2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #51

Story of the week

As you can see below, five of the six articles in the Climate Policy and Politics category are about the plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. If you live in the US and would like to speak out against this ill-advised plan, you can do so via the action page provided by AGU, the American Geophysical Union: Speak Out to Save NCAR today!

Stories we promoted this week, by category:

Climate Policy and Politics (6 articles)

• Oil executives once booed Canada`s prime minister. Now they cheer him. Mark Carney, once a U.N. special envoy on climate action and finance, is now winning praise from industry but alienating former environmental allies. World, Amanda Coletta, Dec 13, 2025.
• National Center for Atmospheric Research to Be Dismantled, Trump Administration Says Russell Vought, the White House budget director, called the laboratory a source of “climate alarmism.” NYT > Science, Lisa Friedman, Brad Plumer and Jack Healy, Dec 17, 2025.
• Trump administration announces plans to `break up` the National Center for Atmospheric Research The center is one of the world’s premier institutions for studying the atmosphere. Its work has saved countless lives. Yale Climate Connections, Bob Henson and Jeff Masters, Dec 17, 2025.
• We`re all at risk if Trump dismantles this legendary lab Breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research would be a "genuinely shocking self-inflicted wound." Grist, Matt Simon, Dec 18, 2025.
• The U.S. Is on the Verge of Meteorological Malpractice The Trump administration says it will dismantle a premier climate center, while somehow keeping weather forecasting intact. The Atlantic, Michelle Nijhuis, Dec 18, 2025.
• Threatening NCAR, Trump administration seeks to extinguish a beacon of climate science The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Benjamin Santer, Dec 19, 2025.

Climate Change Impacts (5 articles)

• Guest post: How the Greenland ice sheet fared in 2025 Greenland is closing in on three decades of continuous annual ice loss, with 1995-96 being the last year in which the giant ice sheet grew in size. Carbon Brief, Dr Martin Stendel and Prof Ruth Mottram, Dec 15, 2025.
• TCB quick hit: How climate change broke the Pacific Northwest`s plumbing It’s not just wetter storms—it’s also the important shift from snow to rain The Climate Brink, Andrew Dessler, Dec 15, 2025.
• Record-breaking climate change: 2025 edition Dr Gilbz on Youtube, Ella Gilbert, Dec 15, 2025.
• Arctic endured year of record heat as climate scientists warn of `winter being redefined` Region known as ‘world’s refrigerator’ is heating up as much as four times as quickly as global average, Noaa experts say The Guardian, Oliver Milman, Dec 16, 2025.
• Canada's North is warming from the ground up, and our infrastructure isn't ready The Conversation, Mohammadamin Ahmadfard, Ibrahim Ghalayini, Seth Dworkin, Dec 17, 2025.

Miscellaneous (4 articles)

• 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50 A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 7, 2025 thru Sat, December 13, 2025. Skeptical Science, Bärbel Winkler & Doug Bostrom, Dec 14, 2025.
• Climate Change Is Threatening Christmas Classics From ramping up hot chocolate prices to threatening reindeer populations, global warming is taking a toll on the holiday season. Inside Climate News, Kiley Price, Dec 16, 2025.
• DE Foolproof: How to Build Resistance to Misinformation A discussion between Matthew Facciani and Sander van der Linden about misinformation "Misguided" on Youtube, Matthew Facciani, Dec 18, 2025.
• The Holiday Misinformation Survival Guide Advice that also maps to climate: when to set the record straight, and when to just pass the rolls. MedPageToday.com - medical news for physicians, editorial@medpagetoday.com (Editor), Dec 20, 2025.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (4 articles)

• One Big, Shining Beacon for Climate Hope “Here Comes the Sun” author and activist Bill McKibben on his newfound optimism, harnessing energy from heaven vs. energy from hell and how there are no (good) songs written about fracking. Inside Climate News, Interview by Steve Curwood, Dec 15, 2025.
• `Massive disruption`: UK`s worst-case climate crisis scenarios revealed by scientists Scientists say government must prepare for unlikely but ‘plausible’ 4C rise in temperature and a 2-metre rise in sea levels The Guardian, Damian Carrington, Dec 18, 2025.
• How Europe's new carbon tax on imported goods will change global trade-and our shopping habits The Conversation, Simona Sagone, Dec 19, 2025.
• When the energy expert is your neighbor A bilingual team in Minneapolis is making climate action simple. Yale Climate Connections, YCC Team, Dec 19, 2025.

Climate Science and Research (3 articles)

• Analysis: What are the causes of recent record-high global temperatures? The past three years have been exceptionally warm globally. Carbon Brief, Zeke Hausfather, Dec 10, 2025.
• Emergence vs Detection & Attribution Skeptical Science, Ken Rice, Dec. 15, 2025.
• Skeptical Science New Research for Week #51 2025 As always we highlight intriguing open access research reports, this week including how air over the Arctic is traveling through the region more rapidly and lessons from Canada about climate solutions delay and how better to prevent it. Skeptical Science, Doug Bostrom & Marc Kodack , Dec 18, 2025.

Climate Law and Justice (2 articles)

• Greenwashing on Trial: The Paris Tribunal Finds TotalEnergies Misled Consumers with Its Carbon Neutrality Claims Climate Law Blog, Elena Marro, Dec 16, 2025.
• Here`s the global playbook being used to crack down on climate protest A new study finds that repression of environmental protest is rising worldwide and Indigenous land defenders face the greatest risk. Grist, Miacel Spotted Elk, Dec 18, 2025.

Public Misunderstandings about Climate Solutions (2 articles)

• Fact brief - Are toxic heavy metals from solar panels posing a threat to human health? No - Toxic heavy metals in solar panels are locked in stable compounds and sealed behind tough glass, preventing escape into air, water, or soil at harmful levels. Skeptical Science, Sue Bin Park, Dec 16, 2025.
• Fossil fuel industry's 'climate false solutions' reinforce its power, aggravate environmental injustice, study suggests Phys.org, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Dec 17, 2025.

Climate Education and Communication (1 article) 

• Free online courses teach health professionals about climate change and health The program helps them talk about the problem – and how it affects health – with patients. Yale Climate Connections, YCC Team, Dec 15, 2025.

International Climate Conferences and Agreements (1 article)

• `A shift no country can ignore`: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable The Guardian, Fiona Harvey, Dec 13, 2025.

Posted by BaerbelW on Sunday, 21 December, 2025

The Skeptical Science website by Skeptical Science is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.