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Richard Betts

Chair in Climate Impacts, University of Exeter

Richard is Chair in Climate Impacts at the University of Exeter and Head of Climate Impacts in the Met Office Hadley Centre. His undergraduate studies were in Physics at the University of Bristol, followed by an MSc in Meteorology and Climatology at the University of Birmingham. For his PhD, he used climate models to assess the role of the world’s ecosystems in global climate and climate change. He has worked in climate modelling since 1992, with a particular interest in the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and the interactions with other impacts of climate change such as on water resources.

Richard is also interested in the wide-ranging effects of land use and land cover change on climate. He has pioneered a number of key developments in the extension of climate models to include biological processes. He leads the EU Framework 7 Project HELIX (High-End cLimate Impacts and eXtremes), which assesses the impacts of climate change at 2, 4 and 6°C global warming above pre-industrial state.

Richard was a lead author on the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Working Group 1 (The Physical Science Basis), leading the assessment of the influences of land cover change on climate and contributing to the assessment of climate change impacts on fresh water. He played a similar role in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. He is also lead author on the IPCC 5th Assessment Report in Working Group 2 (Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability), responsible for assessing the impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems.

Climate Change Series

What will the world actually look like at 1.5°C of warming?

Nov 19, 2016 11:00 am UTC| Nature

The high ambition of the Paris Agreement, to limit global warming to well below 2C, was driven by concern over long-term sea level rise. A warmer climate inevitably means melting ice you dont need a computer model to...

Economy

What should you do if you can’t pay your rent or mortgage?

The cost of living crisis is making it difficult for many people to pay their bills, including housing costs. Private sector rents have increased by an average 9% over the year to February 2024, and rising interest rates...

Some experts say the US economy is on the up, but here’s why voters don’t think so

Many Americans are gloomy about the economy, despite some data saying it is improving. The Economist even took this discussion to TikTok. When its US editor John Prideaux examined inflation, wage and employment numbers,...

Electric air taxis are on the way – quiet eVTOLs may be flying passengers as early as 2025

Imagine a future with nearly silent air taxis flying above traffic jams and navigating between skyscrapers and suburban droneports. Transportation arrives at the touch of your smartphone and with minimal environmental...

Electricity from farm waste: how biogas could help Malawians with no power

In sub-Saharan Africa, over 600 million people (more than 50% of the population) are without access to electricity. Malawi has one of the worlds lowest electricity access rates just 14.1% of the total population have...

High interest rates aren’t going away anytime soon – a business economist explains why

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at its May 1, 2024, policy meeting, dashing the hopes of potential homebuyers and others who were hoping for a cut. Not only will rates remain at their current level a...

Politics

Donald Trump Allegedly Offers Oil Execs a Deal to Scrap EV Incentives for $1B Donation

Former President Donald Trump reportedly proposed a $1 billion deal to oil executives, offering to end electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in return for campaign funding, according to The Washington Post. This move underscores...

Taiwan is experiencing millions of cyberattacks every day

Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety of grey zone tactics to pressure...

What the Supreme Court is doing right in considering Trump’s immunity case

Following the nearly three-hour oral argument about presidential immunity in the Supreme Court on April 25, 2024, many commentators were aghast. The general theme, among legal and political experts alike, was a...

US student Gaza protests: five things that have been missed

Coverage of the recent student encampments at more than 50 universities across the United States has focused on confrontations between opposing groups of protesters or between protesters and police. The spectacle of...

Will Solomon Islands’ new leader stay close to China?

Former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele has been elected the next prime minister of Solomon Islands, defeating the opposition leader, Matthew Wale, in a vote in parliament. The result is a mixed bag for former prime...

Science

IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects

About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...

The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup

A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...

Dark matter: our new experiment aims to turn the ghostly substance into actual light

A ghost is haunting our universe. This has been known in astronomy and cosmology for decades. Observations suggest that about 85% of all the matter in the universe is mysterious and invisible. These two qualities are...

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Technology

Sam Altman Denies New Search Engine; OpenAI Rumored for Voice AI Launch

In a surprising twist, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman refuted ongoing news about a new search engine; instead, rumors hint at a groundbreaking AI update integrating voice and visual recognition, which is set to be unveiled this...

Ex-PayPal CEO Touts Bitcoin Lightning as Corporate Transaction Future

David Marcus, former PayPal CEO, endorses the Bitcoin Lightning Network as the future norm for corporate transactions worldwide, forecasting a transformative shift in global payment systems. David Marcus Champions...

DogeCoin and Shiba Inu Poised for Over 100% Market Rally

As the crypto market braces for recovery, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu show signs of a potent rebound. Technical indicators and market dynamics suggest a potential surge exceeding 100%, attracting keen investor...

FED Quietly Initiates Money Printing, Sparks Bitcoin Price Surge Speculation

One chart stands out as a beacon of optimism for Bitcoin and its peers in the complex landscape of cryptocurrencies. With the revival of the US money supply, investors face a critical moment. As the printing machines...

Ethereum ETFs: All Pending SEC Applications in a Bid for Regulatory Approval

Following the historic approval of 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in January, industry analysts are asking when the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve an Ethereum counterpart. For those who...