An increase in water vapor in the atmosphere is driving more extreme weather around the world. How is that playing out here in Minnesota? John Abraham, thermal sciences professor and mechanical engineering program director at University of St. Thomas, shared more about the little-known but growing climate concern. To hear the full conversation, click play on the audio player above or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.
Jun 26, 2025•5 min
This week brought another significant tornado outbreak to parts of Minnesota. Downtowns for the Twin Cities, Rochester and Duluth were spared from any storm damage, but are cities safer from tornadoes than rural parts of Minnesota? Does the urban heat island effect spare urban residents from a tornado tearing through their cities? “The urban heat island probably would not save you if the storm were in a position to enter that urban area,” said climatologist Kenneth Blumenfeld. “We should definit...
Jun 20, 2025•5 min
Electric vehicle use in Minnesota boomed over the past decade due to the popular fleet of Tesla vehicles driving into the market. However, the Q1 auto sales report from earlier this year, showed a drop in sales for Tesla’s EVs. The indication that there might be a slowing popularity for the brand had some experts blame the company’s CEO Elon Musk and his relationship with American politics. Even Gov. Tim Walz took at jab at Musk and the company’s business woes. “The governor has certainly contin...
Jun 12, 2025•5 min
For the past eleven years, the planet has been consecutively warmer each year. It’s a trend that has climate scientists and policy makers worried. In 2024, global temperatures reached 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial record, according to the World Meteorological Organization and the Copernicus Climate Change Service . It’s the level of warming that those who work for climate solutions have been trying to avoid. “Now the question is: What are we going to do next? What is the next goal ...
Jun 05, 2025•5 min
Craft beer grew in popularity over the past decade across Minnesota, but the brewing process has also created a ton of wastewater. Now, there’s an experiment to make the process carbon neutral. University of Minnesota professor Paige Novak and Fulton Brewing are working on a new, sustainable way to treat wastewater from the brewing process. She spoke to MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner for Climate Cast. The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Tell us about the cr...
May 30, 2025•5 min
Minnesota has experienced four significant blowing dust episodes over the past few years, and the uptick in frequency has raised air-quality concerns across the state. Now, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will start issuing air quality alerts for blowing dust this summer. Matt Taraldsen, MPCA meteorologist, says the fine particle pollution from dust — technically known as PM10 — is similar to wildfire smoke. “People are very familiar with PM2.5 or fine particle pollution and wildfire smok...
May 28, 2025•5 min
Minnesota has been a part of the solar energy boom that has swept across the nation over the past decade. Research has shown solar energy is now the cheapest form of electricity in the history of electric power generation, but politics on the state and federal level could trigger challenges for the renewable resource. MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner talked to Brian Martucci , an energy reporter with the Minnesota Reformer, about the issues solar power could face in Minnesota....
May 14, 2025•5 min
Recycled plastics reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 to 80 percent compared to creating new plastics. But the process isn’t always waste-free. Eureka Recycling, a 20-year-old mission-driven zero-waste recycler, has upgraded its facility to ensure recycled materials are effectively repurposed. “It’s incredible how much less energy it takes,” said Miriam Holsinger, co-president and chief operating officer of Eureka Recycling. “We really work hard to keep the material we sort as local as possibl...
May 09, 2025•5 min
Tech companies are looking to the land of 10,000 lakes as a suitable environment to expand their data footprint. About 10 tech giants, such as Microsoft and Meta, are vying to build data centers in Minnesota to support their growing AI networks. “The Midwest is kind of a big emerging market right now,” said Nick Halter, a Twin Cities reporter for Axios. “That's because we have abundant water, which oftentimes is used to cool these [centers] down, and also because we have much cooler temperatures...
May 01, 2025•4 min
The mighty Mississippi, which flows from its headwaters in northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, has topped an endangered rivers list. A report from nonprofit conservation organization American Rivers states that a combination of extreme flood, drought cycles, toxic runoff, and poor river management threatens the Mississippi. The 2,300-mile-long river is a water source for more than 50 cities in the U.S., including several in Minnesota. Cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (better...
