unclassified

Veteran Swiss Meteorologist On Germany’s Recent Heat Wave: “You’re A Really Crazy Country”

by P. Gosselin, Aug 16, 2026 in NoTricksZone  

In an interview on a Bild podcast, Swiss-based meteorologist Jörg Kachelmann strongly criticized Germany’s approach to dealing with heatwaves and climate issues, telling the German audience, “You’re a really crazy country.”

Article here online: nau.ch

Kachelmann told Bild the current European heatwave is unprecedented but that Germany and Switzerland got relatively “lucky” because the core of the heatwave was centered further west over France.

On recommendations on how to deal with heat waves, Kachelmann sharply rejected advice like keeping windows closed during hot daytime hours, arguing that this practice only makes conditions for elderly people in small apartments far more miserable with a higher risk of dying. He criticizes politicians for inconsistency, specifically targeting the Green Party for supporting wood and pellet heating, which he points out is even worse for the climate than burning coal, oil, or gas.

Deep-seated anti-science bias

Kachelmann refered to Germany as a “really crazy country” (“durchgeknalltes Land”) due to what he sees as a deep-seated anti-science bias and cultural superstition surrounding basic cooling methods. For example, one widespread superstition leads Germans to fear drafts flowing across rooms and air conditioning, believing they cause stiff necks or illness, rather than using fans or AC units to save lives during extreme heat.

“Globally speaking, we’re the number one country for superstition. Nowhere else in the world is there so much superstition,” Kachelmann said.

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climate-debate

CO2 is Winning (Mitigation fail)

by R. Bratley Jr., Aug 15, 2026 in WUWT

“The future of rational climate policy is adaptation, not mitigation that works against adaptation. Social justice demands that climate policy not increase energy prices and restrict consumer sovereignty.”

Want to prosper in the energy/climate arena? Avoid wasteful, futile climate ‘mitigation’ policy. Want to ruin your economy for no effect on climate? Rush ahead with wind, solar, batteries, EVs, and forced conservation. The UK/EU experience speaks for itself.

Examine the graph below, and ask yourself which economies are prospering and which are retrogressing. The jumps between 2014 and 2024 would be magnified today.

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The future of rational climate policy is adaptation, not mitigation that works against adaptation. Social justice demands that climate policy not increase energy prices and restrict consumer sovereignty.

Appendix: Prior Adaptation Articles

Adaptation Momentum, Mitigation Fatigue (August 5, 2026)

Global Air Conditioning: Adaptation in Action (July 21, 2026)

Adaptation: Think about It (July 2, 2026)

The Argument for Adaptation and Resilience (Part I: Theory) July 14, 2025

Examples of Adaptation and Resilience (Part II: Examples) July 15, 2025

Climate Adaptation vs. Mitigation Fail (June 12, 2025)

“Resilience and Adaptation”: Mitigation Demotion Ahead? (October 9, 2024)

Adaptation to Heat: Then and Now (May 3, 2024)

On the Climate Train to Destruction? Another View (adaptation, not futile mitigation) August 2, 2023

Adaptation: The Hidden Climate Strategy (May 3, 2021)

Taming Climate Change: Capitalism at Work (market adaptation, not government mitigation) January 5, 2021

Taming Climate Change: Capitalism at Work (market adaptation, not government mitigation) January 5, 2021

better to know...?, climate-debate

Henrik Svensmark fired by his university

by K.I. Dahl-Madsen,  July 21 ,2026 in Clintel.org

 Something unusual and encouraging has happened in Danish climate journalism. Berlingske, one of Denmark’s leading national daily newspapers, has published an excellent and genuinely inquisitive article about the dismissal of physicist Henrik Svensmark from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where he has been working since the late nineties. The headline leaves no room for doubt: “Controversial Danish climate and space researcher has received the pink slip from DTU: It is ‘a death blow’ to my research”.

