What would you guess is the deadliest disaster in Minnesota history? A wildfire? Blizzard? Tornado? It was none of those. In 1936, a long-term heat wave killed at least 900 across Minnesota.

Heat is America’s top weather killer, even in the age of air conditioning and community pools.

For the return of the long-running Climate Cast, we wanted to revisit the terrible cost of the 1936 heat wave that hit 90 years ago this month. On July 14, 1936, experts estimated a person was dying every three minutes in Minneapolis alone as a direct result of the heat.

In this episode, MPR News chief meteorologist Ben Cathey speaks with with Geoff Williams, the author of a new book, “The Summer of Death.” Williams calculates that at least 12,000 people died across America. He thinks Minnesota’s official death toll is likely severely under-calculated.

Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

For years, Climate Cast has been a place to make sense of a changing planet — explaining the science, the solutions and the people behind the issue.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner sat down with Tom Crann during the Minnesota Climate Adaptation Awards to reflect on Climate Cast’s roughly 650 episodes and its focus on climate science, news and solutions.

“Climate change is a huge problem. We are seeing it every day,” Huttner said. “But there are so many good people working on solutions, and the technology of those solutions is here now.”

Plus, hear some former guests of Climate Cast send along their regards to Huttner.

With climate change exposing communities to more dangerous weather conditions and amplifying diseases, experts say more people need resources to adapt.

The University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership is working on creating Climate Resilience Hubs to help give people community spaces that can give support both in everyday life and during emergencies.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Dr. Kent Boyd, a Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Public Health Extension Educator at the University of Minnesota, who is leading this work.

Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

Burning fossil fuels is one of the primary drivers of climate change, releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, causing changes including increased temperatures and extreme weather events here in the Midwest.

But recent research took advantage of a 40-year ongoing experiment at the University of Minnesota’s Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve to study how this carbon is being stored in retired croplands.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Eric Seabloom, a professor at the University of Minnesota College of Biological Science who was an author on the research.

Warmer waters building in the tropical Pacific Ocean are suggesting an El Nino event developing late this year. Forecasts predict an event range from a moderate El Nino, to a so-called Super El Nino event, which could have dramatic effects on weather in Minnesota, the U.S. and the world.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Andrew Freedman, a Senior Reporter for Climate & Weather at CNN, who has reported on the event.

The transportation sector is a large contributor to climate change, accounting for about 28 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Within that sector, aviation accounts for around 2 percent of carbon dioxide global emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Looking to reduce its carbon footprint, the aviation industry is seeking fuels from more renewable biological sources. At the University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative, researchers are working to commercialize winter oilseed cover crops that can keep soil healthy and also be turned into aviation fuel.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Mitch Hunter, co-director of the Forever Green Initiative and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Minnesota.

Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

Fossil fuels are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for nearly 90 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions. But there are people here in Minnesota working on solutions for managing those emissions.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Paul Dauenhauer, a Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the UM College of Science and Engineering, about the start-up company Carba, of which he is a cofounder.

Through Carba, they have developed a proprietary process that converts plant-based waste material into biochar, a stable material that sequesters carbon and can be buried underground for more than 1,000 years

The United States is among the world’s largest beef producers, producing some 12 million tons in 2025. But cattle generate a lot of emissions. The beef industry alone is responsible for around 3 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Jennifer Schmitt, senior research scientist in sustainability at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, about what’s currently being done to reduce emissions.

Plus, a snippet from a recent episode of This Old House Radio Hour about climate preparation is reshaping the housing of America.

Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

Minnesota Arctic explorer Will Steger has trekked across thousands of miles of ice in both the north and South Poles, crossing the Larsen Ice Shelves a few years before they disintegrated and collapsed into the sea.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Steger about dramatic changes he’s seen in Arctic regions over the past several decades.

The last time Lake Superior completely froze over was 30 years ago in 1996. Around that time, Lake Superior was consistently at least 75 percent frozen over. Now, 75 percent coverage is rare, only happening about once every four years.

Ice on the Great Lakes, and Lake Superior specifically, is a great way to measure climate for our region. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with UMD professor Jay Austin, about what ice coverage can tell us about climate change.

Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.