In This Climate

When we learned about the storm-resilient Hunter's Point South Park, we immediately took interest in the resilience potential of urban public space. Then came the questions. How can we manage public space to work in line with local ecology and protect residents from the effects of climate change, all while respecting neighborhood identity and keeping that space truly public? In this two-part serie...

Positioned in the driest desert in the United States, Las Vegas is one of the nation's fastest-warming cities. In our second episode, we look past the current urban landscape to the potential of a redesigned city. In this series: Sondra Cosgrove, College of Southern Nevada history professor and League of Women Voters NV president Chris Milly, USGS research hydrologist Steffen Lehmann, UNLV School...

Positioned in the driest desert in the United States, Las Vegas is one of the nation's fastest-warming cities. In our first episode, we focus on the intertwined environmental, indigenous, and settler histories of the region, with an eye on what might be informative for the future. In this series: Sondra Cosgrove, College of Southern Nevada history professor and League of Women Voters NV president...

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco hosted in late 2019 the Fed's first conference focused on climate change . There, researchers presented on topics ranging from the effects of climate change on the global workforce to the interaction between pollution and interest rate. But the day kicked off with one series of questions: why this and why now?   In this episode, with the help of Reuters re...

The legacy of environmental (in)justice stretches beyond the commencement of the industrial revolution, and according to long-time community organizer Peggy Shepard, it remains among the greatest challenges of the next generation. This episode, we discuss the definition of environmental justice, how it tends to play out for regulators, and examples of communities around the world standing up for f...

Millions of gallons of oil leaked into the ground under Greenpoint, adding a sheen to Newtown Creek and a substance like "black mayonnaise" to the yards of the neighborhood's working class residents. More than 20 years later, the Coast Guard officially discovered the spill. The chain of events that followed prompted the Just Green Enough strategy, which uncouples remediation and resilience from lu...

Long-time residents of higher-elevation Miami neighborhoods have anticipated for decades an influx of wealthy people retreating from flood-prone areas. Then, as it finally began to happen, as households and businesses began to face displacement, as public understanding of climate change swelled, the long-time residents received little assistance. Despite the late 2018 adoption of a City resolution...

For thousands of generations, people have connected with their environments through music. They've developed ecological empathy, communicated with the divine, and passed their understandings through space and time. Today, from  Frank Waln's  "Oil 4 Blood" to Billie Eilish's climate-tinged " All the Good Girls Go to Hell ," popular artists continue to weave environmental activism into their art. Si...

For thousands of generations, people have connected with their environments through music. They've developed ecological empathy, communicated with the divine, and passed their understandings through space and time. Today, from Frank Waln's "Oil 4 Blood" to Billie Eilish's climate -tinged " All the Good Girls Go to Hell ," popular artists continue to weave environmental activism into their art. Sim...

In our second episode covering this season's Australian bushfires, we discuss effects on wildlife and communities, whether in the fire zone or choked by smoke. Then, we turn to the generative and unifying role of artists near and far in times of crisis. If you are interested in supporting the ongoing work to protect and recover Australia's wildlife, a couple options mentioned in the episode are Ka...

In our first episode covering this season's Australian bushfires, we speak with Arabella Douglas . She is a traditional owner who belongs to the Currie family of the Yugambeh and Bundjalung nations near the Gold Coast of Australia. She also researches behavioral economics and social impact investing at Griffith University . As we entered 2020 and fires swelled, swallowing towns and protected bush,...

As cities viable for hosting the Winter Olympics dwindle, ski resorts face shorter seasons, and climbers work with less predictable terrain, the winter sports industry acts as a key site influencing climate policy. 2:00 - Auden Schendler of Aspen Skiing Company and Protect Our Winters 14:15 - Allen Hershkowitz of Sport and Sustainability International (SandSI)

In the new year, we're returning to our first episode, "How the Arctic caught fire." But this time, we focus in on the Gwich'in perspective. Edward Alexander, co-chair of the Gwich'in Council International, tells us how he and those around him are working with the Arctic Council to exchange information and resources in support of a collaborative and resilient Arctic future.

