Climate Chat

In this Climate Chat discussion, Michael Mann joins us to discuss the latest climate science as well as his recent books, Our Fragile Moment and The New Climate Wars.

Dr. Michael E. Mann is Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. He is director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media (PCSSM).

Dr. Mann received his undergraduate degrees in Physics and Applied Math from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.S. degree in Physics from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Geology & Geophysics from Yale University. His research interests include the study of Earth's climate system and the science, impacts and policy implications of human-caused climate change.

Dr. Mann's homepage (with links to his books):

https://michaelmann.net

Follow Dr. Mann on X/Twitter: @MichaelEMann

Follow Dan on X/Twitter: @danmiller999

To join the Zoom discussion, visit Dan's Clubhouse room. The link is provided in Dan's Twitter feed. You can also leave a question in the YouTube Live chat. Please begin your question with "Question:" to make it easy for our mods to spot.

For more Climate Chat episodes, see our YouTube home page:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BXcpYFCzTndJ9Fisi32qg

In this Climate Chat discussion, host Dan Miller will discuss why we continue to choose to fail to act on climate. In last week's episode, Dan discussed his 20-point global climate action plan. While the policies presented are obviously needed, we continue to muddle along without taking serious action even though we know it is needed. Why is that?

After Dan put together his policy plan several years ago, he wondered why we fail to act on climate and so he made another list -- which is significantly longer than his policy plan list -- of some of the reasons we fail to act. Some of the reasons are related to human cognitive limitations, some are related to limits to communications and education, some are due to the political system, some related to inertia of systems, and some are due to the interest of a few vs. the interest of the many.

Here is the list posted on X/Twitter:

https://x.com/danmiller999/status/1796424795644744154

Here is a link to the episode on Dan's 20-point climate action plan:

https://youtube.com/live/p2496OB1EmI

You can view Dan's TEDx talk on climate change and Fee and Dividend carbon pricing policy. It includes a discussion of the psycology of climate inaction:

https://youtu.be/0k2-SzlDGko

Carl Bergstrom's paper on how disinformation is as big a threat to civilization as climate change is:

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2025764118

Follow Dan on X/Twitter: @danmiller999

To join the Zoom discussion, visit Dan's Clubhouse room. The link is provided in Dan's Twitter feed. You can also leave a question in the YouTube Live chat. Please begin your question with "Question:" to make it easy for our mods to spot.

For more Climate Chat episodes, see our YouTube home page:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BXcpYFCzTndJ9Fisi32qg

In this Climate Chat discussion, host Dan Miller will present a talk he recently gave at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) in Monterey on his proposed 20-point climate action plan. The plan lays out the major policies that governments around the world should implement once they decide to choose to succeed on climate action.

You can see a list of the 20-point plan here:

https://x.com/danmiller999/status/1657974866115457024

You can view Dan's TEDx talk on climate change and Fee and Dividend carbon pricing policy here:

https://youtu.be/0k2-SzlDGko

Here is another (US-focused) policy plan to address climate change from New Consensus:

https://www.newconsensus.com/mfa

Follow Dan on X/Twitter: @danmiller999

To join the Zoom discussion, visit Dan's Clubhouse room. The link is provided in Dan's Twitter feed. You can also leave a question in the YouTube Live chat. Please begin your question with "Question:" to make it easy for our mods to spot.

For more Climate Chat episodes, see our YouTube home page:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BXcpYFCzTndJ9Fisi32qg

In this Climate Chat episode, we interview climate scientist Kevin Anderson for a 2nd time. Out first, audio-only, interview in May 2021 was one of the most listened to Climate Chat programs. Kevin tells it like it is and does not sugarcoat the situation. We will discuss carbon budgets and global temperatures, the desirability of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and Sunlight Reflection Methods (SRM), and get Kevin's view on James Hansen's recent "Pipeline" paper. We will also discuss why society has so far chosen to fail on addressing climate change and what we can do if we decide to choose to succeed.

Kevin’s website is https://climateuncensored.com and he has an active twitter account at: @KevinClimate

May 2021 interview with Kevin (audio-only) Part 1: https://youtu.be/WQCofG9Urr4

May 2021 interview with Kevin (audio-only) Part 2: https://youtu.be/iiE5A78jzOg

For more Climate Chat episodes, see our YouTube home page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BXcpYFCzTndJ9Fisi32qg

In this Climate Chat episode we discuss the rapid acceleration of global warming with climate scientist Leon Simons. The Berkeley Earth dataset shows the average global surface temperature in 2023 was +1.54ºC above the pre-industrial average. This is far above previous years and while there was an El Niño starting in 2023, it cannot explain the full jump in global temperature.

Leon Simons is a climate scientist based in the Netherlands. He was a co-author with James Hansen on last year's "Global Warming in the Pipeline" paper that discussed the recent acceleration in global warming. Leon's work has focused recently on changes in aerosol emissions from ships and the impact of those changes on climate change. You can access Leon's research writings here:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Leon-Simons

Berkeley Earth report on 2023 temperature:

https://berkeleyearth.org/press-release-2023-was-the-warmest-year-on-recordpress-release/

Landmark "Global Warming in the Pipeline" paper by James Hansen, Leon Simons, and others:

https://academic.oup.com/oocc/article/3/1/kgad008/7335889

Climate Chat interview with James Hansen:

https://youtube.com/live/8Ag3UVSrlhE

For more Climate Chat episodes, see our YouTube home page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BXcpYFCzTndJ9Fisi32qg

In this Climate Chat episode we discuss the types of protest and collective action that might be effective in engaging individuals and society to take climate action seriously. Our guest is Dr. Johanna Vollhardt, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Clark University.

