2024 set new records for extreme heat around the world in what is already the warmest decade on record. According to the World Meteorological Organization, sea-level rise and ocean heating are accelerating along with the loss of ice from glaciers. We continue to see extreme weather of all kinds wreak havoc on communities across the world. In spite of the growing disruption, countries continue to miss their self-imposed climate targets. And in November, the U.S. re-elected Donald Trump to the pre...
Dec 20, 2024•1 hr 7 min
For over a century, coal fueled much of the country and served as the economic backbone for many rural communities. But with the rise of more affordable wind and solar energy, coal is in decline, leaving these towns increasingly vulnerable. As jobs disappear, coal-dependent communities are faced with the threat of economic collapse and depopulation. To adapt, many are working to diversify their economies, seeking new industries and opportunities for the future. Today, we’ll visit coal communitie...
Dec 13, 2024•58 min
On the surface, climate policy couldn’t face a worse future than under a second Trump administration. As a candidate, Trump said on his first day back in office: “I want to drill, drill, drill.” So, what are environmental organizations, including those aligned with the Republican party, doing to keep making progress on addressing climate change? And what do Trump’s cabinet picks say about the incoming administration’s attitude toward energy policy? Guests: Abigail Dillen, President, Earthjustice...
Dec 06, 2024•58 min
Globally, one-third of food produced every year is wasted. That’s enough to feed about 2 billion people — twice the number of people who are undernourished. The global food system also accounts for a whopping one-third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. These two problems — waste and emissions — are intricately linked: Climate disruption exacerbates food insecurity. And industrial food production contributes to the climate crisis. When food is wasted, it’s also a waste of land, water and e...
Nov 29, 2024•59 min
Climate advocacy is a dangerous business. According to Global Witness, every week, somewhere in the world, between three and four environmental activists are killed. And even when they don’t suffer bodily harm, they are routinely arrested and jailed for speaking out. They are also sued in civil cases, bogging them down for years or even bankrupting them and their families. Each personal story in this episode is unique, but the physical threats and legal weapons fossil fuel companies and governme...
Nov 22, 2024•1 hr 4 min
For the third year in a row, the world’s most important climate conference is taking place in a country whose largest source of export revenue is fossil fuel. This year, over 190 countries are assembling in Baku, Azerbaijan. And despite nearly 30 years of pledges and promises, the UN’s recent Emissions Gap Report shows virtually every country failing to deliver on its promises. Ever since the Paris Agreement was signed at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP), the focus of this annual meeting has...
Nov 15, 2024•1 hr 3 min
When it comes to communicating climate science, weathercasters are uniquely positioned to connect the facts to viewers’ experiences. TV meteorologists are trusted members of their communities, and they’re often the only scientists the general public hears from regularly. How they communicate can shape public understanding and depoliticize a topic that has become disturbingly divisive. But in some parts of the country, politics continues to get in the way of the facts. So how do weathercasters ef...
Nov 08, 2024•1 hr
Artificial intelligence can do some pretty amazing things, including for the climate. AI can help optimize the electric grid, make heating and cooling buildings more efficient, and pinpoint exactly where greenhouse gas emissions are coming from all around the world. On the other hand, the energy use of AI is massive and growing. A recent study estimates that in just a few years, the extra energy needed will equal whole countries the size of Sweden or Argentina. How do we make sure the benefits o...
Nov 01, 2024•1 hr 1 min
If you’re a climate-conscious person, you likely already know some of the main ways you can reduce your contribution to greenhouse gasses: buy less, eat less meat, ride your bike. But there are other, less obvious methods we don’t always think of: voting, having climate conversations, engaging with your local government, changing where your money is invested. And while our role as individuals does matter, we’re more powerful when we work together in collective action. Guests: Jon Foley, Executiv...
Oct 25, 2024•1 hr
California has one of the most ambitious and highly engineered water delivery systems on the planet, and it’s being eyed for a new extension. The Delta Conveyance Project is Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal for a 45-mile underground tube that would tap fresh water from its source in the north and carry it beneath a vast wetland to users in the south. The Delta is the exchange point for half of California’s water supply, and the tunnel is an extension of the State Water Project, which was built i...
