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The Harvard Climate Brief brings expertise on climate change and sustainability to the wider world. Authors’ views are their own. Republish.

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pump jack pumping oil

An audit from orbit: Satellites help countries count the methane they miss

Satellite data suggest some countries miscount their methane emissions. Better figures could help governments track promised cuts.
Mon, Nov 2, 2026
Misty polluted view of New York City and New Jersey from airplane

One community, many polluters: States rethink how to confront the combined toll

How states are changing environmental permitting to account for cumulative impacts – the combined burden of multiple pollution sources and other health stressors on a community.
Law & Policy
Thu, Oct 29, 2026
Boreal forest in northern Canada after a devestating fire with mountains in background and brilliant pink, purple flowers below the blackened woods.

Could a changing forest slow northern megafires?

Boreal fires feed further warming. Native aspen and birch could slow the burning, but encouraging change would come with ecological costs.
Climate Explained
Fri, Oct 16, 2026
London, the Houses of Parliament painting

‘A meteorologist of the soul’: Monet’s changing atmosphere

The French impressionist painted smoke, fog, ice, and sunlight with extraordinary attention, recording how industry, weather, memory, and emotion shaped what he saw.
Thu, Oct 8, 2026
A father and son sort a fishing net in Nigeria (David Trilling)

A super El Niño is starting. Here’s what scientists know – and don’t

This year, the ancient Pacific cycle is unfolding on a hotter planet, adding to record warmth, shifting rainfall, and creating risks scientists can only partly predict.
Climate Explained
Mon, Sep 21, 2026
Close-up hands of a cocoa farmer use pruning shears to cut the cocoa pods or fruit ripe yellow cacao from the cacao tree. Harvest the agricultural cocoa business produces.

Chocolate’s new climate threat: Too much rain

Drought is not the only climate challenge facing cocoa farmers. Better warnings before extreme rains could help them protect their harvests.
Climate Adaptation
Mon, Sep 14, 2026
boy on a boat in Ivory Coast

Seawalls and other hard choices on the shore

A cost-benefit analysis suggests that seawalls can buy Côte d’Ivoire time – but not a lasting answer.
Climate Adaptation
Tue, Aug 18, 2026
hot sun in the city

When heat hits home: Climate change’s hidden and deadly toll

Buildings, housing conditions, and access to cooling shape the health risks of extreme heat. A study from Boston shows how the cost of buying and running air conditioning can leave high-risk residents without protection.
Health
Mon, Aug 10, 2026

All perspectives expressed in the Harvard Climate Brief are those of the authors and not of Harvard University or the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability. Any errors are the authors’ own. The Harvard Climate Brief is edited by an interdisciplinary team of Harvard faculty.