Podcasts about Extreme weather

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

Wildfires ravaging through Perth are expected to continue for several days, as firefighters work to contain the blaze.  At least 10 homes have been lost, while over 500 people are without electricity and 100 transmission lines have been impacted by the extreme conditions. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says over 125 firefighters are out on the ground, with several injuries reported. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Merlin spoke to Director of the C20 Society, Catherine Croft.// Extreme weather labelled ‘greatest threat' to UK built heritage // Concrete concerns back in the spotlight as Bristol tower block evacuated // Climate questions over Labour's 1.5 million homes pledge // And the London Mayor refuses Sphere venue plans for Stratford //The Brief is supported by Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.Click here to get early, ad-free access to The Brief, and support accessible independent journalism from Open City.The Brief is recorded and produced at the Open City offices located in Bureau. Bureau is a co-working space for creatives offering a new approach to membership workspace. Bureau prioritises not just room to think and do, but also shared resources and space to collaborate. To book a free day pass follow this link.The Brief is produced in association with the Architects' Journal, and the C20 Society.The C20 Society are offering The Brief supporters 20% off membership, just follow this link and use the code C20LONDOWN at the checkout.If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

Yes, the planet is getting warmer. But what's happening in the United States specifically and what will the impacts be? The newly released Fifth National Climate Assessment is the most comprehensive report yet on how climate change is impacting the country. Dr. Jeremy Hoffman, the lead author of the Southeast chapter, joins the podcast this week to give an overview of the assessment. What is different about this report from previous ones? How do current and future impacts vary across different regions, industries, and social classes? Dr. Hoffman also discusses why there is reason for optimism as we move forward with tackling climate change. We want to hear from you! Have a question for the meteorologists? Call 609-272-7099 and leave a message. You might hear your question and get an answer on a future episode! You can also email questions or comments to podcasts@lee.net. About the Across the Sky podcast The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team: Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia. Episode transcript Note: The following transcript was created by Headliner and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically: Southeast Braces for Rising Seas Sean Sublet welcomes climate scientist Jeremy Hoffman to Lee Enterprises Weather podcast Sean Sublette: Hello once again, everybody. I'm, meteorologist Sean Sublette. And welcome to Across the Sky, our national Lee Enterprises Weather podcast. Lee Enterprises has print and digital news operations in more than 70 locations across the country, including in my home base in Richmond, Virginia. I'm joined by meteorologist colleagues Matt Holiner in Chicago, Joe Martucci at the New Jersey Shore, Kirsten Lang this week is on assignment. Our guest this week is climate scientist Jeremy Hoffman. Jeremy got his PhD in geology with a focus in Paleo climatology at Oregon State University. And importantly, he is the lead author of the new Southeast chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, which just came out this week. After several years here in Richmond at the Science Museum of Virginia, he is now working with Groundwork USA, a network of local organizations devoted to transforming the natural and built environment of low resource communities across the country. So we have got a lot to get to, with Jeremy in this episode. Guys, one of the things that I think was really good for us to point out was that we're hit with so many reports, right? This report comes out. This report comes out. We see this headline, that headline. This one is different. This one really focuses on specific sectors and impacts to all the regions of the United States. And Matt, you and I were talking, so many people were involved to get some good, what we call consensus opinions. Right? Matt Holiner: Yeah. This reminds me very much, if you haven't listened to our episode with Neil deGrasse Tyson, a great listen, but we talk about this with him, or he brought it up, how you want scientific consensus, you don't want the one person who has this one, probably that's not how science works. You want something that's been worked on and been looked at by a lot of people. And a lot of people worked on this report, and some of the most respected scientists in the country worked on this report. So this wasn't a report done by one person. And it's not just a few page report. It's very detailed, lots of people working on it to reach a consensus on what's happening, a scientific consensus. This isn't just an opinion, this is based on fact, and a lot of hours and a lot of people will put effort into it. Joe Martucci: Yeah, and you could check that out at NCA 2023. Globalchange. Gov. That's NcaTwenty. Globalchange. Gov. Yes. Usually when a number of people are saying the same thing, that is usually meaning that there is power behind this. What is in the report is factually correct, at least to the best of their abilities here. And this all goes into what I say a lot of times when it comes to climate change, let's just get the elephant out of the room. It is a big topic, that does get heated here. But the way to think about this is there are facts and forecasts about our climate changing world, and then there's what to do or not to do about it. And that's where your beliefs come in. There is a difference between what our beliefs are and then what is actually happening. So, as we learn here in the podcast, this is talking about the facts and the forecast part of it. What is actually the thoughts of the researchers in terms of what to do or not to do about it is not in this. That's for now, Congress and our elected, officials to decide on. And he talks about that in the podcast, so I'm looking forward to it. Sean Sublette: Yeah, he gets into a lot of that. They kind of outline some policy ideas, but didn't say we need to X, Y or Z. So without further ado, let's get right to Jeremy Hoffman, who's the lead chapter offer of the Southeast chapter of the National Climate Assessment. The fifth National Climate Assessment has been several years in the making Sean Sublette: Jeremy, thanks for joining us. This has been a labor of love, I'm sure. the fifth national climate assessment is literally years in the making. Talk a little bit about the genesis of the NCA national climate assessment. This isn't just another report that's out there, right? I mean, this is a congressional act, right? Hundreds of scientists are working on this. Jeremy Hoffman: Yeah. So, first of all, thanks so much, Sean, and your team, for inviting me to be a part of the discussion today. You're absolutely right. I mean, this has been a, ah, report that's several years in the making. First and foremost, the national climate Assessment itself is a congressionally mandated, production of the US government, of the US GCRP, or the US, Global Change Research program and the NCA Five, really began, back in the end of 2019 when the Federal Steering Committee that would be kind of running the show and pushing the report forward was established. And then by the middle part of 2020 or so, that's when the, lead authors were selected based on a public nomination process. so I was informed of my selection as the, chapter lead for the Southeast chapter, at that time, as well as, getting to know my coordinating lead author, Steve McDulty, who's the director of the Southeast, Region Forest Service. Steve, amazing career, has worked on basically every climate assessment, since they began, so he had been working on climate assessments since before I was born. So it was really great to have somebody with such experience helping me, get to know the climate assessment process. And so, by 2021, by the end of 2020, we had our chapter author team selected and established, and so then basically for the last two years, since that time, we've been doing, different drafts of the content of the fifth national climate Assessment. This has included an outline phase or the zero order draft. In early 2021, we got some, public feedback at that time, which was really great. We had, public engagement workshops that had visitors from all over the different, regions. We had, stakeholder, engagements as part of that process. And so we emerged with a really, kind, of bottom up outline of what the Southeast, the stakeholders and public and residents of the Southeast were really interested in and concerned about. SO Then there was a multiple iterative process, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th drafts, which, I believe the fourth order draft, went through, or the third order draft went through the National Academy's peer review process, as well as another public review, the Southeast chapter. We had, almost 100 public comments about our chapter draft, reflecting on the content and kind of pieces that might have been missing, as well as National Academy's review, which was three pages of a nearly line by Line review. And so, yes, this report is, the integrated effort of over 700 people, academics, professionals, climate, and resilience communicators. I mean, it is. The sheer number of people involved in the production of this from the NCA team side of things is immense. And then you think about the thousands and thousands of residents of this country that provided public review to the draft. This is not some flash in the pan kind of report. The state of climate impact and risk, science for the United States, that will be the kind of science of record that people can come back to again and again as they confront the risks of climate change in their communities, for at least the next five years, until the NCA six comes out. So, yes, it was a massive undertaking. It was such an incredible experience professionally, and I'm just so thrilled about the way that it's been rolled out to such public fanfare, around the country. Sean Sublette: Wonderful. Before I let the other guys jump in, I want to start at the very top. I mean, from what I've been able to tell, because I haven't gone through all of it yet. It's massive. It's kind of a reinforcement of things that we largely knew if we're paying attention. Right. but are there a couple of things that have come out in this version, NCA Five, that really stand out as bigger changes or more emphatic compared to NCA Four, whether it's in the Southeast or any part of the United States? Is there anything that really jumped out at you as a scientist? Jeremy Hoffman: Well, first of all, I think virtually across all of the regional chapters and even the sector specific chapters, almost without exception, virtually every way that we understand that climate change is happening has just gotten stronger, since NCA Four. Whether that be patterns, and trends in annual temperatures or our warm nights, indicators of heavy precipitation, indicators of rising sea levels. All of those things that we use as our indicators of climate change is happening now in the United States, virtually without exception, have all gotten more robust. So, as far as the framing around kind of content that's already been covered for the multiple other NCAs, this report very much focuses on, the fact that quite literally, how much more all of these things continue to intensify are entirely related to the choices that we make today. The human element about the uncertainty of what happens in the future, is really, particularly centered across all of the different chapters. So we're talking about, very much that what happens now has a direct correlation to what happens in the future. And depending on the level of global warming that we, experience and allow to happen, dictates the future intensity of the, climate indicators that we have already, seen change. Now, some of the particular things that I think, ah, are particularly noteworthy in the Southeast. I think the most alarming result is related to sea, level change. Sea level is going up, globally, because land based ice in the Polar Regions is melting and adding that water that was frozen into big, giant ice sheets that water is melting and going into the ocean. That raises, global sea levels. Also, most of the energy being trapped by the intensified greenhouse gas effect is being absorbed by the oceans. So the oceans are warming up. This is a really fascinating bit about water, is that as it warms up, it expands. You, can do this experiment at home, boiling water on your stove at home. You see that as it warms up, it's actually starting to take up a greater volume, over time. So we have those two things going on globally. But then when you look at the localized things, that can then further amplify global sea level rise that's happening throughout the Southeast, and really creating, a fairly, urgent need to confront these rising sea levels because we actually have a faster relative sea level rise throughout the Southeast. That drives our future projections to be much higher than the global average expectation. So things like excessive groundwater, know, in coastal, you know, Norfolk, Virginia has the highest rate of sealable rise on the entire east coast of North America, due to localized groundwater extraction, as well as things like the relaxation of the Earth's crust following the end of the last Ice Age. So this connects to things happening tens of thousands of years ago. But also there are localized oceanographic, changes that are ongoing that further amplify sea, level trends that we have in the Southeast. Now, what does this mean long term? By 2050, which pretty much a lot of the future climate projections that are seen in the report focus on more near term changes. So 2050 or so, sea level rise of 2ft is expected at a kind of intermediate to high range scenario, which seems to match the trends that we have detected already. So when we think about the amount of people that are moving under the coastline, the amount of things that we're building along the coast, the threats of a changing sea level, really become apparent through intensified amount of flooding related to hurricanes, to storm surges, even just sunny day or nuisance flooding going up, taking up more time, disrupting people's day to day lives on the coast. And we know that these flooding conditions disproportionately affect those without the resources in order to prepare for them. And that's what I would say is another aspect of this report that is centered throughout, the report in sectors and regional, chapters is that there is a disproportionate impact of climate change on poorer communities and communities of color that experience the challenges of climate change, first and worst, whether that's through their health impacts or to their livelihoods. This is a real theme across the report that you will see, ah, very much, highlighted across both sectors and regions. So I'd say, there are a few other things we can talk about for sure, but when it comes to the Southeast sea level rise and throughout the whole country and throughout the report, this focus on disproportionate impact, is really something that is a big change from NCA four with. Joe Martucci: Everything you said, right? Who is actually taking this information, making actions upon it? I know you said it's congressionally mandated. I don't know if you said this during the broadcast or just before, while we were off air. But who's taking this information? And what are the actionable steps that have been done based on previous climate assessments? Like, is this something that is actually being put to use in the United States? Jeremy Hoffman: So I find that, if you look up the citations for, the NCA, four chapters, they appear in all manner of different capacities, whether it's just public awareness. So, this kind of coverage, news coverage, making its way into the public realm, though, refining and defining new questions related to climate change impacts. So it further drives the research that is, working to illuminate more detailed, information, around climate change. But yes, we do see this making its way into decision making. And the biggest point about the national climate assessment is for it to be, policy relevant, but not policy prescriptive. So what's really great about these national climate assessments is that it is meant to just provide the information that can then shape those decision makers, plans for the future. I've seen it, make its way into, coastal resilience plans. I've seen the information and citations to previous reports, make its way into nonprofit community group kinds of presentations, whether it's, advocating for things like improved transit, or more shade in their neighborhoods. These sorts of documents, again, really find their way into a variety of different conversations, that I think just work to, establish a normalized set of data that we can use in those sorts of, discussions. And I think, it's been really amazing, the variety of different ways, that these reports have been, utilized. And I think that NCA Five, because of its real focus on finding ways to communicate with groups that maybe weren't aware that the national climate assessment exists. I am really excited to see it used, for other, endeavors, maybe more aligned with the humanities or social sciences, and understanding more about things like mental health and well-being where a hazard showed up, in the past. So, there's a variety of different things, from concrete climate related policy to, just improving the way that individuals and communities can talk about climate change in their own backyards. Climate change is causing drought and flooding in the