Oct 23, 2024•1 hr 3 min
In the last two decades, China has made big commitments to renewable energy — and it’s delivered. Last year, China installed more solar panels than the U.S. has in its history. Solar panel exports increased 38%, and lower prices have all but killed solar manufacturing in the U.S. and EU. Chinese company BYD recently surpassed Tesla as the world's largest EV maker — with cars at just a fraction of the cost. This has leaders in the West fretting about competition, but isn’t this good news for the ...
Oct 18, 2024•58 min
In the face of hurricanes, wildfires, droughts and other fossil fueled disasters, it’s easy to feel hopeless about the future of the climate. But marine biologist, and co-founder of The All We Can Save Project, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson asks us instead to focus on the question, “What if we get it right?” Johnson’s new book, also titled “What If We Get It Right?” features such climate luminaries as Third Act Founder Bill McKibben and Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen, whom we also feature i...
Oct 11, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Before Justin J. Pearson became a national voice for common sense gun regulation, he was a strong advocate for climate and environmental justice, having worked to defeat a multi-billion-dollar crude oil pipeline that could have poisoned Memphis’s drinking water and taken land from South Memphis residents. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb is working to make climate a top priority in his traditionally fossil fuel-friendly city. From his first press conference where he discussed making Cleveland a “15-m...
Oct 04, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Environmental icon Jane Goodall is celebrating 90 years of life, and she’s not backing off of her passionate commitment to nature. The indefatigable Goodall is now focused on three intertwined crises: biodiversity loss, climate change, and environmental inequity. She has one important message for her audiences around the world: vote like your children’s lives depend on it — because they do. Jane Goodall is joined by Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay, a nonprofit media organization that delivers ...
Sep 27, 2024•58 min
What we wear defines us in so many ways. But in recent decades we’ve moved away from long-lasting, quality pieces in favor of disposable fast fashion, with major consequences for our climate and environment. From mechanized farming and pesticides to grow fiber crops, to energy for manufacturing and transportation, fossil fuels are embedded in the clothing industry at every step of the process. Companies large and small are working against this trend, with some setting lofty goals for reducing ca...
Sep 20, 2024•1 hr 4 min
The U.S. is gearing up for a presidential election between a climate advocate and a climate denier. Scientists have given humanity a deadline to drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels if we want a habitable Earth. While there has been some progress, it’s not anywhere nearly enough, and the consequences of our failure to address our fossil fuel addiction is becoming more and more obvious. All of which generates lots of anxiety about the election’s outcome. So what are some ways we can address...
Sep 13, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Tom Steyer rose to public prominence as the billionaire investor and climate organizer who ran for president in the 2020 election on a climate-first platform. While he didn’t secure the Democratic nomination, his dedication to supporting and advancing climate solutions has remained steadfast. In his new book, “Cheaper, Better, Faster: How We’ll Win the Climate War,” Steyer argues that we are in a defining moment: We face the daunting, existential threat of climate change. And yet, with this grea...
Sep 06, 2024•1 hr 2 min
The U.S. military is one of the world’s largest consumers of fossil fuels. And its carbon pollution is equally huge. At the same time, climate disruption is already amplifying crises and conflicts around the world — making climate change, in the words of one military expert, “a threat multiplier.” The Department of Defense has been making moves to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. The Air Force has recently invested in electric aircraft, and several bases are tapping into geothermal energy ...
Aug 30, 2024•1 hr 2 min
The leaders at the top of the Republican Party want the U.S. to double down on carbon-intensive oil and gas — and avoid reckoning with the damage they cause. As temperatures continue to rise, a majority of young Republican voters say clinging to that stance could spell trouble for the sustainability of the GOP. And yet, conservatives aren’t a monolith when it comes to climate. A small wing of the party is warming up to the idea of climate action. The question is: Can those Republicans, who take ...
Aug 23, 2024•59 min
The nation’s electric grid needs to be expanded and made more reliable for our future energy demands and climate forecasts. The way we’ve built transmission in the past — regionally siloed with short term planning — is now suffering from reliability and capacity issues and won’t work for the next century. The Department of Energy is drafting plans for national transmission corridors to help speed new construction. It’s also handing out funds to build new lines and upgrade existing infrastructure...
