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Climate — Thursday, September 24, 2026

Climate,
briefly.

29 stories, written and narrated in a calm newsroom voice. No sirens, no outrage bait — press play and let the edition carry you through.

Climate

Climatenews.clemson

Clemson statistician helps map regional shifts in global warming

Climate scientists have long understood that global warming isn't uniform. Some regions warm faster than others, and that unevenness matters enormously for predicting local impacts—from sea-level rise to agricultural stress. But mapping exactly where and how quickly those shifts occur has been technically difficult. This week, a team at Clemson University published a new statistical method to do it. Robert Lund, a statistician there, developed an approach that detects regional warming trends with far greater precision than earlier models. The work focuses on temperature records across the globe, identifying where rates of change accelerate or slow. What makes this useful isn't just the method itself—it's that it can be applied to existing data without waiting for new measurements. That means climate planners can now model regional impacts with better accuracy, which changes how cities and governments prepare for what's coming.

news.clemson ↗

ClimateInside Climate News

AI’s Meet-Cute With Climate Denial

The artificial intelligence industry is amplifying climate denial through its training data and algorithmic choices, according to researchers at Stanford and UC Berkeley who analyzed how major AI models handle climate information. The study found that large language models trained on internet text absorb and sometimes reinforce arguments that downplay human-caused warming. OpenAI's GPT-4 and similar systems occasionally generate responses that echo talking points from climate skeptics, even when users ask straightforward factual questions. The researchers identified a particular problem: AI systems trained on unfiltered web content absorb the same proportion of denialist material that exists online, then amplify it through their training process. This matters because millions of people now use these systems for information. The companies behind these models have begun adding climate-specific guardrails to their systems, though the effectiveness of those fixes remains unclear. Researchers say the industry needs more transparent training practices and better vetting of source material before these systems reach the public.

Inside Climate News ↗

ClimateArs Technica

Small undersea volcanoes may unleash outsized tsunamis - Ars Technica

The January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai in the South Pacific offers new clues about how small underwater volcanoes can trigger outsized tsunamis. First, post-eruption imaging reveals that the volcano's caldera collapsed far more dramatically than initially thought — the seafloor dropped by over 800 meters in some areas, displacing an enormous volume of water in seconds. Then, researchers found that the volcano's particular geometry amplified the effect: its shallow, bowl-like structure concentrated the energy of that collapse into a focused wave rather than dispersing it. And finally, the eruption generated tsunamis that traveled across the entire Pacific, reaching heights of over a meter even in distant locations like Peru and Japan. The findings suggest that smaller submarine volcanoes deserve closer monitoring, since their collapse mechanics can produce consequences far beyond their modest size.

Ars Technica ↗

ClimateUN News

LIVE: Climate change is here - What happens next is still in our hands

The UN has confirmed that climate change is no longer a future threat—it's measurable and underway across the planet right now. Global temperatures have risen roughly 1.1 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times, with observable impacts already visible in weather patterns, sea levels, and ecosystems. The organization emphasizes that while the warming is locked in, the severity of what comes next depends entirely on the choices made in the next decade. Emissions reductions and adaptation measures can still determine whether we stabilize at 1.5 degrees or allow warming to accelerate further. The UN's message is deliberate: the crisis is real, but it's not irreversible. What matters now is action—and that window, though narrowing, remains open.

UN News ↗

ClimateHackaday

Why Raindrops Make For Pretty Good Antennae - Hackaday

A drop of rain hangs suspended in the air, catching the last light. Around it, invisible waves move through the atmosphere—radio signals, WiFi, the constant electromagnetic chatter of the modern world. It turns out that raindrop isn't just water. It's an antenna. Because anything that interacts with electromagnetic radiation acts as one, and water—especially saltwater or moisture-laden air—conducts and reflects those waves. Engineers have long known this. What's less obvious is how predictable it is. A raindrop of a specific size will resonate at particular frequencies, scattering signals in measurable ways. This matters to meteorologists tracking storms and to communications engineers designing systems that have to work in wet conditions. Even our bodies, being mostly salt water, do the same thing. The rain falling on your shoulder right now is bending radio waves in ways we're only beginning to map precisely. The sky continues its work, indifferent to the signals it shapes.

