Podcasts about Climate Central

An analysis by Climate Central found that Milwaukee's January temperatures have risen more than 8 degrees over the last 55 years.

During February we've been exploring how winters are changing in Wisconsin in our Thin Ice series. We've looked at the impact on ice fishing and storm water management. Today, WUWM environmental reporter Susan Bence looks at new data from Climate Central on just how much winter temperatures and even the length of the winter season is changing. 

I Alperna märks klimatförändringarnas effekter tydligt när glaciärerna smälter och snön faller alltmer sällan. Vad har skidturisterna för ansvar? Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radios app. Medverkande: Valérie Paumier, grundare av Résiliance Montagne i franska Alperna, Jacques Millouet, ordförande för organisationen Nouvelle Montagne som gick till domstol i protest mot nya dammar för konstsnö och fick rätt mot kommunen i La Clusaz, Harry Zekollari, glaciärforskare vid Vrije Universiteit i Bryssel, Jean Luc Boch, borgmästare i i skidorten La Plagne Tarentaise och tung profil inom den franska skid- och turistindustrin, Luigi Casanova, skogsvaktare och Italiens ordförande i miljöorganisationen Mountain Wilderness, Kaitlyn Trudeau, amerikansk klimatforskare vid organisationen Climate Central, Daniel Scott, amerikanskklimatforskare som fått i uppdrag av IOK att analysera möjliga platser för framtida vinter-OS.Programledare: Kajsa Boglindkajsa.boglind@sr.seReportrar: Cecilia Blomberg och Babak ParhamTekniker: Calle HedlundProducent: Anja Sahlberganja.sahlberg@sr.se

