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Peter Thorne

@peterthorne.bsky.social

5.2K followers 480 following 290 posts

Climate scientist, director ICARUS Climate Research Centre, Maynooth University, Ireland, author IPCC AR6, member Ireland's climate change advisory council, Chair GCOS AOPC. www.peter-thorne.net

Peter William Thorne is a climatologist and professor of physical geography in the Department of Geography, Maynooth University.

Source: Wikipedia

Environmental science 55%

Geography 19%

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Reposted by Peter Thorne, Carl T. Bergstrom, Gavin A. Schmidt , and 7 more Peter Thorne, Carl T. Bergstrom, Gavin A. Schmidt, Stacie B. Dusetzina, Margot C. Finn, Zen Faulkes, David Murakami Wood, Wolfgang Huber, Klaus Oschema, Philip Bell

Prof Anna Watts @profannawatts.bsky.social · 8h

Lol the Nobels can't even acknowledge women's contribution to discovery. But sure let's acknowledge The Machines.

Headline from an article in Nature this week that states "Prizes must recognize machine contributions to discovery. The future of science will be written by humans and machines together. Awards should reflect that reality."

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Juan Cole, Stephen D. Murphy , and 1 more Peter Thorne, Juan Cole, Stephen D. Murphy, Adrian Vickers

Julia Simon @juliaradio.bsky.social · 11h

When the power went out in Spain this spring, many people immediately pointed the finger at the country's solar and wind power as the cause.

That wasn't the trigger, but a new survey finds that all that misinformation?

It had an impact.

Read more here, only on @npr.org 🎧⬇️

After Spain's blackout, critics blamed renewable energy. It's part of a bigger attack

When millions lost power in Spain and Portugal this spring, some were quick to blame too much solar and wind power. That wasn't the cause, but the misinformation had an impact.

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Robert Llewellyn @bobbyllew.bsky.social · 18h

Useful comparison

A graphic showing the enormous improvements since the launch of the original Nissan Leaf 14 years ago the new one goes four times further charges three times faster has two times more power and is 36% cheaper than the original

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Anna Strolenberg @annastrolenberg.volteuropa.org · 1d

Today the EU parliament voted to ban the word burger if they are made with plant protein, instead of animal protein. 🤦🏻‍♀️

They claim it’s to stop consumers being ‘confused between meat and plant products’ - solving a problem that nobody had!

This new rule leaves a bad taste in the mouth…

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Stephen Ryan, Tom Chevalier

Mark Lynas @marklynas.bsky.social · 1d

WOW! The European Parliament just voted to BAN the words 'burger' and 'sausage' when used in sustainable plant-based alternatives. HUGE win for the meat and dairy lobby in the EU, and lots more confusion for consumers if this goes through. Insane!
www.euroveg.eu/european-par...

European Parliament votes to ban use of ‘veggie burger’ and ‘plant-based sausage’ - European Vegetarian Union

Brussels, 8 October 2025 European Parliament votes to ban use of ‘veggie burger’ and ‘plant-based sausage’: coalition calls decision misguided and counterproductive This Wednesday the Members of the E...

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Ed Hawkins, Carlo Buontempo

Sam Burgess @oceanterra.org · 1d

The @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social climate monitoring application #Climate Pulse has been updated. Same climate monitoring data with new features and better layout. 🌏🌊⚒️🧪

User feedback always welcome so let us know what you would like to see updated in the next version:

pulse.climate.copernicus.eu

Reposted by David M. Schultz, Peter Thorne, Carlo Buontempo

Copernicus ECMWF @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social · 1d

Out now! Version 2.0.0 of the Global land surface meteorological observations dataset (1755–present) is available in the #C3S Climate Data Store (CDS). Updated in situ coverage thru 2024 plus enhanced and consolidated data from worldwide sources. 🔗 cds.climate.copernicus.eu/datasets/ins...

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Gernot Wagner @gwagner.com · 1d

One of the nuttier cultural fights: EU parliament will soon decide whether veggie burgers are allowed to be called "burgers" because...meat lobby.

Austrian daily Der Standard: "EU-Countdown for Veggie-Burger"

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Peter Thorne, Andreas Ortmann , and 4 more Anna O. Law, Peter Thorne, Andreas Ortmann, Fabián Muniesa, David Murakami Wood, Henry Jones, Colin Woodard

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 1d

Stephen Miller said the quiet part out loud. Trump has “plenary authority,” then suddenly went silent. Their plan wasn’t to be public yet. Clearly, someone hit the panic button in his earpiece.

