Climate change can be confusing, and there’s so much to know. That’s why we’re back with a third season of TILclimate, bringing you new episodes that explain the basics, like why exactly is sea level rising, how climate change affects our national security, how can soils and trees be part of the solution, and so much more. All with real scientists and experts who can give you the straight story, in about ten minutes, jargon-free.
This episode of TILclimate addresses the pressing question: Is it too late for climate action? MIT Professor Noelle Selin explains that while some warming is inevitable due to past emissions, it's not too late to mitigate the worst impacts by achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The discussion highlights the systemic challenges of this rapid transition, emphasizing that any reduction helps and that climate action offers significant immediate benefits, such as improved air quality and public health, making action urgent and beneficial now.
While clean technologies like solar panels and batteries are crucial for slowing climate change, this episode reveals their hidden environmental and social impacts, from toxic material mining to exploitative labor practices in global supply chains. Expert Suzanne Greene from MIT explains the complexities of sourcing materials for a burgeoning clean energy sector. The discussion emphasizes the need for companies to be held accountable and for a conscious effort to protect people's rights, health, and safety as we pursue a sustainable energy transition.
Professor Dennis Whyte explains fusion energy, the process powering stars, and how scientists are working to harness it on Earth. He details the extreme conditions required, the plasma state, and the significant challenge of sustaining reactions to generate net energy. The discussion highlights fusion's vast potential to provide clean, dispatchable power, not just for electricity but also for industrial heat, emphasizing its transformative role in a comprehensive, carbon-free energy future alongside other emerging technologies.
This episode of TILclimate delves into carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology. Guests Dr. Howard Herzog and Professor Brad Hager explain how CO2 is captured from industrial sources, transformed, and stored deep underground, or potentially used to create new products like plastics and jet fuel. They also address the significant economic challenges, including high costs and the need for stronger policy incentives like carbon pricing. Ultimately, CCUS is presented as a powerful tool, potentially serving as a long-term solution or a critical bridge technology to a cleaner energy system.
This episode of TILclimate delves into nuclear power with Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno from MIT, explaining nuclear fission, uranium fuel, and its benefits like abundant, dense, dispatchable, and greenhouse gas-free electricity. The discussion robustly addresses major concerns, detailing the safe management of nuclear waste, the low risk of proliferation from power plant fuel, and the true impacts of accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima, emphasizing that related deaths were often due to evacuation rather than radiation. Ultimately, it argues for nuclear power as a vital, safe component of a diversified clean energy portfolio to combat climate change.
This episode explores energy efficiency, distinguishing it from conservation and highlighting its benefits for reducing carbon emissions and saving money. It delves into the technical feasibility of making buildings more efficient and the economic incentives, while also addressing the significant challenge of widespread adoption, especially in residential sectors. Ultimately, energy efficiency is presented as a vital enabler for the future electrification of heating and transportation, making the shift to clean energy more achievable.
This episode explores the promise of wind and solar power, detailing their advantages as renewable, abundant, and increasingly cost-effective energy sources. It addresses the critical challenge of their intermittent nature, explaining the necessity of energy storage solutions like batteries and pumped hydro, alongside improved transmission and demand-side management. The discussion concludes that a truly stable, zero-carbon electricity future will likely require a diverse portfolio, integrating technologies such as nuclear and carbon capture, to ensure reliable power on demand.
This episode provides a foundational understanding of "energy" versus "electricity," explaining that energy is a broad term while electricity is a specific form. It details how the U.S. allocates its energy, with only about 40% used for electricity, and the remaining 60% for direct heat, industrial processes, and transportation. The discussion culminates in presenting electrification of heat and transport as a major strategy to reduce CO2, shifting emissions from distributed sources to potentially cleaner, centralized power generation.
Host Laur Hesse Fisher and Dr. John Reilly from MIT Sloan School of Management explain the different types of fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—and their historical and current roles in the US energy supply. They discuss how hydraulic fracturing (fracking) transformed the US energy economy, making natural gas cheaper and leading to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions by displacing coal. The episode concludes by addressing the ongoing debate about whether natural gas serves as a bridge to a cleaner energy future or creates a dependency, highlighting the global challenge of making clean energy competitive.