A study warns climate change is driving-up the price of coffee, with higher temperatures putting pressure on production and reducing global supply. When temperatures reach 30-degrees, coffee plants experience heat stress which can reduce yields and affect bean quality. Rural Reporter Nelson Scott spoke to Climate Central's Doctor Kristina Dahl, about the situation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trees are a major cause of power outages. They're also a wildfire risk—when branches hit a conductor, a small spark can become a big blaze. Lynn Petesch of Overstory joins thinkenergy to talk trees, exploring how AI, satellite imagery, and vegetation intelligence help utilities prevent outages and reduce wildfire threats. Including Hydro Ottawa, who saw a 44% drop in tree-related outages since partnering with Overstory. Listen in for how we work together to keep the grid safe in an era of extreme weather.   Related links  Overstory: https://www.overstory.com/ Lynn Petesch on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnpetesch/  Trevor Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-freeman-p-eng-8b612114  Hydro Ottawa: https://hydroottawa.com/en    To subscribe using Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405   To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl   To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/ --- Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/user/hydroottawalimited Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hydroottawa Stay in the know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HydroOttawa Keep up with the posts on X: https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod ----- Transcript: Welcome to thinkenergy, a podcast that dives into the fast, changing world of energy through conversations with industry leaders, innovators and people on the front lines of the energy transition. Join me, Trevor Freeman, as I explore the traditional, unconventional and up and coming facets of the energy industry. If you have any thoughts, feedback or ideas for topics we should cover, please reach out to us at thinkenergy@hydroottawa.com, Hi everyone. Welcome back. Today on thinkenergy, we're going to be talking about trees. Yes, you heard that correctly. Trees. I know this is a show about energy, but there's actually a very real connection between our electricity grid and those slow growing, majestic givers of shade, lumber, fruit and so many more benefits. Honestly, who doesn't love trees? But I'm not just kicking this episode off in my capacity as a tree hugger. Let's take a look at this through a utility lens, and I will use Hydro Ottawa as an example. Hydro Ottawa service territory includes some very rural and very forested areas. Even our urban territory has a fairly extensive tree canopy. As a result, Hydro Ottawa trims about 60,000 trees each year. Why? Because trees contracting power infrastructure is a big problem. Tree interference remains a leading cause of power outages for us. Strong winds force them onto our wires. Heavy snow or freezing rain builds up and weighs down branches, breaks limbs, and increases the risk that part of a tree may touch a line, and in some extreme cases, heavy storms can even send trees or branches crashing into our poles, damaging the poles. The struggle between power lines and trees, which, again, don't get me wrong, we all love trees, has been going on for years. There is a constant struggle between trimming enough and getting the right trees trimmed and maintaining as much tree coverage as we can. In 2022 we identified a disruptor in this dance, the solution came through a partnership with Overstory, a company that uses satellite imagery, infrared technology and artificial intelligence to help utilities manage vegetation and trim trees more efficiently. And the timing could not have been better. Just days after we started working with Overstory in the spring of 2022 the derecho hit Ottawa. Our Ottawa based listeners will remember this storm well. It was monumental in the history of our city, and indeed for us as utility, winds reached 190 kilometers an hour. For our non-metric listeners, that's nearly 120 miles per hour. The storm ripped through poles houses and cause considerable damage to our city's urban forests. Overstory played a crucial role during the cleanup and in helping us level up our vegetation management strategies moving forward, we realized that the insights we got from Overstory would help improve our proactive approach to tree encroachment and hazard identification, and this is essential in this era of extreme weather events. We know that climate change is causing more frequent and more extreme weather events. According to Climate Central, the number of weather related power outages in the United States increased by 78% between 2011 and 2021 and severe weather accounted for over 1000 outages across Nova Scotia just in the year of 2024 we want to keep you connected during these heavy storms, and that's why we're looking to organizations like Overstory. So what does Overstory do to help us keep the lights on? Well, without giving away too much, because we're going to get into the details shortly, Overstory through a detailed analysis of the scans they do of our entire grid, identifies high risk areas, which we can then prioritize and better focus our resources when it comes to vegetation management, this level of monitoring and focus reduces the risk of trees from coming into contact with our poles and disrupting Your connection to the grid, the results speak for themselves. Since partnering with Overstory, we've reduced vegetation related outages by 44% and that's only part of the story, as we'll discuss further, Overstory also plays a crucial role in helping utilities prevent wildfires in high risk areas across North America, similar to extreme weather, wildfire frequency and intensity is also increasing, in part due to climate change expanding cities and many other factors. And when wildfires do happen, these stories are heartbreaking. What many people don't realize is that lots of wildfires are sparked by trees making contact with power lines, and that is why Overstory plays a key role in tagging areas where those fires are most likely to ignite and spread, making it easier for utilities to prioritize trimming work and vegetation management in those areas. To dive more into how Overstory is helping us here at Hydro Ottawa and. And other utilities helping us identify and act to mitigate risk associated with vegetation. I'm really excited to have Lynn Petesch on the show today. Lynn is Overstory's, Head of Customer Success, and has spent the past 10 years building customer facing teams with a specific focus on technologies that tackle the climate crisis. She began her career working for the United Nations and the diplomatic service of her home country, Luxembourg, before moving into the tech sector to really work in environments where she could drive impact more quickly and at greater scale. Lynn Petesch, welcome to the show.   Lynn Petesch  05:34 Thank you. Thanks for having me.   Trevor Freeman  05:36 Okay, so let's start at the very top with a high level look at what Overstory does and how the organization came to be.   Lynn Petesch  05:45 Yeah, let me tell you about Overstory. I mean, we are a vegetation intelligence platform. We use remote sensing and AI to give electric utilities, including Hydro Ottawa and others, a clear, system wide view of their risk. They always do it because they want to address three things, or sometimes more, but kind of, there's always a few goal posts, and it's either improving reliability, reducing wildfire risk, if that is if they're in an area where there is a concern, and or improving operational efficiencies. So Overstory very much becomes a decision-making tool for their programs were used mostly by the vegetation management people, operations people, wildfire mitigation teams, and they each time they want to either use a program that exists, prioritize it, reshape their work. They might be preparing for storm. They might be working on a wildfire mitigation risk so the company, more broadly, was founded in 2018 by Anniek Schouten and Indra den Bakker. This was back in the Netherlands, and they were leveraging, or getting really interested in satellite imagery, and were very initially using it for deforestation purposes. So, the climate resilience DNA has always been with us. But like any startup, we were looking at that kind of target audience that was most interested in what we had to offer. And pretty quickly, we landed on the electric utilities. They had the most pressing need to use remote sensing at scale to solve very big problems, honestly. And so we pivoted into that space of electric utilities, and then in 2020 Fiona Spruill, who's our CEO right now, she joined us. She shaped the company into what it is today, and that is really around building safer and more reliable operations.   Trevor Freeman  07:33 That's great, and I want to dive into some of the details. Our listeners will know that we talk a lot about grid modernization here and talk a lot about better intelligence of what's happening on the grid in all aspects, and something we haven't really talked about, and I'm excited to talk to you about today is the sort of vegetation management side of it. So really excited to get into the details. But before we do that, I'm always really curious to understand, you know, the people behind the conversations. How did you get into this area of, you know, high tech vegetation management? I touched a little bit on your bio in the intro, but give us a sense of, you know, how did Lynn come to be in the space that you're in right now?   Lynn Petesch  08:12 Yeah, I wouldn't say I grew up thinking I was going to work in this space, but I love working in it now. So actually, right out of college, I went to work for the United Nations, but then in the last 15 years, I started working at high growth tech companies, startups, and I've always been focused on leading and building CS operations, which is basically the customer success teams. They're the ones that are in front of the customers, implementing these software programs, kind of working very closely with customer solving problems. And about four years ago, I decided that I did want to focus the rest of my career on solving the climate crisis more broadly. And I remember very clearly that I came across Overstory. And there was two things that really resonated with me. One was hearing that utility caused wildfires could be as thing of the past, like they are preventable. And the other thing was learning about this world where vegetation is the biggest cause of outages, which is, you know, I did not know before. And so I think, you know, having these very clear goals is very compelling to kind of work on something where it's so easy to understand what the big problems are. So I joined Overstory, and for the last couple of years, I've been building a team that gets really deeply embedded in these utilities, specifically with the vegetation management and the WiFi mitigation teams. And we work on their programs. We understand their programs, we help them reshape their programs. We roll out, obviously, the software element that is Overstory. It's been very fun and rewarding work   Trevor Freeman  09:40 That's great. And I really love, you know, talking to people from a variety of areas that they touch on climate change and the climate crisis. And I think there's a bunch of us who share that passion of wanting to do something. I spoke with a group of you know, recent grads about what is a green. In career. What is it? What does a career in climate change look like? And really it looks like whatever you want it to look like. There are so many aspects that touch on this. So kind of neat to hear how that was your passion, and then you figured out where it made sense for you to enter into the climate sphere. So that's great.   Lynn Petesch  10:15 Yeah, I guess when I was young, I thought you had to be a scientist to work on time, yeah. And I think now anyone can find an angle on how to contribute to it. And I think it needs everyone to help contribute.   Trevor Freeman  10:24 Yeah, any job can be a green job if you care about it and if you make it that okay. So let's get back to Overstory. Tell us a little bit about the evolution of the company. You talked about it kind of founding about seven years ago. Tell us how it's evolved and progressed over those seven years.   Lynn Petesch  10:41 Yeah, so when we started working with utilities, I think at that point, everyone was kind of assessing whether satellites could be kind of good use case for analyzing vegetation. We're now talking about 30 centimeter imagery. So the resolution of satellites has become incredible. You can really see branches. You can detect species of trees. You can see if they're healthy or not. So initially, that was kind of our m-o we really were the leading provider to find out, where are the trees, how close are they, in terms of proximity to your network, so to the conductor, which is the risk. You know, we're looking at the terrain. If you're looking in the mountains and in Colorado, you have very different terrain than maybe in Ottawa. So detecting tree species has been really interesting, detecting the health of trees, how that decline is furthering. A lot of utilities are experiencing a lot of tree decline die off right now. So that was how we started. And then we started working with the really big utilities. And you had to think about this problem at scale. Now, we might be scanning with satellites, hundreds, 10s of 1000s of miles at a time, and some of these utilities, they might have 1000s, if not 10s of 1000s, of trees that could pose a risk to their network. They might have had a really big, large weather event, a storm that knocked over some of their system. So at that point, it all becomes about that decisioning tool. Everything starts becoming a prioritization, and I think that's now where we're really leaning into is making not just surfacing the data, but making it very actionable. Utilities have a lot to deal with. They deal with very tight budgets, they deal with crew constraints. They might have an aging workforce, their regulatory pressure, they're really vulnerable to storms. Increasingly, there's a lot of wildfire exposure. So everything becomes a decision of, where should I focus my intention? Where can I get the biggest bang for my buck? What should I do? What should I not focus on? And that decisioning is where we really want to be a key player in.   Trevor Freeman  12:44 Absolutely. And looking forward, I know I'm kind of we're jumping the gun here. We haven't gotten into the details of what you do. But looking forward, what is your vision for, kind of the future of this space and how it's going to continue to evolve? Are you mature as a company yet, or as a sector, or is it still a lot of growth to happen?   Lynn Petesch  13:01 Yeah, I think vast majority utilities are now leveraging remote sensing. It could be lighter, it could be drones, it could be satellites. So that has become a pretty established tooling within the sector. I think what our vision really is, is providing utilities that shared resilience, first picture of risk. So you know, we imagine a world where you can, kind of like, see the emerging risks, and you can start becoming proactive. Being proactive in the space of vegetation management has been really challenging. You never know where the next tree is going to fall. And over the last couple of years, customers suddenly have access to this risk across their territory so that they can start being proactive about it. As a matter of fact, that was a key use case, also with the team at Hydro Ottawa, is to start launching these proactive programs. And I think when we think about it, we get very excited about the world in which anyone from the field crews to the vegetation managers to the operation folks to the execs, to the regulators, the community partners who think about the safety of their communities, the regulators all have that kind of shared view of risk. Just imagine, they all understand the same risk. They operate off the same sheet, and they make the same data driven decisions that could solve a lot of problems, because now the data is often scrambled across different people. Certain people have access to it and certain people don't.   Trevor Freeman  14:25 Great. Okay, so let's get into the specifics here. I want to actually talk about specifically what you what Overstory does. How do you find we've kind of talked about vegetation management, obviously, you're supportingHydro Ottawa and other utilities in our vegetation management programs. How do you find and tag high risk vegetation? What is high risk like? What do you actually do on a day to day basis?   Lynn Petesch  14:47 Yeah, that's the part that I deal with the most often. So excited to get into specifics. Implementing with Overstory is actually pretty easy. I mean, when we start working with a customer, we need to know where is your grid. So we need to understand where your power lines are. Planning. We need to understand the main configurations of them. How tall are the poles, etc, so we can really compute that whole focus of where the trees in relation to your power lines, to your conductors. That's all ultimately that we're focusing on. Increasingly, we're all seeing focusing on the ground. I'll be talking about that as well. We then task these satellites over your territory. We do that during the leaf on season, so that will be the summer, essentially. And then we run all these models. So we are first needing to understand, where are the trees, what is their height, what is their health? An unhealthy tree is much more likely to fall and cause damage to your power lines. We're looking at the fuels on the ground. We can help you determine what type of equipment you might need to attack certain types of vegetation. And we always compute it to that risk to the conductor. And we look at your right of ways. Now, I think the interesting part about your question is the what is high risk? And that is, can be very different across different utilities, and I think that's the maybe the unique part with Overstory is that we can configure it to your standards. So every utility has very unique components. If you're on the West Coast and you're concerned about wildfires, your tolerance to risk will be very different. And if you're on the East Coast, where you're mostly concerned about not causing too many outages, including that you might have specific trimming specifications. The crews running around with chainsaws, they know exactly how far out they need to trim, how much they can trim, and there's a bit of a risk tolerance thing. So we built very configurable risk frameworks for all of our utility partners, so high means one thing to hydro Ottawa means something different to a customer in California that is facing a very different type of risk.   Trevor Freeman  16:49 So you're out there assessing, essentially, just for the context of our listeners, you know, we've got power lines that run overhead. They run through residential neighborhoods, commercial areas, but also forested areas, treed areas where there's lots of vegetation near our equipment, your company really gets an understanding of the the interaction between the vegetation and our lines, and says, these ones are too close, or this is a tree that's, you know, not healthy, and could come in contact with your lines based on your analysis. So help us, like, let's paint that picture a little bit more detailed. How do utility companies take the information that you are coming up with, that your analysis is coming up with, and use that to run a vegetation management program more effectively? What does the utility do with that information?   Lynn Petesch  17:37 Yeah, so we always center it around four main use cases. One is optimizing a program that already exists. It's creating a targeted program for you. It's quantifying your work and risk reporting. And I'll dive into each and every one of them a little bit to illustrate a bit more what that could mean. So when we think about program optimization, a lot of utilities, they have existing vegetation management cycle. They might have a regulatory obligation to visit their territory every four years, for example. Now, a lot of times they've been doing their program the same way for the last 10 maybe 20 years, but the conditions in their territory are different, right? I mean, the things we're seeing, the storms are heavier. There's more tree decline that we're seeing right now. So they know they need to adapt and they need to adjust it. But it's big programs with lots of budgets attached to it, a lot of crews running around. So starting to think about how you can start pulling a socket that you're meant to trim forward, or starting to tackle an area where you say, is more residential, there's fewer trees, focusing on your high risk areas. First re managing these programs is one key component that we work with a lot of companies on. And thinking about Oklahoma, Gas and Electric, for example, that they have a budget, and they can only do that much with the budget, and it was really about reinventing where they can get the biggest impact. The other one, the second use case, is this targeted program creation, and I'll use the Hydro Ottawa use case for that. You know, they had suddenly a view about where are all of their hazard trees? Hazard trees are these trees that are declining, they're dying, or they're dead, and they could have an impact on your system. Now, suddenly you know where they are, so you can start building a targeted program about dedicating some time and budget and crews to actually going and addressing those trees that has a big impact on your reliability and on reducing tree cost outages. And there's many others, sort of like hotspotting, is a very common term about starting to become proactive and doing something for a specific program. And the third one is work quantification. And I think there, when you think about it again, there's large contractors that are running around, managing your territory. And now we utilities, for the first time, often have that data to actually assess how much work there is. So that's really helpful in terms of negotiating your contracts, getting better bids. Some utilities say it's really hard to find contractors that want to work on their system, because it's very hard to estimate how much work there is, or they might have a budget to mow certain vegetation along a transmission corridor. Just knowing how much vegetation there is is a really helpful tool to address it and prioritize it in the right way. And then the fourth use case is the risk reporting, and that is about getting that baseline view about your risk and tracking it year over year. And this is really where we want utilities to have that data to report it out to their boards, insurers, regulators, and often it's used to defend your budgets, secure your budgets, or really have some data to kind of back you up on what the problems are that you're facing.   