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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Climate & environment fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about climate & environment. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

1,358 published reviews in this topic

Logically FactsClimate & environment

Antarctic glaciers melt only due to volcanic activity

Publisher’s rating: False

Research from related reporting—not the original fact-check review—provides evidence against the claim that Antarctic glaciers melt only because of volcanic activity. It states that “Antarctic ice loss is driven by warm ocean water melting the outlet glaciers.” That identifies ocean heat, rather than volcanic activity, as a driver of melting in West Antarctica, contradicting the claim’s assertion that volcanism is the sole cause. The same excerpt distinguishes this from Greenland, where “ice sheet loss is mainly driven by melt from the top.” It does not provide measurements or describe a specific study’s methods, so it supports the narrower point that the supplied reporting names a non-volcanic driver of Antarctic outlet-glacier melt; it does not quantify how much melting that driver causes or address every Antarctic glacier.

日本ファクトチェックセンターClimate & environment

（福島第一原発）魚の大量死は処理水の影響

Publisher’s rating: 誤り

The review says that large fish strandings had occurred in Hokkaido before treated-water releases began. A fisheries researcher considered a large sardine school, together with rough weather, a sudden drop in water temperature, or predators, a possible explanation for the Hakodate event.

dpaClimate & environment

Des chutes de neige sans précédent à Moscou et en Sibérie. Pendant ce temps là, les "élites nous bourrent le mou avec le réchauffement climatique"

Publisher’s rating: Elles sont un signe de plus du réchauffement planétaire en cours, a expliqué un climatologue à la Deutsche-Presse Agentur (dpa). Les projections du Groupe d'experts intergouvernemental sur l'évolution du climat (GIEC) confirment également que la Russie et l'Est asiatique, notamment, devraient connaître une augmentation des chutes et tempêtes de neige.

The claim uses heavy snowfall in Moscow and Siberia to suggest that talk of global warming is deceptive. The review examines substantial snowfall across several Russian regions in early December and reports that Moscow recorded a daily precipitation record in 145 years of observation. It says the snowfall does not contradict climate science; the review’s assessment is that such events can be consistent with, and in some regions a consequence of, a warming climate. The excerpt does not specifically identify Siberia as the location of the reported record. [S1: “Début décembre, d'importantes chutes de neige se sont abattues sur plusieurs régions de Russie. À Moscou, un record journalier de précipitations a même été enregistré en 145 ans d'observation, selon la presse locale.”; “Pourtant, ces chutes de neige - aussi spectaculaires soient-elles - ne sont pas incompatibles avec l'état de la science sur le climat.”] To explain Moscow’s snowfall, the review quotes Sébastien Doutreloup, a climatology researcher at the University of Liège. He identifies a weather pattern bringing cold and snow from the pole as one factor. He also explains that warmer air can hold more moisture, increasing precipitation; where temperatures remain below freezing, that precipitation can fall as heavier snow. The review says the Moscow record was set on 3 December and was not surprising in that context. [S1: “Il se trouve que la situation météo actuelle est favorable à des arrivées de neige et de froid du pôle. On est en hiver (météorologique, NDLR), le front polaire descend plus au sud. C'est le premier élément d'explication”] The review also distinguishes near-term snowfall from longer-term projections: it says projections point to increases in snowfall and snowstorms in Russia and East Asia, while Doutreloup expects snow episodes to become less significant later in the century as temperatures rise above freezing and precipitation increasingly falls as rain. Thus, the snowfall cited by the claim is not, by itself, evidence against warming; the review presents it as compatible with regional precipitation changes and explains the temperature conditions that determine whether precipitation falls as snow. [S1: “Les projections du GIEC suggèrent d'ailleurs que la Russie et l'Est asiatique devraient connaître une augmentation des chutes de neige et de tempête de neige.”; “Dans un deuxième temps (vers la fin du siècle), le réchauffement climatique va cependant rendre ces épisodes neigeux moins importants, car il fera tellement chaud que l'air passera au-dessus de la barre des 0°C.”]

dpaClimate & environment

Dieses Bild zeigt die Enteisung von Windrädern mit Kerosin in Deutschland.

