Skeptical Science

2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #15

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 10:58:34 EST

A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 5, 2026 thru Sat, April 11, 2026.

Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Change Impacts (9 articles)

The US is now paying more than any other country for climate change damage, study suggests "Despite being the biggest carbon emitter, the US is already paying a disproportionate price for the climate crisis" BBC Science Focus, Hatty Willmoth, Mar 31, 2026.
The Western US is already running out of water — and summer is still months away The Western US is already running out of water — and summer is still months away Vox, Kiley Price, Apr 3, 2026 .
Scientists warn the Gulf Stream is shifting north, which means an ocean current collapse is imminent Earthdotcom, Eric Ralls, Apr 4, 2026.
Climate experts say spring is coming earlier. How will that affect agriculture and ecosystems? "An earlier spring affects when migratory birds arrive, leaves emerge, and fruit ripens — among plants and animals that determine ecosystem health." Grist, Héctor Alejandro Arzate, Apr 5, 2026.
A biblical megaflood could hit the US at any moment. And that’s only the beginning "A flood, the scale of which has not been seen in centuries, is coming, scientists say. Can we prepare before it hits?" BBC Science, Tom Howarth, Apr 6, 2026.
Strongest El Niño in a century? What this rare phenomenon could bring. "This year’s potential super El Niño is looking increasingly likely to have wide-reaching climate impacts that last into 2027." Washington Post, Ben Noll, Apr 6, 2026.
A Super El Niño is coming. Here’s how a hotter ocean could change the weather near you CNN, Andrew Freed,an, Apr 7, 2026.
The first predictions for hurricane season are in and El Niño’s fingerprints are all over it CNN, Mary Gilbert, Apr 9, 2026.
The world just had its second-warmest March on record "Arctic sea ice had its lowest seasonal maximum and lowest March extent on record." Yale Climate Connections, Jeff Masters, Apr 9, 2026.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (7 articles)

Indonesian forest loss surges by 66% in 2025, driven by Prabowo's self-sufficiency drive, report shows Reuters, Ananda Teresia & Bernadette Christina, Mar 31, 2026.
Which State Leads in Battery Energy Storage? It Depends on How You Measure. "Texas can stake a claim as the new leader. California also has a strong case." Inside Climate News, Dan Gearino, Apr 2, 2026.
A ‘failed experiment’? Biofuels under the spotlight as EU scrambles for alternative energy "‘Right now we surrender vast swathes of land for crops that we simply burn in our cars’, said one expert." euronews, Liam Gilliver, Apr 2, 2026.
The US should shape the global climate adaptation market The Hill, Marina Saguar Urquiola & Jeff Schlegelmilch, Apr 4, 2026.
How Trump’s Iran war could make the world more reliant on coal "The energy crisis sparked by the war is making some countries consider ramping up their use of dirty fuels" The Guardian, Eduardo Porter, Apr 5, 2026.
Meeting Climate Targets Requires Humanity to Reorient Its Relationship With Nature, New Study Says "A team including scientists, Indigenous people and conservationists point to the ecosystem connecting Yellowstone and the Yukon as an example of a region where humans and nature are flourishing together." Inside Climate News, Jake Bolster, Apr 9, 2026.
‘The danger and value of water are in my blood’: how rain fences are making Dutch homes more climate resilient "Housing corporations are adopting rainwater storage in garden fences, reducing pressure during downpours and preserving water for times of drought" The Guardian, Senay Boztas , Apr 9, 2026.

Climate Policy and Politics (4 articles)

Why this NASA climate scientist wants you to stay angry "Kate Marvel reflects on her fiery resignation: 'I don’t think we rebuild science without getting mad.' ” Grist, Clayton Aldern, Apr 7, 2026.
Iran war analysis: How 60 nations have responded to the global energy crisis "One month into the US and Israel’s war on Iran, at least 60 countries have taken emergency measures in response to the subsequent global energy crisis, according to analysis by Carbon Brief." Carbon Brief, Josh Gabbatiss, Apr 8, 2026.
Trump`s EPA chief Zeldin gives keynote speech at climate-denying group`s event Lee Zeldin opens conference for Heartland Institute, which once compared climate advocates to the Unabomber The Guardian, Dharna Noor, Apr 08, 2026.
Argentina just ripped up its pioneering glacier law. What does this mean for millions of people’s drinking water? "Javier Milei’s reforms to the law will open up high-altitude areas to mining and risk water reserves already strained by the climate crisis, say activists" The Guardian, Natalie Alcoba, Apr 10, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Science (3 articles)

Spencer`s Shenanigans: Part II We previously highlighted Roy Spencer’s poor practices in comparing models with observations, but we’ve now dug down a little deeper, and it’s not pretty. RealClimate, Gavin Schmidt, Apr 04, 2026.
Disarming Climate Change Denial Tropes (Featuring Peter Hadfield aka Potholer54) Youtube, Professor Dave Explains, Apr 7, 2026.
Climate Denial Comes to Washington A conference of climate change deniers, a warning about the world’s largest penguin species, record low snowpack in the West, plus more climate news. New York Times, Maxine Joselow, Apr 09, 2026.

Climate Education and Communication (1 article)

Our new research is published - but we're not done yet with the 'Experiment' Skeptical Science formally investigates: does Skeptical Science work? Skeptical Science, John Cook, Baerbel Winkler, Doug Bostrom, Dana Nucitelli, Apr 6, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Solutions (1 article)

Fact brief - Do wind turbines utilize land for electricity generation more efficiently than fossil fuels? Yes - Wind turbines require less land use for the same amount of energy generated by oil or natural gas, and land between turbines is available for agriculture and wildlife habitats. Skeptical Science, Sue Bin Park, Apr 07, 2026.

Climate Law and Justice (1 article)

As Vermont Defends Its Law to Make Fossil Fuel Firms Pay for Climate Adaptation, the Bill Is Already Coming Due "The courts will decide if the first 'climate superfund' law in the nation survives, a likely years-long battle. Vermont towns, meanwhile, must figure out how to pay for infrastructure that extreme weather won’t destroy."As Vermont Defends Its Law to Make Fossil Fuel Firms Pay for Climate Adaptation, the Bill Is Already Coming Due Inside Climate News, Dana Drugmand & Nathaniel Eisen,, Apr 5, 2026.

Climate Science and Research (1 article)

2026 Arctic sea ice winter maximum tied for second smallest of satellite era Arctic sea ice likely reached its maximum extent for the year on March 15, 2026, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). At 5.52 million square miles (14.29 million square kilometers), the 2026 maximum extent was tied with 2025’s maximum for lowest in the 48-year satellite record. [Extents within roughly 11,600 square miles (30,000 square kilometers) are considered statistically tied.] Climate.us, Michon Scott, Apr 8, 2026.

International Climate Conferences and Agreements (1 article)

A new economic superpower could spark a global retreat from fossil fuels "Eighty-five countries have sought a roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels. A conference this month offers hope they could unite" The Guardian, Mark Hertsgaard & Kyle Pope, Apr 7, 2026.

Miscellaneous (1 article)

2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #14 A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 29, 2026 thru Sat, April 4, 2026. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, John Hartz & Doug Bostrom, Apr 05, 2026.

If you happen upon high quality climate-science and/or climate-myth busting articles from reliable sources while surfing the web, please feel free to submit them via this Google form so that we may share them widely. Thanks!

Skeptical Science New Research for Week #15 2026

Thu, 9 Apr 2026 12:20:16 EST

Open access notables

Why we need to explore conflict and competition around solar geoengineering, Möller & Young, PLOS Climate

In an increasingly aggressive international political environment, solar geoengineering needs to be reconceptualized – not only as a response to climate change, but as an instrument of power. This conceptualization means going beyond focusing on cooperative scenarios in which the technoluogy is used to effectively reduce temperature rise while minimizing potential side effects. As scholars of international relations, we see a need for more interdisciplinary engagement with solar geoengineering scenarios that explicitly feature political conflict and competition. By anticipating and exploring these, we can better contribute to informing governance arrangements that might be able to prevent situations that undermine international political stability and efforts to address climate change.

El Niño Events Enhance Melting of Sea Ice in the West of Greenland, Zhang et al., Geophysical Research Letters

Using reanalysis data sets and numerical simulations, this study investigates the linkage between El Niño events and spring Arctic sea ice melt rate (AMR) in the west of Greenland. The results indicate that the accelerated spring AMR often corresponds to the previous winter's El Niño–like sea surface temperature anomalies. El Niño strengthens the Aleutian Low, facilitating the upward propagation of quasi-stationary planetary waves into the lower stratosphere and leading to a weakening of the polar stratospheric vortex in the North Pacific sector. This weakened vortex subsequently propagates downward into the troposphere over the North Atlantic sector in spring, inducing a cyclonic anomaly over the Svalbard Islands and an anticyclonic anomaly over the North Atlantic. Such conditions favor the development of southeasterly near-surface winds, which can transport warm air from lower latitudes northward, thereby influencing sea ice melting in the west of Greenland.

Increased Arctic Sea-Ice Variability Is Associated With Amplified Air-Sea Heat Fluxes, Wang et al., Geophysical Research Letters

While the role of long-term sea ice decline in shaping Arctic climate change is well-established, the contribution of short-term sea-ice variability remains insufficiently explored. Here we present observational evidence that since 2007, sea ice fluctuations in Arctic marginal ice zone have remained at a high level. The annual-mean daily variability of sea ice concentration rose by 11.4%, with high-variability days becoming more frequent, especially in summer and autumn. Composite analyses reveal enhanced net heat uptake in summer (+11.9%) and greater ocean-to-atmosphere heat release in winter (+45.3%), both of which intensify after 2007. Causal analyses reveal a feedback, with higher sea ice variability being closely linked to and reinforced by anomalous net heat fluxes. These findings highlight the increasing short-term variability of the Arctic sea-ice and its key role in regulating local air–sea heat exchange.

Decarbonising existing buildings with heat pumps – Early evidence and policy analysis for Switzerland, Patel et al., PLOS Climate

In order to overcome the problem that oil and gas boilers in existing buildings are typically replaced again by fossil fuel boilers, leading cantons in Switzerland have started to implement more targeted decarbonisation policies. The objective of the present paper is to critically discuss the experience made with policy measures for the decarbonisation of building-related heating systems in these cantons. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted as primary method. Early evidence indicates that the policies are effective by ensuring the transition to renewable heating technologies (primarily heat pumps). The implemented policy packages include coercive elements (mandatory renewable energy shares), subsidies as well as information and communication measures, resulting in a quasi-ban of fossil fuel boilers. Avoiding outright bans of fossil fuel use seems both effective to increase acceptance among building owners and reasonable to account for particularly demanding cases of boiler replacement (for which there is no technically or financially viable, fully renewable solution). Considering the very low carbon footprint of its electricity supply, Switzerland is a particularly convincing case for the transition from fossil fuel boilers to electric heat pumps. This is shown by means of an analysis of the CO2 emissions of heat pumps in comparison to gas and oil boilers across several European countries. We then compare the levelised cost of heat pumps for different subsidy levels. For a typical subsidy for the heat pump (equivalent to 11% of the investment cost), its levelised cost remains in an acceptable range compared to a gas boiler (7% more expensive). A sensitivity analysis shows the importance of high gas to electricity price ratios for financial viability. Evidence from leading cantons in Switzerland indicates that the chosen policy measures are effective, affordable and accepted and that they can be recommended to other countries.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Americans’ Shifting Views on Energy Issues, Brian Kennedy and Emma Kukuchi, Pew Research Center

The share of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who say the country should prioritize oil, coal and natural gas over wind and solar power has doubled to 71% over the last six years. Majorities of Republicans see wind and solar power as less reliable than other energy sources, and decreasing shares of Republicans say wind and solar energy is better for the environment. An overwhelming majority of Democrats continue to prioritize wind and solar power and say the federal government should encourage their development.

INNOVATION INTERRUPTED: The Lasting Impact of Grant Terminations and Freezes at the U.S. Department of Energy, Tarak Shah,, US. Department of Energy Alumni Network

The scale of terminations and funding at risk is massive: DOE has announced the termination of 356 awards since January 2025, totaling $12.5 billion in federal funding. It has also threatened to terminate an additional 303 awards worth $12.2 billion. This action is part of a larger pattern of disruption that includes freezing projects at stage gates, not finalizing conditional awards, and reducing new solicitations, which puts Congressional goals for our energy sector, infrastructure, and domestic manufacturing at risk. Long Term Repercussions Exist for U.S. Energy Innovation: DOE’s actions profoundly undermine the reliability of federal grants as a mechanism for achieving national energy goals. This disruption has created deep uncertainty among private sector partners, with some awardees stating they will no longer pursue future DOE funding, posing a long-term risk to domestic energy innovation and deployment.

62 articles in 41 journals by 602 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Combined Impacts of ENSO and Arctic Sea Ice on North American Climate, Yu et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0469.1

Global Observational Estimates of Thermohaline Transformations by Interior Ocean Mixing, Castro et al., Journal of Physical Oceanography 10.1175/jpo-d-25-0265.1

Observations of climate change, effects

A Brighter Arctic Ocean: Trends in Solar Partitioning in the Arctic Sea Ice - Ocean System From 1984 to 2024, Webster et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl120478

Rising flood risks in semiarid South Asia driven by changing intraseasonal oscillations under global warming, Xie et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aea0082

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

Strontium to calcium ratio and oxygen isotopic coral records can exaggerate past decadal tropical climate variability, Dolman et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03465-4

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Present and future downslope windstorms in the Scandinavian Mountains from a kilometre-scale climate model, Jureša et al., Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society Open Access 10.1002/qj.70155

Projected changes in tropical instability wave activity in the Pacific Ocean under greenhouse warming, Xue et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences pdf 10.1073/pnas.2530859123

Projecting Hurricane Risk in Atlantic Canada under Climate Change, Naeini et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100897

South American Mesoscale Convective Systems: Present and Future Climates, Rehbein et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd045438

The Drivers and Impacts of Future Analogs of the 2011–2014 Drought in the Western and Central United States, Ellison & Coats, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd045010

Twenty-First-Century Hydrological Trends in the Mississippi River Basin Intensify the East–West Moisture Gradient, Hancock et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0340.1

Weakening of Western Disturbances in Response to Polar Sea Ice Melt in Climate Model Simulations, Chandra et al., Atmospheric Science Letters Open Access 10.1002/asl.70007

Cryosphere & climate change

A Comparison of South Pacific Antarctic Sea Ice and Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions Since 1900, Fogt et al., Climate of the Past Open Access 10.5194/cp-20-53-2024

Disappearing glaciers of Sikkim Himalaya: a multi-decadal remote sensing analysis, Baruah et al., Journal of Earth System Science 10.1007/s12040-026-02745-z

Effects of Arctic sea-ice concentration on turbulent surface fluxes in four atmospheric reanalyses, Uhlíková et al., The Cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-18-957-2024

El Niño Events Enhance Melting of Sea Ice in the West of Greenland, Zhang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl120460

Ice viscosity governs hydraulic fracture that causes rapid drainage of supraglacial lakes, Hageman et al., The Cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-18-3991-2024

Increased Arctic Sea-Ice Variability Is Associated With Amplified Air-Sea Heat Fluxes, Wang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119415

Mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets from 1992 to 2020, Otosaka et al., Earth System Science Data Open Access pdf 10.5194/essd-15-1597-2023

Permafrost landsystems define regional variability in climate change effects on northern environments, Kokelj et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-71216-2

Permafrost thaw controls iron flux from wetlands and sulfide-bearing rocks to Arctic rivers and streams, Dial et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03450-x

Paleoclimate

Massive wildfires followed oceanic anoxic events during the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian mass extinction, Lu et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.ady4534

Response of water chemistry and boron resources in boron-rich salt lakes to a warming–wetting climate on the Tibetan Plateau: modern processes and geological records, Song et al., Earth 10.1016/j.earscirev.2026.105483

Southern Asian arc magmatism drove Eocene global climate, Zhang et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105474

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

A review on the resilience of temperate forests to extreme precipitation and wind events, Kuzee et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1746510

Future scenarios for British biodiversity under climate and land-use change, Cooke et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-70064-4

Identifying suitable habitats under climate change for non-targeted demersal fish in the Mediterranean Sea, Orfanidis et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000838

Impact of heat stress on colony foundation in ants, Roux et al., Biology Letters Open Access 10.1098/rsbl.2026.0016

Species Distribution Modeling Reveals Future Climate Refugia and Important Areas for Rocky Plants in Brazil's Iron Quadrangle, Francisconi et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73355

Species range shifts often speed ahead of their modeled climatic niches, Oliveira et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2515903123

The influence of climate warming on flowering phenology in relation to historical annual and seasonal temperatures and plant functional traits, Geissler et al., PeerJ Open Access pdf 10.7717/peerj.15188

Unravelling Marine Benthic Functioning Shifts Under Ocean Acidification, Carlot et al., Ecology Letters Open Access 10.1111/ele.70376

Wildfire risk for species under climate change, Yang et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access 10.1038/s41558-026-02600-5

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

Continental-Scale Spatiotemporal Assessment of Atmospheric Methane over Australia: Hotspot Persistence and Priority-Area Screening, Ghahremanlou et al., Atmospheric Environment 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2026.121992

Ecosystem-specific patterns and drivers of global reactive iron mineral-associated organic carbon, Zhao et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-20-4761-2023

Erosion of Amazonian mangroves over peatlands leads to soil carbon loss, Bernardino et al., PeerJ Open Access 10.7717/peerj.21044

Evaluation of five models for constructing forest NPP-age relationships in China based on 3121 field survey samples, Li et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-21-625-2024

Evidence for Long-Term Coupling of Deep Ocean Carbon Storage and Global Climate Over the Past 4.5 Million Years, Novak et al., Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology Open Access 10.1029/2025pa005248

Global hotspots of particulate organic carbon losses under climate change, Sun et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-71321-2

Increasing carbon emissions despite declining burned area in the Northern Hemisphere wildfires, Shi et al., Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.108980

Technical note: The CAMS greenhouse gas reanalysis from 2003 to 2020, Agustí-Panareda et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-23-3829-2023

The high-resolution global shipping emission inventory by the Shipping Emission Inventory Model (SEIM), Yi et al., Earth System Science Data Open Access pdf 10.5194/essd-17-277-2025

Underestimation of oceanic carbon uptake in the Arctic Ocean: ice melt as predictor of the sea ice carbon pump, Richaud et al., The Cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-17-2665-2023

Warming Reduces the Positive Effect of Nitrogen Addition on Soil Organic Carbon in Grasslands, Shi et al., Ecology Letters 10.1111/ele.70379

Decarbonization

Decarbonising existing buildings with heat pumps – Early evidence and policy analysis for Switzerland, Patel et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000608

Geoengineering climate

G6-1.5K-SAI: a new Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) experiment integrating recent advances in solar radiation modification studies, Visioni et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-17-2583-2024

Why we need to explore conflict and competition around solar geoengineering, Möller & Young, PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000869

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Dynamic Norms and the Feasibility Gap in Climate-Adapted Forest Management, Dodi Sukma et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103030

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

A satellite-based approach for estimating runoff and river discharge in the Pan-Arctic region from 2003 to 2022, Leopardi et al., Remote Sensing of Environment Open Access 10.1016/j.rse.2026.115353

Rising flood risks in semiarid South Asia driven by changing intraseasonal oscillations under global warming, Xie et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aea0082

Twenty-First-Century Hydrological Trends in the Mississippi River Basin Intensify the East–West Moisture Gradient, Hancock et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0340.1

Warming and Wetting Induced by Urbanization and Anthropogenic Heat over a Fast-Developing Large River Delta, Lai & Gan, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-25-0138.1

Climate change mitigation public policy research

Households’ intentions to adopt low-carbon technologies: the role of discounting and anticipated regret, Mariani et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115282

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

Climate change-induced emergencies and inequity: The role of emergency management governance in Canada, Goulet & Birchall, PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000887

Climate-related in-situ displacement, Savelli et al., Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2026.2623631

Performance of tree canopy cover in mitigating future extreme heat across local climate zones: A case study of Guangzhou, Fan et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102880

Revisiting the Climate-Migration-Conflict Nexus: Community-Level evidence and contextual pathways in coastal Bangladesh, Laila et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2026.100813

Theoretical and conceptual evaluation of climate-related displacement and mobility, Türke? et al., The Anthropocene Review 10.1177/20530196261434015

Uneven Climate Adaptation: Mapping Socioinstitutional Vulnerability across Europe’s Secondary Cities, Michalak, Weather, Climate, and Society 10.1175/wcas-d-25-0107.1

Climate change impacts on human health

Expert insights into the health and societal risks of a potential AMOC collapse in Europe: Focus on Germany, Mirow, PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000735

Climate change impacts on human culture

An Atlantic eco-poetics of relations: Intercultural communication and Caribbean decolonising approaches to face the climate crisis, Jerez Columbié, PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000187

Other

Who will act for climate resilience? Predictors of community engagement and gaps in climate-related action, Shapira et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000874

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Preparing for a potential crossing of an AMOC tipping point, Nummelin et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000881

Toward Improved Understanding and Attribution of Large-Scale Circulation Changes and Associated Extremes: Challenges and Opportunities, Findell et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 10.1175/bams-d-26-0009.1

Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change

Retail Electricity Price Trends and Drivers: Data Update−2026 Edition, Wiser et al., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and

National-average nominal retail prices have spiked in recent years, though the increases have largely tracked inflation, but with a bump 2025. Residential customers have faced larger recent retail electricity price increases than have commercial and industrial customers. Residential retail electricity price increases have been significant: broadly in line with some other household expenditures but higher than others. National residential electricity costs as a fraction of personal expenditure and income trended down for decades, but increased in 2025. National trends mask stark differences in state-level all-sector average retail electricity prices in 2025. Changes in average state-level, inflation-adjusted retail prices vary widely: many more states with increases in last year than 2019-2025.