Trevor Freeman  21:05 Great. So you talk about data, and you know, each of those use cases that you mentioned, or strategies that you mentioned really are about getting the right information in the hands of the right people to make decisions and sort of more efficiently and effectively make decisions, but it's a lot of data. And so Hydro Ottawa has over 6000 kilometers of lines. You know, this, of course, as our partner, we have a big territory, and we have a fairly treed territory. That's a lot of data points. You're collecting a lot of data from your satellites. You're doing analysis on that. How are you doing that analysis? Is it, you know, AI is kind of a buzzword, and every sector right now, and the utility sector is no different. Are you using some form of AI or machine learning analytics? What are you doing in terms of, you know, crunching the numbers and coming up with the right actions?   Lynn Petesch  21:59 Totally, yeah, AI is a buzzword, but it's also very exciting. I think utilities have really embraced it already. They're using it for demand forecasting. They're using it for customer service. They're using it for asset planning. I mean, at the core, Overstory has been using AI to turn remote sensing data into operationally useful intelligent about their vegetation. So when you say yes, Hydro Ottawa has that many 1000s of kilometers of overhead lines, we need to a rank it to them. This is your worst circuit. This is your worst area. This is the area where you have the most hazard trees, for example. So we can really rank order on a span level, from the worst to the best, right? So that could be one thing, it's still an overwhelming amount of data. So where we started by using AI to kind of predict that whereas the trees How tall are, they were and they were relation to the conductors. Now what we're really excited about, or kind of leaning into, with AI, is how to intelligently, kind of assess and prioritize risk. So not every hazard tree has the same impact. If a hazard tree falls on a line where more houses are dependent on you will knock out the power of more people. So it's always a prioritization exercise, and leveraging AI for that is what is most exciting to us right now. And I think it's important to note that we also don't just want it to be a black box. All of the models we've built, they're always validated by certified arborists and kind of our utility partners. And I think at this stage, this is very important, because every tree that we find exists in the real world, and so validating this, AI in the with ground truthing, has been really important for us to also build that trust in the technology.   Trevor Freeman  23:42 That's great. And I do think it's helpful for our listeners to kind of understand the context before this, this work is sort of done, you know, in the absence of a tool like yours, it's, it's sort of done. You know, there's a degree of manual effort here. There's a degree of patrolling the lines. There's a cycle of vegetation management. So if you've done a line this year in three years or four years or five years, you want to be looking at it again. This takes a little bit of that, I don't want to call it guesswork, but it takes a little bit of that manual effort out of the equation, and really focuses efforts in the right way. And it's only with the tools that you know you folks are using that you're able to do that volume of analysis and get that pinpoint accuracy. So that's fantastic. Let's, let's get into kind of the success of it at all, like the big picture. We've obviously talked a couple times here that you're our partner here at Hydro Ottawa, so I know that the success that we're having with you, but you know, tell us some of the great success stories with other utility partners. Are you, you know, are you actually reducing weather related outages? Are you seeing the impact of using the overstory tools and methodology to support utility partners?   Lynn Petesch  24:58 Yeah, I mean weather related outages can mean many things. You have trees knocking over, like the pole might crack, etc, you know, those there's a lot of things that can happen during a storm. And I've heard a lot of stories about side of some of the storms that Ottawa has experienced in the past years, where, you know, you could have had anything, and they're just heavier, and that the consequences are really strong, but what we can impact is the tree cost outages, right? And that we've proven with Hydro Ottawa, where, within a year, by focusing that targeted program on going to an area where you had a massive amounts of these trees that were dying off and they at any point, was just a little bit too heavy wind could be toppled over and fall on the line, we had a 44% reduction in tree cost outages. That's a real, tangible number. You can see, I'm thinking about utility as well. In the on the East Coast, a co op that runs through very rural areas. In those areas, you have a trees outside of the right of way that are toppling over on two lines. So tree cost outages are a huge issue for them, and it's really impacting their safety and safety those key, key KPIs that utilities are always tracking and by us just giving them a rank order of which has a tree they had so many of them, which has a tree to even go to first, because if that has a tree were to fall on a line, a ton more people are going to be out of power than if the other one were to fall the line, you will have, like one rural cabin that will not have power. And that led to a reduction of something around 90% of tree cause outages is to 70% it's still a long way to go, but it was a really tangible number that you can see, and it shows that if you then do that proactive work, you have real impact on your tree cost outages. And it's if I think about our customer in California, Pacific Gas and Electric, for example, it's a lot around helping them understand where they don't need to go. So it's kind of doing something of a visual inspection and actually skipping certain spans, that can be itself a really big use case. Because right now, if you don't have an understanding about where your risks are, you might be spending trucks to roll for hours around areas where there is not really any tangible work to be done. So redirecting them to the right areas is where we've seen a lot of success there, and that obviously leads to budget wins, right? You'll be saving a lot of money by doing that. And those are kind of the use cases that we chase and that we kind of help prove the cases on.   Trevor Freeman  27:29 Absolutely, yeah, there's, there's only so many resources you can you can throw at this, and making sure that we prioritize and focus those resources in the right spot is absolutely critical. You were just talking about the West Coast, and you mentioned this earlier. I know wildfires is is an area that is obviously of great interest for your organization. We're fortunate here at Hydro Ottawa, and that we haven't really had to deal with that much. But anybody who's you know following the news knows this is a major problem for us. So how, what is your role in helping those utilities prevent wildfires? Maybe give us, like, a very quick primer on why utilities are a factor when it comes to wildfires first, and then how your organization is supporting that.   Lynn Petesch  28:13 So unfortunately, utility cost wildfires tend to be the most catastrophic wildfires because they're critical infrastructure, and we've obviously seen that happen across the world, in in the US recently, again and again. But utility cost wildfires, as I said at the beginning, are also the actual wildfires that are preventable. So that's really where we're lying to lying into a lot of the forests right now. They've become Tinder boxes. That is obviously because of fire suppression policies? That's because of forest management techniques that have been leveraged in the last couple of 100 years that are slowly changing at different paces? Canada's had some, unfortunately, some really bad fire seasons recently as well. And so where overstory wanted to place itself as a net prevention space to even not add to the point where you have a spark, because there's a lot of tools out there that focus on mitigation and what is, what do you do when you see that first plume of smoke coming up? And so we've landed in kind of really focusing on the prevention side, so that utilities are hopefully in the future, not the ones that spark any of those catastrophic wildfires we've already always been looking at that the vegetation that could touch your conductor, right? That's I've been speaking about that a lot, but now we're really excited for the first time, and we recently announced that we launched a fuel detection model. So that's us looking at the ground fuel conditions, and those are actually usually the key contributors to the spark that spreads the fire. We're now providing that to utilities as a much higher resolution than ever before. For me, it's interesting because I've spent a lot of time looking at trees, and now I'm going into the field and I'm looking at the ground, and it's a new perspective. But yet again, we could just, you know, we don't want to overwhelm our customers. A lot of maps and showing the fuel conditions, necessarily, we can really help them identify those spans where a single failure would have the greatest consequence. So yet again, it's about how to make that data that, you know, there's a lot of wildfire risk map out there, but make it a very actionable list of spans that if they were to tackle those they are very proactively reducing the risk of igniting a fire. And as a result of the protecting their communities.   Trevor Freeman  30:29 Got you so it's not just about the overhead trees, branches, etc, contacting the line. It's, you know, if a switch goes, if an insulator pops, if, if something happens that will cause sparks. What's happening on the ground below that line, and how do we make sure it is able to withstand sparks? That might happen.   Lynn Petesch  30:49 Exactly if you have dry grasses, if you have sagebrush, if you have certain types of fuels, they're just much more likely to spark a fire and then spread, spread out without there even be any any trees you have these prairies along Texas that can blow up in a fire very quickly, and the fires can spread to tremendous sizes. And so understanding the fuels on the ground is really important.   Trevor Freeman  31:15 Super interesting and fascinating work to get involved in. As you mentioned, this is obviously an area of, I don't even know if I call it growing concern anymore, great concern for for the utility industry and all of us. Yeah. So with the technology that's, you know, we talked about AI a little bit ago, it's literally growing before our eyes. It's really evolving fast. Do you see your technology evolving along with it. What's what's kind of next for your organization? You talked about getting into sort of the ground vegetation management. What comes next? How do you see it evolving as AI and tools evolve?   Lynn Petesch  31:52 Yeah, I mean, if we see that the future is where we want to support a grid that is much safer and reliable, as I mentioned, we also want to make it sure it's resilient to the climate and the economic pressures that there are. So our initial focus and our continued focus, and where we have a lot of our expertise has been with vegetation. Now we're starting to look at the ground fuels, then that naturally evolves into looking at the asset vulnerabilities. So you know, the actual polls, and if there's any failures potentially on those as well as further weather exposures, right? It becomes, then about the soil moisture. It comes about the wind speed. It becomes around the rain, precipitation, etc. So there's a myriad of things that we can start looking at and that we want to start looking at in order to get that more holistic view of risk, and go beyond just vegetation right now, where we're investing most heavily in is that wildfire risk. There's also the resolution that we see with satellites right now is at 30 centimeter that may drop down to 15 or 10 centimeters, so the resolution will get higher. There's other sources that we're exploring already flying, sometimes aerial imagery that is at that five to 15 centimeters, then you would really start seeing soon, you can start seeing a leaf on a on a tree. It gets really impressive. There's lighter there's lots of other kind of remote sensing technologies that we're looking to leverage in the future. And then, as a company as well, we're starting to, obviously expand internationally. We started working with utilities in New Zealand that have very similar problems and various regulatory changes. They also have a problem with wildfire risks. So that is, that is another angle that at Overstorey We're chasing right now.   Trevor Freeman  33:35 Yeah, I'm glad you brought up that. You know, understanding of other assets beyond just vegetation, has kind of been running through my head of we talk about, and I think we've talked about it here on the show. If we haven't, I should do an episode on that, like a digital twin, a digital twin of our grid, and really having a good understanding of not just, you know, a line drawn on a map of, Hey, your circuits run this way, but really physically, what's happening out there, and being able to sort of model that interact with it in a digital way, to understand, if we do X, Y and Z, what happens. So the technology that you guys are using to really get good imagery and understanding of what's out there, well, I think what I'm hearing from you is could potentially be leveraged in that next level to understand, what pulls do we have? What health are they in? What you know, what's happening with that conductor? Is it sagging too much? Is it in good health? Like there's, there's all this opportunity that's really fascinating to hear.   Lynn Petesch  34:31 Yeah, already. Now, when we look at transmission corridors, we look at the sag of these lines, and the terrains are also really challenging, something to look at. So there's a lot of factors that need to be taken into account. And that can only expand as we want to look at risk more beyond just the vegetation element.   Trevor Freeman  34:48 Very cool. Well, Lynn, very interesting to hear this. I'm really glad you came on the episode or the show today to talk to us. Fascinating to hear what Overstory have to I know that we're super excited to be. Working with you here at Hydro Ottawa and excited for what comes next. We always end our interviews with a series of questions, so I'm going to dive into those and here we go. What is a book that you've read that you think everyone should read?   Lynn Petesch  35:13 I was thinking about an author more than a book. My favorite author is Jonathan Franzen. If I would recommend one book, it'd probably be Corrections, his most famous one, I believe. But they're like, these chunky, 800-900 page books where you kind of get immersed in these families and you feel like you know them at the end, and they kind of, I think about them for like, months afterwards. They're really good reading, at least for the winter when it's cold and you spend a lot of time inside. So probably Jonathan Franzen books, yeah.   Trevor Freeman  35:41 Yeah, we're we're recording this just before the holidays, and I think we'll be releasing the episode after but winter is such a great time to curl up with a book, and it's awesome to have a good recommendation of a nice thing.   Lynn Petesch  35:53 It'll be called in January.   Trevor Freeman  35:56 Absolutely. So same question, but a movie or a show?   Lynn Petesch  36:00 Yeah, I'm not a big movie buff, but I recently rewatched What's Eating Gilbert Grape, seen it with Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio, and I always felt like Leonardo DiCaprio should have received an Oscar for that performance back when he was 14. But, yeah, it's a beautiful movie. awesome.   Trevor Freeman  36:20 Awesome yeah, that's a bit of a blast from the past, but you're right. That is a fantastic one. If someone offered you a free round trip flight anywhere in the world, where would go?   Lynn Petesch  36:27 French Polynesia, because it's so far I've never been a friend who went. I'm sure it's very expensive to go there, so it'd be great for someone too. Yeah, no, that's a place I'll go one day.   Trevor Freeman  36:41 So, yeah, fantastic. Who is someone that you admire?   Lynn Petesch  36:45 Yeah, that's a it's a tricky one, because I was thinking about, like, people, you know, in, I know, family, etc. But like, if I were to think about a, and it's a little left field, about a public persona, and also a bit of a blast from the past, I'll think about Tina Turner. She's been my icon since I'm a kid, I was always listening with my dad to Tina Turner. And I think the word that I've probably most used in today's episode was like resilience. And I always think about her as like possibly the most resilient woman in the world who reinvented herself and her career in her 40s and 50s, and is this complete power woman, you know, always done everything at her own terms. So get so much energy from not just her music. I've seen so many documentaries about her, and she's always been this kind of woman that I know, filthy with energy and kind of like drive. So I'm a big, big fan of Tina Turner.   Trevor Freeman  37:38 That's fantastic. I have to say, that's never come up on the show before, and now I need to go and dive down a rabbit hole of like, learning about Tina Turner listening to some music.   Lynn Petesch  37:47 Yeah, she's great woman.   Trevor Freeman  37:48 Yeah, good answer. Last question, what's something about the energy sector, or let's expand that to kind of the climate sector that you're really excited about?   Lynn Petesch  37:59 Yeah, I'm gonna take a very high level. But I think the thing I've always been following the most is, like, that broad topic of the energy transition, and I think the recent changes, or like, kind of the way we talk about it, has become a lot more interesting, because it used to be this kind of fluffy, big kind of vision, and now we're in that phase where it just has to be very practically implemented, and we're trudging along with it, no matter the political climate, etc, there is kind of a move forward. And I actually really liked the way that, I think, when I first started learning about it, or getting interested in it, it was always about renewables, and now it's around just sort of like needing to build a system that is both, like low carbon and climate resilient. And there's something in that, like way we talk about it now that I find really interesting. There's immense amounts of innovation in it. So yeah, I'm just enjoying following what's happening on that and how we are. We're moving that direction, no matter what's happening right now. So that's exciting.   Trevor Freeman  38:55 Yeah, okay, when I know my listeners are probably roll their eyes, because I say this all the time, but it's a very exciting time to be in this industry, and very exciting to kind of see the evolution of energy and how we're interacting with it, how it's impacting our society. And we really feels like we're at an inflection point. And very great to have you working on one aspect of it that people probably don't think about a lot. So thanks very much for what you're doing.   Lynn Petesch  39:19 Yeah, exactly. When you start working for Overstory, the one thing that happens is, wherever you go, you see trees and power lines. And I have very keen eye for, unfortunately, trees that are in poor health right now. So that's one of the professional things I've developed.   Trevor Freeman  39:35 Carry like a spool of red ribbon around you can, like, tie on the at risk trees and just so someone could come along. Lynn, thanks so much for coming on the show today. Really appreciate it. It's been great chatting with you.   Lynn Petesch  39:45 Thank you so much.   Trevor Freeman  39:46 Take care. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the thinkenergy podcast. Don't forget to subscribe. Wherever you listen to podcasts, and it would be great if you could leave us a review. It really helps to spread the word. As always, we would love to hear. From you, whether it's feedback comments or an idea for a show or a guest, you can always reach us at thinkenergy@hydroottawa.com..