Hackaday ↗

ClimatePhys.Org

Light beam 'swims' upstream through a quantum fluid by violating Newton's third law - Phys.org

A light beam has moved upstream through a quantum fluid without pushing back against it—a violation of Newton's third law that physicists at MIT recently demonstrated in the laboratory. Normally, when light travels through any medium, it exchanges momentum with that medium. Push the fluid, and the fluid pushes back. But researchers found that under specific conditions—using a specially engineered quantum gas cooled to near absolute zero—a light beam could swim upstream without that reciprocal force. The key was tuning the gas's properties so light and matter decoupled from the usual momentum exchange. The finding doesn't overturn Newton's law so much as reveal its limits at quantum scales. For now, the practical applications remain theoretical. But understanding how light behaves in exotic states of matter could eventually inform quantum computing and sensing technologies. A leaf drifts with the stream. Light, it turns out, can slip free.

Phys.Org ↗

Climatephys

Two new reports show that Canada needs to do much more to tackle climate change

Canada's emissions have risen every year since 2020, even as the country committed to cutting them in half by 2030. That gap between promise and reality sits at the heart of two new reports released this week. Environment and Climate Change Canada found that current policies will get the country only about halfway to its target. A separate analysis from the Canadian Climate Institute suggests the shortfall's even wider — that existing measures cover perhaps forty percent of what's needed. Both reports point to the same problem: the country's climate action plan, updated just last year, already lags behind what the science demands. The practical effect is straightforward. Without new policy, Canada will miss its 2030 goal by a significant margin. That means deeper cuts will have to come later, or the target itself will slip. For now, the reports sit on the table. What happens next depends on whether Ottawa treats them as a warning or a suggestion.

phys ↗

ClimateGizmodo

178 Fossil Fuel Giants Have Already Locked In Centuries of Warming

A new analysis found that 178 fossil fuel companies have already committed the world to centuries of warming through the infrastructure they've built and continue to operate. Researchers at the University of California looked at the lifetime emissions from existing coal plants, oil fields, and gas infrastructure. They're not talking about future expansion—just what's already in the ground and operating today. Those facilities will keep releasing carbon dioxide for decades, locked into their economics and physical design. A single coal plant might run for forty years or more. The practical effect is this: even if every fossil fuel company stopped all new projects tomorrow, the warming's already baked in. We'd still see temperature rise well beyond what climate agreements aim for. The infrastructure exists. The emissions will follow. So the question isn't whether we'll warm—it's how much we'll warm from what's already there.

Gizmodo ↗

ClimateNature

Earlier and faster heatwave onset on land under a warming climate

Researchers studying heat patterns across land have found that heatwaves are arriving earlier in the year and intensifying more quickly than they did decades ago. The analysis, published in Nature, examined temperature data from 1979 onwards and found that the speed at which heatwaves develop has increased significantly in that span. First, the onset itself has shifted — heatwaves now begin roughly two weeks earlier on average than they did in the late nineteen-seventies. Then there's the rate of warming: once a heatwave begins, temperatures now climb faster, compressing what used to be a gradual warm-up into a sharper spike. And finally, the research suggests this acceleration is tied directly to broader climate warming, meaning regions that have warmed most are seeing the fastest heatwave intensification. The detail that matters is the compression itself — it's not just that heat arrives sooner, but that bodies and systems have less time to adjust to the shock.

Nature ↗

ClimateCorporate Knights

A common gas used in China’s electrical grid is amplifying global warming

For years, China's electrical grid has relied on sulfur hexafluoride, a gas that insulates high-voltage equipment and prevents equipment failures. It's widely used across the power industry worldwide. The problem's been known to climate scientists, but largely overlooked in public conversation. That's changing now. New research shows sulfur hexafluoride is roughly twenty-five thousand times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a century. China's grid alone accounts for a significant share of global emissions of the gas, which persists in the atmosphere for three thousand years. Even small leaks from aging equipment add up. The gas is odorless and invisible, so losses often go undetected until equipment fails. Utilities have alternatives — newer insulation materials exist — but switching infrastructure costs money and time. The finding underscores how climate warming isn't only about coal and cars. It's embedded in the infrastructure we've already built.

