Climate politics in America's crazy presidential race

07/13/16 • 40 min

If you’re listening to this from a post-apocalyptic Pokemon-dominated global-warming ravaged future –- welcome! We’re getting to crunch time in the election, and a whole suite of new climate-related polls have been released in just the last few days. Is this finally the election in which climate change is going to play a big role? When you look at America as a whole, climate change still ranks relatively near the bottom in terms of voters’ priorities. Last week, a Pew survey ranked the environment as 12th out of 14 major issues, just below trade policy. But if you burrow in to the large and growing section of America that’s deeply concerned about climate change, you’ll find there are a lot of single-issue voters that are very engaged. We have a lot in store for today’s show: Pokemon is making people go outside for the first time; Bernie has endorsed Hillary; Trump is still Trump. Sheer craziness. Check out the recommended reading list below. Eric’s links: Hillary’s climate plan: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/06/hillary_s_climate_change_plan_isn_t_as_good_as_bernie_s_revolution_might.html A Green Party comeback: http://www.vice.com/read/can-the-green-party-make-a-comeback-in-2016-209 Trump supporters and climate: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/03/what_do_trump_supporters_think_about_climate_change_i_went_to_a_rally_and.html Jacquelyn’s links: Pokemon Go gets people outside: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-pokemon-go-real-animals-20160711-20160711-snap-story.html Jet Stream mania: http://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2016/07/02/lessons-from-jet-stream-crossing-the-equator-mania/#5f3756d05a8c 2008 DNC platform: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=78283 Hillary's climate plank: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/climate/ AR4 vs AR5: http://treealerts.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/AR4-AR5-comparison.pdf Stephanie Svan on "voting green on principle": http://the-orbit.net/almostdiamonds/2016/06/20/voting-green-principle/ Andy’s links: Video summarizing the politics of climate: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.revkin.5/videos/vb.631851039/10155022172286040/?type=2&theater Sri Lanka mangroves. https://www.seacology.org/project/sri-lanka-mangrove-conservation-project/

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Is it time to freak out about the Arctic?

Snow and ice are disappearing from the Arctic region at unprecedented rates, leaving behind open water that’s much less reflective to incoming sunlight than ice. That, among other factors, is causing the northern polar region of our planet to warm at a faster rate than the rest of the northern hemisphere—a phenomenon called Arctic Amplification. And over the past several months, it’s become increasingly obvious that big changes are happening now. Right now, not 5 or 10 or 20 years from now, Now. In this week’s episode, we’ll talk about all those changes -– and what they say about what we do and don’t know about the melting Arctic. Oh, and we’ll also talk about how Game of Thrones relates to climate change. Check out the recommended reading list below. Eric’s links: Arctic melting: http://www.climatecentral.org/news/arctic-sea-ice-breaks-may-record-20415 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/02/18/scientists-are-floored-by-whats-happening-in-the-arctic-right-now/ Arctic greening: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/06/27/its-official-humans-are-making-the-earth-much-greener/ Jacquelyn’s links: Twinkies: https://www.boston.com/culture/lifestyle/2016/06/27/heres-twinkie-maine-school-kept-40-years-counting Cloning mammoths: http://reviverestore.org/projects/woolly-mammoth/ Science group’s letter to Congress: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/06/28/top-science-groups-tell-climate-change-doubters-in-congress-to-knock-it-off/ Andy’s links: Pop-up forests: http://j.mp/popupforests North pole sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GqjvjiXp4E

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Bonus: The Global Cooling Myth

This week, we present a bonus episode of Warm Regards. Forty years ago, on April 28th, 1975, Newsweek magazine published an article that created one of the most pervasive scientific myths in modern history. It was a one-page story, buried in the middle of the magazine. But it became the most widely cited article in Newsweek’s history. The piece, called “A Cooling World," raised concerns about a global cooling trend. It was published on page 64. But it became front page news for climate skeptics, who point to it as proof that scientists were confused, or even deliberately misleading, about global warming. In this episode, producer Stephen Lacey revisits the myth 40 years later.