Here is how the article starts:

He is one of Denmark’s most internationally recognized researchers – and at the same time one of the most controversial. But now space and climate researcher Henrik Svensmark has, in his own words, been “good old-fashioned fired” by his employer, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in Lyngby. He does not rule out that “political considerations” – as he puts it – were involved in the years-long process that led to his final dismissal. At the same time, Henrik Svensmark does not hesitate to call it “a death blow” to a branch of research that he has largely developed single-handedly and that climate researchers around the world, including the UN’s climate panel (IPCC), have had to relate to – often reluctantly. This is mainly because Svensmark’s research points to what he sees as an overlooked natural factor behind a large part of the climate changes Earth has undergone. He finally does not rule out that the dismissal may be linked to the fact that he is perceived as a controversial researcher in wide circles: “There is nothing controversial about the research itself. But it is true that many perceive my research as controversial, even though it shouldn’t be.” DTU has no comments on the actual dismissal of Svensmark and refers to it as a personnel matter. However, the director of DTU Space, Henning Skriver, confirms that Svensmark’s overarching research area, atmospheric physics, will now “be significantly down-prioritized.”

Science journalist Lars Henrik Aagaard deserves credit for the whole article. Rather than dismissing Svensmark as merely ‘controversial’, he asks the essential question: is DTU retiring an ageing employee, or is it terminating an internationally recognized but scientifically inconvenient research program?

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climate-debate

Methane Emissions From Wildfires: Trends and Anomalies

by Zhu. et al., Aug 8, 2026 in JGRAtmospheres 

Abstract

Wildfires emit smoke particles and trace gases including greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, impacting the environment and leading to detrimental impacts on human health and economy. The estimation of spatially and temporally resolved methane emissions from biomass burning (BB) provides critical information in developing measurement-informed methane inventories. The use of satellite active fire products (fire radiative power) is an effective pathway to investigate wildfire emissions around the world. In this study, the Global BB Emissions Product-eXtended algorithm is employed to estimate long-term temporal variation and geographic distribution of methane emissions from BB using satellite observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite. Globally, on average about 19 Megatonnes of BB methane are released to the atmosphere every year, nearly half of it originating from Africa, where BB represents a significant proportion of the total methane emissions. Our findings show that methane emissions from wildfires are substantial and can exceed other source sectors during extreme wildfire events, negating gains from years of emission reductions from anthropogenic sources. The contribution of fires to the methane budget is significant for regions with intense fire activities. Effective wildfire prevention and management could be beneficial to rapidly reduce methane emissions from BB.

better to know...?, climate-debate

New Study Details Massive Recent Sea Ice Expansion And Cooling In The Greenland Sea

by K. Richard, Aug 13, 2026 in NoTricksZone 

Scientists (Yilgan and Jónsdóttir, 2026) report annual mean sea ice extent in the Greenland Sea was 8.4 times greater in 2023 (2,403.6 km²) than in 2019 (287.6 km²).

In the month of January, the sea ice extent was 6.4 times larger in 2024 (20,308 km²) than in 2017 (312 km²).

Hand-in-hand with the recent sea ice expansion, the region has experienced a short-term 1°C cooling from 2016 to 2024.

…

The recent trend for the Greenland Sea appears to be consistent with the trajectory enveloping much of the Arctic since the mid-2000s as reported by England et al., 2025.

“Over the past two decades, Arctic sea ice loss has slowed considerably, with no statistically significant decline in September sea ice area since 2005.”

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Australia, better to know...?, climate-debate

Soon corals may invade all those useless bare patches of sand…

by Jo Nova, Aug 11, 2026 in JoNovaBLog 

The Fact is, after forty years of man made global warming and 1,100 billion tons of CO2 there is better coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef than there was in 1985.

VIDEO in the text, 14min

The ABC hasn’t reported this, so I feel compelled to share the news as a public service. We know if it were “another record low” it would have been the lead story on the 7pm news.

So here we are, yet again — Humans have dumped 1.1 Trillion tons of CO2 into our atmosphere since these comprehensive surveys started and who can tell? That’s over sixty percent of all human CO2 emissions ever, that have been recklessly released since 1985 and there is nothing to show for it in the largest and longest surveys we have of the biggest reef in the world.

