DeBriefed 17 April 2026: Fossil-fuel power slumps | ‘Super’ El Niño warning | Afghanistan’s climate struggle - Carbon Brief Oil prices rebounded after US-Iran peace talks failed and Global use of fossil fuels for power slumped during the Strait of Hormuz blockage.

www.carbonbrief.org/debriefed-17...

New article!

Big dilemmas, little time: intergenerational climate justice and public support for deep decarbonisation by Manuele Citi & Zhen Jie Im.

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2026.2633837

WORLD VIEW 15 April 2026 Why more fossil fuels won’t fix the Iran energy crisis Climate-friendly technologies are the best way to stymie rising inflation — and will get better and cheaper over time. By Gernot Wagner Spend any time discussing solar and wind power as a solution to climate change, and you are sure to encounter someone who asks about reliability. The Sun does not shine at night and the wind does not always blow, so fossil fuels will be needed forever as a back-up, they argue. But how reliable are fossil fuels? In the past two months, conflict in Iran has created an energy crisis — the latest in a series. Oil prices spiked within days of the start of US, Israeli and Iranian bombing in the Gulf region on 28 February. Fuel prices remain high and volatile, and the ripple effects are set to increase inflation in the coming months. Isabel Schnabel, a member of the European Central Bank’s executive board, memorably named this effect fossilflation in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There was, and is, one clear winner: renewables and other low-carbon technologies, from batteries to electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps. That is what distinguishes this Middle East oil and gas crisis from the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970s. Then, renewables were mostly unavailable, and industrial decarbonization was on few people’s radars. Solar power cost at least 500 times more than it does today, and EVs, heat pumps and induction stoves were a pipe dream. Ditching fossil fuels is not all smooth sailing. In 2022, European natural-gas prices spiked to ten times their levels before the Ukraine invasion, resulting in long waiting times for solar panels and heat pumps. Prices for these rose as demand outpaced supply, an effect Schnabel dubbed greenflation. She used a third term, climateflation, to describe the economic effects of climate-induced weather extremes, such as food-price rises from crop failures (M. Kotz et al. Commun. Earth Environ. 5; 2024).

The Iran War has once again led to a bout of what @isabelschnabel.bsky.social memorably dubbed 'fossilflation'.

It's en vouge to talk about the solution as some massively complex undertaking. It really isn't. Get off fossil fuels faster.

My latest just out @nature.com

rdcu.be/fdxig

www.jmu.edu/news/2026/04...

For every $100 in data centres, $80 leaves Australia almost immediately Data centres are the infrastructure boom of the decade. But how much of the investment actually stays in the country?

For every $100 invested in data centres, $80 leaves Australia almost immediately www.smh.com.au/technology/f...

Corrections outperform expertise‐based interventions for countering misinformation from alternative medicine sources Given that health-based misinformation can cause serious harm, designing effective interventions is paramount. Recently, misinformation interventions that target a source's relevant expertise have sh....

New study finds that correcting false health claims directly is as effective or more effective than trying to discredit the source, even if they lack expertise.
iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

On Monday, I join @sdonziger.bsky.social @ronkuby.bsky.social @climatenate.bsky.social and more to discuss the way this Administration is targeting citizens. Details and info to RSVP are here: ethical.nyc/events/from-...

Happy publication day to the legend, the great geobiologist and paleontologist Andy Knoll!

His new book is like a jovial & witty fireside chat, and by the end of it, you'll come to appreciate how life and Earth have been intertwined for four billion years.

Opinion | Now Is the Perfect Time to Buy an Electric Vehicle

Great stuff from @mikegrunwald.bsky.social, as always. "You can save real money while doing a small part to help stabilize the climate, defund Big Oil and even reduce the risk of future conflicts in fossil-fueled nations like Iran and Venezuela." www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/o...

Super El Niño 2026 I 2.7–3°C Warming I Will 2027 Be the Warmest Year | IPCC 7th Assessment Report YouTube video by Science Talk

Happy Sunday
Just in case you have missed my conversation with @hausfath.bsky.social on IPCC, Paris Agreement, El Nino, and more.

youtu.be/ERyJ1iShNkM?...

#ScienceTalk #climate #ClimateScience #SuperElNino #IPCC #MuhammadIttefaq #ZekeHausfather

10:08 "the US has always had challenges converting rhetoric into reality, simply by the fact that our politics is very sclerotic"

#ScienceTalk #MuhammadIttefaq #ZekeHausfather

47:58 "a lot of plants and animals live in very narrow ecological niches, that are defined in large part by temperature and precipitation. And as the world warms, there is going to be potentially catastrophic impacts in a lot of these ecosystems."