Explore the origins and mechanics of the electric grid, from Edison's first power plant to its widespread adoption across America. Learn about the complex system of generating, transmitting, and distributing electricity, and the critical need to instantly balance supply and demand. The discussion highlights the challenges posed by intermittent renewables and the imperative to electrify heating and transportation for a clean energy future.
Here at TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), there’s one question we get from our listeners more than any other: “What can I do to make a difference on climate change?” In this special episode of the podcast, three guests who have made acting on climate a big part of their lives join interim host Aaron Krol to share their stories and their advice for those who want to do more. Together, we discuss how to mobilize and inspire others, how small individual actions can lead to large societal ones,...
Host Laur Hesse Fisher and Janos Pasztor explore geoengineering, defining it as intentional, large-scale atmospheric alteration. They detail two main types: carbon dioxide removal, which actively pulls CO2 from the atmosphere, and solar radiation modification, which aims to reflect sunlight. The discussion highlights the opportunities, the scientific mechanisms, and critically, the profound ethical and governance challenges society faces in deciding whether and how to implement these powerful technologies.
What exactly is a carbon price, and how does it work? What would it look like and how would it change everyday life? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT economics professor Christopher Knittel joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to break down the complexities of carbon pricing. Together, they explain different types of programs, give us a sense of how much it would cost, and explore how countries and U.S. states are experimenting with carbon pricing now. Christopher Knittel is...
MIT professor Elfatih Eltahir details the varied global impacts of climate change, using sophisticated computer models to predict regional outcomes. He highlights how malaria might shift in Africa, water availability in the Nile could change, and extreme heat waves threaten Asia. The discussion also touches on potential economic benefits in northern latitudes and the importance of informing local policy with scientific data.
How do we make choices in the face of uncertainty? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT professor Kerry Emanuel joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to talk about climate risk. Together, they break down why the climate system is so hard to predict, what exactly scientists mean when they talk about “uncertainty”, and how scientists quantify and assess the risks associated with climate change. Although this uncertainty shrinks every day — as researchers refine their work, computin...
This episode explores how hurricanes, as "heat engines," function and how climate change is predicted to make them more intense, with stronger winds and increased rainfall. Professor Kerry Emanuel details the magnified risks of storm surges and flash floods, exacerbated by rising sea levels. The discussion also covers the economic costs of these events and various adaptation strategies being implemented globally to mitigate growing hurricane threats.
MIT Professor Elsa Olivetti discusses the "study of stuff," revealing how materials production and manufacturing are responsible for a staggering one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. The episode identifies steel and cement as the largest contributors, explaining that emissions arise from both energy consumption in factories and chemical reactions. Solutions explored include using waste materials, developing alternative components, and addressing the increasing complexity of modern products that hinders recycling efforts.
This episode explores how human activities have significantly changed cloud formation and precipitation patterns by introducing various particulate matter into the atmosphere. MIT Professor Dan Cziczo explains how scientists study these complex interactions and contrasts the warming effect of contrails with the cooling effect of natural clouds. The discussion also touches on the controversial topic of geoengineering and emphasizes that despite some scientific uncertainties, proactive individual and societal action on climate change is essential.
“I love to travel. But I hate the fact that something I love to do, creates so much pollution.” In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT professor Steven Barrett and host Laur Hesse Fisher dig into how — and why — air travel impacts our earth’s climate, and what solutions are on the horizon. They explore the surprising heating effect of condensation trails (“contrails”), how computer simulations of the earth’s climate system are built, and what scientists and engineers are d...
MIT Climate is launching a new show that breaks down climate science and its impact on our society. Here's a teaser. Full episodes will be released on March 20th. Follow us on Twitter @TILclimate Check out our website tilclimate.mit.edu Send a question you have about the climate to tilclimate@mit.edu
