Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change The State of the Climate 2026 | Ep242: Zeke Hausfather
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Jan 28, 2026 Zeke Hausfather, climate scientist and IPCC lead author who also leads Stripe’s carbon removal research, joins to discuss recent record warmth and what drives accelerated heating. He covers aerosols masking warming, disappearing low clouds, the limits and governance of geoengineering, and the prospects and challenges for scalable carbon removal technologies.
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2025 Nears 1.5°C Despite La Niña
- 2025 tied with 2023 as the second-warmest year despite a La Niña cooling influence.
- Global average was about 1.44°C above pre-industrial, pushing close to 1.5°C.
U.S. Government Pullback From IPCC
- The U.S. withdrawal from IPCC has materially reduced government scientist participation this cycle.
- About 60 U.S. scientists still participate via academia and philanthropy funding for travel and meeting costs.
Aerosol Reductions Reveal Hidden Warming
- Rapid reductions in cooling aerosols like sulfur dioxide have unmasked roughly ~0.5°C of warming.
- If aerosols were absent today warming would be closer to ~2°C rather than 1.5°C.