Contiguous U.S. temperatures averaged 57.98 degrees F from January to August 2026, the hottest such stretch since records began in 1895, NOAA data show. Only a cooler-than-normal fall would keep 2026 from an annual record, Zeke Hausfather says.
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence68
Science News reports the El Nino region's daily sea surface anomaly hit 3.08 C on September 21, past the 3.02 C mark set in November 2015. NOAA's preferred index still ranks the 1997-98 event stronger, leaving two analogues in play for the coming seasons.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 18%
- Operator
- Operator 54%
- Investor
- Investor 28%
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence68
Molly Taft's Power Play column at Wired ties the power buildout to agents that give themselves hundreds of prompts per user request, and reports a major dearth of data on what one of those tasks consumes.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption60
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives65
- Confidence45
Zeke Hausfather logged eight weeks of Claude Code use and priced the electricity behind it, which hands operators a user-side number for agent energy and a reason to stop dividing by chat prompts.
Reality
- Evidence28
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- Hype gap+34
- Incentives62
- Confidence32
The forecast signal is stronger than anything in the record since 1950. The observation underneath it is 1.4C, and that gap is the part worth watching.
Reality
- Evidence56
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+32
- Incentives44
- Confidence47
Mead and Powell set multiple record lows this month, and the reliable wet signal lands where the water is used rather than where the snowpack that refills them piles up.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap−8
- Incentives38
- Confidence55
Forecasters see this El Nino peaking well above the 2015 event and pushing 2027 to roughly 1.76C above preindustrial. That is a decade of trend warming delivered in one year.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption44
- Hype gap+16
- Incentives28
- Confidence55