It gets weirder: CNN uploaded the interview with the “plenary authority” comment edited out.
1/2

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 2d

Um, ICE just coldly shot an unarmed PRIEST in the head w a pepper ball when he (and everyone around him) clearly posed no threat.

For the crime of … complaining about government policy.

Core 1A speech.

With cameras rolling, they’re sniping priests for sport.

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 2d

Here’s video of the incident

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Leo Murray @crisortunity.bsky.social · 2d

I know nobody wants to hear this. But we cant meet climate goals (aka survive the century) without policies to reduce demand for flights

Flight from reality: sustainable aviation, Jet Zero, and the technofix

This paper argues that rising aviation emissions, which are disproportionally driven by the wealthy, pose a serious threat to climate goals. Using the UK’s Jet Zero strategy as a case study, it exp...

www.tandfonline.com

Reposted by Peter Thorne

John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @thinkorswim.bsky.social · 2d

Amid the constant anti-renewables sentiment so common across our media, this letter today is a blessed relief.

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Becca Thorne @beccathorne.bsky.social · 2d

New painting! Oil on panel, 40 x 50cm. Will be added to my website (see bio). #oilpainting #landscape #mountains #wicklowmountains #soggy #Ireland

Mountain landscape in oils: outline of receding ridge lines, with waterlogged, grassy hills and cascading water. A more detailed depiction of rocks, vegetation and water in the foreground, reducing to just outlines beyond, and a simple sky in just 2 colours (buff and light grey-blue). Palette limited and dominated by ochre, raw umber and more of the grey-blue used for the sky.

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Green Party / Comhaontas Glas @greenpartyie.bsky.social · 2d

It's official. They're giving big restaurant chains a massive tax cut, costing nearly €700m in the #VAT cut to hospitality.

For that kind of money you could:

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Bring in a second tier of child benefit - lifting 55,000 children out of poverty
🚌 Make public transport free

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Gerald Butts @gmbutts.bsky.social · 3d

Perfect cartoon.

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Magda Teter

Nick Cunningham @nickcunningham.bsky.social · 3d

“By 2028, an average family in the region will be paying around $70 a month extra on their electricity bills because of forecasted data center growth”

I'm once again asking why ratepayers are subsidizing AI titans?

www.eenews.net/articles/dat...

Data center boom sparks sticker shock for PJM ratepayers

New analyses show that costs passed on to utility customers to guarantee future electricity demand are rising rapidly.

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Richard Waite, Richard Davy

Dr. Sarah Fortner @erthsarah.bsky.social · 3d

A reality check for me was working with students on an internal carbon accounting platform that Bon App our food provider uses. Beef was less than 5% of our purchases but around 50% of our food emissions even with international work to be plant forward.

apnews.com/article/plan...

A recipe for avoiding 15 million deaths a year and climate disaster is fixing food, scientists say

Scientists are presenting new evidence that the worst effects of climate change can’t be avoided without a major transformation of food systems.

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Paul Kenny @paulkenny.bsky.social · 3d

This morning I read the article from @irishtimes.com and rang & wrote to them to ask for a correction. They corrected the headline, and the article author @conorpope.bsky.social wrote back to confirm that it had changed. I opened up the app this evening and it’s wrong again.

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Cameron Brick, Emily Grubert , and 3 more Peter Thorne, Cameron Brick, Emily Grubert, Silvia Secchi, David Rosnick, Mary Jane Curry

Prof. Ian Walker @ianwalker.bsky.social · 3d

Will I be the first to suggest the carbon offsets worked exactly as planned: they delayed real action for another 25 years

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 3d

Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says

Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says

Analysis of 25 years of evidence shows most schemes are poor quality and fail to lower emissions The failure of carbon offsets to cut planet-heating pollution is “not due to a few bad apples”, a review paper has found, but down to deep-seated systemic problems that incremental change will not solve. Research over two decades has found “intractable” problems that have made carbon credits in most big programmes poor quality, according to the study. While the industry and diplomats have made efforts to improve the system, it found much-awaited rules agreed at a UN climate summit last year “did not substantially address the quality problem”. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Ben H. Ansell, Ashish Arora , and 2 more Anna O. Law, Ben H. Ansell, Ashish Arora, Peter Thorne, Rebecca Tushnet

Reposted by Naomi Klein, Peter Thorne, Lesley A. Hall

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 4d

"There are currently one to two Starlink satellites falling back to Earth every day ... Soon, McDowell told us, there will be up to 5 satellite reentries per day." 😳

1 to 2 Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth each day

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Matt McGrath @mattmcgrathbbc.bsky.social · 4d

Thorough reporting on the scale of the loss of Switzerland’s glaciers

Before and after images show glaciers vanishing before our eyes

They are melting like never seen before, changing landscapes around the world beyond recognition.

