r/climatechange Aug 21 '22

The r/climatechange Verified User Flair Program

47 Upvotes

r/climatechange is a community centered around science and technology related to climate change. As such, it can be often be beneficial to distinguish educated/informed opinions from general comments, and verified user flairs are an easy way to accomplish this.

Do I qualify for a user flair?

As is the case in almost any science related field, a college degree (or current pursuit of one) is required to obtain a flair. Users in the community can apply for a flair by emailing [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) with information that corroborates the verification claim.

The email must include:

  1. At least one of the following: A verifiable .edu/.gov/etc email address, a picture of a diploma or business card, a screenshot of course registration, or other verifiable information.
  2. The reddit username stated in the email or shown in the photograph.
  3. The desired flair: Degree Level/Occupation | Degree Area | Additional Info (see below)

What will the user flair say?

In the verification email, please specify the desired flair information. A flair has the following form:

USERNAME Degree Level/Occupation | Degree area | Additional Info

For example if reddit user “Jane” has a PhD in Atmospheric Science with a specialty in climate modeling, Jane can request:

Flair text: PhD | Atmospheric Science | Climate Modeling

If “John” works as an electrical engineer designing wind turbines, he could request:

Flair text: Electrical Engineer | Wind Turbines

Other examples:

Flair Text: PhD | Marine Science | Marine Microbiology

Flair Text: Grad Student | Geophysics | Permafrost Dynamics

Flair Text: Undergrad | Physics

Flair Text: BS | Computer Science | Risk Estimates

Note: The information used to verify the flair claim does not have to corroborate the specific additional information, but rather the broad degree area. (i.e. “John” above would only have to show he is an electrical engineer, but not that he works specifically on wind turbines).

A note on information security

While it is encouraged that the verification email includes no sensitive information, we recognize that this may not be easy or possible for each situation. Therefore, the verification email is only accessible by a limited number of moderators, and emails are deleted after verification is completed. If you have any information security concerns, please feel free to reach out to the mod team or refrain from the verification program entirely.

A note on the conduct of verified users

Flaired users will be held to higher standards of conduct. This includes both the technical information provided to the community, as well as the general conduct when interacting with other users. The moderation team does hold the right to remove flairs at any time for any circumstance, especially if the user does not adhere to the professionalism and courtesy expected of flaired users. Even if qualified, you are not entitled to a user flair.

Thanks

Thanks to r/fusion for providing the model of this Verified User Flair Program, and to u/AsHotAsTheClimate for suggesting it.


r/climatechange 15h ago

America's whole-of-government assault on clean energy isn't just a disaster for the planet, it's a catastrophe for the whole economy, with effects that will grow exponentially.

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bloomberg.com
980 Upvotes

r/climatechange 14h ago

Heatwave wiped €2bn from the €45bn value of European grain crops, analysis estimates

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ft.com
127 Upvotes

r/climatechange 14h ago

Free plug-in power banks to be given to households to cut energy bills

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inews.co.uk
80 Upvotes

r/climatechange 8h ago

Science is for Scientists, Laws are for Politicians, REALITY is for ACTUARIES

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swissre.com
23 Upvotes

This study should be frequently referenced. It's not scientists or think tanks or politicians. This study was commissioned by an INSURANCE company. Actuaries do their best to calculate reality (insurance liabilities). They need to know what damage to expect regardless of how the green transition goes. Please note the GDP losses in the developing world v Rich world. Someone is going to do something desperate (Geoengineering)


r/climatechange 1d ago

Rapidly accelerating climate change and now a turbo-charged El Nino is likely to lead to a major shock to the Agricultural system across the world. Some early estimates from Deutschbank.

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800 Upvotes

r/climatechange 7h ago

Nigeria (+1.2 GW compared to February 2026), Kenya (+1.4 GW) and Ethiopia (+1.1 GW) imported more than 1 GW of solar photovoltaic technology for the first time in a single month, mainly in the form of solar cells. 🌞 The share of coal fell from 45% to 24% of the African energy mix in just a few years

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newafricanmagazine.com
13 Upvotes

r/climatechange 3h ago

Canada wildfire smoke to be a periodic problem into August across Midwest, Northeast: Prevailing winds will direct more wildfire smoke from western Ontario into the Midwest and Northeast often well into August. Needed rain to put out the fires may be scarce.

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accuweather.com
7 Upvotes

There are 901 active wildfires in Canada, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. To date this year, there have been 3,951 fires that have burned 3 million hectares.

... "So far this year, 40,771 fires have burned more than 3.9 million acres across the United States," according to the (U.S.) National Interagency Fire Center newsroom. "Fires in the Northwest and the fires in northern Minnesota pose the greatest demand for firefighting resources. Resource assignments are being prioritized based on life and property risk, operational impact, and probability of success."

Many of the fires are burning in remote, hard-to-combat, unreachable areas, which then rely on wet weather to extinguish them. Where feasible, aircraft and ground crews work feverishly to safeguard communities from the flames.