Opportunities Exist to Improve the Department of Energy’s Oversight of Demonstration and Deployment Projects, Office of the Inspector General, Department of Energy

The Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy (Nuclear Energy) awarded a $1.36 billion cost-share financial assistance award to the Carbon Free Power Project, LLC in October 2020 to demonstrate and commercially deploy an economically competitive and viable first-of-a kind NuScale Power, LLC Small Modular Reactor plant at the Idaho National Laboratory. The authors found that Nuclear Energy did not effectively manage the Project, and lessons learned can be applied to future awards. Specifically, the authors found that Nuclear Energy did not effectively evaluate critical risks prior to award, structure the award to monitor risks, perform sufficient oversight of the Project, and ensure costs were allowable. They attributed these issues to Nuclear Energy not following existing requirements and guidance regarding merit reviews, project performance risk, risk management and evaluation, reducing perceived bias, and enforcement of award terms. Also, Nuclear Energy agreed to front-load the cost-share, placing the Government at risk of losing almost $143.5 million since the Project terminated.

Regulation of Coastal Weathering in Massachusetts, Murthy et al., Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Carbon dioxide removal (“CDR”) will be needed, alongside emissions reductions, to achieve global climate objectives. One such technique is coastal enhanced weathering (“CEW”), which looks to accelerate the natural processes of weathering of alkaline-rich rocks to remove and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This natural weathering process occurs slowly — over centuries to millennia — but scientists have suggested the possibility of speeding it up by finely grinding alkaline rocks and spreading them in the coastal zone, where the natural wave and tidal forces will catalyze weathering. As the alkaline rocks weather, they convert carbonic acid present in the ocean into carbonate and bicarbonate ions, reducing the acidity of the ocean and increasing its ability to uptake additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, CEW presents a number of challenges and risks that require further research before deployment at scale can occur.

INNOVATION INTERRUPTED: The Lasting Impact of Grant Terminations and Freezes at the U.S. Department of Energy, Tarak Shah,, US. Department of Energy Alumni Network

The Scale of Terminations and Funding at Risk is Massive: DOE has announced the termination of 356 awards since January 2025, totaling $12.5 billion in federal funding. It has also threatened to terminate an additional 303 awards worth $12.2 billion. This action is part of a larger pattern of disruption that includes freezing projects at stage gates, not finalizing conditional awards, and reducing new solicitations, which puts Congressional goals for our energy sector, infrastructure, and domestic manufacturing at risk. Long Term Repercussions Exist for U.S. Energy Innovation: DOE’s actions profoundly undermine the reliability of federal grants as a mechanism for achieving national energy goals. This disruption has created deep uncertainty among private sector partners, with some awardees stating they will no longer pursue future DOE funding, posing a long-term risk to domestic energy innovation and deployment.

Report to Governor Katie Hobbs, Mahoney et al., Arizona Energy Promise Taskforce

The authors provide a pathway to optimize Arizona’s deployment of existing and emerging energy technologies, eliminate bottlenecks in energy generation and transmission processes, and protect ratepayers from shouldering costs caused by large energy users such as data centers.

The electric fast-track for emerging markets. How electrotech can serve the billion people left behind by the fossil system and open up a faster path to prosperity, Walter et al., Ember

Smaller emerging economies have long struggled to climb the energy ladder. Electricity demand per capita in low-income countries, for example, has declined since 2010. More than 700 million people still have no electricity, and many of those connected face frequent outages. This challenge is most visible in the 74 member nations of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF). Together, they are home to over a fifth of the global population but account for under 5% of global GDP and electricity demand. These nations represent three-quarters of the world's population living on less than 1 MWh of electricity per capita. A different path is now available. Rapid cost declines in electrotech – such as solar, battery storage, and electric end-use technologies – are reshaping the economics of energy in these markets. These technologies are scalable in small increments from the ground up. The opportunity is not undercutting fossil fuels; it is pricing in the billion people the fossil system left behind. The shift is already under way and moving faster than many recognize.

Americans’ Shifting Views on Energy Issues, Brian Kennedy and Emma Kukuchi, Pew Research Center

The share of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who say the country should prioritize oil, coal and natural gas over wind and solar power has doubled to 71% over the last six years. Majorities of Republicans see wind and solar power as less reliable than other energy sources, and decreasing shares of Republicans say wind and solar energy is better for the environment. An overwhelming majority of Democrats continue to prioritize wind and solar power and say the federal government should encourage their development.

U.S. Seasonal Forecast for Health: Special Edition, Climate Care Consulting

This special edition looks back on the impacts of climate hazards on human health in 2025, featuring stories on Climate Central's Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, extreme heat, wildfires, drought and flooding, and hurricanes.

March 2026 U.S. Seasonal Forecast for Health, Climate Care Consulting

The authors examine drought, wildfire, and cold weather in March along with information on spring pollen season and a projected transition in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation climate phenomenon.

Carbon markets and food systems, Nathanaël Pingault and Christopher Martius, The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry

Carbon markets are increasingly recognized as a central instrument of international climate cooperation, yet their potential to support the decarbonization of food systems remains largely untapped. Food systems—spanning agriculture, land use and land-use change and forestry, energy, industry, and waste—account for around one third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, while offering substantial mitigation opportunities across production, value chains, and consumption. The authors provide one of the first comprehensive assessments of how food-system-related mitigation activities are represented in international carbon markets. Drawing on an original merged database covering more than 9,200 projects from both UNFCCC mechanisms (notably the Clean Development Mechanism) and major independent standards, the authors analyze nearly 4.9 GtCO?e of issued carbon credits through a food- system lens. The authors introduce a simplified typology of project scopes and types and examines the geographical, sectoral, and technological distribution of food-system-related projects.

2025 Hurricane Season, Cangialosi et al., National Hurricane Center

The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season featured 13 tropical storms and 5 hurricanes, but was distinguished by three Category 5 hurricanes—the second-highest total on record behind 2005. While NHC issued fewer forecasts than average, official track forecasts were more accurate than the 5-year means at all lead times. In addition, track skill values are near historical highs and substantial long-term improvements continue across all forecast periods. Official forecasts generally outperformed most dynamical and consensus models, though the Google DeepMind ensemble mean (GDMI) showed slightly better short-range performance. In contrast, intensity forecasts were more challenging, with errors exceeding the 5-year means, particularly during numerous rapid intensification (RI) events. Despite increased difficulty, intensity skill remained near all-time highs, and official forecasts demonstrated improved RI prediction relative to model guidance. Wind radii forecasts continued their gradual long-term improvement, and genesis outlooks were generally well calibrated at 48 h but exhibited some low bias at lower probabilities in the 168-h product. Overall, the 2025 Atlantic season highlighted continued gains in track forecasting, ongoing progress in intensity and wind radii prediction, and the operational challenges posed by an unusually high frequency of RI cases.

Seizing the Data Center Buildout for Grid Modernization An American Grid Infrastructure Fund to Leverage AI Growth for Public Benefit, Jane Flegal, Searchlight Institute

The U.S. has the capital, technology, and private sector motivation to build a modern electricity system capable of powering AI growth, electrification, and energy security. What has been missing is the institutional architecture to convert those inputs into grid investment at the pace and scale the moment demands. There is a narrow window during which policymakers have real leverage to steer grid buildout for data center development in publicly optimal directions, but it will close soon. Policymakers have an opportunity to use their leverage to finance the grid modernization the country so desperately needs, and provide much-needed relief to ratepayers. What is needed is a dedicated vehicle to finance and coordinate grid investment at the scale and speed the moment demands, in a way that ensures the American public benefits from the infrastructure built to serve large new loads, even if any individual load exits early or fails to materialize. An American Grid Infrastructure Fund could begin to address this immediately. The current approach to data center buildout means that, to the extent it is allowed, growing demand produces a relatively narrow set of public benefits: local tax revenue, construction employment, and load growth that justifies investment that may or may not serve broader grid modernization goals. The Fund would seek to systematically expand these benefits.

Under the Weather: India’s Climate-Health Intersections and Pathways to Resilience, The ClimateRISE Alliance

As understanding of the links between climate change and health in India deepens, this critical intersection remains underexplored in philanthropic investment. The authors make the case for integrating a climate lens into health system responses to build both short- and long-term community resilience. It highlights how evidence can be translated to guide investments, inform programmatic decisions, and strengthen health system preparedness. As philanthropy remains nascent in the climate-health context in India, the authors outline how it can help scale proven interventions, foster cross-sector collaboration, and channel resources toward underserved priorities.

The Case for Commercial Recycling of Used Nuclear Fuel: Assessment and Recommendations, Leggett et al., Energy Innovation Reform Projec

Recent technological advances, market shifts, and geopolitical factors make commercial used nuclear fuel recycling both feasible and strategically urgent for the United States. EIRP produced the report in partnership with advanced reactor developer Oklo.

Climate Change and Extreme Heat: Strengthening Resilience and Adaptive Capacity in the Southern African Development Community, Singh et al., Academy of Science of South Africa

This consensus study examines extreme heat as the defining climate and health challenge for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. It introduces the concept of extreme heat as the integrator hazard – the cross-cutting risk through which vulnerabilities in health, labor, energy, food systems, wildfire dynamics, and urban environments intersect. Extreme heat is reshaping the lived realities of millions across SADC and driving widening inequities, yet it remains one of the most preventable climate-related threats. Through evidence synthesis and expert deliberation, the authors offer clear, actionable pathways to strengthen heat-health preparedness and build a more resilient, equitable future for communities across the region. Information in the report supports policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and communities in strengthening resilience and promoting equitable adaptation across SADC Member States.

Healthcare System of Systems Vulnerability, Thacker et al., Global Center on Adaptation and Oxford Infrastructure Analytics

The authors assess health system vulnerabilities to climate change, and its dependencies on failures in supporting systems (energy, transport, digital, water, waste).

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What the Iran conflict means for gas prices, clean energy, and the climate

Wed, 8 Apr 2026 15:43:42 EST

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections

The U.S. and Israel’s attacks on Iran have sent oil and gas prices soaring. That could be a boon to cheap, clean technologies like electric vehicles, solar power, and wind – at least in the long run. But in the short run, the outlook is more complicated.

Why is the conflict causing oil and gas prices to spike?

Iran began restricting ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, 2026. The strait is the narrow passage, about 20 to 40 miles wide, through which ships must navigate from the Persian Gulf to reach the Arabian Sea and global shipping routes.

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Behind the strait lie five of the world’s 10 biggest oil-producing countries: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Kuwait. Despite efforts to shift some of these countries’ oil exports through pipelines and to allow Iran’s own oil tankers safe passage, International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol estimated that the war has caused the global oil supply to drop by more than 10%. His organization described it as “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”

As a result, global oil prices have risen by $40 per barrel since the start of the conflict. Gasoline prices have followed suit, with the U.S. national average surpassing $4 per gallon on the final day of March, up more than a dollar from pre-conflict prices. It’s the third spike in fossil fuel prices in just the past five years, following COVID supply chain disruptions in 2021 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. (left axis, brown; data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration) and West Texas intermediate oil price (right axis, black; data also from the EIA). (Graphic: Dana Nuccitelli)

And fossil fuel prices are likely to rise further. Countries agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves, and some oil tankers were already en route to their destinations when the conflict began, but the amount of lost oil production in the Middle East has now surpassed those numbers. Parts of Asia and Africa are beginning to experience fuel shortages, and Europe could follow suit as soon as this month. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has signaled that the end of the conflict is not contingent on reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Why do oil and gas prices keep spiking every few years?

Oil and natural gas are traded on a global market. Even in the U.S., which produces more oil than it consumes, many refineries need a different kind of oil than is extracted from most domestic oil wells. As a result, when the global oil supply is significantly disrupted by an event like the COVID pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Iran conflict, or even global supplies simply failing to meet rising demand, as happened around 2008, oil prices spike everywhere.

Natural gas prices are less globally uniform. In the U.S., domestic natural gas production exceeds consumption, and the country’s export capacity is limited. Although the U.S. has been rapidly building new natural gas export terminals, export capacity represents about only 20% of domestic production, compared to the over half of U.S. oil production that’s exported. And U.S. liquefied natural gas exports were already at their maximum capacity before the Iran conflict, so the domestic supply and price of natural gas have remained relatively stable.

That hasn’t been the case for regions like Asia and Europe that depend heavily on natural gas supplies originating from the Middle East and Russia.

Henry Hub spot natural gas price in the U.S. (red) and Dutch Title Transfer Facility (blue), which is the primary benchmark for European natural gas prices. (Data:U.S. Energy Information Administration andFederal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Graphic: Dana Nuccitelli)

How will the Iran conflict affect prices?

About 80% of all global energy is supplied by fossil fuels, so when oil and natural gas get more expensive, the price of nearly everything goes up. Isabel Schnabel, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, coined the term “fossilflation” to describe this relationship between rising fossil fuel prices and economic inflation.

Products like gasoline, diesel, and nitrogen fertilizer derived from raw fossil fuels are likely to become more expensive. Fertilizer shortages could cause global food prices to increase significantly, and higher costs for diesel, fuel oil, jet fuel, and associated shipping will lead to rising prices for most products.

How much more will prices rise?

The overall economic impact of the conflict depends on how long the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted.

Oil prices through March lingered around $100 per barrel, with investors assuming that the conflict would end quickly. But it’s now been over a month, and the threat of a missile, drone, or mine damaging oil tankers, each worth tens of millions of dollars, continues to prevent them from risking the perilous passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Had the Strait reopened after three weeks, Goldman Sachs analysts forecast that oil prices would have peaked at $110 per barrel and retreated back to below $70 by June, with average U.S. gasoline prices peaking at $4.36 per gallon in May and then slowly declining. But the conflict has persisted beyond that scenario.

Saudi Arabian officials have estimated that if fossil fuel supply disruptions last until late April, oil prices could jump to $180 per barrel. That would increase average U.S. gasoline prices well above $6 per gallon. Australian global financial services provider Macquarie Group forecast that if the restrictions last through June, oil prices could spike to $200 per barrel, which would drive average U.S. gasoline prices to around $7 per gallon.

“It is clear that restoring production will take time; restoring trust even longer,” wrote Sverre Alvik, vice president and energy transition outlook director for global assurance and risk management company DNV. “It is likely that the world will therefore see elevated oil and gas prices for a long time.”

Just how elevated and for how long depends on when the Strait of Hormuz reopens.

How might the energy crisis affect deployment of renewable energy?

The long history of global fossil fuel instabilities, especially over the past five years, has demonstrated the value of domestic energy security.

“You’d be hard pressed to find 20 consecutive years without some type of energy crisis with ballooning fuel costs,” said Robbie Orvis, senior director of modeling and analysis at Energy Innovation, in an email. He noted that more clean energy deployment would help protect countries against those price spikes.

For example, in Europe, Spain has weathered the conflict with relatively stable power prices, even as those across most of the rest of the continent have soared. That’s in large part because nearly 60% of the country’s electricity is supplied by solar and wind, plus another 20% from nuclear power. Countries around the world are searching for ways to reduce their reliance on imported fossil fuels, given two recent examples that a head of state with a powerful military can suddenly destabilize the global supply and price of these fuels.

But big solar and wind farms are capital-intensive projects, and the vast majority of their lifetime costs are incurred during construction. Financing those high up-front costs requires loans. As a result, the economic viability of solar and wind farms is tightly linked to interest rates.

“We are definitely staring down a period of higher inflation and then likely higher interest rates to tackle the inflation,” Orvis said.

On the other hand, the costs of many competing sources of power have also increased. Not only are natural gas prices soaring, with gas turbines also in short supply, but “capital costs for coal infrastructure, at least that which has pollution controls, are also enormous,” Orvis said.

How will the conflict affect electric vehicles and other clean technologies?

Research has shown that higher gasoline prices result in greater EV adoption. Sales of EVs are already surging in Europe and Asia. Even in the U.S., where EV sales have lagged, interest in EVs is up.

Read: The rest of the world is lapping the U.S. in the EV race

U.S. used EV sales have been low but steadily increasing, and the market is poised to surge. And for good reason: An analysis by Recurrent found that the average used EV in the U.S. is a year newer and has 30,000 fewer miles driven than a used gasoline car at the same price.

In addition to EVs, sales of rooftop solar panels and heat pumps in many countries are on the rise as homeowners look for ways to reduce their exposure to volatile fossil fuel prices.

What does it all mean for the climate?

The conflict itself created about 5 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution in its first two weeks, according to an analysis by the Climate & Community Institute, mostly from the destruction and burning of buildings and fuel facilities. That’s just over 0.01% of global emissions from fossil fuels in 2025. But militaries are a significant contributor to global warming. A 2022 report by the Conflict and Environment Observatory estimated that militaries around the world account for around 2.7 billion tons per year, or 5.5% of global carbon dioxide pollution.

Meanwhile, recent global fossil fuel market disruptions have motivated countries around the world to shore up domestic energy production. That can be a boon for solar and wind farms, nuclear and geothermal power, and also coal, at least in the short-term.

“You are already seeing things like countries relaxing emissions rules to allow for more coal generation (gas-to-coal switching), for example, in Japan, which is heavily reliant on liquefied natural gas, after just a few weeks of the current situation,” Orvis said. “In the near term, expect to see an increase in coal consumption this year, driven by higher gas prices and limited availability of gas.”

But coal remains a relatively expensive option, “so while this provides some insurance against price swings for gas, it does not unlock the same level of financial security that transitioning to clean [energy] offers,” Orvis added.

The conflict will have an inflationary effect, to which central banks often respond by raising interest rates, which will make it more expensive to build new solar and wind farms. But fossil-fueled competition is expected to remain even more expensive and unappealing.

“Higher interest rates will raise capital costs, and diversification takes time, but energy security concerns will ultimately strengthen the pull toward renewables and nuclear,” Alvik wrote.

Fact brief - Do wind turbines utilize land for electricity generation more efficiently than fossil fuels?

Tue, 7 Apr 2026 10:08:02 EST

Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline.

Do wind turbines utilize land for electricity generation more efficiently than fossil fuels?