United States Matt Holiner: And, Jeremy, I think one of the things that's, confusing for folks is when we're talking about climate change, we're talking about how drought is becoming more intense and occurring more often, and flooding is becoming more intense and occurring more often. And so then people are like, well, which one is going to win? Is drought going to win? Or is flooding going to win? And I think it's going to somewhat depend on where you are in the world about what is more likely. But when you're just looking at the United States, is there anything we could say by region about who is likely to suffer more from drought and who is likely to suffer more from flooding? Jeremy Hoffman: So the kind of traditional wisdom in the climate size community is that you get this pattern of the dry gets drier and the wet gets wetter. So, by. And the country itself tends to be divided about halfway between what's dry to the west and what's wet to the east. And we've seen that playing out, in the, precipitation related indicators of climate change anyway, the Southeast and the Northeast experiencing the more, robust changes to the intensity and duration and frequency of extreme precipitation. Changes to the annual amount of precipitation tends to be in those places that were already kind of wetter climates to begin with. And so when we look into the future, the more, clear patterns related to, extreme precipitation tend to fall along those same lines, where the Southeast and the Northeast continue to see this kind of increased, the duration and frequency of extreme precipitation events, overall. Now, on the flip side of that, we do see that in the Southwest, the projections of Dryness, become really, pretty substantial. The paleo, climate evidence suggests that we're already in an unprecedented amount of dryness and drought in that region and into the future. As the atmosphere becomes more thirsty, the soil is going to become more thirsty, driving these sorts of, additionally intense, trends, to, more drier and drought prone conditions. Now, when you start to zoom in on any one particular place, now we know how complicated rainfall is, we know how complicated drought is. But by and large, we can kind of think of this as being the dry parts of the country are going to continue to feel that dryness, and for every increased additional 10th of a degree from global warming, that gets more intense. And those places that see, extreme precipitation in the present and experience more annual precipitation in the present, that will continue to get, more acute, as, global warming continues as well. Sean Sublette: Jeremy, this is all so deep. We want to do get into a few more specifics. We will do that after we take a quick break. Every increment of global warming directly affects local impacts Sean Sublette: You're listening to the across the sky podcast, and we're back with climate scientist Jeremy Hoffman on the across the Sky podcast. He's the lead chapter author of the Southeast chapter of, the Fifth National Climate Assessment. So many times, Jeremy, we hear about tipping points and I worry that people are going to wake know they expect something a year from now and the country looks like that movie the day after tomorrow. It's really not that way. Can you talk through how this kind of works? In, other words, how does every 10th of a degree matter kind of walk through that a little bit? Jeremy Hoffman: Regarding impacts, first and foremost is like, while there's increasing amount of knowledge and a lot of open questions about these tipping points, it's much more, about what the long term, trajectory of our emissions pathways are and how that directly relates to the intensity of global warming. Because the intensity, the total amount of global warming that we experience then translates into how much more frequent does that, totally, unpredictable heat wave become, how much more rain is falling in that really intense rainfall event. And that's because the physical constraints of the atmosphere in many ways, and then how that cascades down into the really important impacts on people like, the design incentives that we use for stormwater or the, exposure of an outdoor worker to the extreme heat wave. So let me try and break that down a little bit. And the best example of this is the clausiest cleperon relation, the physical constraint of the atmosphere that, for every nominal increase in the temperature, there is about a seven. For every degree Celsius of warming in the atmosphere, that generally relates to about a 7% increase in the humidity content. So if you break that down into even smaller chunks, you can see how over every single increment of warming then is related to a corresponding and in Some cases accelerating amount of, additional water vapor that's in the air that then can be squeezed out like a bigger sponge over the same area that it affected before. And so what that means is for every degree of, warming, we have a corresponding increase of vapor. That means potentially a corresponding increase in rainfall, which we then have to deal with in our infrastructure, which was in many ways designed decades ago for a climate that no longer exists and will continually get further and further away as global warming continues. So we think about more rainfall affecting the storm sewers that were built in some places centuries ago. They, can't keep up with that rainfall. So that means a direct relationship between increments of warming to unprepared infrastructure and impact on humans in their day to day lives. So when we talk about this kind of like increments of global warming and how every increment matters, that's what we're talking about. We're talking about how the incremental warming relates to then the incremental, impact damage, suffering, and other outcomes that relate to human, experience of living in this country and definitely around the world. So, while again, there is an increase of knowledge and interest in these tipping points, what we have to recognize is those incremental increases in their direct relationship to the cost of our food, the amount of, infrastructure that we have to update, and the impact on our health systems when a more intense and frequent heat wave, happens. So, yeah, I appreciate that question, because I think it really is. People have to understand that link between a 10th of a degree and the hundreds of dollars that that might mean for their bottom line. Matt Holiner: And, Jeremy, as we work through this part, I kind of want to come in and focus on agriculture, because, boy, some of the people that are most vocal, about the impacts that they're seeing from climate change already are the farmers, whether they're dealing with drought or flooding, either one, they don't want to see. And also the changing of the frost and freeze times. And when should they plant their crops and when should they harvest their crops? Are there any developments in this, assessment as far as agriculture goes and the outlook across the country? Jeremy Hoffman: Well, absolutely. There is both an agriculture specific chapter, which I encourage people to go and read. Joe Martucci: Ah. Jeremy Hoffman: NCA 2023, Globalchange.gov. and there is also, agriculture finds its way into just about every regional chapter. For example, in the Southeast, we talk a lot about the unpredictability of rainfall. That tends to be the case around the country, where we have these rapidly changing conditions from very dry to very wet, or from very wet to very dry. And so what they do is to establish not only what the historical change has been, but what does that mean by the end of this century, 2070 to 2100, which I'll remind you, children born today will be alive in this time period that we tend to think about as very removed from direct human experience. My niece will be living in the Midwest as this occurs in the future. Anyway, these precipitation extreme changes become more acute the more global warming occurs. So, again, it's like, as we allow these larger increments and additional increments of global change to, occur, this directly relates to then, the unpredictability of these, precipitation events. Now, one of my favorite kinds of stories, from the Midwest and farmers, is that the majority of America's pumpkins come from the Midwest. I grew up in Illinois, in. So, you know, the pumpkin harvest in Southern Illinois, south central Illinois, is something that I got to see with my own eyes, and how, the direct relationship between precipitation extremes and the harvest of pumpkins threatens then the experience of having pumpkin pie, for Thanksgiving. So we think about, the relationship between, the importance of, having, reliable, and place based understanding of how these things will relate to, agricultural communities. Really underscores, the importance of the NCAA Five. Now for another example is, and you mentioned these changing freeze dates. You can think about the first time that a freeze occurs, which is kind of what we're waiting for, at this time of year, when will it dip below 32 