Is plankton in the Atlantic Ocean 90 percent gone? No, that's not true; this claim is missing context. The author of the plankton study told Lead Stories that the newspaper article making the claim did not accurately reflect that his study is about the equatorial Atlantic, not the entire Atlantic Ocean. Another expert in the field of plankton study told…
Did NASA designate a "new cloud" called a sundog in 1998? No, that's not true: A sundog is not a cloud. It is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction of the sun's rays by ice crystals in the atmosphere. This phenomenon is not caused by nano-sized metallic particles sprayed in the sky, nor is it new -- in 350 B.C.E.…
Does a comparison of two German news channel weather maps -- one from 2017 and one from 2022 -- prove that climate change isn't real? No, that's not true: Although the map from 2017 has higher temperatures than the 2022 map, one is a topographic map and the other is a heat map, which explains their different appearances. The claim…
Will the state of California need to use more fossil fuels than usual to power electric vehicles to achieve its goal of going green? No, that's not true: A representative from the California Department of Energy said this claim was false, and that the state is committed to ensuring energy reliability during its clean energy transition. They expect that fossil…
Does this image of a map show what a scientist thinks the United States will look like in 30 years if climate change is not reversed? No, that's not true: The image is a digital manipulation created to show the size of the Mediterranean Sea relative to familiar U.S. land masses. The map appeared in a Facebook post on July…
Did a 2010 video "expose" climate change "fanatics" by proving that General Motors (GM) admitted that electricity for its hybrid car the Volt came 95 percent from coal? No, that's not true: The video is being used misleadingly and as of 2021, more utilities use natural gas than anything else. The GM Chevrolet Volt (which is no longer made) in…
Did the Biden administration develop a program that allows qualified homeowners to receive solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall battery system for free? No, that's not true: Although the administration proposed a $555 billion budget dedicated to clean energy and climate change efforts in 2021, there is no evidence of a program within that budget that would provide solar panels…
By Uliana Malashenko and James Rosen Was U.S. citizen Brent Renaud, who was killed March 13 by Russian troops at a checkpoint near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, an American intelligence operative? No, it is not true. The claim was made with no evidence of Renaud's affiliation with the CIA or any other U.S. spy agencies. He was an award-winning…
Did President Joe Biden's wartime ban on Russian oil imports cause the cost of gasoline to skyrocket and would completing the XL branch of the Keystone pipeline bring prices down? No, that's not true: Oil market experts and economists say the Russia ban is not the only driver of gas prices and bringing the XL section online would not guarantee…
Did a crisis actor blow their cover in Germany and forget that they were on TV? No, that's not true: The man moving on the ground in a video was an activist protesting climate change at a demonstration in Vienna, Austria -- not in Germany. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on February 7, 2022. The caption…
Lead Stories is a U.S. based fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or
inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
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