Publisher’s rating: Das Bild stammt nicht aus Deutschland. Es wurde im Jahr 2015 in Schweden aufgenommen. Der Helikopter setzt laut dem Artikel, aus dem es stammt, auch keine «Chemie» ein, sondern heißes Wasser. In Deutschland werden Windräder normalerweise nicht enteist.

The claim attached to the image was that German wind turbines required helicopters to spray chemicals so they could operate in winter. The review traces the image to a 2015 article in the Swedish magazine Ny Teknik, which discussed ways of de-icing wind turbines. It says the photograph was taken at the Uljabuouda wind farm in northern Sweden, rather than showing an event in Germany. The investigation describes finding the article through a reverse image search, which linked the image to that earlier report.

dpaClimate & environment

Deutsche Delegierte schlafen beim Klimagipfel in Dubai 2023., wie das Foto zeigt.

Publisher’s rating: Das Foto mit schlafenden deutschen Klima-Politikerinnen ist - anders als behauptet - nicht 2023 bei der Klimakonferenz in Dubai entstanden.

The post presented a photo of German delegates apparently asleep as evidence that they were at the 2023 climate summit in Dubai. The review identifies the people visible by the “Germany” sign as Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, climate secretary Jennifer Morgan and another delegate. It says the image was not taken at COP28 in Dubai, but at the preceding climate conference, COP27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. [S1: “Das als «Foto des Tages» gekennzeichnete Bild zeigt rechts hinter dem Schild «Germany» Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock” and “Tatsächlich ist das Foto nicht bei der Klimakonferenz 2023 in Dubai (COP28) entstanden, sondern bei der vorherigen Klimakonferenz 2022 im ägyptischen Scharm el Scheich (COP27).”] The review traces the image to the final overnight plenary of COP27. It reports that the photo was taken on November 20, 2022, shortly before that session ended, and notes that the Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche had published it on November 22, 2022. The review also cites a German Press Agency report describing tired delegates during the night’s proceedings. These details place the photo at the 2022 Egyptian conference, rather than the event named in the post. [S1: “Aufgenommen wurde das Foto am 20. November 2022 kurz vor dem Ende einer Plenarsitzung, die während der gesamten Nacht andauerte.” and “Es wurde beispielsweise am 22. November 2022 in der schweizerischen Zeitschrift «Die Weltwoche»”] The review gives a further chronological check: Baerbock had not travelled to Dubai by December 6, 2023, while the Facebook post was dated December 4. It says she planned to take over the negotiating leadership only in the final phase. Together, the image’s earlier publication and the account of where and when it was captured contradict the post’s attribution of the photo to the 2023 Dubai summit. [S1: “Das Foto mit Baerbock kann übrigens schon deswegen nicht die deutsche Delegation bei der Klimakonferenz in Dubai zeigen, weil Baerbock bis zum 6. Dezember 2023 überhaupt noch nicht nach Dubai gereist war.” and “Der Facebook-Post mit der Falschbehauptung stammt vom 4. Dezember.”]

Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpaClimate & environment

Greenpeace hat vor dem Kanzleramt ein Ölfass auslaufen lassen.

Publisher’s rating: Bei der Flüssigkeit, die aus dem Fass lief, handelte es sich um Melasse aus Zuckerrohr. Mit dem klebrigen Protest wollten die Umweltschützer von Greenpeace auf den klimaschädlichen Ölverbrauch aufmerksam machen.

The claim concerns a Greenpeace protest outside the Chancellery in Berlin, where a video showed a dark liquid flowing from a barrel and prompted users to suggest that activists had spilled oil. The review identifies the action as a protest held on November 27, prompted by an automobile summit. Greenpeace said it was protesting what it called “car- and oil-focused transport policy” and called for a move away from fossil fuels. The barrel was large, red, and marked with the logos of Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. The liquid looked like oil, but the review reports that it was sugarcane molasses, used to symbolize oil. It cites Greenpeace’s account and reports that the Berlin fire brigade told dpa the substance at the scene was not oil. A Berlin police spokesperson likewise said that, according to the information then available, the substance was sugarcane. The evidence therefore addresses the specific video and location in the claim: the barrel did release a liquid, but the reported substance was not oil. The review also describes how the material was handled. The fire brigade said it could be contained with a binding agent, while police confirmed to t-online that the thick liquid could be washed away with water. These details support the review’s identification of the spill as molasses rather than petroleum; they do not indicate that no liquid escaped.