or 28, for the first time, and then the last frost of the season occurring sometime between March and May, depending on where you live. And this really has a huge effect, especially in the Southeast, on fruits. So, everybody remembers the Georgia peach, and so peaches need a particular amount of frost, and cold days, in order to fruit successfully and flower successfully the following spring. And if the, freeze dates, this last freeze date tends to be moving earlier into the spring on average, that has a direct relationship then to the robustness of those flowers that then turn into the peaches should a weather event like a late season frost occur. So the, long term change of this last freeze date superimposed on still the weather events like late season frosts still occurring, put these really delicate and temperature, sensitive crops, at increasing risk. And that relates to, the agricultural community's economies. Place based and specific kinds of crop based economies are really feeling this uncertainty in both rainfall and, temperature trends overall. And when I think about, how that relates to a variety of our crops that, produce foods that I love to eat, including pumpkin pie, including peaches, it really becomes clear that climate change impacts on the US are really climate, change impacts at the grocery store. Joe Martucci: Yeah, you're making me think of, with the freeze dates changing and the frost dates changing. I've done some stories, here in New Jersey about how farmers are a little, definitely more uneasy going into the early spring, because while on average we're getting warmer, especially with those nights, it still only takes just one late freeze to really knock things out. They might be growing earlier, but then they get knocked out because of a freeze that happens in early May, let's just say. Also, I just want to throw this out. Know, I've done a podcast before, with Gary Pavlis. He's a wine expert here in New Jersey and talking about how the winery industry has actually flourished in New Jersey. Because you're able to grow those grapes further north in the state where it was one time, just in Cape May in New Jersey. Now it's gone further to the north. So it's just interesting how you, bringing in all the agricultural stuff. We'll get this podcast home here as a 365 view, 365 degree view of this. The National Climate Assessment is completely free and open to the public Joe Martucci: What are you most proud of the work that you and your team has done? And what do you hope that the American public can get out of this as we go forward into the next couple of years ahead? Jeremy Hoffman: Well, I think some of the most important information in the NCA Five is not related to the scientific observations of a changing climate. It's actually the focus on what an opportunity we have to completely and totally transform our energy system, which has immediate health related benefits for everyone in the country, but particularly those communities that are disproportionately exposed to things like air pollution. there's also the huge offset of future costs to things like our energy grid or our transportation infrastructure if we invest in it now, which means jobs, it means vitality for our local communities, it means new industries like you just mentioned, the wine industry moving further north. I mean, the transformation that our economy could harness through preparation and mitigation of future climate change, is just huge. And so how that relates to a more just and equitable, future for our country is something that finds its way throughout, the chapters, and the report writ large. And I think the most hopeful bit, to me is that everything that we've just talked about, as far as what the future means, is in our hands. Everything that's in this report about the future, everything is related to how we decide to move forward. Do we drastically and dramatically reduce the amount of heat trapping gases going into the atmosphere, driving global climate change, or do we delay, and wait and see, or not transform as quickly as we could, not realize all those benefits, not realize all that economic growth, all that, transformation of how, our country works, it's entirely in our hands. And I think I actually walk away from this report being proud of how hopeful it can be interpreted to be, and just what an opportunity we have, in order to adapt, to mitigate and build resilience, equitably for the changes in the future. now, I would say that also one of the proud moments, is just the breadth of content that we've been able to produce, from the equity focused, kind of outcomes to indigenous knowledge being, incorporated throughout, our chapter, and a focus towards the near term impacts of climate change. I'm really just proud of it all and hopeful, for what's possible in the future. Sean Sublette: Jeremy, this is so amazing. I appreciate your time, I appreciate your work. Let, people know where they can find the national climate assessment and that it's not some big document on a shelf somewhere. And where can people find out more about what you were doing right now, especially with Groundwork USA. Jeremy Hoffman: Yeah. So thanks, Sean. First and foremost, the national climate assessment is completely free, totally open, and ready for you to go read it. It's at NCA 200:23 Globalchange. Gov. And included on that, is a really interesting, interactive, data Atlas that you can go in and explore in a web based map platform what the future holds for your community at the county level. So go and look at the future precipitation, go and look at the future hot days. And involve yourself in this report, because if it is your report, it is our, scientific knowledge. Explore it. Now. There's also a series of webinars that will be coming up over the next few months and throughout 2024. So you can go to just globalchange.gov and look at the events page for NCA five related webinars. And lastly, my organization, the organization that I work with, Groundwork USA, Groundworkusa.org. We're an affiliated network of 21 place based environmental justice nonprofits that work to transform underutilized contaminated land in cities across the United States into green community assets that prepare our communities for the changes in climate that they're already experiencing while looking at the past and the history of those communities, to empower them to advance more equitable investments in climate resilience. So check us out. Get involved in your local community organization. And thanks again for the invitation. It's been a pleasure, Jeremy. Sean Sublette: It's been great having you again. Jeremy Hoffman is lead author of the Fifth National Climate Assessment Sean Sublette: Jeremy Hoffman, our guest on the across the Sky podcast. Lead chapter or chapter Lead, Excuse me, of the Southeast chapter, of the Fifth National Climate Assessment. Stay with us. We'll be back with more on the across the Sky podcast. Guys, that is a lot to digest for sure, but I've known Jeremy for a while and he is as thorough as anybody as I have ever met on this topic. One of the things that I really like, the way he kind of lays this out, is that, the decisions we make now will impact those for generations to come, including those of us with kids and hopefully one day grandkids. So there's a lot of opportunity here there's a lot of hemming and hawing about this or that, but there is opportunity. You know, I've talked to Catherine Hayhoe, who is also a climate scientist, and it's important to, as bad as some of this information can be to take in, we already have room for some optimism. Coal is already on the decline, especially domestically. So there's a lot of room for optimism going forward and a lot of opportunity to make things better in the years to come. Matt Holiner: Yeah, I did like how he used the word that he's hopeful for this because it's easy, and I've mentioned this multiple times when we've discussed climate change, it's easy to just focus on the negative and how bad things are and how we're just a mess and we're not getting anything accomplished. But this, assessment, this report is an accomplishment. We're coming out every five years. In the last five years, we've seen already what's happening because of climate change, the increasing number of billion dollar weather disasters. So we're already getting a clearer picture of what impact climate change is having. We're seeing it already, so it becomes easier to get a clearer picture of how things are going to progress in the future. We're getting a better understanding, starting to notices some differences, even region by region, in the US. So we're getting a better and better understanding of the science and what the impacts will be and the climate models are improving. And so we have a clear picture of what's going to happen and the impacts that are going to happen. And so because of that, we're getting, I think, more motivation. When you have more details and you have more information on this subject, more people can act on it. And that's still the missing