ClimateGenn hosted by Nick Breeze

In this special inserted episode of Shaping The Future, we are discussing the 15th National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (or NOAA) Arctic Report Card that was published this week giving a detailed overview of how climate is changing the Arctic. Zack helps to break down the complexity of this annual report and highlights some of the major impacts that climate change is bringing to the polar Arctic region. With melting sea ice, extreme wildfires and the expanding population of Bowhead whales, the Arctic is a region changing before our eyes and one that has direct implications for weather patterns at lower latitudes. What is happening in the Arctic is literally the bellwether for the accelerating climate trends we see throughout the biosphere. It is also a ringing reminder for why we need to drastically cut emissions immediately and reduce atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Zack also gives us his personal view on whether geoengineering should be considered as part of a wider strategy for cooling or refreezing the Arctic. Thank you for listening to Shaping The Future - the Arctic report card is linked to in the notes below. Subscribe to the podcast on any of the main podcasting channels. Download the Arctic Report Card: https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/sea-ice-loss-and-extreme-wildfires-mark-another-year-of-arctic-change Follow Zack on Twitter: @ZLabe (https://twitter.com/ZLabe) More about the podcast: https://climateseries.com/climate-change-podcast and follow Nick Breeze on Twitter: @NickGBreeze

In this episode of Shaping The Future, we discuss the abrupt cooling of the Arctic in the late summer months that is preventing the widely anticipated further collapse of summer sea ice, whilst intensifying heatwaves at lower latitudes. This new hypothesis was recently published by Professor Jennifer Francis from the Woodwell Climate Research Centre in Falmouth, Massachusetts and Dr Woo from Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Fudan University, in Shanghai. It is not often anyone ever mentions negative feedback mechanisms when it comes to sea ice but this is exactly what is being suggested. Jennifer Francis has also been involved in research that links sea ice loss to changes in jet stream patterns that impact our weather in the northern hemisphere, and this work further unpicks the complexity of how the Arctic climate system interacts with the rest of the world. Thank you for listening to this podcast. In the next episode, I will be speaking with Dr Saima Wazed, who is the thematic ambassador of the Climate Vulnerable Forum representing Bangladesh. Dr Wazed discusses how extreme climate events can render people immediately vulnerable from a mental health perspective as they struggle to come to terms with the losses that these incur from livelihoods to suffering the loss of loved ones or both. A link to Dr’s Woo and Francis scientific paper is provided in the notes below. Download: Why has no new record-minimum Arctic sea-ice extent occurred since September 2012? https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abc047

In this episode of Shaping The Future, we are discussing the incoming Biden administration’s agenda on climate change and whether they can achieve it. Dan Lashof is the US Director of the World Resources Institute based in Washington and has a long history spanning decades working in environmental policy. In this interview, Dan discusses the need for an integrated action plan that tackles the pandemic, racial inequality, and the economy, with environmental policy being a key driver of change. He also outlines the damage caused by the outgoing Republican administration across over 100 environmental safeguards, while stressing that the challenge going forward will be in achieving a transformation of society within the timeframe that science tells us we have. The US is a key component in global climate action and the leadership they take now will set the pace for change going forward. The issues discussed here will be the basis of a struggle that will span the next few decades of this challenging century. Thank you for listening to Shaping The Future. In the next episode I am speaking to Professor Jennifer Francis about her recent research looking at Arctic sea ice and northern hemisphere warming mechanisms. Please do subscribe on the podcast on all major channels. Dan's post: https://www.wri.org/news/biden-climate-action-priorities https://climateseries.com/climate-change-podcast

