Skeptical Science

Open access notables

Shifting baselines alter trends and emergence of climate extremes across Africa, Taguela & Akinsanola, Atmospheric Research

World Meteorological Organization baselines used to identify climate extremes are routinely updated to reflect recent climate conditions. Yet the implications of these updates for the characterization, trends, and detectability of climate extremes remain poorly understood, particularly in data-sparse and highly vulnerable regions such as Africa. Here, we quantify how updating the reference period from 1981–2010 to 1991–2020 systematically alters the characterization of temperature and precipitation extremes across the continent. Using multiple observational and reanalysis datasets (BEST, ERA5, MERRA-2, CHIRPS), we assess the sensitivity of percentile-based thresholds, long-term trends, and the Time of Emergence (ToE) to changes in the reference period. ToE is employed here as a diagnostic of detectability rather than a definitive marker of anthropogenic signal onset. Our results show that the updated baseline leads to higher temperature thresholds, resulting in a reduced frequency and slower trends for warm extremes (TX90p, TN90p), and a concurrent increase in cold extremes (TX10p, TN10p). Precipitation extremes exhibit more heterogeneous and dataset-dependent responses: trends in extreme precipitation totals (R95pTOT, R99pTOT) generally weaken, whereas intensity-based metrics (R95pINT, R99pINT) often strengthen, particularly in MERRA-2. Moreover, the choice of baseline strongly influences the estimated ToE. Warm extremes emerge 2–8 years later under the newer baseline, while cold extremes emerge earlier (by up to 15 years) due to enhanced signal-to-noise ratios. For precipitation, ToE responses vary widely across datasets and regions. In CHIRPS, the ToE of intense rainfall events is delayed, whereas in MERRA-2 it advances by over 2 decades in some regions. These results indicate that ToE estimates derived from recent decades are highly sensitive to baseline selection. By explicitly isolating the effect of baseline choice, this study provides a critical framework for interpreting extremes, reconciling dataset discrepancies, and improving the robustness of climate monitoring and risk communication across Africa.

[The same innocently mindless yet deceptive baseline updates pertain in other domains.]

Enhanced weather persistence due to amplified Arctic warming, Graversen et al., Communications Earth & Environment

Changing weather is an aspect of global warming potentially constituting a major challenge for humanity in the coming decades. Some climate models indicate that, due to global warming, future weather will become more persistent, with surface-air temperature anomalies lasting longer. However, to date, an observed change in weather persistence has not been robustly confirmed. Here we show that weather persistence in terms of temperature anomalies, across all weather types and seasons, has increased during recent decades in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. This persistence increase is linked to Arctic temperature amplification – the Arctic warming faster than the global average – and hence global warming. Persistent weather may lead to extreme weather, and for many plants such as crops, weather persistence can be devastating, as these plants often depend on weather variations. Hence, our results call for further investigation of weather-persistence impact on extreme weather, biodiversity, and the global food supply.

Northward shift of boreal tree cover confirmed by satellite record, Feng et al., Biogeosciences

The boreal forest has experienced the fastest warming of any forested biome in recent decades. While vegetation–climate models predict a northward migration of boreal tree cover, the long-term studies required to test the hypothesis have been confined to regional analyses, general indices of vegetation productivity, and data calibrated to other ecoregions. Here we report a comprehensive test of the magnitude, direction, and significance of changes in the distribution of the boreal forest based on the longest and highest-resolution time-series of calibrated satellite maps of tree cover to date. From 1985 to 2020, boreal tree cover expanded by 0.844 million km2, a 12 % relative increase since 1985, and shifted northward by 0.29° mean and 0.43° median latitude. Gains were concentrated between 64–68° N and exceeded losses at southern margins, despite stable disturbance rates across most latitudes. Forest age distributions reveal that young stands (up to 36 years) now comprise 15.4 % of forest area and hold 1.1–5.9 Pg of aboveground biomass carbon, with the potential to sequester an additional 2.3–3.8 Pg C if allowed to mature. These findings confirm the northward advance of the boreal forest and implicate the future importance of the region's greening to the global carbon budget.

Securing the past for the future – why climate proxy archives should be protected, Bebchuk & Büntgen, Boreas

Glaciers, corals, speleothems, peatlands, trees and other natural proxy archives are essential for global climate change research, but their scarcity and fragility are not equally recognised. Here, we introduce a rapidly disappearing source of palaeoclimatic, environmental and archaeological evidence from some 5000 years ago in the Fenland of eastern England to argue for the protection of natural proxy archives. We describe the region's exceptional, yet neglected subfossil wood sources, discuss its multifaceted value for scholarship and society, and outline a prototype for sustainable proxy preservation. Finally, we emphasise the urgency and complexity of conservation strategies that must balance academic, public and economic interests across different spatiotemporal scales.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Poll Shows GOP Voters Support Solar Energy, American-Made Solar, Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, First Solar

A national poll by the authors found widespread support for solar energy among Republicans, Republican-leaning Independents, and voters who supported President Donald J. Trump. The poll of 800 GOP+ voters found that they are in favor of the use of utility-scale solar by a more than 20-point margin, with 51% in favor; if the panels used for solar energy are American made with no ties to China, support for solar energy soars higher. Those in favor jump to 70%, while only 19% are opposed; 68% agree that the United States needs all forms of electricity generation, including utility solar, to be built for lowering electricity costs, compared to 22% who disagreed; 79% agree that the government should allow all forms of electricity generation, including utility-scale solar, to compete on their own merits and without political interference, versus 11% who disagreed; a clear majority (52%) of GOP+ voters are more likely to support a Congressional candidate if they support an all-of-the-above energy agenda, including the use of solar; and 51% are more likely to vote for a candidate who supported an American company building a solar panel manufacturing plant in the US.

Hot stuff: geothermal energy in Europe, Tatiana Mindeková and Gianluca Geneletti, Ember

Advances in drilling and reservoir engineering are unlocking geothermal electricity across much wider parts of Europe, at a time when the power system needs firm, low-carbon supply and reduced reliance on fossil fuels. Once limited to a few favorable locations, geothermal is now positioned to scale. Around 43 GW of enhanced geothermal capacity in the European Union could be developed at costs below 100 €/MWh today, comparable to coal and gas electricity. The largest potential is concentrated in Hungary, followed by Poland, Germany and France. While representing only a fraction of Europe’s total geothermal potential, the identified EU-level deployment could deliver around 301 TWh of electricity per year, reflecting geothermal’s high capacity factor. This is equivalent to about 42% of coal- and gas-fired generation in the EU in 2025. 178 articles in 67 journals by 1224 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Amplifying Variability of the Southern Annular Mode in the Past and Future, Ma et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119214

An Analytical Model of the Lifecycle of Tropical Anvil Cloud Radiative Effects, Lutsko et al., Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.175492939.96377329/v1

Causes and consequences of Arctic amplification elucidated by coordinated multimodel experiments, Screen et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03052-z

Enhanced Adiabatic Heating Drives Faster Warming of Early Summer Hot Extremes in North China, Fang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl120396

Evolution of Temperature Extremes During the Holocene: From the Modeling Perspective, Dou & Shi, Open Access pdf 10.22541/au.175329652.23512823/v1

Recent Tropical Cyclone Outer Size Increases in the Western North Atlantic, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007162

What Factors Explain the Current Arctic Albedo and Its Future Change?, Kim & Taylor, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jd044070

Observations of climate change, effects

A Climatology of Heatwaves Over Greece for the Period 1960–2022, Ioannidis et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.70204

Amplifying Variability of the Southern Annular Mode in the Past and Future, Ma et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119214

Climate change and fires drive mire development in central Siberian permafrost areas over the past century, Babeshko et al., The Holocene 10.1177/09596836251407585

Climate change has increased global evaporative demand except in South Asia, Karimzadeh et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-02959-x

Enhanced weather persistence due to amplified Arctic warming, Graversen et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03050-1

Increased contributions of climate-driven wildfires to nitrogen deposition in the United States, Campbell et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6673143/v1

Long-term spatiotemporal analysis of variation in soil moisture over Iran, Darand & Tashan, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar 10.1016/j.jastp.2026.106727

Northward shift of boreal tree cover confirmed by satellite record, Feng et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-1089-2026

Record-Breaking Summertime Terrestrial and Marine Heat Waves in Southeast Asia Driven by Internal Variability during 2020–22, Wang et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0202.1

Resolving the changing pace of Arctic rivers, Geyman & Lamb, Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02512-w

Shifting cyclone travel speed and its impact on global mangrove ecosystems, Mo et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adx6799

Stratopause trends observed by satellite limb instruments, Dubé et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-26-2161-2026

Strongly Heterogeneous Surface-Water Warming Trends in High Mountain Asia, Smith & Bookhagen, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119418

“Vulnerabilities and compound risks of escalating climate disasters in the Brazilian Amazon”, Pinho et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-66603-0

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

A database of databases for Common Era paleoclimate applications, Evans et al., Earth System Science Data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-1185-2026

Exploring Clear-Sky Longwave Radiative Closure in the Arctic: A Downwelling Case Study, Mosselmans et al., Atmospheric Science Letters Open Access 10.1002/asl.70000

Learning From Natural Experiments to Accelerate Demographic Research on Climate-Related Threats to Human Populations, Fussell et al., WIREs Climate Change Open Access 10.1002/wcc.70031

Sea Surface Temperature and Directional Wave Spectra During the 2023 Marine Heatwave in the North Atlantic, Peláez-Zapata et al., Scientific Data Open Access 10.1038/s41597-025-06268-y

Securing the past for the future – why climate proxy archives should be protected, Bebchuk & Büntgen, Boreas Open Access pdf 10.1111/bor.70039

Shifting baselines alter trends and emergence of climate extremes across Africa, Taguela & Akinsanola, Atmospheric Research Open Access 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.108839

Time irreversibility as an indicator of approaching tipping points in Earth subsystems, Kooloth et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03165-5

Where to place? Strategic siting of urban climate monitoring stations using Local Climate Zones and city-scale PALM modeling, Schneider et al., Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102782

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

ENSO's Impacts on Southeastern Australia's Future Rainfall Risk, Huang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl118673

Future Intensification of Compound Heatwaves and Socioeconomic Exposure in Africa, Bobde et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007022

Increased Streamflow Intermittence in Europe Due To Climate Change Projected by Combining Global Hydrological Modeling and Machine Learning, Abbasi et al., 10.22541/essoar.173557434.40176318/v1

Mesoscale Convective Systems over South America: Representation in Kilometer-Scale Met Office Unified Model Climate Simulations, Gilmour et al., Journal of Climate Open Access 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0754.1

More Frequent and Intense Tropical Cyclone-Heat Wave Compound Extremes Over the Coastal Regions of China in a Warmer Climate, Wang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd044509

Multiple Fire Index Examination of Future Climate Change Affecting Wildfire Seasonality and Extremes in the Contiguous United States, Kessenich et al., Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-24-0230.1

Spatiotemporal prioritization of soil erosion risk using the RUSLE model and CMIP6 projections under future climate scenarios in a Mediterranean watershed, ?pek & Kahya, Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1760569

Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

Climate Models Tend to Underestimate Scaling of UK Mean Winter Precipitation With Temperature, Carruthers et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl118201

High-resolution forecasting of soil thermal regimes using different deep learning frameworks under climate change, Saeidinia et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7642696/v1

Performance Evaluation of CMIP6 Models on the Arctic-Siberian Plain Teleconnection Affecting the East Asian Heat Waves, Kim et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100867

Runoff evaluation in an Earth System Land Model for permafrost regions in Alaska, Huang et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-1193-2026

Significance of Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies to Arctic sea ice variability revealed by deep learning, Li et al., npj Climate and Atmospheric Science Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41612-026-01347-2

Temperature variability projections remain uncertain after constraining them to best performing Large Ensembles of individual Climate Models, & , Open Access pmh:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/792982

The ACCESS-AM2 climate model underestimates aerosol concentration in the Southern Ocean; improving aerosol representation could be problematic for the global energy balance, Fiddes et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-25-16451-2025

The representation of climate impacts in the FRIDAv2.1 Integrated Assessment Model, Wells et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-2756

Understanding CMIP6 Multi-Model Ensemble Projected Pacific Warming Pattern Variability, McGregor et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118815

Unveiling the dominant control of the systematic cooling bias in CMIP6 models: quantification and corrective strategies, Zhang et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-26-2175-2026

What Factors Explain the Current Arctic Albedo and Its Future Change?, Kim & Taylor, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jd044070

Cryosphere & climate change

Circulation and ocean–ice shelf interaction beneath the Denman and Shackleton Ice Shelves, Rintoul et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adx1024

Evaluating the effectiveness of artificial covering in reducing glacier melt, LIU et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.01.011

Glacier surging and surge-related hazards in a changing climate, et al., pmh:oai:durham-repository.worktribe.com:4929395

Melting glaciers as symbols of tourism paradoxes, Salim et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02544-2

Melting ice and transforming beliefs, Allison et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02551-3

Negligible global but substantial regional effect of vegetation greening on the 21st century permafrost, Ran et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.12.012

Northward shift of boreal tree cover confirmed by satellite record, Feng et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-1089-2026

Recent and projected changes in rain-on-snow event characteristics across Svalbard, Vickers et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-19-6907-2025

Record-breaking Greenland ice sheet melt events under recent and future climate, Bonsoms et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-69543-5

Spatially variable response of Antarctica’s ice sheets to orbital forcing during the Pliocene, Patterson et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-025-01840-y

Stabilizing feedbacks allow for multiple states of the Greenland Ice Sheet in a fully coupled Earth System – Ice Sheet Model, Andernach et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2025-4736

The impact of 75?years of climate change on Mediterranean glacier mass balance, Wang et al., Global and Planetary Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105370

Sea level & climate change

Estimates of Future Sea Levels Under Sea-Level Rise: A Novel Hybrid Block Bootstrapping Approach and Australian Case Study, Hague et al., 10.22541/essoar.174835238.88076315/v3

Feedback-based sea level rise impact modelling for integrated assessment models with FRISIAv1.0, Ramme et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2025-1875

Observation-based quantification of physical processes that impact sea level, Groeskamp, Ocean Science Open Access 10.5194/os-22-501-2026

Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

An unpredictable body size response to the Permo-Triassic climate crisis, , Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.18380698

Ocean heat forced West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat after the Last Glacial Maximum, Mawbey et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-68949-5

Spatially variable response of Antarctica’s ice sheets to orbital forcing during the Pliocene, Patterson et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-025-01840-y

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

Applying invasion biology frameworks to predict the impacts of range-expanding predators, Beshai et al., Ecology 10.1002/ecy.70315

Blue carbon ecosystems and coral reefs as coupled nature-based climate solutions, Fakhraee, Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-026-01768-0

Climate-driven reproductive decline in Southern right whales, Charlton et al., Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-026-36897-1

Conserving key coastal areas for mangrove expansion and eco-tourism secures ecosystem services under sea-level rise, Stamoulis et al., npj Ocean Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44183-025-00170-1

Contrasting drought responses in two grassland plant–microbe systems under climate change, Yang et al., Journal of Ecology Open Access 10.1111/1365-2745.70251

Coral reefs in the Mahafaly Seascape (SW Madagascar) as potential climate refugia following the 2024 mass bleaching event, Randrianarivo et al., PeerJ Open Access pdf 10.7717/peerj.20319

Critical snowpack thresholds and escalating risks for extreme decreases in vegetation productivity across Northern Hemisphere ecosystems, et al., Open Access pmh:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/394060

Ecological Niche Modeling Reveals Historical Population Dynamics and Future Climate Response of the Carnivorous Plant Nepenthes mirabilis in Southeast Asia, Huang et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72707

Future diversity and lifespan of metazoans under global warming and oxygen depletion, Kaiho, Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2025-1853

Genomics of rafting crustaceans reveals adaptation to climate change in tropical oceans,Liu et al., Nature Communications , Open Access 10.6084/m9.figshare.29614727

Heat wave impacts on tree growth and recovery in temperate forests depend on leaf phenology, Bonfanti et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111020

Impact of Climate Change on the Multiple Facets of Forest Bird Diversity in a Biodiversity Hotspot Within the Atlantic Forest, Mota et al., Diversity and Distributions, Open Access 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.7614515.v1

Impacts of Climate Change on the Distribution of Suitable Habitat for Invasive Coreopsis Species in China, Jia et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73073

Mitigating and adapting to climate change: the role of nature-based solutions in sustaining vegetation health in the Isiukhu River Basin, Tela et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1721489

Mountains magnify mechanisms in climate change biology, de la Fuente et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02549-x

Oaks and Climate Change: Contrasting Range Responses of Mediterranean and Temperate Quercus Species in the Western Palearctic, Ülker & Tav?ano?lu, Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.73055

Over a century of global decline in the growth performance of marine fishes, Yan et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-69416-x

Predicted Effects of Climate Change on Future Distributions of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi, Qi et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72743

Severe and widespread coral reef damage during the 2014-2017 Global Coral Bleaching Event, Eakin et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67506-w

Significant Increase in Summer Vegetation Growth (NDVI) in Eastern Siberia in the Mid-1990s: Combined Effects of Summer North Atlantic SST and May Land–Atmosphere Interaction, Tian et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0535.1

Stronger Sensitivity of Plant Photosynthesis to Rising CO2 in High Elevation Ecosystems, , 10.1111/ele.70328/v1/review3

The Evolution of Southern Ocean Net Primary Production in a Changing Climate: Challenges and Opportunities, Tagliabue et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70653

Tree Regeneration After Unprecedented Forest Disturbances in Central Europe Is Robust but Maladapted to Future Climate Change, et al., Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.18449661

Warmer climate disrupts the trade-off between post-fire loss and recovery of grassland GPP, Cui et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105363

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

An anthropogenically induced gradient in net carbon exchange of a temperate mangrove forest in South Australia, Yang et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1720464

Discrepancies in national inventories reveal a large emissions gap in the wastewater sector, , Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.17715043

Dissolved Organic Matter Composition in the Laurentian Great Lakes Ice and Its Contribution to Spring Melt, Arsenault et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jg009367

Elucidating the Role of Marine Benthic Carbon in a Changing World, Schultz et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles 10.1029/2025gb008643

Empirical Parameterization of Organic Matter Reactivity in Subsea Permafrost and Implications for Greenhouse Gas Fluxes From a Warming Arctic Shelf, Arndt et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles 10.1029/2025gb008712

High-efficiency methane consumption by atmospheric methanotrophs in subsurface karst caves: The irrefutable methane sink, Liu et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.ady5942

How can we trust TROPOMI based methane emissions estimation: calculating emissions over unidentified source regions, Zheng et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-1446

Impact of Land Use Change and Drought on the Net Emissions of Carbon Dioxide and Methane From Tropical Peatlands in Southeast Asia, Hirano et al., AGU Advances Open Access 10.1029/2025av001861

Inhibition of Arctic Soil Dissolved Organic Carbon Export by the Retention Capacity of Thawing Permafrost, He et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl120418

Mature riparian alder forest acts as a strong and consistent carbon sink, Krasnova et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-22-7089-2025

Patterns and drivers of African carbon recovery after disturbance, Li et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111061

Reducing the Discrepancy in Quantifying the Temperature Dependence of Global Wetland Methane Emission, Hu et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70748

Revegetation induces asynchronous changes of deep soil carbon and nitrogen stocks in the Loess Plateau of China, Wang et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access pdf 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1754187

Seasonal Controls of Biogenic Uptake and Anthropogenic Emissions on Carbon Dynamics in a Post-Industrial Shrinking City, Hwang & Papuga, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 10.1029/2025jg008867

Standardising research on marine biological carbon pathways required to estimate sequestration at Polar and sub-Polar latitudes, Morley et al., Earth Open Access 10.1016/j.earscirev.2025.105372

Substantial contribution of trees outside forests to above-ground carbon across China, Su et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-03150-y

Super-sniffer aeroplane finds oil fields’ hidden emissions, , Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00335-z

The impact of warming on peak-season ecosystem carbon uptake is influenced by dominant species in warmer sites, Brinkhoff et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-egu25-245

The ocean’s biological carbon pump under pressure, Middelburg, Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aef3182

Unlocking the Impact of Temperature and Salinity on Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Estuarine Salt Marsh Soils, Sang et al., Earth's Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025ef006912

What is causing the methane surge?, Nisbet & Manning, Science 10.1126/science.aee6226

Why methane surged in the atmosphere during the early 2020s, Ciais et al., Science 10.1126/science.adx8262

CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Afforestation-Related Fertilisation Quickly Turns Barren Cutaway Peatland Into a Carbon Dioxide Sink, Buzacott et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70644

Careful land allocation for carbon dioxide removal is critical for safeguarding biodiversity, , Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02567-3

Clarifying what is meant by greenhouse gas ‘removals’ and categorising types of ‘removal-related activities’, Brander et al., Carbon Management Open Access 10.1080/17583004.2026.2625956

Decarbonization

A perspective on carbon footprint of decentralized manufacturing of lithium-ion cells industrialization, Jayadevan et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1630913

Cost competitiveness and carbon reduction of battery-electric vehicle and battery-swapping electric vehicle with incentive policy in China, Li et al., Energy for Sustainable Development Open Access 10.1016/j.esd.2026.101938

Evidence of a cascading positive tipping point towards electric vehicles, Mercure et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3979270/v1

Next-gen geothermal could bring clean power to much more of the planet, Battersby, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2601712123

Quantifying land-use metrics for solar photovoltaic projects in the western United States, Hu et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-02862-5

Racing against the clock: Modeling the global transition to renewable energy technologies, Bessi et al., Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104541

Study on phased strategies for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industrialization based on a tripartite evolutionary game, Zhou et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1731253

Timely deployment of best-in-class technologies to enable development and decarbonise construction, Dunant et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-67489-8

Geoengineering climate

Injection near the stratopause mitigates the stratospheric side effects of sulfur-based climate intervention, Yu et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-25-18449-2025

Climate change communications & cognition

(Not) all in this together? Viewing climate change as a question of (in)justice rather than common fate increases collective action, Hartwich et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102944

A call for robust evaluations of the impacts of serious games for climate change mitigation: The Climate Fresk as a global case study, Hognon et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102942

Beyond ownership structures: Oil company climate discourses in authoritarian Russia and Kazakhstan, Martus et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104582

Can neighbourhood interventions strengthen collective climate action?, Klöckner et al., Open Access pdf 10.31223/x5741b

Differences within global movements: insights from FFF climate protests in Western and Eastern Europe, Buzogány et al., Environmental Politics 10.1080/09644016.2026.2623726

From anxiety to hope: Do climate change-related emotions influence actual environmental behaviour?, Schwarz et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102939

When climate action meets low efficacy: Rethinking the mental health consequences of pro-environmental engagement, Heriansyah, Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102951

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Determinants of climate change adaptation strategies’ adoption among maize farming households: evidence from Malawi, Nkhoma et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1743868

Exploring the influence of cognitive differences on farmers’ participation in forestry carbon sequestration projects: evidence from China, Zhu et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1746843

Future viability of European vineyards using bioclimatic climate analogues, Allaman et al., Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5344049

Net ecosystem carbon balance and greenhouse gas budget of a canola-wheat cropping system in the northern prairies, Ferland et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111044

Promote or inhibit: how climate policy uncertainty may shape extreme weather’s impact on grain production, Zhang et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.3389/fevo.2026.1753076

Study on the Suitable Area of Ratoon Rice in China Under Climate Change, Luo et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72724

Synergies in environmental and agricultural water availability under climate change, Lester et al., Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-025-01720-8

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

Australian Rainfall Projections Associated with ENSO Diversity in a Warming Climate: Insights from CMIP6 Large Ensembles, Li et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0218.1

Changes in the Frequency of Flood Events Across the United States Detectable by the Middle of This Century, Kim et al., Earth's Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025ef006677

ENSO's Impacts on Southeastern Australia's Future Rainfall Risk, Huang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl118673

Global Warming Enhances Tropical Cyclone–Induced Extreme Precipitation in the Arabian Sea: Insights From Convection-Permitting Model Experiments, Pathaikara et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007294

Long-term spatiotemporal analysis of variation in soil moisture over Iran, Darand & Tashan, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar 10.1016/j.jastp.2026.106727

Multidimensional Flood Risk Analysis of High-Speed Rail Systems Under Future Climate Change, Liu et al., Risk Analysis 10.1111/risa.70184

Recent and projected changes in rain-on-snow event characteristics across Svalbard, Vickers et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-19-6907-2025

Renewability of fossil groundwaters affected by present-day climate conditions, Ferguson et al., Nature Geoscience pdf 10.1038/s41561-026-01923-4

Climate change economics

Climate Change and Economic Sustainability: Empirical Evidence on the Dynamics of Adjusted Net Savings in Benin's Regions, Logozo & Kougblenou Menou, Climate Resilience and Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1002/cli2.70026

Climate Shocks and the Poor: A Review of the Literature, Triyana et al., 10.1596/1813-9450-10742

Compound dry-and-hot extremes exacerbate income inequality and poverty in Europe, Schleypen et al., Global Environmental Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.103106

How Temperature Drives Health Insurance Demand?, Chen et al., Risk Analysis 10.1111/risa.70181

Increasingly frequent compound climate events worsen economic disparities in China's urban agglomerations, He et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102824

Modelling decarbonisation pathways in Europe: Balancing ambition and economic feasibility, Chyong & Schmidt, Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5293284

Climate change mitigation public policy research

A multi-stakeholder assessment of the implications of non-energy policies on renewable energy development in the Philippines, Benitez & Dhakal, Energy for Sustainable Development 10.1016/j.esd.2025.101919

Advancing representations of equity and justice in climate mitigation futures, Pachauri et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000763

Determinants of firms’ acceptability of carbon taxation: a systematic literature review, Mwang'Onda et al., Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2026.2627746

EU policy on forest carbon sinks revisited, Kallio & Garvik, Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104332

Global governance complex for climate change: a bibliometric analysis, Li & Yaakop, Discover Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1007/s43621-025-02089-6

Ireland's carbon emission trends and degrowth opportunities: Based on modified Tapio - LMDI model, Zhao et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114943

Mapping organized interests across arenas in Australian climate policy, Downie & Halpin, Environmental Politics 10.1080/09644016.2025.2597645

Navigating carbon neutrality: policy pathways and consistency on industrial decarbonization in China, Zhou et al., Carbon Balance and Management Open Access 10.1186/s13021-025-00356-7

Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia requires ambitious climate targets combined with sustainability-focused measures, Zhang et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-02970-2

Taking climate justice to court, Schack, Environmental Sociology Open Access 10.1080/23251042.2026.2627448

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

A method for tracking national progress towards climate change adaptation, Brullo et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2026.100800

Climate change adaptation status of Turkish local governments: A comparative analysis, Küçük Horasan & Özerol, Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102815

Enabling democratic shifts through climate adaptation: the climate adaptation democracy framework, Comelli et al., Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2026.2624955

Exclusionary Environmentalism: Exploring Gender and Antifeminism in Far-Right Ecologisms, Brodtmann, Environmental Communication Open Access 10.1080/17524032.2025.2596614

Expert agreement on key elements of transformational adaptation to climate risks, Biesbroek et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02548-y

Exploring the coherence of urban heat adaptation plans, Tuomimaa et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1741647

Integrating value systems and place-based characteristics in climate risk assessments, Reveco et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1719404

Persistent vulnerability and precarious futures: the limits of adaptation in ‘climate migrant’ informal settlements of coastal Bangladesh, et al., Open Access 10.6084/m9.figshare.31300234.v1

Resource mapping amid climate crisis for protection of hunter gatherer community livelihoods in Northern Tanzania, Bwagalilo, Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1691766

Climate change impacts on human health

Assessing children’s vulnerability to climate change in Small Island Developing States – A case study from Saint Kitts and Nevis, Ashorn et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000789

Climate Change and Disparities in Extreme Heat Exposure for Socially Vulnerable Areas in the Contiguous United States, Parsons et al., Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.174139309.92730243/v1

Early-life heat exposure increases risk of neurodevelopmental delay in preschool children, Cai et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02560-w

Expanding compound heat and ultraviolet radiation stress amplifies exposure risks for elderly populations, , Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.17568494

Overlooked toll of climate change on migrant children in the Americas, Pintea et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02525-5

The True Cost of Heat: Evaluating Heat-Related Mortality Estimation Methods in Texas, Rutt & Dessler, Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.175376679.98846268/v1

Other

Experimenting for impact: Combining research with advocacy for climate stability, Suter et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000837

Mapping the epistemic geography of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (1995–2022), Bau Larsen et al., Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104291

The influence of incidental emotion on novice Pilots’ approach Decision-Making under uncertainty in the context of climate Challenges, Wang et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2025.100754

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Can the clean-energy revolution save us from climate catastrophe?, Tollefson, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00332-2

Securing the past for the future – why climate proxy archives should be protected, Bebchuk & Büntgen, Boreas Open Access pdf 10.1111/bor.70039

Support people and their livelihoods rather than fossil-fuel industries, , Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00382-6

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

Beyond Power Demand: How AI-Driven Metals Inflation Is Testing Utility Regulation, Shi et al., Morningstar/DBRS

Accelerating demand and material cost inflation result in a widening mismatch: utilities are being asked to expand their networks faster at precisely the moment when the unit cost of doing so is structurally higher. Utilities are faced with the impact of both cyclical and structural inflation on their capital planning and requirements. Regulatory and political constraints will determine whether cost recovery occurs quickly enough and broadly enough to align with accelerating capital requirements.