“Lucky” the UN didn’t slap an endangerment warning on it isn’t it? Lucky for them.

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Misinformation is a government funded industry

Ten years after the corals hit a record low, the Australian Environment Foundation survey showed that half the country didn’t realize the reef has recovered. Only 3% knew the corals were at a record high, and nearly half the Green voters were as wrong as they possibly could be — they thought coral cover was at a record low.

This mass ignorance is not an accident. The ABC cultivates it. But AIMS, the CSIRO and most of our academics stayed silent when they could have spoken up. All around the world right wing governments are being created that are taking an axe to corrupt programs. Will these self-serving institutions wise up and raise their game in time, or will they sink with the Big Bloated Government Team that they nakedly campaign for?

energy and fields

Indonesia and India Are Jointly Planning a Hydrocarbon-Powered Future

by V. Jayaraj, Aug 13, 2026 in WUWT

A millennium ago, India’s Chola Kingdom commanded the seas of Southeast Asia, forming with the Indonesian archipelago deep mercantile and cultural roots and a shared economic destiny that lasted for hundreds of years. In the 21st century, these two giants are again engaging in complementary roles on the global stage.

India is the world’s most populous nation, and Indonesia the fourth. Together, they represent 1.8 billion people intent on basic survival, industrial growth, and ascending the global economic ladder.

Both countries are moving deeper into manufacturing, and both must serve an upwardly mobile middle class. That means more electricity, more refined fuels, more petrochemicals, more steel, more freight, and more industrial heat. It also means more coal, oil, gas, and nuclear power – energy sources that can deliver reliable, affordable power.

he need for fossil fuels took center stage when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto met in Jakarta to forge deeper economic ties July 7. At the top of their agenda sat a massive expansion of energy trade and an Indian request for more Indonesian coal to feed a ravenous power grid.

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better to know...?, climate-debate

The UN Green Climate Fund is a wasteful fraud

by D. Wojick, Aug 12, 2026

The UN Green Climate Fund (GCF) is neither Green nor about climate. They are mostly just doing normal foreign aid that the donor countries would be better off doing themselves. They have received and spent over $20 billion to date, with more billions coming.

For example, they fund a lot of water supply systems in dry countries. They call it “climate change adaptation,” but it is not adaptation to climate change. It is addressing a condition that has always existed. It is fraud to call this “climate funding.” The same is true for flood protection in flood-prone areas or improving existing farms, which they also do a lot of.

Moreover, much of this so-called adaptation funding actually increases CO2 emissions, so it is not even green.

A fine example is their biggest funding to date, which is part of the huge Jordan Desalination Project. The GCF says that Jordan is among the world’s driest countries, so it certainly needs water. But Jordan has been this dry throughout its history, so the project has nothing to do with climate change.

Then too, desalination uses lots of electricity, and Jordan’s electric power production is around 70% fossil-fueled, mostly with natural gas. The project includes a token solar facility, but it only covers a small fraction of the 24/7 energy required for desalination and pumping the water up to the users, most of whom are around 1,000 meters higher than the plant.

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better to know...?, climate-debate

Cherry-Picking Met Office Drops Declining Wind Speed Chapter From Its Latest Annual Climate Report

by C. Morrison, Aug 12, 2026 in WUWT

Lower UK wind speeds and less powerful storms have always been a bit of a disappointment to activists whipping up a climate crisis frenzy to back the Net Zero fantasy. Going back over 50 years, the data is clear on a declining trend. Of course, despite its lamentable inability to step up to the Net Zero plate, wind is one of the UK’s “essential climate variables”, to quote the Met Office’s own words. Since it first started publishing its annual state of the UK climate report, the climatic performance of wind and storms have had their own dedicated chapter. Alas, no more. The 2025 report, published last month, has abolished the chapter – wind it seems is now little more than a footnote. Should do better, some might comment.