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten: +++ Bürofenster beschatten mit Roboter-Blumen +++ Schmetterlings-Nahrung wird durch Klimawandel zuckerärmer +++ Neue KI-Schwärme fluten das Internet mit Falschinfos +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Architectural swarms for responsive façades and creative expression, Science Robotics, 21.01.2026Warming-Mediated Decreases in Nectar Quality Translate Into Lower Energy Reserves of the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus), Global Change Biology Communications, 20.01.2026How malicious AI swarms can threaten democracy, Science, 22.01.2026Milano Cortina 2026: Warming Winter Olympics, Climate Central, 21.01.2026Cholesterol-lowering effects of oats induced by microbially produced phenolic metabolites in metabolic syndrome: a randomized controlled trial, Nature Communications, 14.01.2026Alle Quellen findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

Become a paid subscriber to our newsletter/podcast, The Climate Weekly, to help support this show! It's fun. All the cool kids are doing it! ------------- We're coming up on the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. In this new series from The Climate Pod, we're looking back on the global pact to determine: how have things changed since 2015 and what has the Paris Agreement accomplished? To kick off the series, Dr. Kristina Dahl, vice president for Science at Climate Central and the co-author of the new report Ten Years of the Paris Agreement: The Present and Future of Extreme Heat, joins the show to talk about how our understanding and projections of extreme heat have changed over the course of the decade. We talk about the importance of the Paris Agreement's temperature targets set and how extreme weather events and the role of attribution science in understanding climate change's impact has radically changed since 2015. We look at the challenges of communicating extreme heat risks now, the need for transformative adaptation strategies, and the importance of addressing structural inequities in climate resilience that haven't been remedied since Paris was signed. Finally, we look at the real threat of extreme heat in the future, how our lives might change, and the deadliest outcomes that haven't yet been truly avoided. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to our newsletter/podcast, The Climate Weekly, to help support this show. Your contributions will make the continuation of this show possible.  Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and more! Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