Poll Shows GOP Voters Support Solar Energy, American-Made Solar, Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, First Solar

A national poll by the authors found widespread support for solar energy among Republicans, Republican-leaning Independents, and voters who supported President Donald J. Trump. The poll of 800 GOP+ voters found that they are in favor of the use of utility-scale solar by a more than 20-point margin, with 51% in favor; if the panels used for solar energy are American made with no ties to China, support for solar energy soars higher. Those in favor jump to 70%, while only 19% are opposed; 68% agree that the United States needs all forms of electricity generation, including utility solar, to be built for lowering electricity costs, compared to 22% who disagreed; 79% agree that the government should allow all forms of electricity generation, including utility-scale solar, to compete on their own merits and without political interference, versus 11% who disagreed; a clear majority (52%) of GOP+ voters are more likely to support a Congressional candidate if they support an all-of-the-above energy agenda, including the use of solar; and 51% are more likely to vote for a candidate who supported an American company building a solar panel manufacturing plant in the US.

New England’s Offshore Wind Solution. The Region Can Ride Through Cold-Weather Demand Surges with Local Renewable Energy, Susan Muller, Union of Concerned Scientists

Wind energy off the New England coast can powerfully reinforce the reliability of the region's electric grid, particularly during winter when the system is most vulnerable to energy shortages. Combined with the energy available from onshore wind and solar resources, an offshore wind fleet can support a shift toward local solutions for winter reliability in New England, bringing consumers much-needed relief from high seasonal electricity bills. The authors' analysis of winter 2024–2025 wind speed data shows that the energy delivered by just two offshore wind projects, totaling 1,500 megawatts (MW) of capacity, would have lowered the risk of power outages, based on a key reliability metric, by 55 percent over the course of the season. A larger fleet of 3,500 MW would have reduced the risk of outages by 75 percent. In either case, the scale of energy delivered by an offshore wind fleet would have increased the total winter energy supply from local renewable resources above the energy supply from imported liquified natural gas.

South Sudan. Country Climate and Development Report, Ling et al., World Bank Group

South Sudan has fallen into a vicious cycle of fragility, conflict, and climate vulnerability, with climate change acting as a threat multiplier, exacerbating displacement, food insecurity, social dislocation, resource conflict, and grievance. Already one of the fastest-warming countries, 80 percent of South Sudan’s population depends on climate-vulnerable livelihoods. More than half of the population is chronically food insecure, due to a combination of conflict and climate factors. The devastating floods of recent years are likely to become the new normal, and will be joined by increasing climate stress on labor productivity, agrifood systems, and human health. The authors identify priority investments to strengthen resilience in flood risk management, resilient rural livelihoods, sustainable natural resource use, and sustainable energy access. These require substantial fiscal resources, but the public finance system is under severe strain, and external support is set to decline sharply. Domestic revenue mobilization— particularly more targeted and effective use of existing government revenues and more efficient, transparent spending—is therefore essential to promote adaptation. Core governance reforms also need to support private sector development and climate action.

2025 Transmission Planning and Development Report Card, Zimmerman et al., Americans for a Clean Energy Grid

The authors provide an updated assessment of U.S. transmission planning and development across 10 regions. Overall, there was incremental improvement in transmission planning across most of the regions, driven largely by reforms to regional planning. However, many regions continue to fall well short of best practices, and progress remains uneven relative to the scale and urgency of today’s transmission needs. Accelerating electricity demand — driven by data centers, manufacturing growth, and electrification — is increasing the importance of forward-looking transmission planning, compressing planning timelines, and raising the stakes for regions that continue to rely on incremental or reactive approaches.

Clean Economy Works: December 2025 Analysis, Michael Timberlake, E2-Ecopnomy and Environment

At the end of 2025, the U.S. clean energy economy reached a clear inflection point. While companies continued to announce new investments—albeit fewer and with less capital per project that recent years—the pace and scale of cancellations, closures, and downsizes accelerated dramatically. The result was the largest annual reversal of clean energy investment since E2 began tracking in 2022. The data show not simply a slowdown, but a fundamental imbalance: for the first time, project losses far outpaced project gains, particularly in manufacturing sectors that had driven much of the post-IRA investment surge. This imbalance was felt across regions, industries, and political boundaries. For example, three dollars abandoned for every dollar announced: In 2025, clean energy cancellations and downsizes totaled $34.8 billion, nearly three times the $12.3 billion in new investment announced—producing a sharply negative return on clean energy investment activity; 38,031 manufacturing jobs eliminated: Project reversals and factory closures wiped out more clean energy jobs in 2025 than in all prior tracked years combined, resulting in a net loss of more than 15,000 jobs; $30.2 billion in manufacturing losses: Manufacturing facilities accounted for nearly all cancelled investment and job losses, underscoring the vulnerability of capital-intensive domestic clean energy supply chains.

Global wind and solar 2025: The G7 gap, Diren Kocaku?ak and Mengqi Zhang, Global Energy Monitor

The global clean power pipeline surged in 2025. Announced and in-progress wind and utility-scale solar projects expanded by 11%, increasing from 4.4 terawatts (TW) to almost 5 TW worldwide. Globally, utility-scale solar led the expansion of the pipeline. The utility-scale solar pipeline grew by 17% and passed 2.2 TW, while the wind pipeline grew by 7%. The world’s richest economies are not driving that growth. The G7 countries, despite controlling roughly half of global wealth, account for 11% of the world’s prospective wind and utility-scale solar capacity additions. The center of gravity for new clean power has shifted decisively toward emerging and developing economies. China crossed a historic threshold. Its combined operating wind, utility-scale solar, and distributed solar capacity surpassed 1.6 TW in 2025, triple the combined capacity of its closest peers, the United States and India. Distributed solar is a pillar of the clean energy transition, but it is not evenly spread. While it represents about 42% of all existing and prospective solar capacity worldwide, deployment remains heavily concentrated in a small number of countries, leaving significant room to expand.

Aspen National Water Strategy, Watson et al., Aspen Institute and the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Building on the insights and relationships developed through the Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum, the Aspen National Water Strategy Initiative advances a coordinated vision for U.S. water governance. Developed through 18 months of collaboration among water leaders from across sectors, regions, and backgrounds, the Aspen National Water Strategy identifies six interconnected strategies essential to securing water for America’s communities, economies, and ecosystems including elevating water security as a cornerstone of the nation’s economy; reforming water governance to establish clear structures and standards while enabling flexible, locally appropriate implementation; investing in rural water resources and services to strengthen rural communities and regional water security; equipping communities to adapt to rising water-related climate risks; modernizing water infrastructure while renewing existing assets; and accelerating the adoption of innovative water solutions at scale.

Hot stuff: geothermal energy in Europe, Tatiana Mindeková and Gianluca Geneletti, Ember

Advances in drilling and reservoir engineering are unlocking geothermal electricity across much wider parts of Europe, at a time when the power system needs firm, low-carbon supply and reduced reliance on fossil fuels. Once limited to a few favorable locations, geothermal is now positioned to scale. Around 43 GW of enhanced geothermal capacity in the European Union could be developed at costs below 100 €/MWh today, comparable to coal and gas electricity. The largest potential is concentrated in Hungary, followed by Poland, Germany and France. While representing only a fraction of Europe’s total geothermal potential, the identified EU-level deployment could deliver around 301 TWh of electricity per year, reflecting geothermal’s high capacity factor. This is equivalent to about 42% of coal- and gas-fired generation in the EU in 2025.

Cost Analysis of Heavy-Duty Vehicle Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stationary Power Plants, Reznicek et al., National Laboratory of the Rockies/National Renewable Energy Lab

Heavy-duty proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells could be a low-cost, low emission alternative to combustion turbines for re-electrifying hydrogen if used as part of a long duration grid energy storage systems. Many studies expect heavy duty PEM fuel cell production costs to reduce as manufacturing volumes ramp up and their expected durability of 25,000-30,000 hours aligns well with a 30-year life for hydrogen seasonal energy storage plants that would likely operate less than 10% of the year. The labor, material, and equipment costs associated with installing PEM fuel cells and their required balance of plant for stationary applications have not been thoroughly explored, however. This study performs a detailed design and cost analysis of a 100 MW stationary PEM fuel cell power plant, capturing costs such as cooling, power electronics, pipes, valves, fittings, cabling, conduit, concrete foundations, buildings, and land. It employs methods consistent with NLR's solar PV benchmarking cost analysis and annual technology baseline to derive the total installed costs of stationary PEM fuel cell plants that utilize heavy duty PEM fuel cells. The anticipated total cost of building a stationary PEM fuel cell plant with today's technology is $954/kW. This cost could reduce to $567/kW - $754/kW by 2050, depending on potential cost reductions in fuel cells, inverters, and transformers. Both the estimated current cost and potential future costs are on the lower end if not less than estimated costs associated with natural gas combustion turbines, which range from $900/kW to $1,500/kW according to the EIA. Because PEM fuel cells do not produce pollutants such as NOx and SOx and can have much higher efficiencies than combustion turbines while still maintaining adequate start-up times and dynamic capabilities, this suggests that stationary PEM fuel cells could outperform combustion turbines for hydrogen long duration grid storage applications on the grounds of capital cost, operating costs, and emissions. About New Research

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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler

Want to lower your carbon footprint? Consider ditching your car. 

In a 2025 study, researchers at the World Resources Institute found that going car-free is the most effective step individuals can take to lower their personal emissions. In fact, it has a bigger impact than adding a home solar system and going vegan combined, they wrote, and 78 times more effective than composting.

But in much of the U.S., getting around without a car is difficult, if not impossible, due to overwhelmingly car-centric infrastructure. However, while going car-free may be hard for many Americans to imagine, this could change. As cities like Amsterdam and Paris have shown, when governments take decisive action to reduce car dependency, the results can be dramatic.

Moreover, the remedies for car dependency are well understood, at least at a high level. Decades’ worth of research from universities, government agencies, nonprofits, and design firms has created a significant body of knowledge about how to reduce reliance on cars.

Susan Handy, who leads the National Center for Sustainable Transportation at the University of California at Davis, said the main takeaways of this research are clear and compelling. 

“When people live in more compact communities where they’re in closer proximity to the places they need to go, and when they have good alternatives to driving – meaning good bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and decent transit service – they will, in fact, drive less,” she said.

(Image credit: Tejvan Pettinger / CC BY 2.0)

Must-haves for reducing reliance on cars

In 2025, Kostas Mouratidis, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, published a peer-reviewed study identifying seven strategies that have successfully reduced car dependency in Western European cities.

Two of these strategies – raising awareness about the benefits of reducing car dependency and supporting compact cities through policy – are prerequisites for the others to succeed, he wrote.

Awareness-raising is vital to creating buy-in and shaping public behavior. This can take many forms, including open streets events, which temporarily close roads to vehicles and open them to other uses. Found everywhere from Bogotá to Tucson, these events demonstrate how space currently devoted to cars could be used for things like cycling, walking, and entertainment. In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan has used open streets days to build support for permanent pedestrianization.

Governments can also use information and incentives to raise awareness about alternatives to driving. In Portland, Oregon, households moving into some multifamily buildings receive a welcome packet from the municipality containing several hundred dollars’ worth of credits for bikeshare and public transportation, along with advice for navigating the area without a car. 

This and similar initiatives take advantage of the fact that people are more likely to change their transportation habits when their lives are already in flux, said Stefanie Seskin, the director of policy and practice at the National Association of City Transportation Officials. 

“Because you’re already moving and you’re changing your patterns, it’s a great time to try riding a bike, to try walking places, to try taking TriMet, [Portland’s] transit system,” she said.

Policies that make communities denser by locating buildings and amenities closer together are also critical for sustainable transportation to flourish. 

“Without a relatively compact urban form, you cannot expect people to be able to walk or cycle to destinations that they need to cover their daily needs,” Mouratidis said.

One vital mechanism for achieving this is zoning. In many American communities, zoning regulations make it illegal to build anything other than single-family homes on 75% of residential land. Changing this policy allows apartment buildings and small businesses to pop up in areas where they have historically been prohibited, allowing more people to walk or cycle to amenities close to their homes. 

Zoning changes can also lower the number of off-street parking spots developers are required to build for different building types, freeing up space that allows structures to be built closer to one another. Since parking is expensive to build, parking reform can also make neighborhoods more affordable.

Limiting private vehicles and investing in alternatives

Once communities reach sufficient levels of public buy-in and urban density, five additional strategies can successfully help people shift away from their cars, Mouratidis said. (Governments don’t need to wait to implement them until they’ve fully attained these goals, however, he stresses.) 

These strategies are:

• Investing in public transportation
• Improving pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure
• Restricting car use
• Supporting shared mobility (such as car-sharing services)
• Facilitating virtual mobility (such as teleconferencing and online shopping). 

These categories encompass a wide variety of actions. To restrict car use, some cities turn to congestion pricing programs in which drivers must pay to enter designated areas. Building on successful programs in Singapore, London, and Stockholm, New York City became the first U.S. city to implement congestion pricing in early 2025, charging cars $9 to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak hours. In the program’s first year, 27 million fewer vehicles entered the affected area.

Investments in public transportation, pedestrian infrastructure, and bike lanes are also critical to reducing car dependency. Although many U.S. cities are struggling to fund existing public transit systems, some have found ways to not only maintain current services but also expand and improve them. In New York City, congestion pricing proceeds are being used to maintain and upgrade the city’s subways, buses, and commuter trains. In Virginia, the state government has dramatically increased its investment in public transportation as well as pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in the past decade.

Illinois offers another promising model for supporting financially vulnerable public transportation systems. A law signed by Governor JB Pritzker in late 2025 designated $1.5 billion dollars annually for mass transit in Chicago and elsewhere in the state, with part of the funding coming from gas sales taxes that were diverted away from road construction. 

This represents a “groundbreaking, transformational investment in Illinois’s transit system,” said Kevin X. Shen, a transportation policy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “It’s not only filling the fiscal cliff gap they faced that was threatening service cuts, but also going over that hump to increase transit service in ways that are needed for communities across the state.”

Big cities aren’t the only ones investing in alternatives to the car. In Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus that’s home to approximately 50,000 people, the local government is helping extend existing bus lines, upgrading bus stops, working with regional partners to introduce bus rapid transit service, upgrading its bicycle infrastructure, working with companies that provide bike- and scooter-share programs, and partnering with developers and designers to build walkable neighborhoods. 

Obstacles to reducing car dependency

Despite these and other success stories, reliance on cars is growing around the world, Mouratidis said. 

“Car ownership is increasing, the sales of cars are increasing, and overall, little is done towards reducing car dependence,” he said. “Globally, we have some cities that are quite pioneering in reducing car dependence. But besides those, there is little that is done.”

One challenge is that although government officials may understand the high-level solutions, many aren’t sure how to implement them on the ground. 

“Anybody going through a master’s of city planning program now is probably familiar with the research about how the built environment affects car dependence,” Handy said. “[But] even if the planners and the public officials know something about that research and believe that this is what they should be trying to do, they don’t necessarily know how to do it.”

Moreover, governments often lack the support and resources they need to make progress on this issue. Opposition from NIMBY (which stands for “not in my backyard”) groups and others can block progress. 

“There’s definitely a solid base of knowledge of what works,” Seskin said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that what works is initially popular, though. And I think that’s where things get tricky.” 

The private sector also plays a vital role in determining how this issue plays out. Many businesses and other organizations take steps that reduce car dependency. For example, employer-run programs to shift people from cars to other modes of transportation are the most common and popular initiatives of this type in the country, Seskin said. 

But other private-sector actions are less beneficial. For example, developers and financiers often slow attempts to make communities more compact, since they, not governments, ultimately determine exactly what gets built where. 

“There’s a lot of inertia and risk aversion in the development community, so that’s why we keep getting the same stuff that we always get – because that’s what the private sector knows how to do,” Handy said.

Groups with economic interests in maintaining the status quo are another major barrier to progress, said Shen, who was the lead author of a 2024 report about car dependence in the U.S. 

“We found that the oil, auto, and roadbuilding industries receive more than 80% of the over $2 trillion in yearly public and private transportation spending,” he said. “And if you look through our history, they’ve lobbied for decades to prioritize cars over a more complete or affordable set of transportation options.”

“Our transportation system isn’t just a blank slate where people are vying for the best technical solution,” he said. “There are industries with real financial interests in shaping how we get around.”

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Can nearby solar farms reduce property values?

Property values can decline from close proximity with utility-scale solar farms, but the losses are modest and less than from nearby fossil fuel plants.

One 2023 study of 1.8 million homes found minor impacts on property values. Homes within 0.5 miles of solar farms experienced around 1.5% price reductions; homes more than one mile away received no significant effects.

Another study of 400,000 transactions found an average value decrease of 1.7% within one mile of a solar farm. Most recently, 2025 research indicated a slightly higher decrease of 4.8% for residential property within three miles of utility-scale solar projects.

Declines largely occur in suburban areas with greater population density and thus competition for space; rural communities experience little comparable impact.

In comparison, a study of 92 plants found property value decreases of up to 7% within two miles of a fossil fuel plant.

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Energy Policy Journal Shedding light on large-scale solar impacts: An analysis of property values and proximity to photovoltaics across six U.S. states

MIT Review of Economics and Statistics The Effect of Power Plants on Local Housing Values and Rents

Kirkland Appraisals Grandy Solar Impact Survey

University of Rhode Island PROPERTY VALUE IMPACTS OF COMMERCIAL-SCALE SOLAR ENERGY IN MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND

The University of Texas at Austin An Exploration of Property-Value Impacts Near Utility-Scale Solar Installations

CohnReznick Property Value Impact Study Proposed Solar Farm McLean County, IL

National Academy of Sciences Economic Sciences Journal Impact of large-scale solar on property values in the United States: Diverse effects and causal mechanisms

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

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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons

When Jessica Fujii was in kindergarten, she drew a picture of her future. In a “What do you want to be when you grow up?” booklet, she skipped ballerina and veterinarian and wrote down something else entirely: sea otter biologist, complete with cartoon-like otters in the great tide pool at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Fujii grew up in California’s Bay Area, and trips to Monterey and its aquarium became a regular part of her childhood. She remembers paddling alongside her dad in a kayak on Monterey Bay, watching wild otters float on their backs as they cracked open crabs and let the shells sink. Back then, she mostly took their presence for granted.

Today, as a sea otter researcher and program manager at the aquarium, she knows how close California came to losing them – and how much now depends on the fragile population that remains. Along Northern California’s coasts, sea otters help habitats endure climate impacts like warming oceans, shifting predator ranges, and harmful algal blooms by keeping underwater plant life healthy and supporting resilient ecosystems.

Fujii is still focused on individual sea otters, but she’s also tracking a bigger picture of these important creatures over time. 

A comeback story with a twist

From Fujii’s vantage point on Monterey Bay, southern sea otters – the subspecies that lives along the central California coast – are both a conservation success story and a reminder of what’s been lost.

Once hunted to near extinction for their fur, they survived off the coast of California thanks to a tiny remnant population and, later, federal protections and hands?on conservation work. These days, there are only about 3,000 southern sea otters in California, and their geographical range has shrunk to roughly 13% of the coastline they historically occupied. Their numbers have been relatively steady for years, but their range hasn’t meaningfully expanded in about two decades.

Globally, sea otters live in coastal waters from Alaska across the North Pacific to Russia, but the southern sea otter is the only population found in California – and it’s the one scientists have studied most closely for its role in kelp forests, sea grass meadows, and coastal wetlands. And over the past several decades, scientists have learned that these animals punch far above their weight, especially along the nearshore strip where land and ocean meet.

From cuddly to keystone predator

It’s easy to see why sea otters are often treated like stuffed animals brought to life. Fujii describes a tiny, five?pound pup as “basically a furball … it’s kind of like holding a kitten” before their teeth and jaws develop.

(Image credit: Courtesy Monterey Bay Aquarium)

But the illusion only lasts so long. One longtime aquarium volunteer said he “wouldn’t want to be stuck in a pool with an adult otter.” It’s a good reminder that beneath the fluff is a muscular predator built to crush crabs and urchins.

Ecologists describe sea otters as a classic keystone species, an animal whose presence has much bigger impacts on its surroundings than its numbers alone would suggest. Unlike many other marine mammals, sea otters don’t have a thick layer of blubber to keep them warm. Instead, they rely on extremely dense fur and a very high metabolic rate. 

“It’s about two times higher than similarly sized terrestrial mammals,” Fujii said, and because they can’t store energy as blubber, they need to be consuming those calories every single day.

That constant need to eat – up to a quarter of their body weight daily – helps explain why their foraging makes them major players in nearshore ecosystems. What, and how much, they eat ripples outward through food webs, shaping whether the coast is dominated by thick underwater forests and meadows, or by stripped-down, degraded seafloors that are more vulnerable to climate pressures.

Keeping kelp forests alive in a warming ocean

In recent years, a prolonged bout of unusually warm ocean conditions – made more likely and more intense by climate change – has caused kelp forests to crash along much of California, leaving behind vast “urchin barrens” where little grows besides hungry purple urchins. Around Monterey Bay, though, researchers found that sea otters ramped up their urchin eating in the remaining kelp beds, allowing those last patches of forest to hang on.

Left unchecked, urchins can mow down kelp beds and turn lush underwater forests into places where urchins have grazed away almost all the kelp. When otters are present and hunting, they thin out those urchins, giving kelp a chance to grow taller and thicker and to shelter a wide range of fish, invertebrates, and other marine life.

“Across much of their range, when sea otters consume urchins, they keep that population under control and limit how much grazing the urchins are doing on the kelp,” Fujii said. “That allows the kelp to flourish and be more abundant and provide homes for many other species.”

A recent study stitched together more than a century of kelp data along the California coast using old maps and satellite images. The analysis found steep losses in the floating kelp canopy in southern and northern regions where otters remain absent, but notable long?term growth in kelp along the Central Coast – exactly where sea otter populations have rebounded.

Healthy kelp forests, in turn, absorb wave energy and soften the punch of storms that are projected to grow more intense with climate change, reducing erosion along vulnerable shorelines. Scientists are still debating how much long?term carbon storage kelp forests actually provide, said Fujii, since much of that kelp washes ashore and decomposes.

But when otters keep kelp alive, they also maintain rich, complex coastal ecosystems that are better able to absorb climate shocks than bare seafloors.

In Elkhorn Slough, cleaning up blue carbon habitats

The otter’s climate story doesn’t end in the open?coast kelp forests. As the ocean absorbs more than 90% of the excess heat from climate warming pollution and loses oxygen, many marine animals are struggling to cope with warmer, more acidic, less hospitable water. Coastal plants and algae – kelp, eelgrass, and other seaweeds – are emerging as unlikely allies, drawing down carbon, buffering waves, and giving stressed species places to hide and feed.

In sheltered estuaries like Elkhorn Slough, a coastal inlet where freshwater meets seawater just inland from Monterey Bay, researchers have found that sea otters can help keep underwater sea grass meadows and nearby marshes intact. Around a hundred otters now make their home in the slough, one of California’s last great coastal wetlands and a hot spot for birds, fish, and other marine life.

The connection runs through the food web: Otters eat crabs. When crab numbers drop, tiny grazers like sea slugs survive and multiply. These grazers don’t eat the sea grass; instead, they scrape away algae that builds up on the grass blades. That keeps the meadows healthy even in estuaries loaded with pollution from fertilizers and other runoff.

The marsh connection works differently. When shore crab numbers explode, the crabs burrow into marsh banks and chew on plant roots. That destabilizes shorelines and speeds up erosion. By eating those crabs, otters slow the loss of marsh edges that protect nearby communities from flooding and storm surge.

All of this matters for climate because sea grass beds and adjacent marshes are “blue carbon” habitats – coastal ecosystems that soak up and lock away carbon in plants and underlying sediments while also stabilizing shorelines and supporting fish and birds. California’s latest climate adaptation strategy explicitly calls out eelgrass as a blue?carbon tool, part of a broader push to protect and restore coastal ecosystems that both store carbon and buffer people from rising seas.

(Image credit: Courtesy Monterey Bay Aquarium)

Climate’s double edge: Ally and victim

Despite all the ways otters support coastal ecosystems, they’re not immune to the forces reshaping those places. Fujii and her colleagues have documented a sharp rise in sea otters injured or killed by white sharks – often juveniles that deliver a single, exploratory bite and don’t even eat the animal. Research she worked on has linked those juvenile sharks’ northward shift to warmer waters, a trend expected to continue as the ocean heats up. Aquarium researchers have also found that otters are more likely to be bitten in areas where the kelp canopy has thinned, potentially leaving them more exposed as they rest and forage near the surface.

At the same time, says Fujii, sea otters are increasingly exposed to harmful algal blooms that produce domoic acid, a harmful toxin. In otters, heavy exposure can cause sudden, fatal strandings, while lower?level, chronic doses can quietly damage their hearts over time, leading to lethal heart disease years after an initial bloom has passed. Fujii also worries about more frequent and intense storms, which can separate moms and pups and leave tiny, still?dependent otters stranded on beaches.

The species is bolstering coastal ecosystems against climate pressures, while facing mounting climate threats of its own.

Why protecting sea otters matters for everyone

In 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided southern sea otters would retain protection under the Endangered Species Act, reflecting how vulnerable the population still is. Unlike many other listed species, though, they still don’t have an officially designated “critical habitat,” even though their nearshore environment is clearly central to their survival.

Without more room to grow or formal habitat protections, even a seemingly stable population can be vulnerable. 

“As we continue to see the impacts of climate change, the stress on this population will continue to pile on,” Fujii said.

Even if they were immune to the impacts of climate change, sea otters clearly won’t solve the climate crisis on their own. They won’t erase emissions or single-handedly save the coast. But research over the past several decades has shown that they can shift the balance in the places they still inhabit, keeping kelp forests from collapsing into urchin barrens, maintaining sea grass meadows and salt marshes, and shoring up natural defenses that coastal communities will increasingly rely on as seas rise and storms intensify.

All this makes them more than just a charismatic species in need of saving. 

“The hope is that by focusing on the recovery of this species, we can inspire protection of other animals and their habitats, and recognize the benefits people get when we protect those places,” Fujji said. “Basically, everyone wins when we protect otters.”

In a century defined by hard climate trade-offs, sea otters offer a reminder that some choices still deliver genuine win – wins: safeguard a beloved predator, and you safeguard the coastal habitats – and human communities – that depend on the same resilient, living shorelines.

A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 1, 2026 thru Sat, February 7, 2026. Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Policy and Politics (11 articles)

• Flawed economic models mean climate crisis could crash global economy, experts warn "States and financial bodies using modelling that ignores shocks from extreme weather and climate tipping points" The Guardian, Damian Carrington, Feb 4, 2025.
• ‘That ends now’: German court ruling raises pressure to fix stalled climate plans "The ruling ends a nearly two-year long legal battle and requires the German government to act." euronews, Craig Saueurs, Jan 30, 2026.
• A Secret Panel to Question Climate Science Was Unlawful, Judge Rules "The researchers produced a report that was central in a Trump administration effort to stop regulating climate pollution." The New York Times, Lisa Friedman, Jan 30, 2026.
• The future of NCAR remains highly uncertain "Members of the American Meteorological Society were briefed Wednesday (Jan 28) about ongoing developments on the future of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which the White House has said it will break up." Yale Climate Connections, Bob Henson, Jan 30, 2026.
• Fossil fuel firms may have to pay for climate damage under proposed UN tax "Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation could also force ultra-rich to pay global wealth tax" The Guardian, Fiona Harvey & Heather Stewart, Feb 1, 2026.
• Trump’s climate policy rollback plan relies on EPA rescinding its 2009 endangerment finding – but will courts allow it? The Conversation US, Gary W. Yohe, Feb 2, 2026.
• Trump claims blue states have less-reliable, more expensive electricity. Here’s the reality CNN, Ella Nilsen, Feb 2, 2026.
• DOE scientists blasted climate report ordered up by boss "Secretary Chris Wright handpicked five climate contrarians to write about global warming. Department experts pushed back on the findings." E&E News by Politico, Scott Waldman, Feb 2, 2026.
• More Coal Won't Solve US Energy Woes World Resources Institute (WRI), Lori Bird, David Widawsky & Alex Smith , Feb 2, 2026.
• ‘It’s sick’: Trump administration uses mascot called ‘Coalie’ to push dirtiest fossil fuel "Cartoon lump of coal with giant eyes was spotlighted by US interior secretary in X post saying: ‘Mine, Baby, Mine!’ " The Guardian, Oliver Milman, Feb 3, 2026.
• Michigan accuses big oil of being ‘cartel’ that fuels climate crisis and high energy costs "In first-of-its-kind complaint, state accused four fossil fuel majors and US oil lobbying group of climate disinformation" The Guardian, Dharna Noor, Feb 5, 2026.

Climate Change Impacts (5 articles)

• Something Dark Is Growing on Greenland’s Ice. And Melting It Faster. "New studies show how algae grows on ice and snow, creating “dark zones” that exacerbate melting in the consequential region." The New York Times, Sachi Kitajima Mulkey, Jan 3, 2026.
• Why do we still get major snowstorms in a warming world? "A huge US winter storm has reignited confusion about the polar vortex, the jet stream and what climate change really means for winter weather" BBC Science Focus, Tom Howarth, Jan 29, 2026.
• Extreme heat, cold and rainfall make January a month of extremes. "The importance of accurate and timely forecasts and investment in early warning systems has once again been highlighted by extreme weather which wreaked a heavy economic, environmental and human toll throughout January 2026." World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Staff, Jan 30, 2026.
• Why this US cold snap feels bone-shattering when it’s not record-shattering Seth Borenstein & AP News, Seth Borenstein & E.K. Wildeman, Feb 3, 2026.
• Climate ‘fingerprints’ mark human activity from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean The Conversation (Europe), Ed Hawkins and Ric Williams, Feb 3, 2026.