However hard one tries to regard the Met Office as a sound independent science body, its obvious Net Zero promotion constantly gets in the way. “Embarrassingly duped by activists” was Matt Ridley’s recent verdict and it is difficult to disagree. How it can justify abolishing wind is almost beyond comprehension. It doesn’t take a particularly cynical nature to suggest the ever-expanding chapter on temperatures is unlikely to disappear in future editions.

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better to know...?, climate-debate

Les catastrophes naturelles, notamment climatiques, sont moins nombreuses

by Ph. Delsol, 11 août 2026 in Contrepoint.org

Nous avions déjà noté qu’après une baisse de 8 % en 2025, les tarifs de la réassurance avaient chuté de plus de 14 % lors des renouvellements du mois de janvier 2026, notamment du fait de sinistres climatiques moins importants. Le premier semestre 2026 confirme la baisse significative de la sinistralité climatique. Les principaux acteurs mondiaux de la réassurance, particulièrement Munich Re et Swiss Re, enregistrent de ce fait des résultats en forte hausse. Et lors des renouvellements des contrats en juillet 2026, les prix de la réassurance ont encore reculé de 5,5% (cf. Les Echos du 10 août 2026).

Néanmoins la gauche qui a fait son fonds de commerce de l’écologie punitive continue d’alimenter un discours catastrophiste. « Les sinistres se multiplient, les coûts explosent » entend-on sur France Culture le 29 juillet. Sur RMC, ce 6 août, Jean-Philippe Dogneton, directeur général de la Macif, considère que nous vivons une « époque qui s’aggrave sur le plan climatique ». Certes, les incendies sont cette année d’une ampleur inédite. Mais il faut moins en accuser le dérèglement climatique que l’impéritie de l’Etat qui, faute de moyens et de volonté, laisse prospérer la criminalité, à laquelle semble-t-il tant de feux sont dus, et s’est révélé incapable de mieux anticiper et notamment d’équiper les corps de pompiers de suffisamment de Canadair, ou équivalents.

Plutôt que de vouloir changer le climat, peut-être faudrait-il apprendre à s’y adapter et à vivre avec la chaleur comme beaucoup de pays le font depuis longtemps.

climate-debate

Another New Study Links Modern And Past Global Warming To Natural Changes In Cloud Clover, Not CO2

by K. Richard, Aug 12, 2026  in NoTricksZone

Cloud cover changes are a “top-down dynamical driver” of Earth’s climate.

A July 2026 Environmental Research Letters paper authored by Bellocchi et al.attributes ~80% of the rise in Earth’s absorbed solar radiation since 2000 to declining high-reflectivity cloud cover, primarily from circulation-driven contraction of storm-cloud zones.

The study highlights the climate’s “albedo governance,” suggesting a 1% shift in Earth’s albedo corresponds to a 1°C surface temperature change.

With more cloud cover, more solar radiation is reflected and the surface cools. With declining cloud albedo, which has been observed since 1980, less solar radiation is reflected and the surface warms.

Cloud cover changes are driven by natural atmospheric circulation modes and internal variability. This is supported by reconstruction data showing cloud cover decline has for centuries occurred independently from “greenhouse-gas forcing.”

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climate and geology

Enhanced marine burial of terrestrial organic carbon through the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum

by G.N.Inglis et al., June 16, 2026, Nature OPEN ACCESS

Abstract

The Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) occurred ~56 million years ago and was characterized by large-scale carbon release and transient warming. Erosion and subsequent burial of terrestrial organic carbon in marine sediments could have sequestered organic carbon during the PETM—stabilizing global carbon and climate systems—yet direct evidence for this process is lacking. Here we present source-specific biomarker records from five globally distributed shallow marine sites and show that vascular plant and soil organic carbon contributed ~40–95% of total organic carbon in coastal sediments during the PETM. This is higher than modern marine sediments (~12–20% of total organic carbon) and indicates greater terrestrial organic carbon delivery to marine environments during warmer climates. We find that terrestrial organic carbon burial fluxes can increase ~10-to-50-fold during the PETM due to enhanced physical erosion and higher coastal sedimentation rates, implying that marine burial of terrestrial organic carbon sequestered excess carbon released during the PETM. Palaeoclimate model simulations do not account for enhanced delivery of terrestrial organic carbon into the marine realm and are thus missing an important carbon sink. Terrestrial organic carbon burial could act as a negative feedback during other hyperthermals and may aid the long-term (>10,000-year) recovery of the Earth syste

better to know...?