part. We're making progress. Our amount of carbon dioxide emissions is dropping in the US. It just needs to drop faster if we want to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. And we're starting to get a clearer picture of what those worst impacts are. And I think this assessment, with so many people working on it, is a good resource for people who are still unsure exactly how is this going to play out. Just go to this report, it'll answer your questions and give you some ideas of what we really need to do to take action. That's the thing. Like take this report seriously and let's start making more progress. We're making progress, but let's make more progress. And this is a good starting point. Joe Martucci: And you know what, too, when it comes to a lot of the projections with climate change the next couple of decades are already baked in, everything between now and about 2050 or so. It's pretty much going to happen, here. So as he said during the podcast, our grandkids, our kids, I hope I'm alive in 2100. We're going to see. I would be 109 by then. I got a shot. But it's really that 2050 to 2100 time frame where these projections, are in a position where they can be altered depending on what kind of action or inaction we take, as a society. Sean Sublette: Yeah, so a lot of deep stuff to get into this week. But having said that, we should dial it back a little bit. Right, Joe? Let's do some stuff that's fun in the next couple of podcasts. Let's get on that. Talk to me, buddy. You got a palace Jersey that we need to talk to. Joe Martucci: Totally. Well, we're going to talk to somebody who's not far away from me in New Jersey. He is in Connecticut. We're talking with Joe Moravsky. Now, if that name sounds familiar to you, that's because he's on American Ninja Warrior. He's been on American Ninja Warrior for a long time on the hit NBC show. But he is also a meteorologist. That is why they call him the Weatherman. It's not just because they said, oh, that's a cool nickname. It's because he actually is a meteorologist. So we're having him on talk about, his love for weather and his time on the show here. That's going to be coming up on the 27 November here. And then on December the fourth, we're going to have one of my old Rutgers professors. So we have a lot of, we'll say mid Atlantic flair. The next couple of weeks. We have Dr. Alan Robock. He is professor, at Rutgers University, has produced a lot about climate, by the way, I should add. But he's going to talk to us about Bob Dylan in the weather because believe it or not, you can do a PhD thesis on Bob Dylan in the weather. And he did just that. So we're going to have, him to talk about that. Then as we get closer, to the end of the New Year, we have an episode, for you on December 18, ten things to know about winter. If you recall, our ten things to know about fall got a little contentious. We'll see what happens for the winter one. And then we're going to have our annual year in review that will come out sometime between Christmas and New Year's here. That's what we have going on, on the across the Sky podcast. If you want to chime in, you certainly can. We've got a couple of emails. We even got one phone call. But you can email us at podcast@lee.net that's podcast@lee.net and then in terms of giving us a call, if you really want to talk with us here, you can call us at 609-272-7099 yes, we. Sean Sublette: Used to call those voicemails back in the day, didn't we? Joe Martucci: yes, we did. Yes, voicemails. And also, when the hashtag was the pound sign. Sean Sublette: Oh, yes. Hashtag was the pound sign. The good old days. All right. With that, we will wrap it up for this week. Thank you so much, for joining us on the across the Sky Podcast. Have a great Thanksgiving. If you're listening to this before. Yeah, absolutely. So for Matt Holiner in Chicago, Joe Martucci at the Jersey Shore, Kirsten Lang on assignment this week. I'm, meteorologist Sean Sublette in Richmond. Thanks again for joining us, and we will talk with you next time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Extreme Weather Events --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/healthy-radio/support

Do you want to drive meaningful change while doing your job, so you can contribute to the global crisis humanity is facing? Are you willing to look at the opportunities you can embrace to drive change and create awareness in your organization? If the answer is yes, this show is for you. Meet Andrew Buay, Vice President of Group Sustainability for SingTel and Optus, and he started his journey into sustainability more than a decade ago, when many told him it was not a wise career move. Today he is a sustainability leader and mentor, an executive leadership coach, a mentor to social impact start-ups, and a board advisor in social services and tertiary education. In this conversation, we're going to go back to the beginning to understand why he decided to go this way, the path he took to leading in sustainability, including the pushback he faced. We'll discuss the work happening today and the opportunities looking ahead, as well as finishing up with some hot tips for anyone looking to step into a more active role to help their business become more sustainable. This is going to be a great conversation, full of actionable insights, so join us live or watch it anytime. There will be fantastic take-aways for all.  Climate Courage is a fortnightly Livestream and podcast published on Uncommon Courage, where we go big picture on the climate crisis and focus on the actions you and I can take to be part of the solution. Whether individual action, community action, or national/global action - every single one of us can be part of ensuring a live-able future for our children and grandchildren. We owe them that!#ClimateCourage #UncommonCourage To get in touch with me, all of my contact details are here https://linktr.ee/andreatedwards My book Uncommon Courage, an invitation, is here https://mybook.to/UncommonCourage My book 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile, is here https://mybook.to/18stepstoanallstar

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

In todays episode we talk through 3 more running topics. We also do a short coaches corner discussing speed workouts and strength training. Solo running vs group running Race cation or running local extreme weather running- worst idea ever Stay tuned for more debates and more guests coming up! Questions, comments, interview requests, etc email merakirunclub@gmail.com Don't forget to rate, review, subscribe and support our show! Info on coaching at TRR Code rrpodcast for 10% off a month  Find us on instagram, Facebook and TikTok Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@merakirunclub_coach --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/raisingrunners/support

We've all heard of climate change, but what does that really mean? Katy and Laura explain what climate change is and human-induced climate change is the largest threat our world faces right now. Don't worry though, it isn't all bad news! Learn about how we can all take actions toward making a better future.Support the show

Extreme weather events, particularly heat waves, are no longer abstract concerns but tangible threats impacting our lives. This discussion aims to unveil the profound implications of extreme heat on physical, mental, and communal well-being, emphasizing its interconnectedness with our daily lives.  Every facet of our well-being, from the air we breathe to the water we drink, is intricately tied to the health of our planet. Extreme heat and heat waves signify undeniable shifts in our climate, affecting communities, homes, and bodies in often unrecognized ways.  Beyond the discomfort of scorching summer days, these events alter the very air composition, making it harder for our bodies to cool down and leading to a surge in heat-related illnesses. Moreover, extreme heat contributes to broader disasters like droughts and wildfires, wreaking havoc on agriculture, ecosystems, and the economy.  Urban areas, susceptible to the urban heat island effect, experience prolonged high temperatures, exacerbating energy demands, air quality issues, and health hazards. Recognizing that extreme heat and heat waves are interconnected with various environmental and societal aspects, the call to action is urgent.  Mitigating these impacts necessitates a collective effort, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving water and energy, enhancing urban planning, improving emergency preparedness, and raising awareness. By uniting in these efforts, we can safeguard ourselves, our communities, and our planet from the detrimental effects of extreme heat and heat waves, forging a resilient and sustainable future for current and future generations.  Host Bernice Butler explores and unpacks some of this with Kristi Dahl of the Union of Concerned Scientists and Catharina Guidice an ER Physician in Los Angeles. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/healthy-radio/support