Climate Science and Research (5 articles)

• AI Is Making The Climate Crisis Worse. It Could Also Help Fix It. "The data-center boom is driving new emissions while straining energy and water resources. But scientists say AI can also be a massive asset in facing the climate emergency head-on." Atmos, Jake Hall, Jan 26, 2026.
• The accidental climate scientist who uncovered an unexpected force of global warming CNN, Katie Hunt, Jan 29, 2026.
• Unexpected Climate Feedback Links Antarctic Ice Sheet With Reduced Carbon Uptake "New study reveals surprising link between West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) retreat and algae growth over the past 500,000 years." Columbia Climate School, Staff, Feb 2, 2026.
• A new and better way to keep tabs on El Niño and La Niña "Developed in response to a warming world, NOAA’s revised scale more precisely identifies which episodes are likely to have the biggest impacts." Yale Climate Connections, Bob Henson, Feb 5, 2026.
• MethaneSAT Releases First Global Assessment of Oil and Gas Climate Pollution "Nearly a year after the Environmental Defense Fund lost contact with an $88 million satellite, data from the spacecraft reveal higher-than-expected methane emissions from the oil and gas industry." Inside Climate News, Martha Pskowski, & Phil McKenna, Feb 6, 2026.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (2 articles)

• ‘Doomsday Glacier’ is melting faster than we thought. Can a 150-metre wall stop it flooding Earth? "The ‘Doomsday Glacier’ already contributes four per cent of annual sea level rise, but can the consequences of climate change be barricaded off?" euronews, Liam Gilliver, Feb 4, 2026.
• Analysis: Clean energy drove more than a third of China’s GDP growth in 2025 "Solar power, electric vehicles (EVs) and other clean-energy technologies drove more than a third of the growth in China’s economy in 2025 – and more than 90% of the rise in investment."Analysis: Clean energy drove more than a third of China’s GDP growth in 2025 Carbon Brief, Lauri Myllyvirta & Belinda Schaepe, Feb 5, 2026.

International Climate Conferences and Agreements (2 articles)

• Amazon deforestation may rise 30% as major traders exit historic soy pact Mongabay, Fernanda Wenzel, Feb 2, 2026.
• Exclusive: EU rethinks climate diplomacy after bruising COP30 summit, document shows Reuters, Kate Abnett, Feb 4, 2026.

Miscellaneous (2 articles)

• 2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #05 A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 25, 2026 thru Sat, January 31, 2026. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, John Hartz and Doug Bostrom, Feb 01, 2026.
• This Week in Climate News (February 2026, Week 1) Earth.org, Staff, Feb 6, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Science (1 article)

• ‘Emotional traps’ and fake experts: How to spot climate disinformation in 2026 "As the threat of climate change accelerates, the EU has strengthened its commitment to fight disinformation." euronews, Liam Gilliver, Jan 30, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Solutions (1 article)

• Fact brief - Can solar projects improve biodiversity? Yes - Solar projects do not inherently reduce biodiversity, and when designed with best practices, they can sustain or even increase local wildlife and plant diversity. Skeptical Science, Sue Bin Park, Feb 03, 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!

Open access notables

Risk perception and response to changing wildfire hazards: family forest owners in the western US Pacific Northwest, Fischer et al., Climate Risk Management

Climate models predict future increases in the frequency, magnitude, and duration of natural hazard events, including heat waves, droughts, and wildfires. People may be aware of these natural hazards but unfamiliar with new patterns expected under climate change. Ideally, people would take action to protect themselves from natural hazard events—even those with which they have limited prior experience. Doing so would likely reduce the public costs of later assisting individuals impacted by events when they occur. Although a large body of research has examined how people perceive and protect themselves from the risks of natural hazards, fewer studies have focused on risk behavior in the context of changing hazard conditions. In such contexts, people’s past experiences may not be indicative of the future so they may rely more on their beliefs and information gained through their social networks when making decisions. Focusing on the western Pacific Northwest, USA–where a growing number of wildfires, including extreme wildfires, may signal changing hazard conditions–we examined the influence of wildfire hazard experiences, beliefs about environmental change, and information networks on family forest owners’ wildfire risk perceptions and risk mitigation intentions. We found strong correlations between family forest owners’ wildfire experiences and their wildfire risk perceptions. We also found strong correlations between owners’ risk perceptions and their beliefs about environmental change and information networks.

The Role of Industrial Excess Heat for the Transformation of the Energy System, Hammer et al., BHM Berg

In Austria, heat supply accounts for more than half of the country’s final energy consumption, with low-temperature heat below 100?°C for space heating and domestic hot water making up around 61% of that. Approximately 47% of total heat consumption is still covered by fossil energy sources. In the energy-intensive industrial sector in particular, previously unused excess heat is available for cascading use. This publication presents industrial excess-heat potentials identified through individual case studies and a nationwide survey. According to the comparison of figures, in an ideal scenario roughly 65% of private space heating consumption could be covered by excess heat. In addition to conventional district-heating systems, which represent the current state of the art, new options are emerging for distributing excess heat, including supra-national district-heating networks for longer transport distances. For challenges associated with predominantly low temperatures, mature and proven solutions exist through the combination of heat pumps and anergy networks. Increasing the integration of excess heat is absolutely essential in order to raise the efficiency of industry and further decarbonize the heating sector.

Editorial: Climate change impacts on arctic ecosystems and associated climate feedbacks, Christensen et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science

The Arctic Council has, through its report to Ministers in 2019, acknowledged that climate change will affect ecosystems and ecosystem services and that this is key to human livelihoods in the Arctic. As a follow up on this the Arctic Council, through its working groups Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), decided to initiate an assessment and a process with a focus on how climate change affects Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks and inform strategies for adaptation and resiliency. Forming part of this assessment process this Research Topic investigated the complex dynamics of Arctic ecosystems, focusing on marine, terrestrial, and atmosphere-ecosystem interactions. As sea ice diminishes and temperatures increase, the equilibrium of these ecosystems is disrupted, resulting in significant alterations in biodiversity, species distribution, and ecological processes. This Research Topic of studies elucidates the critical role of ice algae in marine food webs, the intricate feedback loops between tundra ecosystems and the climate, and the importance of methane emissions in global climate feedback mechanisms. 

Rewiring climate modeling with machine learning emulators, Van Katwyk et al., Communications Earth & Environment

Earth system models, or simulators, are foundational for projecting climate change impacts, but their computational expense limits the number and diversity of simulations available. Machine learning-based emulators, statistical surrogates trained on simulator outputs, can replicate components of climate models at orders-of-magnitude lower cost, enabling ensembles and interpolation across scenarios. We argue that the next phase of climate modeling hinges on closer collaboration between simulator and emulator communities. We outline three priorities: (1) co-design of simulators and emulators so that experimental design, diagnostics, and data products support training, evaluation, and targeted simulation; (2) shared, machine learning-ready benchmarks with data partitions and metrics that emphasize physical fidelity; and (3) treating emulators as reliable software components with interfaces, documentation, and deployment pathways for sensitivity analyses, scenario exploration, and uncertainty decomposition. This perspective envisions emulators not as statistical shortcuts, but core tools that accelerate the pace of climate science.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Utility Bills are Rising: 2025 Review, PowerLines

The authors present a comprehensive review of utility bill trends and the state of energy affordability in 2025. In 2025, electric and gas utilities requested nearly $31 billion in rate increases, more than double the $15 billion in rate increases requested by ut These rate increases will affect 81 million Americans, contributing to rising financial anxiety for American consumers at a time when cost-of-living concerns are reaching a boiling point. Since 2021, electricity prices have increased by nearly 40 percent, with residential retail electricity prices increasing by 7 percent and piped gas prices increasing by 11 percent in 2025 alone. Electricity and gas prices are not only outpacing inflation, but are now the fastest drivers of inflation, surpassing other expenses including groceries, gasoline, vehicles, and medicine. Utility bills are poised to be a defining issue in the 2026 midterms, with 4 in 5 Americans feeling powerless over these costs and 3 in 4 Americans concerned about rising utility bills.

Consumer Cost Implications of Offshore Wind Stop Work Orders, American Clean Power

Wholesale electricity prices would rise significantly during evening peaks and winter hours – including intense winter storms like Fern. Power systems would rely more heavily on non-renewable sources and leave customers more exposed to price volatility. Grids would lose access to low-cost, winter-peaking clean energy that helps stabilize prices during periods of high demand. Over the next 10 years, customers along the East Coast will see an estimated $45 billion in additional cost as a result of the canceling and/or delaying of five offshore wind projects. Without these experience higher wholesale power prices, a greater reliance on fuel-constrained generation, and the loss of low-cost, winter-peaking energy. 143 articles in 65 journals by 976 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Quantifying the Influence of Climate on Storm Activity Using Machine Learning, Hadas & Kaspi, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118496

The Atmosphere as a Heat Engine Operating at Maximum Power, Roe et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0507.1

The expanding Indo-Pacific freshwater pool and changing freshwater pathway in the South Indian Ocean, Chen et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02553-1

Thermodynamically primed Atmospheric River Rapid as the driver of the December 2023 Thoothukudi extreme rainfall, Sivachitralakshmi & Chitra, Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1750461

Observations of climate change, effects

Anthropogenic climate change drives rising global heat stress and its spatial inequality, Peng et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-69164-y

Anthropogenically-driven escalating impact of soil-based compound dry-hot extremes on vegetation productivity, Liang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-68878-3

Latitudinal gradients in runoff dynamics across undisturbed Eurasian permafrost rivers under accelerating climate change, Qin et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.01.002

Pronounced warming and wetting of climate in the Qilian Mountains during 1961–2022, BAHADUR et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.01.008

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

0.5° × 0.625° gridded daily soil temperature at four depths in Ethiopia during 1993–2023, Kobe et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access pdf 10.3389/ffgc.2025.1756263

An Automatic Procedure for the Attribution of Extreme Events at the Global Scale: A Proof of Concept for Heat Waves, Qasmi et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 10.1175/bams-d-24-0265.1

Comparative Performance of Global Datasets and Ground-Based Precipitation and Temperature Products in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin: The Case of Türkiye, Keserci, International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70276

Global gridded dataset of heating and cooling degree days under climate change scenarios, Lizana et al., Nature Sustainability Open Access 10.1038/s41893-025-01754-y

Has the Fire Weather Index Emerged? Insights from Global and Regional Climate Models, Nogherotto et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100861

How well can we quantify when 1.5 °C of global warming has been exceeded?, Thorne et al., Open Access 10.5194/essd-2025-825

Long-wavelength steric sea level and heat storage anomaly maps to 2000 m by combining Argo temperature and salinity profiles with satellite altimetry and gravimetry, Chambers & Reinelt, Earth System Science Data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-741-2026

New climate dataset from Mazovia (Central Poland) from the late 19th century as a basis for estimating the urban effect in multi-year trends in air temperature in Poland, Jarzyna et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology 10.1007/s00704-026-06023-2

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

A CMIP6 LUMIP analysis of historical and projected climate impacts of land use and land cover changes in the United States, Lin et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1699725

Has the Fire Weather Index Emerged? Insights from Global and Regional Climate Models, Nogherotto et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100861

Surface air temperature change on the Tibetan Plateau under global net-zero emission scenarios, WANG et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.01.007

Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

A new index used to characterise the extent of Antarctic marine coastal winds in climate projections, Cable et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.5194/wcd-7-247-2026

Deep Learning Atmospheric Models Reliably Simulate Out-of-Sample Land Heat and Cold Wave Frequencies, Meng et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl117990

Rewiring climate modeling with machine learning emulators, Van Katwyk et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03238-z

Robustness of Euro-Mediterranean Synoptic Circulation Types and Sensitivity to Member Selection in CMIP6 Models, Olmo et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0545.1

Cryosphere & climate change

A climate data record of sea ice age using Lagrangian advection of a triangular mesh, Korosov et al., Earth System Science Data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-721-2026

Anatomy of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice lows in an ocean–sea ice model, Richaud et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2025-886

Approximating 3D bedrock deformation in an Antarctic ice-sheet model for projections, van Calcar et al., The Cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-20-757-2026

Atmospheric rivers and winter sea ice drive recent reversal in Antarctic ice mass loss, Kolbe et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03242-3

Latitudinal gradients in runoff dynamics across undisturbed Eurasian permafrost rivers under accelerating climate change, Qin et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.01.002

Mechanisms and Atmospheric Drivers of Arctic Multiyear Sea Ice Loss, Hu et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd044859

Sea level & climate change

Coastal Water Level Trends and ENSO-Related Variability in the Northeastern Mekong Delta (1979–2024), Vinh et al., Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans 10.1016/j.dynatmoce.2026.101648

Forcing of Subannual-to-Decadal Sea Level Variability and the Recent Rapid Rise Along the U.S. Gulf Coast, Delman et al., Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.175336987.78307881/v1

Thresholds of Wave Forcing: Implications for Atoll Reef Dynamics Under Sea Level Rise, Lindhart et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jc023063

Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

Paleoclimate pattern effects help constrain climate sensitivity and 21st-century warming, Cooper et al., Open Access pdf 10.31223/x5rm9v

Simulated Changes and Future Analogy Extent of Ocean Heat Content During the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period, Grosvenor et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118840

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

Anthropogenically-driven escalating impact of soil-based compound dry-hot extremes on vegetation productivity, Liang et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-68878-3

Bat Migration Intensifies Cave Fish Richness Loss Under Climate Change in China, Bai et al., Diversity and Distributions Open Access pdf 10.1111/ddi.70148

Body condition among Svalbard Polar bears Ursus maritimus during a period of rapid loss of sea ice, Aars et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-025-33227-9

Carbon concentration mechanisms in Canary Islands macroalgae and their implications for future benthic community structure under ocean acidification, Hernández et al., Marine Environmental Research Open Access 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.107898

Climate and species traits give rise to complex phenological dynamics, Reis et al., Ecology Open Access pdf 10.1002/ecy.70297

Coral species from another ocean may be the only way to save Caribbean reefs, Camacho et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 10.1073/pnas.2521543123

Defending endangered trees against climate change and hungry goats, Nuwer, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00248-x

Editorial: Climate change impacts on arctic ecosystems and associated climate feedbacks, Christensen et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1776354

Enhanced effect of warming on the leaf-onset date of boreal deciduous broadleaf forest, Li et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02528-2

Environmental contexts mediate the dual impacts of snow cover on vegetation green-up: A key challenge of phenological prediction under climate change, Dong et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105354

Ephemeropteran and Trichopteran Assemblages Vary Across a Subtropical Rainforest Altitudinal Gradient: Useful Indicators for Climate Change, Pagotto et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73003

Evolutionary and environmental determinants of heat tolerance and acclimation capacity in herpetofauna, Sun et al., Conservation Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/cobi.70127

Global tree slenderness under climate change, Tian et al., Journal of Ecology Open Access pdf 10.1111/1365-2745.70248

Impacts of Climate Change and Human Activities on Global Mountain Grasslands: Insights Into the Last Two Decades and Future Climate Scenarios, Na et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef006419

Pantropical moist forests are converging towards a middle leaf longevity, Xue et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-68989-x

Phylogenetic relationships and climate-driven range shifts of Lemnaceae in South Africa, Ndou et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.3389/fevo.2025.1715912

Potential Range Shifts of Two Sympatric Fagus Species, Chen et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72979

Potential Trade-Off Between Temperature and Tissue Loss Resistance in Corals Associating With Algal Symbionts in the Genus Durusdinium, Chan et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70641

Predator response diversity to warming enables ecosystem resilience in the Galápagos, Chico-Ortiz et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000652

Projected Impacts of Climate Change on the Spatial Distribution and Habitat Preference of Tropical Tuna in the Pacific Ocean, Wu et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.107868

Response of Early Life-Stages of Forest-Forming Seaweeds From Warm-Edge and Central Populations to Marine Heatwaves, Musrri et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72998

Responses of South Caspian coastal foraminifera to warming: spatial patterns and assemblage shifts, Bagheri & Taheri, Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7499422/v1

The 4th global coral bleaching event: ushering in an era of near-annual bleaching, Spady et al., Open Access pdf 10.31223/x5dx6q

The Genetic and Morphological Basis of Local Adaptation to Elevational Extremes in an Alpine Finch, Robertson et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72962

The Geography of Mediterranean Benthic Communities Under Climate Change, Baldan et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70725

Two Critical Radii Dominate Phytoplankton Response to Marine Heatwaves in the South China Sea, Liu et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 10.1029/2025jc023657

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

Annual carbon emissions from land-use change in China from 1000 to 2019, Yang et al., Open Access 10.5194/essd-2025-36

Carbon Dynamics in Artificial Aquatic Ecosystems: Comparing Greenhouse Gases and DOM in Stormwater and Natural Ponds, Goeckner et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jg009374

Carbon sequestration along a gradient of tidal marsh degradation in response to sea level rise, Huyzentruyt et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-3293

Climate change intensifies carbon emissions from the Earth's Third Pole: Projected trajectories of soil and ecosystem respiration, Shen et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105359

Editorial: Soil carbon sequestration and microbial energy metabolism, Jing et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1765491

Geological regulation of nitrous oxide emission risks in rivers globally, Qi et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03250-3

How much of the forest sink is passive? Case of the United States, Davis et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access pdf 10.1073/pnas.2513588123

Losing a Hidden Ally: The Shrinking Capacity of Upland Soils to Remove Atmospheric Methane, Yang et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70741

Marsh Migration Into Forests and Farms: Effects on Soil Biogeochemistry Along the Salinity Gradients, Fettrow et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 10.1029/2025jg009149

Quantifying the time of emergence of the anthropogenic signal in the global land carbon sink, Li et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-767-2026

Quantitative impacts and patterns of greenhouse gas emission trends: implications for global change and policy, Afuye & Tolios, Carbon Management Open Access 10.1080/17583004.2026.2622340

Seasonality in Marine Organic Carbon Export and Sequestration Pathways, Li et al., Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.174966610.08215013/v1

Solar radiation differences drive karst sun and shade leaf carbon sink contribution shifts, Du et al., Carbon Balance and Management Open Access 10.1186/s13021-025-00365-6

South Pacific carbon uptake controlled by West Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics, Struve et al., Nature Geoscience Open Access 10.1038/s41561-025-01911-0

The global extent of the grassland biome and implications for the terrestrial carbon sink, MacDougall et al., Nature Ecology & Evolution pdf 10.1038/s41559-025-02955-6

Triple-isotopic analyses pinpoint microbial methane release from subsea permafrost in the inner Laptev Sea, Brussee et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03222-7

Uptake and Release—What Is Driving Change in the Net Carbon Budget in Forest Soils?, Parker & Subke, Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70729

Water Availability Weakens the Forest Litter Carbon Sink, Zhao et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gb008731

CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

A review on geochemical carbon dioxide removal potential of mafic and ultramafic rocks in India, Katre et al., Earth 10.1016/j.earscirev.2026.105419

Biodiversity implications of land-intensive carbon dioxide removal, Prütz et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41558-026-02557-5

Human-induced biospheric carbon sink: Impact from the Taklamakan Afforestation Project, Noor et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2523388123

Legal guardrails on states’ dependence on carbon dioxide removal to meet climate targets, Rajamani et al., Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2025.2599861

Decarbonization

Conflicted about building decarbonization: Contested climate justice imaginaries in expert visions of low-carbon and net-zero buildings, Sovacool et al., Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102806

Fairing the energy transition: A policy framework for integrating stakeholder concerns in solar energy development, Rielli & Wang, Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104511

Fossil energy minimum viable scale, Lappen & Grubert, Science 10.1126/science.aea0972

Maximising environmental savings from silicon photovoltaics manufacturing to 2035, Willis et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-69165-x

Nuclear reactors are too expensive and slow to build, Ramana, Nature Energy 10.1038/s41560-025-01934-2

Sectoral Cost-Benefit Analysis for Clean Technology Demonstrators: Insights for Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Industries, Sadighi et al., Environmental and Resource Economics Open Access pdf 10.1007/s10640-025-01051-4

Seizing the green hydrogen opportunity? Comparing strategies for industrial transformation in latecomer countries, Bacil et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115111

Technology and policy options for achieving net zero steel manufacturing in the United States, Li et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115124

The Role of Industrial Excess Heat for the Transformation of the Energy System, Hammer et al., BHM Berg Open Access pdf 10.1007/s00501-026-01702-z

Aerosols

Trend of North African Dust Storms and Potential Link to Climate Change, Yeo et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jd043630

Climate change communications & cognition

A decade of weather anomalies and natural disasters and their influence on environmental beliefs and actions across Australia, Ghasemi et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102932

Activists Preserving the (Multi-Platform) Environment: Advocacy Coalitions of #Lützerath Climate Protests, Meyer et al., Environmental Communication Open Access 10.1080/17524032.2026.2617507

Adaptation versus Mitigation: Does Goal-Framing Influence the Appeal of Climate-Relevant Behaviors?, Herziger et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102934

Far-right fossil fuel ignorance: the nostalgia of national-industrial modernity, Vowles, Environmental Politics Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2026.2620920

How advertising matters: Outdoor media strategies for increased engagement with creative climate change messages, Boykoff et al., Open Access pdf 10.31223/x5fm92

Risk perception and response to changing wildfire hazards: family forest owners in the western US Pacific Northwest, Fischer et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2026.100795

What Determines One’s Information Seeking Intention: Integrating Information Seeking Theories in the Context of Climate Change with Korean Sample, Jang & Kim, Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102941

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Beyond Climate Change: The Role of Integrated Soil Fertility Management for Sustaining Future Maize Yield in Sub-Saharan Africa, et al., Open Access 10.18167/dvn1/egjxvl

Challenges and opportunities for integrating climate action into school feeding: Insights from the Global Survey of School Meal Programs, Gharge & Wineman, PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000797

Communicating weather and climate information to smallholder farmers in resource-poor climate-vulnerable southern Somalia: a social science inquiry, Anderson et al., Climate and Development Open Access 10.1080/17565529.2026.2620539

Current and projected impacts of extreme climate events on winter wheat yield in Northern China, Zeng et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-02954-2

Effect of type of farming practices on the soil carbon sequestration and yield of some crops, Khater et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-35230-0

Estimating the economic damage caused by climate change to Korean aquaculture, Kim et al., npj Ocean Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44183-025-00161-2

From past exceptional extremes to frequent future risks: How climate change shapes the fate of common wheat in France, Aubry et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111054

Governing black soils for food and climate security, Liao et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-69018-7

Grapevine-chronology: Annual growth ring analysis for climate adaptation and vineyard management – A review, Roig-Puscama & Roig, Dendrochronologia Open Access 10.1016/j.dendro.2026.126481

Leveraging public-private partnerships for climate finance: advancing climate-smart agriculture for NDC implementation in Kenya and Senegal, Sow Badji & Gathu, Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2026.2616965

Reevaluating carbon storage and emissions in California’s harvested wood products: implications for alternative waste parameters, Lucey et al., Carbon Balance and Management Open Access 10.1186/s13021-026-00407-7

Smallholder farmers’ adaptation at the climate–conflict nexus: a systematic review, et al., Open Access 10.17632/shm4fz8hfn.1

Thiamin addition to soil increases potato tuber thiamin content under greenhouse conditions, Goyer et al., PeerJ Open Access 10.7717/peerj.20684

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

Anthropogenic Forcings Intensify Droughts More Severely in Drylands than in Humid Regions, Zhang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jd044821

Drying Soil Moisture Dominates Enhancing Summer Soil Moisture-Temperature Coupling Under Climate Change, Zhang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119826

Human interventions and climate change trigger water crisis in the Tigris and Euphrates Basin, Darvishi Boloorani et al., Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104300

Is daily extreme rainfall increasing in the Mediterranean basin? A critical review of the evidence, González-Hidalgo & Beguería, Earth 10.1016/j.earscirev.2026.105409

Latitudinal gradients in runoff dynamics across undisturbed Eurasian permafrost rivers under accelerating climate change, Qin et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.01.002

Climate change economics

Climate change risk index and municipal bond disclosures of United States drinking water utilities, Lyle et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03044-z

From Debt Burden to Climate Burden: A Historical Look at Debt and Climate Change, Mohan, WIREs Climate Change 10.1002/wcc.70042

Climate change mitigation public policy research

A new approach to assess individual contributions to energy transition goals, Sanz-Cuadrado et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.115055

Balancing social attitudes and ecological conservation in Taiwan’s wind power development under climate change, Chen, Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1714136

Carbon emission reduction requires attention to the contribution of natural gas use: Combustion and leakage, Chen et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-26-1359-2026

Climate change and thermal stress in cattle: Global projections with high temporal resolution, Neira et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000761

Driving decarbonization? Corporate responses to the Paris climate agreement in the global automotive sector, Bare et al., Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104549

Effective climate policies for ‘all seasons’: novel evidence from 40 countries, Fernández-i-Marín et al., Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2025.2598684

From miners to markets: discursive struggle in Romania’s coal phase-out, Koretsky & Turnheim, Environmental Politics 10.1080/09644016.2025.2610543

Legal guardrails on states’ dependence on carbon dioxide removal to meet climate targets, Rajamani et al., Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2025.2599861

Quantitative impacts and patterns of greenhouse gas emission trends: implications for global change and policy, Afuye & Tolios, Carbon Management Open Access 10.1080/17583004.2026.2622340

Spatial patterns and drivers of carbon emissions in metropolitan peripheries, Kailin et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1662797

What accelerates the arrival of the peak carbon dioxide emissions turning point in tourism? Empirical evidence from China, Liu, Carbon Management Open Access 10.1080/17583004.2026.2622337

When energy transitions drive polarization: Narratives of green energy and mitigation strategies by proponents and opponents of geothermal energy developments in Indonesia, Smith et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115080

Why carbon offsets may fail in complex systems: A causal inference perspective, Rana et al., Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104325

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

A framework for assessing climate resilience of informal settlements: the case of Eswatini, Ndlangamandla & Du Plessis, Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2026.2620538

Challenges and opportunities in scaling climate-resilient housing solutions in the United States, Seeteram et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-68595-x

Climate change demands coordinated adaptation strategies of drinking water treatment, Usman et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02547-z

Climate-adaptive transportation infrastructure: Cross-regional solutions for urban resilience and emergency response, Tong et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102780

On the applicability of knowledge sources in climate-based design: Thermal-spatial micro-spaces in historical gardens versus contemporary outdoor design strategies, Nouri-Horzvili et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102713

Planning for just relocations in Europe in times of climate change: a comparative study, Calliari et al., Regional Environmental Change Open Access pdf 10.1007/s10113-026-02523-z

Structural Accommodation as a Coastal Adaptation Response to Sea-Level Rise: Lessons From Europe, Pasquier et al., Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.175105651.11502498/v1

The Rapid Progress of Climate Change Requires Effective Concepts for Protecting People Indoors, Salthammer & Morawska, Open Access pdf 10.31223/x5gt7p

Using news media to identify gaps in climate change adaptation research: Insights from the Philippines, Bartelet et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2026.100793

Climate change impacts on human health

A Regionally Determined Climate-Informed West Nile Virus Forecast Technique, Harp et al., Open Access pdf 10.1101/2025.03.27.25324789

Anthropogenic climate change drives rising global heat stress and its spatial inequality, Peng et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-69164-y

Escalating labor risks from sequential extreme precipitation?heatwave events in China under a warming future, JU et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.01.006

What competencies physical activity professionals should possess to better integrate climate change related issues into their practice: A Delphi study, Hozhabri et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000812

Other

The effectiveness of environmental technologies in combating climate change: a cross National Analysis, Christiansen et al., Environmental Sociology 10.1080/23251042.2026.2620212

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Exceeding 1.5 °C requires rethinking accountability in climate policy, Ganti et al., Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00247-y 

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

Long-Term Reliability Assessment, North American Electric Reliability Corporation

The authors independently evaluate the long-term reliability of the North American bulk power system (BPS) while identifying trends, emerging issues, and potential risks during the upcoming 10-year assessment period. The overall resource adequacy outlook for the N Projections for resource and transmission growth lag what is needed to support new data centers and other large loads that drive escalating demand forecasts. Most new resources in development to come on-line in the next five years consist of battery storage and solar photovoltaic (PV), which are inverter-based and weather-dependen operating a reliable grid. Meanwhile, more fossil-fired generator retirements loom in the next five years, reducing the amount of generation that has fuel on site and impacting the system’s ability to respond to spikes in demand. The continuing shift in the resource mix toward weather-dependent resources and less fuel diversity in Planners, market operators, and regulators grapple with steep increases in demand and swelling resource queues, they face more uncertainty, adding to the already-complex endeavor of planning for resource adequacy during this period of rapid grid transformation. To ensure there are sufficient resources for supplying electricity in North Americans, industry, regulators, and policymakers need to be vigilant for shifting projections, keep plans for deactivating existing generators flexible, expedite system development, and perform robust adequacy assessments of future scenarios. In addition, careful planning and broad cross-sector coordination will be needed to navigate a period of potentially strained electricity resources.

Improvements Needed for Tracking and Reducing State Energy Consumption; BGS Overstated Savings in a Selection of Energy Efficiency Projects, Pritchard et al., Vermont State Auditor

The authors evaluate how Vermont is measuring state government’s progress in meeting the State Agency Energy Plan (SAEP) goals, determine whether the Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS) Energy Office selects the most cost-efficient energy savings projects for buildings, and determine whether the BGS Energy Office assessed the outcomes of energy savings projects for buildings.

Impact Report 2025, Climate Cardinals

At the heart of Climate Cardinals is a simple idea: when people understand the science of climate change in their own language, they can act on it. Climate Cardinals prioritized translation partners with a clear theory of change, strengthened the Fellows Program with a new 14-module curriculum, and improved chapter onboarding with better tools and operational support. Surveys showed strong personal and professional growth, with the community going on to launch companies, win national fellowships, and earn UN appointments—as well as launch major initiatives such as Climate Calling and Ambassadors.

