David Attenborough stands with Boaty McBoatface
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The legendary 95-year-old climate activist has been spotted on RRS Sir David Attenborough as the UK’s new research ship docks in Greenwich, London. It comes after the vessel, which the public wanted to name “Boaty McBoatface,” completed basic sea trials ahead of its first exploration. The ship came up the Thames on Wednesday through the Woolwich Barrier and will remain docked in southeast London for a few days.
The public will be able to get a glance over the next few days ahead of the COP26 summit.
International senior scientific advisers are using the Attenborough as a platform to issue a statement.
They want to see a concerted drive to develop – and use – the technologies that will keep global temperature rise below 1.5C and underpin the net zero economies of tomorrow.
These technologies include better ways of creating, storing and using low-emissions energy – including improving semiconductors, batteries and low-emitting fuel production – as well as work on heating and cooling, and carbon capture and storage.
Speaking from the deck this morning, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said: “I think the first thing to say is sticking to 1.5 is both important and achievable.
“But it’s only achievable if we get urgent action. If you work back, for example, from 2050, and ask what you need to do, you can’t rely on something coming along late in the day and saving us.
“It’s about utilising the technologies we have now, getting them in place as soon as we can at scale.
“And that in itself requires R&D (research and development), and making sure that we use both technology, and, of course, natural actions, and the behavioural changes that we all need to take.”
The 129m-long Attenborough has spent the past year in shake-down trials around the British coast.
It will head to Antarctica for the new summer season.
When it arrives, it will deliver supplies to the UK’s main scientific base, at Rothera, on the continent’s peninsula, before heading to other minor stations.
Engineers will be checking her performance in sea-ice.
The £200million ship features stunning technology including a helipad, cranes and onboard labs, and she has an enhanced ability to deploy subs and other ocean survey and sampling equipment.
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Dr Rob Larter, from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), told the BBC: “The way science has progressed means you now have to be able to handle much bigger gear. So, that’s why this ship has these very big cranes and gantries.
“You also need to be very flexible, because there’s so many different sorts of science that people want to do now.
“We have laboratories that come in containers, like for example a radioisotope lab, an ultra-clean chemistry lab and an experimental aquarium. These can all be added to the ship.”
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