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Britain breaks solar energy record twice as UK’s biggest solar farm gets approval Record high set on Monday and raised on Tuesday, with 14.4GW of electricity generated in sunny spring weather

A single line in this piece just made my day:

“The electricity system operator is understood to be preparing to run the grid without any gas for short periods as soon as this summer, in a first for the UK energy system.”

Renewables *work*. And progress matters🎉
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Mass drowning of chicks puts emperor penguins at risk of extinction Record low levels of Antarctic sea ice is having grim consequences for penguins yet to grow waterproof feathers

Mass drowning of chicks puts emperor penguins at risk of extinction #Climate

#GAConf26 Nearly there!

Map of the UK, showing the huge proportion of land used for beef, dairy and lamb production and the tiny proportion used for crops, next to a plot showing that 68% of UK calories and 52% of our protein come from the plants.

Maybe these need to be put on a few menus/supermarket walls. These are from the UK National Food Strategy, showing the proportion of UK land used for different things (huge for beef/lamb, tiny for crops), & where we get our calories and protein (68% & 52% from plants). The difference is staggering.

Choropleth world map of country-level counts of internally displaced people in 2024 where shading shows the number of people currently displaced within each country. The map highlights very large displaced populations in parts of eastern and central Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia (including Afghanistan and Pakistan), with notable levels in Colombia and parts of Southeast Asia. Much of Europe, North America, Australia and several countries in South America show low or no reported displacement. The data source is the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (2026). The chart is licensed CC BY to Our World in Data.

📊 Data update: Where are people being forced from their homes because of conflict or disaster?

A record 83 million people globally were living in internal displacement at the end of 2024 — forced from their homes by conflict, violence, or natural disasters, but remaining within their own country.

Your 'widely recyclable' Starbucks cup is still trash A new label promises single-use cups are recyclable. But that doesn't mean they actually get recycled.

Your ‘widely recyclable’ Starbucks cup is still trash #Climate

Stylised picture of fungi in soil sharing nutrients

This is a lovely short video from the Royal Society on why soil is one of the most amazing things on Earth: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmJU... Beautifully done.

And soil is our topic for this week's Rare Earth, so lots more on the joy, importance & surprises of soil will be coming soon. 🪱🌱🍄

Fifth year revising with A-level geographers for tutor2u last week with @woollyvix.bsky.social - always great to meet geographers from around the country to get their perspectives #cinemarevison #popcorn #presenting

#BigPlasticCount: the results are in of my plastic profile. ‘In one week your household used 112 bits of plastic. Over a year that’s 5824 pieces of plastic’ Gulp! 92% is food and drink, and that’s with a plastic free veg box #timeforachange #plasticfreefuture

UK Society of Authors launches logo to identify books written by humans not AI Tracy Chevalier announces registration scheme at the London Book Fair as AI works flood market

Sadly, this is absolutely necessary and I welcome it for at least 2 reasons: Books are personal, about sharing experience & exploring ideas - if you’ve read my books, you’ve met me. And a human author is *accountable* for what they/we write: we take responsibility & influences/money are traceable.

UK must stockpile food in readiness for climate shocks or war, expert warns Prof Tim Lang says country produces far less food than it needs to feed population and is particularly vulnerable

UK must stockpile food in readiness for climate shocks or war, expert warns #Climate

Map Of The World Divided Into 804 Zones Of 10 Million People

brilliantmaps.com/world-div...

This is the chart in question

Wondered if one AI search is a fair metric for comparison with other home uses of energy. One question leads to many others, as prompted by bot - my experience of 'upgraded' free ChatGPT #AIenergyuse #sustainability

'Does that use a lot of energy?' from @hannahritchie.bsky.social What an interesting tool for #geographyteacher Comparison of petrol and electric car piqued my interest, particularly when stacked against other home appliances open.substack.com/pub/hannahri...

But what about China? Critics of net zero targets like to weaponise China's out-sized carbon footprint, but the data showing how the country has become a clean energy superpower is stacking up

'But what about China?'
'You mean the world's largest clean tech market by an enormous margin where emissions are now falling?'
www.businessgreen.com/analysis/452...

Picture of a green cargo ship with the headline "China starts sea trials for largest electric powered containership"

You can't prove received wisdom wrong if you don't try... and you've got to give China credit for not being afraid to try. A step on the way to serious reduction of shipping emissions by 2050? Or an expensive experiment with niche coastal uses? Time will tell!

maritime-executive.com/article/chin...

It’s possible to reduce emissions while growing the economy. Many countries have decoupled economic growth from CO₂ emissions, even if we take offshored production into account.

You can see this in the chart for a selection of large economies.

Fun to do another teacher CPD yesterday for tutor2u with @geogmum Just reflecting on some brilliant feedback and insightful #geographyteacher shared practice #goodtotalk #meetingIRL

Fruit and veg packaging comparison: an occasional series @riverford.bsky.social bag reads: ‘much thinner than previous … saving a lot of paper’ #thoughtfulpackaging #lessplastic

The changing (and perhaps surprising) geography of diabetes Diabetes is growing much faster in South Asia and Africa than in Europe or North America.

Interesting to read about the changing geography of diabetes this morning from @hannahritchie.bsky.social Useful for A-level #geographyteacher open.substack.com/pub/hannahri...

The Warming Stripes have been an iconic way to communicate temperature data. On the latest episode of the podcast, we got to speak to their creator, @edhawkins.org.

As a fellow data viz nerd, this was a fun one.

The latest episode of our podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

Join The Big Plastic Count The UK’s biggest people-powered investigation into household plastic waste.

Here's the link thebigplasticcount.com Fun and shocking to do in equal measure - 9-15 March 2026 #geographyteacher

Europe’s supermarket shelves packed with ‘misleading’ claims about recycled plastic packaging Manufacturers use method that labels plastic as ‘circular’ and climate-friendly, despite being mostly fossil-based

This is quite telling and should prompt involvement in the #BigPlasticCount again this year to resist the #greenwash, helping to provide a true picture of plastic in our lives and its impacts www.theguardian.com/environment/...

After a bit of a marathon upload session (😩) I now have lots of new resources on my site... including 15 'Forty minute #fieldwork' plans - fully developed enquiry ideas designed for your school grounds and local area, and all FREE to download!

2/2 Janet Foss, Goredale Scar, and limestone pavements above Malham Cove - Alton Towers for #geographyteacher #familyfieldtrip

Reflecting on a few days away in the #YorkshireDales National Park - Settle Loop in the January mist #familyfieldtrip 1/2

Shout out to #WomansHour on #BBCRadio4 for a brilliant investigation of Grok's misdemeanours and the lack of women's sport in the media, beyond big tickets events impacting aspiration #beingseen Suggestion: Is it time for the only BBC Radio station without a BlueSky account to sort this out?