The Sweaty Penguin

Companies, cities, and countries are making new climate plans and setting carbon neutral targets left and right. But how does anyone know if they’ve succeeded? That’s where carbon accounting becomes important, and today, the practice is facing some growing pains, not the least of which being that it is completely voluntary. Today, we explore why carbon accounting is important, what challenges it f...

Palm oil is used in close to 50% of packaged products at the supermarket, and according to the 2021 IPCC report, land use change for needs such as conversion from forest to oil farm is the second greatest contributor to human-induced climate change, behind fossil fuel use. The deforestation caused by palm oil causes not just climate change, but habitat loss for endangered species, land conflicts w...

Two lawsuits against a group of major oil companies have made news in the last couple weeks, both initiated by local governments alleging that these companies misrepresented and buried evidence for the climate damage that their products would cause. The oil companies have responded by essentially trying to move the lawsuits to other courtrooms. Environmentalists are frustrated by this tactic, but...

More than 60 experts, including several past guests on The Sweaty Penguin, made headlines last week for signing a letter that encourages the international community to adopt a non-use agreement for solar geoengineering—a set of technologies that aim to reflect or block out a fraction of the sunlight hitting the Earth in order to artificially cool the climate. But given the urgency of climate chang...

The word “aerosol” might make us think of hairspray and Fabreeze cans, but under the scientific definition, aerosols are a wide range of solid and liquid particles ranging from sea salt to dust to black carbon that end up in the atmosphere. These aerosols actually have a net cooling effect on the climate, but considering their health impacts and their propensity to worsen droughts and rainstorms,...

When people flick a light switch, they expect the light to turn on. And supplying enough electricity to meet that expectation in a climate-friendly, cost-efficient way is a major challenge, which led to the invention of the smart grid—an electrical grid where suppliers also receive data back from customers to help them distribute electricity and avoid power outages. But as promising as this techno...

Natural rubber is widely considered a more eco-friendly and better product than synthetic rubber, but it still presents some issues. Natural rubber contributes to deforestation, biodiversity loss, pollution, and more. But climate change and disease also threaten natural rubber. And in a global market that already sees volatile prices, impoverished farmers, the stealing of land from Indigenous comm...

Research presented at the American Geophysical Union this month found cracks on the ice shelf holding back the Thwaites glacier: a mass of dense, landlocked ice the size of Florida. When the shelf collapses, which scientists now estimate will happen in five years, Thwaites will start moving toward the ocean, leading to sea level rise that exceeds even our worst-case scenario projections and would...

On December 10th and 11th, historic tornadoes wreaked havoc on Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and almost instantaneously, people made the assumption that climate change played a role. But while tornadoes of this severity in December are unprecedented, scientists have not yet determined a link between climate change and tornadoes. Ethan breaks down what we know,...

They’re older than the dinosaurs, they’ve survived four mass extinctions, and yet today, in the wake of climate change, pollution, and commercial fishing, sharks are endangered. As an apex predator, this steep decline in sharks also has massive ramifications for marine ecosystems and the economy more broadly, and because sharks don’t produce offspring at nearly the levels of other fish, it’s very...

Why is it so difficult to achieve effective environmental policy in the United States? Is it just a lack of willpower, or is there a little more to it? Today, we explore some of the lesser-discussed procedural barriers to environmental policy development such as the amendment process, the recent preference for omnibus bills, and certain state preemptions, and consider if there are ways around thes...

Flu season is fast approaching, and with it comes a Sweaty Penguin episode revealing that temperature rise, air pollution, and wildfires can actually make the impacts of the flu worse. But how can that be? The flu is at its worst in the winter, so shouldn’t a warmer climate help? Unfortunately, and perhaps surprisingly, it doesn’t actually play out that way. Today, we cover how influenza works, wh...

COP26 concluded with the adoption of the “Glasgow climate pact,” which was revised at the last minute due to demands from China and India to change the phrase “phase out coal” to “phase down coal,” which infuriated much of the rest of the world. But are the two phrases really that different? Will phasing “down” lead to a different outcome? Why would China and India make this demand? Ethan breaks a...