Consumer Cost Implications of Offshore Wind Stop Work Orders, American Clean Power

Wholesale electricity prices would rise significantly during evening peaks and winter hours – including intense winter storms like Fern. Power systems would rely more heavily on non-renewable sources and leave customers more exposed to price volatility. Grids would lose access to low-cost, winter-peaking clean energy that helps stabilize prices during periods of high demand. Over the next 10 years, customers along the East Coast will see an estimated $45 billion in additional cost as a result of the canceling and/or delaying of five offshore wind projects. Without these experience higher wholesale power prices, a greater reliance on fuel-constrained generation, and the loss of low-cost, winter-peaking energy.

Offshore wind stop-work orders are costing consumers, delaying needed electricity, January 28, 2026 Seth Feaster and Dennis Wamsted, Institue for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

Efforts to stop five large offshore wind projects under construction along the Atlantic Coast could cost consumers billions of dollars and keep much-needed new electricity off the grid. Delaying these projects only raises costs for electricity consumers and keeps needed new generation capacity off the grid. A three-week Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) stoppage cost more than $5 million a day, with further delay to lead to “far greater harm to the project.” Already, $8.9 billion already has been invested in CVOW, which has a total projected cost of $11.2 billion. The costs will not disappear if the project is cancelled. New England was already setting new wind power records with the help of the 800 MW Vineyard Wind 1 project. On Dec. 12, 2025, wind generated 37,310 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity, or 10.8% of the region’s power demand.

La Niña, Climate change, high exposure and vulnerability combined led to devastating floods in parts of Southern Africa, Pinto et al., World Weather Attribution

Since late December 2025, severe flooding has affected large parts of Mozambique, Eswatini, northeastern South Africa and Zimbabwe, killing more than 200 people, destroying more than 173,000 acres of crops and causing further widespread humanitarian and socioeconomic impacts in the affected countries. The flooding was caused by exceptionally heavy and persistent rainfall across a large region in southeastern Africa starting on December 26th and intensifying from early January, with some areas recording more than 200 mm of rain within 24 hours. Researchers from Mozambique, South Africa, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, the United States, and the United Kingdom collaborated to assess the extent to which human-induced climate change altered the likelihood and intensity of the heavy rainfall event. To estimate if human induced climate change influenced heavy rainfall over the region the authors first determined if there is a trend in observations in the heaviest 10-day rainfall, finding that while the event is with a return period of about 50 years, relatively rare, even in today’s climate that has warmed by 1.3°C, it would have been much rarer in a 1.3°C colder climate. Similarly, all observational datasets show that extreme rainfall spells are becoming more intense, by about 40%. The authors cannot confidently attribute the magnitude of the observed change to climate change. However, they have confidence that climate change has increased both the likelihood and the intensity of the 10-day rainfall, based on the observed signal, physical understanding and existing literature.

North Carolina Solar Land Use and Agriculture Study – 2025 Update, Jerry Carey and Daniel Pate, North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association

Utility-scale solar (USS) development has grown significantly in North Carolina, increasing from 3 total systems in 2009 to currently more than 773. To better understand the amount of land these installations occupy, the authors conducted a land use analysis using solar installation data from the organization’s Renewable Energy Database (REDB) and land use data from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). This analysis serves as an update to the report iteration carried out in 2022. Based on NCSEA’s analysis, only 0.31% of total agricultural land is currently used for USS development.

Europeau Electricity Review 2026, Beatrice Petrovich, Ember

The author analyses full-year electricity generation and demand data for 2025 in all EU-27 countries to understand the region’s progress in transitioning from fossil fuels to clean electricity. Wind and solar generated a record 30% of EU electricity, higher than fossil power for the first time on record. EU solar generation reached a record 369 TWh in 2025, 20% higher than last year. In 2025 wind and solar generated more electricity than fossil fuels in 14 of the 27 EU countries.

Heat Tabletop Exercises: Lessons Learned and Best Practices, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Integrated Heat Health Information System

From 2022-2025, the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) has supported and funded extreme heat tabletop exercises (TTXs) in communities across the United States. This authors summarize the outcomes, themes, and lessons learned from these communities. They focus on the strengths and gaps identified, as well as best practices for hosting future TTXs. Throughout discussions, participants identified critical gaps in their current heat work. Participants noted that overcoming these key barriers is important to heat mitigation and resilience efforts.

Utility Bills are Rising: 2025 Review, PowerLines

The authors present a comprehensive review of utility bill trends and the state of energy affordability in 2025. In 2025, electric and gas utilities requested nearly $31 billion in rate increases, more than double the $15 billion in rate increases requested by ut These rate increases will affect 81 million Americans, contributing to rising financial anxiety for American consumers at a time when cost-of-living concerns are reaching a boiling point. Since 2021, electricity prices have increased by nearly 40 percent, with residential retail electricity prices increasing by 7 percent and piped gas prices increasing by 11 percent in 2025 alone. Electricity and gas prices are not only outpacing inflation, but are now the fastest drivers of inflation, surpassing other expenses including groceries, gasoline, vehicles, and medicine. Utility bills are poised to be a defining issue in the 2026 midterms, with 4 in 5 Americans feeling powerless over these costs and 3 in 4 Americans concerned about rising utility bills.

Right-Sizing Reactors: Balancing trade-offs between economies of scale and volume, Jessica Lovering, Nuclear Innovation Alliance

if a country wants to build a lot of nuclear power fast, should the industry follow the mantra of bigger is better, or shift to focus on small modular reactors, or even microreactors, to follow the promise of factory fabrication? The author explores this question through economics literature and original analysis. The author concludes that there absolutely is evidence for economies of scale with nuclear reactors, but there is also a history of significant cost overruns due to the challenges of megaproject management. When other energy technologies are small and modular, we see numerous benefits including steeper cost reduction curves, faster deployment, and lower financial risk. But there are some potential obstacles to nuclear energy benefiting from the same attributes as these other so-called “granular” technologies (small and modular), particularly uncertainty around scaling regulations.

Energy Efficiency Can Address Surging Electricity Needs at Half the Cost of Gas Plants, Mike Specian and Alex Aquino, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

Energy efficiency and load flexibility have enough untapped potential nationally to significantly offset the unprecedented forecasted load growth (i.e., electricity consumption and peak demand). The analysis of the nation’s largest utility programs shows that energy efficiency (~$21/ MWh) and load flexibility (<$40/kW-year) are currently the lowest-cost resources for reducing electricity consumption and peak demand. Yet, despite an energy affordability crisis, many jurisdictions are responding to load growth by approving additional gas generation. Demand-side measures are quicker to implement and provide a cleaner alternative to building new generation. They offer a “no-regrets” approach to managing load growth uncertainty and protecting ratepayers from adverse impacts. Business-as-usual approaches are not delivering efficiency and load flexibility at the scale required to meet projected load growth. Legislators, utilities, utility regulators, and large load customers (e.g., data centers) must act now to accelerate demand-side solutions while accounting for the large regional variations shaping where and how load growth occurs.

The Next Decade in PJM A Path to Reliability and Affordability, Resor et al., Advanced Energy United

Reliability and affordability are of paramount importance for PJM. Two paths lie ahead for the region: One in which primarily gas resources are deployed to meet rising load, and one in which policy change enables higher deployment of advanced energy resources (wind, solar and storage, demand flexibility resources, and advanced transmission technologies). The authors analyze these pathways from a reliability and cost perspective and finds that the difference for the 67 million people living within PJM is stark. Increased deployment of advanced energy technologies in PJM reduces the expected frequency of outages in 2030 by 97 percent. Increased deployment of advanced energy technologies in PJM reduces the number of customers affected by outages by 87 percent. From 2025–2035, higher deployment of advanced energy technologies offers a cumulative cost savings of $178 billion, or 20 percent, relative to the Status Quo scenario (primarily gas resources). To assess the reliability of both resource portfolios over the next decade, the authors conducted advance power sector capacity expansion and resource adequacy modeling. The reliability analysis focuses on bulk power system reliability. About New Research

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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson

his week’s mammoth U.S. winter blast wasn’t the only storm affecting the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society occurring in Houston, Texas. Looming in the background of the meeting – and jumping into the foreground during an evening town hall on Wednesday, January 28 – was the fate of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, which the Trump administration is moving to dismantle.

Based in Boulder, Colorado, and sponsored by the National Science Foundation since its founding in 1960, NCAR (or NSF NCAR, as the center brands itself) is a premier national and global hub for weather, water, and climate-related research. Beyond carrying out its own work, NCAR manages aircraft and supercomputing resources used by many hundreds of scientists, and it collaborates with many public and private stakeholders.

“NCAR is great at engaging our communities with a focus on the next generation of scientists. I think losing that would be a tremendous loss,” outgoing American Meteorological Society President David Stensrud said at the town hall. Stensrud first worked with NCAR in 1989 as a Ph.D. student.

NCAR is managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, or UCAR, a not-for-profit entity that also manages other programs serving the broad community of weather, water, and climate science. Between NCAR and its other activities, UCAR employs close to 1,400 scientists, software engineers, technicians, and other professionals. Hundreds of undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers take part each year in conferences, fellowships, and other opportunities provided by NCAR and UCAR.

When UCAR President Antonio Busalacchi asked everyone at the town hall to stand if they had worked at NCAR, visited its labs, used its models or other resources, or collaborated with its scientists, nearly everyone in the crowd of a few hundred was on their feet.

“A disbanded, fragmented NCAR would be the worst-case scenario,” Busalacchi said. The best-case scenario, in his eyes: “a building-back better and an improved NCAR … It’s always good to have an open, transparent, objective analysis of alternatives.”

In the Q&A section of the meeting, one postdoctoral scientist crystallized what feels like unending uncertainty: “As a research postdoc, I don’t know what it means for things to look good. What does it look like for things to be good, and how do I navigate when things are this bad?”

Figure 1. The NCAR Mesa Laboratory. (Image credit: Daderot/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0) Attacked over climate change research

The Trump administration has said it wants to dismantle NCAR because of its role in researching climate change.

“The National Science Foundation will be breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado,” Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement first reported by USA TODAY on December 16. “This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country. A comprehensive review is underway and any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.”

Scientists from across the nation and abroad have stressed that NCAR is far more than the sum of its parts, a theme that was reinforced at the American Meteorological Society meeting in Houston.

Thus far, the National Science Foundation has shown every intention of carrying out the White House mandate. The foundation released a statement on December 17 that included the following: “NSF remains committed to providing world-class infrastructure for weather modeling, space weather research and forecasting, and other critical functions. To do so, NSF will be engaging with partner agencies, the research community, and other interested parties to solicit feedback for rescoping the functions of the work currently performed by NCAR.”

On January 23, just ahead of the American Meteorological Society meeting, the National Science Foundation released a “Dear Colleague Letter,” a document typically used by the foundation to invite scientists to participate in grant opportunities or to provide input on research directions.

This was no ordinary Dear Colleague Letter. Its title – “NSF Intent to Restructure Critical Weather Infrastructure” – does not even mention NCAR. And omitted from the document is any mention of research in several areas that have been integral parts of the center’s work for virtually all of its 66-year history, including atmospheric chemistry and climate. The document requests “expressions of interest in and/or concepts of operation” for “NCAR space weather activities” and “NCAR weather modeling and atmospheric observing activities,” as well as the world-renowned NCAR Mesa Laboratory itself. The deadline for input is March 13.

Congress shores up science funding, declines to protect NCAR

The NCAR bombshell arrived just as the picture was looking modestly brighter for U.S. science support overall. After rapid, high-impact cuts to U.S. science funding and staffing implemented by the White House in the first half of 2025, and massive cuts on the order of 25-50% proposed for this year, the fiscal-year 2026 appropriations approved this month by Congress for science agencies such as NASA, NOAA, and the National Science Foundation ended up largely similar to those from the prior year, with much more modest cuts.

However, NCAR base support is not allocated directly by Congress, but rather indirectly, through funding that goes to the National Science Foundation. Colorado’s two senators, John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, made attempts to insert language protecting NCAR in the FY26 appropriations bill, but their amendments were voted down.

“NCAR is a vital, cutting-edge research institution, and dismantling it would be reckless, dangerous, and place the United States at a serious competitive disadvantage,” said Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat from Colorado, in a statement released on January 27.

Figure 2. Rep. Joe Neguse meets with constituents as protesters decry the potential dismantling of NCAR in Boulder on December 20, 2025. (Image credit: Bob Henson)

Despite the brighter appropriations picture for science overall, federal staffing at science agencies is down 10-25% over the past year, Stensrud said at the town hall.

“I think there will be a repercussion that’s going to reverberate for years to come,” said Stensrud, referring to the staff cuts in science agencies and the many early retirements that were heavily incentivized: “It’s really hard to predict how this is going to play out, but it certainly has me concerned.”

The Mesa Lab question

One revealing aspect of the Dear Colleague Letter is its reference to NCAR’s Mesa Laboratory. The first project of famed architect I.M. Pei to be built outside an urban setting, the modernist building opened in 1967 and was featured in Woody Allen’s 1973 film “Sleeper.” The Mesa Lab welcomes thousands of visitors year-round to its free indoor and outdoor exhibits, including North America’s first weather-oriented interpretive hiking trail, the Walter Orr Roberts Weather Trail.

The letter seeks input on ownership for public or private use.

The site on Table Mesa overlooking Boulder was chosen in 1960 from among four finalist locations. Although the site lay above the “blue line” that had been recently adopted by Boulder as a boundary for development, city voters voted on a ballot measure on January 31, 1961, that would grant an exception to the Table Mesa site (at the time a set of parcels owned by several private parties) for construction of NCAR, with most of the land preserved as open space.

Figure 3. The poster distributed just ahead of the Boulder city election in January 1961 that allowed for the construction of the NCAR Mesa Laboratory. (Image credit: UCAR Digital Image Library, © UCAR, CC BY-NC 4.0)

The ballot measure was overwhelmingly approved, and later in 1961, the state of Colorado purchased the site and donated it to the National Science Foundation for the purpose of building and hosting NCAR. How this arrangement might get interpreted, or reinterpreted, 65 years later is just one of many questions hanging over this unprecedented moment in postwar atmospheric science.

A model collaboration across ice, ocean, and atmosphere

Ironically, the threat to NCAR has arrived just as one of NCAR’s most noteworthy modeling projects has gotten the nod to become the core of NOAA’s next-generation unified model, a framework used for day-to-day weather forecasting as well as other applications in both operations and research.

Ken Graham, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service, announced at the American Meteorological Society meeting this week that the service is moving toward MPAS, the Model for Prediction Across Scales, as the dynamical core for its future modeling development. MPAS had been the first runner-up in the 2010s when NOAA developed its first Unified Forecast System, but the nod in 2016 went to the Finite-Volume on a Cubed-Sphere dynamical core, developed by NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.

Figure 4. The variable-mesh grid used for MPAS resembles a soccer ball, with hexagonal cells that can expand or contract as needed. (Image credit: NCAR/MPAS)

MPAS has been a team effort, with NCAR having the main responsibility for the atmospheric model, Los Alamos National Laboratory the ocean and ice models, and the two labs collaborating on overall MPAS development. Among the standout elements of MPAS is its variable-mesh grid: in contrast to the fixed 3D grids more common in weather and climate modeling, this grid can be tightened regionally in response to weather events of interest or other user needs. MPAS has been used widely in academia as well as in collaboration with The Weather Company.

Last spring, NCAR used MPAS to produce weather forecasts going out 60 hours that spanned the entire planet’s surface at points separated by just three kilometers (1.9 miles) – a total of over 65 million horizontal cells, plus 11 vertical layers.

Helping young scientists cultivate new research

Carlos Martinez, senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, is among the many graduate and postgraduate students who have spent one to two years at NCAR as part of the center’s Advanced Study Program. Dating back to the 1960s, the program encourages participants to cast their nets widely, drawing on the many areas of expertise present at NCAR to craft research that best reflects their interests and skills while furthering their eventual careers.

In an op-ed published January 27 in the journal Eos, “What Americans Lose If Their National Center for Atmospheric Research Is Dismantled,” Martinez wrote:

Administration officials have argued that NCAR’s work can simply be redistributed to other institutions without loss. But NCAR is not just another research center. It is purpose-built critical infrastructure designed to integrate observations, modeling, supercomputing, and applied research in ways that no single university, agency, or contractor can replicate on its own …

NSF has already outlined plans to restructure NCAR, including moving its supercomputer to another site and transferring or divesting research aircraft it operates. These risks would hollow out the institution itself, breaking apart integrated teams, disrupting continuity in projects, and weakening the unique collaborative model at NCAR that accelerates scientific progress in weather, water, climate, and space weather. This distinction matters. NCAR’s value does not lie solely in the science it produces, but in how that science is organized, sustained, and shared across the nation.

In these and other ways over the past few weeks, the importance of NCAR as a unique nexus for atmospheric and related science has come through time and again.

Busalacchi cited a letter sent by UCAR’s board of trustees to the National Science Foundation in advance of last week’s Dear Colleague Letter: “Without a central hub for advanced Earth system capabilities, our nation’s scientific leadership would be set back decades to a time when the siloed nature of research created infrastructure barriers to coordinated progress and limited our ability to provide information to safeguard communities and the economy. Splitting up NSF NCAR will reverse decades of progress with dire consequences for the safety and prosperity of all Americans.”

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Can solar projects improve biodiversity?

Solar projects do not inherently reduce biodiversity, and when designed with best practices, they can sustain or even increase local wildlife and plant diversity.

Impacts depend on where and how projects are built.

Siting solar on already developed land and minimizing soil disturbance can maintain habitats and support more diverse vegetation, insects, and birds. Solar farms can create “microclimates” where shade under panels reduces soil moisture loss and encourages plant growth. This may be especially valuable in regions currently experiencing hotter, drier conditions.

Developers can further reduce harm by avoiding bulldozing, leaving habitat patches, and building wildlife corridors within a site. Construction timing can also be adjusted to avoid sensitive periods such as breeding or migration.

After installation, habitat restoration efforts like planting native flowering species can boost floral diversity and pollinator populations, benefiting overall ecosystems and human agriculture.

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

Clarkson & Woods and Wychwood Biodiversity THE EFFECTS OF SOLAR FARMS ON LOCAL BIODIVERSITY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Mitigating biodiversity impacts associated with solar and wind energy development

U.S. Department of Agriculture Pollinator Habitat Planting: CP42

U.S. Department of Energy Buzzing Around Solar: Pollinator Habitat Under Solar Arrays

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

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer "yes/no" answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact — a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all of our published fact briefs here.

This article by Mathew Barlow, Professor of Climate Science, UMass Lowell and Judah Cohen, Climate scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

A severe winter storm that brought crippling freezing rain, sleet and snow to a large part of the U.S. in late January 2026 left a mess in states from New Mexico to New England. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power across the South as ice pulled down tree branches and power lines, more than a foot of snow fell in parts of the Midwest and Northeast, and many states faced bitter cold that was expected to linger for days.

The sudden blast may have come as a shock to many Americans after a mostly mild start to winter, but that warmth may have partly contributed to the ferocity of the storm.

As atmospheric and climate scientists, we conduct research that aims to improve understanding of extreme weather, including what makes it more or less likely to occur and how climate change might or might not play a role.

To understand what Americans are experiencing with this winter blast, we need to look more than 20 miles above the surface of Earth, to the stratospheric polar vortex.

On the morning of Jan. 26, 2026, the freezing line, shown in white, reached far into Texas. The light band with arrows indicates the jet stream, and the dark band indicates the stratospheric polar vortex. The jet stream is shown at about 3.5 miles above the surface, a typical height for tracking storm systems. The polar vortex is approximately 20 miles above the surface. Mathew Barlow, CC BY What creates a severe winter storm like this?

Multiple weather factors have to come together to produce such a large and severe storm.

Winter storms typically develop where there are sharp temperature contrasts near the surface and a southward dip in the jet stream, the narrow band of fast-moving air that steers weather systems. If there is a substantial source of moisture, the storms can produce heavy rain or snow.

In late January, a strong Arctic air mass from the north was creating the temperature contrast with warmer air from the south. Multiple disturbances within the jet stream were acting together to create favorable conditions for precipitation, and the storm system was able to pull moisture from the very warm Gulf of Mexico.

The National Weather Service issued severe storm warnings (pink) on Jan. 24, 2026, for a large swath of the U.S. that could see sleet and heavy snow over the following days, along with ice storm warnings (dark purple) in several states and extreme cold warnings (dark blue). National Weather Service Where does the polar vortex come in?

The fastest winds of the jet stream occur just below the top of the troposphere, which is the lowest level of the atmosphere and ends about seven miles above Earth’s surface. Weather systems are capped at the top of the troposphere, because the atmosphere above it becomes very stable.

The stratosphere is the next layer up, from about seven miles to about 30 miles. While the stratosphere extends high above weather systems, it can still interact with them through atmospheric waves that move up and down in the atmosphere. These waves are similar to the waves in the jet stream that cause it to dip southward, but they move vertically instead of horizontally.

A chart shows how temperatures in the lower layers of the atmosphere change between the troposphere and stratosphere. Miles are on the right, kilometers on the left. NOAA

You’ve probably heard the term “polar vortex” used when an area of cold Arctic air moves far enough southward to influence the United States. That term describes air circulating around the pole, but it can refer to two different circulations, one in the troposphere and one in the stratosphere.

The Northern Hemisphere stratospheric polar vortex is a belt of fast-moving air circulating around the North Pole. It is like a second jet stream, high above the one you may be familiar with from weather graphics, and usually less wavy and closer to the pole.

Sometimes the stratospheric polar vortex can stretch southward over the United States. When that happens, it creates ideal conditions for the up-and-down movement of waves that connect the stratosphere with severe winter weather at the surface.

A stretched stratospheric polar vortex reflects upward waves back down, left, which affects the jet stream and surface weather, right. Mathew Barlow and Judah Cohen, CC BY

The forecast for the January storm showed a close overlap between the southward stretch of the stratospheric polar vortex and the jet stream over the U.S., indicating perfect conditions for cold and snow.

The biggest swings in the jet stream are associated with the most energy. Under the right conditions, that energy can bounce off the polar vortex back down into the troposphere, exaggerating the north-south swings of the jet stream across North America and making severe winter weather more likely.

This is what was happening in late January 2026 in the central and eastern U.S.

If the climate is warming, why are we still getting severe winter storms?

Earth is unequivocally warming as human activities release greenhouse gas emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere, and snow amounts are decreasing overall. But that does not mean severe winter weather will never happen again.

Some research suggests that even in a warming environment, cold events, while occurring less frequently, may still remain relatively severe in some locations.

One factor may be increasing disruptions to the stratospheric polar vortex, which appear to be linked to the rapid warming of the Arctic with climate change.

The polar vortex is a strong band of winds in the stratosphere, normally ringing the North Pole. When it weakens, it can split. The polar jet stream can mirror this upheaval, becoming weaker or wavy. At the surface, cold air is pushed southward in some locations. NOAA

Additionally, a warmer ocean leads to more evaporation, and because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, that means more moisture is available for storms. The process of moisture condensing into rain or snow produces energy for storms as well. However, warming can also reduce the strength of storms by reducing temperature contrasts.

The opposing effects make it complicated to assess the potential change to average storm strength. However, intense events do not necessarily change in the same way as average events. On balance, it appears that the most intense winter storms may be becoming more intense.

A warmer environment also increases the likelihood that precipitation that would have fallen as snow in previous winters may now be more likely to fall as sleet and freezing rain.

There are still many questions

Scientists are constantly improving the ability to predict and respond to these severe weather events, but there are many questions still to answer.

Much of the data and research in the field relies on a foundation of work by federal employees, including government labs like the National Center for Atmospheric Research, known as NCAR, which has been targeted by the Trump administration for funding cuts. These scientists help develop the crucial models, measuring instruments and data that scientists and forecasters everywhere depend on.

A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 25, 2026 thru Sat, January 31, 2026. Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Change Impacts (11 articles)

• Thailand’s endangered ‘sea cows’ are washing ashore – pointing to a crisis in our seas "The Andaman Coast has one of the largest concentration of dugong in the world, so why are numbers falling dramatically and what can they tell us about a biodiversity warning cry" The Guardian, Gloria Dickie, Jan 23, 2026.
• How the polar vortex and warm ocean are intensifying a major US winter storm The Conversation US, Mathew Barlow & Judah Cohen, Jan 24, 2026.
• Heat Dome Fuels Extreme Heatwave across Australia as Temperatures Surge Toward a Scorching 50 °C Severe Weather Europe, Marko Korosec, Jan 25, 2026.
• Sea Levels Are Rising—But in Greenland, They Will Fall Columbia Climate School, Staff, Jan 26, 2026.
• Number of people living in extreme heat to double by 2050 if 2C rise occurs, study finds "Scientists expect 41% of the projected global population to face the extremes, with ‘no part of the world’ immune" The Guardian, Jonathan Watts, Jan 26, 2026.
• Scientists Push for More Ambitious Climate Targets "Researchers say a line has been crossed. For systems like coral reefs and ice sheets, the climate is already past safe." Inside Climate News, Bob Berwyn, Jan 27, 2026.
• Doomsday Clock 2026: Scientists set new time CNN, Kristen Rogers, Jan 27, 2026.
• What happens to forests when the planet warms up too fast earth.com, Eric Ralls, Jan 27, 2026.
• The UK government didn’t want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I’m not surprised "It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication" The Guardian, Opinion by George Monbiot, Jan 27, 2026.
• Climate change and La Niña made ‘devastating’ southern African floods more intense Carbon Brief, Ayesha Tandon & Yanine Quiroz, Jan 29, 2026.
• Powerful bomb cyclone to deliver snow and hurricane-force winds to Southeast this weekend CNN, Briana Waxman, Jan 30, 2026.

Climate Policy and Politics (5 articles)

• Why environmental policy struggles to value the future earth.com, Eric Ralls, Jan 25, 2026.
• Democrats are shying away from climate messaging. One of their own is fighting back. "There’s a schism within the Democratic Party about whether talking about climate change is the right message to win back control of Washington." Politico, Amelia Davidson & Kelsey Brugger, Jan 25, 2026.
• Arctic scientists 'feel pretty uncomfortable' on Greenland "Science in the Arctic — and Greenland — is on the frontline of pressing challenges facing humanity, like climate change and genetics. Some researchers worry international collaboration is at risk." DW (Deutsche Welle), Matthew Ward Agius, Jan 28, 2026.
• US leads record global surge in gas-fired power driven by AI demands, with big costs for the climate "Projects in development expected to grow global capacity by nearly 50% amid growing concern over impact on planet" The Guardian, Oliver Milman, Jan 29, 2026.
• How Trump’s EPA rollbacks could harm our air and water – and worsen global heating "Experts say administration has launched ‘war on all fronts’ to undo environmental rules – here are the key areas at risk" The Guardian, Dharna Noor, Jan 30, 2026.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (4 articles)

• Trump claims China doesn’t use wind power - but the world’s largest wind farm is there "Trump used the WEF in Davos to double-down on his attacks against renewable energy. But was anything he said accurate?" EuroNews, Liam Gillver, Jan 22, 2026.
• UK POLICY 23 January 2026 14:05 Q&A: What UK’s ‘warm homes plan’ means for climate change and energy bills "The UK government has released its long-awaited 'warm homes plan”, detailing support to help people install electric heat pumps, rooftop solar panels and insulation in their homes." Carbon Brief, Daisy Dunn, Josh Gabbatiss & Molly Lempriere, Jan 23, 2026.
• The European summit that will really wind up Trump "Wind turbines are for 'losers,' says Trump. Europe’s leaders beg to differ at a high-level meeting in Hamburg." Politico, Karl Mathiesen, Frederike Holewik, Ben Munster & Charlie Cooper, Jan 26, 2026.
• Judge Revives Wind Farm That Trump Halted Off Martha’s Vineyard "The project, known as Vineyard Wind, was already 95 percent complete when the Trump administration ordered construction to stop." The New York Times, Maxine Joselow, Jan 27, 2026.

Climate Education and Communication (2 articles)

• Whistleblowers Warn That Ad Industry Is Fuelling Online Hatred and Climate Crisis "Anonymous group of senior executives say major ad agencies are 'enabling harm rather than doing good'.” DeSmog International, TJ Jordan, Jan 26, 2026.
• Help needed to get translations prepared for our website relaunch! This blog post is a call for help to get our translations ready for the planned website relaunch. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, Jan 30, 2026.

Climate Science and Research (2 articles)

• Post-COP 30 Modeling Shows World Is Far Off Track for Climate Goals "A new MIT Global Change Outlook finds current climate policies and economic indicators put the world on track for dangerous warming." Inside Climate News, Ryan Krugman, Jan 24, 2026.
• Skeptical Science New Research for Week #5 2026 Skeptical Science's weekly summary of academic and other climate research. Skeptical Science, Doug Bostrom & Marc Kodack, Jan 29, 2026.

Health Aspects of Climate Change (1 article)

• Climate change could lead to 500,000 `additional` malaria deaths in Africa by 2050 Climate change could lead to half a million more deaths from malaria in Africa over the next 25 years, according to new research. Carbon Brief, Ayesha Tandon, Jan 28, 2026.

International Climate Conferences and Agreements (1 article)

• ‘Abdication’: Trump takes US out of Paris climate agreement for a second time "Experts are watching for how other countries will react as the ‘real economy’ shifts to cheaper, cleaner energy" The Guardian, Dharna Noor, Jan 27, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Solutions (1 article)

• Fact brief - Are solar projects hurting farmers and rural communities? No - The largest land use scenario for solar development would occupy only 1.15% of the 900 million acres of U.S. farmland. Many would not be sited on farmland at all. Skeptical Science, Sue Bin Park, Jan 27, 2026.

Miscellaneous (1 article)

• 2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #04 A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 18, 2026 thru Sat, January 24, 2026. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, John Hartz & Doug Bostrom, Jan 25, 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!

