My new normal lawn has looked like this about this time of year for the last few years. Farmers crop yields down, and harvesting early this year www.farminguk.com/news/farmers... What happened to that Matt Ridley 'carbon dioxide is a plant food so the more the merrier' talking point? 1/2

It would have been nice to explicitly show Reinforcing (R) and Balancing (B) loops, and even to identify leverage points. This is all discussed in the narrative, but CLDs offer more scope for using pictures to add expressive power. I've annotated with one as an illustration.

Things are developing. The CLD is in yEd now and has grown. Needed a paper print out to review reinforcing loops. #energy #climate #health #electrification

That's where we needs a systems thinking approach. Qualitatively that relatively easy, but quantifying reinforcing loops in a CLD, much harder. I currently have one on my kitchen table!

Yet another spasm of posts about fusion achieving some goal, but lacking an honest caveat. The goal of ensuring the end to end process from grid power in to grid power out yields a net power gain, not a massive loss, is still so far off it is irrelevant to addressing man-made global warming.

BBC Radio 4’s ‘More Or Less’ this morning (at 15’40” into programme) totally demolished the ridiculous story - that repopulating Whales is a major solution to climate change by sequestering carbon - that has been around for a years but has been reinvigorated by the not so clever bods at the IMF. 1/

Why Labour are not killing Reform in the public discourse on this is a mystery, given that wind and solar are both cheaper and more popular 🤷‍♂️. I'm writing a piece on this - 'net hero' - and this is a figure I've been developing for inclusion. @thecccuk.bsky.social

The Comma, and you can see why it is called that from its underwing, is my favourite butterfly and always loves to rest on our garden steps handrail. It always gives me joy seeing it return, for another year, as it did this evening. 1/2 @savebutterflies.bsky.social #comma #nailsworth

Yes indeed. And the Renault 4 e-tech has the practicality of an SUV but at a smaller size - retro chique not mini SUV. Low embedded carbon too. Just been camping - incl the dog and 4m bell tent - and it was wonderful. With V2L we could leave the gas cooker at home. #electrification (reposted)

A couple of quickie watercolours in small sketchbook. The first using minimal gear on windy Manorbier Besch. The second a view of Penally from the beach path done in ‘street art’ style. #pembrokeshire #manorbier #penally #watercolour

So, I've written practical Buyer's Guides for lay people considering buying into heat pumps, insulation or solar, have for my local climate group. www.nailsworthcan.org/our-work-ret...

It’s a while since Meehl et al’s 2009 seminal paper on the ratio of high to low temp records. Communicating individual records needs a statistical context. Sceptical Science has a piece on it with figs like one attached. But this really needs to become much more accessible. We have a comms issue!

Is there anything more sublime than Sandy Denny singing her song Who Knows Where The Time goes on this rendition by Fairport Convention on the History Album. Rediscovering a love of the simple pleasures of vinyl. No track switching algorithms, just enjoying a work of art as it was conceived.

Tired of the persistent attacks on the cost of running a heat pump vs. a gas boiler. I know many have debunked this, but I thought I'd try a different approach to illustrate the role of the 'spark gap' essaysconcerning.com/2026/04/22/w...

Please can we have JD Vance come to support Nigel Farage come the next UK general election

Despite spark gap, it is cheaper to run an EV than an ICE car even using Ofgem capped electricity prices. A well installed heat pump will cost no more to run than a replaced gas boiler, again because of relative efficiency. However, fixing the spark gap would speed the transition immeasurably. 1/3

Worshipping the sun as previous cultures did was maybe not so crazy. It sure beats worshipping oil - look where that’s got us! As Frank Niele from Shell pointed out 20 years ago, humanity’s energy needs hardly catch the eye compared to what the sun deposits on Earth, as I often note in talks…

The first person to suggest heating homes with a heat pump - in 1852 (yes 174 years ago) - was one of the UK’s greatest scientists, William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin). 1/

.. and in particular a quote from Professor Margaret MacMillan wrt digital records “.. it’s partly through Wikileaks .. people are getting very cautious .. Government officials aren’t putting down .. what they really think. And that I think is going to be a real problem" pages 369-371 2/

What's interesting in the history of science is that the understanding that the Earth was a sphere is ancient and until quite recently, even amongst the less well educated, well understood. Even the medieval belief is of a human domain surrounded by a wide ocean. 1/

No meter, it was removed. So pleased we disconnected from the gas grid in November (when we got induction hob; having previously got a heat pump 4 years ago). All that is needed now is for the uk electricity market to decouple from gas prices and for even harder renewables push as if there’s a war 🤔

The two are linked. If we fix inequality, we will help fix the climate

When Trump, Vance or any of his MAGA entourage make accusations of bad intentions or plans directed at their opponents, be wary! The chances are that is exactly what they are doing or planning. essaysconcerning.com/2026/02/15/m... #MAGA #MirrorPolitics #Accusationsinamirror

Thx Aaron. I feel a Parliamentary question coming on! “Does the discredited work of William Nordhaus and derivative work by economists, still inform the apparent lack of urgency in Government in addressing impacts of global warming that we see in the UK almost daily?” simonforstroud.bsky.social

On #holocaustmemorialday, when BBC Today is asking why the number of schools participating in Holocaust Memorial Day is falling, I’m reposting this piece from 2018 ‘When did you learn about the holocaust?’ writing on how I learned from a passionate teacher. essaysconcerning.com/2018/01/28/w...

Managed to finally get into the studio to do this alla prima (wet on wet) oil study this afternoon of a viewpoint on Pensile Road that always beguiles me

Charcoal and pencil A3 quickie on Sandbay amongst the grasses looking towards Sand Point

So looking forward to some quiet time to bury myself in this much acclaimed biography of Francis Crick by Matthew Cobb

Look what appeared on Facebook. This claim is factually wrong. Freely available is “Chapter 5: Global Carbon and other Biogeochemical Cycles and Feedbacks” in IPCC 6th Assessment Report which incorporate the ‘biological pump’ mechanism that ‘Good Machine Life’ (who?) claim is missing 1/

Banter: “Playful, friendly, teasing conversation—light-hearted remarks exchanged in good spirit .. witty comments meant to amuse rather than offend.” Not nasty racist comments made by a 17 year old to a black 9 year old. 1/2