Manon Jacob

@manonjacob

AFP journalist covering climate mis/disinformation 🌎• Previous words: Politico, Reuters, Eater • the world's the world and I'm a person in a tiny body 🌿• She/her • Got a tip for me? firstname(dot)lastname(at)afp.com 📨

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Manon Jacob@manonjacob· 19d

As a reporter, you'd think you have heard everything from sources at least once before... No, you haven't 🦜💙

Text from a source to reporter asking for an interview reads: "I just need 5min to put away the Cockatoo (yes, I walk around the house like a pirate with a Cockatoo on my shoulder) and get my headset."

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Jun 18

✒️This is a complement to a piece on the lone star tick that we ran early June: factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

Title of a segment reads: Bill Gates and bioengineering? Real tick dangers give way to baseless claims on social media

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Jun 4

🕷️🥩The lone star tick is having everyone in a panic this summer... Here's my latest on the absurd "climate agenda" claims swirling online. u.afp.com/SDur 📸🦌🌿Glorious bonus photos -- courtesy of Marvin Recinos for AFP!

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· May 21

Similarly this was AfD's (right-wing, populist) reaction in front of the German federal parliament on May 20 to the RCP 8.5 scenario being retired: "Climate cannot be protected, but Germany can."

AfD's Karsten Hilse says "climate cannot be protected, but Germany can"

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Apr 22

... and that's it for now! To learn more about climate disinformation, consult our website and take our course👩‍🔬📚: u.afp.com/climatecourse

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Apr 22

⛽And amid the US-Israel strikes on Iran, conspiratorial discourse rose about widespread usage of E15 in North America to fight inflated gas prices, some TikTok users going as far as claiming it was a scheme to force people to adopt electric cars! We clarified it here: u.afp.com/itscorn

In this screenshot of a TikTok video, a user claims E15 will be mandated everywhere in the US to cause engine failure and force people to adopt electric vehicles.

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Apr 22

🛰️We also looked into whether signs of climate change can be observed from satellite-distance, amid all that space talk and as we were debunking fabricated images of the Artemis mission. Turns out, yes! Including increased drylands: u.afp.com/spacechanges

This handout picture provided by NASA shows Earth as seen through the Orion spacecraft’s window, photographed by NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, commander of Artemis II, on April 2, 2026, after completing the translunar injection burn. Four astronauts blasted off aboard a massive NASA rocket April 1 on a long-anticipated journey around the Moon, the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.
Reid Wiseman / NASA / NASA / AFP

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Apr 22

⛰️The Arctic is warming 4x faster than the rest of the globe. The presence of ancient vegetation and warmer past times in Earth's history do not disprove this, scientists told AFP.

What are the facts? Scientists told AFP that despite the presence of trees from the pre-industrial age, the Arctic shows clear signs of climate change accelerated by the burning of fossil fuels.

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Apr 22

🧊Posts in climate-skeptic Facebook groups this month also misused genuine research on ancient forests in an attempt to disprove the scale of warming caused by human emissions. Read more: u.afp.com/ancientforests

What's being shared? Skeptics claimed the age of ancient trees found under receding glaciers in Alaska prove humans are not responsible for climate change because they are evidence of warmer times at the poles.

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Apr 22

🌳Sadly, there's no substance to this theory. The blazes fit into a very high start of the US wildfire season: 200% that of the last ten year-average. Read our story: u.afp.com/Nebraskafires

What are the facts? Investigations found the Nebraska fires were primarily sparked by failed electrical infrastructure. The blazes were fuelled by extended hot and dry weather patterns and dry-lightning storms.

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Apr 22

📛The record wildfires that ravaged Nebraska in March pushed people to believe that the blazes were intentionally set to make room for data centers. "Land grab" theories commonly surface online after major weather events!

Users claimed historic Nebraska wildfires were intentionally set to make room for new data centres near a key US water source.

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Apr 22

🌎📅Today's #EarthDay and April is Earth Month! Let's have a look at the environmental myths and misconceptions we debunked at AFP lately 👇 u.afp.com/climatelist

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Apr 16

⛽🌽 Amid soaring gas prices, ethanol paranoia has taken over TikTok... My latest for AFP: u.afp.com/itscorn

In a screenshot of a TikTok video taken on April 14, 2026, a person states all gas sold in the US after May 1 will be 15% percent ethanol blends, "killing your car engine."

