Climate, minus the jargon

How climate stuff works

Plain-language, source-cited answers to the climate questions that sound simple — but have a surprising amount going on underneath. No lectures, no doom. Just how it actually works, with the receipts.

Prices, bills, grants and incentives are examples from one country — named in each answer — and can differ a lot elsewhere, along with the climate and energy mix that shape the answer. Treat them as illustrations, not figures for your own area.

Every source cited across the site, de-duplicated and numbered in the order it first appears. Our World in Data references follow OWID’s citation format; each links to the original.

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  5. [5] Carbon Brief. Investigation: Does the UK's biomass burning help solve climate change? carbonbrief.org
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  10. [10] Nuclear Engineering International (2024). China refuels thorium reactor without shutdown neimagazine.com
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  68. [68] International Hydropower Association. Pumped storage hydropower explained: how it works and why it matters hydropower.org
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  78. [78] Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado (2025) - "The world's lithium is mined in just a handful of countries" Published online at OurWorldinData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/the-worlds-lithium-is-mined-in-just-a-handful-of-countries' [Online Resource].
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