#ScienceTalk #climate #ClimateScience #SuperElNino #IPCC

Dr. #MuhammadIttefaq interviews Dr. #ZekeHausfather

8:52 "It's impossible to achieve those targets without phasing out or at least very substantially phasing down fossil fuels."

#ClimateDisruption #globalWarming #ExtremeWeather #polycrisis

Great conversation.
Zeke is an excellent communicator; I wish more Americans knew his name.

Super El Niño 2026 I 2.7–3°C Warming I Will 2027 Be the Warmest Year | IPCC 7th Assessment Report YouTube video by Science Talk

Super grateful to @hausfath.bsky.social for this amazing and timely conversation on the state of climate in 2026. We spent a great deal of time on IPCC report and other relevant topics. @scitalkofficial.bsky.social

youtu.be/ERyJ1iShNkM

Super El Niño 2026 I 2.7–3°C Warming I Will 2027 Be the Warmest Year | IPCC 7th Assessment Report YouTube video by Science Talk

Super grateful to @hausfath.bsky.social for this amazing and timely conversation on the state of climate in 2026. We spent a great deal of time on IPCC report and other relevant topics. @scitalkofficial.bsky.social

youtu.be/ERyJ1iShNkM

Efficient electrification in a warming climate could contribute to keeping energy burdens in check - Communications Sustainability Switching to heat pumps sharply cuts costs for homes using resistive, propane or oil heat and improves cooling efficiency in warm regions, but raises winter burdens in colder zones, according to a stu...

⚡💸 Electrification = lower bills? A new paper shows it’s not that simple: modeling 10,000 buildings across 28 US cities 🏙️finds heat pumps can raise energy burdens in cold climates, even as they lower them for homes using resistance heat. 🧪@natureportfolio.nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

New Utah law seeks to shield Big Oil from accountability | Center for Climate Integrity As Big Oil lobbies Congress for federal immunity, Utah becomes the first state to shield polluters from climate accountability. Similar bills are pending in other states.

It's now nearly impossible to hold polluters accountable in Utah after Governor Spencer Cox signed new legislation that gives sweeping legal immunity to corporations that cause climate harms.

Utahns deserve better. They deserve accountability.

🚨New co-authored paper out🚨
This research explores how synthetic talent challenges human agency, creativity, and meaningful work—while raising urgent questions about regulation and the future of storytelling.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

New co-authored paper
“AI's Not the Enemy, It's the Key”: Tilly Norwood and the Debate Over Personality Rights in the Entertainment Industry
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

The 2025 IQAir World Air Quality Report provides a comprehensive overview of air quality across the globe for the calendar year 2025.

I just resigned from NASA. It breaks my heart to leave, but I’ve become convinced the best path forward is to do the best science I can, and that can’t be here anymore. I’m still in love with the promise of those four magic letters. Ad astra per aspera, and remember: Earth is the only good planet.

Are We Eating the Earth I Can Veganism Save the Planet I Agriculture and Climate Change I Farming YouTube video by Science Talk

Can veganism save the planet? Food system and climate change.
youtu.be/_p2W7uAYM2A

Are We Eating the Earth I Can Veganism Save the Planet I Agriculture and Climate Change I Farming YouTube video by Science Talk

Can veganism save the planet? Food system and climate change.
youtu.be/_p2W7uAYM2A

Are We Eating the Earth I Can Veganism Save the Planet I Agriculture and Climate Change I Farming YouTube video by Science Talk

Can veganism save the planet? Food system and climate change. @mikegrunwald.bsky.social youtu.be/_p2W7uAYM2A

Trump Posts False Claims about Climate Change - Silencing Science Tracker On January 23, 2026, President Trump posted false claims about climate change on social media, asking that “Environmental Insurrectionists please explain — WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???”

You'll be relieved to know that, according to the President, global warming is no longer happening. 🙄🙄silencingscience.org/actions/trump-posts-fals...

Can we feed the world in ways that don’t harm nature or disrupt economic stability?

This is the question Deborah Lehr is tackling on the latest episode of Nature’s Ledger. She welcomes @mikegrunwald.bsky.social for a conversation on the global food system's environmental impact.

How Is Climate Change Impacting Water Cycle I Iran's Water Crisis Explained with Dr. Peter Gleick YouTube video by Science Talk

We had pleasure hosting @petergleick.bsky.social on our podcast talking about water crisis in Iran. Here is our conversation.
youtu.be/EkcIhnGhPik?...

TWO COUNTRIES HAVE ERASED THE DISCUSSION ON ACTUAL ISSUES

No Gaza discussion
No inflation conversation
No ICE talks
No climate crisis
No AI and Data Centre debate
No Epstein files

Well done 👏 making non-issue an issue. Iran 🇮🇷 took all the attention away from many real world problems.