Wind turbines require less land use for the same amount of energy generated by oil or natural gas, and land between turbines is available for agriculture and wildlife habitats.

Some sources report larger footprints by ignoring space between turbines, or expanding the area of a wind farm based on whether turbines are visible in the distance. In reality, according to Princeton University, land occupied by wind in a U.S. net-zero emissions plan would have a footprint between 10-30% of the 8 million acres currently occupied by natural gas and oil operations.

Cultivated and wild plant life can safely grow, and terrestrial animals safely roam, up to a turbine’s base. Turbines on farmland take up only 5% of the project area, with the remaining land available for other purposes.

Compared to the widespread spills, soil and water contamination, and warming impacts of fossil fuels, wind produces significantly less environmental disruption.

Go to full rebuttal on Skeptical Science or to the fact brief on Gigafact

This fact brief is responsive to quotes such as this one.

Sources

Princeton University Net-Zero America

Bloomberg The U.S. Will Need a Lot of Land for a Zero-Carbon Economy

The Electricity Journal Renewable Energy's ‘Footprint’ Myth

ScienceDaily Clearing the air: Wind farms more land efficient than previously thought

World Resources Institute How Wind Turbines Are Providing a Safety Net for Rural Farmers

U.S. Department of Energy WindVision: A New Era for Wind Power in the United States

EESI Fact Sheet | Climate, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels (2021)

Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

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2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #14

Sun, 5 Apr 2026 10:28:11 EST

A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 29, 2026 thru Sat, April 4, 2026.

Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Change Impacts (8 articles)

`Very alarming` winter sees Arctic sea ice hit record-low for second year running The biggest distinctly continues to get smaller in the Arctic, as maximum ice extent for this past winter follows a downward trend caused by a warming planet. Carbon Brief, Carbon Brief Staff, Mar 27, 2026.
Fire season fears grow amid western heat wave CNN, Andrew Freedman, Mar 27, 2026.
As a mind-boggling heat wave begins to wrap up, we look at some initial numbers "Over 1,500 new monthly records for March and over 500 tied monthly records with virtually no modern equivalent event in any month." The Eyewall, Matt Lanza, Mar 30, 2026.
Oceans are absorbing the Earth’s excess energy. That’s bad news for food systems. "As the planet traps more energy than it releases, the pathways for global food production are being upended." Grist, Frida Garza, Mar 31, 2026.
How wildfires and storms drove insurance losses in 2025 – in three charts "Extreme weather events around the world, such as wildfires and storms, were the major driver behind $107bn in insured losses in 2025, according to industry data." Carbon Brief, Multiple Authors, Mar 31, 2026.
‘On a whole other level’: rapid snow melt-off in American west stuns scientists "Experts say brutal March heat has left critical snowpack at record-low levels – and key basins in uncharted territory" The Guardian, Gabrielle Canon, Apr 1, 2026.
The 2026 Southwest U.S. heat wave was one of the six most astonishing weather events of the century "From the Pacific Northwest to Antarctica, it’s extraordinary warmth that’s punching through climate norms with the most force." Yale Climate Connections, Jeff Masters & Bob Henson, Apr 3, 2026.
From early birds to emerging butterflies: UK shows signs of earliest spring on record Citizen science data reveals early flowering, nesting and insect activity as global heating accelerate seasonal change World news The Guardian, Patrick Barkham, Apr 04, 2026.

Climate Policy and Politics (5 articles)

Vermont Hits Back at Trump’s Effort to Block ‘Climate Superfund’ Law "The law would make fuel companies help pay for damages caused by climate change. The administration argues it’s unconstitutional." The New York Times, Mar 30, 2026, Karen Zraick , Mar 30, 2026.
The Trump Administration’s New Biofuels Targets Threaten Carbon-Rich Rainforests "The U.S. doesn’t have enough bio-based diesel to meet the administration’s new mandate, so blenders will have to import yet more foreign crop-based oils." Inside Climate News, Georgina Gustin, Mar 31, 2026.
Trump’s Iran war and drilling push show ‘dangerous volatility’ of fossil fuel era "Critics say president is locking into 20th-century energy systems even as his ‘bet’ on oil and gas ‘isn’t going so well’ " The Guardian, Oliver Milman, Mar 31, 2026.
What the Iran conflict means for gas prices, clean energy, and the climate "U.S. gas prices could hit $7 a gallon if the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted through June. Here’s how that could affect EVs, wind, and solar." Yale Climate Connections, Dana Nuccitelli, Apr 1, 2026.
‘Like relying on a drug dealer:’ The world’s dependence on oil and gas has exposed a dangerous vulnerability CNN, Laura Paddison & Ella Nilsen, Apr 2, 2026.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (4 articles)

Analysis: India`s CO2 emissions in 2025 grew at slowest rate in two decades Mixed signals for the future as the economic inevitability of energy modernization becomes visible in India's greenhouse emisssions. Carbon Brief, Carbon Brief Staff, Mar 26, 2026.
Energy Shock From Iran War Pushes More Consumers Towards EVs, Solar, and Heat Pumps IEA on decarbonization: 'The main driver will not be climate change, the main driver will be energy security.' International Business Times, Thea Felicity, Mar 27, 2026.
Chopping down areas of tropical rainforest is causing rising temperatures linked to thousands of deaths The Conversation UK, Dominick Spracklen, Mar 30, 2026.
What`s cheaper: Fueling your car with gas or electricity? Here’s the answer for every U.S. state. Yale Climate Connections, Karin Kirk, Apr 02, 2026.

Climate Science and Research (4 articles)

Skeptical Science New Research for Week #13 2026 Skeptical Science's latest weekly trawl of new academic climate research, plus government and NGO reports on how climate change is colliding with human affairs. Skeptical Science, Doug Bostrom & Marc Kodack, Mar 26, 2026.
Observed Arctic Physical Climate Changes Youtube, Jason Box, Mar 26, 2026.
The 4-Billion-Year Perspective to Understanding Earth’s Current Climate Crisis “Today, as in the beginning, life is still made out of carbon dioxide, and the world’s problems are made out of carbon dioxide as well.” Inside Climate News, Jenni Doering, Mar 28, 2026.
Climate risk explained A achapter from my upcoming textbook The Climate Brink, Andrew Dessler, Mar 31, 2026.

Miscellaneous (4 articles)

UK CO2 plant to reopen amid fears Iran war could lead to shortage 'Operation Epic Fury'' yields rich and twisted irony as CO2 goes into short supply— even as we've already liberated far too much into the atmosphere. The Guardian, Lauren Almeida, Mar 26, 2026.
2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #13 A listing of 27 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 22, 2026 thru Sat, March 28, 2026. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, John Hartz & Doug Bostrom, Mar 29, 2026.
Island nations fight to save cultural heritage from climate change The climate crisis is putting human heritage in the firing line. In response, small island states are learning how to adapt Climate Home News, Adam Wentworth, Mar 30, 2026.
Meet the Combustible Cartoon Character Who Wants to Make Kids Feel Sorry for Fossil Fuels A new children’s book by a Chevron-backed clean energy venture paints a sympathetic portrait of coal, oil, and gas. Desmog, TJ Jordan, Apr 1, 2026.

Climate Education and Communication (1 article)

Why we fail to notice climate change Simple visuals can reveal climate change we’re wired to overlook ScienceNews, Sujata Gupta, Mar 13, 2026.

Health Aspects of Climate Change (1 article)

5 things to know about the links between climate change, migration and health "Climate change, migration and health are deeply linked, affecting mobility and well-being, especially for vulnerable groups." United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Staff, Mar 30, 2026.

International Climate Conferences and Agreements (1 article)

Q&A: Why the standoff between nations over the next IPCC reports matters "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) latest assessment cycle has been beset by disagreements between nations over the timeline for publishing its next landmark report." Carbon Brief, Cecilia Keating, Apr 2, 2026.

Skeptical Science New Research for Week #14 2026

Thu, 2 Apr 2026 11:35:16 EST

Open access notables

Quantifying climate loss and damage consistent with a social cost of carbon, Burke et al., Nature

Climate change is causing measurable harm globally1,2. Political and legal efforts seek to link these damages with specific emissions, including in discussions of loss and damage (L&D)3,4; however, no quantitative definition of L&D exists5,6, nor is there a framework to link past and future emissions from specific sources to monetized, location-specific damages. Here we develop such a framework, which is integrated with recent efforts to estimate the social cost of carbon7. Using empirical estimates of the non-linear relationship between temperature and aggregate economic output, we show that future damages from past emissions—one component of L&D—are at least an order of magnitude larger than historical damages from the same emissions. For instance, one tonne of CO2 emitted in 1990 caused US$180 in discounted global damages by 2020 ($40–530) and will cause an additional $1,840 through 2100 ($500–5,700). Thus, settling debts for past damages will not settle debts for past emissions. In other illustrative estimates, a single long-haul flight per year over the past decade leads to about $25k ($6,000–77,000) in future damages by 2100, and US emissions since 1990 caused $500 billion ($180–1,300 billion) of damage in India and $330 billion ($110–820 billion) in Brazil. Carbon removal offers an alternative to transfer payments for settling L&D, but is increasingly ineffective in limiting damages as the delay between emission and recapture increases.

Collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation would lead to substantial oceanic carbon release and additional global warming, Nian et al., Communications Earth & Environment

The potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation could profoundly impact regional and global climates, yet its effects on the carbon cycle and subsequently global temperature remain seriously underexplored. Here we quantify carbon cycle responses across different background global warming levels using a fast Earth system model. We find that Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation collapse increases atmospheric carbon dioxide by 47–83 ppm carbon dioxide, leading to around 0.2 °C of additional global warming at higher carbon dioxide background levels after offsetting ocean-dynamics-driven cooling. Despite the modest global warming effect, regional temperature anomalies are pronounced: Arctic temperatures cool by ~ 7 °C (60 °N–90 °N), while Antarctic temperatures warm by ~ 6 °C (60 °S–90 °S). This latter response originates from deep convection triggered in the Southern Ocean, which ventilates deep carbon-rich waters. Such long-term equilibrium responses reveal key physical and carbon-cycle mechanisms and highlight substantial regional climate risks associated with an Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation collapse.

Deadly heat stress conditions are already occurring, Perkins-Kirkpatrick et al., Nature Communications

Heat stress limits for human survivability have been previously defined by a 6-hour exposure to a wet-bulb temperature of 35oC. However, the recently developed physiology-based HEAT-Lim model demonstrates that environmental heat stress thresholds may be cooler and drier than previously thought. We employ HEAT-Lim to determine whether non-survivable thresholds were surpassed during six historical events where conditions were climatologically extreme and/or high heat-related mortality was reported. Our results show that non-survivable conditions are occurring during present-day heat events, all of which are below 35oC wet-bulb temperature. Of concern is regular exceedances of deadly thresholds for older people directly exposed across all events. Moreover, extremely hot yet dry conditions are found to be just as deadly as hot and humid conditions. For future climatological assessments, we emphasise the importance of employing increasingly accurate physiology-derived methods to assess the risk of potentially deadly heat stress.

The “Nuclear Energy Paradox”- Investigating nuclear imaginaries in energy projections, Böse et al., Energy Research & Social Science

Current energy projections often envision an expansion of nuclear capacities to decarbonize future energy systems. However, this contrasts with the historic and current status of the nuclear industry, marked by techno-economic challenges for both light-water and non-light-water reactor technologies. Regardless, projections of strong nuclear growth have persisted since the 1970s. This paper investigates the “nuclear energy paradox” which shows the recurring divergence between historical projections and actual developments. A data compilation of long-term energy projections from international organizations such as the IAEA and the IEA as well as energy system models like GCAM and MESSAGE, as used in the IPCC, reveal a recurring pattern of high-growth projections for nuclear power. Such projections often rest on techno-economic assumptions such as substantial cost reductions. We propose the concept of nuclear imaginaries to show that these assumptions are embedded into techno-economic visions of nuclear power development, which shape model assumptions and narratives. The historic perspective helps to show that nuclear imaginaries may never materialize and remain in a hypothetical state for decades. Our findings support decision-makers in making more informed decisions and urge for caution when interpreting energy scenarios and projections, especially for nuclear power.

Climate denial and the classroom: a review, Kutney, Geoscience Communication

Climate change awareness is floundering across the globe despite climate change education being embedded in international treaties to address the climate crisis – the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the UNFCCC) and the subsequent Paris Agreement. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) acknowledges forces hostile to climate awareness and education – namely, climate denial sponsored by the energy-industrial complex. Climate change is studied by the physical sciences, but climate denial is the purview of the social sciences; the latter has revealed the why and how of climate denial. Climate-denial organizations (which directly deny aspects of the scientific consensus on climate change) and the related petro-pedagogy groups (which teach that oil is a benefactor to humanity, but say little about the connection of fossil fuels to the climate crisis) have arisen to attempt to interfere with the teaching of the science of climate change in school classrooms. These organizations were found in the United States, Canada, and some European nations (this review is mainly restricted to English-language sources). This review aims to (1) provide an overview of climate denial, promoted and funded by the energy-industrial complex; (2) identify and examine organizations involved in climate denial in schools; (3) summarize the strategies of climate-denial organizations in school classrooms; and (4) put forward recommendations for further research and action.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Trump Administration Actions to Curtail Offshore Wind Energy Development Meet Judicial Resistance, Adam Vann, Congressional Research Service

In 2025 the Trump Administration took a number of actions that could affect the continued development and use of renewable energy resources, especially offshore wind energy projects. These actions, which include orders halting the development or operation of individual projects, have resulted in numerous lawsuits. Several courts have ruled that the suspension orders and other executive actions announcing or implementing the Administration's offshore wind policies are unlawful, and the Department of the Interior (DOI) has indicated its intent to appeal those rulings. This Legal Sidebar provides an overview of the legal framework governing offshore wind energy development, discusses the Trump Administration's recent actions and related litigation, and identifies considerations for Congress.

Building A Heat Resilience Roadmap for the Gulf Region, Leigh Mante, Observer Research Foundation

The escalating heat challenge facing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will only worsen in the coming years. As they rapidly urbanize and diversify their economies towards non-oil activities, the urban heat island effect intensifies too, increasing demand for cooling. All these will continue to strain electricity grids and increase carbon emissions, propelling the region into a dangerous cycle of rising temperatures. Addressing the mounting risks of extreme heat is therefore an imperative for the Gulf’s long-term economic prosperity. The author explores the impacts of extreme heat across the region’s health, labor, supply chains, and infrastructure; analyses the GCC’s anticipatory heat policies and responsive sustainable cooling and climate-resilient adaptation policies; identifies key policy gaps; and offers feasible pathways to build a strategic heat resilience roadmap.

87 articles in 48 journals by 505 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Arctic sea ice loss shifting from edge to interior increases cold surges in mid-latitude Asia, Wang et al., Atmospheric Research Open Access 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.108944

Circulation of Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay waters on the Labrador shelf and into the subpolar North Atlantic, Duyck et al., Ocean Science Open Access pdf 10.5194/os-21-241-2025

Collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation would lead to substantial oceanic carbon release and additional global warming, Nian et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03427-w

Global stalled tropical cyclones in a changing climate, Deng et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-71320-3

Global sunflower oil trade under COVID-19 and the Russia–Ukraine conflict: a complex network analysis of food system resilience and sustainable finance dynamics, Boz et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1757181

Identification of the Global Cloud-Clear Sky Transition Zone and Its Shortwave Radiation Effects, Yu et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd045352

Increased ocean heat transport to the central Arctic despite a well working Barents Sea Cooling Machine, Eisner et al., Ocean Science Open Access pdf 10.5194/os-22-1073-2026

Long-Term Trends of Northern Hemisphere Marine Cold Air Outbreaks during Boreal Winter: Influence of Sea Ice Retreat and Atmospheric Circulation, Ran et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0658.1

Three-stage response of the equatorial Pacific to CO? forcing controlled by shifting trade winds, Moreno-Chamarro et al., npj Climate and Atmospheric Science Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41612-026-01391-y

Observations of climate change, effects

Deadly heat stress conditions are already occurring, Perkins-Kirkpatrick et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-70485-1

Diverse Indicators of Climate Change for New Jersey and Vicinity, Cornish et al., Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-24-0188.1

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

Co-production of low technical readiness level climate science through prototyping with users. Prospects in a European case study, Delpiazzo et al., Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104358

RusWeather-GF: A gap-filled daily weather dataset for Russia (1980–2023) with integrated topographic data, Margarita & Dmitriy, Atmospheric Research Open Access 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.108935

Using analogue methods to identify trends in circulation patterns of midlatitude heatwaves, Thompson et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100898

Using appropriate methods to assess population exposure to extreme weather events: Why and how?, ZHENG et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.03.007

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Constrained Projection of the Pacific Walker Circulation Strength beyond 2100 under Continued Global Warming, Sun et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0371.1

Expansion of Antarctic surface melt through the 21st century, Zheng et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-71114-7

Exploring climate stabilisation at different global warming levels in ACCESS-ESM-1.5, King et al., Earth System Dynamics Open Access 10.5194/esd-15-1353-2024

The impact of land cover change-climate interactions on ecosystem productivity in the Arctic-Boreal region, Li et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111137

Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

Intermodel Spread in the Winter-Mean Strength of the Arctic Polar Vortex in CMIP6 Models, de la Cámara et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0301.1

Investigating expectations and needs regarding the use of large language models at Bavarian university clinics, Vladika et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-45245-2

Machine learning for numerical weather and climate modelling: a review, de Burgh-Day & Leeuwenburg, Geoscientific Model Development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-16-6433-2023

Optimizing GCM ensemble selection and weighted MME development for improved drought projection under global climate models simulations, Shakeel et al., Natural Hazards 10.1007/s11069-026-08082-0

Persistent climate model biases in the Atlantic Ocean's freshwater transport, van Westen & Dijkstra, Ocean Science Open Access 10.5194/os-20-549-2024

Physics-constrained generative machine learning-based high-resolution downscaling of Greenland's surface mass balance and surface temperature, Bochow et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-1841-2026

Structural Similarity Assessment of Precipitation and Temperature in NEX-GDDP-CMIP6 Simulations over the Contiguous United States, Dahal et al., Journal of Hydrometeorology 10.1175/jhm-d-25-0163.1

Cryosphere & climate change

Expansion of Antarctic surface melt through the 21st century, Zheng et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-71114-7

Local forcing mechanisms challenge parameterizations of ocean thermal forcing for Greenland tidewater glaciers, Hager et al., The Cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-18-911-2024

Sea level & climate change

Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

Enhanced Tropical Pacific Foraminiferal Carbonate Pump During the Last Deglaciation Linked to Ocean Warming, Qin et al., Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology 10.1029/2025pa005352

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

Beavers on Ice: Factors Influencing Emergence Phenology in Boreal Canada, Hood & Patriquin, Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70833

Biochemical remodelling of phytoplankton cell composition under climate change, Sharoni et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access 10.1038/s41558-026-02598-w

Characterisation of past marine heatwaves around South Pacific Island countries: what really matters?, Lal et al., Ocean Science Open Access 10.5194/os-22-1023-2026

Contemporary biodiversity pattern is affected by climate change at multiple temporal scales in steppes on the Mongolian Plateau, Li et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-20-2869-2023

Improved Characterization of Coral Bleaching Patterns From a Percentile-Based Threshold Model, Li Shing Hiung et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119516

Microbial dormancy under freeze–thaw cycling regulates alpine soil responses to warming, Qi et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03451-w

Transgenerational Heat Exposure Triggers Unexpected Compensatory Sex Ratio Responses in a Temperature-Sensitive Fish Under Climate Warming, Ecker?Eckhofen et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70807

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

A global methane observation system to track climate feedbacks for verifiable climate impact, Watts et al., Science 10.1126/science.aef0459

A multi-year global methane data set obtained by merging observations from TROPOMI and IASI, Shahzadi et al., Earth System Science Data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-2153-2026

