James Dyke
Earth systems prof & assistant director of @gsiexeter.bsky.social | Columnist @theipaper | Book Fire Storm & Flood tinyurl.com/jamesgyke
- Does crashing past 1.5°C of warming mean the end of the world? If you mean the collapse of civilisation then no. But we are witnessing the end of the net zero world view. jamesdyke.substack.com/p/its-the-en...
- Net zero was developed at a time when dangerous climate change could still be averted; carbon emissions could be progressively decoupled from industrial activities; global economic growth could continue its exponential reach for the skies.
- In short, the transformation to sustainable societies while daunting, indeed unprecedented, was potentially achievable within the bounds of current political systems. If we can still see such a world, it’s only in the rear mirror. More on net zero & overshoot here 👇 jamesdyke.substack.com
- Summer is here in our local park. Glorious today!
- Are you ok?
- I've had a coffee. Life is good.
- Part 2 in a series of articles about overshoot. It’s the end of the world as we know it. Continuing to cling onto the net zero approach of the Paris Agreement is to be in denial about what is happening, and what this new world demands. It’s not fine. open.substack.com/pub/jamesdyk...
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- Well quite. It's not as if you just need to give the new jet a lick of white and blue paint. AF1 is stuffed with lord knows what tech. I would imagine much of the this new aircraft would need to be gutted before you start the retrofit.
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- ...double seat, double seat, got to get a double seat...
- Weekender, whatever you do, just makes sure what you are doing makes you happy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMa7...
- The @gsiexeter.bsky.social and @exeter.ac.uk Maths dept are hosting @michaelemann.bsky.social today. He is talking about our fragile climate moment and what we can learn from deep time.
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- Can you hold your breath for ten years?
- He does. And strictly speaking he is right because you need about a decade of data to be able to discern the trend. That said, we have no hope of limiting to 1.5 now IMHO.
- For example…
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- I’m sure building a theme park in a region that is on route to exceed the human ecological niche due to climate change will turn out fine.
- We have created weapons of biospheric destruction. Our food systems have exterminated species across the globe while fossil fuel combustion is driving the climate towards a much hotter & violent state. Industrialisation transformed humanity. The trade off is that we have become death.
- Audio: J. Robert Oppenheimer reflects on the first successful detonation of the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. www.atomicarchive.com/media/videos...
- Video: A supercell storm looms over a rural scene. Apologies, unable to find the source for this footage, if anyone is able to tell me what it I would be very grateful. stratusdeck.co.uk/supercell-th...
- This excellent short (23 min) film explain why some scientists have been compelled to take direct action in an effort to get governments to respond to the climate crisis. Please watch and share. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNvk...
- The fossil fuel empire strikes back.
- 1. Cancelling of US support for the @ipcc.bsky.social Working Group 3 (mitigation) Technical Support Unit (Feb. 10, 2025)
- New article from me (the plan is to write more frequently so please subscribe!). jamesdyke.substack.com/p/as-dreams-...
- Dear Mr/Prof/Dr Dyke substack is a BAD PLACE see @angryblacklady.bsky.social please use an alternative like Ghost thanks for coming to my TED talk !!
- I'm working on this...
- On the 15th May we will be releasing our new climate film "System Update". It takes a deep dive into why the changes we need haven’t happened & shines a light on the real solutions already within our reach. Trailer 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao-8...
- www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/... A provocative piece from Sir Oliver Letwin arguing for greater spending on resiliency, which I heartily endorse. However, his plans for electrical resilience do not, unfortunately, pass the sniff test. /1
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View full threadIn conflict these metrics shift, of course, but I don't believe this proposal is an efficient way of achieving resilience. Instead, I would recommend providing a tax break for anyone installing a grid isolation relay along with their solar and battery install. /7
- I'm very keen to explore how resilience can be used to help increase rates of solar deployment. Rather than climate change be a far off issue, it becomes a matter of energy security. So it gets a place at the table with all the 'grown ups'.
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- I think a very rough rule of thumb is that it will potentially double the cost of a typical UK installation - happy to be proved wrong about that!
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- I was in that situation and I pushed back. It’s not my job to fathom out if and how a student has used AI in assessments given how incredibly broad this suite of technologies could be used.
