In From the Cold
I’m profiled today in the Swedish magazine Kvartal — It is a generous account by Swedish journalist Anders Bolling, and quotes me extensively from a recent interview. My how the world has changed. Below I provide an English translation (courtesy ChatGPT).
But before that, a quick heads up on what to look for at THB over the coming weeks as we charge into 2026:
Global disasters losses update, focus on 2025;
Tropical cyclone landfalls 1970 to 2025 (with Ryan Maue);
Updated evaluation of the Stern Review disaster forecast of 2006;
A guest post from a colleague on lessons learned in a career working where science and policy meet;
The latest important peer-reviewed papers in climate science and policy;
A continuation of series on “climate risk” in finance, propaganda where science meets politics, and more;
Now, back to Kvartal . . .
The Climate Researcher Who Came into the Heat
One of the most independent voices in climate research appears finally to be having his moment, after many years out in the cold. “I’ve learned that they can’t cancel me,” says researcher Roger Pielke Jr. The “iron law” of climate policy that he formulated fifteen years ago is now beginning to show itself.
Author: Anders Bolling
Presented by: Henrik Höjer
A Black Sheep in Climate Research
Consider the following statements:
“Climate change is a serious problem.”
“If the UN climate panel did not exist, we would have to invent it.”
Professor emeritus Roger Pielke Jr. has repeated them for decades to anyone willing to listen. In his research, he constantly refers to the scientific working groups of the IPCC. And yet, for many years, the climate establishment has regarded him as a black sheep.
One explanation is that Pielke tells us what the research actually says—including what emerges from the IPCC’s scientific assessments—and that is not popular in influential circles. Those sounding the alarm about climate change often convey something quite different.
The Climate Telephone Game
It is a bit like the children’s game of “telephone.” The message conveyed in the dry pages of the report is simplified and transformed once when it reaches the Summary for Policymakers, a second time when it becomes a press release, and a third time when it is reinterpreted into the one-liners delivered in front of cameras by UN Secretary-General António Guterres—which is what typically ends up in
...This excerpt is provided for preview purposes. Full article content is available on the original publication.