Hailstorm in Saudi Arabian desert mistaken for snow, sparking misleading climate claims online
In early November, several photos were shared via social media and news outlets showing what was allegedly the ‘first-ever snowfall…
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Climate vs. weather: a deep dive on the key differences
A key difference is their timescales by which they’re defined: weather is monitored over days to weeks, and climate typically over decades or more. Online claims that use anecdotal evidence to claim that these climate changes are ‘normal’ either in the context of ‘when they grew up’ or as part of the ‘natural cycle’ are inaccurate.
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Humans do not have the technology to manipulate hurricanes
Hurricanes are extraordinarily powerful storms. Our current weather modification methods, which usually involve cloud seeding, cannot create or redirect hurricanes.
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In most cases, electrifying cars reduces their emissions
Today, road transport is responsible for 15% of the world’s total CO2 emissions. If we replace fossil-fuel-powered combustion vehicles with…
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Climate change and its impacts on the water cycle; how can it increase both droughts and heavy downpours?
If your tap ran dry and stores closed down, where would you get your freshwater? Water is essential to human…
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From vibrant corals to white skeletons: climate change and looming existential threats to coral reefs
Coral reefs and their ecosystems serve important roles on Earth – they flourish with biodiversity, providing habitat to 25% of…
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Sea-level rise: to mitigate or adapt? Experts say we need to do both.
Roughly 900 million people lived in low-lying coastal cities and settlements in 2020; a figure that is projected to reach 1 billion by 2050. Is there anything we can do now to reduce sea-level rise and its impacts? Our past actions will already impact sea-levels for thousands of years. But not everything is set in stone. We possess the power to reduce sea-level rise and its impacts over the next century and beyond with our current actions. Some advocate to mitigate the causes, and others to adapt to the consequences. But what do experts say?
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How CO2 warms Earth through the greenhouse effect and why CO2 is not ‘saturated’ in Earth’s atmosphere
There is no doubt about it – climate science can be complex. But sometimes this complexity is mistaken for uncertainty.…
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Of the many factors that cause wildfires, the influence of climate change and human activities is growing
Although there are multiple things at play when it comes to wildfires, climate change is becoming increasingly important. Wildfires are the result of complex interactions between biophysical and human factors, and it only takes one poorly managed campfire to cause a serious, widespread wildfire disaster. Many wildfires are indeed the direct result of human activities. However, many more and much worse wildfires are now possible because of climate change, leading to greater environmental and economic negative impacts.
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What’s in a number? The significance of the 1.5°C warming threshold and reporting on its possible breach in popular media
These findings were widely covered by popular media outlets, including in articles published by The Guardian, CNN, and BBC, which all reported that this temperature increase would represent a breach of the key IPCC threshold. However, this is missing some important context.
“A single year above 1.5°C does not mean the world has passed that particular warming level”, said Zeke Hausfather. Such nuance was better captured by articles published in Reuters and Axios, which both correctly did not report that these new temperature projections, if realized, would constitute a breach of the threshold.