Corporate Knights ↗

ClimateCNN

How lead-based ink may reveal hidden text on scorched Herculaneum scrolls - CNN

Researchers studying the charred scrolls of Herculaneum—the Roman town buried by Vesuvius nearly two thousand years ago—have found a practical way forward in reading texts that remain locked inside carbonized papyrus. First, they've discovered that lead-based ink, common in ancient Roman writing, shows up clearly under X-ray imaging in ways other inks don't, making it far easier for artificial intelligence to detect letters and words without physically opening fragile, blackened documents. Then, by recreating scorched scrolls in the laboratory, scientists confirmed this principle works reliably across different conditions and ink compositions. And finally, this opens a genuine path to deciphering hundreds of scrolls that have resisted traditional reading methods for centuries. The technique doesn't require invasive handling—a significant advantage when dealing with artifacts this delicate. Herculaneum's library may soon yield its secrets.

CNN ↗

ClimateBangkok Post

Outgoing UN chief makes climate push at New York summit

António Guterres, the UN secretary-general whose term ends in December, used this week's summit in New York to press world leaders on climate action before he steps down. First, Guterres called for a binding agreement on phasing out fossil fuels—a demand that's faced resistance from oil-producing nations at previous climate talks. Then, he argued that wealthy countries must increase climate finance to developing nations, pointing out that current pledges fall far short of what's needed to help poorer economies adapt to warming. And finally, he emphasized that the window for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius is closing rapidly, with only a handful of years left to make meaningful cuts to emissions. Guterres has made climate his signature issue throughout his tenure. His final months in office appear focused on pushing the agenda as far as it'll go.

Bangkok Post ↗

Climatebroadbandbreakfast

Climate Week Talks Balance Hope For Clean Energy Against Uncertainty Over AI

Climate Week organizers are wrestling with a question they can't quite answer: how much electricity will artificial intelligence actually need. The concern's straightforward enough. AI systems consume power at scale — data centers running large language models demand steady, enormous loads. At Climate Week in New York this month, energy experts acknowledged the tension plainly. They're betting on renewables to meet the next decade's power demand, but AI's appetite remains genuinely uncertain. A solar farm built today might power a city's homes and offices. In five years, it might power a single AI cluster instead. That uncertainty cuts both ways. AI could accelerate the transition to clean energy — companies need reliable power, and renewables are increasingly cheaper than fossil fuels. Or it could stall decarbonization if demand outpaces what renewables can supply. For now, Climate Week participants are holding both possibilities at once: hoping AI drives investment in clean power, while bracing for the possibility it simply consumes whatever gets built.

broadbandbreakfast ↗

Climateinsideclimatenews

Competing Climate Visions Clash at UN General Assembly

The UN General Assembly is divided over how fast the world should cut carbon emissions, with wealthy nations and developing countries backing conflicting climate strategies. Rich nations are pushing for steep cuts by 2030, arguing the science demands urgent action. Developing economies, led by India, say that approach ignores their right to grow and lift people out of poverty. India's delegation has been particularly vocal, pointing out that per-capita emissions in wealthy countries remain far higher than in the Global South. The disagreement mirrors tensions that've stalled climate talks for years: who bears the cost of transition, and who gets to decide the pace. Negotiators will spend the coming weeks drafting language for a new climate agreement, trying to bridge positions that remain fundamentally at odds.

insideclimatenews ↗

ClimateThe New York Times

A Departing U.N. Chief’s Dire Warning on Climate Change

António Guterres, the outgoing United Nations secretary-general, has warned that the world is failing to meet its climate commitments and that current policies will lead to catastrophic warming. In his final address to the UN General Assembly, Guterres said global temperatures are on track to rise three degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, far exceeding the Paris Agreement's target of 1.5 degrees. He called the gap between pledges and action a "credibility crisis" and said wealthy nations have largely failed to deliver promised climate finance to developing countries. The warning comes as Guterres prepares to step down after a decade leading the organization. This reflects a pattern of escalating UN climate assessments over the past five years, each showing slower progress than the last. His successor will inherit a portfolio where climate diplomacy remains central but increasingly contentious among member states.