Bridging the Gap From Peat to Ponds: Terrestrial and Aquatic Greenhouse Gas Emissions in an Evolving Permafrost-Associated Subarctic Peatland, Burnett et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access 10.1029/2025jg009509

Climate-Driven Tree Mortality Alters the Timing and Magnitude of Forest Carbon Uptake in the Conterminous United States, Yang & Anderegg, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl120746

Extreme 2016 El Niño heatwave weakened carbon export and respiration in the Equatorial Pacific, Arteaga et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03441-y

Graminoids Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Thawed Permafrost at the End of the Growing Season, Mollenkopf et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70783

Increased Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks Associate With Stronger Calcium–Microbial and Multi-Trophic Interactions Under Warming, Xiao et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70826

Legacy effects of extreme precipitation sustain carbon sink of a subtropical forest, Deng et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111142

Nine years of warming and nitrogen addition in the Tibetan grassland promoted loss of soil organic carbon but did not alter the bulk change of chemical structure, Sun et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-21-575-2024

CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Capacity assessment of CO2 sequestration in deep saline aquifers: insights from mindong no. 1 mine, Liang et al., Frontiers in Earth Science Open Access 10.3389/feart.2026.1770358

Carbon cycle feedbacks in an idealized simulation and a scenario simulation of negative emissions in CMIP6 Earth system models, Asaadi et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-21-411-2024

CO2 subsurface mineral storage by its co-injection with recirculating water, Oelkers et al., Nature Open Access 10.1038/s41586-026-10130-5

From rejection to reliance on carbon capture and storage in Denmark: a case of mitigation deterrence?, Hougaard & Christiansen, Environmental Politics Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2026.2638045

Research on CCUS Source–Sink Matching and Its Cluster Deployment for Coal-Fired Power Plants in North China, Fang et al., Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology 10.1002/ghg.70031

Decarbonization

Building façade photovoltaics enhance global climate resilience, Jiang et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02606-z

Future rooftop photovoltaics will weaken carbon mitigation but offer promising water and land benefits, Yuan et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-70923-0

Redirecting current solves a shadowy problem faced by perovskite solar cells, , Nature Open Access 10.1038/d41586-026-00921-1

The “Nuclear Energy Paradox”- Investigating nuclear imaginaries in energy projections, Böse et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104676

Geoengineering climate

Solar Geoengineering Effects on Malaria Transmission Risk in South Asia Under G6sulfur Scenario, Hussain et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.70365

Climate change communications & cognition

Climate denial and the classroom: a review, Kutney, Geoscience Communication Open Access pdf 10.5194/gc-8-81-2025

Curvilinear relationship between climate advocates’ word-deed consistency and public willingness to follow, Chen & Tam, Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103022

Employing Comics Storytelling to Promote Climate Change Mitigation: An Experimental Study Grounded on the Situational Theory of Public, Guo et al., Risk Analysis 10.1111/risa.70234

Intersecting identities: sociodemographic heterogeneity in right-wing climate attitudes in the UK, Miao, Environmental Sociology Open Access 10.1080/23251042.2026.2648028

Spatial and Temporal Dimensions of Climate Emotions: Stories from Nevada, Kelley et al., Weather, Climate, and Society 10.1175/wcas-d-24-0121.1

Understanding the Role of Climate Skepticism in Climate Change Adaptation: A Case Study of Western U.S. Ranchers, Hunt et al., Weather, Climate, and Society 10.1175/wcas-d-25-0132.1

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Effect of Heat Stress on Wheat Quality and Its Heterogeneity: A Global Meta-Analysis, Liu et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70822

Institutional pathways to climate-resilient agriculture: comparative adaptation governance in Kenya and Zimbabwe, Baraka Munyaka et al., Climate and Development Open Access 10.1080/17565529.2026.2615652

Interpreting carbon-water trade-offs in Daisy crop model using Pareto-based calibration, Delhez et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-2079-2026

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of the Indian Food System: A Cradle-to-Consumption Assessment, Priyadarsani et al., Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology 10.1002/ghg.70020

Multi-Indicator Assessment to Assess the Increasing Impacts of Compound Dry and Hot Events on Global Wheat Yield, Hu et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007084

Towards climate-smart crops: advances in plant stress biology research, Senthil-Kumar, Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology Open Access pdf 10.1007/s13562-026-01060-4

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

2021–23: Extreme Years of Global Drought in the Context of Long- and Short-Term Hydroclimate Trends, Samara et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0342.1

Characteristics of Extreme Daily Precipitation Events in the Hydropower Basin of Chongqing (1981–2023) during the Autumn Rainy Season, Liu et al., Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-25-0112.1

Emerging energy signals advance early warnings of extreme precipitation, Zhang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-71214-4

Freshwater Availability in the Mississippi River Basin and Adjacent Texas Aquifers Under Human and Climate Pressures, Rateb et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef006653

On the Future of Extreme Rainfall in New Zealand, Sigid et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007427

Climate change economics

Quantifying climate loss and damage consistent with a social cost of carbon, Burke et al., Nature Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41586-026-10272-6

Climate change mitigation public policy research

Climate Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Green Innovation Bubbles: Increasing or Suppressing?, Liu et al., Weather, Climate, and Society 10.1175/wcas-d-25-0174.1

Does sludge slow down the solar schools scheme? An assessment of administrative burdens preventing climate action in Ireland, Lades et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115268

Regional climate policy networks and media visibility: Multilevel governance and discursive dynamics in Atlantic Canada, Stoddart et al., Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104368

Why Climate Policy is (not) Needed: An Explorative Framing Analysis of Party Manifestos Across the EU, Walgrave & Van Aelst, Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2026.2638865

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

Climate Adaptation Self-Efficacy is Positively Associated with Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from 26 countries, Lou & Li, Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103018

Extreme climate outcomes could still occur with just 2 °C of global warming, Warren, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00640-7

Household energy use response to extreme heat with a biophysical model of temperature regulation: An Arizona case study, Hughes et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000110

Integrating climate adaptation and peacebuilding: capacity development in climate and conflict-affected communities, Taborda et al., Global Environmental Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2026.103151

Moderate global warming does not rule out extreme global climate outcomes, Bevacqua et al., Nature Open Access 10.1038/s41586-026-10237-9

Multi-level analysis of climate change mainstreaming in Tanzania, Kitogo et al., Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2026.2648065

Resilience to climate shocks in Guatemala: Disability-related inequalities, Pinilla-Roncancio et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000712

Climate change impacts on human health

Deadly heat stress conditions are already occurring, Perkins-Kirkpatrick et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-70485-1

Preparing for tomorrow: Iranian medical students’ attitudes toward climate change and its integration into the medical curriculum, Kohan et al., BMC Medical Education Open Access 10.1186/s12909-026-09093-y

Other

On the climate justice front: Co-producing prefigurative politics in ‘Ecodefence! and others vs. Russia’ climate case in the European Court of Human Rights, Sokolova, Environmental Politics 10.1080/09644016.2026.2648375

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Challenges and Opportunities for National-Scale Projections of Future Coastal Landscape Change, Lentz et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2024ef005833

Implications of overshoot for climate mitigation strategies, Tavoni et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02563-7

Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change

Who Goes Without: Water Insecurity Experiences the Across Americas, Young et al., Northwestern University

The authors of a study of 17 countries in the Americas, including the U.S., found that no country or income group is immune to water insecurity, and that the prevalence of water insecurity varies widely within and across the Americas. The authors used survey data collected from 27,000 individuals about their experiences with water.

Insurify Projects Home Insurance Rates Will Rise for the 5th Consecutive Year, After a 12% Increase in 2025, Matt Brannon, Insurify

The average annual cost of home insurance rose 12% in 2025 to $2,948. The author projects the average will climb to $3,057 by the end of 2026, a further 4% increase. Since 2021, the average cost of home insurance has risen 46%, about three times as much as inflation (16%). Florida is still the most expensive state for home insurance. The typical annual premium ($8,292) is more than double the national average, following an 18% spike in 2025. The author projects California premiums will increase 16% by the end of the year, the largest anticipated hike for any state. To recover wildfire losses, insurers may ask for higher rate increases, but California’s strict regulatory system could constrain those increases. Minnesota home insurance rates surged by 34% in 2025, an increase of nearly $900, bringing the state’s average annual policy to $3,530. The affordability gap in premiums between high- and low-cost states widened in 2025. On average, premiums rose nearly three times faster in the 25 most expensive states for home insurance than in the 25 cheapest states (14% vs. 5%)

Plano CLimate 2024-2035 (Brazil's Climate Plan), Ministério do Meio Ambiente e Mudança do Clima Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação Casa Civil da Presidência da República (Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic)

O Plano Clima é um plano com a cara do Brasil, pois buscou alinhar o rigor técnico, baseado na melhor ciência disponível e nas evidências dos mais diversos setores, com a escuta ativa e qualificada da população brasileira, que demonstrou compromisso coletivo para construir um futuro mais seguro, resiliente e sustentável. Nas páginas deste Plano, apresentamos um caminho para o Brasil enfrentar a mudança climática, visando à promoção do desenvolvimento sustentável, da geração de empregos e da inclusão social. Ele se organiza em três eixos estratégicos complementares (The Climate Plan is a plan with the face of Brazil, as it sought to align the technical rigour, based on the best available science and evidence from the more diverse sectors, with active and qualified listening to the population that has demonstrated a collective commitment to building a a safer, more resilient and sustainable future. On the pages of this Plan, we present a way for Brazil to face climate change, aiming at the promotion of sustainable development, the generation of jobs and social inclusion. It is organized into three strategic axes complementary.)

The Integrity Gap: Restoring Trust in the Climate and Energy Debate (Australia), Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy, Commonwealth of Australia

The committee recommends the Australian Government support and adopt the United Nations Global Principles on Information Integrity and work to coordinate the application of these principles across government; the Australian Government officially endorse the Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change launched at COP30 in Belem, Brazil; the Australian Government increase funding for social sciences research relating to threats to climate and energy information integrity including potential solutions; the Australian Government improve the quality of data reported to the Australian Communications and Media Authority from the digital platforms to include for example, thematic breakdown of their reporting inclusive of climate and energy data, denominator data, removal actions and paid advertising related to climate and energy; and that the Australian Government task the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation to provide advice on the costs and benefits of renewable energy creation, storage and transmission alongside clean manufacturing to create data needed to address local social licence concerns.,

2025-26 Ecosystem Status Report, Hunsicker et al., Northwest and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers

Chapter 2, Climate and Ocean Drivers. Key Message: The California Current during 2025 experienced a strong marine heatwave (MHW) which contributed to record breaking surface temperatures offshore during the summer, compression of cold water habitat towards the coast, and coastal warming during the late summer through mid winter. However, because upwelling was persistent and strong during the summer, nearshore waters remained cool, promoting favorable productive conditions coastally during this key period. Additionally, there were several unusual pulses of strong upwelling nearly coastwide in January and February, which may have contributed to harmful algal blooms. Bottom oxygen levels were mostly favorable. Snowpack was above normal at the start of the year in most western regions, however, warmer-than-normal spring storms and then continued warm weather led to early melt and reduced snowpack. Reduced snowpack and precipitation then contributed to some areas of drought during the summer. Streams were warmer than normal and flows were low during late summer, similar to past years.

From vulnerability to resilience: Guidelines for assessing climate change impacts in agricultural heritage systems, Santivañez et al., Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

The authors present an eight-step guide to assess vulnerability and resilience to climate change impacts in Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and in agricultural systems with similar characteristics. With a particular focus on Europe and Central Asia, the guide supports practitioners in designing and implementing context-specific climate vulnerability assessments that strengthen adaptive capacity and promote dynamic conservation. The framework has been developed through the analysis and comparison of four pilot cases: La Axarquía and L’Horta de València in Spain, Ifugao in the Philippines, and Cantal in France. Drawing on lessons learned, methodological advances and cross-case insights, the publication consolidates diverse experiences into a harmonized and practical approach grounded in scientific rigor. The guide provides step-by-step methodological guidance that can be adapted to different ecological, socio-economic and cultural contexts. It aims to assist site managers, national institutions and technical partners in identifying climate risks, evaluating system sensitivity and adaptive capacity, and translating findings into concrete planning and management actions. By bridging analytical assessment and policy-oriented application, the publication contributes to strengthening the resilience of traditional agricultural systems facing increasing climate variability. It also promotes informed decision-making and encourages cooperation among stakeholders working toward the long-term sustainability of agricultural heritage systems in a changing climate.

Africa’s just transition opportunity: decolonising economic transformation for climate resilience, Fadhel Kaboub and Mohamed Adow, Earth4All

The authors provide an analytical framework for understanding the root causes of Africa’s economic challenges and articulate an alternative pathway of strategic opportunities for the continent to unleash its full potential as a renewable energy economic powerhouse.

Escaping the Multipolar Trap in Global Climate Negotiations: A Deliberative Negotiation Technology and Simpol-Based Simulation, Thiessen et al., Toda Peace Institute

The authors examine how deliberative technologies can restructure climate negotiation architecture to enable multi-issue, mutually beneficial agreements that can be simultaneously implemented without undermining relative competitiveness. Using a Smartsettle Infinity simulation of an alternative global climate negotiation architecture, the authors demonstrate how private preference modelling, structured trade-offs, and optimization algorithms can generate Pareto-superior policy packages at the global scale. The contribution lies in illustrating a deliberative decision-support architecture capable of identifying coordinated, politically viable outcome packages under realistic strategic constraints. The findings point toward new pathways for coupling deliberative negotiation technology with citizen-driven political mobilization to strengthen global climate governance.

Building A Heat Resilience Roadmap for the Gulf Region, Leigh Mante, Observer Research Foundation

The escalating heat challenge facing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will only worsen in the coming years. As they rapidly urbanize and diversify their economies towards non-oil activities, the urban heat island effect intensifies too, increasing demand for cooling. All these will continue to strain electricity grids and increase carbon emissions, propelling the region into a dangerous cycle of rising temperatures. Addressing the mounting risks of extreme heat is therefore an imperative for the Gulf’s long-term economic prosperity. The author explores the impacts of extreme heat across the region’s health, labor, supply chains, and infrastructure; analyses the GCC’s anticipatory heat policies and responsive sustainable cooling and climate-resilient adaptation policies; identifies key policy gaps; and offers feasible pathways to build a strategic heat resilience roadmap.

Trump Administration Actions to Curtail Offshore Wind Energy Development Meet Judicial Resistance, Adam Vann, Congressional Research Service

In 2025 the Trump Administration took a number of actions that could affect the continued development and use of renewable energy resources, especially offshore wind energy projects. These actions, which include orders halting the development or operation of individual projects, have resulted in numerous lawsuits. Several courts have ruled that the suspension orders and other executive actions announcing or implementing the Administration's offshore wind policies are unlawful, and the Department of the Interior (DOI) has indicated its intent to appeal those rulings. This Legal Sidebar provides an overview of the legal framework governing offshore wind energy development, discusses the Trump Administration's recent actions and related litigation, and identifies considerations for Congress.

Flood Risk Mitigation: Reducing Fiscal Exposure and Improving Affordability, Alicia Puente Cackley, United States Government Accountability Office

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers three primary programs that mitigate flood risk for properties insured by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). A small number of these properties—known as repetitive loss properties, which have flooded and received claim payments multiple times—contribute to the program’s fiscal challenges. According to FEMA, unmitigated repetitive loss properties make up about 2.5 percent of NFIP policies, but 48 percent of NFIP claims by dollar value have been paid to properties with two or more losses. NFIP represents a fiscal exposure to the federal government because FEMA is statutorily required to charge premium rates that do not fully reflect flood risk. Although mitigation reduces flood losses, it also requires substantial investment. Without addressing mitigation challenges, the number of repetitive loss properties will continue to grow, increasing costs to NFIP policyholders and federal taxpayers. One way to address the program’s fiscal exposure is to target mitigation efforts to those properties contributing most to the premium shortfall. These may disproportionately include repetitive loss properties, which face greater flood risk and higher full-risk premiums. By reducing risk, mitigation could also address affordability in the long term.

Evaluation of Risks to Federal Facility Superfund Site Remedies from Wildfires, Office of Inspector General, US. Environmental Protection Agency

Using mapping software, U.S. Forest Service datasets, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index, the authors identified which federal facility Superfund sites may be at risk from wildfires and examined whether their five-year review reports, if available, addressed potential impacts. Not all the necessary mapping data were available for the U.S. territories. Thus, the authors were able to map and analyze only the 155 federal facility Superfund sites in the contiguous United States, Hawaii, and Alaska. Of the 155 federal facility Superfund sites that were analyzed, 31 of them, or 20 percent, have potential wildfire risks. 71 percent of the at-risk sites are in the western United States in EPA Regions 8, 9, and 10.

Evaluation of Risks to Federal Facility Superfund Site Remedies from Inland Flooding, Office of Inspector General, US. Environmental Protection Agency

Using mapping software and the EPA’s “Heavy Precipitation” and “Height Above Nearest Drainage” datasets, the authors identified which federal facility Superfund sites may be at risk from flooding and examined whether their five-year review reports, if available, addressed the potential impacts. These mapping data were not available for Hawaii, Alaska, and the U.S. territories. Thus, the authors were able to map and analyze only the 148 federal facility Superfund sites in the contiguous United States. Of the 148 federal facility Superfund sites that were analyzed, 47 of them, or 32 percent, have potential inland flooding risks. These threatened sites are spread across the United States.

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The ski industry is oddly quiet on climate change

Wed, 1 Apr 2026 14:58:26 EST

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk

s of this writing, every river basin across the entire Western U.S. has below-average snow. Colorado, Utah, Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada – the workplaces of thousands of ski area employees like me – are sitting at 15 to 65% of average snowpack for this time of year. Some ski areas closed in the middle of the season, and others decided to close early this year. Many cut employee hours.

“This year was a catastrophic year,” said Auden Schendler, who shepherded the Aspen Ski Company’s sustainability program for 26 years.

Winter enthusiasts know that bad years happen. But “in a climate-changed world, you’re more likely to see multiple years of aberration stacked together,” Schendler said.

Many mountain communities rely on winter sports as the centerpiece of their economies and way of life. As the climate warms and snow becomes increasingly unreliable, skiing and snowboarding are on thin ice.

But surprisingly, the snowsports industry has not mounted an aggressive campaign for climate action.

Ski areas have taken some steps to trim their climate pollution, but a Yale Climate Connections analysis of a recent report shows that their efforts don’t match the scale or urgency of the threat posed by climate change.

And even as the industry publicizes its sustainability programs, “none of it had anything to do with solving a global systemic problem like climate change,” Schendler said.

Dwindling snow

As the climate warms, snowstorms have turned to rainstorms, snowy seasons are shorter and less consistent, and extreme weather is more frequent. Justin Mankin, a Dartmouth scientist who studies snowpack, said that the accelerating loss of snow will likely put some ski areas out of business.

“It will be a loss that will ripple through communities,” Mankin said in a report.

Between 2000 and 2019, U.S. ski areas collectively lost more than $5 billion due to shortened ski seasons, fewer skier visits, and an increasing need for artificial snowmaking. That price tag will keep rising as the climate continues to warm.

Snowfall across the continental U.S. from 1940 to 2025. Each bar represents one year. Blue bars indicate snowy years and brown bars show warmer and drier years. The long-term average is shown with a dashed line. Image by Karin Kirk based on a graphing tool developed by climatologist Brian Brettschneider.

The amount of snow that falls varies from place to place and year to year, but the trend is unmistakably moving toward lower snowfall on average.

This winter, the East Coast has enjoyed consistent snowfall, though several storms dropped snow on the coasts rather than in the mountains. Meanwhile, the entire Western U.S. has been suffering from a monthslong snow drought and persistent warm temperatures. By late March, the mountain snowpack across the West usually stores large quantities of water that will slowly melt to feed rivers, recharge aquifers, and sustain mountain ecosystems. But not this year.

The amount of water stored in mountain snow has been well below average across the Western U.S. throughout the 2025-2026 winter. This map shows the water content of the mountain snowpack compared to the average for the same date. The shapes are river basins. Find daily updated maps at the USDA website.