Open access notables

Are Hibernators Toast? Global Climate Change and Prolonged Seasonal Hibernation, Dausmann & Cooper, Global Change Biology

This review examines the multifaceted implications of global climate change on mammalian hibernators, emphasizing physiological, ecological and phenological impacts. While high-latitude habitats are experiencing faster overall warming, tropical and southern hemisphere regions face more unpredictable and variable climate alterations. Increasing temperature can directly affect hibernators by elevating hibernacula temperatures, shortening torpor bouts, increasing arousal frequency, and depleting energy reserves crucial for survival and reproductive success. Conversely, cold anomalies due to climate change may cause disruptive late-season cold snaps, affecting post-hibernation recovery and reproduction. The phenological timing of hibernation, emergence and reproduction is becoming increasingly decoupled from environmental cues, creating potential mismatches that threaten fitness and survival. Habitat modifications, including urbanisation, further modify microclimates, introducing new risks and opportunities influencing hibernation behaviour, resource availability and susceptibility to disturbances and diseases. Despite anticipated physiological resilience owing to broad thermal tolerances, many hibernating species already inhabit extreme environments and operate near their physiological limits, thus are even more at risk through ecological disruptions as climate variability intensifies. Ultimately, the capacity for adaptive phenotypic plasticity combined with ecological resilience will determine species' future persistence, with high-latitude species potentially more vulnerable to ecological disruptions like habitat loss, predation and disrupted food webs, while tropical species face greater physiological risk.

Major heat wave in the North Atlantic had widespread and lasting impacts on marine life, Werner et al., Science Advances

Marine heat waves (MHWs) are increasing in frequency and intensity, but wider effects are unexamined in the North Atlantic, and there are uncertainties regarding the spatial scale, magnitude, and persistence of MHWs’ impacts on ecosystems. We show that a sudden and strong increase in the frequency of MHWs in and after 2003 was linked to widespread and abrupt ecological changes. This upheaval spanned multiple trophic levels, from unicellular protists to whales. Every examined region showed a reorganization from species adapted to colder, ice-prone environments to those favoring warmer waters and the event’s impacts altered socioecological dynamics. This review provides evidence for large-scale connectivity across ocean basins. However, it reveals that the magnitude of ecological impacts seems to vary among events highlighting key knowledge gaps for predicting ecosystem responses to MHWs. Understanding the importance of the subpolar gyre and air-sea heat exchange will be crucial for forecasting MHWs and their cascading effects. 

Extreme rainfall over land exacerbated by marine heatwaves, Wang et al., Nature Communications

Marine heatwaves (MHWs), characterized by multiple days of exceptionally elevated sea surface temperature (SST), have profound marine ecological impacts, but their effect on precipitation, particularly extreme rainfall over coastal regions, remains unknown. Using multi-platform observational data since 2000, here we show that SST gradients of MHW intensify surface wind speeds and drive downwind surface wind convergence and upward motions by enhancing vertical turbulent flux over the warm water. The induced anomalies lead to substantially increased local precipitation with spatial scale several hundreds of kilometers and temporally peaking one-day after the MHW. Furthermore, in global coastal regions, about 5%-25% of extreme rainfall over land (>99% wet-day) occurs in the downwind direction of nearby MHWs. Averaged land precipitation of the extreme rainfall events in the downwind direction of a strong MHW increases by 20%-30%, or 4-8 mm/day, from the amount without an influence from MHWs, exacerbating flood-related fatalities. Our finding identifies an impact of MHWs on coastal extreme events with important implications for affected communities, particularly given the projected increase in MHW intensity and frequency under greenhouse warming.

Know Your Stripes? An Assessment of Climate Warming Stripes as a Graphical Risk Communication Format, Dawson et al., Risk Analysis

Stripe graphs have emerged as a popular format for the visual communication of environmental risks. The apparent appeal of the format has been attributed to its capacity to summarize complex data in an eye-catching way that can be understood quickly and intuitively by diverse audiences. Despite the growing use of stripe graphs among academics and organizations (e.g., Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC]) to communicate with both lay and expert audiences, there has been no reported empirical assessment of the format. Hence, it is not clear to what extent stripe graphs facilitate data comprehension and influence risk perceptions and the willingness to engage in mitigation actions. To address these knowledge gaps, we conducted two studies in which lay participants saw “climate warming” stripe graphs that varied in color and design. We found no evidence that traditional stripe graphs (i.e., unlabeled axes), irrespective of the stripe colors, improved the accuracy of estimates of past or predicted global temperature changes. Nor did the traditional stripe graph influence risk perceptions, affective reactions, or environmental decision-making. Contrary to expectations, we found that viewing (cf., not viewing) a traditional stripe graph led to a lower willingness to engage in mitigation behaviors. Notably, we found that a stripe graph with date and temperature labels (cf., without labels): (i) helped participants develop more accurate estimates of past and predicted temperature changes and (ii) was rated more likable and helpful. We discuss how these and other findings can be utilized to help improve the effectiveness of stripe graphs as a risk communication format.

The Rise of (Affective) Obstruction: Conceptualizing the Evolution of Far-Right Climate Change Communication (1986–2018), Forchtner, Environmental Communication

Research has illustrated that today’s far right in the Global North takes largely climate obstructionist stances, commonly featuring ageist/misogynistic/racist tropes. However, little is known about how this present became to be, how climate change was articulated in the 2000s and earlier. I therefore ask: how has far-right climate communication evolved between 1986 and 2018? Have there been notable changes at the level of both specific claims and their emotiveness – and if so, what might explain them? In response, I analyze 733 articles printed across four exemplary, continuously published (non-)party sources covering the Austrian and German far-right spectrum, in order to offer a novel conceptualization of three periods: benevolent silence (1986-1996), concerned acceptance (1997-2006), and antagonistic obstruction (2007-2018). Thus, I show that the far right became today’s (affective-)obstructionist force and link this shift to: the US climate countermovement; dynamics in the political field; and, interrelated, increasingly melodramatic (affective) climate communication, turning climate change into another site for the making of far-right subjectivity. By conceptualizing three periods, by considering the development over time of both specific claims and affect, and by suggesting reasons behind this evolution, I substantively contribute to understanding far-right climate obstruction and the anti-liberal/anti-democratic backlash it facilitates.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Fall 2025, Leiserowitz et al., Yale University and George Mason University

Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not by a ratio of more than 5 to 1 (72% versus 13%). 64% of Americans say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming. However, 85% of Americans either underestimate how many Americans are worried, or don’t know enough to say. Only 17% of Americans say they hear about global warming in the media “at least once a week,” which is the lowest percentage since the question was added to the survey in 2015.

Americans are more likely to think climate change will be harmful to the world than to them personally, Jamie Ballard, YouGov

A new YouGov survey on climate change and the environment finds that many Americans foresee dire consequences to climate change and experience anxiety or grief when they think about climate change, but few believe they personally will be harmed greatly by climate change. One-quarter of Americans believe it is very or somewhat likely climate change will cause the extinction of the human race. More than twice as many think it is likely to cause cities to be lost to rising sea levels (56%), and similar proportions expect mass displacement of people from some parts of the world to others (57%) and serious damage to the global economy (58%). Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say these catastrophic events are likely. The largest gaps are on serious damage to the global economy (82% of Democrats and 29% of Republicans think this is a likely result of climate change) and mass displacement from some parts of the world to others (81% vs. 32%). 122 articles in 54 journals by 753 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Atmospheric stability sets maximum moist heat and convection in the midlatitudes, Li & Tamarin-Brodsky, Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aea8453

Contrasting Trends in Cold-Season Daily Soil Temperature With Climate Warming in Snow-Affected Settings, Ghosh et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118210

Impacts of Transition From Pack Ice Zone to Marginal Ice Zone in the Arctic Ocean on Heat Exchanges Within the Atmosphere-Sea Ice-Ocean System, Chen et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jc022995

Remote and Regional Drivers of the Indonesian Throughflow Under Future Warming: Implications for Inter-Basin Freshwater Transport, Wang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119514

Understanding the Climate Response to Different Vertical Patterns of Radiative Forcing, Dai et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl119138

Observations of climate change, effects

Detectable Human Influence on Reduced Day-to-Day Temperature Variability in the Cold Season Driven by Arctic Sea-Ice Loss, Siew et al., Atmospheric Science Letters Open Access pdf 10.1002/asl.70005

Emergence of the enhanced equatorial Atlantic warming as a fingerprint of global warming, Dong et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-68015-6

Intensified melting in the Arctic lower troposphere from 1979 to 2023, ZHOU et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.01.003

Observed trends in precipitation extreme indices as inferred from a homogenized daily precipitation dataset for Canada, Wang & Feng, Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5304833

Potential Impact of Multiple Climate Factors on the High Temperatures Over Eurasian Continent in Summer 2022, Li et al., Atmosphere 10.1080/07055900.2026.2612687

Temperature Is Surpassing Precipitation as the Dominant Driver of Flash Drought Acceleration Under Climate Warming, Ma & Li, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl118457

Unveiling the Deep Ocean warming: observed bottom ocean dataset across Mediterranean Sea, Lo Bue et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/essd-2025-739

Warming Trend in the Western Indian Ocean Driven by Oceanic Transport, Joseph et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc022762

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

Significant uncertainties from overlooking aerosol-cloud coexistence in surface solar radiation estimates using passive satellite observations, Lang et al., Remote Sensing of Environment 10.1016/j.rse.2025.115168

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Constraining climate model projections with observations amplifies future runoff declines, Kim et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5867679/v1

Intensified Western Boundary Currents in South China Sea Under Global Warming, Zeng et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jc022920

Projected climate change in Fennoscandia – and its relation to ensemble spread and global trends, Strandberg et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.5194/wcd-7-185-2026

Temperature Is Surpassing Precipitation as the Dominant Driver of Flash Drought Acceleration Under Climate Warming, Ma & Li, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl118457

The climate opportunities and risks of contrail avoidance, Smith et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6925120/v1

What are we missing? A systematic mapping of climate change projections in the Brahmaputra River Basin, Bhaduri et al., Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2026.2617373

When Winds Collide With Precipitation: Dominance of Anthropogenic Forcing in Escalating Compound Extremes Over Southeast Asia, Jiang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl119882

Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

Dynamically Downscaled European Water Budget Quantities in the Presence of Sea Surface Temperature Uncertainty, Lopes et al., Journal of Hydrometeorology 10.1175/jhm-d-25-0018.1

Redundancy-Resilient Multi-Criteria Multi-Model Ensemble Framework for Drought Assessment Under Climate Change, Abbas et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70252

Toward exascale climate modelling: a python DSL approach to ICON's (icosahedral non-hydrostatic) dynamical core (icon-exclaim v0.2.0), Dipankar et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-713-2026

Cryosphere & climate change

Anthropogenic Warming Amplifies the Impact of the Tibetan Plateau Snow Cover on Eastern Europe Heat Waves, Jia et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0447.1

Deglaciation of the Prudhoe Dome in northwestern Greenland in response to Holocene warming, Walcott-George et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-025-01889-9

High-resolution geomechanical modeling reveals accelerating infrastructure risks from permafrost degradation in Northern Alaska, Wang et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7055543/v1

Modeling the 21st-century response of Greenland's Zachariæ Isstrøm and Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden glaciers to atmosphere?ocean forcing and friction laws, Dong et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.11.006

Simulation of the climatic conditions required for the existence of ice sheet on the Tibetan Plateau, Su & Sun, Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2025.105202

Synergistic effects of warming and heavy snowfall accumulation on the increased risk of large-scale snow avalanches in the western Tianshan Mountains, Chen et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.09.009

Trends in Sea Ice and Snow-Cover Extent: A Fractional Integration Analysis, Caporale et al., Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5046240

Sea level & climate change

Long-term hydrodynamic changes in marginal estuarine seas: the role of sea level rise and freshwater fluxes, Stanev, Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-025-33172-7

Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

Deglaciation of the Prudhoe Dome in northwestern Greenland in response to Holocene warming, Walcott-George et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-025-01889-9

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

Are Hibernators Toast? Global Climate Change and Prolonged Seasonal Hibernation, Dausmann & Cooper, Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70659

Biocrusts Are Highly Vulnerable to Multidimensional Global Change, Qiu et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70723

Climate Change Will Resize and Reshape Plant–Hummingbird Networks in the Atlantic Forest, Restrepo?González et al., Diversity and Distributions Open Access pdf 10.1111/ddi.70134

Demography Meets Climate Change: Life History Challenges for a Neotropical Viviparous Lizard, Santos et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72829

Effects of Eutrophication and Warming on Lake Ecosystems, Jeppesen et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70715

Five centuries of lake deoxygenation and microbial shifts revealed by sedimentary DNA, Vegas-Vilarrúbia et al., Anthropocene Open Access 10.1016/j.ancene.2025.100504

Global Responses of Phytoplankton Size Structure to Marine Heatwaves, Zhan et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles Open Access 10.1029/2025gb008854

Global urban vegetation exhibits divergent thermal effects: From cooling to warming as aridity increases, Guo et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aea9165

Habitat Quality Assessment Within Expanded Ranges of Dengue Vectors Using a Composite Index Scale, Naeem et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72387

Linking Community-Climate Disequilibrium to Ecosystem Function, Stemkovski et al., Ecology Letters Open Access pdf 10.1111/ele.70314

Major heat wave in the North Atlantic had widespread and lasting impacts on marine life, Werner et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adt7125

Phytoplankton Blooms in the Coastal Seas Around China Increase in Response to Warming, Yang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 10.1029/2025jc022348

Resilience and Adaptation in Desert Ecosystems: Unveiling Microbial Legacies and Plant Functional Trait Coordination Under Climate Change, Islam et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70678

Rising Influence of Climate on the Distribution of Black-Necked Cranes (Grus nigricollis) on Tibetan Plateau, Yang et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72756

Structural Climate Drivers of Global Coral Bleaching, Lu et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70661

Warm Edge Kelp Populations Show Elevated Volatility to Marine Heatwaves, Shi et al., Ecology Letters Open Access 10.1111/ele.70307

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

Anthropogenically Stimulated Carbonate Dissolution in the Global Shelf Seafloor Is Potentially an Important and Fast Climate Feedback, van de Velde et al., AGU Advances Open Access 10.1029/2025av001865

Atmospheric CO2 concentration prediction based on bidirectional long short-term memory, Qiao et al., Frontiers in Earth Science Open Access 10.3389/feart.2026.1736569

Atmospheric deposition enhances marine methane production and emissions from global oceans, Zhuang et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-68527-9

Carbon cycling across coastal soft sediments: the contribution of macrofaunal communities to seafloor respiration, Rohlfer et al., Marine Environmental Research Open Access 10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107812

Global trends in ocean fronts and impacts on the air–sea CO2 flux and chlorophyll concentrations, Yang et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02538-0

Hidden Role of Trophic Cascade Effects for Soil Carbon Sequestration in Alpine Tundra, Kou et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70663

Insights Into the Persistence and Vulnerability of Tropical Peat Carbon Stocks From a Long-Term Field Decomposition Experiment, Perryman et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles Open Access 10.1029/2025gb008821

IPSL-Perm-LandN: improving the IPSL Earth System Model to represent permafrost carbon-nitrogen interactions, Gaillard et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2025-3656

Methane fluxes from Arctic boreal North America: comparisons between process-based estimates and atmospheric observations, Liu et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-2150

Perennial redox potential dynamics in Alaskan degraded and non-degraded permafrost soils, Liebmann et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03143-x

Permafrost Thaw Dynamics Drive the Regime Shifts of Iron-Bound Organic Carbon Sequestration in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, Du et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl118350

Rethinking default ‘K’ values in landfill greenhouse gas emission modeling: A case study from Nepal using LandGEM, Dahal & Babel, Energy for Sustainable Development 10.1016/j.esd.2025.101918

RETRACTION: Temperature Optimum for Marsh Resilience and Carbon Accumulation Revealed in a Whole-Ecosystem Warming Experiment, , Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70656

Sea spray driven CO2 efflux: modeling the effect of sea spray evaporation on carbonate chemistry and air-sea gas exchange, Hendrickson et al., npj Climate and Atmospheric Science Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41612-025-01304-5

Tropicalization Enhances Mangrove Methane Emissions to the Atmosphere, Chen et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl119663

CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Arctic driftwood proposal for durable carbon removal, Büntgen et al., npj Climate Action Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44168-025-00327-1

Unvegetated Tidal Flats: A Critical Yet Vulnerable Coastal Blue Carbon Sink, Wang et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70695

Using Carbon Dioxide Removal for a Habitable Post-2050 Net-Zero Emission World: Contributions and Limitations, Cui et al., Journal of Ocean University of China 10.1007/s11802-026-6228-5

Decarbonization

Impact of extremely high temperature on future photovoltaic power potential over East Asia, Park et al., Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5277327

Low-carbon value chain building strategies across industrial and political contexts: A comparative analysis of decarbonization efforts in Norwegian and Japanese aviation, Fantini et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104472

Aerosols

Modeling the Impact of Alternative Fuels and Hydrogen Propulsion on Contrail-Cirrus: A Parameter Study, Lottermoser & Unterstrasser, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd044604

Southern Ocean Clear-Sky Brightening From Sea Spray Aerosol Increase Drives Departure From Hemispheric Albedo Symmetry, Singer & Pincus, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl119637

Climate change communications & cognition

Assessing Threat and Efficacy: Ideological Influences in Climate Change Reporting in US and German Newspapers (2006–2023), Lohkamp et al., Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2026.2616456

Bringing marine microbiome research into the classroom is an essential step toward a climate literate society, Shemi et al., npj Climate Action Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44168-025-00325-3

Climate obstruction in the United States and Brazil: a comparative analysis of discourses by foreign policy authorities of the Trump and Bolsonaro administrations, De Quadros & Santos Lima, Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2025.2609769

Eye-tracking research on climate change communication: A systematic review, Stasiak et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102886

Know Your Stripes? An Assessment of Climate Warming Stripes as a Graphical Risk Communication Format, Dawson et al., Risk Analysis Open Access pdf 10.1111/risa.70171

Manual and automatic paragraph-level analysis of climate change framing in academic journal editorials, Badullovich et al., Scientometrics Open Access pdf 10.1007/s11192-025-05494-w

Solastalgia and mental health in the climate era: a perspective on ecological suffering, Marques, Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2025.2610701

Testing the impact of fallacies and contrarian claims in climate change misinformation, Lieu et al,, British Journal of Psychology, 10.1111/bjop.70049

The Rise of (Affective) Obstruction: Conceptualizing the Evolution of Far-Right Climate Change Communication (1986–2018), Forchtner, Environmental Communication Open Access 10.1080/17524032.2025.2596620

Youth climate activism in shrinking spaces: how Uganda’s activists navigate red lines, Sändig et al., Environmental Politics Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2025.2605809

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Adopting coffee to climate change: arabica rootstocks enhance physiological performance of robusta under water deficit, Patil et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1748714

Agri-photovoltaics in India: Geospatial suitability for sustainable water–energy–food nexus solutions, Mehta & Betz, Energy for Sustainable Development 10.1016/j.esd.2025.101915

Assessing the Climate Impacts of Large-Scale Global Adoption of Cover Crops and Agroforestry, Zhang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 10.1029/2025jg009268

Climate vulnerability assessment of Meghalaya’s agricultural sector at the district level, Lynrah et al., Discover Sustainability Open Access 10.1007/s43621-025-02408-x

Climate-smart agriculture: analysis of the determinants of adoption intensity of sustainable agronomic practices among mango farmers in the Yilo Krobo Municipality of Eastern Region of Ghana, Adu et al., Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2025.2609782

Heat waves associated with higher methane emissions from dairy manure: A 6-year study, VanderZaag et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110980

Livestock farmers’ perception on effect of climate change on smallholder dairy farming in Fiji, Igbal et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1654274

Projecting shifts in drought-induced thresholds for wheat yield loss under climate change in southeastern Australia, Xiang et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.111003

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Runoff Variability and Extremes in China Using High-Resolution Simulations, Gao et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.70270

Constraining climate model projections with observations amplifies future runoff declines, Kim et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5867679/v1

Contrasting trends in very large hail events and related economic losses across the globe, Battaglioli et al., Nature Geoscience Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41561-025-01868-0

Extreme rainfall over land exacerbated by marine heatwaves, Wang et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-68431-2

From drought to deluge: Understanding the atmospheric and climatic forces behind the United Arab Emirates' recent flood event, Fazel-Rastgar et al., Journal of Atmospheric and Solar 10.1016/j.jastp.2025.106712

From Past to Future: Risk Assessment and Identification of Susceptible Areas to Extreme Precipitation Under Changing Climate Across the Middle East, Fakour et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70250

Identifying Recurring Patterns of Extreme Daily Precipitation Using K-means algorithm: Uncovering Spatial Shift driven by Climate Change over the Italian Peninsula, Manco et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2025.100849

Increased interannual variability of Sahel rainfall under greenhouse warming, Yang et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-67885-0

Observed trends in precipitation extreme indices as inferred from a homogenized daily precipitation dataset for Canada, Wang & Feng, Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5304833

Climate change mitigation public policy research

A multi-faceted analysis of the influence of state energy policies on spatial clustering of wind and solar farms in the U.S., Rozhkov & Das, Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115073

Building material stock drives embodied carbon emissions and risks future climate goals in China, Zhang et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02527-3

Climate policy portfolios that accelerate emission reductions, Wilson et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4742975/v1

Divergent paths: A machine learning analysis of post-pandemic decarbonization trajectories and the global climate policy imperative, Evro et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.115049

Do climate mitigation policies reduce within-country carbon inequality? Evidence from cross-national panel data, Chen et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.115056

Energy transition in the global south: Donor bargains and the future of the aid machine, Maduekwe, Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104525

European forest carbon and biodiversity policies have a limited win-win potential, Balducci et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-68668-x

The contested political economy of Norway's oil and gas industry, Rahman et al., Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104510

Valuing the wider benefits of net zero: Conceptual foundations of new assessment frameworks in the United Kingdom, Lait et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104516

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

Adaptation pathways identify effective strategies for mitigating damage on a developed barrier island as sea levels rise, Patch et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.3389/fevo.2025.1616495

Beyond projects: Relational durability and the measurement of climate adaptation success in practice, Robinson et al., Global Environmental Change 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.103110

From public attention to action: How risk perception and experience drive support for climate adaptation policies in heat-vulnerable cities, Kim & Kim, Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5098749

Unlocking the benefits of transparent and reusable science for climate risk management, Pollack et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2422157123

Climate change impacts on human health

Choice of Downscaled Climate Product Matters: Projections of Valley Fever Seasonality in a Warming Climate, Schollaert et al., GeoHealth Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gh001624

Habitat Quality Assessment Within Expanded Ranges of Dengue Vectors Using a Composite Index Scale, Naeem et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72387

Projected impacts of climate change on malaria in Africa, Yamana & Eltahir, Environmental Health Perspectives Open Access 10.1289/ehp.1206174

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Climate Responsibilities of Business Corporations, Ngosso, WIREs Climate Change Open Access 10.1002/wcc.70040

Permafrost and wildfire carbon emissions indicate need for additional action to keep Paris Agreement temperature goals within reach, Schädel et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03189-5

Book reviews

Narratives of conflict in a warming Arctic, Spence, Science 10.1126/science.aed7095

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

Demonstrating the Full Value of Managed Electric Vehicle Charging, Ramakrishnan et al., ENergyHub

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate with real electric vehicle (EV) drivers the value of various strategies for managing EV charging, with a focus on deferring distribution system upgrades and reducing wholesale costs. The authors present the results of a trial a managed charging solution with EV drivers in the state of Washington. Data from the trial was used to estimate the value of managed charging in avoiding electric system costs and to assess the differences in value between active and

Carbon Majors: 2024 Data Update, InfluenceMap

The Carbon Majors database traces 34.7 GtCO2e of greenhouse gas emissions in 2024 to the 166 oil, gas, coal, and cement producers, a 0.8% increase from these entities’ total emissions in 2023. Just 32 companies were linked to over half of global fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions in 2024. As shown in Figure 1, the top 10 companies by emissions, cumulatively responsible for 27.6% of global fossil CO2 emissions in 2024, were all fully or majority state-owned companies. This analysis highlights the concentrated responsibility for global carbon emissions and underscores the critical role of corporate accountability in combating climate change. Historically, 70% of global fossil fuel and cement CO? emissions from 1854 through 2024 can be traced to 178 producing entities, with over a third attributable to just 22 companies. This demonstrates a clear concentration of responsibility among a relatively small number of producers. In recent years, the importance of corporate accountability has grown, particularly as international climate commitments have been unevenly implemented and, in some regions, partially rolled back. Carbon Majors provides a critical foundation for scientific attribution and climate liability, linking emissions directly to individual companies and supporting efforts to hold them responsible for environmental and social harms.

Demonstrating the Full Value of Managed Electric Vehicle Charging II, Ramakrishnan, EnergyHub

The authors demonstrate with real electric vehicle (EV) drivers the value of various strategies for managing EV charging, with a focus on deferring distribution system upgrades and reducing wholesale costs. The authors present a summary of the results of a trial of a managed charging solution with EV drivers in the Washington state. Data from the trial were used to estimate the value of managed charging in avoiding electric system costs and to assess the differences in value between active and passive managed charging strategies.

Navigating State Law in Local Climate Action, Nolette et al., Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia University

Local governments are well-positioned to lead the fight against climate change by reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions, promoting renewable energy resources, and otherwise advancing climate mitigation and adaptation goals. Many local governments have already taken actions, and there is more they can do. In mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis, local governments must be aware of and act consistently with preemptive state laws that limit their authority. The authors provide state-by-state information, resources, and analysis for 19 states on key state-local preemption issues.

Building Corporate Climate Resilience:, Verena Radulovic and Theo Bachrach, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and Resilience First

Physical climate impacts are fundamentally reshaping the risk landscape for global businesses. Through six dialogues conducted in 2025, the Climate Resilience Foresight Series brought together leaders from two dozen companies to explore how organizations can build comprehensive resilience to climate change. The authors present a strategic framework for corporate climate resilience, drawing on insights from participants across manufacturing, energy, technology, financial services, and other critical secto substantially, translating this awareness into sustained action remains challenging. Companies face genuine barriers including competing priorities, data limitations, and governance structures not designed for long-term, systemic threats. Yet leading organizations are developing innovative approaches that frame resilience as a sou center. As climate effects accelerate, the companies that systematically build adaptive capacity will be best positioned to protect value, seize opportunities, and contribute to broader societal resilience.

India’s electrotech fast-track: where China built on coal, India is building on su, Kingsmill Bond and Sumant Sinha, Ember

This analysis compares India and China’s energy paths at equivalent levels of economic development, using data from the World Bank for GDP, Ember for electricity and the IEA for energy balances. India is forging a better path to the electrotech future of energy. Cheap solar and batteries are enabling India to develop without the long fossil detour taken by the West and China.

Europe’s Selective Blindness on Gas: US LNG and the Limits of Supply Diversification, Piria et al., The Clingendael Institute, the Ecologic Institute, and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

U.S. gas imports into the European Economic Area (EEA) (including Norway) surged in 2025, now accounting for almost 40% of the EEA's total gas imports and nearly 60% of its LNG imports, creating exposure to geopolitical and price risks. While phasing out Russian fossil fuels is strategically sound, new European Union (EU) legislation narrows diversification to merely eliminating Russian imports. Treating Norway as an external supplier is at odds with economic realities and obscures Europe’s growing dependence on the U.S., an energy security risk that policymakers must acknowledge. The EU should monitor all suppliers' import shares, accelerate the energy transition and resist long-term fossil lock-ins misaligned with Europe’s falling gas demand.

Sunlight and Storage into Savings, Sharaf et al., Coalition for Community Solar Access

New York is on track to meet its goal of 10 gigawatts (GW) of distributed solar by 2030, but it can aim higher. In light of federal barriers and uncertainty with respect to large-scale renewables and offshore wind, New York needs to take new action to reduce carbon pollution and meet the statutory mandates in its climate law. Ramping up distributed solar and storage can solve that need, and, at the same time, produce large savings for all consumers. The authors modeled the effects of distributed solar and storage growth in New York under two scenarios: a “Business-as-Usual” (BAU) case that extrapolation of the state’s existing target of 10 GW by 2030), and a “Policy” case based on a new proposed target of 20 GW of distributed solar by 2035. In both scenarios, energy storage complements solar deployment by extending the benefits of midday solar generation into the evenings when electricity demand is high. The BAU case assumes distributed storage levels consistent with those modeled in the New York Energy Plan Pathways “No Action” scenario, producing 0.9 GW of distributed storage by 2035. In the Policy case, the authors modelled 3.7 GW of distributed storage by 2035 (extrapolating the state’s target of 1.7 GW of additional distributed storage by 2030).

Data Center Power Play in Wisconsin, Chavez et al., Union of Concerned Scientists

With forward-looking policies that reduce harm and protect ratepayers, Wisconsin can avoid the risks of unmitigated growth of electricity demand from data centers. Clean energy policies can prevent overreliance on fossil fuels by meeting new load with continued growth in the long term. This reinforces the need for flexible and sustainable resource planning. Wisconsin can meet the challenge of increased electricity demand with renewables and energy storage. By adopting a Clean Energy Standard and implementing a carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction policy, Wisconsin can generate 83 percent of its electricity with clean energy technologies, such as wind and solar by 2050. Clean energy policies reduce heat-trapping emissions and help avoid the negativ in the power sector by 2050, substantially reducing climate and health damages caused by pollution.

