The Quanta Podcast How We Came To Know Earth
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Sep 16, 2025 Hannah Waters, a senior editor at Quanta Magazine specializing in biology, dives deep into the science of climate change. She explores the intricate relationship between Earth's systems and climate dynamics. Hannah highlights the significance of scientific collaboration in climate journalism and the evolution of climate models. The discussion also touches on climate tipping points and the psychological hurdles of facing climate uncertainties. Plus, she shares insights into how political factors influence climate research and communication.
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Climate Science As Deep Interconnected Inquiry
- Climate science reveals deep connections across rocks, atmosphere, microbes, and past climates to explain current change.
- Viewing these links helps reframe climate change as a broad, interdisciplinary scientific achievement.
Undergraduate Moment That Sparked A Career
- Hannah Waters discovered a climate signal during undergraduate oceanography research in 2008 that changed her career path.
- She observed warm-water fish appearing in Arctic waters, which she attributed to climate change and later became a journalist covering the topic.
Cutting Backgrounds That Became Focus
- Hannah often cut deep scientific background from news stories but found that those details sustained her curiosity and mental escape.
- She aimed to provide an updated, comprehensive background section that many climate stories omit.
