Skip to main content

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

dpaClimate & environment

Niveau des nappes phréatiques au 1er juin: A gauche la carte frauduleuse utilisée par les médias et le gouvernement. A droite la situation réelle et la carte du BRGM.

Publisher’s rating: Non, ces deux cartes ne peuvent être comparées, car elles illustrent l'état des nappes souterraines en France à des moments différents. Si l'une d'elles visualise des données collectées jusqu'au 31 mai 2023, l'autre représente la situation qui prévalait au 20 juin dernier.

The posts compared two maps of groundwater levels in France, claiming both showed conditions on 1 June 2023 and that the more alarming map on the left was fraudulent. The review identifies the maps as one from Info-Sécheresse and one from the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM), which monitors groundwater levels in France. Its central finding is that the maps depict different dates, so they cannot be treated as a like-for-like comparison. The review distinguishes the maps by tracing the dates of the data they display. It reports that the BRGM map on the right used data collected through 31 May 2023, while the Info-Sécheresse map on the left was based on data collected through 20 June 2023. The latter date is also given by Sud Ouest, whose logo appeared on the viral image. Thus the claim that the left map represents 1 June is contradicted by the stated date of its underlying data; the different appearances do not establish that either map was falsified. The review also addresses the implication that the government ignored the BRGM or the “real” situation. It says the BRGM is under the supervision of several ministries and is one of the government’s main sources for assessing drought risk. The posts’ comparison therefore conflates maps based on different reporting periods and mischaracterizes the role of the agency whose map they present as the more reliable one.

dpaClimate & environment

Deutschland führt einen Hitzeschutzplan ein, obwohl es nur auf Platz 188 der wärmsten Länder der Welt liegt.

Publisher’s rating: Die durchschnittliche Jahrestemperatur ist für die Frage, ob Hitze gefährlich werden kann, nicht von Bedeutung.

The claim combines two details from a social-media video: Germany appears at number 188 on a list of countries by average temperature, and the video links that ranking to the development of a heat-protection plan. The review reports that a Facebook post from Luxembourg shared the video, with the comment “We will all die” and laughing emojis. It says the list, attributed in the video to Wikipedia, ranked Germany among 217 states and dependent territories. The ranking is about annual averages, not the highest temperatures people may experience. The review explains that Germany’s listed annual average was 9.49°C, while Burkina Faso, the top-ranked country, was listed at 30.01°C. Those averages combine temperatures across the year and therefore do not establish that dangerous heat cannot occur in a country with a lower average. The review says the relevant considerations for heat protection are extreme temperatures and how often they occur. The plan reference concerned an announcement by German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach on June 26, 2023, that a national heat plan was being developed. The review describes proposed support for municipalities, care homes and hospitals in protecting people particularly vulnerable to heat, including through shade, green spaces and drinking-water fountains. It also cites the Robert Koch Institute’s estimate of about 4,500 heat-related excess deaths in Germany in the previous year. Thus, Germany’s position in an annual-average ranking does not answer whether a heat plan is warranted.

Factcheck LabClimate & environment

環保少女通貝利指中國用筷子是浪費資源，敦促中國盡快放棄筷子以保護樹木。

Publisher’s rating: 錯誤

The claim concerns posts attributing to Greta Thunberg a demand that China give up chopsticks to protect trees. Factcheck Lab traced one strand of the claim to a Chinese-language image circulating on Facebook from June 16, 2023, and to a June 16 Weibo post reproducing an English caption. The review also found a similar Twitter post dated June 12, 2023. These posts did not provide a source for the alleged statement. The review says it searched Google and Baidu for articles making similar claims and found no reliable source supporting them. It also examined earlier fact-checking by Reuters, AFP and Snopes, which traced a related version of the allegation to a January 14, 2020 Twitter post by an account named 郑明哲. That post paired a GIF of Thunberg with the words “How dare you!” and a claim that she opposed chopsticks. The review reports that Reuters could find no such statement and that Thunberg’s team confirmed she had never made it. The review further reports that AFP and Snopes traced the GIF to Thunberg’s 2019 address at the UN Climate Action Summit, while the address transcript did not mention chopsticks. It concludes that the claim that she urged people to stop using chopsticks lacked evidence and was false. The evidence described addresses the alleged statement itself; the posts’ added criticism of her environmental views does not establish that she made it.