Climate change eclipses La Niña cooling in Australia to drive extreme heatwave and heightened fire risk, Clarke et al., World Weather Attribution

From 5–10 January, 2026, south-eastern Australia experienced its most severe heatwave since 2019–20. Temperatures exceeded 40°C in major cities including Melbourne and Sydney, with even hotter conditions across regional Victoria and New South Wales. Extreme heat affected large parts of Australia, including Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania before moving east to New Zealand. Researchers from Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, the United States, the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom collaborated to assess to what extent human-induced climate change altered the likelihood and intensity of the extreme heat in the region. The analysis focuses on the 3 hottest days over the most affected area in South Eastern Australia, and additional analysis of weather station data in highly populated areas. When combining the observation-based analysis with climate models to quantify the role of climate change in the 3-day heat event, the authors conclude that climate change made the extreme heat about 1.6°C hotter.

2025 Global Change Outlook. Assessing risks to human well-being and pathways to a more sustainable future, Paltsev et al., MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy

n the 2025 Outlook we focus on two scenarios. Current Trends: Current measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, projected indefinitely. This scenario generally fails to stabilize climate, allowing global average temperatures to continue to rise. Accelerated Actions: What may happen if regions impose more aggressive greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets aligned with the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals. By contrasting outcomes under Current Trends and Accelerated Actions, we can quantify the risks of remaining on the world’s current emissions trajectory and the benefits of pursuing a much more aggressive strategy. We hope that our risk-benefit analysis will help inform decision-makers in government, industry, academia and civil society as they confront sustainability-relevant challenges.

Americans are more likely to think climate change will be harmful to the world than to them personally, Jamie Ballard, YouGov

A new YouGov survey on climate change and the environment finds that many Americans foresee dire consequences to climate change and experience anxiety or grief when they think about climate change, but few believe they personally will be harmed greatly by climate change. One-quarter of Americans believe it is very or somewhat likely climate change will cause the extinction of the human race. More than twice as many think it is likely to cause cities to be lost to rising sea levels (56%), and similar proportions expect mass displacement of people from some parts of the world to others (57%) and serious damage to the global economy (58%). Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say these catastrophic events are likely. The largest gaps are on serious damage to the global economy (82% of Democrats and 29% of Republicans think this is a likely result of climate change) and mass displacement from some parts of the world to others (81% vs. 32%).

Vineyard Wind 1: Impact on Jobs and Economic Output, Annual Report 4, David Borges, Vineyard Wind

Vineyard Wind 1 has created thousands of jobs. More than 3,700 U.S.-based workers have been directly employed on the project to date, including both union and nonunion workers across development, construction, and O&M. Most are Massachusetts residents. Construction is the most labor-intensive phase of the project. Over 3,300 workers have been employed during the construction phase, with peak activity in Year 2, when work was underway simultaneously in Barnstable, Martha’s Vineyard, offshore, and New Bedford. Full-time equivalents (FTEs) capture the total volume of labor delivered on the project. The project has generated 2,469 FTEs since 2017, reflecting the intensity and duration of work, including offshore rotations and high-hour schedules that go beyond simple worker counts. Union labor participation exceeded local hiring goals. Seventy-one percent of union workers resided in Southeastern Massachusetts (SEMass), surpassing the project’s 51% goal, demonstrating strong local engagement. Offshore roles require highly specialized, high-wage labor. Many offshore technicians, marine crews, and commissioning staff work 84 hours per week during rotations, earning premium wages and overtime that significantly boost economic impacts.

Thirsty Data and the Lone Star State: The Impact of Data Center Growth on Texas’ Water Supply, Cook et al., HARC

In the last year, the projected spike in data center electricity demand has received significant attention. Their water demand has only recently entered the mainstream discussion. Because water and electricity are inextricably linked, the authors discuss both and provides estimates of how this new industry could impact Texas’ water supply, local communities, other businesses, and the 30 million Texans who already face significant water supply challenges. The authors also present some broad recommendations that state and local leaders should consider as more and more technology companies seek to connect to the Texas grid and water systems.

Assessment of EU and Member States Adaptation and Investment Needs, Directorate General for Climate Action, European Commission

The authors provide a robust, evidence-based estimate of the investment needs – as represented by the cost of implementation of adaptation actions – required to adapt to climate risks in Europe. As climate impacts intensify, understanding the scale and distribution of adaptation investment needs becomes increasingly important for policy planning, budget allocation, and strategic prioritization. This analysis supports the European Commission’s overall work on adaptation and resilience, on guiding Member States in developing coherent and cost-effective responses to climate risks and in its efforts to mainstream adaptation into fiscal frameworks.

The Fiduciary Case for Divesting the New York State & Local Retirement System’s Common Retirement Fund from Fossil Fuel Companies, Drew Warshaw

The author finds that New York State Comptroller DiNapoli’s investments in fossil fuel companies have destroyed actual value for active and retired public employees and taxpayers alike. Over the last 18 years, New York’s State & Local Common Retirement Fund (“CRF”) would have performed 5.4% better without fossil fuel investments than the CRF actually performed in real life, and would have earned an additional $15.1 billion. Because the CRF has to be fully funded by law, that 5.4% loss in value forced New York taxpayers to contribute an extra $8.3 billion in local property and state income taxes. Instead of fully mitigating this risk through divestment, the Comptroller has taken half measures, backed by complex, opaque and subjective methods that lack conviction, efficacy, objectivity, and run counter to the Comptroller’s fiduciary duty as the CRF’s “sole trustee.”

Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Fall 2025, Leiserowitz et al., Yale University and George Mason University

Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not by a ratio of more than 5 to 1 (72% versus 13%). 64% of Americans say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming. However, 85% of Americans either underestimate how many Americans are worried, or don’t know enough to say. Only 17% of Americans say they hear about global warming in the media “at least once a week,” which is the lowest percentage since the question was added to the survey in 2015.

Power Outages Cost More Than We Account For. Better Data Could Help. What insurers, utilities, and communities need to better assess power outage risk and boost resilience, Harnett et al., RMI

Energy systems in the United States are under increasing stress. Challenges tied to aging infrastructure and rising energy demand are being compounded by increasingly frequent and severe storms, floods, and wildfires. Yet despite growing exposure to climate-driven outages, utilities, insurers, investors, local governments, and communities still lack clear, consistent data on the economic and social impacts of power disruptions. This gap makes it harder to evaluate and justify investments in resilient solutions and technologies that could reduce energy waste, protect households and businesses, and avoid future losses. The authors review the methods and tools currently used to estimate outage costs — focusing on extreme weather-related losses — and highlights opportunities to strengthen the methods needed to support smarter planning and capital allocation toward more resilient power systems. About New Research

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This is a re-post from the WMO

Climate variability and long-term climate change are increasingly shaping the performance and reliability of renewable energy systems worldwide, according to the WMO–IRENA Climate-driven Global Renewable Energy Resources and Energy Demand Review: 2024 Year in Review, released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

• Published in partnership with:
• International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

Key messages

• WMO–IRENA 2024 Year in Review highlights growing impacts of climate extremes on clean power systems
• Climate variability is already shaping renewable energy supply and electricity demand worldwide
• Extreme heat is driving rapid growth in energy demand, increasing system stress
• Hydropower is particularly exposed to rainfall variability
• Climate-informed planning and forecasting are essential

The report, in its third edition, finds that 2024—the warmest year on record, with global temperatures reaching around 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels—brought pronounced regional shifts in solar, wind and hydropower potential, alongside a 4% increase in climate-driven global energy demand compared with the 1991–2020 average. These climate-driven changes are occurring as global renewable energy capacity surpassed 4,400 gigawatts (GW), amplifying the interaction between climate conditions and energy systems at an unprecedented scale. 

The findings underscore the urgency of integrating climate intelligence into energy planning as countries work to deliver on the COP28 UAE Consensus, which calls for tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.

“Climate variability is no longer a background consideration for the energy sector—it is a defining operational factor,” said Prof. Celeste Saulo, WMO Secretary-General. “As renewable energy systems expand, their performance and reliability are increasingly shaped by heat extremes, rainfall variability and shifting atmospheric patterns. Integrating climate information and early warnings into energy planning is essential to build power systems that are both clean and resilient.”

Climate extremes are amplifying energy system stress

Using four core energy indicators (wind and solar capacity factors, a precipitation-based hydropower proxy, and a temperature-derived energy demand proxy), the analysis shows that residual El Niño conditions, record ocean heat and long-term warming produced strong regional contrasts in energy outcomes in 2024.

In Southern Africa, wind capacity factors increased by around +8 to +16% and solar by +2 to +6%, while hydropower remained below average for a third consecutive year and energy demand reached record highs. South Asia experienced deficits in wind and solar performance alongside sharply rising cooling demand, with monthly demand anomalies reaching around +16% in October. East Africa saw positive hydropower anomalies due to above-average rainfall, while parts of South America faced suppressed hydropower output and elevated demand under dry and hot conditions.

Seasonal forecasts show growing value for energy planning

For the first time, the report evaluates the skill of seasonal climate forecasts for energy indicators. Results indicate that forecasts—particularly from the ECMWF system—can successfully anticipate regional anomalies in solar energy potential and electricity demand months in advance. For example, forecasts issued in early summer 2024 correctly signaled unusually high energy demand and below-average solar performance across large parts of Africa.

These advances demonstrate how early warning information on heatwaves, rainfall shifts and large-scale climate drivers such as ENSO can support load management, reservoir operations, infrastructure scheduling and cross-border electricity trade, helping to reduce volatility in both supply and demand.

Implications for policy, investment and NDCs

As countries prepare their Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS), the report highlights the need to strengthen climate-informed energy planning by improving data and observational systems, expanding regional climate services and early warning systems, mainstreaming seasonal forecasts into decision-making, and designing climate-resilient energy targets aligned with the Paris Agreement and the COP28 Global Stocktake.

“The global energy transition is unstoppable but must be grounded in climate reality,” said Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA. “This report shows that understanding climate variability is critical for making smart investment decisions, strengthening energy security and ensuring that rapidly growing renewable capacity delivers reliable power under real-world climate conditions.”

By bridging meteorological science and energy planning, the WMO–IRENA 2024 Year in Review provides actionable insights to support resilient, reliable and equitable clean energy systems as renewable deployment accelerates worldwide.

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.

Are solar projects hurting farmers and rural communities?

The largest land use scenario for solar development would occupy only 1.15% of the 900 million acres of U.S. farmland. Many would not be sited on farmland at all.

Agrivoltaics is a practice allowing the synergistic installation of solar arrays on farmland. Panels can provide beneficial shade to crops and livestock, reduce evaporation and soil erosion, and create refuges for pollinators. Agrivoltaics, already implemented in other countries, can increase the economic value of farmland by over 30% and annual income by 8%.

Failing to transition away from fossil fuels would worsen climate change’s impacts on farmers and global food supply. The IPCC forecasts up to 80 million additional people at risk of hunger by 2050, lower quality crop yields, and altered distribution of pests and diseases due to climate change.

The harms to farmers and rural communities from unmitigated carbon emissions far outweigh the effects of solar development.

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 Solar Futures Study

U.S. Department of Agriculture Farms and Land in Farms 2021 Summary

Princeton University Net-Zero America

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Agrivoltaics

MDPI Sustainability Compatibility between Crops and Solar Panels: An Overview from Shading Systems

Applied Energy The potential for agrivoltaics to enhance solar farm cooling

University of Georgia Empowering Biodiversity on Solar Farms

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

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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson

A prolonged, dangerous bout of frigid temperatures with snow, sleet, and freezing rain will encompass much of the central and eastern United States this weekend into early next week. To make matters worse, there are fresh model signals that one or more reinforcing rounds of cold and snow may emerge around the end of January and early February, including parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

The intensity, duration, and geographic spread of this U.S. winter blast could have major consequences, from sustained power outages to transportation snarls and widespread business closures.

The National Weather Service office for the Washington, D.C., area warned on Friday: “The combination of heavy snow and ice alongside prolonged very cold temperatures presents a unique and significant risk to life and property across virtually the entire region.”

As of midday Friday, January 23, nearly all of the contiguous U.S. east of the Rockies was plastered with one or more winter-weather watches or warnings issued by the National Weather Service. Frozen precipitation is not expected in Florida and nearby parts of the Gulf and Atlantic coast, but even these areas will be markedly colder than average for late January.

Daryl Herzmann, the lead for the Iowa Environmental Mesonet sites that the weather community relies upon for many archived datasets, posted on BlueSky this morning that the number of counties under a winter storm warning for this event is second highest since 2008, only slightly trailing February 15, 2021. 

How far south – or north – will the heaviest ice and snow develop?

As we noted in a post on Jan. 7, some of the longest-range forecast models were already suggesting that a strong upper-level ridge could develop over western Canada and Alaska by late January, setting the stage for cold air to surge into the United States on the east side of the ridge. As that scenario firmed up, models such as the European and GFS (U.S.) coalesced on the wintry assault now unfolding. By early this week, there was noteworthy model agreement on the overall picture for this weekend.

The factors in play are:

• a sprawling polar air mass at the surface, which was racing southward on Friday as expected
• a pair of upper-level troughs, one in central Canada and another off the coast of western Mexico, that will come into alignment over the central U.S. this weekend, providing the upward lift for precipitation
• very warm, moist air over the Gulf of Mexico that will get drawn northward atop the cold air, providing ample moisture

High pressure centered in North Dakota on Friday afternoon already extended across much of the eastern half of the country. Air temperatures by early afternoon Friday were already near or below zero Fahrenheit from Omaha, Nebraska, to Detroit, Michigan, with even colder wind-chill values. Multiple days below freezing are possible as far south as Dallas-Fort Worth, which will put major pressure on regional power grids.

The bigger forecast challenge has been placing the north-south extent of the heaviest snow and ice, which will extend roughly from the Southern Plains to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. There’ll certainly be ample fuel for precipitation: Sea surface temperatures over the Gulf of Mexico are close to record highs for late January. But more moisture doesn’t always mean heavier snow: Temperatures aloft still have to remain cold enough for snow production.

Models briefly converged early this week on the idea of epic, potentially all-time-heavy snowfall in places like Oklahoma City and Nashville. But it now appears the surge of warm, moist air from the Gulf just above the cold surface air will be stronger and will push farther north than originally thought as the upper lows orchestrating the flow join forces a bit sooner.

If more recent model runs prove accurate, the snowfall from the Southern Plains to the Tennessee Valley will be significant rather than record-smashing. However, heavy snow could extend from the Ohio Valley all the way into parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Totals of six to 12 inches are expected along the Interstate 95 corridor all the way from Washington, D.C., to Boston, with higher totals toward the north and just inland from the larger cities. (Near the coast, sleet and/or freezing rain could invade the mix and cut down on total accumulations.)

The juicy Gulf air will also raise the risk of a highly damaging and disruptive ice storm, especially in a belt from eastern Texas through parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. In Raleigh, news outlet WRAL warned on Friday in their forecast for Sunday: “We need you to prepare for a few days or possibly more of no power.”

Cold surface air often remains trapped against the eastern slopes of the Appalachians, a feature called “cold-air damming,” which will help keep the warm air aloft from working its way to the surface in parts of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia.

Far above the surface – and even above the jet stream – the stratospheric polar vortex is highly elongated. This isn’t quite the same as the polar vortex “splitting” and a lobe heading toward the United States, which is one mode that can help facilitate intense U.S. winter weather. Instead, it’s more of a stretching out – in this case, from the high Arctic to central Canada.

Figure 1. The stratospheric polar vortex is a mass of cold whirling air bounded by the jet stream that forms 10 to 30 miles above the Arctic surface in response to the large north-south temperature difference that develops during winter. Generally, the stronger the winds, the more the air inside is isolated from lower latitudes, and the colder it gets. But sometimes it can be shifted or stretched off the pole toward the United States, Europe, or Asia. (Image credit: Climate.gov)

In a 2021 Science paper, Judah Cohen (Atmospheric and Environmental Research) presented evidence for an increase in stretching events during the era of “Arctic amplification,” the phenomenon in which the Arctic is warming faster than other parts of the world as a result of climate change. (See our 2025 coverage of the Gulf Coast snowstorm for more background on polar-vortex stretching.)

A chilly wake-up call

This storm sequence is hitting after what’s been a mild winter with little snow from the Great Plains across the South and Southeast. The past 30 days were warmer than average for virtually all of the contiguous U.S., and only 25% of the nation outside Alaska and Hawaii was snow-covered as of January 23, the lowest fraction for that date in records going back to 2003.

The cold of the next few days doesn’t seem likely to be historically extreme in terms of sheer intensity. In fact, the number of daily record lows set could be surprisingly small, given some of the truly fierce Arctic blasts of the 19th and 20th centuries. However, the duration of noteworthy cold may push into once-in-a-generation territory in some places.

For example, the one-two punch of winter storms in Washington, D.C., assuming little temperature recovery in between, could produce a stretch of seven to 10 days at or below freezing. The longest stretch in modern times with high temperatures at or below 32°F at Washington’s Reagan National Airport lasted seven days, on Feb. 9-15, 1979. Nothing longer has occurred since Jan. 23–Feb. 3, 1936, when the nation’s capital failed to rise above freezing for a record-long 12 days. Correction: There was also a freezing-or-below stretch of 10 days on Dec. 16-25, 1989.

Jeff Masters contributed to this post.

A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 18, 2026 thru Sat, January 24, 2026. Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Change Impacts (7 articles)

• Ocean Damage Nearly Doubles the Cost of Climate Change "Ignoring the blue economy has left a multi-trillion-dollar blind spot in climate finance, according to a study from Scripps Oceanography." Inside Climate News, Johnny Sturgeon, Jan 15, 2026.
• ‘Climate change is here’: Experts warn environmental crisis is decades ahead of forecasts "Drought, heatwaves, hurricanes, and wildfires are arriving sooner than we imagined according to scientists" The Independent, Maria Butt, Jan 17, 2026.
• 2026 will likely be among the hottest on record: Environment Canada "12% chance of exceeding important threshold of 1.5 C this year" CBC, David Thurton, Jan 19, 2026.
• Scientists warn of ‘regime shift’ as seaweed blooms expand worldwide "Study links rapid growth of ocean macroalgae to global heating and nutrient pollution" The Guardian, By Damien Gayle, Jan 19, 2026.
• Era of ‘global water bankruptcy’ is here, UN report says "Overuse and pollution must end urgently as no one knows when whole system might collapse, says expert" The Guardian, Damian Carrington, Jan 20, 2026.
• Australia’s worst heatwave since black summer made five times more likely by global heating, analysis finds Lede: "Extreme heat ‘is getting worse and whether we like it or not … there’s ultimately a limit to what we can actually physically cope with,’ scientist says" The Guardian, Donna Lu, Jan 22, 2026.
• Trump says the big US winter storm is proof of climate hoax – here’s why he’s wrong "US president asks ‘whatever happened to global warming?’ Well, it could be making our winter storms worse" The Guardian, Oliver Milman, Jan 23, 2026.

Climate Policy and Politics (7 articles)

• Trump Wants to Halt Almost All Coal Plant Shutdowns. It Could Get Messy. "Critics accuse leading firms of sabotaging climate action but say data increasingly being used to hold them to account" The New York Times, Claire Brown & Brad Plumer, Jan 16, 2026.
• How Wall Street Turned Its Back on Climate Change "Six years after the financial industry pledged to use trillions to fight climate change and reshape finance, its efforts have largely collapsed."How Wall Street Turned Its Back on Climate Change The New York Times, David Gelles, Jan 17, 2026.
• How Trump’s Withdrawal From Climate Treaties May Ultimately Play Out "In addition to international stakes, states and cities face additionally challenges to acting autonomously this time around." Inside Climate News, Jenni Doering, Jan 18, 2026.
• Analysis: UK newspaper editorial opposition to climate action overtakes support for first time "Nearly 100 UK newspaper editorials opposed climate action in 2025, a record figure that reveals the scale of the backlash against net-zero in the right-leaning press." Carbon Brief, Josh Gabbatiss & Sylvia Hayes, Jan 19, 2026.
• The consequences of Trump’s war on climate in 7 charts "Seven snapshots reveal how climate rollbacks altered the trajectory of U.S. energy, environmental protection, and economic security." Grist, Staff, Jan 21, 2026.
• Records show DOE climate advisors targeted key EPA finding Lede: "The internal dialogue showed the researchers took a political tack in their discussions, a course critics said could complicate the Trump administration’s quest to kill the 2009 endangerment finding." PoliticalPro, Zack Colman, Jan 22, 2026.
• At Davos, Talk of Climate Change Retreats to the Sidelines "The annual gathering of top business leaders and policymakers used to be a center of the global climate movement. Things are much more complicated now." The New York Times, David Gelles, Jan 22, 2026.

Miscellaneous (5 articles)

• Federal Court Allows Dominion Energy in Virginia to Continue Offshore Wind Project "For the third time this week, the Trump administration is blocked from stopping a major renewable energy effort." Inside Climate News, Charles Paullin, Jan 16, 2026.
• 2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #03 A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 11, 2026 thru Sat, January 17, 2026. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, John Hartz & Doug Bostrom, Jan 18, 2026.
• Carbon-sucking fungi and 'forever chemical' crackdowns: Positive environmental stories from 2026 "Eco anxiety is very real, so we share this year's most uplifting stories to prove there’s hope for our climate." EuroNews, Angela Symons, Jan 19, 2026.
• A California Climate Expert Is Working to Restore Climate Risk Scores Deleted by Zillow "The real estate website scrubbed the data under pressure from California’s real estate brokers and agents who were concerned about its impact on home prices. Neil Matouka thinks prospective buyers have a right to know." Inside Climate News, Claire Barber, Jan 20, 2026.
• Half of world’s CO2 emissions come from just 32 fossil fuel firms, study shows "Critics accuse leading firms of sabotaging climate action but say data increasingly being used to hold them to account" The Guardian, Damian Carrington, Jan 21, 2026.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (3 articles)

• Talking About Energy Dominance? Solar Would Like to Have a Word. "We are in the solar-powered century, although some are taking their time to figure this out." Inside Climate News, Dan Gearino, Jan 15, 2026.
• Sea otters are California’s climate heroes "From kelp forests to sea grass meadows, these charismatic predators are quietly holding parts of the coast together." Yale Climate Connections, Daisy Simmons, Jan 20, 2026.
• Wind and solar overtook fossil fuels for EU power generation in 2025, report finds "Researchers say event described as ‘major tipping point’ for clean energy in era of destabilised politics" The Guardian, Ajit Niranjan, Jan 21, 2026.

Climate Science and Research (2 articles)

• The Women Saving America’s Climate Data Time Magazine, Kyla Mandel, Jan 16, 2026.
• Guest post: 10 key climate science ‘insights’ from 2025 "Every year, understanding of climate science grows stronger." Carbon Brief, Prof Kristie Ebi & Prof Sabine Fuss, Jan 22, 2026.

International Climate Conferences and Agreements (2 articles)

• Roadmaps and Colombia conference aim to shift fossil fuel transition into higher gear Lede: "Conferences in Santa Marta and the Pacific will discuss how to transition away from fossil fuels without harming workers or financial systems" Climate Home News, Jo Lo, Jan 16, 2026.
• Power play: Can a defensive Europe stick with decarbonisation in Davos? "With the US doubling down on fossil fuels, maintaining the clean energy transition is central to reducing geopolitical exposure and preserving Europe’s ability to act strategically" Climate Home News, Tsvetelina Kuzmanova, Jan 19, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Science (1 article)

• Bloggers claim Met Office fraud! (Let's investigate....) Potholer54 on Youtube, Peter Hadfield, Jan 17, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Solutions (1 article)

• Fact brief - Do solar panels release more emissions than burning fossil fuels? Do solar panels release more emissions than burning fossil fuels? Skeptical Science, Sue Bin Park, Jan 20, 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!

Open access notables

Mapping Europe’s rooftop photovoltaic potential with a building-level database, Kakoulaki et al., Nature Energy

Individual building-level approaches are needed to understand the full potential of rooftop photovoltaics (PV) at national and regional scale. Here we use the European Digital Building Stock Model R2025, an open-access building-level database, to assess rooftop solar potential for each of the 271 million buildings in the European Union. The results show that potential capacity could reach 2.3 TWp (1,822 GWp residential, 519 GWp non-residential), with an annual output of 2,750 TWh based on current PV technology. This corresponds to approximately 40% of electricity demand in a 100% renewable scenario for 2050. Already by 2030, over a half of buildings with floor area larger than 2,000 m2 could generate most of remaining capacity for the 2030 target with 355 GWp. Across member states, non-residential rooftops could cover 50% or more of their PV targets, with several exceeding 95%. The open-access building-level database offers practical tools to support better decisions, accelerate renewable energy adoption and promote a more decentralized energy system. It is also an enabler for planners and researchers to further explore energy scenarios with high renewable shares.

A new class of climate hazard metrics and its demonstration: revealing a ten-fold increase of extreme heat over Europe, Kirchengast et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Here we introduce a new class of threshold-exceedance-amount metrics that consistently track changes in event frequency, duration, magnitude, area, and timing aspects like daily exposure and seasonal shift—as separate metrics, partially compound (e.g., average event severity), and as compound total events extremity (TEX). Building on daily temperature datasets over 1961 to 2024, we applied the new metrics to extreme heat events at local- to country-scale (example Austria) and across Europe, demonstrating their utility through this use. Comparing the recent period 2010-2024 to the reference period 1961-1990, we reveal amplification factors of around 10 [5 to 25] in the TEX of extreme heat over Austrian and most central and southern European regions. This degree of amplification is found to strongly exceed the natural variability, providing unequivocal evidence of anthropogenic climate change. Given their fundamental capacity to reliably track any threshold-defined hazard at any location, the new metrics can support a myriad of uses beyond this example application. These range from climate impact analyses for extremes such as heatwaves, floods and droughts to extreme events attribution, quantifying the anthropogenic share of a hazard extremity and of its damage to properties and harm to people. Learning the hard way: Applying a climate literacy approach to extreme weather experience — Evidence from Poland, Kurowski & Wites, Weather and Climate Extremes Climate literacy is essential for empowering societies to respond effectively to the challenges of climate change. However, individuals often struggle to address climate issues because of their abstract nature and perceived psychological distance. This study investigates whether direct personal experiences of extreme weather events are associated with higher scores on the climate literacy measures among Polish citizens. We developed and validated, through an expert-based process, the “Big Three Climate Literacy Questions” - a concise instrument designed to capture key components of climate literacy across knowledge, skills and attitudes - and administered them in a survey of 1001 residents from regions in Poland historically affected by floods and storms. Regression analyses reveal that the mere occurrence of an extreme weather event does not significantly influence scores on the climate literacy measures. However, when such events result in severe financial or psychological consequences, they are associated with higher literacy scores (for all three dimensions of climate literacy), suggesting that the intensity of the experience can act as a catalyst for deeper cognitive and emotional engagement. We also find that individuals employed in high-emission sectors tend to overestimate their climate knowledge; nonetheless, their personal experiences with extreme weather events are still associated with higher scores on the climate literacy measures. These findings support the hypothesis that intense climate-related experiences can serve as “teachable moments", enhancing receptiveness to climate information and fostering the development of more accurate and informed climate-related beliefs—even among groups that might otherwise exhibit resistance to such messages. From this week's government/NGO section:

WMO confirms 2025 was one of warmest years on record, World Meteorological Organization

The global average surface temperature was 1.44 °C (with a margin of uncertainty of ± 0.13 °C) above the 1850-1900 average, according to WMO’s consolidated analysis of eight datasets. Two of these datasets ranked 2025 as the second warmest year in the 176-year record, and the other six ranked it as the third warmest year. The past 11 years have been 11 warmest on record. Temporary cooling by La Niña does not reverse the monotonic trend. International data exchange underpins climate monitoring datasets for a single authoritative source of information.

Global Temperature Report for 2025, Berkeley Earth

2025 was the third warmest year on Earth since 1850. It is exceeded only by 2024 and 2023. This period, since 1850, is the time when sufficient direct measurements from thermometers exist to create a purely instrumental estimate of changes in global mean temperature. The analysis combines 23 million monthly-average thermometer measurements from 57,685 weather stations with ~500 million instantaneous ocean temperature observations collected by ships and buoys. The last 11 years have included all 11 of the warmest years observed in the instrumental record, with the last 3 years including all of the top 3 warmest.

