Future of Life Institute Podcast

Right before civil war broke out in 2011, Syria experienced a historic five-year drought. This particular drought, which exacerbated economic and political insecurity within the country, may or may not have been caused by climate change. But as climate change increases the frequency of such extreme events, it’s almost certain to inflame pre-existing tensions in other countries — and in some cases, to trigger armed conflict. On Not Cool episode 22, Ariel is joined by Cullen Hendrix, co-author of “Climate as a risk factor for armed conflict.” Cullen, who serves as Director of the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy and Senior Research Advisor at the Center for Climate & Security, explains the main drivers of conflict and the impact that climate change may have on them. He also discusses the role of climate change in current conflicts like those in Syria, Yemen, and northern Nigeria; the political implications of such conflicts for Europe and other developed regions; and the chance that climate change might ultimately foster cooperation. Topics discussed include: -4 major drivers of conflict -Yemeni & Syrian civil wars -Boko Haram conflict -Arab Spring -Decline in predictability of at-risk countries: -Instability in South/central America -Climate-driven migration -International conflict -Implications for developing vs. developed countries -Impact of Syrian civil war/migrant crisis on EU -Backlash in domestic European politics -Brexit -Dealing with uncertainty -Actionable steps for governments

The increase of CO2 in the atmosphere is doing more than just warming the planet and threatening the lives of many terrestrial species. A large percentage of that carbon is actually reabsorbed by the oceans, causing a phenomenon known as ocean acidification — that is, our carbon emissions are literally changing the chemistry of ocean water and threatening ocean ecosystems worldwide. On Not Cool episode 21, Ariel is joined by Libby Jewett, founding Director of the Ocean Acidification Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who explains the chemistry behind ocean acidification, its impact on animals and plant life, and the strategies for helping organisms adapt to its effects. She also discusses the vulnerability of human communities that depend on marine resources, the implications for people who don't live near the ocean, and the relationship between ocean acidification and climate change. Topics discussed include: -Chemistry of ocean acidification -Impact on animals and plant life -Coral reefs -Variation in acidification between oceans -Economic repercussions -Vulnerability of resources and human communities -Global effects of ocean acidification -Adaptation and management -Mitigation -Acidification of freshwater bodies -Geoengineering

This summer, the world watched in near-universal horror as thousands of square miles of rainforest went up in flames. But what exactly makes forests so precious — and deforestation so costly? On the 20th episode of Not Cool, Ariel explores the many ways in which forests impact the global climate — and the profound price we pay when we destroy them. She’s joined by Deborah Lawrence, Environmental Science Professor at the University of Virginia whose research focuses on the ecological effects of tropical deforestation. Deborah discusses the causes of this year's Amazon rain forest fires, the varying climate impacts of different types of forests, and the relationship between deforestation, agriculture, and carbon emissions. She also explains why the Amazon is not the lungs of the planet, what makes tropical forests so good at global cooling, and how putting a price on carbon emissions could slow deforestation. Topics discussed include: -Amazon rain forest fires -Deforestation of the rainforest -Tipping points in deforestation -Climate impacts of forests: local vs. global -Evapotranspiration -Why tropical forests do the most cooling -Non-climate impacts of forests -Global rate of deforestation -Why the amazon is not the lungs of the planet -Impacts of agriculture on forests -Using degraded land for new crops -Connection between forests and other greenhouse gases -Individual actions and policies

There exist many facts about the nature of reality which stand at odds with our commonly held intuitions and experiences of the world. Ultimately, there is a relativity of the simultaneity of events and there is no universal "now." Are these facts baked into our experience of the world? Or are our experiences and intuitions at odds with these facts? When we consider this, the origins of our mental models, and what modern physics and cosmology tell us about the nature of reality, we are beckoned to identify our commonly held experiences and intuitions, to analyze them in the light of modern science and philosophy, and to come to new implicit, explicit, and experiential understandings of reality. In his book Cosmological Koans: A Journey to the Heart of Physical Reality, FLI co-founder Anthony Aguirre explores the nature of space, time, motion, quantum physics, cosmology, the observer, identity, and existence itself through Zen koans fueled by science and designed to elicit questions, experiences, and conceptual shifts in the reader. The universe can be deeply counter-intuitive at many levels and this conversation, rooted in Anthony's book, is an attempt at exploring this problem and articulating the contemporary frontiers of science and philosophy. Topics discussed include: -What is skillful of a synergy of Zen and scientific reasoning -The history and philosophy of science -The role of the observer in science and knowledge -The nature of information -What counts as real -The world in and of itself and the world we experience as populated by our concepts and models of it -Identity in human beings and future AI systems -Questions of how identity should evolve -Responsibilities and open questions associated with architecting life 3.0 You can find the podcast page, including the transcript, here: https://futureoflife.org/2019/10/31/cosmological-koans-a-journey-to-the-heart-of-physical-reality-with-anthony-aguirre/

