Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

California’s 840-mile coastline is home to 125 marine protected areas and supports a $51 billion coastal economy. These protected areas are designed to conserve marine wildlife and ecosystems along the state’s coast.

In 2023, California opened a new petition process to gather public input on potential changes to its marine protected areas. California tribal nations played a significant role in that process, with five of the 20 petitions led or co-led by tribes. Several of these petitions seek greater recognition of tribal rights, including exemptions that would allow tribes to continue cultural and subsistence practices.

As the California Fish and Game Commission prepares to vote on the petitions, the debate is about more than marine conservation. It also raises questions about tribal sovereignty, cultural practices and who has a role in shaping the future of California’s coastal ecosystems.

One of the proposed tribal marine protected areas is located in Santa Barbara. According to the YPCCC’s 2026 Climate Opinion Maps, 66% of people in the Santa Barbara metropolitan area believe citizens should do more to address global warming. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02102026/california-marine-protected-areas-proposed-tribal-changes/ , https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us/

Europe’s summer was marked by record-breaking heat, drought and cascading impacts across the continent. Four of Western Europe’s 10 most severe heatwaves since 1950 occurred this summer. More than 37% of Europe experienced all-time daily, monthly, or seasonal temperature records, while heat stress affected a record 52% of the continent.

But the summer’s extreme heat was not limited to temperatures. Major river systems across Europe experienced record-low flows, disrupting water supplies, agriculture, energy systems and transportation. By the end of August, nearly half of Europe was also experiencing drought.

These conditions were not occurring in isolation. While natural climate variability, including El Niño, can influence weather patterns from year to year, the scale and intensity of this summer’s extremes were amplified by human-caused climate change and global warming.

The U.S. experienced its own symptoms of an increasingly warmer climate this summer. According to the YPCCC’s 2026 Climate Opinion Maps, more than 64% of Americans believe global warming is affecting the weather. Europe’s record-breaking summer provides another example of how a changing climate is affecting weather patterns and communities around the world. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02102026/europe-record-heat-climate-shocks/ , https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us/

As scientists work to better understand global warming, they are taking a closer look at the role oceans and forests play in absorbing and storing carbon. A small research vessel set out from Hobart, Australia, on a months-long expedition to collect data on carbon emissions around Antarctica.

Built by an American maritime company, the vessel is part of a growing fleet of research ships designed to travel long distances without fuel. Equipped with solar panels and a sail, it will travel nearly 14,000 miles around Antarctica, collecting data on carbon emissions and how carbon is stored in the region. Because it runs on wind and solar power, the vessel produces no fuel emissions.

This research data can help scientists better understand the systems that shape our changing climate. And public understanding of climate change continues to grow. According to the YPCCC's Climate Change in the American Mind data, 69% of Americans believe global warming is happening. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/26/saildrone-unmanned-hurricane-proof-ship-antarctica-climate-hobart , https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us/

Germany’s Climate Computing Center is preparing to store 5 petabytes of U.S. climate data. One petabyte is roughly equivalent to 200 million high-resolution images. The new storage will be added to the center’s existing 254-petabyte data repository to preserve copies of climate datasets from the U.S.

The move comes as questions grow about the availability and preservation of U.S. climate data. In April 2025, more than 300 datasets from NASA’s Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center were removed from storage by the Department of Government Efficiency. Some of these datasets took decades to compile.

The German storage effort is part of a broader conversation about how scientific data can be preserved and made available across institutions and countries. A recent YPCCC survey found that 70% of software developers believe governments, regulators, cloud and infrastructure providers, and technology companies should be doing more or much more to address environmental impacts. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25092026/germany-computing-center-hosts-us-climate-data/ , https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/github-survey/toc/2/

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Explore Climate Change in the American Mind - Yale Program on Climate Change Communication Explore Americans’ climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, policy preferences, and behavior.

Gray whales came close to extinction in the 1970s, but conservation efforts helped the species recover, leading to their removal from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1994. Today, however, gray whale populations are once again declining, raising concerns about whether additional conservation measures may be needed.

One visible sign of this decline is the number of gray whales washing ashore. From 2006 to 2023, an average of about 43 gray whales stranded each year. In 2026, 149 carcasses have been documented, compared with 179 strandings in all of 2025. Many of the whales found stranded have also been notably thin, pointing to possible challenges with food availability.

A recent poll found that 68% of Americans believe climate change will harm plants and animals. Gray whales offer a clear example of why those concerns matter. Migrating between Baja California and Arctic feeding grounds, gray whales depend on productive marine ecosystems for food. Warming waters and changing sea-ice conditions can disrupt these ecosystems and make it more difficult for whales to find the resources they need.