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Gavin L. Foster

Ian Hall @ianhall.bsky.social · 4d

🌊 New study overturns the “permanent El Niño” idea for the warm Pliocene

Upwelling in the eastern equatorial Pacific has persisted for 5 million years, even under ~3°C warmer climates

Future upwelling may be more resilient than feared…

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Persistent eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean upwelling since the warm Pliocene

Upwelling generates a nutrient-rich “cold tongue” in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (EEP), with impacts on global climate, oceanic biological productivity, and the carbon cycle. The cold tongue ...

www.science.org

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 5d

Solar is very cool and good but I cannot ever compute this weird thing that has emerged where it's presented as the only non-fossil technology and consequently gets 99.99% of the focus, whether from media or modellers. It's not a good thing, bc a diversified mix = faster decarbonisation

a chart showing that solar is not the dominant source of non-fossil electrical energy in most European countries

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Scott Robeson @indianaclimate.bsky.social · 5d

This is a common finding when studying drought in the recent instrumental record and in future projections: much more change in metrics that include the impacts of warming (on vapor-pressure deficit and potential evapotranspiration) when compared to changes in precipitation alone.

Figure from a Hydrology and Earth System Sciences article about projections of drought in Australia, showing much larger changes for a drought index that includes potential evapotranspiration (SPEI) than for one that only includes precipitation (SPI).

Source: https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/29/4689/2025/hess-29-4689-2025.html

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Michael Pidgeon @pidgeon.ie · 5d

Electric taxi grants are really effective: they target some of the most heavily used vehicles on our roads.

The grants are always oversubscribed: the @greenpartyie.bsky.social is calling for the budget to be doubled.

Reposted by Anupam Chander, Peter Thorne, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 12 more Anupam Chander, Peter Thorne, Rosemary A. Joyce, Charles West, Alan Richardson, Tom Griffin, Bessma Momani, Kate Starbird, Anthony Burke, Greg Linden, Jack Stilgoe, Federica Genovese, Simon Lester, Aviel Roshwald, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 5d

Macron remarks are notable- some quotes: "We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies."

Defend Democracy @defenddemocracy.bsky.social · 5d

President Macron: “Europeans, let's wake up!

We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.”

defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...

Reposted by Peter Thorne

Ola Løkken Nordrum @olaln.bsky.social · 6d

An important perspective from @ciarancannon.bsky.social!

The contrast between active transport and car infrastructure becomes even starker once you factor in the broader financial and health costs of cars, whether it's inactivity, air pollution, or noise pollution (to name but a few negatives...).

Opinion: Those outraged by a €100k bike shed should look at the annual cost of renting out car park spaces

We have completely normalised investment in congestion, pollution and the continuation of car-first planning, writes Ciarán Cannon.

www.thejournal.ie

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Richard Waite

Priestley Centre for Climate Futures @priestleycentre.bsky.social · 6d

Priestley Director Piers Forster is quoted in an article by @cleantechnica.bsky.social welcoming Pope Leo’s climate advocacy, stating that small steps and statements from influential figures can help shift public and political momentum toward environmental action.
cleantechnica.com/2025/10/02/p...

Pope Leo Speaks About Climate Change. Is Anyone Listening? - CleanTechnica

Building on the actions of his predecessor, Pope Leo this week called for all humans to care for the Earth that sustains us all.

cleantechnica.com

Reposted by Peter Thorne

IrishCycle.com @irishcycle.com · 6d

An official told councillors that the national body rejected a request for crossing outside school, but FOI request shows no such request was made

Local media reported that a council official told councillors that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) rejected the request for crossing outside a…

An official told councillors that the national body rejected a request for crossing outside school, but FOI request shows no such request was made

Local media reported that a council official told councillors that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) rejected the request for crossing outside a school in Carrick-on-Suir, but, after a Freedom of Information request, TII said no such request was made. TII are responsible for the national roads, and councils apply to them for funding safety improvements on the national roads, even within urban areas.