Apr 25, 2025•5 min
Writer Tamara Dean knew she wanted to live lightly on the planet. Her search to live a productive life while lowering her carbon footprint led her to the Driftless Area of Wisconsin — also known as Bluff Country and the Paleozoic Plateau — with dreams of become a homesteader. Dean shares her experience in her new memoir “Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless.” She spoke to MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner for Climate Cast. The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity and le...
Apr 17, 2025•4 min
There’s a warming trend in cities across American, and that’s extending allergy season for millions of Americans. A new study by Climate Central found five cities in Minnesota have increased their pollen season — in some cases by nearly a month. The Twin Cities allergy season has expanded by 27 days, Duluth is seeing an average of 24 extra days of allergy season, while Mankato is experiencing 11 and Rochester is averaging 10 extra days, said Kristoffer Tigue , a reporter for the Minnesota Star T...
Apr 07, 2025•4 min
Minnesota experienced a seasonably cold but relatively snowless winter. Now, the spring months are making up for lost time by dumping sloppy snowstorms. State climatologist Pete Boulay said what Minnesota is seeing is over time is a different start and end times for the seasons. “Winter is shifting around a bit,” said Boulay. “We’re not seeing as big of snow storms in November like we used to, but April is becoming a shining moment of winter.” Boulay said winters have also lost their cold edge. ...
Apr 02, 2025•5 min
By creating the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment (SIPRE) in 1949, the U.S. military became one of the earliest climate research groups on the planet. The group’s mission was to study the science and engineering of the warming Arctic and the national security implications that could follow. University of Vermont professor and geoscientist Paul Bierman wrote about this in his book, “When the Ice Is Gone: What a Greenland Ice Core Reveals About Earth’s Tumultuous History and Perilous...
Mar 27, 2025•5 min
Wind and solar are among the cheapest energy sources available today, but even when clean-energy projects are ready to go, a cumbersome permit process is slowing down their implementation. Allison Prang wrote a New York Times article about a Minnesota experiment to cut the red tape that is impeding the state’s ability to achieve its clean-energy goals. She spoke to MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner about her reporting. The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Minne...
Mar 14, 2025•4 min
Nick Halter, a Twin Cities reporter at Axios, noticed a peculiar pattern on his morning walks — hundreds of ducks braving subzero temperatures . Many ducks still fly south for the winter months. But climate data shows Minnesota winters have warmed more than five degrees on average since 1970, creating a more tolerable environment for ducks and other birds. These ducks are deciding there’s no reason to make the potentially dangerous journey south when Minnesota’s warming climate provides a habita...
Mar 06, 2025•5 min
It’s a post-pandemic world, and Minnesota’s greenhouse emissions are following the nationwide trend of going up. Based on recent state data from 2020 to 2022, emissions rose 6.4 percent with transportation and agriculture being the biggest contributors. Now, the state is off-track to meet its climate goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. “I think it will be difficult to meet,” said Walker Orenstein , a reporter with The Minnesota Star Tribune. “As the state has pointed out, if we don’t st...
Feb 27, 2025•5 min
A technology that can slow or stop climate change already exists — and has a history of bipartisan support in Washington. But it has a few hoops to jump through before it can make a bigger impact. The method is called carbon capture, which removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it deep underground. “You can think of this whole process as essentially putting carbon back where it came from,” said Ben Grove, senior manager for carbon storage with the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force . “Geologi...
Feb 20, 2025•5 min
The Antarctic is warming. This means, the ice sheet in the Antarctic Peninsula is shrinking, and ice is breaking off the continent. “The largest icebergs on the planet are going around the Antarctic Peninsula … because these are breaking off the ice sheets as there’s warming,” said MPR News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard, who recently traveled to Antarctica to witness the effects of climate change first hand. “These giant icebergs are very impressive. And then you realize that [the ice sheet] is g...
Feb 13, 2025•5 min
Winter is the fastest-warming season in the Midwest — more than five degrees on average since 1970, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. All that warming is having an impact on ice formation. “Climate change is injecting more energy into our weather systems, and that’s resulting in in just more extreme extremes,” journalist Kristoffer Tigue told MPR’s Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner. Tigue wrote about the shift in ice trends for Inside Climate News . Warme...
