Climate Cast

The concept is pretty simple: Rising seas higher storm surges, and unprecedented flooding adds up to more risk for trillions of dollars of real estate. So now, big real estate investment firms are calculating climate risk, on property portfolios. Ed Walter, global CEO with the Urban Land Institute, joins Climate Cast to discuss.

A quarter of electric power in Minnesota last year came from renewable sources. But what's the highest percentage of renewables that will still meet electric demand in our cold winter climate? University of Minnesota researchers published a study that suggest it's 70 percent. Anu Ramaswami, a professor with the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, joins Climate Cast to explain.

The rate of polar ice melt is a critical wild card in projecting sea level rise and climate change impacts. Just how quickly will the polar ice sheets melt as Earth's climate warms?

"Wind energy means jobs, and these are really good jobs," says one industry leader.

A new study in the journal Nature finds fish are on the move because of climate change. But which species can adapt, and which will run out of favorable ocean real estate as they reach their thermal limits? Malin Pinksy, a marine scientist with the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, at Rutgers University, joins Climate Cast to discuss.

Rep. Dean Phillips, who represents Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District, announced last month that he's sponsoring the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.

Climate change could make insurance coverage unaffordable for ordinary people. However, it doesn't have to be that way, one expert says. s

General Mills began milling grain with water power from the Mississippi River 150 years ago. Now, it's using wind to power operations and cut its carbon footprint.

Many Minnesotans are running for seats on their local electric co-op boards with the aim of making a bigger impact on greenhouse gas reductions. MPR News environmental reporter Elizabeth Dunbar joins Climate Cast to explain.

"Cities are the ones that are going to be feeling the brunt of the burden associated with climate change and so cities need the resources to be able to attack that head on," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey tells Climate Cast.