The New York Times ↗

ClimateFuturism

Trump Says No Need to Regulate AI, Since That Strategy Is Working Fine for Climate Change

In a conference room lined with screens and advisors, the question hung in the air: should the government regulate artificial intelligence. The answer came quickly, delivered with the confidence of someone certain of his own logic. Donald Trump said this week that AI doesn't need regulation. His reasoning: the same hands-off approach applied to climate change has worked out fine. The remark came during remarks on technology policy, where he suggested market forces and innovation move faster than government oversight ever could. The comparison itself is worth noting. Climate emissions have risen steadily over decades while regulatory efforts remained fragmented across states and nations. Trump's point wasn't that climate policy succeeded—it's that the absence of it didn't stop progress in other sectors. Whether that logic extends to artificial intelligence, where the risks compound differently, remains an open question among technologists and policymakers alike. For now, the position stands.

Futurism ↗

Climatenytimes

Opinion | Climate Catastrophe Is Still on the Table

The world's governments committed in Paris nearly a decade ago to limiting warming to one-point-five degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. That target's been slipping further away with each passing year of delayed action and rising emissions. This week, a sobering reminder arrived. New analysis shows we're on track for roughly two-point-seven degrees of warming by century's end, even if countries meet their current climate pledges. That gap between promise and trajectory matters enormously. At two-point-seven degrees, we'd see widespread crop failures, coastal cities underwater, and ecosystems collapsing at speeds ecosystems can't adapt to. The difference between one-point-five and two-point-seven might sound modest in the abstract. In practice, it's the difference between difficult and catastrophic. Closing that gap still requires immediate, sustained cuts to emissions across every sector. The math hasn't changed. What's changed is how little time remains to do it.

nytimes ↗

ClimateMinnesota Reformer

Believe what you are seeing and feeling: The climate is changing

The thermometer doesn't lie. Last summer, Minnesota recorded its hottest June on record, with temperatures climbing into the nineties for weeks straight. That's not a prediction or a model—it's what happened. Scientists have long warned about warming trends, but what matters now is what people are actually experiencing. Farmers across the state report shifting growing seasons, erratic rainfall, and pest patterns that don't match decades of accumulated knowledge. Gardeners are replanting for different frost dates. Outdoor workers are adjusting schedules around heat that arrives earlier each year. The data confirms the pattern. But the real evidence is simpler: it's the summer you just lived through, the spring that came early, the winter that felt different. What you're seeing and feeling isn't anecdotal. It's the climate, changing in real time.

Minnesota Reformer ↗

Climatenytimes

The Big Threat Has Been Climate Change. Now Comes A.I.

A climate scientist recently said, "We've been so focused on one existential risk that we've barely noticed another one building in the same room." That scientist is pointing at artificial intelligence. For years, climate change dominated conversations about humanity's long-term survival. But A.I. systems now consume enormous amounts of electricity—data centers training large language models use as much power as small countries. A single A.I. model can require the energy equivalent of what five hundred homes use in a year. The problem compounds itself. More A.I. means more electricity demand, which typically means more fossil fuels burned, which worsens the climate crisis we're already struggling to address. Neither threat waits for the other to be solved. The two risks aren't separate anymore. They're entangled. We're building the solution to one crisis while potentially deepening another.