Ski areas are taking some action, but …

The National Ski Areas Association developed a framework called the Climate Challenge, which organizes ski areas to voluntarily track and reduce their climate-warming pollution. The data is published in an annual report.

Alongside my climate writing, I’m a professional ski instructor at one of the ski areas that participates in the Climate Challenge. I was curious to dig deeper, so I analyzed the results of climate action so far and found some major gaps.

Transportation to and from the mountain isn’t counted
The climate scorecard doesn’t measure the emissions from travel or commuting to and from ski areas. For some resorts, the climate pollution from transportation is larger than that from the operations of the resort. Because these emissions aren’t being measured, a substantial amount of pollution is slipping below the radar.
Most resorts aren’t publicly tracking their emissions
Only about 7% of the 492 ski areas operating in the United States participated in the National Ski Areas Association’s Climate Challenge program. In addition to that program, both Vail (with 34 ski areas in the U.S.) and Aspen (with four ski areas) track their emissions publicly. Alterra, which operates 16 U.S. resorts, publishes an annual sustainability report, but it doesn’t include emissions data.
Claims of renewable energy use are largely based on credits
Suppose a ski area gets its electricity from a coal power plant. That ski area can buy credits from another company that is generating renewable energy, and then the coal-powered resort can say it’s running on clean energy. This is called a renewable energy certificate. Sometimes these programs result in less pollution overall, but critics point out that they may not lead to significant additional renewable energy production.

To date, around 85% of the emissions reductions reported to the National Ski Areas Association are from offsets and credits, rather than direct action to reduce climate pollution.

Aspen was an early adopter of renewable energy certificates until Schendler began to doubt that they were effective. “I started asking questions about them,” he said.

After that, Aspen stopped using carbon credits and offsets – they focused only on direct reductions of climate pollution.

‘You shouldn’t call that sustainability.’

Schendler spent much of his career pioneering sustainability practices in the snowsports industry, but now he realizes that many common responses, such as installing energy-efficient lighting, are missing the larger point.

Essentially, while these practices make a business run more efficiently, save money, reduce waste, and generate local goodwill, they don’t address climate change at a scale that’s needed to save the snowsports industry.

“You shouldn’t call that sustainability. You should call it business management,” Schendler said. “It’s not how climate change gets solved.”

That’s because climate change is a global problem that requires large-scale, systemic solutions. In Schendler’s view, individual actions, even when implemented by large companies, are not enough.

The missing element, says Schendler, is a powerful public voice: “You need a large, publicly traded company like Vail to publicly lobby, advocate, use their voice, and use trade group pressure to push on change,” he said. “And that just hasn’t happened.”

Some ski areas meet with policymakers, but advocacy may be a touchy subject

In the most recent National Ski Areas Association Climate Challenge annual report, only 19 ski areas reported that they directly met with their energy providers or political leaders to push for climate solutions, cleaner energy, or energy conservation measures.

In a three-part series about Colorado winter sports and climate change, the Denver Post reported that the sport’s two largest companies, Vail and Alterra, declined to be interviewed about advocacy activities. A Colorado trade group that promotes skiing and snowboarding also declined to speak about its advocacy efforts.

Similarly, the National Ski Areas Association did not make itself available for an interview with the Denver Post or Yale Climate Connections.

The outdoor industry could be a powerful lobby

The snowsports industry is only one of many weather-dependent industries, such as fisheries, agriculture, and outdoor recreation. Collectively, these industries represent a substantial economic force.

The outdoor recreation economy in the U.S. generated $1.3 trillion in economic output in 2024. For context, outdoor recreation adds more economic value to the GDP than oil and gas, agriculture, and motor vehicle manufacturing combined, according to Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research group.

Climate change is causing serious economic impacts to outdoor industries, and policy solutions could help protect them.

“Business knows what forceful activism and lobbying is; they know how to do it on other stuff. They can do it on climate,” Schendler said. “We need some aggressive risk-taking.”

“I’ve been arguing that it used to be risky to talk about climate,” he added. But now, “it’s risky not to.”

Climate action is popular

Fossil fuel companies and divisive politics have made climate change feel like a controversial subject, but the reality is that most people want action on climate change.

According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, the publisher of this website, 68% of Americans think corporations should do more to address climate change, and 63% are worried about climate change.

“Yeah, some people get mad at you,” said Schendler of his outspoken stance, “but it’s kind of obvious for a ski resort to care about climate.”

How individuals can amplify their efforts

Traditionally, people who love the outdoors have been asked to do things like carpool or use reusable water bottles. These actions are good and important, said Schendler, but they put the emphasis on small changes, rather than larger-scale impacts and systemic actions. Here’s what you can do instead:

Join an advocacy organization. Climate Voice, where Schendler serves on the board of directors, helps people put pressure on corporations. Protect Our Winters organizes winter sports enthusiasts and works with policymakers on climate change. Patagonia leads multiple policy-based advocacy campaigns.
Contact your favorite outdoor company or resort and ask them to do more on climate policy. Social media can also be a powerful tool for pressuring companies. “If a CEO of a ski resort gets 12 different letters from people asking about climate change, that’s a big deal,” Schendler said.
Engage in local and state policy. Contact elected officials, show up at town meetings, and write letters to the editor.
Be part of the efforts to protect democracy, “because good governance leads to good climate policy,” Schendler said.

Would it be easier to just skip the advocacy, grab your backpack, and head out for a hike without a care in the world? Of course it would. These actions take some work.

“You’ve got to show up or write a letter or come to a town hall,” Schendler said. “But that pressure is how change happens in society.”

“The individual action you can do is be part of a movement, which is what has always changed the world,” he added.

The author would like to thank Raini Helmstadter for his contributions to the analysis of the National Ski Areas Association’s Climate Challenge report.

The controversy over deep-sea mining, explained

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:33:48 EST

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Rachel Ramirez

or Solomon Pili Kaho’ohalahala, a Native Hawaiian elder known as “Uncle Sol” from the island of Lana’i, the ocean is his lifeline. Over the past few years, he has become the voice of a growing Indigenous movement demanding a moratorium on deep-sea mining, which President Donald Trump has labeled an “urgent matter of national security,” but islanders see as a threat to their home, their food supply, and their way of life.

“We are oceanic people; this is our home,” said Kaho’ohalahala, 75, who like his ancestors grew up as a hunter, gatherer, and fisherman in the Pacific Ocean.

As international regulators scramble to codify the rules, countries like the U.S., Japan, and China are moving to carve up the seafloor’s most mineral-rich areas. More than 40 countries have formally called for a moratorium against deep-sea mining in international waters, with four U.S. states – Hawai’i, Washington, Oregon, and California – already enacting bans.

Kaho’ohalahala has been bringing Indigenous perspectives to the international stage, urging regulators to see the ocean as more than a ledger.

“For them, it’s just a money deal,” he said. “It’s not about the resources, it’s not about people, and it’s not about a vision for the long-term needs of our children yet unborn.”

The rush to mine the ocean floor is being sold as part of a green solution, but for the Pacific, the ecological and cultural costs are staggering. Here’s how the process works and why the controversy is deepening.

What is deep-sea mining?

Proponents argue that deep-sea mining is a new industrial frontier vital to acquiring the metals needed for the renewable energy transition, along with everything from smartphones to missile systems to artificial intelligence. It involves extracting critical minerals like cobalt and nickel from the deepest parts of the ocean. The latest techniques involve dredging or vacuuming the seafloor using large, robotic equipment.

Commercial mining has yet to begin, but exploration is underway. Tens of thousands of residents from U.S. territories have already signed a petition calling for a moratorium.

How do deep-sea miners operate?

Mining the deep seas requires lowering massive machinery into the abyssal plains, as deep as 6,000 meters beneath the waves – the depth of nearly 15 Empire State buildings. These machines scrape, suck, and dredge the seabed to collect mineral deposits, which can be polymetallic sulfides or deposits that form around underwater volcanic openings or mud rich in rare earth elements.

The sought-after deposits are the potato-sized, polymetallic nodules rich in critical minerals like cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese. Machines then lift the harvest up to a vessel on the ocean’s surface, where collectors separate the nodules from unwanted sediment that is dumped back into the ocean.

Every polymetallic nodule starts as a hard fragment on the ocean floor, like a fossilized shark tooth or a volcanic rock. Over millions of years, dissolved metals – fine bits of manganese, iron, nickel, and cobalt that have washed into the sea from rivers or leaked out of underwater volcanoes – settle and build up on each fragment. It’s such an incredibly slow process that by the time a nodule is the size of a potato, it may be 10 million years old.

A polymetallic nodule that contains manganese. (Image credit: Rachel Ramirez)

Most mining companies have focused their tests on the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a massive stretch between Hawai’i and Mexico. There, the seabed is practically paved with these nodules.

Who governs the ocean?

No single entity rules the world’s oceans. Instead, they are governed by a combination of international law and coastal states.

In 2025, Trump signed an executive order that fast-tracks permits for U.S. companies to explore international waters for deep-sea minerals. Member states of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – which established the International Seabed Authority, or the U.N. body in charge of regulating the seafloor – blasted the move for bypassing international frameworks. But because the U.S. has never ratified the treaty, it remains a nonmember state.

Despite growing calls for a moratorium, the U.S. continues to fund research expeditions into the deep waters of the Pacific, far beyond exclusive economic zones. Climate activists and other protesters have met these vessels at sea, unfurling banners that say, “Don’t Mine the Moana.”

Even if the U.S. and other governments obey the law of the sea, the treaty only applies in international waters, not to the ocean within a country’s territorial limits.

How could deep-sea mining affect Indigenous people?

”As Indigenous people, if we don’t stay on top of these things, we get pushed to the side, and these processes continue,” Kaho’ohalahala said. “So it is important for me to elevate our voices, because we have an inherent responsibility and right to care for our home, which is the ocean.”

Canoeing from island to island on Earth’s largest ocean has always been fundamental to Pacific Islander identity, navigating with the stars, the waves, and the wisdom of sea creatures. During Uncle Sol’s lifetime, rising seas and a changing climate have eroded these ancient traditions. Deep-sea mining poses the latest threat. Stirring up sediment from the seafloor could pollute marine habitats and further damage the delicate and already stressed oceanic web of life.

Aggressive mining clashes with a cultural worldview rooted in reciprocity, said Monaeka Flores, a Chamoru activist and founding member of Prutehi Guåhan, who testified in front of the Guam legislature following a Trump administration announcement expressing interest in mining the seafloor near the American territories of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

When it comes to the ocean, Indigenous people “ask for permission; that when we take, we don’t take too much, we leave some behind,” Flores said. He said that when islanders catch fish, “We put it out to all of our friends, neighbors, and family members,” and islanders also “don’t make loud noise by the ocean.”

“This is a security issue for us as Pacific Islanders, as we are also fighting against climate change,” Flores added.

What are the environmental consequences of deep-sea mining?

Oceanographer Jeff Drazen at the University of Hawai’i at M?noa is one of the scientists trying to understand the ecological consequences of mineral extraction. Since 2020, he has gone on dozens of research cruises in the Pacific Ocean. His focus goes beyond the seafloor and into the water column above it, where many marine animals live, carbon cycling occurs, and food webs operate. That is where the mining industry plans to dump its waste.

Scientists have a big task. The ocean makes up roughly 70% of the planet, yet the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that over 80% of the vast ocean floor remains unmapped and unexplored.

Drazen and other scientists are most worried about sediment plumes, vast clouds of ancient silt that can drift for miles and potentially suffocate marine species. They also warn that deep-sea mining could cause water, light, and noise pollution, irreversibly harm unique deep-sea ecosystems, destroy habitats, and reduce biodiversity.

“At shallower depths, we have a pretty good idea of what’s living there, but at greater depths, it’s a total frontier, and it’s going to be affected by mining,” Drazen said.

He and other scientists are still figuring out the depths at which mining discharge should be released into the ocean without widespread consequences.

Despite their research findings, he said, companies are “now moving their discharge depth deeper, but we just don’t know what they’re going to affect, and we’re busy trying to describe what this diversity is.”

Which species are potentially at risk?

An October 2025 study from Drazen and his team found the habitats of 30 species of sharks, rays, and chimaeras overlap with areas where proposed deep-sea mining may occur. Nearly two-thirds of these species are already threatened with extinction due to human activities like overfishing, so discharge plumes from seabed mining will only further elevate their extinction risk.

The team also found that waste plumes from mining operations threaten critical food sources and could harm the food web. They concluded that mining discharges would affect 53% of all kinds of zooplankton and 60% of types of micronekton, which feed on zooplankton. This problem could ultimately move up the food chain, affecting the shrimp and fish people eat at the dinner tables.

“[The deep sea] is not something we want to mess with,” said Brian Popp, co-author of the latter study and a geologist at the University of Hawai’i at M?noa. “We need to understand what we’re doing and how we’re impacting those environments.”

But these metals are needed for the clean energy transition, right?

Companies have framed deep-sea mining as essential to transitioning to clean energy, but critics dismiss this as a form of greenwashing that ignores the immense ecological risks.

“No amount of money is worth this permanent destruction and desecration of this invaluable and irreplaceable resource,” Flores said. “What’s happening is that they’re trying to sell this as a way of giving us clean energy, moving us away from fossil fuel. That is a false solution.”

Drazen noted that fast-evolving battery technology could quickly reduce the perceived need for deep-sea mining. In China, which is the world’s biggest electric car battery manufacturer, batteries no longer include the minerals found in deep-sea nodules like cobalt and nickel.

Opponents argue that rather than opening a new and ecologically fragile frontier, global efforts should focus on improving the human rights and environmental standards of existing land-based mines, where significant deposits remain untapped. Another option is getting serious about recycling the used critical minerals in discarded electronics. They say this would be more energy efficient than mining and will not pollute the ocean.

“Deep-sea mining is not proven necessary to meet critical mineral demand,” Chelsea Muña, director of Guam’s department of agriculture, said in a public hearing. “Recycling and recovery of existing materials presents lower risk alternatives.”

So why are companies still rushing to mine the sea floor?

Critical minerals have surged to the top of the global agenda as the cornerstone of economic and national security. China has spent decades securing concentrated control over the critical minerals and rare earths, forcing the U.S., Japan, and the European Union to aggressively fund domestic alternatives to break this strategic chokehold.

The U.S. and Japan, in particular, turned to the ocean. But under the Law of the Sea treaty, international waters and all their resources are the “common heritage of mankind.” Since 2014, member states and the International Seabed Authority, the regulatory U.N. body that oversees mining-related activities in the deep sea beyond national jurisdiction, have been negotiating exploitation regulations for commercial-scale deep-sea mining.

Within a country’s exclusive economic zone, however, the waters and seabed extending up to 200 nautical miles from a nation’s coastline, countries claim special rights and are allowed to do whatever they can with those resources. Japan, for example, has already started exploring and conducting test mining operations within its exclusive economic zones, extracting rare earth mud from the waters near Minamitorishima Island.

Can I do anything to help fight deep-sea mining?

In the United States, Indigenous groups are stepping up against deep-sea mining, particularly in U.S. territories. On the islands of Guam and Northern Marianas, groups like Prutehi Guåhan and Friends of the Mariana Trench have been speaking out across social media platforms, submitting public comments to the federal government, and organizing petitions.

Globally, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and Greenpeace International have been organizing campaigns around the world calling for a moratorium, including contacting policymakers and holding mining companies to account.

Using a 20-year period for comparing methane to CO2 is a terrible idea

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 14:22:11 EST

This is a re-post from The Climate Brink

Imagine if I told you that the damages from climate change next year are worth 12% less to me than climate damages today. And 12% less the year after that. That the harms from climate change on people alive in the year 2100 are only worth one fiftieth as much as impacts on people this year. You’d probably call me selfish, heartless, or a similar slew of invectives, and rightly insist that the welfare of future generations should not be sacrificed for my short term benefit.

But a somewhat obscure climate policy choice of how to value methane emissions compared to CO2 is doing just that – and unfortunately a number of climate scientists who should know better are defending it.

The broader context is a big fight at the moment over proposed revisions to New York’s state climate law. Governor Hochul is proposing both delaying the implementation of the law (which in my opinion is not a good thing), and changing the way that methane is treated by using a 100-year timeframe rather than a 20-year one. It is my opinion as a climate scientist that using a 20-year timeframe is deeply problematic – and I’m far from the only one in the community with that view. In this piece I’ll try and explain why.

Stocks and flows

To understand why the timeline over which methane is compared to CO2 matters, we first need to understand the different climate effects of the two gases. I’ve written about this at some length in the past, but here is a short summary.

Methane is relatively short-lived, with a lifetime of around 10 years. But while it is in the atmosphere it has a very strong climate effect, trapping on the order of 100x more heat than CO2 for every ton. Methane is short-lived because it oxidizes in the atmosphere, breaking down into CO2 and H2O through a long chain of chemical reactions catalyzed by interactions with OH radicals.

CO2, by contrast, is extremely long-lived. The mean atmospheric lifetime is on the order of 10,000 years, though this is dominated by a very long (~400k year) tail associated with silicate weathering. On shorter timescale around 60% of a pulse of emissions is absorbed by land and ocean carbon sinks (though the strength of these may change as a result of our changing climate).

These different lifetimes mean that methane does not accumulate in the atmosphere over longer timeframes, while CO2 does. Methane is a “flow pollutant”, in that its climate effect is a function of the rate of emissions, while CO2 is a “stock pollutant” whose impacts are a function of cumulative emissions.

Diagram showing the relationship between emissions and temperature for CO2 and methane (CH4). From Allen et al., 2017.

If emissions of methane increase, we get warming. If they stay flat, their temperature effect is constant, while if they decline we get cooling. CO2 emissions, on the other hand, always warm the planet. Increasing CO2 emissions cause warming to speed up, flat CO2 emissions cause steady warming, and decreasing CO2 emissions slow (but do not stop) warming. The only way to get cooling with CO2 is to actively remove past emissions from the atmosphere.

Short-term benefits and long-term harms

Global warming potentials (GWPs) are a useful metric to convert different types of greenhouse gas emissions into a single unit, generally expressed as a CO2-equivalent (or CO2e). They are defined as the amount of a gas needed to trap the same amount of heat in the climate system as CO2 over a specified timeframe – commonly 20 years, 100 years, or 500 years.

However, while convenient, they are not necessarily physically meaningful. I cannot tell you how much warmer the world will be in 20, 100, or 500 years based on a certain amount of CO2e.

To illustrate this, let’s look at the climate effects of reducing emissions by one gigaton of CO2e each year for 20 years. The blue line shows the effects of reducing CO2. Here global temperatures are reduced by around 0.01C, and this cooling benefit persists more or less indefinitely (at least on timescales of millennia).

Global mean surface temperature effect of mitigating one gigaton of CO2e emissions reduction each year for 20 years using CO2, methane (GWP100), and methane (GWP20). Using the FaIR climate model (v2.2, calibrated constrained 1.4.1)

If we cut the same amount of “CO2e emissions” in the form of methane using a 100-year period for GWP calculations, we get the red line. We get much more short-term cooling, reflecting the more powerful heat-trapping effects of methane. But the climate effects fade away over time, and after 100 years or so only a fraction of the cooling remains.1 This is often justified by the fact that short-term cooling is so much larger, so the “area under the curve” between methane (GWP100) and CO2 mitigation is quite similar, for at least a century or so.

If we use a 20-year GWP period to compare methane and CO2, we get the worst of both worlds. Not only does the cooling benefit of methane mitigation not persist, but it’s not that much greater than CO2 during the period of emissions. This is because we need to cut a lot less methane (only around 12.1 megatons per gigaton of CO2) when using GWP20 compared to a much larger reduction (33.6 megatons) when using GWP100.

We can also more directly look at the difference in global temperatures over time if we chose to mitigate methane emissions instead of CO2 emissions. In the figure below, values above zero reflect periods when we get more cooling from methane reductions than from CO2, while values below zero show periods where CO2 reductions give us a bigger climate benefit. Here the GWP100 metric provides at least some period of climate benefits, while GWP20 only gives a very short term boost.