Carbon emissions account for about 50% of warming, yet carbon overwhelmingly dominates the climate change discussion. On Episode 19 of Not Cool, Ariel is joined by Ilissa Ocko for a closer look at the non-carbon causes of climate change — like methane, sulphur dioxide, and an aerosol known as black carbon — that are driving the other 50% of warming.  Ilissa is a senior climate scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund and an expert on short-lived climate pollutants. She explains how these non-carbon pollutants affect the environment, where they’re coming from, and why they’ve received such little attention relative to carbon. She also discusses a major problem with the way we model climate impacts over 100-year time scales, the barriers to implementing a solution, and more. Topics discussed include: -Anthropogenic aerosols -Non-CO2 climate forcers: black carbon, methane, etc. -Warming vs. cooling pollutants -Environmental impacts of methane emissions -Modeling methane vs. carbon -Why we need to look at climate impacts on different timescales -Why we shouldn't geoengineer with cooling aerosols -How we can reduce methane emissions

In many ways, the global carbon budget is like any other budget. There’s a maximum amount we can spend, and it must be allocated to various countries and various needs. But how do we determine how much carbon each country can emit? Can developing countries grow their economies without increasing their emissions? And if a large portion of China’s emissions come from products  made for American and European consumption, who’s to blame for those emissions? On episode 18 of Not Cool, Ariel is joined by Glen Peters, Research Director at the Center for International Climate Research (CICERO) in Oslo. Glen explains the components that make up the carbon budget, the complexities of its calculation, and its implications for climate policy and mitigation efforts. He also discusses how emissions are allocated to different countries, how emissions are related to economic growth, what role China plays in all of this, and more. Topics discussed include: -Global carbon budget -Carbon cycle -Mitigation -Calculating carbon footprints -Allocating emissions -Equity issues in allocation and climate policy -U.S.-China trade war -Emissions from fossil fuels -Land use change -Uncertainties in estimates -Greenhouse gas inventories -Reporting requirements for developed vs. developing nations -Emissions trends -Negative emissions -Policies and individual actions

It’s time to get creative in the fight against climate change, and machine learning can help us do that. Not Cool episode 17 continues our discussion of “Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning,” a nearly 100 page report co-authored by 22 researchers from some of the world’s top AI institutes. Today, Ariel talks to Natasha Jaques and Tegan Maharaj, the respective authors of the report’s “Tools for Individuals” and “Tools for Society” chapters. Natasha and Tegan explain how machine learning can help individuals lower their carbon footprints and aid politicians in implementing better climate policies. They also discuss uncertainty in climate predictions, the relative price of green technology, and responsible machine learning development and use. Topics discussed include: -Reinforcement learning -Individual carbon footprints -Privacy concerns -Residential electricity use -Asymmetrical uncertainty -Natural language processing and sentiment analysis -Multi-objective optimization and multi-criteria decision making -Hedonic pricing -Public goods problems -Evolutionary game theory -Carbon offsets -Nuclear energy -Interdisciplinary collaboration -Descriptive vs. prescriptive uses of ML

How can artificial intelligence, and specifically machine learning, be used to combat climate change? In an ambitious recent report, machine learning researchers provided a detailed overview of the ways that their work can be applied to both climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. The massive collaboration, titled “Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning,” involved 22 authors from 16 of the world's top AI institutions.  On Not Cool episodes 16 and 17, Ariel speaks directly to some of these researchers about their specific contributions, as well as the paper's significance more widely. Today, she’s joined by lead author David Rolnick; Priya Donti, author of the electricity systems chapter; Lynn Kaack, author of the transportation chapter and co-author of the buildings and cities chapter; and Kelly Kochanski, author of the climate prediction chapter. David, Priya, Lynn, and Kelly discuss the origins of the paper, the solutions it proposes, the importance of this kind of interdisciplinary work, and more. Topics discussed include: -Translating data to action -Electricity systems -Transportation -Buildings and cities -Climate prediction -Adaptation -Demand response -Climate informatics -Accelerated science -Climate finance -Responses to paper -Next steps -Challenges

Despite the global scale of the climate crisis, its impacts will vary drastically at the local level. Not Cool Episode 15 looks at the unique struggles facing different communities — both human and non-human — and the importance of equity in climate adaptation. Ariel is joined by Astrid Caldas, a senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, to discuss the types of climate adaptation solutions we need and how we can implement them. She also talks about biodiversity loss, ecological grief, and psychological barriers to change. Topics discussed include: -Climate justice and equity in climate adaptation -How adaptation differs for different communities -Local vs. larger scale solutions  -Potential adaptation measures and how to implement them -Active vs. passive information -Adaptation for non-human species -How changes in biodiversity will affect humans -Impact of climate change on indigenous and front line communities

As the world nears the warming limit set forth by international agreement, carbon emissions have become a costly commodity. Not Cool episode 14 examines the rapidly expanding domain of carbon finance, along with the wider economic implications of the changing climate. Ariel is joined by Filippo Berardi, an environmental management and international development specialist at the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Filippo explains the international carbon market, the economic risks of not addressing climate change, and the benefits of a low carbon economy. He also discusses where international funds can best be invested, what it would cost to fully operationalize the Paris Climate Agreement, and how the fall of the Soviet Union impacted carbon finance at the international level. Topics discussed include: -UNFCCC: funding, allocation of resources -Cap and trade system vs. carbon tax -Emission trading -Carbon offsets -Planetary carbon budget -Economic risks of not addressing climate change -Roles for public sector vs. private sector -What a low carbon economy would look like