nytimes ↗

ClimateSouth China Morning Post

Opinion | Hong Kong lacks a climate narrative to unify its efforts

Hong Kong's government hasn't articulated a coherent climate strategy that brings together its fragmented environmental efforts, according to analysis of the city's policy landscape. The territory has set a carbon neutrality target for 2050, but lacks the unifying narrative that would align its transport, energy, and building sectors around shared goals. Officials have announced individual initiatives—renewable energy projects, electric vehicle incentives, green building codes—yet these operate largely in isolation without a clear overarching framework that explains to the public why each matters or how they connect. This mirrors a broader challenge across Asia's financial hubs, where economic priorities often overshadow climate commitments in public messaging. Hong Kong's next opportunity to reshape that narrative comes with its updated climate action plan, expected within the next two years. How clearly officials articulate the connection between climate action and the city's economic resilience will determine whether citizens and businesses align behind the effort.

South China Morning Post ↗

ClimatePomona College

Pomona College Interns Take Direct Action to Fight Climate Change

A group of students in Claremont, California, are sorting through recycling bins in the college dining hall, checking what shouldn't be there. They're part of Pomona College's climate internship program, and they've moved beyond the classroom into the operations of the campus itself. The interns are working directly with facilities staff to reduce waste and emissions across the college's physical footprint. They've identified specific inefficiencies—everything from energy use in buildings to what actually ends up in landfills instead of compost. One detail worth noting: they're not just documenting problems. They're embedded in the decision-making process, sitting in on meetings where campus operations are planned. The work is unglamorous and methodical. But it's also where climate action often happens—not in policy papers, but in the daily choices of how institutions actually run.

Pomona College ↗

ClimateWHEC

Climate Week talks balance hope for clean energy against uncertainty over artificial intelligence

For the past decade, climate conferences have centered on a single calculation: how quickly renewables can replace fossil fuels. The math has improved steadily. Solar and wind now cost less than coal in most markets, and battery storage is advancing faster than most models predicted. That confidence shifted this week. At Climate Week in New York, the conversation turned toward a new variable: artificial intelligence. The technology promises to accelerate clean energy solutions—optimizing power grids, designing better batteries, managing renewable infrastructure at scale. But it also demands enormous amounts of electricity. Data centers training large language models consume as much power as small countries. The tension is real. Experts acknowledged that without accounting for AI's energy footprint in their projections, their timelines for decarbonization may be wishful. The takeaway is straightforward: clean energy progress is genuine, but the goal posts have shifted.

WHEC ↗

ClimateThe Independent

Trump renames AI in off-the-rails rant against ‘hoax’ concerns

We're going to call it intelligence, not artificial intelligence, because artificial makes it sound bad." That's Donald Trump, speaking at a rally this week, announcing he's rebranding the term artificial intelligence. He's framing concerns about AI as a hoax—lumping them alongside climate change skepticism in his broader dismissal of what he calls exaggerated fears. The renaming itself is largely symbolic; it won't change how the technology actually works or how it's regulated. But it does signal how Trump plans to talk about AI if he returns to office: by reframing the debate itself, stripping away language he sees as loaded. The practical effect is narrower than it sounds. Tech companies will keep using "AI." What matters more is the underlying message: that caution about the technology is overblown. That framing could influence policy conversations around AI safety and oversight in the months ahead. He's betting that what you call something changes how people think about it.

The Independent ↗

Climatepbs

WATCH LIVE: Day 1 of the 2026 United Nations General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly opened its doors this week in New York, bringing together delegations from nearly 200 countries for what's expected to be a tense fortnight of negotiations. The gathering comes as global temperatures continue their upward trajectory, with 2025 on pace to be the warmest year on record. Climate commitments made at previous assemblies remain largely unmet. Many nations are arriving with competing interests—developing countries pushing for financial support to adapt to climate impacts, while wealthy nations wrestle with the cost of transitioning away from fossil fuels. The assembly's agenda includes binding agreements on emissions reductions, though observers note that past sessions have produced declarations that look stronger on paper than in practice. What happens in these first days will likely set the tone for whether this year's assembly produces real commitments or another round of carefully worded statements that fade once delegations return home.

pbs ↗

ClimateUN News

Why climate action now comes down to speed, finance and cooperation

In conference rooms across the globe, climate negotiators are hunched over spreadsheets and draft agreements, racing against deadlines that slip further behind each year. The arithmetic of carbon reduction has become brutally simple: the world needs to halve emissions by 2030 to have any real chance of limiting warming to one-point-five degrees. That's less than six years away. The UN estimates we're currently on track for nearly three degrees of warming instead. The gap between what's promised and what's actually happening has become the central problem. It's not that countries don't know what to do anymore. It's that doing it requires money—trillions of dollars flowing from wealthy nations to developing ones—and a level of coordination that's proven far harder to achieve than the science itself. Without both, the pledges remain just that.

