonbill (centre) foraging amidst a whole heap of gulls (mostly herring and greater black backed), and a few ducks.

A beautiful lapwing (one of my favourite waders) on the water with ducks, gulls and a redshank in the background.

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Reposted by Kate Littler

Carly Reddington @drcarlyreddington.bsky.social · 10d

🚨Our new paper introduces the #AirQualityStripes – a visual tool to show how outdoor air pollution (PM2.5) has changed in 🌍 cities since 1850. Inspired by the iconic #WarmingStripes. Led by @kirstypringle.bsky.social & @jimmcquaid.bsky.social
🔗 airqualitystripes.info
📄 doi.org/10.5194/gc-8...
🧵👇

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Reposted by Kate Littler

Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 10d

My favourite Jane Goodall quotes....so many, so to the point, so wise. How different the world would be if enough people listened to her.

"People think hope is wishful thinking, and actually hope is about action." Quote from the Wiser Than Me podcast with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

"Only when our clever brain and our human heart work together in harmony can we achieve our true potential." Graphic by the Jane Goodall Institute of South Africa.

"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." Graphic by Ariana Huffington on Instagram.

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Ian Hall @ianhall.bsky.social · 10d

Destabilization of Earth system tipping elements

(Review) suggesting key Earth system tipping points - like the Greenland Ice Sheet, Amazon rainforest, and AMOC - are losing stability and nearing critical thresholds

Interactions may mask warning signs

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Destabilization of Earth system tipping elements - Nature Geoscience

A review of observation-based evidence suggests that four interconnected Earth system tipping elements have moved towards their critical thresholds, highlighting the need for better monitoring and increased mitigation efforts.

www.nature.com

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 10d

We lost Jane Goodall this week 😞

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

Jane Goodall, world-renowned primatologist, dies aged 91

Jane Goodall Institute says ‘tireless advocate’ for natural world died in California during US speaking tour

www.theguardian.com

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 10d

Thank you very much! 😊

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Reposted by Kate Littler

Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · 11d

Some good news.

London is meeting legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution for the first time – almost 200 years earlier than predicted – following the Mayor’s "world leading air pollution policies," City Hall announces.

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone - and similar policies - really do work.

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 12d

Wow that’s a great model!

Is there a shareable version of that file that I could show my sedimentology students (fully credited, of course)?
Thanks.

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 15d

What fresh hell is this?

Feeling proud to have been educated at number 2 and 4 on the ‘woke list’ despite their ‘plunge’ in league table* position by :checks notes: 2 and 1 places respectively 😱

*Murdoch-owned right-wing Times league table. 🤔

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 17d

"Britain's 'wokest' universities named and shamed - and how some of the biggest offenders have plunged in the prestigious rankings..."

Britain's 'wokest' universities named and shamed

Oxford and Cambridge, once crowned the top two in terms of pushing contentiously progressive ideologies on students, came joint-fourth in The Times Good University Guide 2026.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 15d

I will bear that in mind!

Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 15d

The Falmouth ‘basket shark’ has arrived on the campus, and is looking great on this sunny September day.

🦈🌊☀️

More info: www.falmouth.ac.uk/news/falmout...

A large basking shark sculpture made of thin wooden sticks, and hence called the ‘basket shark’. Sitting on green grass with a blue sky background at our Penryn campus that we share with Falmouth University.

Close up of the head of the basket shark.

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Reposted by Kate Littler

Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 17d

“To be a good scientist, I have to take emotions out of work. Still, I would say looking at this data, when I allow myself to connect to it emotionally, then I am afraid. This really scares me”

- Dr. Levke Caesar, co-lead of Planetary Boundaries Science Lab

World’s oceans fail key health check as acidity crosses critical threshold for marine life

Scientists call for renewed global effort to curb fossil fuels as seven of nine planetary boundaries now transgressed

www.theguardian.com

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 17d

Decision helped by the fact that the bus is now £5 rtn for a 15-min ride each way (up from £3-something last year) 😱

Ps Cornwall council, if you want people not to drive, you have to make the buses affordable and regular, and the cycle infrastructure not lethal 🤷‍♀️

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 17d

Overcame my (frankly quite reasonable) fear of fast traffic and big roundabouts to do my first ever bike-to-work today.
Feeling like a badass 💪🚴‍♀️

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Reposted by Kate Littler

Dr Charlie Gardner @charliejgardner.bsky.social · 18d

A 7% decline in English birds in just 5 years is astonishing

The web of life is unravelling fast

Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’

Species index fell by 4% between 2019 and 2024 – although data shows woodland populations beginning to stabilise

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Kate Littler

Dr (of rocks) Marcus Badger @climatebadger.bsky.social · 20d

📢We're hiring!📢

We have a permanent Lecturer in Earth Sciences position available in @OU_EEE
@OpenUniversity

£47,389 to £56,535
Closing Date: 20 October 2025*

We are a friendly, research intensive school with supportive colleagues and great labs.

jobs.open.ac.uk/job/Lecturer...

Lecturer in Earth Sciences

jobs.open.ac.uk

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 20d

😞

Leverhulme Trust @leverhulme.ac.uk · 23d

A new study by Research Project Grantee, Professor Chris Perry @exeter.ac.uk, and others projects that most coral reefs will soon stop growing and may begin to erode as the climate warms. news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-e... @exetermarine.bsky.social @nature.com

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 20d

As both a lifelong birder and a paleo person, I really enjoyed this paper on bird feeding traces.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I had thought about bird footprints in the rock record before, but confess I hadn’t really considered beak and dabbling marks etc. I’ll look harder next time!

Biogenic structures produced by foraging birds in marginal marine and marginal lacustrine settings: implications for the rock record | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core

Biogenic structures produced by foraging birds in marginal marine and marginal lacustrine settings: implications for the rock record - Volume 99 Issue S98

www.cambridge.org

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Reposted by Kate Littler

Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 20d

The concept of trying to implement geoengineering solutions to #climate change is like trying to design a complicated, expensive, unreliable helmet while you're still hitting yourself in the head with a 2x4.

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Kate Littler @palaeoclimate.bsky.social · 20d

After all the autumnal rain lately, it was nice to get out and enjoy some late afternoon sunshine by the reservoir.

Mushrooms, acorns, swallows, great crested grebes, and a big colony of mining bees. 🍂 🌳 🐝 🍄‍🟫

One of many mining bees that was buzzing around this bank of earth. I think it’s an Ivy bee. Stripy abdomen and cute ginger fuzzy back.

Some jolly bright orange mushrooms growing out of an old rotten log. No idea what species.

Two delicate white toadstools amidst a sea of moss and ferns, growing on an oak branch.

Good times at the reservoir. It’s clearly been a dry year because the water level is low enough to expose the old stone hedges, some still with the bones of all drowned trees inside.

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Reposted by Kate Littler

The Rivers Trust @theriverstrust.bsky.social · 23d

🎉 Big River Watch starts today!

After a summer of challenging weather, it's time to check in on our rivers.

📱Download the Big River Watch app
⏱️Spend just 15 minutes by the river
👀Share what you see in a survey

You've got until 25th of September to take part💙

theriverstrust.org/big-river-watch

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