The livestream from the Cryosphere Pavilion at #COP30 is up and running. See the schedule here: iccinet.org/cop30-cryosp...

Antarctica – a land of penguins and polar ice caps! It's a vast polar desert largely covered in ice, and has been for over 30 million years. However, it's also one of the fastest changing places on Earth... (1/5)

We're living strong #climate adaptation messaging in the #COP30 press conf room... (either that or the last presser was exceptionally funny)

Here is a map view of the record high temperatures in October 2025 across the #Antarctic. Compare this blob of anomalies greater than 5°C with the Arctic from my earlier post. Yikes! Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds... using a 1981-2010 reference period.

As the United Nations marks the 2025 International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation and the opening of COP30 in Brazil, I'm happy to have been able to contribute a chapter to a new UK National Commission for UNESCO report on "Glaciers and Ice Sheets in a Warming World: Impacts and Outcomes". (1/2)

Here's a look at the extent of the "warmth" across the #Arctic in October. This map uses my normal anomaly scaling for each month, but it clearly doesn't work for something this extreme. Data from doi.org/10.24381/cds...

Come and study for a PhD with me @ncl-geography.bsky.social!

Hektoria Glacier in the news: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

New study in Nature by Lin et al shows how the sea-level rise from the melting Ice Age ice (a total of 120 meters rise) ended thousands of years ago. Until our fossil fuel use started a new phase of rising seas. Graph shows the global mean rate of sea level rise. 🌊 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

If you need cheering up on this dark, rainy Friday evening, I recommend listening to Jarvis Cocker tell the story about the time he fell out of a window while trying to impress a girl: youtu.be/qK84-2u3t74

❄️ Calling all glaciology PhD students! ❄️ Applications are now open for next year’s Karthaus Summer School. It’s a great experience and you will be very well fed. Apply here: www.projects.science.uu.nl/iceclimate/k...

Alright let me tell you a story about a prominent scientist in my field and my first conference. This was in the days when most had adopted PowerPoint, but some of the older folks still showed up with actual physical slides to show on one of those old fashioned overhead projectors.

📣 We are advertising a range of glaciology/polar PhD projects at @geogdurham.bsky.social funded by @iapetusdtp.bsky.social. ❄️ For more information on these projects, and info on eligibility, support for under-represented groups, and how to apply, visit durhamglaciology.wordpress.com/opportunities/

Ahead of #COP30, a team of climate policy experts including PIK director Johan Rockström warn in a commentary in Nature that low-quality carbon offsets are undermining global decarbonisation efforts, calling for stronger standards, real removals and fewer excuses: www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

Our new Global Tipping Points report is out today: global-tipping-points.org Read the whole thing here: global-tipping-points.org/resources-gt... #GTPR2025 #COP30 @exeter.ac.uk @wwf.org.uk @gsiexeter.bsky.social @pik-potsdam.bsky.social @wwfbrasil.bsky.social

It’s a beautiful day to be bog coring on Dartmoor

It’s me.

Very sad that we’ve lost wonderful Jilly Cooper. I’ll be re-watching the brilliant Rivals tonight in her honour. youtu.be/VkiwhYkz20Q 💋 🐎 🍾

Always worth remembering that the actions of the Suffragettes were often not 'peaceful': sustained campaigns of arson, vandalism & in some instances assault. If anyone tried that today they would likely end up in prison for a very long time. @rogerhallam.com got 5 years for attending a Zoom call.

Inside the ice lab @bas.ac.uk where the oldest ice recovered from Antarctica (at least 1.2 million years old) is being analysed: www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

One element for #COP30 trackers to keep an eye on... India has been virtually silent in climate-related fora since COP29 + no NDC to boot. Delhi was vocally annoyed post Baku + maybe this is the response. But raises question: what are they up to?

If I was a politician and didn’t know better, I’d think SSP5 - 8.5 sounds great. Economic and social development! Rapid technological progress! Investments in health and education! Maybe a more realistic definition would be helpful?

