Climate Hour

CLIMATE HOUR – What is the role of state government in the challenge of Climate Change? The scientific consensus is that global warming of over two degrees Celsius will threaten human life as we know it. The Paris Agreement defines 1.5 degrees as a more desirable goal to limit the worst outcomes. Yet as of October, 2023, the planet’s average surface-temperature increase was already 1.4 degrees Celsius.

There’s many things we can do to reduce our personal carbon footprint. But we also need to engage in collective climate actions. We have to take action with our communities, our national governments, and at the state government level.

Join host, Bob Grove, and Mark Glick, Chief Energy Officer the the State of Hawai’i, to discuss the role of state government in the challenge of climate change.

Mr Glick served as senior advisor to the Texas Land Commissioner in the 1980s, where he helped pass landmark amendments to both the Texas Clean Air Act and the federal Clean Air Act. He then headed up operations and economic development for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and later served as Hawaii’s Energy Administrator during the formative years of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. And in 2023, Mark was appointed Chief Energy Officer of the Hawaii State Energy Office.

Hawaii’s clean energy initiative is recognized as a national and global policy trendsetter. Hawaii was first in the nation to establish a legally binding commitment to 100% renewable energy. And Hawaii adopted legislation in 2022 that requires the state to sequester more atmospheric carbon than emitted, achieving net-negative emissions no later than 2045.

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CLIMATE HOUR – Connections between humans and the natural world are often seen as exploitative or destructive. But scientists continue to find surprising ways that the natural world can heal us, both physically and mentally. Join host, Bob Grove, and Florence Williams, science journalist and author, to discuss the surprising connections between humans and the natural world.

Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, has been awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in science and technology, an Audie in general nonfiction, two Gracie Awards from the Alliance of Women in Media, and her latest book, Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey, has won the 2023 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.

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CLIMATE HOUR – Clean water is essential for life, yet billions of people around the world don’t have enough water. Global warming is increasing the number of water-stressed areas and magnifying the water problems in regions already affected, leading to increased geopolitical conflict and water wars.

Scientists with the United Nations report a 20% drop in renewable water resources for every 1° celsius increase in global warming. So the world’s current 1.5° celsius increase means we’ve already lost 30% of our renewable water resources. Subtropical regions, like the southern United States, North Africa and Australia are suffering longer and more frequent droughts; broken by torrential rainfalls that cause flooding. Water scarcity is effecting the world’s food supplies and is a direct cause of mass migration.

Join host, Bob Grove, and Dr Wendell Chris King, retired U.S. Army Brigadier General and co-founder of the Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change to discuss Water Wars: Direct Impacts of Water Scarcity on the World.

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CLIMATE HOUR – Marine mammals are the planet’s canary in a coalmine. For as the ocean goes, so goes the land and all that dwell upon it. Climate change is causing the world’s oceans to become warmer and more acidic, while a constant stream of petrochemicals and microplastics turn then into a toxic wasteland. The study and preservation of marine mammals can provide an early warning system that helps us understand the long term impacts of climate and waste on land, and the future of land mammals.

Join host, Bob Grove, and guests to discuss marine mammals. Guests include:

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CLIMATE HOUR – A little community orchard provides an amazing number of benefits. First there’s basic carbon sequestration. Trees take carbon out of the air and reduce global warming. Then there’s food sovereignty. Trees give you control of your own food sources. In today’s corporate farming system, genetically modified foods are picked green, irradiated to prevent spoilage, then shipped half way around the world to high priced grocery stores. Food sovereignty means growing tasty, nutritious food that you can just walk up to the end of a block and pick from a tree. And then there’s community building. Bringing people together. Creating a shared work that builds relationships and creates a sense of accomplishment.

Join host, Bob Grove, and guests to discuss the Amazing Impacts of the Little Community Orchard. Guests include:

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CLIMATE HOUR – We’ve talked about climate education before. We’ve discussed how to teach children about climate, and we’ve talked about climate programs in higher education. But all of these programs need teachers who understand and are willing to add climate to their curriculum. How do we go about teaching teachers to teach climate change and how do we form the professional networks needed to support both formal and non-formal climate education? How do we teach teachers to teach climate?

Join host, Bob Grove, and guests to discuss the Value of Teaching Teachers To Be Climate Teachers. Guests include:

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CLIMATE HOUR – When was the last time you talked about climate issues with a friend or family member? Studies find that the majority of people are concerned about climate but don’t talk about it. Why has something as universal as the climate conversation become such a political football that it’s a forbidden topic at family holiday gatherings?

In 2002, a prominent republican pollster circulated a strategy guide advising his candidates to talk about “climate change” instead of global warming. His research found that the concept of climate change was less threatening. Global warming was a crisis. Climate change was like taking a ski trip. He effectively created a talking point that de-escalated and delayed climate action for over 20 years.

So words do matter. Words can inspire hope and action. Or they can discourage and silence our voices. How do we find that balance between inspiring hope and addressing the urgency of a situation. How do we reframe the climate conversation?

Join host, Bob Grove, and guests to discuss Reframing the Conversation. Guests include:

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CLIMATE HOUR — How do we prepare our college and university graduates to understand, survive and even prosper in this age of climate change? Some of this is expanding science degrees to address climate-related issues. But most of it is incorporating climate-related issues into ALL subjects; cross-cutting education to address the climate change we’re experiencing today and the climate reality that our graduates will face tomorrow.

The United Nations is calling for climate change studies to be a formal part of all curriculums in all schools by 2025. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has launched a project to re-Orient chemistry education globally toward sustainability. Climate Change is becoming core curriculum around the world.

Join host, Bob Grove, and guests to discuss how to make higher education work for climate change. Guests include:

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CLIMATE HOUR — We know that deforestation, commercial farming, urban sprawl and other forms of defoliation contribute to climate change. But what about the other way around. What is climate change doing to trees and other plants? Destruction of plants reduce our planet’s ability to sequestor greenhouse gases and increase global warming. But what if global warming itself is effecting world forest growth and other plants?

Join host, Bob Grove, and Dr Rohan Shetti, Faculty of Environment, University of Jan Evangelista Purkyně in Ústí nad Labem, to discuss How Climate Change is Impacting World Forest Growth.

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CLIMATE HOUR — For most of the world, food security – having enough to eat – is one of today’s greatest challenges. As climate change continues to disrupt today’s industrial farming systems, world leaders are reevaluating traditional regenerative farming practices which are more resistant to climate change. Practices which work with the environment instead of killing it the way today’s monocrop farming does.

Agroforestry is a specialized type of regenerative agriculture that involves growing food as part of a forest ecosystem, producing more food in less space. Polyforestry is a variation of agroforestry that reflects both the many (poly) ways to grow food in a polyforest, and the polynesian people who have used this traditional farming practice for centuries.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is partnering with indigenous communities across the U.S. to merge their traditional farming wisdom with modern computer technology and produce Climate Dashboards capable of increasing food production and food security.

Join host, Bob Grove, and guests to discuss food security, polyforestry and and NOAA’s Climate Dashboard. Guests include:

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