Assessing the Global Temperature and Precipitation Analysis in 2025, National Centers for Environmental Information, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

2025 ranks as the third-warmest yea Upper ocean heat content was record high in 2025. Annual sea ice extent for both the Arctic and Antarctic regions ranked among the three lowest years on record. The Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent was the third lowest on record. There were 101 named tropical storms across the globe in 2025, which was above average. 201 articles in 60 journals by 1151 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Antarctic warming affects northern Equatorial Indian Ocean SST via oceanic tunnels, Sherin et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105321

Climate and Anthropogenic Perturbations Impact Stream Geochemistry, Warix et al., Earth's Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025ef006512

Considerable yet contrasting regional imprint of circulation change on summer temperature trends across the Northern hemisphere mid-latitudes, Pfleiderer et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.5194/wcd-7-89-2026

Dynamics of Heat Wave Intensification over the Indian Region, Lekshmi et al., Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 10.1175/jas-d-24-0093.1

Exploring the Influence of Sea Surface Temperature Extremes on Precipitation Extremes Across India's Climate Zones: A Complex Network Approach, Reddy et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70172

Increased deciduous tree dominance reduces wildfire carbon losses in boreal forests, Black et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02539-z

Irreversibility of extreme precipitation intensity in global monsoon areas under multiple carbon neutrality scenarios, Miah et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2025.100843

North Atlantic ventilation change over the past three decades is potentially driven by climate change, Guo et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-67923-x

The observed September 2023 temperature jump was nearly impossible under standard anthropogenic forcing, Seeber et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03178-8

Upper Circumpolar Deep Water Properties: Means and Trends From 2005 Through 2024, Johnson, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jc023154

Weak self-induced cooling of tropical cyclones amid fast sea surface warming, Guan et al., Nature Geoscience Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41561-025-01879-x

Observations of climate change, effects

A new class of climate hazard metrics and its demonstration: revealing a ten-fold increase of extreme heat over Europe, Kirchengast et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100855

An Assessment of Extreme Precipitation Trends in the Missouri River Basin: Insights From Three Gridded Precipitation Data Sets and Climate Indices, Gupta et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.70163

Climate change shifts the North Pacific storm track polewards, Chemke & Yuval, Nature 10.1038/s41586-025-09895-y

Creeping snow drought threatens Canada’s water supply, Sarpong et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-03162-8

Long-Term Trends in Global Natural Vegetation Greenness Rate and Its Climatic Drivers in a Warming World, An et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access 10.1029/2025jg009089

Mapping Diurnal Heat Stress in Nigeria: Spatial and Temporal Changes Over Seven Decades, Nasara et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70262

Persistent river heatwaves are emerging worldwide under climate change, Chen et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-66868-5

Reduced spatial heterogeneity of day-night temperature variability difference under global changes, Liu et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105311

Spatio-Temporal Change of Climate Regions in Türkiye, Pekta? & Aksu, International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70166

The observed evolution of Arctic amplification over the past 45 years, Serreze et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-411-2026

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

A new class of climate hazard metrics and its demonstration: revealing a ten-fold increase of extreme heat over Europe, Kirchengast et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100855

Diatom lipids open window to past ocean temperatures in the polar regions, Belt et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03177-1

Energy-conservation datasets of global land surface radiation and heat fluxes from 2000–2020 generated by CoSEB, Wang et al., Open Access 10.5194/essd-2025-456

Tracking surface ozone responses to clean air actions under a warming climate in China using machine learning, Fang et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-26-851-2026

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Anthropogenic warming projected to drive a decline in global tropical cyclone frequency in CMIP6 simulations, Zhao et al., npj Climate and Atmospheric Science Open Access 10.1038/s41612-026-01330-x

Coupled climate–land-use interactions modulate projected heatwave intensification across Africa, Adeyeri et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03110-6

New insights from the bias-corrected simulations of CMIP6 in Northern Hemisphere’s snow drought, Hu et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03187-7

Observed and CMIP6 projected rainfall variability and change in drylands of southern Ethiopia, Chinasho et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000800

Projected Future Changes in the Withdrawal of Summer Monsoon over the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea, Cheng & Wang, Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0357.1

Simulated Impact of Vegetation Greening on Summer Arctic Cyclone Intensity in the Northern Eurasia Margin in WRFs, Yang et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.70175

Storylines of extreme summer temperatures in southern South America, Suli et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-3357

Summer Precipitation Long-Term Changes at Different Intensities in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region From 1961 to 2014 and Simulation Performance Evaluation of CMIP6 Models, Gao et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70222

Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

Bias Adjustment and the Question of Usable Climate Information: Methodological Assumptions and Value Judgments, Spuler et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open Access 10.1175/bams-d-25-0022.1

Complex Networks Reveal Climate Models' Capability in Simulating Global Synchronized Extreme Precipitation, Jiang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl118219

Comprehensive Evaluation of Precipitation Reanalysis Products and CMIP6 Models Using Statistical and Machine Learning Techniques With Nature-Inspired Optimization, Choudhary et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70159

Evaluation of atmospheric sulfur dioxide simulated with the EMAC (version 2.55) Chemistry–Climate Model using satellite and ground-based observations, Makroum et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-447-2026

Improved European heat event simulation in eddy-resolving climate models, Krüger et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03145-9

Mobile sensing discovery of when where and why vulnerable road users break traffic rules, Li et al., npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44333-025-00068-y

Overestimation of past and future increases in global river flow by Earth system models, Zhang et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-025-01897-9

Cryosphere & climate change

A new era of bioclimatic extremes in the terrestrial Arctic, Aalto et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adw5698

African contributions are missing from cryosphere research in Africa and worldwide, Asante et al., Frontiers in Earth Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/feart.2025.1691950

Bias-adjusted projections of snow cover over eastern Canada using an ensemble of regional climate models, Bresson et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2025-3979

Creeping snow drought threatens Canada’s water supply, Sarpong et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-03162-8

Positive feedbacks drive the Greenland ice sheet evolution in millennial-length MAR–GISM simulations under a high-end warming scenario, Paice et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-2465

Post-2000 faster ENSO phase transitions amplify autumn sea ice loss in the Laptev–East Siberian Sea, Wang et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aea3753

Prevailing thermal models underestimate permafrost thermal state in the Tibetan Plateau: Implications for cryosphere adaptation, Zhao et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.12.009

Seasonal timing and preceding moisture regime mediate impacts of heavy rainfall events on High Arctic plant growth, Magnússon et al., Journal of Ecology 10.1111/1365-2745.70237

State dependent ice-sheet resonance under Cenozoic and future climates, Golledge et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03135-x

Sea level & climate change

Abrupt trend change in global mean sea level and its components in the early 2010s, Leclercq et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03149-5

Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

Contrasting evolution of the Arabian Sea and Pacific Ocean oxygen minimum zones during the Miocene, Hess et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03112-4

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

21st-Century Mangrove Expansion Along the Southeastern United States, Enes Gramoso et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70676

Accelerated Flowering and Differential Florigen Gene Expression of Seagrass Zostera marina Under Experimental Warming, Nolan et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72942

Acute Heat Priming Dampens Gene Expression Response to Thermal Stress in a Widespread Acropora Coral, Stick et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72938

Aligning climate-smart marine spatial planning and ecoscape restoration for global biodiversity recovery, Wedding et al., Nature Reviews Biodiversity 10.1038/s44358-025-00116-y

Assessing Habitat Suitability and Range Dynamics of Syzygium alternifolium (Wight) Walp Under Future Climatic Scenarios, PP et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72861

Climate change impacts on Arctic ecosystems and associated feedbacks, Fauchald et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1747632

Commercial fishing amplifies impacts of increasing temperature on predator-prey interactions in marine ecosystems, Shurety et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67362-8

Compounded effects of long-term warming and the exceptional 2023 marine heatwave on North Atlantic coccolithophore bloom dynamics, Guinaldo & Neukermans, Ocean Science Open Access pdf 10.5194/os-22-145-2026

Compounded effects of long-term warming and the exceptional 2023 marine heatwave on North Atlantic coccolithophore bloom dynamics, Guinaldo & Neukermans, Ocean Science Open Access pdf 10.5194/os-22-145-2026

Conservation Challenges and Opportunities for Fokienia hodginsii in the Wuyi Mountains Under Climate Change and Human Influence, Luo et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72887

Editorial: Polluted ecosystems: how global climate change drives pollutant dynamics in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, Ulus et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1772617

Exacerbated Impacts of Compound Dry-Hot Events on Vegetation: Critical Thresholds and Spatial Vulnerability Dynamics in Northwest China, Liu et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70266

Freshwater subarctic wetlands are vulnerable to future thermal stress from climate warming, Adey et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03080-9

Functional group and aridity regulate impacts of climate change on plant phenology: a meta-analysis, Sun et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-68242-x

Global Warming Drives Phenological Shifts and Hinders Reproductive Success in a Temperate Octocoral, Viladrich et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70660

Heat but Not Cold Tolerance Is Phylogenetically Constrained in Greenlandic Terrestrial Arthropods Under Future Global Warming, Wesseltoft et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70687

Hidden Vulnerability: Extreme Drought Threatens Dryland Plant Communities Under Climate Change, Wilson et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70703

Impact of Climate Change and Human Activities on Suitable Distribution of Rhodiola Species in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: Modeling Insights for Conservation Prioritization, Li et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72896

Intraspecific Niche Evolution in a Drought Deciduous Shrub With Implications for Climate Resiliency, Pennartz et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72816

Karyotyping and Distribution Patterns of Endemic Chinese Lilies: Insights Into Their Conservation Under Climate Change, Gui et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72824

Local Adaptation in Climate Tolerance at a Small Geographic Scale Contrasts With Broad Latitudinal Patterns, Walter et al., Open Access pdf 10.1101/2025.05.27.655235

Long-Term Records Reveal Temperature-Driven Nutrient Limitation and Predict Intensified Algal Blooms in Global Lakes, Zhou et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70719

Long-Term Trends in Global Natural Vegetation Greenness Rate and Its Climatic Drivers in a Warming World, An et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access 10.1029/2025jg009089

Millennial-scale fire and climate dynamics in the world's largest tropical wetland show emerging fire threat to flooded ecosystems, Whitney et al., Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5281340

Paleodistribution of Cercidiphyllaceae and Future Habitat Prediction for Cercidiphyllum japonicum Under Climate Change, Mao et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72940

Physiological Traits for Climate-Ready Restoration, Barton et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72939

Predicting the fate of tropical forests under intensifying heat, Anderson-Teixeira & Anujan, Nature 10.1038/d41586-025-04093-2

Projecting Climate-Driven Habitat Loss in Highly Trafficked Lizards: The Role of Dispersal Limitations and Protected Areas, Valbuena?Fernandez et al., Diversity and Distributions Open Access pdf 10.1111/ddi.70140

Regional NDVI reconstruction over the last 600 years in Northwestern Patagonia reveals a rapid decline, Gallardo et al., Dendrochronologia 10.1016/j.dendro.2026.126475

Reimagining coral reef futures, Gianelli et al., npj Ocean Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44183-025-00179-6

Significant northwest shift in suitable climate expected for North American bison by the year 2100, Shupinski et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.3389/fevo.2025.1695457

Soil Protist Diversity and Biotic Interactions Shape Ecosystem Functions Under Climate Change, Liu et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70692

Spring phenology of the Arctic Ocean shelf production system, Huserbråten & Vikebø, Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03192-w

Tree bark microbes for climate management, Gauci, Science 10.1126/science.aec9651

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests Have High Resilience to Five Years of Severe Soil Drought, Bartholomew et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70670

Tropicalization and biodiversity restructuring of calcifying plankton in a rapidly warming Mediterranean Sea, Lucas et al., Global and Planetary Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105314

Warming drives non-stationary climate-growth relationships and differential drought sensitivity in Mediterranean pines, Campôa et al., Dendrochronologia Open Access 10.1016/j.dendro.2026.126469

Warming-induced changes in leaf phenology could amplify the effects of spring drought on tree seedlings, Muñoz-Mazón & Seidl, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111022

Was black spruce a good host of the spruce budworm in warmer periods of the Holocene? a long-term reconstruction, Terreaux de Félice et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.3389/fevo.2025.1682907

Widespread Phenological Shifts With Temperature in Alaska's Marine Fishes, Rogers et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70708

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

Bark microbiota modulate climate-active gas fluxes in Australian forests, Leung et al., Science 10.1126/science.adu2182

Congo Basin Carbon Cycle Responses to Global Change, , Open Access 10.48577/jpl.llsnq0

Dynamic impacts of urbanization development on carbon storage and NPP: spatiotemporal responses in the Wanjiang urban belt (2000–2020), Fang et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1747268

Editorial: Impact of climate change on carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems, He et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1778816

Frequent Droughts Reduce Carbon Stabilisation in Organo-Mineral Soils, Albanito et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70657

Long-term impacts of mixotrophy on ocean carbon storage: insights from a 10 000 year global model simulation, Puglia et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-463-2026

Mapping pan-Arctic riverine particulate organic carbon from space (1985 to 2022), Sun et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.ady6314

Multiple Global Change Stressors Boost Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions Worldwide, Chen et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70633

Optimal daily time windows for measuring fluxes of soil methane and nitrous oxide in subalpine forests are elusive - unlike for carbon dioxide, Peng et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111026

Productivity-driven decoupling of microbial carbon use efficiency and respiration across global soils, Cui et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adz5319

Reduced precipitation and increased temperature alter soil greenhouse gas fluxes in a Mediterranean forest, Villa-Sanabria et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110994

Remapping carbon storage change in retired farmlands on the Loess Plateau in China from 2000–2021 in high spatiotemporal resolution, Guo et al., Earth System Science Data Open Access pdf 10.5194/essd-18-429-2026

Spatiotemporal variability and environmental controls on aquatic methane emissions in an Arctic permafrost catchment, Thayne et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-23-477-2026

CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Enhancing carbon sinks in China using a spatially-optimized forestation strategy, Dong et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-68288-5

Fossil-fuel phase out is not enough: countries must remove atmospheric carbon, Clarke & Maslin, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00211-w

Seaweed farms enhance alkalinity production and carbon capture, Fakhraee & Planavsky, Communications Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44458-025-00004-8

Sonic velocity discontinuity for CO2 brine mixtures in the context of carbon storage in aquifers, Norouzi et al., Frontiers in Earth Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/feart.2025.1758092

The carbon dioxide removal potential of cement and lime kiln dust via ocean alkalinity enhancement, Flipkens et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2025-4887

Decarbonization

A critical meta-survey of the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of hydrogen energy systems, Sovacool et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104461

Mapping Europe’s rooftop photovoltaic potential with a building-level database, Kakoulaki et al., Nature Energy Open Access 10.1038/s41560-025-01947-x

Role of avoided emissions scheme and estimation of contributions of electric vehicles and heat pumps to reduction in global emissions, Akimoto et al., Carbon Management Open Access 10.1080/17583004.2026.2614424

Satisficing devices: Co-benefits in practice to decarbonize New York City's residential buildings, Bhardwaj et al., Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104512

Uncovering the potential of coal-to-nuclear in the energy low-carbon transition, ZHOU et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.01.001

Geoengineering climate

Influence of Surface Aerosol Injection on Stratocumulus-to-Cumulus Transition: Cloud-Surface Coupling and Background Aerosol Concentrations, Zhang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd044444

Ocean alkalinity enhancement in an estuary, Ho et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1665329

 Climate change communications & cognition

Dissent and obstruction: A systematic literature review of the climate countermovement, Eskridge-Aldama et al., Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104529

Greater perceived fossil fuel reliance predicts lower support for systemic climate policies, Klebl et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102898

Learning the hard way: Applying a climate literacy approach to extreme weather experience — Evidence from Poland, Kurowski & Wites, Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100851

Selective intersectionality: far-right populist Re-casting of social discontent in Europe’s green transition, Yazar et al., Environmental Politics Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2026.2612815

The role of climate and migration concerns in shaping personal economic insecurity in european societies, Liashenko et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104533

“Why didn’t the sirens wail on the roofs?”: political framing competition in the German parliament following the 2021 floods, Wyss & Chiru, Environmental Politics Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2025.2609431

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

A scoping review of literature on adoption and impact of climate smart agricultural technologies by smallholder farmers in Africa, Rurii & Nzengya Daniel, Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1692929

Associating climate change mitigation with protein security: The case of Ireland, Merlo et al., Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104311

Bamboo for climate resilience: green gold of ecosystems in the UN SDG Framework, Mandaliya, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.3389/fevo.2025.1723994

Climate change has increased crop water consumption in Central Asia despite less water-intensive cropping, Peña-Guerrero et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-03142-y

Climate Change Risks and Climate Adaptation in Agro-Processing Enterprises, Mazenda et al., Climate Resilience and Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1002/cli2.70030

Climate-resilient agri-food systems: analyzing yield trends and overcoming adoption barriers, Durgude et al., Environment, Development and Sustainability 10.1007/s10668-025-07186-0

Commercial fishing amplifies impacts of increasing temperature on predator-prey interactions in marine ecosystems, Shurety et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67362-8

Compound Drought and Temperature Events Intensify Wheat Yield Loss in Australia, Li et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2023ef004124

Grazing influences salt marsh greenhouse gas balance mediated by plant-specific methane emissions, Yang et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.111001

Modeling Climate Change Impacts on a Socioeconomically Vital Plant: The Case of Comanthera elegans (Goldenfoot Flower), de Azevedo et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72031

Natural grasslands used for grazing livestock can mitigate climate change, Pillar & Winck, Science 10.1126/science.aea8344

Projected shifts in climate and spring barley yields under future (CMIP6) scenarios across eight environmental zones in Europe, Köster et al., Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5380175

Seaweed farms enhance alkalinity production and carbon capture, Fakhraee & Planavsky, Communications Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44458-025-00004-8

Strong mismatch in climate change adaptation between intentions of private forest owners in Canada and institutional support, Fouqueray et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-02942-6

Sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) and global climate change: a new perspective for sustainable forestry, Vacek et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access pdf 10.3389/ffgc.2025.1731092

Tailoring Australian carbon farming can realise greater co-benefits, Bhattarai et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-68628-5

Unpacking the growth of global agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, Ortiz-Bobea & Pieralli, Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aeb8653

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

An Assessment of Extreme Precipitation Trends in the Missouri River Basin: Insights From Three Gridded Precipitation Data Sets and Climate Indices, Gupta et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.70163

Climatological Analysis of the 2022–2023 Unprecedented Dry Period in Southwestern Uruguay, Deagosto & Barreiro, International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70260

Creeping snow drought threatens Canada’s water supply, Sarpong et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-03162-8

Evaluation of Present and Future Relationships Between Daily Precipitation and Temperature in Eastern China, Wu et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.70168

Global monsoon variability in a 1.5 °C warming climate: Observational changes and end-century projections, Kemarau et al., Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.108765

High resolution simulation of urban compound flooding under climate impacts, Amini et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102771

Irreversibility of extreme precipitation intensity in global monsoon areas under multiple carbon neutrality scenarios, Miah et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2025.100843

Projected Future Changes in the Withdrawal of Summer Monsoon over the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea, Cheng & Wang, Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0357.1

Trends and Circulation Conditions of Precipitation Over the Sudeten Mountains (Central Europe) in the Years 1961–2020, Ojrzy?ska et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.70256

Climate change economics

Accounting for ocean impacts nearly doubles the social cost of carbon, Bastien-Olvera et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02533-5

Climate change mitigation public policy research

A coalition on compliance carbon markets to make climate clubs politically feasible, Koppenborg, Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02541-5

A Note on Effects of Fossil Fuel Reduction Policies on Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Buildup and Global Warming, Alagoz et al., Journal of Atmospheric and Solar 10.1016/j.jastp.2026.106724

Aligning EU energy security and climate mitigation through targeted transition strategies, Lal et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-67595-7

Emission degrowth potential of Chinese city cluster toward carbon neutrality: The climate planetary boundaries perspective, Li et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102776

How does climate policy uncertainty influence energy consumption transition in China: evidence from 277 cities, Wei et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1744044

The role of carbon labels for consumer decisions: evidence from a class of Chinese students, Liu & Wang, Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1708974

Understanding policymaker support of energy decarbonization policies for buildings, Dorsey-Palmateer et al., Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104536

When a forest is masked by trees: How French subsurface industries involved in decarbonisation and transition policies are instrumentalising poor social acceptance, Arnauld de Sartre & Chailleux, Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104517

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

A habitability lens to boost effective local climate adaptation, Magnan et al., Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104323

Assessing climate change impacts on military academies: a comparative analysis of the United States Military Academy and the South African Military Academy, Read et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2025.100784

Co-designing soft climate adaptation: citizen centred solutions across four European pilots, Jost et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1738479

Coastal flood risk to European surface transport infrastructure at different global warming levels, Nawarat et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access 10.1038/s41558-025-02510-y

Determinants of Household Adaptation to Climate Vulnerability in Wetland Areas of Bangladesh: An Empirical Estimation, Bithi et al., Climate Resilience and Sustainability Open Access 10.1002/cli2.70028

Exploring nature-based solutions’ effectiveness indicators for climate change adaptation: a systematic review, Horneman et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1603919

Forging Common Paths: A Systematic Review of Co-Creation and Collaborative Learning in Adaptation Pathways, Sommerauer et al., WIREs Climate Change Open Access pdf 10.1002/wcc.70038

Impacts of global warming on coastal flood risk to European surface transport infrastructure, , Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02518-4

Moving on the edge: climate change-induced hazards and the politics of (im)mobility in Rohingya refugee camps, Rafa, Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2025.2609772

Strategies to strengthen institutional capacities for climate-resilient coastal socio-ecological systems in Bangladesh, Roy et al., Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2026.2617374

Taking values seriously for transformational climate change adaptation, Calliari et al., Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5658900

The gap between attitudes and action within the US geoscience community's response to natural hazards, Gonzales et al., Geoscience Communication Open Access 10.5194/gc-9-35-2026

Urban climate resilience governance in the Yangtze River Economic Belt: A novel approach based on integrating RAVT framework with SDGs, Yang & Li, Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102702

Urban Heat Island in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East: Multi-City Approach in Regional Climate Modelling, Constantinidou et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.70255

Climate change impacts on human health

Development and validation of the Global Urban Heat Vulnerability Index (GUHVI), Turner et al., Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102716

Emerging heat stress patterns across India under future climate scenarios, Molina et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-36299-3

Mapping Diurnal Heat Stress in Nigeria: Spatial and Temporal Changes Over Seven Decades, Nasara et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70262

The shift of heat-related respiratory mortality from 2005 to 2019 in China and its socioeconomic determinants, Ji et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2026.100789

Climate change impacts on human culture

Climate change and ocean acidification pose a risk to underwater cultural heritage, Germinario et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03184-w

Other

Exploring water-energy-food nexus connections between climate action and regional development in the East African community, Wambua et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2025.100760

Large carbon dioxide emissions avoidance potential in improved commercial air transport efficiency, Gössling et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-03069-4

Millennial-scale fire and climate dynamics in the world's largest tropical wetland show emerging fire threat to flooded ecosystems, Whitney et al., Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5281340

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Defossilize our chemical world, , Nature Open Access pdf 10.1038/d41586-026-00005-0

Extreme weather event accountability, , Nature Geoscience Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41561-025-01904-z

The US is quitting 66 global agencies: what does it mean for science?, Castelvecchi & Masood, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00102-0 

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

Global Temperature Report for 2025, Berkeley Earth

2025 was the third warmest year on Earth since 1850. It is exceeded only by 2024 and 2023. This period, since 1850, is the time when sufficient direct measurements from thermometers exist to create a purely instrumental estimate of changes in global mean temperature. The analysis combines 23 million monthly-average thermometer measurements from 57,685 weather stations with ~500 million instantaneous ocean temperature observations collected by ships and buoys. The last 11 years have included all 11 of the warmest years observed in the instrumental record, with the last 3 years including all of the top 3 warmest.

Assessing the Global Temperature and Precipitation Analysis in 2025, National Centers for Environmental Information, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

2025 ranks as the third-warmest yea Upper ocean heat content was record high in 2025. Annual sea ice extent for both the Arctic and Antarctic regions ranked among the three lowest years on record. The Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent was the third lowest on record. There were 101 named tropical storms across the globe in 2025, which was above average.

Higher Energy Bills, Lost Jobs, and Growing Uncertainty: How Trump’s War on Clean Energy is Hurting Massachusetts Families, Offices of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey

To understand how Massachusetts residents are impacted by the Trump Administration’s attacks on clean energy, our offices interviewed thirteen Mas communities in the Commonwealth. President Trump’s attacks on clean energy projects have meant that over $8.6 billion in investment has been lost or delayed in Massachusetts, costing over 16,750 jobs. More than 165,000 jobs have been lost or delayed in the U.S. clean energy sector. More than $53 billion in private investment has been lost or delayed 324 projects across the country have been delayed, been cancelled, or laid off staff.

Who’s Obstructing Climate Action in the Rhode Island Legislature?, Culhane et al., The Climate and Development Lab, Brown University

After stunning successes in 2021 and 2022, climate action has slowed in Rhode Island. Why have outcomes in the same state been so different? Why do so many climate and clean energy bills die in the legislature? What are the barriers to climate legislation in Rhode Island? Who is obstructing state climate legislation, and what strategies are they using? What approaches are being proposed in the 2025 Climate Action Strategy, and how have neighboring states moved forward on them? The authors seek to answer those questions in ways that provide actionable information to advocates and insights for political observers. For example, Rhode Island Energy, owned by Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL), spent the most on lobbying (in the years it has been active) and was the most active opponent of environmental groups on climate and energy bills in our study period. Business coalitions and the RI Public Utilities Commission (PUC) are frequent opponents of climate policies. Rhode Island’s 2025 Climate Action Strategy proposes interventions that have been introduced in past legislative sessions--and faced resistance. Rhode Island has key state-level constraints that have posed barriers to climate action.

WMO confirms 2025 was one of warmest years on record, World Meteorological Organization

The global average surface temperature was 1.44 °C (with a margin of uncertainty of ± 0.13 °C) above the 1850-1900 average, according to WMO’s consolidated analysis of eight datasets. Two of these datasets ranked 2025 as the second warmest year in the 176-year record, and the other six ranked it as the third warmest year. The past 11 years have been 11 warmest on record. Temporary cooling by La Niña does not reverse the monotonic trend. International data exchange underpins climate monitoring datasets for a single authoritative source of information.

Climate change presses on: Devastating wildfires and intense thunderstorms exacerbate losses for insurers, Munich Re

Natural disaster figures for 2025: Costliest claims year to date regarding non-peak perils: Wildfires, flooding and severe thunderstorms account for almost all insured losses. Insured losses once again above the US$ 100bn mark; total global losses lower than the 10-year average. Hurricane Melissa devastates Jamaica; USA dodges direct hurricane hit for first time in ten years. Fatalities totaling 17,200 significantly higher than in 2024, but below long-term average. Climate change does not let up: 2025 one of the warmest years ever.

Global EV sales reach 20.7 million units in 2025, growing by 20%, Rho Motion

The authors report that 2.1 million electric vehicles were sold globally in December. 

Tracking the energy transition: Where are we now?, Barth etal., McKinsey and Company

Following our first stock take in 2024, the authors conducted a follow-up review of the energy transition in 2025 by evaluating the deployment of clean energy technologies in key regions against net-zero targets. The authors reexamine the question, “Is the world on track to reach its 2030 low-carbon technology build-out plan?” To answer it, they evaluate nine key decarbonization technologies across China, Europe, which in the analysis includes the European U are currently on track to reach their 2030 clean technology targets. While reaching net zero will require more than just these nine technologies to be scaled up, their current status serves as a clear indicator of whether these regions are on track to reach net zero by 2050.

Who is most Worried about Heat and Air Pollution in India?, Verner et al., Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

Most people in India are worried about severe heat and air pollution in their local area. Younger and middle-aged adults are more likely than older adults to be “very worried” about severe heat and air pollution. Indians with Bachelor’s degree or higher are more likely to be very worried about severe air pollution.

New Mexico 360 Groundwater Report, Follingstad et al., New Mexico Groundwater Alliance Members

Treat aquifers as critical infrastructure. Accelerate aquifer mapping, monitoring, and characterization. Expand statewide groundwater metering. Develop a statewide groundwater management framework to guide local management. Ensure that groundwater is fully understood and addressed in regional water planning and other community-based conservation initiatives.

Global Risks Report 2026, Elsner et al., World Economic Forum

The authors analyze global risks through three timeframes to support decision-makers in balancing current crises and longer-term priorities. Chapter 1 presents the findings of this year’s Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS), which captures insights from over 1,300 experts worldwide. It explores risks in the current or immediate term (in 2026), the short-to-medium term (to 2028) and in the long term (to 2036). Chapter 2 explores the range of implications of these risks and their interconnections, through six in-depth analyses of selected themes. Uncertainty is the defining theme of the global risks outlook in 2026. GRPS respondents viewed both the short- and long-term global outlook negatively, with 50% of respondents anticipating either a turbulent or stormy outlook over the next two years, deteriorating to 57% of respondents over the next 10 years. A further 40% and 32%, respectively, view the global outlook as unsettled over the two- and 10-year time frames, with only 1% anticipating a calm outlook across each time horizon. As global risks continue to spiral in scale, interconnectivity and velocity, 2026 marks an age of competition. As cooperative mechanisms crumble, with governments retreating from multilateral frameworks, stability is under siege. A contested multipolar landscape is emerging where confrontation is replacing collaboration, and trust – the currency of cooperation – is losing its value.

Carbon farming in organic agriculture. Considerations under EU policy, Lisa Sinnhuber, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and IFOAM Organics Europe

The author outlines the challenges that organic farmers face within current carbon crediting schemes, and sets out guidelines on what to consider before participating in carbon farming initiatives.

Reenergizing Nuclear, Houwink et al., Columbia Business School

Properly managed nuclear is safe, land efficient, and low waste compared with other energy sources. Nuclear energy use has decreased from its peak of 17% to 9% today, and deployments have moved from Europe and the United States to India and China. Nuclear is expected to generate 7% to 11% of global electricity by 2050, growing capacity 1.5 to 3x. There are four pathways for the future of nuclear power: Extending the lifetime of nuclear plants, which has the lowest LCOE and can be safe; building new large reactors, which would significantly reduce emissions but is costly and time intensive; building small modular reactors (SMRs), which provide more flexible nuclear power, but LCOE is still highly uncertain; and nuclear fusion, which addresses many of nuclear’s problems, if the technology can be commercialized.

Solar met 61% of US electricity demand growth in 2025, Jones et al., Ember

Solar generation met a large proportion of US electricity demand growth in 2025, including in regions where demand rose most. It met all the rise in daytime electricity demand and, supported by batteries, also met much of the rise in evening electricity demand.

Renewable Energy and Jobs. Annual Review 2025, Renner et al., The International Renewable Energy Agency and the International Labour Organization

The authors show that renewable energy employment worldwide has continued to grow. They estimate there are at least 16.6 million jobs in renewable energy employment globally. Despite record capacity additions in 2024, employment growth was moderated by economies of scale; automation and other forms of technological innovation; excess equipment manufacturing capacity; and grid bottlenecks leading to curtailment of electricity generation. The authors found that women still face barriers to hiring and career advancement, and people with disabilities are only just beginning to receive more opportunities. They conclude that the human side of renewable energy is still too often overlooked or taken for granted. Continued growth in renewable energy deployment will keep adding to employment in the sector. This means that education and training need to be a key component of a comprehensive policy approach that brings together deployment support, finance and investment, industrial and trade policies for supply chain building, economic development and revitalization, and inclusive workforce development.