UN News ↗

ClimateThe Hill

Brainwashed by fear: How to save 2 generations lost to climate panic

A growing body of research suggests that climate anxiety among young people may be outpacing the actual risk they face, and some psychologists are now questioning whether catastrophic framing is doing more harm than good. Studies from institutions including the University of Bath found that roughly forty percent of teenagers report significant distress about climate change, yet many express feeling paralyzed rather than motivated to act. The concern isn't that young people care too much, but that sustained exposure to worst-case scenarios without corresponding agency or solutions can deepen hopelessness. This reflects a shift in how mental health professionals view climate communication. Where previous messaging emphasized urgency through alarm, newer approaches focus on concrete actions and community resilience—the idea being that agency itself reduces anxiety. Schools and parents are beginning to reframe climate education around solutions and individual efficacy rather than existential dread. The question now is whether that pivot happens quickly enough to reach the cohorts already affected.

The Hill ↗

ClimateWTHR

UN meets in New York to grapple with the world's biggest issues: Climate disasters, AI and rising prices

The United Nations General Assembly is convening in New York this week, bringing together world leaders to address three interconnected crises: climate change, artificial intelligence regulation, and the cost-of-living pressures bearing down on ordinary people. First, climate disasters are accelerating faster than most nations anticipated, with extreme weather already displacing communities and straining budgets across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Then there's the question of AI — how to govern a technology that's advancing so quickly that most governments haven't yet written basic rules for it. And finally, inflation remains stubbornly high in many countries, eroding wages and deepening inequality in ways that fuel political instability. What's worth noting is that these three problems aren't separate. Rising temperatures drive migration and food costs. AI development consumes enormous energy. Economic hardship makes climate adaptation harder for poorer nations to afford. The assembly won't solve any of this in a week, but the conversations shape what happens next.

WTHR ↗

ClimateWAMC

The warming of the Himalayas

In the high valleys of the Himalayas, glaciers that have held their shape for centuries are shrinking visibly now, their edges retreating into shadow each summer. The ice that once seemed permanent is becoming something else. Temperatures across the mountain range have risen roughly twice as fast as the global average over the past few decades. That acceleration matters because the Himalayas feed water to nearly two billion people downstream—in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and beyond. As the glaciers retreat, they're releasing stored water in the short term, which masks a longer problem: once that reserve is gone, the seasonal flow these communities depend on will diminish sharply. The warming isn't uniform. Some peaks warm faster than others, depending on elevation and local conditions. What's becoming clear is that the mountains themselves are changing the pace of their own transformation. For now, the rivers still run full. But the countdown has begun.

WAMC ↗

ClimateTime Magazine

We Need to Stop Talking Like Climate Change Is Partisan

A scientist in a lab coat adjusts a thermometer, watching the mercury rise. Outside the window, the seasons shift. She's been measuring this for twenty years, and the numbers don't argue. Climate data exists independent of politics. Temperature records, sea levels, ice sheets—they're measured the same way in Oslo and Oklahoma, in Beijing and Brazil. Yet somewhere between the laboratory and the dinner table, a fact became a position. A measurement became a team sport. The real problem isn't that people disagree on solutions. It's that we've started treating the baseline itself—what's actually happening to the atmosphere—as negotiable depending on which cable news channel you watch. That's not politics. That's a failure of language. When we frame observable reality as partisan, we've already lost the conversation. The thermometer doesn't care who's listening.

Time Magazine ↗

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