A new study claims that rising temperatures around the world will make it harder for elite athletes to break the marathon world record, or for recreational runners to hit their target times. Of the 221 races analyzed in the report from Climate Central released last week, 86% of them are less likely to have optimal racing conditions for runners by 2045. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Climate Central's rapid attribution study found that climate change strengthened Melissa's winds by about 10 mph, which has devastated communities across the Caribbean.

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

Dr. Lea-Rachel Kosnik, Professor & Department Chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, joins Megan Lynch. A federal database that tracked the cost of extreme weather is back up and running under a nonprofit group. Climate Central says disasters across the U-S caused more than $100 billion in damage in the first six months of the year. It's the most expensive start to any year on record. She says, 'we're still building homes', in areas where severe weather events occur.

Television producer and digital storyteller Dan Krueger has spent his career turning complex stories into captivating visuals — from CBS and Discovery Channel to his latest work as Lead Technical Field Producer of FloodVision, a groundbreaking Climate Central project bringing flood risk to life.In this episode of GeoTrek, host Dr. “Hurricane Hal” Needham talks with Dan about his journey through television, marketing, and science communication — and how tools like FloodVision are helping forecasters, scientists, and communities better understand and visualize flood danger before disaster strikes.Plus, in our Weathered Wisdom segment, Dan shares the unforgettable extreme weather event that shaped his perspective on resilience and storytelling.

Shel Winkley, Weather and Climate Engagement Specialist, joins Hurricane Hal to discuss his career journey, his work at Climate Central, and where he helps bridge the gap between complex science and public understanding. They dig into the importance of attribution research, lessons learned from unforgettable storms, and the future of weather messaging. Listeners will walk away with practical insights into why clear communication could save lives in an era of increasing extremes.

If autumn in the Treasure Valley feels hotter than you remember, you're not imagining it. Our region is warming, and that means ripple effects for our health, recreation, and more. But is this weird weather or proof of a bigger climate shift? Host Lindsay Van Allen is joined by Climate Central researcher Kaitlyn Trudeau to explain what the data shows and what it would take to slow the trend.  Want some more Boise news? Head over to our Hey Boise newsletter where you'll get a cheatsheet to the city every weekday morning. Learn more about the sponsor of this September 15th episode: Flyinvet Visit Walla Walla And when you join our City Cast Boise Neighbors program, you'll get great perks like ad-free listening, access to members-only events, and much more. Become a member for just $10/month here.  Interested in advertising with City Cast Boise? Find more info HERE. Reach us at boise@citycast.fm.

Increasing temperatures in New Orleans are driving up utility bills as air-conditioners struggle to keep up. And some people are more vulnerable than others, like seniors.The Gulf States Newsroom's Drew Hawkins worked with the climate research group, Climate Central, and reports from the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood in New Orleans, where seniors with lower incomes struggle to deal with the heat — both physically and financially.The U.S. rice industry has made impressive gains in sustainability over the last 40 years. Yet the crop is still at risk due to climate change, disease outbreaks, pests and human activity that can cause disturbances in production. The LSU AgCenter is continuing its research on rice sustainability, in large part thanks to a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ronnie Levy, state rice specialist at the LSU AgCenter, joins us for more on this research.Over the next two weeks on Louisiana Considered, Producer Eve Abrams will be sharing a series of stories on coastal restoration. Wetlands Radio traces the history of coastal restoration and the methods Louisiana is using to restore our coast. Today, we learn how land loss is measured and what to do when our land disappears.—Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. We receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman, Adam Vos and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell. You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

This summer's devastating wildfire season has sent smoke across county, state, and even international borders, affecting air quality thousands of miles away from the flames. Host Emily Gracey dives deep into the science behind the haze, exploring why wildfire seasons are stretching longer each year and how a changing climate is literally adding fuel to the fire.You'll discover the invisible dance between smoke and weather systems that determines whether your city wakes up under clear skies or a blanket of particulates. Climate Central's Shel Winkley explains the wildfire-climate connection, while Michigan meteorologist Alec Kownacki makes sense of those color-coded air quality measurements on your phone – what they really mean, how they're calculated, and why the difference between "moderate" and "unhealthy" could determine whether you take that morning jog or stay inside.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

Tonight on NJ Spotlight News, Governor Phil Murphy is subpoenaed as interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba investigates the governor's statements made earlier this year about housing an undocumented woman. Plus, a joint investigative report between NJ Spotlight News and Climate Central explored the rising threat of extreme heat risks to expectant mothers. Also, an Elizabeth-based nonprofit pushes to bring more women of color and veterans into the construction industry. And, President Donald Trump joins thousands of fans attending the FIFA Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium, as the region prepared for next year's big event.