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

Severe weather situations can be stressful events, especially to some of the most vulnerable individuals in our communities including the elderly. Older individuals may not be aware of severe conditions or have the means to seek shelter, so having a plan and support system could make the difference when it comes to life and death situations. On this week's episode, Dr. Lauren Southerland joins the podcast to explain why hazardous weather like heat, wildfire smoke and hurricanes often takes a greater toll on senior citizens. She also discusses what you can do to help keep your loved ones safe and what societal changes should be made to deal with an aging population and climate change. Dr. Southerland is an emergency medicine physician at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center and clinical associate professor of emergency medicine at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. Southerland, who is passionate about helping older adults maintain healthy, independent lives, specializes in geriatric emergency medicine. We want to hear from you! Have a question for the meteorologists? Call 609-272-7099 and leave a message. You might hear your question and get an answer on a future episode! You can also email questions or comments to podcasts@lee.net. About the Across the Sky podcast The weekly weather podcast is hosted on a rotation by the Lee Weather team: Matt Holiner of Lee Enterprises' Midwest group in Chicago, Kirsten Lang of the Tulsa World in Oklahoma, Joe Martucci of the Press of Atlantic City, N.J., and Sean Sublette of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia. Episode transcript Note: The following transcript was created by Headliner and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically: Weathering the Storm: Senior Safety in Severe Weather Across the sky podcast features experts on hurricane preparedness for senior citizens Joe Martucci: Welcome, everybody, to another episode of the across the sky podcast. We Enterprise's National Weather Podcast. I am Meteorologist Joe Martucci, based here in New Jersey. We have Sean Sublette over at the Richmond Times Dispatch. We have Matt Holiner, based in Chicagoland, and Kirsten Lang over in Tulsa. For this week's episode, we are talking about see preparedness when it comes to our senior residents and our listeners here on the across the sky podcast, we have Dr. Lauren Sutherland from the got to Remember to Z, Ohio State University to talk about this very topic. This is something I've actually done a story on in the past in regards to Superstorm Sandy in 2012 in New Jersey about how just kind of the challenges that our senior friends have when it comes to evacuating, when there are hurricane evacuations. But we get to much more than that. Dr. Lauren Sutherland discusses what types of weather older adults worry about Joe Martucci: Sean, Matt, Kirsten, what did you guys get out of this podcast, that we had with Lauren? Sean Sublette: Yeah, it was really good to hear from her what types of weather she gets most concerned about. Right. Because there's all kinds of damaging severe weather hurricane, ice storm, winter storm, tornadoes, floods. So, it was interesting because her answer surprised me, but at the same time, it kind of gave me a little reassurance that we're moving in the right direction in terms of getting the right messages across. Matt Holiner: And I think it's easy to look at the disaster preparedness, like, how do you seniors handle when you're talking about these big events, a landfalling hurricane or a major severe weather outbreak? But it's also worth noting that the other types of weather that impact seniors differently than younger adults, and we got into that talking about how seniors are more impacted by cold air outbreaks, heat waves, and air quality. We talk about that category that we often mention unhealthy for sensitive groups. Well, who's included in those sensitive groups? Older adults. And so we talk about that and why older adults are more susceptible to things like air pollution. Sean Sublette: Yeah. Kirsten Lang: And she also gives good advice for those who may have aging parents as well, and how to keep them safe during these times of events. Joe Martucci: Well said, everyone. And without further ado, we're going to present Dr. Lauren Sutherland. Dr. Lauren Sutherland specializes in geriatric emergency medicine Joe Martucci: And we are now pleased to introduce Lauren Sutherland. She has an MD as well as a, newly acquired Master's of Public Health. She's an emergency medicine physician at the Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center and clinical Associate Professor of emergency medicine at OSU as well at the College of Medicine. She specializes in geriatric emergency medicine because she's really passionate about helping older people, maintaining healthy, independent lives and lifestyles. And her research focuses on finding strategies to continually advance this type of care. So, Dr. Sutherland, we appreciate you coming on today. Lauren Southerland: Thank you so much for having me. It's always fun to talk about my favorite topic. Joe Martucci: We're happy to have you too. we were talking off camera about we found this relevant to have you on for a few reasons. One, we find that a lot of our listening audience does skew a little bit on the older side. A lot of our senior populations listening, and we love that. We thank everybody who's listening out there, but also when it comes to disasters and emergencies and there's so much involved with it than just, hey, here's the weather forecast. It's okay. Now, what's emergency management doing? What are you doing? All those kind of things come at a crossroads. So my first question is, what actually got you interested in this topic? Lauren Southerland: So I think what got me interested in it most is my patients. So being an emergency room doctor, I've had multiple cases where people have had to be picked up by EMS and brought to the Er because of poor preparation for weather disasters. One case I remember is there was a big storm coming up, and I had a patient who was brought in because the storm knocked out electricity, and she only had enough supplemental oxygen to last 4 hours, and she was oxygen dependent. So if you're at home on home oxygen and the power goes out, you're out of luck. So we had to bring her into the hospital until the power is back on at her home. Joe Martucci: When you talk about your day to day when it comes to this topic, what are you doing? Is it more research? Are you out there in the field speaking with seniors or emergency managers? I know you're very busy. We have a lot of different titles for you. But speaking more about the geriatric emergency. Lauren Southerland: Medicine part of it, yes. So the idea of geriatric emergency medicine is that the Er was really designed for a young person in a car accident. You're perfectly healthy, you're doing fine, and then something hits your appendix ruptures or you break your arm, and then you go to the Er. We fix that acute problem, we get you back home, and you're fine. What the Er is not set up for as well is, an older adult who has a lot of different medical issues that maybe they're managing them all. Okay. But then if something hits them, it doesn't have to be a full pneumonia. It could just be a cold, or it could be a new weakness, or their dementia is worse thinning. And then trying to sort out what exactly is the problem, whether it's a new medicine that's causing them to feel bad or what's going on is very difficult in the Er. And requires a lot more attention and time than we typically kind of budget per patient. So I love my older adult patients because I find them more intellectually stimulating, friendly. It's fun to try to navigate things and through this work of trying to make the Er better for older adults, I also do a lot of work with our community services. So working with our local paramedics, columbus has, I think, 22 different EMS agencies. Every little township has their own, and some of them have social workers. There's also local community agencies that help older adults to stay happy and healthy, or even do things like line our home repairs and home health services and AIDS and things, meals on Wheels. All of those are paid for by taxes. And so I work with our Public Health Office on Aging. I work with our area agency on aging, I work with Adult Protective Services. So really, all these different agencies. And, we've talked many times about the stresses that happen on especially what we call community dwelling older adults. So older people who, maybe have been in their home for 30, 40 years, and maybe that home is a weatherproof guideline from 40 years ago and hasn't been updated. Joe Martucci: It sounds like both of my grandparents houses is what happened to here. Lauren Southerland: Yeah. Do they have good windows? I'll have to ask next time. Joe Martucci: I go over to ask them when the last time they got their windows replaced. And maybe they're Anderson