Aug 16, 2024•1 hr
Last year was the hottest in recorded history, and this summer, much of the United States has already experienced record-shattering heat waves. That leaves millions of workers risking their health and possibly even their lives while on the job. And the danger is not limited to those who work outdoors. Warehouses, restaurants, and other indoor spaces are heating up. Most jobs lack heat protection from the federal or state government, but the same groups that brought us the 40-hour work week, chil...
Aug 09, 2024•1 hr
This week we take a trip to Mexico, a petrostate that just elected climate scientist Claudia Sheinbaum as its next president. She’s also the former mayor of Mexico City, the largest city in North America, which has been going through a major water crisis due to climate change. It’s at risk of running out of water — and it has been for a long time. In fact, much of the country is coping with drought and heat waves exacerbated by climate change. Christine Colvin, a hydrogeologist with WWF Internat...
Aug 02, 2024•1 hr 1 min
The Summer Olympic Games are here! That means more than 300 events, ten thousand athletes and millions of spectators coming to watch. And the athletes are not the only ones with an Olympian task; the organizers of the Paris Games pledged to make their event emit only half of the carbon pollution of the 2012 London Games. In order to make that happen, they are trying to do more — by doing less. Instead of building huge new structures, they’ve renovated a number of existing venues and installed a ...
Jul 26, 2024•1 hr 2 min
This November, voters may have the rare opportunity to choose based on the records of two administrations that have each already had one turn at the helm. Regardless of who ends up at the top of the Democratic ticket, when it comes to climate in particular, a lot is at stake. As Biden’s presidency winds down, the administration has been enacting numerous climate initiatives on top of his already robust climate wins, like new guidance on permitting and a new solar program. Meanwhile, former Presi...
Jul 21, 2024•1 hr 6 min
There are climate heroes everywhere among us, but few get the public attention they deserve. Matt Scott, director of storytelling and engagement at Project Drawdown, has been shining a light on the work of such people in cities across the country in his documentary short series “Drawdown’s Neighborhood.” In Atlanta, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, the San Francisco Bay Area and more, Scott lifts up underrepresented voices of those working directly in their communities on climate issues. This week, we f...
Jul 12, 2024•1 hr 1 min
One of the most common questions people ask about climate is: what can I do? Since time is one of our most valuable resources — and we spend so much of our time at work — changing jobs may be the most effective individual climate action a person can take. Those changes could be big or small: Leaving the oil and gas industry for geothermal, or helping to bring down the emissions where you already work. The truth is, almost any job can be a climate job. But how do people actually make the transiti...
Jul 05, 2024•59 min
As countries around the world become more serious about reducing carbon emissions to meet international targets, many are still approving new oil and gas projects, committing us to increased global warming. Yet an increasing number of countries are taking a stand to leave those future emissions in the ground, even at the expense of their own profits. Last year, Ecuadorians voted to halt the development of new oil wells in the Yasuní National Park in the Amazon, keeping around 726 million barrels...
Jun 28, 2024•1 hr
Adam Met is a behind-the-scenes climate policy powerhouse. He also happens to be the bass player in the award winning indie pop group AJR. During Met’s time away from touring the world and rocking the bass in front of thousands of fans, he and the team at Planet Reimagined, the thought and action tank Met founded, set out on a cross country listening tour in order to better understand how to create bipartisan climate policy. What they came up with is a plan to help renewable energy projects get ...
Jun 21, 2024•53 min
Acting like a responsible adult can be challenging at the best of times. Add dealing with climate chaos to the mix, and keeping it all together can feel like an outright miracle. Let’s start by acknowledging that all does not feel fine in the world at the present moment. But living through extreme intensity isn’t a completely unique experience. Generations before us have endured existential crises of unimaginable magnitudes. So how do we navigate this period of uncertainty — regardless of our ag...
Jun 14, 2024•57 min
More than 7% of California has burned in the last five years. Clearly, past methods of wildfire prevention haven’t worked. Now, California is embracing a variety of new approaches to land management in an effort to beat back the flames. California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot oversees the state's public lands, parks, wildlife and its firefighting agency, CalFire. As part of our slate of SF Climate Week events, Secretary Crowfoot spoke with KQED Science Reporter Danielle Venton about...
Jun 10, 2024•16 min