Same as the prior figure, but showing the differences between CO2 and methane under different GWP timeframes.

Similarly, if we look at the effect on global temperatures in 2050, 2100, and 2200 we find a large benefit (3.6x more cooling than CO2 mitigation) of methane in 2050 using GWP100, and a small benefit (1.3x) when using GWP20. By 2100, however, methane using GWP100 only gives us 40% of the cooling as CO2 reductions, while methane using GWP20 is a measly 15%.

Even if we sustain methane and CO2 reductions for longer than 20 years, methane with either GWP20 and GWP100 eventually ends up with higher warming than CO2. For GWP20 this occurs after around 40 years, and after 135 years for GWP100.

Differences between CO2 and methane under different GWP timeframes for 10, 20, 50, and 100 years of sustained mitigation of 1 GtCO2e.

Discounting the future

How we choose to value the short-term benefits of methane reductions compared to the long-term harm of CO2 is ultimately a question of how much we value the future compared to the present. This is not a new question; the economics literature has long explored how to answer this question using the concept of “discount rates”.

In fact, the choice of time horizon for determining the equivalence between CO2 and methane can be directly translated into an effective discount rate based on how much near-term climate damages you avoid at the cost of greater longer-term harm. A 2018 paper by Marcus Sarofim and Michael Giordano found that GWP100 is equivalent to a 3% discount rate – similar to what governments use for long-term infrastructure investments. GWP20, by contrast, translates into a discount rate of 12% per year, which is much higher than almost any discount rate used for policy decisions today.2

Relationship between GWP time horizon and effective discount rate. From Sarofim and Giordano 2018.

A 12% discount rate means that the same level of climate impact to a person alive 100 years from now is only worth 2% as much as it is today. It represents a deep discount of the welfare of future generations, and is fundamentally at odds with our goal of stabilizing the climate under the Paris Agreement.

So why do people advocate for GWP20?

If heavily discounting the future is so deeply inconsistent with the concern for the welfare of future generations usually espoused by climate advocates, why do we see people making the case for GWP20?

There are a few reasons. One major one is a concern over near-term climate harms, particularly the possibility of tipping points in the climate system. If the world is likely to cross a critical threshold in the coming decades, then wouldn’t it be critical to prioritize short-term cooling of the climate, even if it might come at the expense of longer-term warming?

This argument misses the mark for a number of reasons. First, most of what we call “tipping points” are not instantaneous changes between climate states, but rather reflect feedbacks with hysteresis. That is to say that it does not just matter if we pass a particular temperature level, but rather how long we pass that level is critical. The temporary cooling associated with substituting methane reductions for CO2 reductions will only avoid these impacts if it’s followed by some additional measure to keep global temperatures down. If we end up with more warming long-term by prioritizing methane mitigation over CO2, the risks of tipping points will increase rather than decrease.

Second, the risk of tipping point exceedance is linked to the peak level of warming, which will not occur until the latter half of the 21st century even under ambitious mitigation scenarios. Methane mitigated today will have a minor impact on temperatures in a world where warming peaks in 2070, while CO2 will have a much larger impact.

The other argument for using GWP20 is to ensure that we get more methane mitigation than we otherwise would, and specifically reduce the use of natural gas (which involves both CO2 emissions when combusted and methane from leaks). But the use of GWPs by definition introduces a tradeoff between methane and CO2 when used in the context of a climate target measured in CO2e. If New York wants to cut its emissions by 40% by 2030, using GWP20 will make it a lot cheaper to achieve that goal by cutting methane than by cutting CO2 because it means that methane counts a lot more than CO2 toward that goal. While we might ultimately end up with (net) zero CO2 and methane emissions under a net-zero target, the path we take to get there matters a lot for temperature outcomes.

A better path forward

It is important to take measures to cut methane emissions and it provides real, tangible benefits in the near-term. But there are ways to design systems that do not come at the cost of the welfare of future generations.

If we want to stick with traditional GWPs as a framework (and ideally we should not), using GWP100 is much more justified than GWP20 as it aligns with the level of future discounting (~3% per year) that we currently apply to a lot of other long-term investments in public welfare. However, GWP100 still is not well aligned to the goal of temperature stabilization given the long-term differences in climate outcomes.

There are alternative metrics like GWP* that compare flows of methane to stocks of CO2 rather than treating the two as directly equivalent, as well as simple to use climate models that can allow policymakers to determine the actual temperature effects of their decisions over time.

But the simplest approach – and one increasingly espoused by the climate science community – is to avoid conversions altogether by setting separate targets for CO2 and short-lived climate pollutants like methane. Rather than having a goal of reducing the (not-physically-meaningful) “CO2e” emissions 40% by 2030, set separate goals for both CO2 and methane. That way we know what we are getting, and we don’t create the problem of having to trade off between the two.

1 This remaining cooling is a combination of the oxidation of methane into CO2 (at least for fossil methane emissions; the CO2 from biogenic methane is not additive as it would have been released in the absence of methane formation) and ocean buffering of global mean surface temperature response.

2 Other papers in the literature find similar values; Mallapragada and Mignone (2019) also finds that GWP100 is equivalent to a discount rate of 3%, and that GWP20 equates to a discount rate of >7%.

2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #13

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 10:17:51 EST

A listing of 27 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 22, 2026 thru Sat, March 28, 2026.

Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Change Impacts (10 articles)

‘Pushing extremes to new levels’: Record US heat dome made possible by climate change "‘Insurers walking away’ is the clearest sign unpredictable weather extremes are spiralling out of control, one expert says." AP/Euronewsdotcom, Angela Symons, Mar 20, 2026.
Record-torching March heat ‘virtually impossible’ without climate change "Friday’s spring equinox may seem like a quaint notion to those already enduring furnace-like 90-110°F summer heat." Yale Climate Connections, Jeff Masters & Bob Henson, Mar 20, 2026.
Extreme heat continues to strike Southwest US and even Nebraska needs a cold drink AP News, Staff, Mar 21, 2026.
Earth’s climate swings increasingly out of balance World Meteorololgical Organization (WMO), Staff, Mar 23, 2026.
Mind-blowing March heat wave crests; records melt from Arizona to Minnesota Fourteen states have set all-time March heat records, and the U.S.-wide record was tied or beaten on four consecutive days. Yale Climate Connections, Bob Henson and Jeff Masters, Mar 23, 2026.
Past CO2 emissions may drive far bigger future economic losses Study identifies how CO2 emissions can pencil out as positive economic assets for some but turn into much larger economic deficits for others— leading to a net loss for all. Phys.org, Stephanie Baum, Mar 25, 2026.
Winter Sea Ice in the Arctic Ties a Record Low Ice plays a vital role in reflecting away planet-warming sunlight. The Arctic is warming much faster than most other parts of the world. New York Times, Sachi Kitajima Mulkey and Harry Stevens, Mar 26, 2026.
This Year`s US Wildfires Have Already Set Records That Could Foreshadow a Smoky, Fiery Summer Recently released data show how drought, paltry Western snows and unseasonable heat, all exacerbated by climate change, could be priming the nation for a long wildfire season. Inside Climate News, Jake Bolster, Mar 27, 2026.
Global maps show alien plant invasion hotspots shifting poleward Phys.org, University of Vienna, Mar 27, 2026.
Arctic sea ice hits lowest winter level as heat records are shattered worldwide Vital Arctic sea ice shrank to basically tie its lowest measured level for the winter, the season when ice grows, as a warming Earth shattered records across the continents. CBS News, Staff, Mar 27, 2026.

Health Aspects of Climate Change (4 articles)

Scientist issues warning about common household threat linked to 4 million deaths each year "If progress slows, the burden will continue to fall most heavily on the places least able to bear it." The Cool Down (TCD), Tina Deines, Mar 21, 2026.
Global Warming Could Cause 700,000 Early Deaths by 2050 Seoul Economic Daily, Seo Ji-hye, Mar 22, 2026.
Climate-Fueled Wildfires and Dust Storms Drove Up Air Pollution Around the World Last Year A new report shows air pollution threatens the majority of the world’s population, while information gaps increase the risks. Inside Climate News, Kiley Bense & Keerti Gopal, Mar 24, 2026.
The frantic, high-tech fight to stop climate-fueled dengue fever Scientists in Brazil and Peru may have found a way to beat mosquitoes at their own game. The U.S. may soon need to do the same. Grist, Zoya Teirstein, Mar 25, 2026.

Miscellaneous (3 articles)

Is your state becoming uninsurable? We have the latest data. Home insurance is buckling under climate risk and construction trends. Find out how your state fares. Grist, Jake Bittle, Emily Jones, Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, Vivian La, Anila Yoganathan, Katie Myers, & Clayton Aldern, Mar 18, 2026.
2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #12 A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 15, 2026 thru Sat, March 21, 2026. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, John Hartz & Doug Bostrom, Mar 22, 2026.
Trump Administration to Pay $1 Billion to Energy Giant to Cancel Wind Farms French company TotalEnergies will invest US taxpayer funds in oil and natural gas projects in Texas and elsewhere. New York Times, Maxine Joselow & Brad Plumer, Mar 24, 2026.

Climate Science and Research (2 articles)

Limiting global warming to 2C would not `rule out` extreme impacts Limiting warming to 2C above pre-industrial temperatures may not be enough to prevent “extreme global climate outcomes”, according to research published in Nature. Carbon Brief, Ayesha Tandon, Mar 25, 2026.
Guest post: How declining cloudiness is accelerating global warming For the past two decades, low-level cloud cover has been declining, increasing the amount of sunlight absorbed by Earth and amplifying global warming. Carbon Brief, Dr Paulo Ceppi, Mar 26, 2026.

Climate Education and Communication (2 articles)

How the Iran War Reveals the Extent of Fossil Fuel Propaganda "With consumer prices rising due to the United States and Israel’s war with Iran, interest in renewables and EVs is rising. Misinformation may be holding consumers back." Inside Climate News, Lee Hedgepeth, Mar 20, 2026.
At 90, David Suzuki says he has done everything he could to protect the Earth, but fears he has fallen short "The iconic Canadian environmentalist says it may be too late for humanity to stop the worst of climate change" CBC Radio, Caherine Zhu, Mar 22, 2026.

Climate Policy and Politics (2 articles)

Kate Marvel, Prominent Climate Scientist, Resigns From NASA Kate Marvel, a well-known author, joins an estimated 95,000 people who have left federal science agencies since President Trump returned to the White House. New York Times, Eric Niiler, Mar 25, 2026.
To keep climate science alive, researchers are speaking in code Words considered "woke" are vanishing from National Science Foundation proposals. We tracked the changes. Grist, Clayton Aldern, Mar 27, 2026.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (1 article)

An answer to US drought conditions may be in the toilet "Americans are willing to fork out extra money each month to drink recycled wastewater. With climate change intensifying drought in several regions, cities are exploring ways to turn sewage into drinking water." Deutsche Welle (DW), Josh Axelrod, Mar 21, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Science (1 article)

Ofcom to investigate complaints of climate change denial for first time since 2017 A U-turn by the UK’s broadcasting regulator Ofcom means it will investigate complaints of climate change denial on television and radio for the first time since 2017. The Guardian, Damian Carrington, Mar 24, 2026.

Climate Law and Justice (1 article)

Fossil fuel companies finally accept the climate crisis - just not their role in it The era of corporate climate denial is over but in courts around the world the big names have shifted strategy The Guardian, Noah Walker-Crawford, Mar 26, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Solutions (1 article)

Fact brief - Is 'wind-turbine syndrome' a medically recognized diagnosis? No - An extensive body of studies and reviews has not found a clear, direct link between wind turbines’ low-frequency sound and any specific health syndromes. No medical organization recognizes such diagnoses. Skeptical Science, Sue Bin Park, Mar 24, 2026.

Skeptical Science New Research for Week #13 2026

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 11:54:26 EST

Open access notables

Indicators of Global Climate Change 2022: annual update of large-scale indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence, Forster et al., Earth System Science Data

We follow methods as close as possible to those used in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) Working Group One (WGI) report. We compile monitoring datasets to produce estimates for key climate indicators related to forcing of the climate system: emissions of greenhouse gases and short-lived climate forcers, greenhouse gas concentrations, radiative forcing, surface temperature changes, the Earth's energy imbalance, warming attributed to human activities, the remaining carbon budget, and estimates of global temperature extremes. The purpose of this effort, grounded in an open data, open science approach, is to make annually updated reliable global climate indicators available in the public domain (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8000192, Smith et al., 2023a). As they are traceable to IPCC report methods, they can be trusted by all parties involved in UNFCCC negotiations and help convey wider understanding of the latest knowledge of the climate system and its direction of travel.

The indicators show that human-induced warming reached 1.14 [0.9 to 1.4] ?C averaged over the 2013–2022 decade and 1.26 [1.0 to 1.6] ?C in 2022. Over the 2013–2022 period, human-induced warming has been increasing at an unprecedented rate of over 0.2 ?C per decade. This high rate of warming is caused by a combination of greenhouse gas emissions being at an all-time high of 54 ± 5.3 GtCO2e over the last decade, as well as reductions in the strength of aerosol cooling. Despite this, there is evidence that increases in greenhouse gas emissions have slowed, and depending on societal choices, a continued series of these annual updates over the critical 2020s decade could track a change of direction for human influence on climate.

The political economy of leaving fossil fuels underground: The case of producing countries, Pellegrini, Energy Policy

After 30 years of failed attempts to establish an effective global climate policy regime, world leaders have started to acknowledge that fossil fuels must stay underground to make any conspicuous progress towards greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The fact that most fossil fuel reserves are ‘unburnable’ is the corollary of the relationship between the remaining carbon budget and the emissions embedded in existing fossil fuel reserves. Nevertheless, companies and countries are planning to extract quantities of fossil fuels well above those compatible with the 1.5 °C, and even 2 °C, global warming targets. Changing course will have vast implications for the global economy and require that fossil fuel-producing countries forgo substantial rents – the extranormal profits associated with fossil fuel extraction. In this conceptual and theoretical contribution, we discuss the political economy of fossil fuel supply phase-out. We focus on economic rents and investigate strategies to align phase-out feasibility with justice. These strategies include stripping companies of their entitlements to future rents, the possible use of compensation in favor of producing countries and ensuring long-term commitment from these countries.

Solar radiation modification challenges decarbonization with renewable solar energy, Baur et al., Earth System Dynamics

Solar radiation modification (SRM) is increasingly being discussed as a potential tool to reduce global and regional temperatures to buy time for conventional carbon mitigation measures to take effect. However, most simulations to date assume SRM to be an additive component to the climate change toolbox, without any physical coupling between mitigation and SRM. In this study we analyze one aspect of this coupling: how renewable energy (RE) capacity, and therefore decarbonization rates, may be affected under SRM deployment by modification of photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) production potential. Simulated 1 h output from the Earth system model CNRM-ESM2-1 for scenario-based experiments is used for the assessment. The SRM scenario uses stratospheric aerosol injections (SAIs) to approximately lower global mean temperature from the high-emission scenario SSP585 baseline to the moderate-emission scenario SSP245. We find that by the end of the century, most regions experience an increased number of low PV and CSP energy weeks per year under SAI compared to SSP245. Compared to SSP585, while the increase in low energy weeks under SAI is still dominant on a global scale, certain areas may benefit from SAI and see fewer low PV or CSP energy weeks. A substantial part of the decrease in potential with SAI compared to the SSP scenarios is compensated for by optically thinner upper-tropospheric clouds under SAI, which allow more radiation to penetrate towards the surface. The largest relative reductions in PV potential are seen in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes. Our study suggests that using SAI to reduce high-end global warming to moderate global warming could pose increased challenges for meeting energy demand with solar renewable resources.

Can a Future-Self Letter Exchange Motivate Climate Action Intentions and Support for Environmental Advocacy Groups?, Pittaway et al., Journal of Environmental Psycholog

Perceptions of continuity between present and future selves are associated with a range of future-oriented outcomes, including behaviours which are necessary to avert catastrophic future climate change. Past research has established that future self-continuity can be increased through experimental tasks which connect people to, and increase the perceived vividness of, the future self, but few studies have tested whether these interventions could mobilise pro-environmental behaviour change. Across two pre-registered studies, we tested whether exchanging letters with the future self over the near versus distant future influenced Australians’ intentions to take climate action, endorsement of environmental advocacy groups, and monetary support for these groups. We additionally explored whether the effect of the future-self letter exchange was strengthened by a collective future focus in Study 1 (N = 303), and by the salience of environmental issues in Study 2 (N = 319). In both studies, exchanging letters with the distant future self resulted in higher future self-vividness, but did not impact future self-connectedness. The future-self task also had very limited effects on the dependent variables in Study 1, and no effects in Study 2. Our results contradict the findings of past environmental future self-continuity interventions and raise questions about the true mechanism of the effects in these studies.

From this week's government/NGO section:

State of the Global Climate 2025, Kennedy et al., World Meteorological Organization

The authors confirm that 2015-2025 are the hottest 11-years on record, and that 2025 was the second or third hottest year on record, at about 1.43 °C above the 1850-1900 average. Extreme events around the world, including intense heat, heavy rainfall and tropical cyclones, caused disruption and devastation and highlighted the vulnerability of the existing inter-connected economies and societies. The ocean continues to warm and absorb carbon dioxide. It has been absorbing the equivalent of about 18 times the annual human energy use each year for the past two decades. Annual sea ice extent in the Arctic was at or near a record low, Antarctic sea ice extent was the third lowest on record, and glacier melt continued unabated, according to the report. For the first time, the report includes the Earth’s energy imbalance as one of the key climate indicators.

Record-shattering March temperatures in Western North America virtually impossible without climate change, World Weather Attribution

Heatwaves as observed in March 2026 in western North America are still rare events, even in today’s climate which has warmed by 1.3°C due to the burning of fossil fuels, with a return period of about 500 years. As this assessment partly includes forecast data, to prevent an overestimation of the extremeness of the event the authors use a return period of 100 years throughout the analysis. Without climate change it is virtually impossible for this event to occur.

