On the second episode of Not Cool, Ariel delves into some of the basic science behind climate change and the history of its study. She is joined by Dr. Joanna Haigh, an atmospheric physicist whose work has been foundational to our current understanding of how the climate works. Joanna is a fellow of The Royal Society and recently retired as Co-Director of the Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London. Here, she gives a historical overview of the field of climate science and the major breakthroughs that moved it forward. She also discusses her own work on the stratosphere, radiative forcing, solar variability, and more.

Topics discussed include:

History of the study of climate change

Overview of climate modeling

Radiative forcing

What’s changed in climate science in the past few decades

How to distinguish between natural climate variation and human-induced global warming

Solar variability, sun spots, and the effect of the sun on the climate

History of climate denial