Climate Cast

Federal tax credits for solar projects are expiring at the end of this year, and some smaller towns in rural Minnesota have tapped into the benefits. For Climate Cast this week, MPR News meteorologist Paul Huttner talks to Minnesota Star Tribune reporter Kristoffer Tigue about the skepticism around solar power that many small and local governments had adopted over the years and the economic benefi...

Minnesota continues to bask in warmer temperatures, blurring our seasons together. “If you break it up month by month, the biggest change we've seen is Septembers,” said Pete Boulay, assistant state climatologist with the Minnesota State Climate Office. “September is evolving into an extension of summer.” Average temperatures for the fall season have been warming up about one degree a decade since...

New research  indicates warmer oceans may change ocean currents and atmospheric patterns in a big way. In this episode of Climate Cast, MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner continues his conversation with  John Abraham  of the University of St. Thomas about shifting currents in the Atlantic Ocean and the importance of measuring ocean temperatures.

Climate scientists have known about connections between oceans and the atmosphere for decades, but new research indicates warmer oceans may change ocean currents and atmospheric patterns in a big way. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talked with John Abraham of the University of St. Thomas about shifting ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean. The following has been lightly edited for clari...

The jet stream, a fast-moving river of air thousands feet above Earth, steers storms and weather systems around the globe. Scientists have been studying how climate changes impact the jet stream for decades. Now, one study in the scientific journal Nature , discovered a jet stream behavior change. “The jet streams are shifting,” said Larry Di Girolamo , professor and climate researcher with the Un...

Summer is in its waning weeks and weather at the Great Minnesota Get-Together has been fair — for the most part.  MPR News meteorologists Paul Huttner, Sven Sunggard and Mandy Thalhuber hosted their annual Climate Cast conversation in front of an audience at the Minnesota State Fair.  Together, they reflected on weather patterns from all four seasons. Audience members shared their questions, too,...

Fireflies across the U.S. have seen a robust surge in growth this summer in part to a wetter weather pattern. But those fiery little critters — which some call lightning bugs — might be in a steady decline. “Insect populations are known to vary from year to year,” said Eric Berger , a freelance journalist for The Guardian. “A one-year increase is not enough to indicate that there has been a revers...

The smoky summer of 2025 has produced a near record number of air quality alerts for Minnesota. Most of this summer smoke has drifted in from these massive Canadian wildfires where more than 16 million acres of forest has burned in Canada this year. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talked with Matthew Taraldsen, a meteorologist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), about poo...

The Trump Administration has claimed that greenhouse gases don’t endanger people . And last month, the Environmental Protection Agency said it intends to rescind a landmark 2009 legal opinion — effectively ending all its climate regulations. This all comes on the cusp of a rapidly-warming planet fueling extreme weather events. A hotter planet poses an existential crisis on multiple fronts, said Al...

Despite efforts from some governments to slowly pull away from climate regulations and actions, one writer discovered a climate revolution through a combination of technology, science and community. “I was looking for our realistic hopes, when we're standing at an existential brink,” said Alan Weisman, author of “ Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World, Fighting to Find Us a Future. ” “...

Minnesota’s clear, cool lakes are heating up over the summer, and those warmer waters can produce a toxic agal bloom. “Blue-green algae is bacteria,” said Kim Laing, a surface monitoring manager with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “It often looks like pea soup [or] green paint; sometimes it might have a smell to it. It thrives in warm, shallow, nutrient-rich lakes.” Water that’s warmer th...

President Donald Trump’s massive budget bill eliminates tax credits and incentives for small and large scale solar and wind projects in Minnesota. It’s also projected to increase electricity bills across the state. The clean energy industry in Minnesota is now trying to figure out a new path forward in the wake of the massive federal budget bill where credits will dry up at the end of the year. “T...

Will Minnesota become a climate refuge for business? A survey conducted by MIT Technology Review Insights, in conjunction with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, asked 300 senior level executives in 14 industries how climate change is impacting their company’s bottom line. The overwhelming answer was that many companies have been harmed, to some degree, by climate change. And nearly ha...

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...

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 wer...

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 G...

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 h...

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 Cli...

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...

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 r...

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 operatin...

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, whic...

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...

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 meteorol...

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 a...