Defining Temperature

by A. May, Aug 9, 2026 in WUWT

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Local temperature

This is the temperature used in climate and meteorological studies. It is the foundation of heat conduction, and hydrodynamics. One assumes local thermodynamic equilibrium over some volume and measures or assumes a local temperature for the volume. This is the logic used in the famous Navier-Stokes equations. This assumed “local equilibrium” is valid over small volumes (for example an “air parcel”) for short time periods. The problem with some climate models is that they assume “local equilibrium” for volumes and time periods that are too large and too long.

Discussion

Temperature is not a primitive mechanical property like mass; it is an emergent statistical property that characterizes the distribution of energy among degrees of freedom (Landau & Lifshitz, 1980). Mass can be measured independently of the rest of the universe or system and does not change as the system around it changes. Temperature follows from the 0th law of thermodynamics, which says:

If system A is in thermal equilibrium with system B,

and system B is in thermal equilibrium with system C,

then A is in thermal equilibrium with C.

The 0th law establishes that “temperature” is a meaningful physical quantity because thermal equilibrium is transitive. It does not define temperature, but it guarantees that temperature is meaningful and measurable. We often hear that temperature is transitive, but this is only true in laboratory settings or at equilibrium. Outside equilibrium, temperature can lose transitivity and different degrees of freedom can produce different temperatures. Transitivity is the basis of equilibrium temperature, but not all temperature measurements.

In summary, the thermodynamic definition of temperature applies only to equilibrium states, but physics uses many other temperature concepts like kinetic, effective, local, and generalized that are essential for describing real systems far from equilibrium. Restricting “temperature” to its equilibrium definition ignores the vast range of physical systems where temperature is well-defined and indispensable.

climate-debate

No, ScienceDaily, Data Show No ‘Sharp Acceleration’ in Warming

by A. Watts, 7 aug, 2026 in WUWT

ScienceDaily’s article, “Scientists detect a sharp acceleration in global warming,” promotes a new Geophysical Research Letters paper claiming that global warming has entered “a faster gear” since about 2015. This is false.  The authors argue that after statistically removing the effects of El Niño, volcanic eruptions, and solar variability from five global surface temperature datasets, they detect a statistically significant acceleration in warming of about 0.35°C per decade over the past 10 years. But historical temperature data show a much different picture.

There is no convincing evidence that Earth’s warming has suddenly accelerated. Instead, this appears to be an exercise in statistical manipulation built upon climate modeling assumptions, presented as though it were an observational discovery.

And there’s advocacy behind the paper too, as evidenced by this quote from the paper’s co-author, climate science blogger Stefan Rahmstorf:

If the warming rate of the past 10 years continues, it would lead to a long-term exceedance of the 1.5°C limit of the Paris Agreement before 2030. How quickly the Earth continues to warm ultimately depends on how rapidly we reduce global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels to zero.

Science and advocacy are not a convincing combination.

The paper does not report the discovery of a new measurement. It takes existing surface temperature records, applies a statistical procedure designed to subtract what the authors consider “noise” from El Niño, volcanic aerosols, and solar variability, and then analyzes the adjusted temperatures for an acceleration signal.

In other words, the claimed acceleration appears only after the authors modify the observations. ScienceDaily presents this as though scientists have discovered a new physical phenomenon. They haven’t. They have created a new statistical product.