In this episode of Shaping The Future, I am speaking to the Vatican’s head of ecology, Father Josh, who also happens to be coordinating the COVID-19 response within the Holy City. In May 2020 Pope Francis declared a year of Laudato Si, building on the work of his encyclical on climate change in order to inspire exponential change across all walks of life, including all forms of Christianity, other faiths, and like-minded people around the world. Through many advisors that make up the Pontifical academy of sciences among other advisers, church leaders are informed on climate and ecological science from some of the worlds most respected experts. Father Josh iterates the connection between nature, humanity and climate, while emphasising that the poor who have not caused this crisis are often the worst impacted and that a just response to climate change, means putting their needs at forefront of our actions. In this interview, Father Josh also reminds us that we must learn from the pandemic in order to reform our relationship with nature and live within planetary constraints. Thank you for listening to Shaping The Future - the next episode will feature the director of the World Resources Institute in Washington, Dan Lashof, discussing how impactful President-Elect Biden’s climate plans will likely be. Here is the link about the Laudato Si' Year and LS Action Platform (you can find the brochure in seven languages): http://www.humandevelopment.va/en/news/laudato-si-special-anniversary-year-plan.html Cambridge Climate Series & Shaping The Future: https://climateseries.com/climate-change-podcast

In this episode of Shaping The Future I am talking to Wall Street energy analyst Dan Dicker about his new book, Turning Oil Green- A market based path to renewables. Dan’s book gives us a lot of fascinating insights into how the oil markets work and how we should use the existing infrastructure of the markets and this toxic industry to literally turn oil green. Like many of the complexities around the climate crisis, pathways to progress often appear counter-intuitive at the outset. What I found revelatory in Dan’s perspective is that collapsing the oil price can destabilise nations, increase poverty and potentially derail the uptake of renewables in parts of the world where energy demand is only ever going to rise. One of the key issues around the emissions reduction and the transition to clean energy is the sheer scale of the challenge ahead. To successfully pass through the eye of this needle of opportunity and transform our world we must maximise our ability to meet these scales of enormity. Could Dan’s approach set out in his book get us some of the way there? We surely cannot at this point, take anything off the table. The book is available from Amazon and I have placed a link below. Thank you for listening to this episode of Shaping The Future. With the Pandemic causing devastating spikes in cases and deaths around the world, now could never be a more prescient time to reconsider the human journey. In the next episode, I speak to The Pope’s Coordinator of the Sector on Ecology at the Vatican, Father Joshtrum, about the pandemic, climate change and how this is the year of Laudato Si, the Pope’s encyclical on climate change. Turning Oil Green By Dan Dicker: https://amzn.to/3pJx14t More about The Cambridge Climate Lecture Series and Shaping The Future Podcast

In this episode of Shaping The Future, I’m discussing the risks posed by Geoengineering in the context of averting worst-case climate change, with author Professor Bill McGuire. Bill's new book, Skyseed, is his first full length foray into writing fiction, from a distinguished career as Emeritus Professor of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at University College London as well as being one of Britain's leading volcanologists. Skyseed presents the reader with a narrative of when humanity’s failure to address the climate crisis coupled with the political failure to say no to dangerous engineering interventions are gambled to reduce the impact of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. The scenario in the book is extreme but the story itself holds together very well as an existential consideration for where we are as an intelligent species on a living planet. Reducing our carbon emissions in every aspect of life, from agriculture to transport, travel, or heating our homes, is of critical importance in trying to stabilise our climate. Without an immediate thorough rethink, the risks of climate catastrophe, either by allowing global heating to run wild or by interventions that unleash any number of unintended consequences grow greater every day. Thank you for listening to this podcast. We are recording more interviews with a wide range of experts, so please do subscribe on any of the major podcast channels or Youtube, all accessible from climateseries.com. Buy Skyseed by Bill McGuire: https://amzn.to/3kd8IrN Find out more about the Cambridge Climate Lecture Series: https://climateseries.com/climate-change-podcast

Welcome to Shaping The Future. In this episode I am speaking with Dr Zack Labe at Colorado State University’s Department of Atmospheric Science about the perilous heat trends reshaping the Arctic. Zack is very well known on social media for bringing the climate data to life, in a series of visualisations and charts that depict extremes, such as we have seen recently in the Laptev Sea where the start of the sea ice formation is yet to begin. In this discussion also we talk about improving the general publics’ overall literacy on climate change and why panicking is not the preferred course of action. This is one in a series of interviews that seeks to gain insights into how scientists consider communicating the changes in the Earth system to wider audiences in order to promote greater awareness and understanding. Thanks for listening to Shaping The Future. In the next episode, I will be speaking with Professor Bill McGuire about his new book Sky Seed. This novel tells the fictional-apocalyptic-story of a geoengineering experiment that has a chilling outcome. You can subscribe on any major channel or listen on Youtube. For more information on CCLS and this series please visit climateseries.com. Follow Zack's live updates on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZLabe His personal website: https://sites.uci.edu/zlabe/ #climatechange #climatecrisis #arcticchange #arctic #climatechangepodcast