Dr. Vollhardt’s research focuses on the psychological impact of collective victimization, focusing on questions such as: how do people make sense of oppression and violence against their group? How do different beliefs about collective victimization relate to intergroup attitudes and social and political views? What explains different resistance strategies in violent and repressive contexts? How is group-based power understood in the context of oppression? Her home page is at:

https://www.clarku.edu/faculty/profiles/johanna-vollhardt/

For more Climate Chat episodes, see our YouTube home page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BXcpYFCzTndJ9Fisi32qg

In this special Climate Chat "Lightning Round" episode we discuss when the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) ocean current -- a major climate tipping point -- will shutdown. While the IPCC says the AMOC is unlikely to shutdown this century, a recent paper co-authored by Peter Ditlevsen says we could see the AMOC shutdown around mid-century... and possibly as soon as 2025!

Here is the link to the long interview with Peter: https://youtu.be/OYmCWkBwGpg

Note: This Lightning Round interview is separate from the long interview and is not an edited version of the long interview.

Timestamps:

0:00:46 Peter Ditlevsen’s introduction

0:01:18 What is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation or AMOC?

0:02:02 How does the AMOC relate to the Gulf Stream?

0:02:52 How does the AMOC affect the way of life in Europe and other places?

0:03:43 What drives the AMOC ocean current?

0:04:31 Has the AMOC collapsed in the past?

0:05:23 How is climate change affecting the AMOC?

0:06:24 It’s hard to measure the past AMOC current directly. How did you study it?

0:07:31 Has the AMOC slowed downed recently?

0:08:58 On our current emissions path, what does your research say about when the AMOC will start shutting down?

0:09:49 Why does the IPCC say the AMOC will not shut down this century?

0:12:50 Why do you think you are correct and the IPCC is wrong?

0:13:14 If the AMOC begins to collapse, how long before it is “shut off”?

0:14:45 What impacts should we expect if it shuts down?

0:16:51 James Hansen says an AMOC shutdown may lead to “multi-meter” (10+ feet) sea level rise this century. Do you agree?

0:18:47 What can we do to try to prevent the AMOC from shutting down?

0:20:49 Can Sunlight Reflection Methods/Solar Radiation Management, ie, solar geoengineering, help prevent AMOC shutdown by refreezing Greenland and stopping fresh water inflow into the North Atlantic?

0:22:38 How should the threat of an AMOC collapse inform the discussion on climate action?

0:25:00 What AMOC questions will your next research paper try to answer?

0:26:51 Wrap up

Peter Ditlevsen is a professor of the physics of ice, climate and the Earth at the Neils Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen. Peter's home page:

https://nbi.ku.dk/english/staff/?pure...

Link to Peter's paper on AMOC collapse:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s4146...

Great PBS explainer on the AMOC:

https://youtu.be/f2evaLaDvCI?si=mXcVfmxQkF4w8wEC

For more Climate Chat episodes, see our YouTube home page:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BXcpYFCzTndJ9Fisi32qg

In this Climate Chat episode we discuss whether the world will start to take climate action seriously in 2024.

Guardian article on "World will look back at 2023 as year humanity exposed its inability to tackle climate crisis, scientists say":

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/29/world-will-look-back-at-2023-as-year-humanity-exposed-its-inability-to-tackle-climate-crisis?CMP=share_btn_tw

For more Climate Chat episodes, see our YouTube home page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BXcpYFCzTndJ9Fisi32qg

In this Climate Chat episode we discuss last week's interview with climate scientist Dr. James Hansen and discuss your climate questions and comments.

Link to Climate Chat interview with James Hansen:

https://youtube.com/live/8Ag3UVSrlhE

Dr. Hansen's recent "Global Warming In the Pipeline" paper:

https://academic.oup.com/oocc/article/3/1/kgad008/7335889

Dr. Hansen's 2016 paper: "Ice melt, sea level rise and superstorms: evidence from paleoclimate data, climate modeling, and modern observations that 2 °C global warming could be dangerous"

https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/16/3761/2016/

Dr. Hansen's home page:

http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/

Dr. Hansen's 2012 TED talk:

https://www.ted.com/talks/james_hansen_why_i_must_speak_out_about_climate_change?language=en

White paper on Carbon Fee and Dividend that Dr. Hansen and I submitted to the US Congress:

https://csas.earth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Fee-and-Dividend-Miller-Hansen-20191110-1.pdf

For more Climate Chat episodes, see our YouTube home page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BXcpYFCzTndJ9Fisi32qg

In this Climate Chat episode I interview legendary climate scientist James Hansen.

Dr. Hansen's recent "Global Warming In the Pipeline" paper:

https://academic.oup.com/oocc/article/3/1/kgad008/7335889

Dr. Hansen's 2016 paper: "Ice melt, sea level rise and superstorms: evidence from paleoclimate data, climate modeling, and modern observations that 2 °C global warming could be dangerous"

https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/16/3761/2016/

Dr. Hansen's home page:

http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/

Dr. Hansen's 2012 TED talk:

https://www.ted.com/talks/james_hansen_why_i_must_speak_out_about_climate_change?language=en

White paper on Carbon Fee and Dividend that Dr. Hansen and I submitted to the US Congress:

https://csas.earth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Fee-and-Dividend-Miller-Hansen-20191110-1.pdf

For more Climate Chat episodes, see our YouTube home page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BXcpYFCzTndJ9Fisi32qg