Feb 06, 2025•5 min
The Trump administration has pivoted to fossil fuels. But one form of renewable energy has still gained support in Washington: Geothermal energy, which uses the warmth of the earth to heat and cool buildings. Minnesota has already tapped into geothermal power in Rochester where the city’s headquarters will soon be provided a future with carbon-free heating and cooling. By digging deep into the ground, geothermal power provides energy 24/7. Geothermal has found support in Washington, “because the...
Jan 30, 2025•4 min
President Donald Trump has officially begun his second term. One of his first moves was to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement — again. What will that mean for greenhouse gas emissions and climate solutions? Jonathan Foley is executive director of Project Drawdown. He said, “This is not game over. It’s game on. It means the rest of us have to step up and do a lot more.” Foley shared more insights about the road ahead with MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner....
Jan 24, 2025•5 min
For some living in the warmer parts of the U.S., extreme weather tied to climate change is enough for them to consider cooler, safer climates. No, Minnesota is not immune from the effects of climate change. But one Minnesota realtor says the state’s northern location is appealing appealing to her clientele from southern U.S. “When you’re talking to people that are coming from all over the place, they do mention [Minnesota is] a more livable lifestyle that makes them feel safer,” said Mary Schuma...
Jan 18, 2025•4 min
The planet has warmed past the 1.5 degrees Celsius pre-industrial normal temperature. Final confirmation on 2024 being the hottest year on record is expected from NOAA and the European Union, but the effects of climate change on a warming planet is being felt from wild fires in California to the snowless winters in Minnesota. “We’re certainly seeing a lot of dangerous climate change now,” said Jeff Masters with the Yale Climate Connection . “Winters have been the most dramatically affected seaso...
Jan 09, 2025•4 min
Homeowner and auto insurance rates are rising fast in Minnesota. One policy comparison site, Insurify , shows Minnesota’s auto insurance rates had the highest year-over-year increase in the nation. Climbing insurance rates have plagued Minnesotans in recent years, and one of the leading factors to the rise in premiums is extreme weather events. “More water vapor that’s in our air, that then turns into things that land on our house — whether it's hail or rain — make bigger claims,” said Grace Arn...
Jan 03, 2025•4 min
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to at least partially repeal the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and some analysts say it could end up helping China more than the United States. “If you take away the incentives for people to buy the stuff that American manufacturers are making, that weakens the case for investing in American manufacturing,” said Canary Media’s Jeff St. John, who wrote about how killing the EV tax credit could impact an electrified future for the U.S. St. John said the...
Dec 26, 2024•4 min
Hotter summers and scorching temperatures might be a go-to thought when you think of climate change, but most of Minnesota’s warming is a winter phenomenon. Pete Boulay of the Minnesota State Climatology Office said our warming winters can be credited to a lack of snowfall. “We’re missing the snow pack,” said Boulay. “We’ve seen over the years, deep snow cover has gone down across many places in the state.” That means winters in Minnesota are warming faster than summers are. Boulay talked with M...
Dec 20, 2024•4 min
New data centers are popping up across the country — and companies are eyeing Minnesota as a potential building site due to its cooler climate. But advocates within the state worry the extra demand from these large buildings could push the state to extend its use of fossil fuels at a time when Minnesota is trying to go carbon-free. MPR News correspondent Kirsti Marohn has been following the story of a Colorado-based company’s proposed $5 billion data center in Farmington, Minnesota, as part of M...
Dec 18, 2024•5 min
President-elect Donald Trump is making cabinet choices that will likely impact U.S. climate policy. Observers of the picks point out ties to the fossil fuel industry. Kiley Price with Inside Climate News spoke to MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner about the picks and what it could mean for the future of climate policy. To hear the full conversation, click play on the audio player above or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.
Dec 06, 2024•4 min
From data centers to growth — electricity demand in Minnesota is rising. That’s led Xcel Energy to request a 13 percent rate increase over the next two years and increase capital spending by $11 billion. Walker Orenstein, reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune, said the utility has plans to make major infrastructure investments.
Nov 15, 2024•5 min