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better to know...?, climate-debate

IPCC Admits Apocalyptic Climate Scenarios Are “Implausible” – Meaning Most Media Scare Stories Over Last 15 Years Are Officially Junk

by C. Morrison, May 6, 2026 in WUWT

Activist climate scientists, journalists and Net Zero-obsessed politicians are in shock following an official admission from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that a set of key assumptions promoting a climate ‘crisis’ since 2011 are “implausible”. The notorious set of always-improbable RCP8.5 ‘pathway’ assumptions which fed into computer models trying to measure an unmeasurable climate are no more. Since around 2011, these ‘business as usual’ assumptions have produced outlandish claims of future climate catastrophe which have been lapped up by lap dog journalists and politicians. The influential writer Roger Pielke Jr. called RCP8.5’s demise, “the most significant development in climate research in decades”.

Others might observe that we have not heard the last of RCP8.5. Its gross misuse is likely to be given a starring, central role when the history of the Great Climate and Net Zero Scam comes to be written.

Pielke lays it out clearly what has happened:

What matters today is that the group with official responsibility for developing climate scenarios for the IPCC and broader research community has now admitted that the scenarios that have dominated climate research, assessment and policy during the past two cycles of the IPCC assessment process are implausible. They describe impossible futures.

He goes on to note that tens of thousands of research papers have been and continue to be published using these scenarios. In addition, a similar number of media headlines have “amplified their findings”, while governments and international organisations have built these implausible scenarios into policy and regulation.

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energy and fields

Appalachia Lithium Cache Could Power U.S. for Centuries

by L. Eastman, May 2, 2026 in WUWT

The newly published lithium resource numbers are estimates, and much more work needs to be done to take advantage of our current mineral capacity.

 

Back in February, I reported that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that 5 to 19 million tons of lithium are located in southwestern Arkansas. That is enough lithium to meet the world’s estimated 2030 demand for lithium nine times over.

Now the USGS is saying that Appalachia contains an estimated 2.3 million metric tons of undiscovered, economically recoverable lithium, enough to replace 328 years of U.S. imports at last year’s level.

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climate-debate

New Study: U.S. Heatwaves And Temperature Extremes Have Been Declining Since 1899

by K. Richard,  Apr 27, 20236 in ClimateChangeDispatch

weather temp station
The contiguous United States (CONUS) has the most reliable and comprehensive long-term daily maximum and minimum temperature records, with over 1,200 stations recording these data since the late 19th century. [some emphasis, links added]

It is often reported that extremes in hot and cold temperatures – and especially heatwaves – have been increasing in both frequency and intensity in the last few decades as a consequence of rising greenhouse gas concentrations.

“The results indicate that extremes in heat-related metrics for daily T [Max] in the summer have not increased and in fact often show modest declines since 1899, due mostly to the early heat events during 1925-1954.”  – Christy, 2026

However, reliable data from temperature stations across the CONUS indicate extreme heat, extreme cold, and heatwave duration and intensity have been declining since 1899, mostly due to the much higher extremes recorded during the 1925-1954 period.

Conveniently, most alarmist claims about accelerating maximum and minimum temperature extremes start their analysis in the 1950s or later.

In recent decades, CONUS’s extreme heat (and cold) records fall well within the range of natural variability.

“The metrics for extreme summer heat, e.g., hottest values, number of heatwave days, etc., show modest negative trends since 1899. Extreme cold temperature metrics also indicate a decline in their occurrences, especially since the 1990s. In sum, instances of both hot and cold extreme metrics have declined since 1899.” …

“[T]he heat extremes occurring in the CONUS today are well within the range that natural variability already provides.” …

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better to know...?, climate-debate

Govt Cover Up Inconvenient Winter Excess Deaths Data

by P. Homewood, Apr 24, 2026 in NotaLotofPeopleKnowThat

It has long been known that many more people in the UK die in winter months than at other times of year. It has never been a secret.

Year after year, the ONS, Office for National Statistics, published the data to prove it.

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https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/excesswintermortalityinenglandandwales/2021to2022provisionaland2020to2021final

That is until 2022, when the annual publications abruptly ended, without any official explanation as far as I am aware. It took a Freedom of Information request to winkle out the real story – this is the ONS response in February 2026 to that FOI:

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climate-debate

Earth Energy Imbalance: The Sun versus CO2

by A. May, Apr 25, 2026 in WUWT

This is the text of a talk I gave on a Tom Nelson podcast. To listen to the talk and see Tom’s interview of me go here.