In this emotional and informative episode of the Carolina Weather Group, we examine the devastating flash flooding disasters that unfolded in early July 2025 in both Texas and the Carolinas. With over 100 confirmed fatalities in Texas and more than 150 missing, meteorologists and scientists recount the harrowing moments and explain how a stalled storm system overwhelmed Kerrville and surrounding areas.We also discuss Tropical Storm Chantal's impact on the Carolinas, where unprecedented rainfall led to a 1-in-1,000-year flooding event. This conversation unpacks the science behind the flooding, the role of climate change, and the urgent need for improved flood response systems.Our guests: Troy Kimmel, a meteorologist in Austin, Texas with experience in emergency response. He's also a panelist on the WeatherBrains podcast.Dr. Kristina Dahl, Climate Central's Vice President for ScienceJordan McLeod, our former panelist, formerly of the Southeast Regional Climate Center

Learn more at TheCityLife.org

A recent Axios Seattle story highlighted findings from Climate Central, which reported a notable rise in average coldest temperatures across the U.S. over the past 30 years, with Seattle and surrounding areas like Spokane and Yakima showing significant increases. The report attributes this warming trend to climate change.

สส.หญิง พรรคเสรีนิยมหนุน ซูซาน ลี นำพรรคผ่านวิกฤต Climate Central เผยภาวะโลกร้อนกระทบสุขภาพแม่และเด็ก วิจัยชี้คนรุ่นใหม่มีบ้านยิ่งยากกว่าเดิม เหตุเลื่อมล้ำทางสังคมสูง

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten: +++ Ein Tag mit extremer Hitze kann Risiko für Schwangerschaftskomplikationen erhöhen +++ Jede Orang-Utan-Mama macht's anders +++ Lang haltbare Tortilla entwickelt +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Climate change increasing pregnancy risks around the world due to extreme heat,Climate Central, 14.05.2025Sumatran orangutan mothers differ in the extent and trajectory of their expression of maternal behaviour, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 14.05.2025Zwischen Fortschritt und Klischee – Frauenbilder in der TV-Werbung 2016–2024, HTW Berlin, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, 13.05.2025Olympia-Anschlag 1972: Der Fernseher, den es nie gab, Institut für Zeitgeschichte München - Berlin, April 2025Universtität Heidelberg, 13.05.2025**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .

There's a warming trend in cities across American, and that's extending allergy season for millions of Americans. A new study by Climate Central found five cities in Minnesota have increased their pollen season — in some cases by nearly a month. The Twin Cities allergy season has expanded by 27 days, Duluth is seeing an average of 24 extra days of allergy season, while Mankato is experiencing 11 and Rochester is averaging 10 extra days, said Kristoffer Tigue, a reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune. “It's not just the extended pollen season that the studies have have shown are are making allergies worse for people,” said Tigue. “The plants themselves are growing larger, and that's because there's more carbon dioxide in the air. There's even research that suggests that the pollen itself is becoming more allergenic.”To hear the full conversation, click play on the audio player above or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast

This week's topics:Duel to lower property and sales taxesStorm repair funds cancelled in D.C.Florida most at risk in Climate Central ReportWith guests:Roberto Torres, Business owner, NPAKathryn Varn, Reporter, Axios Tampa BayTravis Horn, Founder & CEO, Bullhorn Communications, RepublicanJanelle Irwin Taylor, Journalist, Publisher, Southeast Politics

Meteorologist Shel Winkley, Weather and Climate engagement Specialist for Climate Central joins Megan Lynch to talk higher hourly rainfall totals in St. Louis and Upper Midwest (Photo Credit - digidreamgrafix/iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Some curse words are used in this discussion.  In the previous episode, Mitch Landrieu discussed his upbringing, including the impact his father had on race relations in New Orleans and how this informed Mitch's leadership during some of city's toughest hours. In the second half of this conversation, we get his unvarnished perspective on changes in the federal approach to the budget, humanitarian aid, and personnel-- matters closely related to his experience in Louisiana state and local government.  Disasters on the scale of Hurricane Katrina were once relatively rare. Today, they are occurring with greater frequency and intensity. According to Climate Central, the 1980s averaged 82 days between billion-dollar disasters; for the five years between 2019 and 2023, that average gap shrank to just 16 days. The average annual cost of these events has more than tripled— from $28 billion in 1984 to $101 billion today.  The Palisades, Hurst and Eaton fires in Los Angeles began the 2025 list of devastating national disasters, resulting in over 37,000 acres burned and an estimated $30 to $50 billion in damages. Having worked with the federal government through several recovery processes in his own state, Mayor Landrieu has some concerns with how the delivery of disaster aid was managed for California.  Listen in as Ten Across founder Duke Reiter and Mitch Landrieu discuss the stakes and responsibilities of governing in the face of national disaster and global conflict.  We've taken a new approach with this episode, take a listen and let us know what you think by leaving a review on your preferred podcast platform.   Related articles and resources:  Governing Through Times of Crisis and Opportunity with Mayor Mitch Landrieu - Part One“Americans' Deepening Mistrust of Institutions” (Pew Charitable Trust, Oct. 2024)  “Americans agree more than they might think—not knowing this jeopardizes the nation's shared values” (The Conversation, Nov. 2024)  “Johnson opens door to linking voter ID to California disaster aid after Trump demand” (The Hill, Jan. 2025)  “Trump threatens to withhold aid for California wildfires in first TV interview since inauguration” (The Washington Post, Jan. 2025)  “US stock market loses $4 trillion in value as Trump plows ahead on tariffs” (Reuters, March 2025)

Lauren Casey is a Meteorologist with Climate Central, a non-profit, non advocacy organization, that researches climate change worldwide. She joins Megan Lynch after finding that 87% of locations in the US there are 3 more weeks each year of "sniffling and sneezing." Getty Images

Three researchers with personal experience of anxiety and depression triggered by studying the environmental destruction caused by a changing climate describe the steps they take to protect their mental health.Ruth Cerezo-Mota, a climate scientist based at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, found herself grieving for the state of the planet through her work for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.Experiencing a panic attack at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a fear of checking emails and a sense of disengagement from work, led to her seeking professional help. “I was in a really dark place,” she tells Adam Levy. Retreating to a “happy place” that combines home, books, yoga, running, cats and wine is a key copying strategy when things get tough, she says.Similar experiences are recounted by Dave Reay, a climate scientist at the University of Edinburgh UK, and Daniel Gilford, a meteorologist who works at Climate Central, a science-led non-profit based in Princeton, New Jersey, that researches and reports the facts about climate change and its effects on peoples lives.Talking to other climate researchers and focusing on positive developments around climate change also helps, says Reay. Gilford, who is based in Orlando, Florida, likens climate change to being in the path of an approaching train: “I can see it coming with all of its weight and heaviness, and I'm screaming ‘Stop. Stop the train. Stop the train.'“By screaming, by saying what is happening, by naming the problem and telling people about it, I think that that can become a solution as well,” he says. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Groundhog Day is coming up this weekend so, move over Phil- the real weather experts are stepping into the spotlight! Join us as we chat with Climate Central meteorologists Bernadette Woods and Shel Winkley, fresh from the American Meteorological Society's annual meeting. They'll share their personal and professional take on our favorite furry forecaster while giving us their takeaways from America's biggest convergence of meteorologists.Then, we're heading to Gobbler's Knob with meteorologist Joe Murgo - the real-life Phil Connors who's witnessed 23 consecutive Groundhog Days! Like Bill Murray's character in the classic film, Joe has seen it all: the pre-dawn chaos, the top-hatted ceremonies, and yes, plenty of Phil's questionable weather predictions. With a perfect blend of scientific insight and hilarious behind-the-scenes stories, Joe reveals how this quirky tradition has evolved from folk custom to cultural phenomenon.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Kristina Dahl, VP for Science at Climate Central, joins us to share her transformative journey into climate science, the art of communicating complex climate issues, and the pivotal role of policy in environmental advocacy. She offers insights on the importance of individual and collective action in shaping a sustainable future. If you want to help us reach our goal of planting 30k trees AND get a free tree planted in your name, visit www.aclimatechange.com/trees to learn how.

