Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8) header
Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8) profile picture

Host of Climate Chat | Plain climate science & DATAVIZ | Mission: To Understand and Protect the Home Planet

On a rapidly changing planet
Joined September 2010
Photo by Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8)Photo by Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8)Photo by Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8)Photo by Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8)Photo by Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8)Photo by Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8)Photo by Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8)Photo by Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8)Photo by Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8)Photo by Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8)
This might be the year everything changes, as those who don't count joules and radiative fluxes are too starting to feel the heat from reducing air-pollution. Many great scientists have tried to inform on this in the past decades (e.g. James Hansen, James Lovelock, Paul Crutzen and Veerabhadran Ramanathan). Policy makers and media have paid very little attention so far. This was the reason for me to start using my largely dormant Twitter account 3.5 years ago. To create awareness about rapid warming from rapidly reducing air pollution. There's mainly been a small crowd of 'climate doomers' and slightly anoyed climate scientists to interact with. In the past months this changed, as the additional accumulating heat is starting to surface. My amount of followers has tripled, the graphs we make receive millions of views and media around the world are paying attention. This is bigger than any one of us. We need specialized scientists to assess what this means for changes to monsoon systems, others that look at how ocean and atmospheric currents (might) change and how that could impact melting ice and sea level rise. We need politicians, legal experts and social scientists to learn what is at stake and debate the effects of unintentional and intentional emissions on climate, not just health and the environment. There are no easy choices in this. How much warming will the world except? And how fast can the rate of warming be until we are unable to adapt? When will we learn how high our dikes really need to be? How extreme will droughts get? How many people will lose their homes and need to move to greener pastures? Be it a locally overflowing refugee camp or to another country? Will we have the stability of global governance to face these accumulating challenges? Uncertainties are very large, which might be the main problem. We don't know how bad it will get, and anyone who tells you one way or another is lying. The precautionary principle tells us we have the duty to act. For ourselves, for our children and for strangers we will never meet. We are the most adaptable species known to ever have existed. I believe that with a more thorough understanding of our planet, humanity could become a beneficial force to life on Earth. If we soon aquire collective will to do so.
It cannot be re-stated enough that @LeonSimons8 has been the primary scientific voice pushing the narrative about the impacts of reduced sulfate aerosols on ocean temperatures. I'm grateful to see his tireless efforts finally being discussed by scientists and global media.
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The account stolen from my friend and colleague Dan Miller has now blocked me and continues phishing. @X doesn't do anything about it
Please fix this @X, Dan Miller was the victim of phishing months ago and now his stolen account is being used to connect with other accounts, most likely to send them phishing messages.
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Ahead of COP31, the @WMO warns: "Earth’s energy imbalance is increasing" "The increase in Earth's energy imbalance (EEI) is linked to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases and reductions in aerosol emissions (@DrJamesEHansen et al. 2023 [...]"
2026 is on track to be one of 4 warmest years on record, marked by exceptional global temperatures, melting ice, rising sea levels, and a very strong El NiΓ±o that will unleash more heat & extreme weather into 2027. New WMO #StateOfClimate #COP31 Update β†ͺ️ bit.ly/stateofclimateCOP31pr
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Please fix this @X, Dan Miller was the victim of phishing months ago and now his stolen account is being used to connect with other accounts, most likely to send them phishing messages.
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Leon Simons 🌍 retweeted
October 2026, sea-surface temperature in NiΓ±o 3.4 region reached an all-time high of 29.94Β°C. The anomaly was also a record: 3.21Β°C above 1991–2020 average. Both figures exceeded peaks of very strong El NiΓ±o events of 1982–1983,1997–1998 & 2015–2016. πŸ”— climate.copernicus.eu/climat… ⬇️
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We just had an amazing series of 4 Climate Chat programs on collapse/disruption and, surprisingly, they are (mostly) uplifting & inspiring: - Adam McKay - Mark Lynas - Jem Bendell - Paul Gilding Links in thread.
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Climate Chat with Paul Gilding airs later today: 'Is The Great Disruption Underway?'
Sunday 11/8 at 10am PT on Climate Chat: Is the Great Disruption Underway? with Paul Gilding. Do not miss Paul's 2012 TED talk, The Earth is Full (link in thread). #Disruption #Collapse @LeonSimons8 bikingmzstacey.bsky.social danmiller999.bsky.social youtu.be/TcaQNN4YqxM 1/
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Leon Simons 🌍 retweeted
Sunday 11/8 at 10am PT on Climate Chat: Is the Great Disruption Underway? with Paul Gilding. Do not miss Paul's 2012 TED talk, The Earth is Full (link in thread). #Disruption #Collapse @LeonSimons8 bikingmzstacey.bsky.social danmiller999.bsky.social youtu.be/TcaQNN4YqxM 1/
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The scenarios used by the IPCC assume "negative emissions" (whatever that means..) And youtubers keep spreading the falsehood that "at curre rate of progress we're on course of 2.8Β° of warming" This provides people with a false sense of security and is extremely dangerous.
Carbon capture will save us… πŸ€ͺ
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Leon Simons 🌍 retweeted
Carbon capture will save us… πŸ€ͺ
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Leon Simons 🌍 retweeted
New ECMWF outlook continues to highlight the potential for a twin peak El NiΓ±o in the eastern Pacific, similar to the 1982-83 event, but potentially more extreme. A huge amount of warm water needs to dissipate before this El NiΓ±o ends, and there’s a long way to go.
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Chef's kiss πŸ˜™πŸ‘Œ
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Leon Simons 🌍 retweeted
If you read only one paper on climate change and what's coming, this is it. We're at 430ppm CO2, increasing at 30+/decade with tipping pts underestimated. 550ppm, the equilibrium temp is ~+5C (9F). It will be much worse. xitter.twitterapi.xyz/LeonSimons8/status/211…
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Three years ago, our 2023 @DrJamesEHansen et al. paper, β€œGlobal warming in the pipeline”was published. Earth’s Energy Imbalance has continued to increase, and most of the 463 citations support our findings. The world needs to prepare for a rapidly changing planet.
Today we presented the 'Warming in the pipeline' paper, lead by @DrJamesEHansen. The recording of the press conference is available here. At 34:30 min, I explain the effects of sulphur emission changes, notably from shipping, of accelerating warming: youtu.be/NXDWpBlPCY8?si=5dV1…
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