92 articles in 48 journals by 652 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Surface Temperature Reversibility and the Roles of Clouds on the Decadal Time Scale, Ge et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0488.1

Stronger ENSO-induced global SST variability in a warming climate, Hong et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-70140-9

Physical understanding of the extreme global temperature jump in 2023, Mex et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03382-6

Drivers and Mechanisms of the 2015–16 Record-High Sea Level and Ocean Heat Content in the Southeast Pacific, Feng et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0729.1

Observations of climate change, effects

Rapid ice-marginal lake growth in Alaska driven by glacier retreat through bed overdeepenings, McGrath et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2513289123

Opposing Trends in Wintertime Convective Initiation Environments of East China Driven by Anthropogenic Aerosols and Greenhouse Gases, Li et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd045691

Marine heatwaves variability and trends in the Patagonian Shelf, Delgado et al., Ocean Science Open Access 10.5194/os-22-961-2026

Land-atmosphere feedbacks and anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing intensify subseasonal drought-to-pluvial abrupt transitions, Fu et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03371-9

Indicators of Global Climate Change 2022: annual update of large-scale indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence, Forster et al., Earth System Science Data Open Access pdf 10.5194/essd-15-2295-2023

Anthropogenic Exacerbation of Global High-Risk Compound Hot–Dry Events Over the Past Century, Dong et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef006937

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

The Critical Need for Hindcast Infrastructure in Climate Science and Sectoral Applications, Anderson et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 10.1175/bams-d-24-0311.1

Digitizing historical daily weather bulletins through citizen scientists: The ReData project, Ceppi et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000865

A Daily Soil Moisture–Temperature Compound Index for Characterising Dry–Hot Extremes, Aftab et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70306

A Bayesian statistical method to estimate the climatology of extreme temperature under multiple scenarios: the ANKIALE package, Robin et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-2349-2026

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Negative CO2 emissions for long-term mitigation of extremes in land hydrological cycle, Shin et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-70945-8

Investigating the representation of heatwaves from an ensemble of km-scale regional climate simulations within CORDEX-FPS convection, Sangelantoni et al., Climate Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.1007/s00382-023-06769-9

Global warming increases ammonia emissions and reduces the efficacy of mitigation actions, Jiang et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03404-3

Constructing Worst-Scenario typhoon storm surge in a changing climate by 2040s: The typhoon Mangkhut (2018) simulations in Hong Kong, Li et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100889

Climate-driven susceptibility of natural wildfires using Random Forest under future climate scenarios in Mediterranean forests of Türkiye, Bozali, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access pdf 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1771857

Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

The relative role of direct orbital forcing versus CO2 and ice feedbacks on Quaternary climate, Williams et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-70750-3

How do CMIP6 Models Represent the Vertical Structure and Chemical Properties of Biomass-Burning Aerosols Emitted in Central Africa?, Mallet et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl121595

Evaluation of CMIP6 models in simulating the trend slowdown of the summer Southern Annular Mode, WANG et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.03.005

Data-Driven Probabilistic Air-Sea Flux Parameterization, Wu et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl120472

CMIP6 Models under the Lens: Evaluating the Representation of the Tropical South American Summer Precipitation, Badarunnisa Sainudeen et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0341.1

Climate Impacts in Scenarios: Time to Close the Loop?, Tebaldi et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007622

A Deep Learning Framework for Extreme Storm Surge Modeling Under Future Climate Scenarios, Longo et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007072

Cryosphere & climate change

Retreating glaciers: Monitoring and emerging risks in Colombia’s high mountains, Avila-Diaz et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000872

Rapid ice-marginal lake growth in Alaska driven by glacier retreat through bed overdeepenings, McGrath et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2513289123

Measurement of Gas Fraction and Gas Permeability of Thawing Permafrost Caused by Climate Change, Glover et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007232

Marked acceleration in glacier mass loss across High Mountain Asia since 2000, Wang et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105436

Drivers of Changing Interannual Variability in Autumn-Early Winter Arctic Sea Ice (1950–2024), Yu et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl121260

A remote sensing approach for measuring climatic change effects on snow cover dynamics, Parizia et al., The Cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-20-1715-2026

Sea level & climate change

The acceleration of sea-level rise along the coast of the Netherlands started in the 1960s, Keizer et al., Ocean Science Open Access pdf 10.5194/os-19-991-2023

Hydrostatic sea-level rise inundation impacts on ahu and harbors of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Paoa et al., Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-026-45195-9

Evidence of Increased Deep Ocean Warming From a Sea Level Budget Approach, Cazenave et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007403

Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

Variations in Arctic Ocean Dynamics and Hydrography Under 127 ka Last Interglacial Conditions and Future Warming, Sicard et al., Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology Open Access 10.1029/2025pa005247

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

Unresponsive to change: Ectotherms fail to adjust physiology to daily temperature variation, Gomez Isaza & Rodgers, Philosophical Transactions B Open Access pdf 10.1098/rstb.2025.0055

Unique microbes released by retreating glaciers are rarely propagated to coastal ecosystems, Liu et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03399-x

Thermal Risks and Opportunities for a Tropical Invasive Sea Urchin in a Fast-Warming Sea, Preiss et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108021

Shifts in the Upper Limit of Alpine Grasslands Lag Behind Climate Warming Across the Tibetan Plateau, Liu et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70820

Retracing the Response of Rangifer to Postglacial Climate Change in Arctic Islands, Dance et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73125

Persistent Legacy Effects of Marine Heatwaves on Coral Symbioses, Buzzoni et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70818

Impacts of local anthropogenic stressors outpace those of climate on coral reef collapse in the northern South China Sea, Xu et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-70760-1

Herbivores in hot water: thermal limits and avoidance of marine heatwave conditions by Acanthurus triostegus, Souza et al., Coral Reefs 10.1007/s00338-026-02853-8

Climate-induced shifts in cod spawning phenology across the North Atlantic, Pollet-Calderini et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-44116-0

Climate change reduces pelagic biomass in a coastal upwelling ecosystem, Nunes et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03395-1

Asymmetric response of Northern Hemisphere vegetation to climate change from 2000 to 2018: Phenology leads GPP, GUO et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.03.004

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

Seasonal variation in particulate organic carbon sequestration in subarctic and subtropical gyres of the western North Pacific, Mino et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-43514-8

Reviews and syntheses: Greenhouse gas emissions from drained organic forest soils – synthesizing data for site-specific emission factors for boreal and cool temperate regions, Jauhiainen et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-20-4819-2023

Redox-Active Organic Matter in a Boreal Peatland Demonstrates Resistance to Global Climate Change, Rush et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70816

Nine years of warming and nitrogen addition in the Tibetan grassland promoted loss of soil organic carbon but did not alter the bulk change in chemical structure, Sun et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-21-575-2024

Mixed Forestation Outperforms Pure Stands in Soil Carbon Sequestration and Stability, Shu et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70812

Integrated Global Estimation of Terrestrial Carbon Efflux, Uwiragiye et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70806

Increased root-derived carbon buffers soil carbon loss under simultaneous warming and nitrogen addition, Muratore et al., Ecology 10.1002/ecy.70351

Higher carbon storage in primary than secondary boreal forests in Sweden, Pascual et al., Science 10.1126/science.adz8554

Functional Diversity in Land Surface Modeling: Where and When Does It Matter for the Terrestrial Carbon Cycle?, Margiotta et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70785

Earthworms Enhance Global Soil Carbon Storage Through Microbial–Mineral Stabilization, Li et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70815

Carbon soil stock change in an intensive crop field near Paris reveals significant carbon losses over a decade, Loubet et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-2059-2026

CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Negative CO2 emissions for long-term mitigation of extremes in land hydrological cycle, Shin et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-70945-8

Is your state regulation ready? a review of geologic carbon sequestration regulations in the United States, Gallin et al., Carbon Management Open Access 10.1080/17583004.2026.2645787

Decarbonization

Site wind right? Public acceptance and the social negotiation of renewable energy in Spanish landscapes, López-Mejuto et al., Environmental Sociology 10.1080/23251042.2026.2648031

Geoengineering climate

Solar radiation modification challenges decarbonization with renewable solar energy, Baur et al., Earth System Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.5194/esd-15-307-2024

Impact of Solar Geoengineering on Wildfires in the 21st Century in CESM2/WACCM6, Tang et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-23-5467-2023

Distinguishing Between the Short-Term Climate Responses to Different Stratospheric Aerosol Injection Latitudes With Explainable Artificial Intelligence, Dong et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd045560

Aerosols

Forecasting contrail climate forcing for flight planning and air traffic management applications: the CocipGrid model in pycontrails 0.51.0, Engberg et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-18-253-2025

Climate change communications & cognition

Environmental identity of Global South women climate leaders: an autoethnographic exploration, Wang, Environmental Sociology 10.1080/23251042.2026.2649850

Can a Future-Self Letter Exchange Motivate Climate Action Intentions and Support for Environmental Advocacy Groups?, Pittaway et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103011

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Misbehaviour dominates GHG emissions from food loss and waste, Yin et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02596-y

Mapping climate smart agricultural interventions in rice cultivation: a lexicometric and systematic review of methane emissions and yield outcomes, Divyasri & Mansingh, Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1779948

Climate change impacts and adaptation strategies in coconut plantations: integrating remote sensing and real-time monitoring, Nuwarapaksha et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1762364

Boosting crops’ natural capabilities could help feed a warming world, Sidik, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access pdf 10.1073/pnas.2607080123

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

Observation-Constrained Projections Reveal Robust Streamflow Increases in Indian Rivers, Chuphal & Mishra, Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007928

Evaluation of Projected Changes in Daily Precipitation Frequency Estimates from CMIP6 Climate Models across Three U.S. Gulf States, Nasser et al., Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-25-0142.1

Climate change economics

The political economy of leaving fossil fuels underground: The case of producing countries, Pellegrini, Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115244

Multidimensional economic complexity and inclusive green growth, Stojkoski et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-023-00770-0

Climate finance commitments in practice: additionality and the adaptation gap, Becker & Sieberichs, Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2026.2645144

Climate change mitigation public policy research

High-ambition climate action in all sectors can achieve a 59% greenhouse gas emissions reduction in Korea by 2035, Choi et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-44130-2

Coal's long farewell: Assessing the political economy challenges of coal plant retirements in India, Busby et al., Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104562

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

Policy impact pathways of the IPCC: Two cases of urban adaptation action, Jahns et al., Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104363

Pioneering Spanish experience in climate shelters practice, Royé et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02587-z

Effectiveness of estuarine adaptation strategies under future climate conditions, Pein & Staneva, Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-43040-7

Do Multilateral Climate-Related Agreements Mitigate the Vulnerability to Climate Change in Developing Countries?, Tsomb Tsomb et al., Journal of the Knowledge Economy 10.1007/s13132-026-03214-0

Best Practice in Climate Change Adaptation, Alemaw, Sustainable Development Goals Series 10.1007/978-3-030-31543-6_7

Asymmetric global urban cooling potential demands accelerated and context-specific actions, Ding et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-70662-2

Climate change impacts on human health

Practical and accessible cooling strategies for mitigating exertional hyperthermia in low-resource workplaces, O’Connor et al., Temperature Open Access 10.1080/23328940.2026.2623743

Anthropogenic Climate Change Amplifies Autumn Heatwave Risks for Children During School Reopening, Ye et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100892

Climate change & geopolitics

Networking for the climate: international climate actors in Beijing, Lu & Lewis, Environmental Politics 10.1080/09644016.2026.2644015

Climate change impacts on human culture

Underwater cultural heritage and extreme events: Storm impacts under climate change, Germinario et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2523844123

Hydrostatic sea-level rise inundation impacts on ahu and harbors of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Paoa et al., Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-026-45195-9

Other

Pacific contributions to global and regional climate change frameworks: lessons from the civil society sector, Chowdhury et al., Climate and Development Open Access 10.1080/17565529.2026.2637796

Climate change litigation and intersectionality in climate justice, Schill et al., Global Environmental Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2026.103131

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

The world just lived through the 11 hottest years on record — what now?, Fieldhouse & Basu, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00946-6

Early Achieving Carbon Neutrality Will Greatly Reduce Unequal Risk to Humid Heatwave in a Warming World, Yu et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef008013

Best Practice in Climate Change Adaptation, Alemaw, Sustainable Development Goals Series 10.1007/978-3-030-31543-6_7

AI set to map risks of future climate disasters, Raupp Musse, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00835-y

Book reviews

Self-serving “tweaks” hurt science, Venkataraman, Science 10.1126/science.aef2215

Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change

Unpacking the Cost of 202(c) Orders: Facility-Specific Cost Estimates and Methodological Approach, Wannier et al., Sierra Club

As of today, six facilities across the U.S. which had previously planned to retire have received 202(c) orders—forcing the facilities to stay online. Conservative estimates from the best available data sources put the cost of keeping these facilities online past their approved retirement dates in the hundreds of millions of dollars, with cost impacts increasing daily. The authors document provide an in-depth explanation of the facility-level financial impacts caused by these 202(c) orders to date.

Strengthening Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Protocols, Herbstritt et al., Clean Air Task Force

Biomass carbon removal, or biomass CDR, can deliver gigaton-scale climate mitigation by pairing the power of photosynthesis with engineered technologies to store carbon for centuries or longer. The authors collaborated with eight leading experts to evaluate biomass CDR protocols. Six priorities were recommended to improve the protocols and the carbon market system.

The energy security fallout: from fossil fuel fragility to electric independence, Walter et al., Ember

The authors present key data on how the conflict in the Middle East exposes insecurities for economies dependent on imported fossil fuels, and how electrotech – like EVs, solar, wind, batteries and heat pumps – can help to mitigate these risks.

The Terms of Power: Inside the New Utility Rates For Data Centers, Latitude Intelligence

Data centers now account for 94% of projected peak load growth in PJM, the nation’s largest grid operator, and utilities across the country are facing interconnection queues that have tripled in two years. How to meet this demand — and who bears the cost when things go wrong — has produced an entirely new category of utility regulation. Beginning in 2018 and accelerating dramatically through 2024–2025, 25 utilities across 19 states have now filed data-center-specific tariffs, with 18 of them filed in the last two years alone. These rate structures introduced mechanisms that have never applied to any customer class: multi-year demand ratchets, decade-long contract commitments, collateral requirements of up to $1.5 million per MW, and, in some cases, explicit clean energy mandates. The authors analyze what those tariffs reveal across three dimensions (affordability, flexibility, and clean energy) and finds that regulators have made significant progress on the first while largely ignoring the other two.

The Firm Frontier: Geothermal and the Expansion of the Western Grid, Smith et al., Center for Public Enterprise

The western United States is entering a period of unprecedented electricity demand growth driven by data center expansion, electrification, and new manufacturing activity. Utilities preparing integrated resource plans (IRPs) face a fundamental question: what new sources of clean, firm, dispatchable power can come online fast enough to meet this demand and help keep the United States at the forefront of innovation? The authors present evidence that a commercial-scale enhanced geothermal systems project of 100 – 500 megawatts (MW) can achieve a commercial operation date within 36–52 months of active development, with a conservative planning horizon of three to six years from project initiation to in-service, assuming project developers can secure access to permits and transmission in a reasonable time frame. Furthermore, it presents evidence that the timeline can be compressed even further, to less than three years, if a sufficient number of drill rigs and crews are available. That timeline is fast enough to appear in near-term IRP planning windows.

Planning in a Polycrisis. Equitable Urban Strategies for a Changing Climate, Oscilowicz et al., Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

The authors outline strategies for integrating equity into climate and housing planning in five North American cities: Boston, Denver, Portland, Vancouver, and Washington, DC. Drawing on interviews with planners, the authors address how local governments navigate the intersecting crises of climate change, housing affordability, and economic inequality. The authors propose a framework to guide equitable climate urbanism, emphasizing cross-sector collaboration, resilient housing, place-based adaptation, and inclusive community engagement. They offer actionable insights to help cities move from fragmented efforts toward long-term, justice-centered urban transformation.

Spotlight on the Top 25 Methane Plumes in 2025: Oil & Gas, UCLA Law

The list shows the 25 sites in the oil and gas sector with the largest detected and quantified emissions rates worldwide, as seen by key satellite instruments in 2025.

Record-shattering March temperatures in Western North America virtually impossible without climate change, World Weather Attribution

Heatwaves as observed in March 2026 in western North America are still rare events, even in today’s climate which has warmed by 1.3°C due to the burning of fossil fuels, with a return period of about 500 years. As this assessment partly includes forecast data, to prevent an overestimation of the extremeness of the event the authors use a return period of 100 years throughout the analysis. Without climate change it is virtually impossible for this event to occur.

Apathy and Opposition. Understanding the Real Threats to New Zero, Massey-Chase et al., Institute for Public Policy Research

Climate action is under siege from populist and far-right actors. Delivering under that pressure demands fresh confidence and commitment from government. Watering down ambition offers no electoral advantage; a strong, progressive agenda on climate action remains broadly popular with the public. Elite opinion on net zero is highly polarized, with a precipitous drop in support on the political right since the general election in 2024. This is not mirrored in public opinion, where support has remained steady and is much higher than politicians credit. The notion of a wide-spread public backlash against net zero in the UK is a largely exaggerated one, amplified by right-leaning media.

The Untapped Grid: How Better Utilization of the Power System Can Improve Energy Affordability, Hledik et al., GridLab and Utilize Coalition

Energy affordability has become a headline issue. Electricity rates are rising for several reasons, particularly due to the growing cost of maintaining and expanding an aging power grid. At the same time, electricity demand is increasing, driven by data center development, electrification, and renewed growth in manufacturing. The authors examine an emerging opportunity to harness that load growth to improve power system utilization and, in turn, put downward pressure on electricity rates.

Landscape of U.S. Domestic Advanced Nuclear Energy Supply Chain, Solestiss

The United States does not face a nuclear energy technology constraint. It faces an industrial capacity constraint. Advanced reactor designs are progressing, electricity demand is rising, and federal policy support has expanded. If capital is to flow at scale, the domestic supply chain must be able to deliver qualified components, skilled labor, and manufacturing throughput sufficient to support order book deployment. The authors found that a concentrated set of structural bottlenecks—particularly in downstream fabrication, machining, welding, inspection, and workforce qualification—is limiting that capacity today. Unless these constraints are addressed deliberately and in sequence, renewed nuclear ambition risks reverting to bespoke projects rather than sustained, multi-unit delivery.

Maine Clean Energy Industry Report, BW Research Partnership, Maine Department of Energy Resources

The authors found Maine’s clean energy sector contributed $3 billion to the state’s economy in 2024 and grew the fastest in New England from 2020-2024. The authors used data from the U.S. Department of Energy, and found there were 16,171 clean energy workers in Maine. Clean energy jobs grew three times faster than Maine’s overall workforce and outpaced national clean energy employment growth since 2020. The authors analyzed employment in energy efficiency, power generation, transportation, grid and storage, and fuels. Of those sectors, the largest was energy efficiency, which accounted for nearly 9,500 jobs or about two thirds of Maine's clean energy workforce. Energy efficiency jobs include heat pump installation and maintenance, weatherization services, and traditional HVAC, among other related professions. Jobs in transmission, distribution, and power generation have also grown in recent years.

State of the Global Climate 2025, Kennedy et al., World Meteorological Organization

The authors confirm that 2015-2025 are the hottest 11-years on record, and that 2025 was the second or third hottest year on record, at about 1.43 °C above the 1850-1900 average. Extreme events around the world, including intense heat, heavy rainfall and tropical cyclones, caused disruption and devastation and highlighted the vulnerability of the existing inter-connected economies and societies. The ocean continues to warm and absorb carbon dioxide. It has been absorbing the equivalent of about 18 times the annual human energy use each year for the past two decades. Annual sea ice extent in the Arctic was at or near a record low, Antarctic sea ice extent was the third lowest on record, and glacier melt continued unabated, according to the report. For the first time, the report includes the Earth’s energy imbalance as one of the key climate indicators.

Food security in a warming world: who is at risk, why and what comes next?, Bharadwaj et al., International Institute for Environment and Development

Climate change is steadily weakening the foundations of food security: reducing food availability, making food less accessible, worsening malnutrition and diminishing the effectiveness of food use. And as shocks repeat, it turns short-term stress into long-term fragility. These pressures are felt most severely in countries and communities with the least capacity to cope. Yet, most measures used in food security analysis capture only part of the picture and some indices do not cover the countries most at risk. To address this gap, the authors constructed a new Food Security Index for 162 countries, which assesses performance across four distinct pillars: availability, access, utilization and sustainability. This approach not only identifies which countries are food insecure, but also why, allowing the development of policy and programmatic responses to address them.

The Climate Disinformation War: How to fight back for Australia's democracy and security, Kapetas et al., Australian Security Leaders Climate Group

Climate disinformation is evolving from a communications issue into a national security challenge, with implications for Australia’s sovereignty, economic resilience, disaster readiness, institutional trust, and strategic autonomy in shaping its energy transition amid intensifying geopolitical competition. The response requires coordination not only across civil society and industry, but across security, economic, and governance institutions. Government efforts so far are not commensurate with the sheer scale, resourcing and coordination of disinformation networks. While the not-for profit and renewable-energy-industry sectors are becoming much more aware of the climate disinformation problem, they are struggling to respond in the face of the dominance and legacy resources of the fossil-fuel industry in the information space.

Solar Geoengineering, Hanks et al., Government Accountability Office

Solar geoengineering methods might mitigate Earth’s rising temperatures, but effects are highly uncertain. More research and field testing of solar geoengineering methods would improve understanding of effects. Limited understanding of outcomes may heighten geopolitical risks and complicate governance.