Sometimes containment efforts work, but most attempts only slow the progress of the fires enough to allow people in the path to evacuate. In backwoods areas, where there are no roads or the distance is too far to fly in tanker aircraft with visual ground support, the fires are left to burn and let nature take its course.

Insect infestations (Spruce Budworm, Emerald Ash Borer and Mountain Pine Beetle) and drought have damaged or killed scores of trees, which then become potential fuel during droughts, lightning activity and when humans create ignition sources. Resins from certain trees and brush can accelerate fire ignition and spread.

Smoke is a product of fires, and its density depends on available fuels. Certain types of evergreen and deciduous foliage can emit much more smoke than simple grassland fires.

How Canadian wildfire smoke impacts the U.S.:

Winds fan the flames and carry smoke for hundreds and thousands of miles. How high or low the smoke is relative to the ground depends on atmospheric conditions, such as turbulence, humidity and precipitation. High-flying smoke may only cause the sky to appear hazy. Low-lying smoke can pose serious health risks and create dangerously low visibility.

The main driver of smoke from their origin points in western Ontario to the Midwest and Northeast is the prevailing jet stream dip over the eastern part of North America. Steering winds from the northwest will scoop up the smoke and whisk it southeastward.


r/climatechange 10h ago

New process can accelerate Enhanced Rock Weathering 10x

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cen.acs.org
20 Upvotes

r/climatechange 19h ago

New research complicates the long-held belief that climate policy is a trade-off between cost and carbon, adding a third factor: it might make daily life better, too, doesn't impose a burden on the public, and doesn't pit countries’ interests against each other. People are open to use less energy.

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anthropocenemagazine.org
89 Upvotes

r/climatechange 5h ago

The role of Europe's car manufacturers in slowing down climate change is crucial. This is a very insightful look at why they have dragged their feet despite the pressure (wars and China EV exports).

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2 Upvotes

r/climatechange 19h ago

Ember: EU hydro giants can add 25 GW renewables without new grids

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ember-energy.org
46 Upvotes

r/climatechange 21h ago

Urgent cuts to global greenhouse gas emissions needed to avoid worst sea-level rise flooding in the UK, study shows

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phys.org
72 Upvotes

r/climatechange 6h ago

Large study finds dietary CO2 emissions have an inverse relationship with age

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phys.org
3 Upvotes

r/climatechange 2h ago

Lake Powell takes from flaming gorge for hydroelectric and ruins flaming gorge... on and on

1 Upvotes

r/climatechange 1d ago

China starts work on a national electric truck freight corridor powered by solar energy for fossil-fuel-free logistics

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seetaoe.com
602 Upvotes

r/climatechange 9h ago

As North America grapples with destructive wildfires, 'super' El Niño may offer hope

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latimes.com
2 Upvotes

As wildfires rage across Canada and the American West, the announcement from federal forecasters that an El Niño warming is forming thousands of miles away in the tropical Pacific Ocean may offer some regions relief — next year, at least.

The El Niño climate pattern materializes erratically every two to seven years and can last up to a year. During its tenure, El Niño often brings wetter conditions to the Southern United States. While extra rain can bring flooding and landslide risks, it can also keep vegetation moist, lowering the potential for wildfires.

Forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which announced in June that El Niño had arrived, predict this iteration will be “very strong,” bringing a greater promise of a wet winter.

Read more at the link.


r/climatechange 1d ago

California farmers reluctantly turn to solar as water supplies dry up. Buttonbush is one of dozens of large, 100-plus megawatt solar fields cropping up across water-stressed regions like the San Joaquin Valley. Solar on retired farmland in the Central Valley could reach 30 gigawatts.

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latimes.com
431 Upvotes

r/climatechange 12h ago

What the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum Can Teach Us About a Warming World

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1 Upvotes

r/climatechange 1d ago

Low cloud-cover has helped mute warming for the last 47 years, but models predict this will change

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phys.org
46 Upvotes

r/climatechange 1d ago

Conservationists urge caution over Bangladesh’s plan to plant 250 million trees

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news.mongabay.com
26 Upvotes

r/climatechange 23h ago

Solar panel effects?

3 Upvotes

Do solar panel farms have an effect on the local climate?


r/climatechange 1d ago

How much energy do data centers and artificial intelligence use? Around 485 TWh, 1.5% of global electricity generation, but demand is very geographically concentrated, dominated by inference, not training. Non-AI tasks consumed 66% of the total. Future energy demand for AI is very uncertain.

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ourworldindata.org
13 Upvotes

r/climatechange 1d ago

Heat Morphs Into a Major Economic Shock for an Unprepared Europe

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bloomberg.com
81 Upvotes

Europe’s status as the planet’s fastest-warming continent is becoming a serious drag on its economic prospects.


r/climatechange 2d ago

European heat pumps provide more heat than 200 tankers of liquified natural gas, or double the amount which arrived in the EU in 2025 from the Middle East, representing 7% of the EU’s total annual imported LNG. 🔥 This avoided a staggering €9.7 billion in import costs in 2025 alone. 💰

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euronews.com
448 Upvotes