We wrap up the season talking with Shel Winkley and Daniel Gilford from Climate Central.Support the showSuggest a topic or ask a question: alex@wxguide.comVisit our conference site: www.hurricanecenterlive.comThanks for listening and please share with your friends and co-workers.

Human-caused climate change increased damaging wind speeds for every hurricane in 2024. That's according to a new study by the Princeton-based Climate Central. From our friends at WHYY's Climate Desk, Susan Phillips explains how higher ocean temperatures led to the higher wind speeds. You may have recently received a letter from your water company about new rules for lead and copper pipes. That letter may ask you to identify your service line, but some consumers are confused about what that means. From our partners at WPSU, Sydney Roach reports these letters are the result of new rules from the US Environmental Protection Agency.Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode 159 of the Outdoor Minimalist podcast, we're heading into ski and snowboard season. Now, we don't have many episodes focused around the snowsports industry (there's a few, shout out to Ted Ligety and his episode), but as we gear up for winter sports, I wanted to look at how we enjoy our winter season with a more critical lens.  We've all experienced a rapid change in weather patterns throughout the last 10 years, and skiing is at the forefront of climate change impacts. Warmer winters, shrinking snowpacks, and unpredictable conditions are transforming the sport as we know it. To help us unpack this pressing issue, we're joined by Anneka Williams. Originally from Vermont's Mad River Valley, Anneka is a climate scientist and she holds a BA in Biology and Earth and Oceanographic Science from Bowdoin College and an MSc in Climate Change from the University of Copenhagen. Anneka has worked on climate and environmental issues on four different continents and pursued stories and ski lines around the world. Currently, Anneka is based in Salt Lake City, Utah where she works on climate resilience in the energy sector and as a freelance writer. INSTAGRAM: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/outdoor.minimalist.book/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ WEBSITE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theoutdoorminimalist.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YOUTUBE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theoutdoorminimalist ORDER THE BOOK: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theoutdoorminimalist.com/book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LISTENER SURVEY: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://forms.gle/jd8UCN2LL3AQst976⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ----------------- Anneka Williams Website: https://www.annekawilliams.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annekawilliams/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneka-williams-81215614b/ Email: annekawilliams24@gmail.com ----------------- Episode Resources Season Equipment: https://seasoneqpt.com/  Patagonia Worn Wear: https://wornwear.patagonia.com/  Intergovernmental Panel of the Climate Change: https://www.ipcc.ch/ Climate Central: https://www.climatecentral.org/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/outdoor-minimalist/support

It is hard not to have noticed the intensity of storms around the world this year, not least the Atlantic storms that battered the eastern US. A new study, using a new technique, confirms their attribution to climate change, and goes further, finding that many of them were actually raised in intensity category compared to how strong they might have been in a world without anthropogenic climate change. The costs are already extraordinary, according to Daniel Gilford of Climate Central in Princeton.When it comes to wildlife conservation, one of the underestimated parameters is the “old and wise” individuals in a population. According to a review paper in the journal Science, not only are earth's old animals in decline, in many species they are vital to recovery and resilience when outside factors endanger numbers. As co-author Lauren Brent of Exeter University points out, these sorts of nuance are not always looked out for in conservation estimates.Chimps have culture, but is their culture cumulative and transmissible or innate and intuitive? Comparing a large database of observed chimpanzee behaviours, together with genetic lineages, Cassandra Gunasekaram and Andrea Migliano, of the University of Zurich, found that types of more complex tool usage can be correlated with reproductive overlaps between different chimp communities. The wandering females maybe carry tech knowledge with them when they travel to find new mates. Is this something both chimps and humans inherited from a common ancestor?And finally, as the harvesting of deep ocean polymetallic nodules gets nearer to commercial reality, the French research ship L'Atalante sets sail this week to study the animals that live on and around these strange chemical balls scattered across the abyssal plains of the mid pacific ocean. As lead scientist aboard, Pierre-Antoine Dessandier tells us, it is essential to understand how these animals live in the dark, 5km down, before the habitats are disturbed. The Eden mission will be searching the Clarion-Clipperton zone until January 2025.Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield with Eliane Glaser Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth(Photo: Hurricane Milton seen from the International Space Station. Credit: Nasa/Getty Images)

The U.S. Atlantic hurricane season has changed. A recent study by Climate Central found that over the last six years, manmade warming amplified the average Atlantic hurricane's strength by as much as 18 miles per hour. For context: it only takes an increase of 16 miles per hour to advance a hurricane from "minimal" Category 1 to "major" Category 3 — but the difference in damage is 140 times greater. Evidence of such a potent connection between climate-warmed ocean temperatures and the energy of tropical cyclones has many meteorologists raising alarms.  In May, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published their ‘most aggressive season outlook' ever, according to the Washington Post. The agency projected 17 to 25 named storms, up to 13 of which were likely to strengthen into hurricanes. Of those, it was predicted that four to seven would rank as Category 3 or above. With just a week left in the standard June-through-November hurricane season, the forecast has proven devastatingly accurate.  The southeastern portion of the Ten Across geography and north into Central Appalachia saw the greatest human and property loss this season from one Category 4 and two Category 5 storms that rolled into the Gulf Coast region.  This episode of the podcast discusses the greatest impacts from these events, as well as the advances that NOAA, the National Weather Service, and National Hurricane Center are making to limit harm from extreme weather as much as possible during both hurricane season and the rest of the year.  Listen in as Ten Across founder Duke Reiter talks with National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan and the National Weather Service's Southern Region Director Michael Coyne to explore the evolving responsibilities of meteorologic sciences and communications in a changing climate landscape. 

Extreme heat, when compared to other natural disasters, can be slow-moving and hard to observe. There aren't homes to repair or debris to clear following a heat wave, but the devastation is revealed in the rising number of heat-related fatalities and declining public health measures across many vulnerable populations within Ten Across communities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, Tucson and San Antonio.  Rising temperatures already pose a risk to this region's critical physical infrastructure, as reported by nonprofit Climate Central: the US experienced 60% more hot season power outages during the last 10 years than in the period from 2000 to 2009. And the risk of heat-related grid failures across California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas is expected to grow quickly, according to findings released earlier this year by global advisory firm ICF.  Federal, state, and local leaders are now focused on mitigating the most severe outcomes for heat-vulnerable communities. This summer the Biden Administration hosted the first ever White House Summit on Extreme Heat, pulling together more than 100 experts on the cutting edge of heat research and adaptation to develop shovel-ready resilience projects. Topping the list of priorities were long-term interventions like improved tree canopy and installation of cooling infrastructure in the most at-risk cities and suburbs.  In this episode, Ten Across founder Duke Reiter speaks with Dr. V Kelly Turner, assistant professor of urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, who participated in the White House Summit and has been a leading voice in reimagining the built environment for a hotter climate.   Earlier this year, Kelly was appointed director of the National Integrated Heat Health Information System's (NIHHIS) Center for Heat Resilient Communities. The Center will begin accepting applications on November 20, 2024, from communities in need of technical assistance to determine the best locally tailored heat solutions.  Listen in as Duke and Kelly discuss what these strategies might look like and why they are so immediately needed in the Ten Across region.  Relevant links and resources:  Information for cities and tribes to apply for heat mitigation grant technical assistance (APPLICATIONS DUE January 24, 2025): https://cpo.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/CHRC-Application-Supplement-10-31-2.pdf “New climate projections show rising exposure to extreme heat in disadvantaged communities” (ICF, May 2024)  “What Some of the Hottest Cities on The 10 Are Doing to Address Deadly Heat” (Ten Across Conversations, August 2024)  “10X Heat Series: Covering Climate Change as It Unfolds with Jeff Goodell” (Ten Across Conversations, July 2023)

Ian Sample speaks to Bernadette Woods Placky, chief meteorologist at nonprofit Climate Central, about the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season so far, and what it tells us about how hurricanes will behave in future. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Texas-based meteorologist Shel Winkley joins John Maytham from Climate Central.org to break down Hurricane Milton's impact on Florida within the broader global climate context. Winckley is a Meteorologist, Weather & climate engagement specialist with Climate Central.orgSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina tore into the Gulf Coast with gusting winds of 175 miles per hour – and a storm surge of 26 feet. Lisa Dyson, who had spent her childhood summers near New Orleans, had just earned her PhD from MIT when the news broke. After witnessing the devastation, she was motivated to dedicate her scientific career to working on solutions to the climate crisis. Dyson is now the founder of Air Protein, a startup (with $100 million in backing) that makes nutrient-dense food in a lab setting. She takes us on a tour of her Oakland, California, facility. We also speak with meteorologist Bernadette Woods Placky of Climate Central, who tells us why, exactly, extreme weather is happening more. "We have to speed up the solutions and slow down the warming," she says. "Our future really isn't determined yet."