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- You jest but…
- If I was in your situation I would contact my department’s academic integrity/conduct officer. They will have policies for this. It’s their responsibility to address this.
- This is excellent news! I don't expect anything to suddenly happen as a result of this, but it if nothing else it shows how legal action can produce good outcomes. www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/libert...
- This helps demonstrate my complete inability to understand UK politics. Any policy that sorted out dental care would be wildly popular. It would have a very positive and immediate impact on millions of people. Why is this so hard?
- The beer distribution game is a way to teach the importance of delays in systems. It's a classic element of systems dynamics teaching, about how small lags between interacting elements can produce overshoot, oscillation, even collapse. Perhaps in future we will play the Trump tariff game instead.
- I'm currently editing a number of academic papers, earlier in the year I was doing a lot of marking, soon I will be judging a competition. On the other side of things, I've been nominated for an award. All this to say that my life seems to be about assessing & evaluating rather than actually doing.
- And now I've been invited to complete a survey about how I have assessed grant applications. It's getting increasingly self-referential.
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- My first experience of university was as a contract cleaner working in the library and other university buildings. Universities are often major employers with a vast array of jobs and professions involved in running them.
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View full threadI'm sick to death of politicians (Blair is far from being alone here) proclaiming decarbonisation is politically & economically hard, & immediately claiming the solution is technology. Problem is, that technology does jack shit.
- Invoking tech is a promise of a future solution. What it actually is, is a colossal burden we are handing to our kids & descendants because if they don't figure out how to effectively reverse centuries of carbon pollution & environmental destruction they will be utterly fucked.
- "Blair said there was disdain for policies such as carbon capture in favour of renewables, which he said should be reversed" This 'disdain' is because carbon capture doesn't fucking work. It's not ideological, is entropic.
- First they came for the foreign nationals, and have now skipped straight to the judges.
- Come to the Exeter Climate Forum 30June-4July! We will be hosting Global Tipping Points Conference AND Exeter Climate Conference. This is going to be one of year's most important climate events 1/ exeterclimateforum.com
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View full threadThe Global Tipping Points conference cohosted by @gsiexeter.bsky.social, @pik-potsdam.bsky.social, @maxplanck.de Geoanthropology is call to action to the research community, policymakers, and business to accelerate change. Registration & programme info👇 3/ global-tipping-points.org/conference-2...
- Last - but not least - attending either event will give you access to the Wednesday night social event - street food, drinks, networking and (drum roll please) an end of the world set from none other than DJ Dr Doom!
- You need to register for both events. Exeter Climate Conference cohosted with @metoffice.bsky.social e.bsky.social will cover the latest research on the impacts of climate change & the ways humanity can avoid & adapt to them. Registration & programme info👇2/ exeterclimateforum.com/exeter-clima...
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- This could be an air pollution disaster. Wood burning should not be allowed in the vast majority of houses because they emit large amounts of dangerous pollution. And here's the thing, much of this wood burning will be in addition to sensible heating methods. 1/3 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
- “A full technical consultation on the future homes standard was launched in December 2023 and closed in March 2024. Under the standards proposed in the consultation, a wood-burning stove would be permitted as a secondary heating source in new homes.” If it's secondary, it's not needed. 2/3
- For some new houses, biomass could be a sensible option (e.g. poor grid connectivity), but cuddling up to a wood burning stove in a new home in a UK town when you have a primary heat system makes no sense. It has to stop. 3/3 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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View full threadLawyers & law companies can decide who they want to work with when it comes to fossil fuel companies. They can decide if they want to help in the development & exploitation of new oil & gas reserves. The reason they do this work is because of vast sums of 💰 it provides them. 4/5
- If you work in the legal profession, then please check out Lawyers are Responsible which "aims to align the UK legal system with planetary conditions that are liveable for current and future generations" www.lar.earth 5/5
- What I said was pretty innocuous: “Lawyers and law firms must act on the abundant evidence that shows how their work with fossil fuel interests is facilitating this harm. Future liabilities are enormous given the potential for catastrophic climate change.” I could have said more, such as... 2/5
- Perhaps some lawyers should stop the pearl-clutching & fatuous arguments about the cab rule, and instead reflect on their role in the facilitation of the further destruction of earth's vital life preserving systems. 3/5