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The El Niño cometh

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:29:49 EST

This is a re-post from The Climate Brink

El Niño and its sister La Niña are the warm and cool phases of a natural climate pattern across the tropical Pacific (collectively called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO). The planet shifts back and forth irregularly between El Niño and La Niña every two to seven years, changing ocean temperatures and disrupting wind and rainfall patterns across the tropics. This in turn has a number of second-order effects around the planet.

El Niño also has a major effect on global temperatures, reducing the rate of ocean heat uptake and increasing atmospheric temperatures. Global mean temperature can temporarily increase as much as 0.2C during a very strong El Niño event, with the maximum temperature increase in global mean temperature occurring around 3 to 4 months after El Niño conditions peak in the tropical Pacific.

In the past week, a number of modeling groups that try to forecast future ENSO conditions have released forecasts that suggest that a very strong El Niño may be in the works for late 2026. This is a notable revision upwards from earlier forecasts in January and February that suggested that an El Niño might develop, but that it would likely be more modest. Historically it has been hard to precisely predict ENSO development early in the year – hence the famed spring predictability barrier –

I’ve collected 11 different models that have been updated since the beginning of March. Each of these in turn features a number of ensemble members, so that we end up with 433 total ENSO forecasts. A subset of these obtained from Copernicus’ C3S (from Australia’s BOM, CMCC, DWD, ECMWF, and Meteo-France) only extend through August, while the remainder (CFSv2, ECC-CanESM5, ECC-GEM5.2, NASA-GEOS, NCAR-CCSM4, and NCAR-CESM1) extend all the way through November.

The figure below shows a combined super plume of all the ensemble members of all the models, with the mean of each model shown as a bold colored line and the average of all the models (the multi-model mean) shown as a black dashed line.

Super plume of ENSO forecasts from 11 different models. Data from Copernicus C3S, NMME, and CFSv2 (last 10 day ensemble). Datasets are normalized to use a 1991-2020 baseline period.

We can also look at the distribution of temperatures in each month across all ensemble members. The figure below shows the median, interquartile range (25th to 75th percentile) and whiskers (1.5x the interquartile range) for each month, with the statistics weighted based on the number of ensemble members for each model so that models with more ensemble members do not get more weight.

Box plot of monthly ENSO forecasts, with the statistics weighted based on the number of ensemble members per model.

These clearly show that a strong El Niño is indeed likely to develop later in the year. While I’d probably discount some of the higher values (much above 3C) as outliers here, the median and mean across all the models still gives an estimate around 2.5C, which would put it notably stronger than the 2023/2024 El Niño and close to if not matching what we saw back in 2015/2016. 1

Historical ENSO 3.4 region sea surface temperature anomalies along with the mean, 25th, and 75th percentile projections.

So what does this mean for global temperatures this year and in 2027? All things being equal, the lag between peak El Niño conditions and the global surface temperature response would result in the largest impacts on 2027 temperatures (as El Niño events generally peak between November and January). It would still boost 2026, but probably not enough to set a new record this year.

However, I have to be a bit cautious here. Long time readers may remember my post in May 2023 where I deemed it unlikely that 2023 would set a new record (given this historical lag in global temperature response to El Niño) and argued that 2024 would instead. I was partially wrong – 2023 was weird, and the heat came much earlier than expected. We think the extended triple-dip La Niña event between 2020 and 2023 may have primed the system for more rapid heating, something absent this time around. But we don’t know for sure. Fool me once, and all that.

Either way, this means that 2027 looks increasingly likely to set a new record, perhaps by a sizable margin if we end up on the high end of the range of El Niño forecasts.

Also, as a bonus, I’ve also added a new permanent tab to our Climate Dashboard where you can see the latest El Nino / La Nina forecasts, and play around with interactive versions of all these charts.

1 Note that this shows the old ONI 3.4 Index rather than the new RONI one that better separates out recent global warming from the ENSO signal and has the 2023/2024 El Nino notably smaller. This is because the forecast models still use the old approach to calculating ENSO 3.4 anomalies.

Fact brief - Is 'wind-turbine syndrome' a medically recognized diagnosis?

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 10:52:48 EST

Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline.

Is 'wind-turbine syndrome' a medically recognized diagnosis?

An extensive body of studies and reviews has not found a clear, direct link between wind turbines’ low-frequency sound and any specific health syndromes. No medical organization recognizes such diagnoses.

Wind turbines do produce low-frequency noise, but at typical residential distances it is often below normal hearing levels. Public health agencies and systematic reviews conclude that reported symptoms such as sleep disruption and stress are not consistently tied to low-frequency sound exposure. Instead, research suggests complaints are more strongly associated with factors such as annoyance, worry, and negative expectations about nearby turbines.

An analysis of complaints across 51 Australian wind farms between 1993 and 2012 found that health and noise complaints were uncommon for years, then rose sharply after the term “wind turbine syndrome” was newly coined and popularized in 2009, suggesting self-pathologization.

Overall, the evidence does not support low-frequency turbine noise as a cause of a distinct medical condition.

Go to full rebuttal on Skeptical Science or to the fact brief on Gigafact

This fact brief is responsive to quotes such as this one.

Sources

U.S. Department of Energy Frequently Asked Questions about Wind Energy

Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council NHMRC Statement: Evidence on Wind Farms and Human Health

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Health effects of wind turbine noise and road traffic noise on people living near wind turbines

Environmental Health Perspectives The Health Effects of 72 Hours of Simulated Wind Turbine Infrasound: A Double-Blind Randomized Crossover Study in Noise-Sensitive, Healthy Adults

The Conversation Wind turbine studies: how to sort the good, the bad, and the ugly

Frontiers in Public Health Journal The Link between Health Complaints and Wind Turbines: Support for the Nocebo Expectations Hypothesis

Columbia Law School Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles

Please use this form to provide feedback about this fact brief. This will help us to better gauge its impact and usability. Thank you!

How blue California and red Texas became green powerhouses

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:32:12 EST

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections

Despite their polar-opposite politics, California and Texas have achieved the same distinction: They’re both national leaders in producing renewable energy.

Wind and solar today account for 40% of power generation in California and 30% in Texas, well above the national average of 17%.

California and Texas alone account for more than one-third of the U.S.’s solar and wind power generation and over half of its battery storage capacity — shares that continue to grow.

The policy approaches used by California and Texas differ dramatically.

“California has used centralized state control to achieve lots of wind, solar, and storage, while Texas has accomplished the same outcomes via open-access and competitive choice,” said Beth Garza, senior fellow with R Street’s energy and environmental policy team and former director of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Independent Market Monitor, in an email.

Both state governments have invested in power generation, but while California procured clean energy, “Texas created the Texas Energy Fund to provide low-interest loans and cash completion bonuses for new natural gas-fueled generation,” Garza added.

Rather than halt the growth of renewables, the expansion of natural gas in Texas came at the expense of coal. And all of the growth in electricity generation in both states over the past 15 years has been met by solar panels and wind turbines.

Simple dollars and cents continue to propel the expansion of renewable energy in the two states.

“The economics of solar and energy storage as new resources drive them to the top” in California’s state power purchases, said Brendan Pierpont, Director of Electricity at Energy Innovation, in an email. And in Texas’s free market system, “wind, solar, and energy storage are leading the way because they’re winners economically,” there as well, he added.

The biggest difference is that Texas uses a lot more energy, including more total clean energy, despite having a smaller population than efficiency-minded California.

Power generation by source in California (left) and Texas (right). (Data: Ember. Graphic: Dana Nuccitelli)

The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently forecast that the U.S. will install a record-shattering amount of new power capacity in 2026, with solar panels and battery storage accounting for nearly 80% of those additions. Texas is expected to install 40% of that new solar capacity and 53% of the batteries, with California accounting for a further 6% and 14% of each, respectively.

Comparing the states’ energy policies

California established a renewable portfolio standard in 2002. This policy required that in-state utilities supply 20% of total electricity generation from renewables by the end of 2010. That standard was subsequently increased several times, most recently in 2018 to require that 60% of the state’s power be renewable in 2030, and 100% zero-carbon (including nuclear power and hydroelectricity) by 2045. California is on track to meet its goals if rapid in-state clean energy growth continues.

Texas established its own renewable portfolio standard in 1999, three years ahead of California, but with much more modest goals. Texas’ initial standard mandated that utility companies in the state add just two gigawatts of renewable power capacity by 2009, which amounted to less than 2.5% of the state’s total. That standard was later increased to 5.9 gigawatts by 2015, or about 4% of Texas’ total power capacity.

But in 2005, the Texas state legislature took a different tack by passing a law establishing competitive renewable energy zones. These were regions identified as having high potential for wind power but that required a network of electrical transmission lines to deliver those electrons to population centers. Between 2008 and 2019, Texas built 3,600 miles of transmission lines in these zones, which accounted for nearly one-quarter of all new transmission built nationwide during that period.

This policy proved prescient, as wind became the cheapest source of new power generation in the U.S. in 2011. The wind energy industry grew and thrived in Texas, which today generates more annual wind power than the next three states combined.

Levelized cost of energy in the U.S., which estimates the average cost of electricity generation for a power plant over its lifetime. (Data: Lazard. Graphic: Dana Nuccitelli)

Everything is bigger in Texas – including energy bills

In part because it mandated solar and wind power before the costs of renewable energy fell below fossil-fueled alternatives, California’s electricity rates have long been somewhat higher than the national average. Conversely, in part because Texas’s competitive renewable energy zones created the conditions for wind energy production to grow once the technology became relatively cost-effective, the Lone Star state’s electricity rates have been below the national average since 2009. Texas also has more industrial activity than California, which translates to more power demand but also greater utilization of power plants, and more electricity customers, helping to keep rates lower.

Average residential electric rates in California (blue), Texas (red), and the U.S. average (purple) since 2001. (Data: U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Graphic: Dana Nuccitelli)

But our energy bills don’t depend only on electricity rates; the cost also depends on how much we consume. And Californians’ average electricity bills remain slightly lower than the average Texan’s today, because the typical Californian simply uses much less electricity.

In California, “most residents live in mild climates that don’t require as much heating and cooling as compared to Texas,” said Carey King, research scientist and assistant director at the University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute, in an email. But the state’s energy efficiency programs have also played a big role.

“California invested heavily in efficiency, with incentives for appliance efficiency and strong building codes that more than helped offset growing demand,” Pierpont said.

California created the country’s first energy conservation standards for buildings and appliances in the 1970s and established the California Energy Commission to continue advancing them.

“That efficiency, combined with a less extreme climate, means California households use half as much electricity as Texas households,” Pierpont added.

But California’s heavy regulatory hand has also created obstacles to building infrastructure quickly enough to meet the state’s needs.

Dramatically different permitting systems

In January 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act. This policy mandated that federal agencies consider the environmental impacts of projects as part of their decision-making process. Eight months later, then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan signed the state-level equivalent, the California Environmental Quality Act.

In the subsequent decades, a growing population has increased the demand for housing and energy, but the slow permitting processes created in part by these federal and state laws have constrained infrastructure development, contributing to a housing crisis and rising energy bills in California.

Efforts to streamline the California Environmental Quality Act to allow a faster buildout of cheap, clean energy sources have been met with resistance by people concerned about the weakening of environmental protections, leading to mixed results in the state capitol. The state legislature has passed some limited reforms in recent years for specific categories of projects like infill housing, and lawmakers have signaled their intent to continue working on energy infrastructure permitting reforms.

Conversely, Texas established a lightly-regulated state energy permitting system. And its power system remains largely unconnected to the rest of the country’s electric grid.

Because of its deregulated markets, “it’s easier to get projects done in Texas,” King said.

As Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman recently wrote, building a house in Dallas costs less than half as much as in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“The same openness to building that has held the cost of Texas housing down has also helped the state become by far the nation’s largest producer of wind energy,” Krugman said.

In exchange for an expedited permitting and connection process, electricity developers in Texas accept higher risks that their power plants will be “curtailed” – turned off when the grid doesn’t need them. When a lot of new solar and battery installations are built in Texas, “there is no guaranteed payback for the existing generators that might lose market share to the new entrants,” King said.

This permissive approach has proven successful in inducing the rapid growth of clean energy deployment in the state, first from wind in the 2010s and today predominantly from solar and battery storage.

Climate-worsened grid vulnerability

Both states are vulnerable to high electricity demand during extreme summer heat waves. California’s power supply can also become unstable when threatened by wildfires, and Texas’s by hurricanes and winter storms.

Read: The many ways climate change worsens California wildfires

Texas’s grid isolation translates into greater risks of widespread power outages during these extreme weather events, because it prevents the state from importing excess electricity from neighboring regions when its own power plants are compromised. That risk came to fruition during a 2021 winter storm that knocked out power to over 4.5 million homes. Hundreds of Texans died as a result, and the storm is estimated to have cost the state $130 billion. But Texas’s rapid deployment of solar power and especially batteries in the ensuing years, along with winterization measures, helped prevent a similar fate during another winter storm in January 2026.

Read: How mismanagement, not wind and solar energy, causes blackouts

California’s most recent widespread power outages occurred during an extreme heat wave in August 2020 that triggered rolling blackouts for nearly half a million residents. By the summer of 2021, the California power grid was better able to withstand extreme heat, in part due to adding much more solar power and battery storage. During a 2024 summer heat wave, the California grid operator reported that the state was even able to export energy to other states in need. California is also planning to expand its transmission connections to neighboring western regions in part to increase its resilience to extreme weather events.

Two contrasting ways for clean energy to win

The California and Texas examples illustrate that whether the power sector is heavily regulated by climate-minded policymakers or unshackled in a permissive free market, clean energy now dominates new electricity deployments. That’s because solar and wind have become the cheapest sources of new electricity, battery costs to firm up their intermittency have likewise plummeted, and they don’t face the same supply chain limitations as natural gas turbines. Clean energy is the cheapest and fastest option to meet today’s rapidly growing demand.

The biggest obstacles in meeting that growing electricity demand nationwide come in the form of slow permitting and interconnection processes, exacerbated by an old power grid with insufficient electrical transmission capacity. But Texas has illustrated that when those constraints are lifted, unleashed cheap, clean energy can meet rising power demand, even in a conservative state where lawmakers might prefer to see fossil fuels proliferate.

2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #12

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 10:37:30 EST

A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 15, 2026 thru Sat, March 21, 2026.

Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Change Impacts (11 articles)

Summer in March? Unusual Heat Wave Descends on Already Parched Western U.S. "The heat wave could further lower water availability in the region, which has seen staggeringly low levels of snowpack this year." Inside Climate News, Kiley Price, Mar 13, 2026.
Q&A: How climate change and war threaten Iran’s water supplies "Climate change, war and mismanagement are putting Iran’s water supply under major strain, experts have warned." Carbon Brief, Multiple Authors, Mar 13, 2026.
World on course to breach 1.5°C before 2030, and other climate and nature news World Economic Forum (WEF) , Tom Crowfoot, Mar 13, 2026.
‘Unprecedented in the past 3.6 million years’: How human-made climate change is making days longer "Human activity is responsible for slowing Earth’s spin and making days longer, according to a new study." Euronewsdotcom, Liam Gilliver, Mar 14, 2026.
Governments Are Failing to Act on Deadly Combination of Super Pollutants and Heat Health Policy Watch, Chetan Bhattacharji, Mar 16, 2026.
When it rains, it pours with climate change National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS),, Staff, Mar 16, 2026.
Reduced physical activity due to global heating will lead to rise in health issues, study says "Researchers project that reduced activity could contribute to half a million additional premature deaths annually by 2050" The Guardian, Chloé Farand, Mar 16, 2026.
How climate change is fueling disease outbreaks "New Stanford-led research traces a direct line from extreme weather to a massive dengue outbreak in Peru. The findings serve as a warning – and the seed of a possible solution." Stanford Report, Rob Jordan, Mar 17, 2026.
The Weather Is Getting Wilder, and Some See a Dire Signal in the Data "Several of the Earth’s systems are changing faster than predicted as global temperatures rise, scientists say." The New York Times, David Gelles, Mar 19, 2026.
Carbon dioxide levels are higher than humans have ever experienced. It could be changing our blood chemistry CNN, Laura Paddison, Mar 20, 2026.
Get Ready for a Year of Chaotic Weather in the US "A massive Western heat wave and a potential El Niño event raise concerns about a long stretch of unpredictable and extreme weather." by Molly Taft, Wired, Mar 19, 2026

Climate Policy and Politics (6 articles)

Big Tech Says Generative AI Will Save the Planet. It Doesn’t Offer Much Proof "A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all." Wired, Molly Taft, Feb 18, 2026.
Australian governments subsidising fossil fuel use by more than $30,000 a minute, analysis finds "Australia Institute data finds state and federal subsidies for coal, gas and oil products increased 10% in past year, growing at a faster pace than funding to NDIS" The Guardian, Adam Morton, Mar 11, 2026.
A New Era of Data Center Development Is Like a Second Industrial Revolution The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has changed the data center industry and thrust construction of giant server farms into the public eye in a way that’s triggering significant community opposition. Inside Climate News, Arcelia Martin, Mar 14, 2026.
Lawsuit challenges Trump admin's plan to dismantle country's largest climate research lab "The universities that oversee the National Center for Atmospheric Research allege in the suit that the center is 'collateral damage' in the Trump administration’s ongoing feud with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis." NBC News, Evan Bush, Mar 16, 2026.
EU plans emergency measures to curb energy costs as Iran war hits markets Reuters, Kate Abnett & Alexander Chituc, Mar 16, 2026.
Two dozen states, 10 cities sue EPA over repeal of ‘endangerment’ finding central to climate fight AP News, Matthew Daly, Mar 19, 2026.

Climate Education and Communication (3 articles)

Toxic Accounts. From Greenwashing to Gaslighting. In a first-of-its-kind research project, Clean Creatives has decoded the narrative shifts in fossil fuel campaigns between 2020 and 2024, detailing how narrative strategy in oil and gas companies' advertising and PR campaigns has shifted. Clean Creatives, Nayantara Dutta, 03/17/2026.
Oil majors shifting from greenwashing to fossil fuel advocacy, advertising study finds "Companies that once competed to look green are now competing to make fossil fuel dependence look reasonable, a study of nearly 2,000 oil and gas advertisements finds." Eco-Business, Robin Hicks, Mar 18, 2026.
Wondering How to Talk About Climate Change? Take a Lesson from Bad Bunny "Discussing climate change can make a difference. Focusing on the impacts in everyday life is a good place to start, experts say." Inside Climate News, David Sun, Mar 19, 2026.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (2 articles)

Iran War Shows That Doubling Down on Fossil Fuels Is ‘Delusional,’ UN Climate Chief Says "Price spikes from the war highlight the necessity of the renewable energy transition for stability and national security, the U.N. official says." Inside Climate News, Keerti Gopa, Mar 16, 2026.
Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy AP News, Aniruddha Ghosal , Anton L Delgado & Allan Oilingo, Mar 20, 2026.

Miscellaneous (2 articles)

Jeffrey Epstein: Climate Change Denier ClimateAdam on Youtube, Adam Levy, Mar 13, 2026.
2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11 A listing of 27 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 8, 2026 thru Sat, March 14, 2026. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, John Hartz & Doug Bostrom, Mar 15, 2026.

Climate Science and Research (1 article)

The Return of a Super El Niño: How the Rapid Collapse of La Niña is Triggering a Massive Global Shift for 2026 Severe Weather Europe, Andrej Flis, Mar 12, 2026.

Health Aspects of Climate Change (1 article)

Women and girls bearing brunt of water shortages globally, UN warns "Unesco calls for action as lack of access and sanitation hit health, education and food security of women" The Guardian, Fiona Harvey, Mar 18, 2026.

International Climate Conferences and Agreements (1 article)

4 ways Trump is sabotaging climate action around the world "In just the last year, the Trump administration has derailed an international carbon tax, boosted forecasts for oil and gas, and sought to silence an island nation’s climate campaign." Grist, Multiple authors, Mar 14, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Solutions (1 article)

How blue California and red Texas became green powerhouses Despite wildly different approaches, both states are seeing massive growth in solar and wind energy. Yale Climate Connections, Dana Nuccitelli, Mar 18, 2026.