Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
How do we model the climate system? How warm will 2026 be? And can geoengineering be anything more than a bandaid?
This week on Cleaning Up, Bryony Worthington sits down with leading climate scientist Dr. Zeke Hausfather on the day the 2025 global temperature data is released. Despite a La Niña year, the planet has just experienced one of its hottest years on record — pushing us ever closer to the 1.5°C threshold.
Zeke explains why recent warming has accelerated, how declining air pollution may be unmasking hidden heating, and what disappearing cloud cover could mean for climate sensitivity.
The conversation ranges from the surprising accuracy of early climate models, the risks of rising nationalism, and what the U.S. withdrawal from international science means for the world.
They also tackle controversial questions: Are worst-case climate scenarios still plausible? Is geoengineering a dangerous distraction — or an emergency brake? And can carbon removals ever work economically at scale.
Leadership Circle:
Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.
Discover more:
• Zeke’s articles in the New York Times: nytimes.com/by/zeke-hausfather
• Zeke on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zeke-hausfather-7327699
• Zeke’s Blog on Substack: theclimatebrink.com/p/my-2026-and-2027-global-temperature
Chapters:
00:00 - Coming Up
01:40 - Zeke Hausfather
03:04 - 2025 in Climate
04:59 - IPCC and US
09:30 - Climate Modelling Past and Present
13:54 - Aerosols and Warming
18:20 - Climate Scenarios
22:30 - Volcanoes & Cloud Cover
26:30 - AI
28:20 - RCP8.5
31:30 - Scenarios
36:40 - Return to Coal?
41:19 - Geoengineering
47:28 - Moral Hazard
52:00 - Carbon Removal
57:00 - Ocean Buffering
01:00:00 - Rock Weathering
01:05:15 - 2026 Forecasts
01:10:00 - Outro
How do we model the climate system? How warm will 2026 be? And can geoengineering be anything more than a bandaid?
This week on Cleaning Up, Bryony Worthington sits down with leading climate scientist Dr. Zeke Hausfather on the day the 2025 global temperature data is released. Despite a La Niña year, the planet has just experienced one of its hottest years on record — pushing us ever closer to the 1.5°C threshold.
Zeke explains why recent warming has accelerated, how declining air pollution may be unmasking hidden heating, and what disappearing cloud cover could mean for climate sensitivity.
The conversation ranges from the surprising accuracy of early climate models, the risks of rising nationalism, and what the U.S. withdrawal from international science means for the world.
They also tackle controversial questions: Are worst-case climate scenarios still plausible? Is geoengineering a dangerous distraction — or an emergency brake? And can carbon removals ever work economically at scale.
Leadership Circle:
Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.
Discover more:
• Zeke’s articles in the New York Times: nytimes.com/by/zeke-hausfather
• Zeke on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zeke-hausfather-7327699
• Zeke’s Blog on Substack: theclimatebrink.com/p/my-2026-and-2027-global-temperature
Chapters:
00:00 - Coming Up
01:40 - Zeke Hausfather
03:04 - 2025 in Climate
04:59 - IPCC and US
09:30 - Climate Modelling Past and Present
13:54 - Aerosols and Warming
18:20 - Climate Scenarios
22:30 - Volcanoes & Cloud Cover
26:30 - AI
28:20 - RCP8.5
31:30 - Scenarios
36:40 - Return to Coal?
41:19 - Geoengineering
47:28 - Moral Hazard
52:00 - Carbon Removal
57:00 - Ocean Buffering
01:00:00 - Rock Weathering
01:05:15 - 2026 Forecasts
01:10:00 - Outro