windows, who knows? Why are seniors more impacted by weather than regular adults or younger adults? Matt Holiner: And Lauren just thinking about other ways that weather impacts, senior citizens. One thing that stands out to me is when we get Heat Advisories and Air Quality Alerts, particularly those air Quality alerts, there's usually a category called Unhealthy for sensitive groups. And what's included in that sensitive groups is senior citizens. So what I'm curious about is, why is it that things like the heat and when we have wildfire smoke or other pollutants in the air, why are seniors more impacted than regular adults or younger adults, I should say? Lauren Southerland: Excellent question. we could do a whole semester, on this. So, older adults, as we age, our physiology changes. And part of that is your body is constantly detecting your heart rate, your blood pressure, monitoring your fluid status, and telling your kidneys how much to pee out and how much water to retain. Older adults, kind of quickly, unless they're really focused and they're someone who's exercising every day and keeping up their protein, your muscle mass tends to slowly decline as you age. And that means you can't shiver as well. You don't build body heat as well. We think of the older ladies that always have afghans and stuff because they're frequently cold. So cold events, they can't maintain body heat as well. Heat events, they can't sweat as well. And they dehydrate more easily as we gain medical problems as we go through life. Maybe you have some high blood pressure, so your doctor puts you on a water pill to keep your blood pressure down. Then you're peeing out more than you normally would and you dehydrate extra quickly. Also, your thirst response changes with age, and your appetite does, too. So older adults often don't feel the initial urge like, oh, it's hot out. I'm so thirsty. I should start hydrating really well. I know a lot of older adults also reduce their liquid intake because they're worried about having to get up in the night and pee. I don't drink anything after four because otherwise I'm up all night peeing. Unfortunately, urinary changes also happen, and so people will deliberately restrict their water intake, not realizing how the heat is affecting them. There's a lot more, but that's something to think about right now. Yeah. As you age, your lungs become more susceptible to pollutants in the air Matt Holiner: I wanted to hit on the air quality as well. what is it as you age that we become more susceptible to the pollutants in the air as well? Lauren Southerland: So remember back in 1940 when a lot of older adults were alive and everybody smoked, and all restaurants were smoking? Restaurants. Even if you weren't a smoker, we know that that second hand smoke affected everybody. I'm the child of the 80s that I remember being picked up from school and, the other parents, everyone in the parent line had the cigarettes outside their car. It was very common. Right. So a lot of people have long term damage from smoking. Also, your just respiratory capacity, your ability to take a deep breath in, your ability to filter out bad things in your lungs, fight off infections. Imagine if you might have 100% lung capacity, but when you're 85, maybe you have 80% of your lung capacity. And then I throw some smoke in those lungs, and that puts you down to 50% lung capacity. So you just don't have as much what we call functional reserve or extra ability in your lungs to take any small hit. What the elderly can do when severe storms and tornado warnings come through Kirsten Lang: So we get, in Tulsa, some pretty severe weather, as you guys do as well, where you live. And I guess my question is, when you have severe storms and tornado warnings that come through for the elderly population, is there any advice? Because so many times they say you hear tornado warnings, you need to get to a safe space. What basement? bathroom in the middle of the house, whatever it might be. Some elderly patients aren't able to move around as easily. Is there any advice maybe that you would give to those that are in those types of situations? And I know everybody's a little different, but they're in those situations that they could do to, make themselves as safe as possible? Lauren Southerland: Oh, that's a wonderful question. So I think especially sheltering from tornadoes or severe storms, you usually think, go to the basement. Right. But many older adults are almost restricted to the first level of their houses due to mobility issues. If you're in a walker, going down a flight of stairs to the basement is going to be very difficult and dangerous for you. So a couple of things they can do is, one, figure out who their local emergency medical services, EMS agency is, and often, they will keep lists of vulnerable older adults so that they'll know if, hey, if there's a big storm, a power is knocked out, they should know who to go and check up on. But if you don't call and say, my mom lives at this address, I'm four states away, I worry about her every storm. Can you make sure she's on your list of people to check if there's a problem in that area? Not all EMS agency does, but it's worth a call. And maybe you'll encourage more to do so. Another thing that you can do is make sure that you know who your neighbors are. So if you're an older adult who, is very healthy and capable, check in with your neighbor, say, hey, let's have a little cul de sac plant so that I've got all your cell phones, I can check with you, I can help you get to a safe place if you need to. So those of us, we have to be communities, and weather affects us all as communities, and we have to make sure that we're helping each other. And if you know that you would have difficulty getting to a safe place, can you work with family and friends to develop as safe a place as possible? On the first floor, sometimes a bathroom or in a room of the house? Sean Sublette: Yeah. Extending off of that, a little bit. Those are the smaller disasters, if you will. But when we think about safety messaging for larger storms, whether that's a hurricane or maybe it's a more devastating or longer term a winter storm, are ah there some kind of messages that you wish we would be getting out as a weather community better than we are doing now when we look at these larger scale weather phenomenon that pose greater risk to older adults? Lauren Southerland: Yes. I think one of them is medication management. So letting people know, even if you're safe in your home, if electricity goes out and you have insulin that needs to stay refrigerated, or other medications that need to be refrigerated, make sure you've got a lot of ice packs in your freezer or things to keep things cool until electricity comes back on. Or if you need to travel too, imagine having enough medication and packing it all up to travel. I also think the way emergency response systems work in the US. Is we don't want to evacuate people unless we absolutely have to. That's a big burden on people. It's a big issue with traffic. It can cause more problems. So they try to predict, but weather is what it is, and they try to delay evacuation orders until they're as sure as possible that people need to leave. And so sometimes that doesn't allow time for older adults to make the preparations they should be, especially for things like medication, oxygen travel, and pets. Pets is another big one. People love their pets. And sometimes emergency shelters won't let you take cats and dogs and lizards and birds with you. So having an emergency response plan for your animals, too, can make people more comfortable with evacuation and with following emergency orders. I don't know. Do you have any pets, Sean? Sean Sublette: we have a three year old dog, half shiba inu, half husky, and, there are times she can be a handful. So I understand that that is a challenge, to be sure. Lauren Southerland: That sounds adorable. And I will have to see your dog in, like, the super doll with everybody evacuated together. you could imagine the chaos. Joe Martucci: No. Well, I know when we had, Sandy here in 2012 in New Jersey, there were some people, like, I don't want to move because of I have my pets. I don't know what to do with my pets. And I know it's not necessarily an age thing, but just in general, it's a good idea. You make a good point to, make sure you have a plan for your pets as well, because we often think of them just as a part of the family, as your brothers and sisters and parents and daughters and sons are here. So very good stuff. We're going to take a break, and then on the other side, we're going to talk to you more about this topic here with Dr. Lauren Sutherland here on the across the sky podcast. And we are back with the across the sky podcast, hosted by your Lee Weather team here. You can find new episodes every Monday wherever you get your podcasts or on your favorite news website. We are here with Dr. Lauren Sutherland from the Ohio State University. She is an emergency medicine physician here, specializing in geriatric emergency