From the peaks of the Appalachians to a wave of Belgian plantations and the Louisiana shoreline, we explore how the age-old holiday tradition of tree decoration intertwines with the environment. 1:45 - holiday trees in Bloomington 6:45 - Al Eernisse of Greene County Trees on farming today 12:00 - Lauren Wood of Virginia Commonwealth University on the fate of the Fraser fir 19:30 - story about bird...

When so many of us feel responsible for and powerless against climate change, it can be difficult to assess which actions are effective. In this episode, associate producer Jacob Einstein speaks with Chelsea Campbell about the environmental app she developed and explores the relationship between individual and collective action in the fight against climate change.

What does a Tesla have to do with red mud and white seaweed in Indonesia? What stands in the way of solid state batteries? How can you tell what's really powering your electric vehicle? In this episode, we work through trends and complications in the technology that could deliver transportation powered by renewable energy. 3:30 - Greg Less of the University of Michigan Energy Institute's Battery L...

The In This Climate team is thankful for a lot this year. Since our first episode at the beginning of September, we've covered wildfires as they relate to the Arctic, air quality, and wine. We've explored birds and coffee and a little bit of the intersection. We've featured stories about communities standing up for their health and talked with experts about topics ranging from hurricane communicat...

As climate changes, so do pieces of culture. Pieces like car ownership, outdoor sports, and the drinks we share. This is the final episode in our beverage series, and it's all about coffee. We follow guests to Colombia, El Salvador, and Costa Rica to learn about the systems preventing coffee farmers from building climate resilience and possibilities for improvement. In this episode: James Harper o...

As climate changes, so do pieces of culture. Pieces like car ownership, outdoor sports, and the drinks we share. This is the second episode in our beverage series, and it's all about wine. We start at a vineyard and winery in California, take a look at the growing wine industry in China, go back to 2003's Europe, and finally return to the present day with challenges and opportunities in resilience...

As climate changes, so do pieces of culture. Pieces like car ownership, outdoor sports, and the drinks we share. This is the first episode in our beverage series, and it's all about beer. From field to glass, we explore challenges for barley farmers, options in sustainable brewing, and the willingness of the public to invest in more environmentally friendly beer. 4:30 - Steven Davis of University...

We took a trip to Fort Collins, Colorado, for the annual Society of Environmental Journalists conference, and we want to tell you about it. Between the Rocky Mountains and the short-grass prairie, topics surrounding public lands flowed easily — as did connections with journalists, researchers and other attendees. In this episode, we dig into the conversations, moods, and trends that emerge when en...

Late September in the U.S. saw a host of abnormal weather events: record heat in the Southeast, a Category 5 hurricane in an odd location, and five feet of snow in Montana. This episode, the team zeroes in on the early, heavy snows that could have a long-term effect on farmers in the Northern Plains. 2:00 - Gerald Wagner, director of the Blackfeet Environmental Office 14:00 - Ray Wolf, science and...

Like many of us, Bathsheba Demuth grew up seeing the human world and the natural world as separate. Then, she spent a couple years between high school and college in Old Crow, Yukon. There, she developed a sense of a social world that contains more than human beings. Emily talks in this episode with Demuth, now a Brown University Assistant Professor of History & Environment and Society, about her...

In fewer than 50 years, North America has lost 2.9 billion birds, nearly a third of the 1970 population. In this episode, the team explores the significance of birds, the story of one unloved variety and the ways people can work to bring back our feathered friends. Hint: a big one is birding. 2:15 - black vulture story with Katie Fallon from the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia 11:00 - inte...

With rising and warming ocean waters, hurricanes are on track to intensify. This change means greater risk for people in the path and greater need for effective long- and short-term risk communication. But the story of the hurricane doesn't stop with the radar, or the rescues, or la renuncia, or the rebuild. To understand the chatter around hurricane season, the team talks this week with a meteoro...