Not all tories have embraced the post-truth era the party leadership have descended into

mood

Polar scientists meeting at @royalsociety.org in London this week are issuing a stark warning: dramatic and extreme changes in Antarctica are happening faster than expected, with consequences that will affect everyone on the planet. www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/a...

Want to explain #polarClimate and why #Geoengineering doesn't belong there to kids? Try this excellent Frontiers for Young Minds piece by @helenmillman.bsky.social et al: kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10....

Just found out that we can request an armed guard to walk us to class. Yeah, things are going great on campus.

"I'm afraid I was very, very vulnerable in the night-time economy"

We are so pleased to announce the official launch of the new BAS Map Catalogue 🎉🗺 The catalogue contains open access topographic, thematic and geological maps, as well as full details on where to purchase our professionally printed published maps. Have a look for yourselves at bas.ac.uk/maps! 1/2

This is so deeply unserious. Throughout the entire 14 years of the Conservative government oil and gas licenses were routinely issued and for much of the period there was a policy of maximising extraction. Production still fell, the economy flatlined, and energy security got worse.

The King's speech at the Trump banquet was quite good: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

What’s happening in Totnes today? Morris dancing.

On Svalbard, rain falls where snow once lay. The white patches of ice and snow slip away, leaving the mountains darker, bare, and heavy with melt. What once gleamed now fades—a stark reminder of a world warming too quickly. #Svalbard #Climatechange #cryosphere #glacierchange #glaciology

The recent US Department of Energy climate "report" is described here as "controversial" @andrewdessler.com described it as "an indefensible steaming pile of crap"

I have my unlock code for Radiohead tickets. I hope it’s a smooth process.

I’m hoping this is a plot line in the next series of Clarkson’s Farm

If anyone would like an easy lunchtime read (or has a swotty kid), there is a children’s version of this paper: kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10....

Our paper is out, providing alternative viewpoints to some polar geoengineering ideas covered in the media recently. Lots still to talk about but let's focus on decarbonising instead of drilling Antarctica for now? 🇦🇶 Thanks @newscientist.com @mjflepage.bsky.social for covering this important issue!

A large, expert group of polar scientists have taken a cold, hard look at a number of prominent polar geoengineering concepts and concluded that they are dangerous distractions. www.newscientist.com/article/2495...

Polar geoengineering dismissed as ‘unimaginably expensive’ and ‘dangerous’

The Moon from Beesands tonight

If travelling between Devon and London, always get the direct GWR train. This is normal for Cross Country ⬇️

🌊❄️ We’re hiring a Coupled Ice Sheet–Ocean Modeller at IMAS/UTAS! 🔗 careers.utas.edu.au/ci/en/job/501445/coupled-ice-sheetocean-modeller Please repost or share with anyone who may be interested 🙏 @utas.edu.au @imas-utas.bsky.social @antarctic.bsky.social @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social

Lovely to hear Melvyn Bragg talking about the big idea behind "In Our Time": to get academics on the air, talking about the subjects they were most passionate & knowledgeable about, without worrying about whether they had "media training". It's remarkable that this was (& remains) such an odd idea!

The lesson of In Our Time is that audiences want in-depth, well researched programmes, not watered down stuff because it has to get a general audience. Huge audiences of under 35s too.

I can

The Conservatives often showed great climate leadership when they were in power, particularly at COP26 & in introducing net zero. It’s sad to see Kemi Badenoch’s lurch into ideology based evidence making.

Last year, Poland warned that in the wake of record flooding, Russian and Belarussian disinfo aimed at undermining the Polish government was up 300%. Yet this type of hybrid threat is getting little attention from NATO as it increases its defense spending. Check out my latest newsletter for more....

They’ve started sending text messages that tell you where your blood went. Sign up here to give blood if you can: my.blood.co.uk/sign-up/?int...