This week, we're rebroadcasting an episode from the Resources Radio archive while the team is on a break through the rest of August. We'll be back in September with new episodes; in the meantime, enjoy this throwback and poke around the archive at Resources.org for more topics you might be interested in. In this week's episode rerun, host Kristin Hayes talks with Jason Samenow, weather editor for the Washington Post and one of the leaders of the Post's Capital Weather Gang. They discuss the intersection of climate change and weather, with a particular focus on how meteorologists communicate with the public about climate change in a scientifically rigorous way and how that communication has evolved alongside climate science. Samenow and Hayes also talk about the increasing number of extreme weather events that have been occurring both globally and in the Washington, DC, area. References and recommendations: Climate Central; https://www.climatecentral.org/ World Weather Attribution; https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/ Penn State Weather Camps; https://weather-camp.outreach.psu.edu/ Lenticular clouds; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenticular_cloud Mammatus clouds; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammatus_cloud Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds; https://scied.ucar.edu/image/kelvin-helmholtz-clouds Snowmageddon 2010; https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/02/05/remembering-s-snowmageddon-images-scenes/ Eye on the Tropics newsletter by Michael Lowry; https://michaelrlowry.substack.com/ “The Weather” song by Lawrence; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9TYHOARDFI

52 Bay Area public schools are already at risk of being inundated with ocean and groundwater, according to a new analysis by KQED and Climate Central. KQED's Ezra David Romero tells us how the threat of sea level rise has already ignited a debate over rebuilding a middle school in Marin County. This episode was produced by Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Alan Montecillo, edited by Alan Montecillo, and hosted by Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Links: Schools in Deep Water: Bay Area Faces Uphill Battle Against Climate Change Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been super hot this summer, with temperatures climbing above 90 degrees and humidity making it feel even hotter. What's the deal with these heat waves, and is weather like this going to be the new normal in Philly? Host Trenae Nuri speaks with Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz, award-winning meteorologist, about why it's so hot, the urban heat island effect, and what Philadelphians can do to mitigate climate change.  See which neighborhoods in Philly are most affected by the urban heat island effect (you'll need to select Philadelphia from the list of cities) — and how we compare to other urban areas — in these maps from Climate Central. Check out our guides on how the urban heat island effect impacts Philly, and ways to stay cool this summer. Want some more Philly news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter Hey Philly. We're also on Twitter and Instagram! Follow us @citycastphilly. Have a question or just want to share some thoughts with the team? Leave us a voicemail or send us a text at 215-259-8170. Learn more about the sponsor of this July 15th episode: Incogni - Use code CityCast for 55% off the annual plan. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid calls to extend lifeguard hours at New York City beaches, Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue says it would pose a risk to the lifeguards, who must sit under the sun all day. Meanwhile, Lincoln Center is hosting “India Week,” a five-day festival for its “Summer for the City” series. Plus, new research from Climate Central shows how much hotter local cities like New York City and Newark can get. WNYC's Michael Hill speaks with Dr. Michael Krisch, Deputy Director of the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, to learn more.

Yes, it's that time again kids, panic the American people over heat waves by blaming them on climate change.This past week several news outlets talked about the “Western Heat Wave” and tried to link it to “climate change.” Climate Central was the source of most of these stories with a press release that said:“Between June 5-7, much of the Western United States, Mexico, and Eastern Canada are poised to experience a period of unusually hot conditions made much more likely because of human-caused climate change. During this period, over 229 million people across North America will experience extreme heat made at least three times more likely because of human-caused climate change.”We see this every year, and we'll see it again this year as the feckless media regurgitates the heatwave hype. We will tackle this subject, as well as go over the Crazy Climate News of the Week. Tune in LIVE for the stream at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT) EVERY FRIDAY to watch the show and leave your own questions in the chat with host Anthony Watts, along with panelists H. Sterling Burnett and Linnea Lueken.https://www.youtube.com/theheartlandinstituteDONATE to help support work like this: https://heartland.org/donate/

Temperatures in New Delhi, India, where 35 million people live, reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to heat-related deaths and illnesses. In Mexico, howler monkeys have been dying off in 100-degree heat, and in the U.S., Miami just recorded its hottest May on record. William Brangham discussed what's driving this with Andrew Pershing of Climate Central. PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

The idea of “decarbonizing” the world is laughable and insane due to the obvious impossibility of the task, but many of the most powerful and wealthy institutes and foundations have invested billions to try to do the impossible. Or at least, try to convince you that they are. The manipulation of data, behaviors, and emotions with regard to the climate change grift is set to be pushed to the public for the next decade through groups such as Climate Central, Open Philanthropy, ClimateWorks Foundation, and the World Resources Institute. Their mission statements might sound altruistic, but depopulation is always just below the surface. The Octopus of Global Control Audiobook: https://amzn.to/3xu0rMm Anarchapulco 2024 Replay: www.Anarchapulco.com Promo Code: MACRO Sponsors: Chemical Free Body: https://www.chemicalfreebody.com Promo Code: MACRO C60 Purple Power: https://c60purplepower.com/ Promo Code: MACRO Wise Wolf Gold & Silver: www.Macroaggressions.gold True Hemp Science: https://truehempscience.com/ Haelan: https://haelan951.com/pages/macro Solar Power Lifestyle: https://solarpowerlifestyle.com/ Promo Code: MACRO LegalShield: www.DontGetPushedAround.com EMP Shield: www.EMPShield.com Promo Code: MACRO Christian Yordanov's Detoxification Program: https://members.christianyordanov.com/detox-workshop?coupon=MACRO Privacy Academy: https://privacyacademy.com/step/privacy-action-plan-checkout-2/?ref=5620 Coin Bit App: https://coinbitsapp.com/?ref=0SPP0gjuI68PjGU89wUv Macroaggressions Merch Store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/macroaggressions?ref_id=22530 LinkTree: linktr.ee/macroaggressions Books: HYPOCRAZY: https://amzn.to/3VsPDp8 Controlled Demolition on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ufZdzx The Octopus Of Global Control: Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VDWQ5c Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/39vdKeQ Online Connection: Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/Macroaggressions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/macroaggressions_podcast/ Discord Link:  https://discord.gg/4mGzmcFexg Website: www.Macroaggressions.io Facebook: www.facebook.com/theoctopusofglobalcontrol Twitter: www.twitter.com/macroaggressio3 Twitter Handle: @macroaggressio3 Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-4728012 The Union Of The Unwanted LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/uotuw RSS FEED: https://uotuw.podbean.com/ Merch Store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/union-of-the-unwanted?ref_id=22643&utm_campaign=22643&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source

Last July was so hot that 81 percent of the world's population endured sweltering heat, according to a new report by the science non-profit Climate Central. The temps broke records across the globe. Next week President Biden visits the nation's Southwest to talk more about his plans to combat climate change.Negotiations in Hollywood may soon resume nearly 100 days since the strike began. The president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached out to Writers Guild of America to schedule a meeting for Friday. Meanwhile, Hollywood started hiring for high-paying AI jobs.And in headlines: a federal judge ruled that health care providers in Idaho can refer patients for abortion services out-of-state, New York City officials are considering a plan where migrants will sleep in tents in Central Park and other green spaces, and picking your nose is associated with a higher risk of COVID.Show Notes:What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastCrooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday