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

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

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.

Open access notables Death Valley Illusion: Evidence against the 134°F World Record, Spencer et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society The world record hottest near-surface air temperature of 134°F recorded at Greenland Ranch, Death Valley, California on 10 July 1913 is demonstrated to be approximately 14°F hotter than what likely occurred on that date. Using July data from non–Death Valley stations during 1923–2024, we compute a range of temperature lapse rates diagnosed from the differences between Greenland Ranch station and the average of higher-elevation stations’ maximum temperatures (T MAX) and eleva

This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator and climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Video description Global warming continues to ramp up, with 2025 one of the hottest three years we've ever observed, and probably the hottest in over 100,000 years. With these scorching temperatures, we've seen devastation in the form of natural disasters, like heatwaves, wildfires, floods, storms and droughts. So what will this year bring in terms of climate change? And how are climate scientists able to answer this before the year is even fully underway? Ultimately, though, the biggest questions for a our climate have us much to do with the political as the planetary. Support ClimateAdam on patreon: https://pa

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. Does clearing trees for solar panels release more CO2 than the solar panels would prevent? 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. In the U.S., replacing equivalent natural gas power with one acre of s

This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year that just ended saw numerous records broken on climate and clean energy.  It was the second-hottest year on record at Earth’s surface, behind only 2024. The high temperatures were shocking for a year with a La Niña event. La Niñas draw cold water up to the surface of the Pacific Ocean, and hence are relatively cool years at Earth’s surface, while El Niño events have the opposite effect. 2025 was by far the hottest year with a La Niña event. For perspective, 1998 was a record-shattering hot year at the time because it experi

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. Stories we promoted this week, by category: Climate Policy and Politics (8 articles) Analysis: UK renewables enjoy record year in 2025 – but gas power still rises Carbon Brief, Simon Evans & Ho Woo Nam, Jan 2, 2025. The Year in Climate: Attacks on Science, the Start of

Open access notables A Long-Term Shift in Flow Regimes over the Antarctic Peninsula, Guarino et al., Journal of Climate We present consequences of Antarctic surface warming for the stability of the lower atmosphere since the 1950s. We show that the surface atmosphere over the Antarctic Peninsula has become less stable, and that this reduced stability favors the generation of atmospheric gravity waves from the Peninsula, one of the major sources of atmospheric waves on the planet. We provide a physically based explanation (i.e., a shift in flow regimes) for the increased gravity

This is a re-post from Carbon Brief The UK’s fleet of wind, solar and biomass power plants all set new records in 2025, Carbon Brief analysis shows, but electricity generation from gas still went up. The rise in gas power was due to the end of UK coal generation in late 2024 and nuclear power hitting its lowest level in half a century, while electricity exports grew and imports fell. In addition, there was a 1% rise in UK electricity demand – after years of decline – as electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps and data centres connected to the grid in larger numbers. Other key insights from the data include: Electricity demand grew for the second year in a row to 322 terawatt hours (TWh), rising by 4TWh (1%) and hinting at a shift towards steady increases, as t