Conservation groups are working to address these concerns, including efforts to reconsider protections for gray whales under the ESA. Their story shows how changing ocean conditions can affect species even after successful conservation efforts. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/10/pacific-gray-whales-population-climate-change , https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-spring-2026/toc/2/

Philadelphia has made measurable progress on its climate goals, but this year’s budget shows how competing priorities can shape what happens next.

The city’s 2022 Greenhouse Gas Inventory found that greenhouse gas emissions had declined 31% since 2006. The closure of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in 2019 contributed to that reduction, helping put the city ahead of its 2025 emissions target.

But Philadelphia’s longer-term target is more demanding. The city aims to reduce emissions 80% by 2050, and at the rate of decline seen since 2006, it would remain slightly off pace to reach that goal.

This year’s budget negotiations included several climate priorities, including ending the city’s use of a trash incinerator in Chester, advancing electrification at Philadelphia Gas Works, and increasing funding for energy efficiency and other energy-transition programs. Those proposals did not result in major new investments in the final budget. The Philadelphia Energy Authority, which supports the city’s energy transition, requested $4 million in funding but received $1.3 million in the final budget. Its work includes improving energy efficiency, expanding electrification and supporting renewable energy projects across Philadelphia.

The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, or YPCCC, found in its spring 2026 survey that 57% of Americans viewed global warming as a political issue. Philadelphia offers an example of how that issue enters the policy process. The city’s climate targets are set over decades, while funding decisions are made through annual budget negotiations. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06082026/philadelphia-budget-climate-efforts/ , https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-spring-2026/toc/2/

July 2026 was the warmest month ever recorded for the contiguous United States. According to NOAA, the average temperature across the contiguous U.S. reached 76.9 degrees Fahrenheit, making it warmer than any previous month in the record dating back to 1895. Every state in the contiguous U.S. recorded a July temperature at least one degree above its 20th-century average. The record extended beyond daytime temperatures. Average overnight lows reached 64.2 degrees, the warmest monthly average minimum temperature on record.

Precipitation across the contiguous U.S. was below average overall, although conditions varied by region. Some areas experienced heavy rainfall and flooding. By early August, 48.5% of the contiguous U.S. was experiencing drought.

These observations also provide context for understanding how Americans view changes in weather. Research from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication found that 59% of Americans think global warming is affecting weather in the United States. The same YPCCC survey found that 68% of Americans think global warming is happening, while 46% say they have personally experienced its effects. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202607 , https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-beliefs-attitudes-spring-2026/toc/2/

Hawaii faced two tropical threats within a week in mid-August. Hurricane Lala struck first, bringing more than 3 feet of rain to some areas on the windward side of the Big Island and triggering landslides and flash flooding that cut off communities, destroyed homes and damaged critical infrastructure. At least three deaths were attributed to the storm. Tropical Storm Moke followed less than a week later, passing south of the islands but still bringing heavy rain to areas already saturated by Lala.

In a typical year, Pacific hurricanes approaching Hawaii encounter cooler ocean waters and hostile upper-level winds that help weaken storms before they reach the islands. El Niño warmed ocean waters to the east, southeast and south of Hawaii, giving approaching storms more heat and moisture to draw from. This allowed the storms to maintain their strength longer rather than weakening as they moved toward the islands. The current El Niño also dramatically increased the number of storms forming in the Eastern and Central Tropical Pacific. Hawaii typically sees one tropical cyclone come within 300 nautical miles of the state each season. By late August, it had already seen two.

YPCCC research finds that the share of Americans who expect bodily harm from severe storms and hurricanes to increase over the coming decade grew from 34% in 2014 to 57% by 2020, an increase of 23 percentage points. As of Fall 2025, 68% of Americans think global warming is affecting hurricanes. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/understanding-the-health-harms-of-climate-change-a-six-americas-analysis/

Global financing for clean energy technologies fell by 17% to $770 billion in early 2026, according to recent findings by the Rhodium Group. The slowdown brought worldwide investment in clean tech to roughly the same level seen in the first half of 2024.

The decline was driven largely by a slowdown in China, the world’s largest clean tech investor. A shift to market-based pricing, combined with frontloading in the first half of 2025, caused China’s share of global clean tech manufacturing investment to fall to a record quarterly low of 33% in the second quarter, down from a peak of 71% in the first quarter of 2023.

Meanwhile, investment in solar and wind remained stable or increased in the US, Europe and India. India’s share of new investment rose from 2% to 7% between the first quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2026, while Europe’s share increased from 6% to 16% over the same period.

By industry, the largest decline came in solar manufacturing, where investment fell 62% between January and June amid overcapacity. Investment in solar power generation also declined 33% over the six-month period.

However, manufacturing investment could begin to recover in the second half of the year. Analysts noted that announcements of manufacturing and industrial investment increased quarter over quarter from January through March 2026.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/global-cleantech-investment-fell-first-half-slowing-china-momentum-2026-09-10/