Global Water Bankruptcy. Living Beyond our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era, Madani et al., United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health

The authors argue that the world has entered a new stage: more and more river basins and aquifers are losing the ability to return to their historical “normal.” Droughts, shortages, and pollution episodes that once looked like temporary shocks are becoming chronic in many places, signaling a post-crisis condition the author calls water bankruptcy. The authors propose that a fundamental shift is needed in the global water agenda—from repeatedly reacting to emergencies to “bankruptcy management.” That means confronting overshoot with transparent water accounting, enforceable limits, and protection of the water-related natural capital that produces and stores water—aquifers, wetlands, soils, rivers, and glaciers—while ensuring transitions are explicitly equity-oriented and protect vulnerable communities and livelihoods. Crucially, the authors frame water not only as a growing source of risk, but also as a strategic opportunity in a fragmented world. It argues that serious investment in water can unlock progress across climate, biodiversity, land, food, and health, and serve as a practical platform for cooperation within and between societies. Acting early, before stress hardens into irreversible loss, can reduce shared risks, strengthen resilience, and rebuild trust through tangible results.

Insurance and reinsurance under climate stress: managing systemic risk in global supply chains, Mikael Mikaelsson, Stockholm Environment Institute

As climate change accelerates, global supply chains – long optimized for efficiency rather than resilience – are increasingly exposed to a rising tide of climate-related disruptions. These shocks are rarely isolated. They cascade across borders and sectors, disrupting production, logistics, and trade in ways that reveal deep systemic vulnerabilities in the arteries of the global economy. At the same time insurance and reinsurance, the financial mechanisms historically relied upon to absorb such shocks, are being tested by the growing complexity, frequency, and severity of climate hazards. The author draws on a literature review and expert consultations with senior climate risk specialists across the European (re)insurance ecosystem to explore how insurance interacts with climate vulnerability in key sectors and supply chains. They also investigate the changing nature of insurance in a world of compounding risk, and outline what this means for economic stability, sectoral preparedness, and future adaptation efforts.

Climate Update 2026: Social Perspectives on the Climate Protection Debate, More on Common

How do people in Germany view the climate protection debate at the beginning of 2026? New data show that despite increased competition from other political and social challenges, support for climate action remains high. However, it is important to strengthen confidence to ensure a fair and forward-looking implementation. The authors analyze how attitudes, expectations, and key areas of tension have developed in the climate protection debate in Germany. The study builds on our many years of research and offers the current social context for all those who work politically, civil society or communicatively on climate protection issues.

Neighborhood Scale Building Decarbonization. A Toolkit for Advocates and Implementers, Zoë Cina-Sklar and Sonal Jessel, Climate and Community Institute

Neighborhood-scale building decarbonization shifts the unit of building decarbonization from the building to the block, from the individual to the community. By approaching decarbonization at the scale of a block or a neighborhood, all residents in the chosen geography benefit and per-home project costs can decrease through economies of scale. Importantly, it also helps manage the gas transition and ensure that lower-income households are not stuck on aging gas infrastructure. When done right, it can also offer an opportunity to go beyond simply installing electric appliances to also address environmental toxins, improve energy efficiency, and install solar and battery storage. This approach lowers utility bills and creates healthy homes for all residents, regardless of whether they are rich or own their home.

Nature security assessment on global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security, Government of the United Kingdom

This assessment is an analysis of how global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse could affect UK national security. It shows how environmental degradation can disrupt food, water, health and supply chains, and trigger wider geopolitical instability. It identifies 6 ecosystems of strategic importance for the UK and explores how their decline could drive cascading global impacts. This assessment supports long-term resilience planning. Publishing the assessment highlights opportunities for innovation, green finance and global partnerships that can drive growth while safeguarding the ecosystems that underpin our collective security and prosperity. About New Research

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This is a re-post from the WMO Press Office

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has confirmed that 2025 was one of the three warmest years on record, continuing the streak of extraordinary global temperatures. The past 11 years have been the 11 warmest on record, and ocean heating continues unabated.

Key messages

• Past 11 years have been 11 warmest on record
• Temporary cooling by La Niña does not reverse long-term trend
• Ocean warming continues unabated
• WMO consolidates eight datasets for single authoritative source of information
• International data exchange underpins climate monitoring

The global average surface temperature was 1.44°C (with a margin of uncertainty of ± 0.13°C) above the 1850-1900 average, according to WMO’s consolidated analysis of eight datasets. Two of these datasets ranked 2025 as the second warmest year in the 176-year record, and the other six ranked it as the third warmest year.

The past three years, 2023-2025, are the three warmest years in all eight datasets. The consolidated three-year average 2023-2025 temperature is 1.48 °C (with a margin of uncertainty of ± 0.13 °C) above the pre-industrial era. The past eleven years, 2015-2025, are the eleven warmest years in all eight datasets.

“The year 2025 started and ended with a cooling La Niña and yet it was still one of the warmest years on record globally because of the accumulation of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. High land and ocean temperatures helped fuel extreme weather – heatwaves, heavy rainfall and intense tropical cyclones, underlining the vital need for early warning systems,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

“WMO’s state of the climate monitoring, based on collaborative and scientifically rigorous global data collection, is more important than ever before because we need to ensure that Earth information is authoritative, accessible and actionable for all,” said Celeste Saulo.

WMO’s announcement was timed to coincide with the release of global temperature announcements from the dataset providers.

These include the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5), Japan Meteorological Agency (JRA-3Q), NASA (GISTEMP v4), the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAAGlobalTemp v6), the UK’s Met Office in collaboration with the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (HadCRUT.5.1.0.0), and Berkeley Earth (USA). This year, for the first time, WMO also factored in two additional datasets - the Dynamically Consistent ENsemble of Temperature (DCENT/UK, USA) and China Merged Surface Temperature Dataset (CMST).

Figure 1: Annual global mean temperature anomalies relative to the 1850-1900 average shown from 1850 to 2025 for eight datasets as shown in the legend.

Six of the datasets are based on measurements made at weather stations and by ships and buoys using statistical methods to fill gaps in the data. Two of the datasets – ERA5 and JRA-3Q – are reanalyses which combine past observations, including satellite data, with models to generate consistent time series of multiple climate variables including temperature. The key datasets all use slightly differing methodologies and so have slightly different temperature figures, and even annual rankings.

2025 was ranked the second warmest in DCENT and GISTEMP; third warmest in the other six, Berkeley Earth, CMST, ERA5, HadCRUT5, JRA-3Q, and NOAAGlobalTemp.

The actual average global temperature in 2025 was estimated to be 15.08 °C- however there is a much larger margin of uncertainty on the actual temperature at around 0.5 °C than on the temperature anomaly for 2025.

WMO – the UN agency for weather, climate and water - seeks to provide a consolidated authoritative analysis to support decision-making.

Ocean Heat

A separate study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences said that ocean temperatures were also among the highest on record in 2025, reflecting the long-term accumulation of heat within the climate system.

About 90% of excess heat from global warming is stored in the ocean, making ocean heat a critical indicator of climate change. From 2024-2025, the global upper 2000 m ocean heat content (OHC) increased by ∼23 ± 8 Zettajoules relative to 2024, according to the study led by Lijing Cheng with the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. That’s around 200 times the world’s total electricity generation in 2024.

Regionally, about 33% of the global ocean area ranked among its historical (1958–2025) top three warmest conditions, while about 57% fell within the top five, including the tropical and South Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, North Indian Ocean, and Southern Oceans, underscoring the broad ocean warming across basins.

The study found the global annual mean sea surface temperature (SST) in 2025 was 0.49 °C above the 1981–2010 baseline and 0.12 ± 0.03 °C lower than in 2024, consistent with the development of La Niña conditions, but still ranking as the third-warmest year on record.

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Do solar panels release more emissions than burning fossil fuels?

Solar panels produce far less emissions than coal or natural gas.

“Lifecycle emissions” counts all aspects of raw materials, manufacturing, transport, installation, operation, and disposal. A major National Renewable Energy Laboratory review of thousands of studies found that while some emissions are generated when solar panels are manufactured and shipped, their lifetime emissions are much lower than fossil fuels. Coal’s lifecycle climate pollution is about 23 times higher than solar power, and natural gas about 11 times higher.

Solar panels also “pay back” their upfront emissions within a few years of operation, offsetting emissions from their manufacture. Since modern panels often last 30 years or more, they will continue to provide decades of low-emissions electricity after their payback..

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

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Electricity Generation: Update

IPCC Technology-specific Cost and Performance Parameters

US Department of Energy End-of-Life Management for Solar Photovoltaics

International Journal of Advanced Research in Science, Communication and Technology Solar Panel Heat Emission and its Environmental Impact

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

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This is a re-post from The Climate Brink

Recently there has been quite a debate online about the extent to which opposing near-term oil and gas infrastructure – pipelines, refineries, new production – is both necessary and politically effective as a strategy to reduce US emissions. These conversations have occurred in the context of a broader pivot toward affordability as a rallying cry of the left in the US, driven by concerns around the rapidly rising cost of housing, energy, and other goods.

Matt Yglesias had a provocative piece in the NYT arguing that liberals should be less opposed to oil and gas, arguing that it might help make energy more affordable and win more conservative states and labor (without which there would be no climate policy at all). He also noted that US oil and gas is generally lower carbon than foreign alternatives in a world that is still using vast amounts of the stuff. Policies, in his view, should focus on making production cleaner by more strictly regulating methane emissions, in-sector electrification, and other best practices rather than restricting supply. Other mitigation advocates like Jesse Jenkins and Ramez Naam chimed in to support the broad thrust of his argument.

This is, it is worth pointing out, not too far from the policies pursued by both the Obama and Biden1 administrations, where both clean energy and domestic oil and gas production boomed (while the dirtiest fossil fuel, coal, saw a dramatic decline).

Representative Sean Casten (D-IL) posted a long rebuttal on BlueSky arguing that we’ve already overshot our climate goals, and the only way to turn things around is to keep fossil fuels in the ground. He noted that what is politically popular is not always what is right, and that sometimes politicians need to do what is necessary to meet the moment. He also notes that leakage from US gas “makes natural gas worse than coal from a global warming perspective.”

These responses broadly reflect two different schools of thought on how to best practically (and politically) achieve decarbonization goals: by reducing fossil fuel supplies, or by reducing fossil fuel demands.

The physical science is absolutely clear that to stop the world from warming we need to get global emissions of CO2 and other long-lived greenhouse gases to (net) zero. Every 220 gigatons (billion tons) of CO2 we emit warms the surface by around 0.1C, and the world is already at 1.4C above preindustrial levels today. But the specific path to limit warming – how much we focus on the reducing the supply of fossil fuels vs reducing their demand by accelerating the adoption of cleaner alternatives is very much an active debate. My personal view is that demand side policies are considerably more achievable at the moment – particularly given the new focus on affordability on the left.

I’d also note that this post is about the politics of mitigation rather than the physical science. There is no clear right answer to how to best reduce emissions, and there are many reasonable folks with differing views on the topic. We should generally try and extend grace to those we disagree with, as when it comes to policy there is no real arbiter of truth.

Demand vs supply-side decarbonization

Broadly speaking, there are two different schools of thought on how to best achieve decarbonization: supply side vs demand side policy.

Supply side policy focuses on making fossil fuels more expensive by restricting the supply or directly taxing the their sale. Examples include restrictions on fossil resource leasing and development, blocking transmission systems like pipelines, cap and trade systems, and carbon taxes.

Demand side policy aims to make cleaner alternatives more affordable and, in turn, reduce demand for fossil fuels. This generally involves subsidizing both the research, development, and deployment of clean energy technologies (renewable energy, nuclear, electric vehicles, heat pumps, etc.) and its supporting infrastructure (transmission, vehicle charging infrastructure)

These are not necessarily mutually exclusive; for example, some advocates of demand side interventions also support carbon taxes. But generally speaking, supply side policies impose more direct costs on consumers, while demand side policies involve more indirect costs (e.g. through higher government spending).2 There are also ways to make supply side policies less costly – such as the revenue neutral carbon taxes that Canada and Washington have experimented with – but even these have been hard to muster political support for.3

Most of the policies pursued by the Biden administration (and the Obama administration before it) have focused on demand-side mitigation policy. While we may wish otherwise, most of the general public in the US does not prioritize climate change above economic issues, and in the past when gasoline prices have spiked some politicians have quickly pivoted from “keep it in the ground” to “drill baby drill”. To be effective in changing consumer and commercial purchasing behavior at the scale needed to avoid dangerous levels of warming this century, supply side policies will necessarily need to impose a level of cost that will be politically challenging (to say the least).

Demand side mitigation can effectively reduce fossil fuel emissions. The large-scale phase down of coal in the US was driven by a combination of stricter conventional pollutant restrictions and – primarily – low cost fossil gas4 and renewable generation that made it not economically competitive.5 More broadly, the Global Carbon Project finds that emissions have declined over the past decade (2015-24) in 35 nations, which collectively account for 27% of global emissions, driven by faster installation of clean energy technologies and the retirement or curtailment of existing fossil fuel resources. This remains true even when emissions embodied in international trade are taken into account.

The challenge with demand side policies is that they are arguably a poor fit for meeting our most ambitious global climate targets. If countries want to limit warming to 1.5C by the end of the century (and minimize overshoot on the way there) it leaves us with a vanishingly small carbon budget. To meet these goals would require wartime style mobilization of the world to rapidly decarbonize, prematurely retiring vast amounts of infrastructure and rapidly curtailing fossil fuel production. In short, it would cost a lot of money – and in turn require significant political and public buy-in.

Is 1.5C increasingly a trap?

The 2015 Paris Agreement set an aspirational target of limiting warming to 1.5C. This came as a bit of a surprise to the climate science community; prior to Paris the most ambitious mitigation scenario that was widely modeled was RCP2.6, which limited warming to around 1.8C by 2100 (and had a ~66% chance of avoiding 2C warming). Following the Paris Agreement the UNFCCC requested that the IPCC write a special report on 1.5C as a climate target, which was published in 2018.

By the time that report came out, it was increasingly clear that actually limiting warming to 1.5C would be quite unlikely, with scenarios that avoided overshoot requiring all global emissions to start declining immediately and reach (net) zero emissions by 2050. By the time the IPCC 5th Assessment Report was published in 2021, the 1.5C target has been quietly redefined as an “overshoot” target where the world passed 1.5C before bringing global temperatures back down through large-scale deployments of net-negative emissions. In that report 206 of 230 the integrated assessment model (IAM) scenarios exploring 1.5C warming outcomes – a full 96% – involved overshoot on the way there, often reaching 1.7C or 1.8C by mid-to-late century.

As 2026 dawns, the world has already seen a year above 1.5C, and global emissions have yet to decline (even if they have plateaued), scenarios that limit warming to 1.5C by 2100 have become increasingly implausible. They are forced to rely on ever more rapid near-term emissions reductions – and ever larger amounts of carbon removal later in the century – to make the brutal math of the 1.5C target work.

For this reason many of us in the scientific community have been trying to make it clear that these targets never reflected a climate threshold – a point in the system where something particularly bad happens. Rather, they reflect an attempt to balance minimizing climate damages (and risks) given what is plausibly achievable. Climate targets are always inherently probabilistic given uncertainties in climate sensitivity and carbon cycle feedbacks. Its quite possible that we could end up closer to 3C even though we thought we were heading to 2C if we roll 6s on the proverbial climate dice. So these targets more about minimizing tail risks than ending up at a particular round number.

Similarly, there are no particular climate feedbacks or tipping points that occur at 1.5C that would not occur at 1.45C or 1.55C; rather, we try to emphasize that every tenth of a degree matters. 1.5C is lower risk than 1.7C, which is lower risk than 2C, etc. Its less “1.5C to stay alive” and more that we should try to mitigate as rapidly as practically possible to reduce the future damages to society and the natural world.

While targets can be useful as a focus for pushing countries to adopt more ambitious mitigation policy, they can also become counterproductive if they are unachievable. For example, a narrow focus on 1.5C today could lead folks to advocate to oppose policies that might be consistent with (or even help enable) a 2C world but would not be consistent with the vanishingly small remaining carbon budget under 1.5C. In other words, pursuing our most ambitious targets can lead us to make the perfect the enemy of the good.

The gas debate

In the US context the distinction between policies that would be inconsistent with a 1.5C world but might help us get close to 2C often involve fossil gas. The climate impacts of gas (and how it compares to coal) is a topic I’ve long been interested in; I published my first analysis back in 2011, and ultimately wrote two peer reviewed papers on the topic in 2015 and 2016 looking at the impacts of replacing coal with gas in the US.

This is relevant because in the US fossil gas has been the single largest driver of CO2 reductions, particularly in the power sector. Along with renewables it has led to a reduction of coal use by 60%. This progress remains fragile, as may coal plants have lowered their operation time (their capacity factor) rather than fully shutting down, and we see an uptick in US coal generation whenever gas prices rise.

From a carbon standpoint the comparison is relatively straightforward. Fossil gas is results in about 60% lower CO2 emissions per kWh generated, as shown in the figure below:

However, there has been quite a bit of controversy around the broader climate impacts of fossil gas, given that a portion (likely 2% to 3%)6 of fossil gas leaks as methane. Methane is a short-lived greenhouse gas with a lifetime of around 12 years in the atmosphere, but while it is in the atmosphere it has approximately 120x more warming impact than CO2. The different lifetime of the gases makes it difficult to directly compare the two, given that the results depend on the timeframe considered.

The figure below (from my 2015 paper) attempts to compare gas and coal climate impacts over time, using the change in radiative forcing of both (which is a reasonably proxy for temperature change). It compares a new gas plant in the US with 2% leakage (green line) to both new coal (black solid line) and existing coal (black dashed line). The grey area represents the uncertainty for gas across leakage rates from 1% to 6% and generation efficiencies (HHV) of 42% to 50%. This plot assumes that both the gas and coal plant would be operated for 30 years before being retired.

This implies that a leakage rate of 5.1% would be required to make gas worse than coal over a 20-year period (assuming new gas displacing existing coal – the most common occurrence) and 13.1% over a 100-year period. If we assume the gas and coal plants would both be operated for 100 years rather than just 30, the leakage rate required for 100-year forcing parity falls to 9.9%.

Some folks argue that a 20-year time horizon should be preferred given the near-term impacts of climate change and the risk of passing tipping points. But in my view such a short time horizon is misguided. Its equivalent to discounting the future by around 13% per year – saddling future generations with higher warming from CO2 in exchange for minimizing near-term warming today. The case for 20-year GWPs to avoid tipping points is also fairly weak; most proposed tipping points depend on the level of peak warming and the timeframe over which it is sustained. It is quite unlikely that the world will reach peak warming before 2070 or 2080 even in ambitious mitigation scenarios, which means that little of the methane emitted today will be warming the planet by then.

Of course, the argument that gas is“worse than coal” is an unnecessarily high bar in a world that needs to get to net zero emissions. But gas displacing coal is generally still a good thing today, provided there are no other viable cheaper options. Gas also is something of a Swiss army knife of the electricity system, able to be built quite cheaply but expensive to operate (e.g. low cap-ex and high op-ex). This makes it quite well suited to be a dispatchable resource; cost effective to shut down during periods when cheap renewable or battery storage is available, and able to run when extended low resource outputs makes it necessary. That is one of the reasons why deep decarbonization scenarios for the US generally have considerable amounts of fossil gas capacity remaining in a net-zero system in 2050, even if utilization rates are quite low (~5%).

More broadly, integrated assessment models used by the IPCC to assess mitigation options have a pretty clear “merit order” for phasing out fossil fuels: coal first, than oil, than gas. For example, here is unabated (without CCS) coal use in 2C scenarios (SSP1-2.6) in the SSP Database used in the IPCC 6th Assessment Report, showing rapid declines in global coal use after 2020 (something that, unfortunately, we have yet to see globally in the real world). Global unabated gas use is more of a mixed picture, with some models (WITCH) showing rapid declines but others showing flat (AIM) or even increasing (GCAM, MESSAGE, REMIND) global gas use through 2030 or 2040. As clean energy alternatives – particular solar and batteries – get cheaper they should undermine the economic case for fossil gas and help drive down usage and emissions. But in my view policies to restrict supplies today will be less effective than accelerating the deployment of more cost-effective alternatives to gas. Its the (political) economy

Effectively mitigating climate change will depend on a combination of technology and policy.7 But we live in a world where policy and politics are the art of the possible, and given the increasing focus on affordability it seems like a focus on making clean energy cheap will be considerably more viable than making fossil fuels more expensive. As Yglesias noted in the Times, for the Democrats to retake power and control the Senate requires winning places like North Carolina, Ohio, or even places like Texas, Alaska, and Kansas.

I do disagree with Yglesias that the left should actively “support” the oil and gas industry, but there are a wide range of effective mitigation policies that we can pursue that make clean energy cheaper without supporting or directly penalizing the oil and gas industry. I also think we need to double down on phasing out coal as rapidly as possible, both domestically and overseas.

This means that there is likely still some role for supply side mitigation, particularly in a world where demand side mitigation is succeeding. As demand for oil and gas peaks and declines, the cost of these fuels will fall, potentially undercutting the economics of cleaner alternatives. One option would be to effectively backstop the price of oil and gas with a carbon tax – at least up to an estimated social cost of carbon. This would have the advantage of helping stabilize fuel prices, and consumers would not experience any cost increases (though they would not benefit from declines).

Similarly, there are other non-climate damages associated with fossil fuel use – air pollution and water pollution – that also merit regulation, and restrictions on mercury, sulfur, and other conventional pollutants have played an important role in retiring coal plants in the US by making coal more expensive to operate. There is an important role for the government in regulating these – as well as implementing stricter restrictions on methane leakage. And it should go without saying that we should oppose the types of direct subsidies or mandates around fossil fuels or restrictions on clean energy production that tilt the playing field toward dirtier energy that the current US administration is pursuing.

Ultimately the costs of fossil fuel use need to be reflected in the costs of energy for decarbonization to succeed, and this can occur either through artificially reducing the cost of clean energy or increasing the cost of dirty energy. At the current political moment, the former seems far more likely to work.

I’d be grateful if you could hit the like button ?? below! It helps more people discover these ideas and lets me know what’s connecting with readers.

1 Outside of the short-lived Biden era restrictions on oil and gas leases on federal land, which were ultimately thrown out by the courts and were mostly symbolic given the relatively minor amount of production occurring on federal lands. 2 Economists will point out that taxing the bad is generally more efficient than subsidizing the good, all things considered, but (and apologies to economists in the audience) what is most economically efficient is not necessarily the most politically palatable in practice. 3 Canada’s carbon tax was more or less repealed in 2025, while Washington state’s tax has also struggled to get popular support at times. 4 I prefer the term fossil gas to natural gas, as “natural” is a weird anachronism originally used to differentiate geologically produced (e.g. natural) gas from gas produced from heating coal (“town gas”). 5 Though we don’t live in a purely economically-driven world; local activism such as the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign helped convince policymakers to prematurely retire plants in favor of lower cost cleaner alternatives. 6 Estimates in the academic literature are that actual leakage is around 50% to 100% larger than the ~1.5% that the EPA reports in official inventories. 7 And its worth noting that technological progress is not independent of policy, given the key role of government spending in RD&D.

A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 11, 2026 thru Sat, January 17, 2026. Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Change Impacts (10 articles)

• As a climate scientist, I know heatwaves in Australia will only get worse. We need to start preparing now "During black summer, my daughters were too young to know what was happening. Now, amid another Australian heatwave, they deserve answers" Comment is Free, The Guardian, Opinion by Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, Jan 8, 2026.
• Ocean Warming Breaks Record for Ninth Straight Year "Scientists warn the ocean’s accumulation of energy is fueling extreme weather patterns and destabilizing marine ecosystems." Science, Inside Climate News, Johnny Sturgeon, Jan 9, 2026.
• The western US is in a snow drought, raising fears for summer water supplies CNN, Andrew Freedman, Jan 9, 2026.
• ‘Profound impacts’: record ocean heat is intensifying climate disasters, data shows "Oceans absorb 90% of global heating, making them a stark indicator of the relentless march of the climate crisis" Environment, The Guardian, Damian Carrington, Jan 9, 2026.
• Himalayas bare and rocky after reduced winter snowfall, scientists warn BBC News, Navin Singh Khadka, Jan 11, 2026.
• New Climate Reports Show ‘Unprecedented Run of Global Heat’ "Data from multiple international agencies shows the reality of a rapidly warming world." Inside Climate News, Bob Berwyn, Jan 13, 2026.
• 2025: The fourth warmest year in U.S. history was full of deadly weather extremes "It was the first year in a decade without a U.S. hurricane landfall – but it still ranked third for billion-dollar disasters." Yale Climate Connections, Bob Henson, Jan 13, 2026.
• WMO confirms 2025 was one of warmest years on record "The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has confirmed that 2025 was one of the three warmest years on record, continuing the streak of extraordinary global temperatures. The past 11 years have been the 11 warmest on record, and ocean heating continues unabated." World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Press Release , Jan 14, 2026.
• Copernicus: 2025 was the third-hottest year globally and in Europe - with two main drivers "The past 11 years have been the warmest on record globally. Europe is warming significantly faster than the global average." EuroNews, Servet Yanatma, Jan 14, 2026.
• World warming faster than forecast as pollution cuts remove hidden cooling effect "Experts have sounded the climate alarm after discovering that global temperatures are accelerating faster than predicted." EuroNews, Liam Gilliver, Jan 15, 2026.

Climate Policy and Politics (10 articles)

• Senate Climate Hawks Aren't Ready To Stop Talking About It “We need to talk about it in ways that connect directly to voters’ lives right now,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a top environmentalist, said of global warming. HuffPost, Igor Bobic, Jan 6, 2025.
• Trump taking ‘drill, baby, drill’ plan to Venezuela ‘terrible’ for climate, experts warn " ‘Everybody loses’ if production supercharged in country with largest known oil reserves, critics say" The Guardian, Dharna Noor & Oliver Milman, Jan 6, 2026.
• Trump assails 'windmills' and wind energy as junk: 'They're losers' USA TODAY, Dinah Voyles Pulver, Jan 9, 2026.
• Damn the torpedoes! Trump ditches a crucial climate treaty as he moves to dismantle America’s climate protections The Conversation US, Gary W Yohe, Jan 10, 2026.
• Richest 1% have ‘blown through’ their carbon budget for 2026 in just 10 days - experts warn "Governments are being pressured to ban carbon-intensive luxury items and tax fossil fuel profits to meet climate targets." euronews, Liam Gilliver, Jan 10, 2026.
• Pulling out of 66 international organizations, Trump turns his back on science, facts, reason The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Benjamin Santer, Jan 12, 2026.
• US carbon pollution rose in 2025 in reversal of previous years’ reductions "Study from research firm finds that US greenhouse gas emissions grew faster than economic activity last year" The Guardian, AP, Jan 13, 2026 .
• Trump’s EPA is setting the value of human health to $0 "The agency’s new math to favor polluters, explained."Trump’s EPA is setting the value of human health to $0 Vox, Umair Irfan , Jan 14, 2026.
• Prof Ben Santer: Trump administration is `embracing ignorance` on climate science The attacks on climate science by the Trump administration means the US is now “part of the problem” on global warming and “not part of the solution”, says Prof Ben Santer. Carbon Brief, Robert McSweeney, Jan 15, 2026.
• Spain’s meteorologists subjected to ‘alarming’ rise in hate speech, minister warns "Environment minister says attacks on social media affect perceptions of meteorology and denigrate researchers’ work" The Guardian, Sam Jones, Jan 15, 2026.

Miscellaneous (4 articles)

• 2026 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #02 A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 4, 2026 thru Sat, January 10, 2026. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler, John Hartz & Doug Bostrom, Jan 11, 2026.
• Photos Capture the Breathtaking Scale of China’s Wind and Solar Buildout Yale Environment 360, Unknown, Jan 13, 2026.
• Analysis: Coal power drops in China and India for first time in 52 years after clean-energy records " Coal power generation fell in both China and India in 2025, the first simultaneous drop in half a century, after each nation added record amounts of clean energy." Carbon Brief, Lauri Myllyvirta, Jan 13, 2026.
• Trump’s freeze of an offshore wind project faces scrutiny from a judge he appointed AP News, Michael Phillis & Jennifer McDermott, Jan 14, 2026.

International Climate Conferences and Agreements (2 articles)

• Climate Cooperation Will Suffer as the U.S. Disengages From International Commitments "Experts say pulling the U.S. out of more than 60 global organizations will weaken international governance structures and lead to further fragmentation of global power." Inside Climate News, Bob Berwyn, Jan 10, 2026.
• Australia’s Cop31 chief negotiator plans to lobby petrostates on fossil fuel phaseout "Exclusive: Chris Bowen says key to next UN climate summit will be ‘engagement, engagement, engagement’ with countries such as Saudi Arabia" The Guardian, Dan Jervis-Bardy, Jan 10, 2026.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (1 article)

• Climate Variability Emerges as Both Risk and Opportunity for the Global Energy Transition "Climate variability and long-term climate change are increasingly shaping the performance and reliability of renewable energy systems worldwide, according to the WMO–IRENA Climate-driven Global Renewable Energy Resources and Energy Demand Review: 2024 Year in Review, released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)." World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Press Release, Jan 13, 2026.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Solutions (1 article)

• Fact brief - Does clearing trees for solar panels release more CO2 than the solar panels would prevent? No - Clearing trees to build solar farms does not negate their climate change benefits, because one acre of solar panels prevents far more CO2 emissions than an acre of forest absorbs. Skeptical Science, Sue Bin Park, Jan 13, 2026.

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