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Apr 10

👠This photo of Mery Streep in South Korea promoting Devil Wears Prada 2 is everything.

US actress Meryl Streep reacts during a red carpet event to promote the film "The Devil Wears Prada 2" in Seoul on April 8, 2026.
Jung Yeon-je / AFP

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Feb 20

📊I usually do not sign non-climate pieces any more but felt this one was so important to share on Bsky considering the harmful narratives that have been going viral. This graph that's been doing the rounds online is absolutely flawed, crime experts and statisticians tell me: u.afp.com/chartshootings

Fact-check header image reads: "Are trans people most likely to commit mass shootings?" FALSE with red banner covering flawed data shared on social media

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Jan 29

Misidentification sparks anti-LGBTQ rhetoric around shooting of Minnesota nurse: "Online extremists have repeatedly pushed blatantly false narratives about LGBTQ people, including in the murder of Alex Pretti," @glaad.bsky.social told AFP. My latest ✒️: factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

A card with images of Renée Good and Alex Pretti lies among flowers and other mementos at a memorial in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 27, 2026.

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Jan 21

🌬️Reposting our latest piece on Trump's extremely wrong takes on China's wind power sector -- and just wind turbines in general: u.afp.com/Chinawind

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Jan 14

🪁Experts tell us Donald Trump has got the Chinese wind energy market all wrong. "European turbine manufacturers still dominate the market outside of China, the complete opposite of the picture Trump was painting" @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social u.afp.com/Chinawind

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Dec 8

🐮A feed additive named Bovaer, meant to reduce methane emissions from livestock, is claimed by many on social media to be "killing the cows" in Denmark. Danish agencies have launched an investigation. And here's what we know so far: u.afp.com/cows

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Dec 8

🐛Et mon adaptation en français, notamment disponible sur le site de TV5✒️: u.afp.com/herbicide

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Dec 8

🚜Ghostwriters and Roundup merch: A flagship study that declared glyphosate posed no serious health risks has been retracted with little fanfare, ending a 25-year saga that exposed how corporate interests can distort scientific research and influence government decision-making u.afp.com/glyphosate

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Nov 21

🪵As policies have successfully curbed deforestation rates in Brazil, problems are just shifting in the region with a phenomenon on the rise: forest degradation.

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Nov 21

🌳Some Brazilian social media accounts claim Lula's administration is hiding deforestation stats by using new terminology. This is inaccurate but it doesn't mean the Amazon is in the clear. u.afp.com/deforestation

Graph shows change in the area of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon since 1988 in km2

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Oct 29

NEW: US President Donald Trump said he "just won the War on the Climate Change Hoax" following Bill Gates's latest memo on warming and emission reductions.

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Oct 17

🇧🇷🌳 Ahead of COP30 in Brazil, climate skeptics have been twisting new research on the Amazon forest to downplay the impact of more CO2 in the atmopshere. But scientists, including the study’s authors, say the claims are misconstrued. #COP30 tinyurl.com/yw4t2rwy

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Oct 10

🎶Nothin' but blue skies to see here! Conspiracy theorists have found their silver lining amid the government shutdown: no more chemtrails... unless 🤔: tinyurl.com/59z53ex5

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Oct 1

🌊🌀Five houses just fell -- yet again -- into the ocean in the Outer Banks. Here's my latest on what causes such a dramatic trend on North Carolina's coasts. Yes, it's natural erosion -- and climate change is making it worse. u.afp.com/SWCr

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Sep 29

🌊These oceanfront rentals or secondary residences devoured by the sea are just one striking visual -- and yes, an often viral one -- reflective of a much larger issue. North Carolina's coastal plains are experiencing undeniable pressure from accelerated SLR, local agents tell me.

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Sep 29

🌊Because barrier islands naturally move, some are quick to dismiss any anthropogenic footprint on this trend. But climate change influences what's happening in the Outer Banks, experts say. Yes, shoreline erosion is a natural phenomenon. And climate change is putting pressure on these systems.

Manon Jacob@manonjacob· Aug 7

🔬I was contacted by Stanford researcher Solomon Hsiang to cover this major correction of a climate paper published in Nature last year. Here's the story: phys.org/news/2025-08...