Some believe that CO2 and other greenhouse gas infrared emissions are as effective at increasing ocean heat content (or OHC) as solar radiation. Some even think greenhouse gas (abbreviated “GHG”) radiation is more effective than solar. There are many generally agreed points that dispute this conjecture:

  1. The average photon energy in GHG IR (greenhouse gas infrared) is less than the photon energy in solar radiation because energy goes up as frequency increases (Planck-Einstein relation).
  2. Greenhouse gas-induced infrared radiation is absorbed almost entirely in the ocean’s top micrometers to one millimeter. This is the upper part of the thermal skin layer or “TSL,” and called the electromagnetic skin layer. Incoming solar radiation—particularly blue-green visible wavelengths—penetrate much deeper, typically over 10 meters (and up to 100+ meters in very clear waters), before being absorbed and heating the water column (Wong & Minnett, 2018).
  3. The atmosphere, on average, is cooler than the bulk ocean which is the essence of the “cool skin effect” (Fairall et al., 2026). Heat flow is normally from the ocean to the atmosphere.
  4. The infrared energy from greenhouse gases absorbed in the thermal skin layer cannot be conducted downward into the bulk ocean since the net heat flux is upward. Instead, it adjusts the ocean’s thermal skin layer temperature profile, reducing upward conduction from the bulk ocean (Wong & Minnett, 2018).

Solar radiation warms the ocean directly; greenhouse‑gas IR warms it indirectly by reducing upward heat loss. These mechanisms are not equivalent, and the relative magnitudes are uncertain. These points are discussed in more detail in three earlier blog posts (here, here and here). The posts generated more than 500 interesting comments on my website and on Wattsupwiththat. In this talk I’d like to summarize the comments to illuminate this complex issue.

The Ocean Skin Layer

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energy and fields

University of Utah announces new Institute for Critical and Strategic Minerals

by University of Utah, Apr 14, 2026 in EurekAlert/AAAS

New institute seeks to expand sustainable, domestic critical minerals supply chain through education, workforce development and cutting-edge research

As the U.S. reduces its reliance on foreign critical minerals, Utah is stepping up to rebuild the domestic supply chain—and the University of Utah is leveraging its expertise to drive that effort forward.

On Tuesday, April 14, the U’s Board of Trustees voted in favor of the proposed Institute for Critical and Strategic Minerals (ICSM). Through education, workforce development and cutting-edge research, the institute aims to expand sustainable, domestic sources and production of critical minerals and rare earth elements, the raw materials vital for advanced technologies.

The Utah legislature passed S.B. 254 and S.C.R. 9 to strengthen Utah’s mining industry during the 2026 session.

“With legislative support from state leaders, Utah is taking a decisive step to lead in critical minerals,” said Taylor Randall, president of the University of Utah. “Working with industry and governmental partners, the Institute for Critical and Strategic Minerals will position Utah as the nation’s hub for critical mineral production, processing and research—driving economic growth, strengthening supply chains and advancing discoveries that matter.”

ICSM supports the full lifecycle of critical mineral development—from geological discovery and responsible mining to processing and recycling—while addressing broader challenges, including community impact, market analysis and environmental regulation. ICSM’s leadership reflects its interdisciplinary mission, bringing together experts from the Colleges of Mines and Earth Sciences, Engineering, Law, Business and Social and Behavioral Science.

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better to know...?, climate-debate

Continuing Slump in Global Media Climate Agitprop Bodes Ill for Future Net Zero Support

by C. Morrison,  Apr 13, 2026 in TheDailySceptic

Decades of careful grooming of incurious journalists designed to whip up a non-existent climate emergency have failed to halt a dramatic continuing collapse in mainstream media stories backing the Net Zero fantasy. Last year saw a 14% global slump in climate-related stories compared to 2024, which was already 38% down on peak Greta hysteria in 2021. Perhaps there is only so long that once trusting consumers are prepared to read, let alone pay for identical, narrative-driven drivel that is often so one-sided that it is an insult to the intelligence. Exhibit 1: the BBC’s October 2023 classic – Climate change could make beer taste worse.

