{"id":421560,"date":"2026-01-16T09:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=421560"},"modified":"2026-01-16T13:33:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T12:33:05","slug":"confirmation-bias-replaces-science-how-a-climate-scientist-turned-23-zettajoules-into-twitter-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=421560","title":{"rendered":"Confirmation Bias Replaces Science: How a Climate Scientist Turned 23 Zettajoules into Twitter Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Anthony Watts<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are mistakes, and then there are mistakes that only happen when you already know the answer you want<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newly published paper \u201cOcean Heat Content Sets Another Record in 2025<\/a>\u201d<\/em> reports a year-to-year increase in upper-2000-meter ocean heat content of about 23 zettajoules<\/strong> (ZJ), depending on dataset. Fine. Ocean heat content (OHC) is a possible diagnostic metric, and most people studying the Oceans believe that the oceans have been warming since the end of the Little Ice Age. However, as we recently pointed out in the WUWT post \u201cMeasuring Climate Change Without a Ruler<\/a>,\u201d from a strict epistemological standpoint, we do not know\u2014at high confidence\u2014whether the total energy of the Earth\u2019s climate system is increasing, decreasing, or remaining approximately constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then came the Twitter\/X post<\/a> \u2014 and this is where physics quietly left the room, and narrative building took its place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zeke Hausfather<\/strong>, a coauthor, triumphantly announced:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Graph<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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In a newly published paper, we find that in 2025 human emissions of greenhouse gases added around 23 billion trillion joules of heat to the world's oceans \u2013 39 times as much as the annual energy produced by all human activity on Earth. https:\/\/t.co\/tJISNHNkpO<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WzroYGug3s<\/a><\/p>— Zeke Hausfather (@hausfath) January 13, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>