In this episode of Shaping The Future, I am speaking with Adrian Tait, a founding member of the Climate Psychology Alliance, (the CPA). Adrian discusses how the linkages between events such as the US election and COVID-19 are compounding the anxiety that many people feel about the climate and ecological crisis. In particular, he discusses Through The Door, a CPA initiative that has been utilised to help create a space where people who share anxieties about climate and ecology can come together. These groups are self-sustaining and may well offer the foundations of psychological resilience needed in ever more troubled times. One key observation is that the pandemic offers insights into how a society under pressure responds. In particular, Adrian highlights how necessary it is to discern the conflicting desires between a return to a pre-COVID world founded on unsustainable principals and the opportunity to reset our value systems and gear them towards a more balanced and sustainable world. Thank you for listening to ‘Shaping The Future’ - we have more episodes covering climate science, psychology, policy among the many complexities surrounding climate change. Please do subscribe on any of our channels to stay up to date. Find out more about the Cambridge Climate Lecture Series (CCLS and Shaping The Future Podcast Find out more about the CPA: https://www.climatepsychologyalliance.org/ Shaping The Future is now ranked in the Top 3 of Feedspot's Global Climate Change Podcast List

Welcome to Shaping The Future - In this episode, I am speaking to Rabbi Yonatan Neril in Jerusalem about his newly co-authored Eco-Bible, a book that reaches back through more than 2000 years of religious texts. At a time when religion in the US is being politicised and views are expressed about Gods will in consuming the Earth, Eco Bible uses 450 identified texts that clearly demonstrate the role religious teachings have had in promoting stewardship of the Earth. It has been my experience on numerous occasions of climate reporting that these underlying teachings exist across the multiple schools of faith that exist on the planet, from Christianity to Judaism, Islam and far far beyond. With 6 billion humans today identifying with some form of religion, what Yonatan has to say about our existence as spiritual beings in a physical world, carries a lot of weight. Thanks for listening to the Shaping The Future series. There are more podcasts being edited as we speak as we delve deeper into learning to live with and respond to the climate crisis. Please subscribe on any preferred channel to stay up to date. Eco Bible https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/173533880X/ shows how the Bible and its great scholars embrace care for God's creation as a fundamental and living message. It is co-authored by Rabbi Yonatan Neril, who founded and directs The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD), and Rabbi Leo Dee. who directed ICSD's faith and ecology programs, and graduated from Cambridge with a Masters in Engineering. Purchase EcoBible on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Eco-Bible-Yonatan-Neril/dp/173533880X More about Cambridge Climate Lecture Series and Shaping The Future: https://climateseries.com/climate-change-podcast

Welcome to Shaping The Future - in this episode, I am speaking with scientist and author, Professor Sarah Bridle, about her recently published book, ‘Food & Climate Change Without The Hot Air’ - Sarah’s book provides an invaluable perspective on the reality-versus-perception of the impact on climate change that our diet actually has. Sarah not only gives examples of how misleading, ideals about food buying, preparation and consumption can be, she also explains how the UK government (and I suspect many others) could implement policies that would please local food producers, whilst bolstering public support and reducing climate emissions, all at the same time. We are what we eat and our diets must be as sustainable as every other component of modern life. Sarah’s book is based on hard science but really does belong in the kitchen with all of our other reference books. It’s available from all major retailers and the Ebook is actually a subsidised free download so there is no excuse for not digesting this important work. Thank for listening to the podcast - please do subscribe on any of the major channels - we have plenty more interviews on the way and all of them have something positive to say around the discussion of how we shape a better future. Note again that the Kindle edition is free: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Food-Climate-Change-without-hot-ebook/dp/B0873WWT6W