The average American coffee drinker drinks over three cups of coffee per day, and that demand is only getting bigger. But unfortunately, coffee is a ridiculously sensitive plant, meaning even the tiniest changes in climate can eliminate many of the world’s current coffee growing regions and put farmers who often make as little as $2-3 per day in an even more difficult situation. Today, we discuss...

Even before the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow started, many in the environmental movement were ready to call it a failure, feeling world leaders would just spend the two weeks making empty promises. But while frustration about climate change to this point is warranted, is COP26 the right outlet? In The Sweaty Penguin’s first ever edition of “Tip of the Iceberg,” Ethan br...

Today, orangutans are confined to just two islands in Indonesia and Malaysia, and due to forest loss, poaching, and climate change, they’re endangered. And although there’s tons of conservationists doing interesting work to protect orangutans, finding a long-term solution for the species may require us to think more outside the box. Today, we explore why orangutans are important, what threats they...

We may never notice it ourselves, but climate change and air pollution can actually affect our day-to-day performance at our jobs. Studies ranging from agricultural workers to call center workers to chess players and baseball umpires find measurable decreases in productivity because of these environmental issues. And whether you’re concerned about your health, your paycheck, your career advancemen...

Is nuclear energy good or is it bad? Is it the answer to our climate woes or is it Chernobyl 2.0? Or, maybe, is it a little bit more nuanced than that? Today, we break down some of the criticisms of nuclear energy such as safety, radioactive waste, water use, and cost, consider to what degree these criticisms are issues, and discuss the future of nuclear energy in a carbon-free world. With special...

The chocolate industry is under the control of three companies called the cocoa traders who essentially force the cocoa farmers in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana to sell their cocoa at ridiculously low prices. This setup pushes farmers into poverty, and many of them resort to illegal deforestation and child labor in order to grow enough cocoa to survive. And as climate change intensifies, the problems fo...

After some of the latest environmental news updates, Ethan sits down with The Sweaty Penguin’s Researchers Olivia Amitay, Megan Crimmins, and Dain Kim to recap season 3. They’ll share favorite episodes, biggest takeaways, best behind the scenes moments, and then face off in the second ever Sweaty Penguin finale bonus episode Kahoot! See how much you remembered from season 3 and find out which rese...

Despite being the world’s most powerful international body on the environment, the United Nations Environment Programme is anything but powerful: monetary contributions from member countries are voluntary and enforcement of environmental treaties is non-existent. With climate change looming and UNEP struggling to facilitate bold climate action, many scholars have called for UNEP to be reformed int...

The Sweaty Penguin has covered many of the benefits of adding greenspace in an urban neighborhood, building jetties or seawalls to protect a coastal community, or simply living on higher ground in a city prone to floods and hurricanes. But could these seemingly great climate resilience strategies actually cause a problem for the people living in these neighborhoods? Today, we explore what gentrifi...

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemicals used in nonstick pans, food packaging, cosmetics, textiles, firefighting foam, and more common products. Unfortunately, PFAS has terrifying health effects such as liver damage, immune system damage, and even cancer. And to make matters worse, (1) PFAS doesn’t break down, (2) 95% of Americans have already been exposed to PFAS, and...

Winegrowing is all about controlling the slightest variations of flavor. With climate change causing warmer temperatures that change wine flavor, wildfires that turn grapes smokey, and sudden frosts that can entirely ruin a harvest, wine lovers certainly have reason to be concerned. This week, we discuss how climate change impacts wine, how these challenges fit into the rapidly globalizing wine in...

After some of the latest environmental news updates, Ethan sits down with Leo Brother and Velina Georgi for a bipartisan conversation on episode 29: “Maple Syrup.” Support the show and unlock exclusive merch, bonus content, and more for as little as $5/month at patreon.com/thesweatypenguin .