The greatest declines over 2025 were found in Africa, the Middle East and North America. Interestingly, the failed Amazon COP30 meeting in November 2025 was followed the month after by coverage falling off a cliff in Latin America (-61%), Oceania (-52%) and the European Union (-41%). A period of private grief seems to have given  the long-suffering public a merciful break from the relentless cacophony of climate catastrophising.

News of the continuing falls in climate change and global warming coverage are contained in the latest annual report from the Media and Climate Change Observatory (MeCCO) at the University of Colorado Boulder. To produce its latest findings, MeCCO tracked the volume of newspaper, wire services, radio and TV climate stories across 59 countries and seven regions. The work is said to have used a consistent methodology since 2004.The graph below shows clearly the spikes in the Greta hysteria around the start of the current decade, and the earlier Gore grift that followed the release of his ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ film.

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climate-debate

Engineers were warning the grid was close to crashing due to excess solar

by Jo Nova, April 10, 2026 in JoNova

Engineers were warning the grid was close to crashing due to excess solar

The mass blackouts in Spain and Portugal wrecked havoc on April 28 last year. At the time everyone accountable was feigning confusion, blaming it on a “rare atmospheric phenomenon” which might have set up mysterious oscillations in the line. They were bandying around terms like “ ‘induced atmospheric vibration’ and talking about extreme temperatures  (you know, like 23 degrees C).   But all along, the head honchos at Red Electrica knew it was due to an excess of solar power and a lack of reliable generation, because the technical staff had told them what was coming:

“Today was really bad, you all saw it”: new audio recordings confirm that Red Eléctrica knew three months before the blackout that the system was failing

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better to know...?, climate-debate

German Expert: Heat Dome Led To Record Temps In Western USA…Warmer In 1934, 1936

by P. Gosselin, Apr 11, 2026 in NoTricksZone 

Is a Warming of 1.1 Degrees C Unusual?

he cause of the high temperatures around March 20, 2026, was a heat dome, the likes of which occur in the Midwestern United States every few decades. Looking at the temperatures in Phoenix, Arizona, one finds:

    • The 105°F maximum temperature from March 19 to 21 is 5°F above previous maximums for this period, but only 1°F above the 104°F that occurred in early April 1989.

    • The highest temperature ever recorded in Phoenix was 122°F during the heat dome of late June 1990.

      For some days, the record highs are over 100 years old (Jan 18; June 11 and 12; July 2, 3, 6, and 23; Aug 6; Sept 8 and 23). The highest May temperatures were recorded in 1910.

    • The warmest year in Phoenix was 1934, the first year of the Dust Bowl era. Some of the temperature records for several states that still stand today originate from this year and the following two.

  • ….

Conclusion

A heat dome is a weather phenomenon that has led to record temperatures in the Western USA multiple times before. Record temperatures in many U.S. states still date back to the period between 1934 and 1936, even though the urban heat island effect has increased significantly since then and amounts to up to 5°C for Phoenix, Arizona, for example. Media reporting on the heat in March 2026 is alarmist because it fails to mention these facts.

climate-debate

Is a Super El Nino Coming?

by Cliff Mass Weather Blog, Apr 9, 2026

…

ome terminology:
A weak El Niño has the Niño 3.4 area .5-1 °C above normal
A moderate El Niño has the Niño 3.4 area 1-1.5 °C above normal
A strong El Niño has the Niño 3.4 area 1.5-2 °C above normal
A super El Niño has the Niño 3.4 area exceeding 2°C above normal
Predicting El Niño is important because it has a significant impact on the meteorology of the U.S. West Coast and offers the only reliable source of forecasting skill for extended period predictions.
…
The bottom line?
We are certainly moving towards El Niño conditions, but I would be careful about assuming that the Super El Niño prediction of the European Center is correct, due to the spring forecast barrier and the larger differences between other modeling system forecasts.

La géologie, une science plus que passionnante … et diverse