Responding to EPA’s Claim that U.S. Motor Vehicle Emissions Have a “De Minimis” Impact on Climate-Related Harms
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On February 12, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule rescinding the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding and eliminating all federal greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for U.S. motor vehicles and engines. To justify this action, EPA has adopted an interpretation of the Clean Air Act that has no judicial […]
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DeBriefed 20 February 2026: EU’s ‘3C’ warning | Endangerment repeal’s impact on US emissions | ‘Tree invasion’ fuelled South America’s fires
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week Preparing for 3C NEW ALERT: The EU’s climate advisory board urged countries to prepare for 3C of global warming, reported the Guardian. The outlet quoted Maarten van Aalst, a member of the advisory board, saying that adapting […]
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Q&A: How Trump is threatening climate science in Earth’s polar regions
Since Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, his administration in the US has laid off thousands of scientists and frozen research grants worth billions of dollars. The cutbacks have had far-reaching consequences for all areas of scientific research, extending all the way to Earth’s fragile polar regions, researchers say. Speaking to Carbon […]
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Limiting warming to 2C is ‘crucial’ to protect pristine Antarctic Peninsula
Keeping global warming to less than 2C above pre-industrial temperatures is “crucial” for limiting damage to the Antarctic Peninsula’s unique ecosystems, according to a new study. The paper, published in Frontiers in Environmental Science, reviews the latest literature on the impacts of warming on Antarctica’s most biodiverse region. The Antarctic Peninsula is home to many […]
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Climate Resilience Strategies for Industrial Facilities
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Image by marcinjozwiak from Pixabay Industrial facilities now operate in a climate that refuses to behave predictably. Heatwaves linger longer, storms arrive harder, and cold snaps strike with little warning. For warehouses and factories, these disruptions are recurring stress tests that expose weak infrastructure, fragile workflows, and outdated assumptions about normal conditions. Downtime, equipment damage, […]
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Study: AI chatbots provide less-accurate information to vulnerable users
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Large language models (LLMs) have been championed as tools that could democratize access to information worldwide, offering knowledge in a user-friendly interface regardless of a person’s background or location. However, new research from MIT’s Center for Constructive Communication (CCC) suggests these artificial intelligence systems may actually perform worse for the very users who could most […]
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Exposing biases, moods, personalities, and abstract concepts hidden in large language models
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By now, ChatGPT, Claude, and other large language models have accumulated so much human knowledge that they’re far from simple answer-generators; they can also express abstract concepts, such as certain tones, personalities, biases, and moods. However, it’s not obvious exactly how these models represent abstract concepts to begin with from the knowledge they contain. Now […]
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China Briefing 19 February 2026: CO2 emissions ‘flat or falling’ | First tariff lifted | Ma Jun on carbon data
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s China Briefing. China Briefing handpicks and explains the most important climate and energy stories from China over the past fortnight. Subscribe for free here. Key developments Carbon emissions on the decline ‘FLAT OR FALLING’: China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have been either “flat or falling” for almost two years, reported Agence France-Presse […]
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Ma Jun: ‘No business interest’ in Chinese coal power due to cheaper renewables
Open and transparent data can accelerate the decarbonisation of China’s industries and boost public interest in climate change, says Ma Jun. Ma – one of China’s most recognisable environmental activists – says that early experiments with publishing real-time air quality data have paved the way for greater openness from the Chinese government towards publishing greenhouse […]
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Data Center Litigation – An Emerging Frontier for Climate Litigation?
The explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and digital services has brought renewed attention to the physical infrastructure underpinning the digital economy: data centers. While critical to the operations of major tech companies, data centers are now among the most energy-intensive forms of industrial infrastructure. Although it is possible to run data centers […]
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Parking-aware navigation system could prevent frustration and emissions
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It happens every day — a motorist heading across town checks a navigation app to see how long the trip will take, but they find no parking spots available when they reach their destination. By the time they finally park and walk to their destination, they’re significantly later than they expected to be. Most popular […]
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The ECtHR’s Climate Jurisprudence in 2025: Grappling with Fossil Fuels, Rejecting Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, and Still no Victim Status
A Year of Climate Rulings Handing down no less than five climate rulings in 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (“the ECtHR”) has been busy deciding the backlog of cases it had adjourned in 2023, while it dealt with three other climate cases pending before the Grand Chamber at that time (Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz […]
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Personalization features can make LLMs more agreeable
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Many of the latest large language models (LLMs) are designed to remember details from past conversations or store user profiles, enabling these models to personalize responses. But researchers from MIT and Penn State University found that, over long conversations, such personalization features often increase the likelihood an LLM will become overly agreeable or begin mirroring […]
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Blending Hydrogen Into Gas Pipelines Would Enrich Utilities And Harm Californians
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The post Blending Hydrogen Into Gas Pipelines Would Enrich Utilities And Harm Californians appeared first on Energy Innovation.
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Chris Stark: The economics of clean energy ‘just get better and better’
The economics of clean energy “just get better and better”, leaving opponents of the transition looking like “King Canute”, says Chris Stark. Stark is head of the UK government’s “mission” to deliver clean power by 2030, having previously been chief executive of the advisory Climate Change Committee (CCC). In a wide-ranging interview with Carbon Brief, […]
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The height of practicality: Measuring PM in the clouds above Delhi
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The drone incorporating the low-cost PM sensor, AE-51 micro-aethalometer, and meteorological sensors (image credit: Ajit Ahlawat, TU Delft / TROPOS). Cost-effective sensors on drones may be an effective tool for better investigating the lowest layers of the atmosphere. If ground-based air quality measurements were supplemented by such drone-based readings, air quality models and mitigation approaches […]
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UK amongst global leaders on circular economy, but residual waste is here to stay
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The UK will still be generating over 17 million tonnes of unrecyclable waste by 2042, even under best-case recycling scenarios, says the UK government (image credit: Richard M Lee / Shutterstock.com) Britain ranks among the better performers on waste management compared with other advanced economies, but — like its peers — will still face substantial […]
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Offshore wind supply chain support programme opens
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The first Fit For Offshore Renewables (F4OR) offshore wind supply chain support programme directed at businesses across Scotland opened for applications on 12 February. F4OR Scotland, delivered by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, will be supported with industry funding from Crown Estate Scotland and the Energy Transition Zone (ETZ) Ltd. Up to 10 companies […]