medicine. And, we were talking a little bit I was talking a little bit about Sandy in 2012. And I did a story on this last year about extreme sea level rise or extreme events caused by sea level rise, your sandies, whatever that have seen increased water levels in some of these coastal towns. A lot of people, who are seniors like to live at the shore. I want to do that one day, too, hand up. But the research that I found was that 12% of those over the age of 80 lack mobility to evacuate on their own, and 13 would be unable to hear sirens or commands from emergency personnel. And one of the chiefs of the local fire department down here had a quote talking to me about Sandy. They said, it's not that our seniors aren't intelligent enough to leave. It's just half the time they don't have a place to go because they don't have anybody left, or they can't even evacuate on their own. So just kind of going off of the numbers. And what I said there, what do you tell emergency personnel if you're speaking with them about this and what to do? Because sometimes they don't have anybody left. And not only that, if you can't hear a siren as well. You might not know, hey, a tornado is coming, or we have even a fire, right? It doesn't even have to be a weather event, per se, but any kind of these disasters that comes through, yeah. Lauren Southerland: It can be a big deal. And your sense of smell can decrease as you get older, so you might not even smell the wildfires and things as much. I remember one delightful older woman who had lived alone in her house, and her family was starting to realize that maybe great grandma wasn't doing as well as they thought. And so they were all in the Er. With me, and I asked her, man, what would she do if you smelled smoke in the house? Smoke? I don't smoke. We'll be just fine. okay, so she wouldn't be able to respond to a fire alarm or an emergency. Well, and this is about time that she needs an assisted living or some other type of care. But it's hard to make that decision as a family because obviously, we all want to stay in our own homes as long as possible. But, visual problems, too, tend to get worse as we get older. And so your ability to drive to a new place, maybe somebody is buying it into the grocery store, to their doctors or things around town, but then you're telling them to evacuate town around new routes, and that's incredibly difficult for somebody who's 85. Matt Holiner: Yeah, and that's kind of what I want to focus on, because I'm sure that the ideal situation is that younger family members are nearby and can help in these emergency situations when there's a possible evacuation needed. But, my concern is for those who are a long distance away from their older relatives, and they can't quickly get there to assist them in an emergency situation, say, a landfalling hurricane or possibility of a big, severe weather outbreak. So what recommendations do you have to help those family members who can't always be nearby and get to their older relatives quickly? What can they do to help prepare them to handle that situation and make them better prepared for a situation like that? If they can't get to them to actively help them, what are some of the things maybe they can buy or contacts, people, a different kind of person they can contact who might be able to assist? What kind of recommendations do you have for those who are farther away from the relatives that can't actively help them? Lauren Southerland: Matt, I think you just answered your own question, so, yes, you need to make a plan with them and talk through it. Talk through different scenarios with your parents. Okay. If this were to happen with tornado warning, what are you doing right now? What can I install to make it safer for you and have a separate contact so that you know not only your loved one, but also a neighbor's number or someone else in the city who is there and can stop in and check on them. It can be more difficult to navigate new situations, especially with dementia Kirsten Lang: I want to ask about even the kind of emotional or mental state of older patients, too, that may maybe have been through, some sort of emergency weather, situation, say a tornado or severe weather, some storm that came through, knocked down a tree in their yard, something like that, to where it could have emotionally scarred them. And do you notice that those elderly patients tend to hold on to those types of things a little bit more than those that are maybe younger in age? Is that something that you see that changes as we get older? Lauren Southerland: I don't have much knowledge of, honestly. My guess would be that that's a person to person issue. Some of us move on more easily. I, have four kids. One is very much like, oh, that was a piece of paper given to me by somebody in kindergarten. And it has great meaning. I'm like, do you remember the kid's name? No, this is all I have left of him. And then there's like, man, I know what that is. Let's just move on more easily. some do not. But it can be more difficult to adjust, to change. It can be more difficult to navigate new situations, especially with things like dementia. There are many different kinds of dementia, but the most common Alzheimer's dementia, the first thing you lose is what's called executive function. Executive function is your ability to weigh risk and benefits, your ability to do complicated calculations in your finances. And that's why one of the reasons why older adults are more likely to get scammed, someone says, oh, I've got this great idea for you, and we'll make tons of money together. Oh, that sounds good. You can't weigh the risks and benefits as well with more complicated situations. And so I'm certain that probably applies to disaster management, too, and weather disasters. They're thinking, this house stood through six storms already. Nothing can be thrown at me that hasn't been thrown at me before. You're shaking your head, Sean, like you've heard this from your parents'we. Sean Sublette: we hear this a when in weather and media, after every storm, ever since we begin our careers, right after college, we hear, I've never seen this before. And you hear that every time there's a storm everywhere you go, because these are unique events in someone's life, whether it's a Sandy in Jersey, whether, ah, it's a Camille in Virginia like we had in 1969. One of the issues older adults are most concerned about with weather is flooding Sean Sublette: But to expand on that point a little bit, are there particular types of weather disasters that you see kind of coming? Like in a shorter term forecast? Like, say, oh, there's a winter storm that's coming, or maybe there's a hurricane that's coming, an ice storm, a potential tornado outbreak. Are there types of events that every event has its bad in its own way, but are there particular kinds of events that are worse than others? I hate to say what's the top ten worst ones, but are there things that you see on a weather map? Or when one of us are talking about, ah, a particular kind of weather one or two days from now that really gets you overly concerned? Lauren Southerland: I think one of the ones I'm most concerned about with older adults, it is extreme storms and flooding. Because the flooding takes out transport, m, and so it makes it so much harder to get to them, to evacuate them, to help them. And as you've seen extreme storms and flooding, it can take days, months to clean things out. You can have long term damage to your homes, to the air quality of your homes from the mold and things. So a tornado comes and it's terrible, but it's almost easier to pick up the pieces afterwards. I think also the extreme heat we've been seeing, especially this past summer, where there was just weeks and weeks of extreme heat, that has to be very difficult for older adults to deal with. Sean Sublette: One of the things that we've tried to do better as a community of weather communicators is to emphasize the risks with flooding. Whether that's flash flooding along streams and creeks, or oceanside, bay flooding, coastal, flooding, because they each really cut down on transit and make it difficult for people to get where they need to go should they need to evacuate. But as you said, the tornado comes and goes, but flooding does long term damage. I want to say I'm glad to hear you say that, but it is something that I think emphasizes the work we need to do as a community to really emphasize the risk from flooding. Because flooding isn't always one of these sexier things you see on TV. Tornado is very visual, ice is very visual, snow, is very visual. Flooding as an onsense isn't necessarily a very visual thing. but of course, when it comes at night, it's especially dangerous. We have an aging population and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent Sean Sublette: So thank you for sharing that. Matt Holiner: I kind of want to look at the big picture because it seems like we're headed towards the wrong direction. Because we got two things working against us here. One, we know the weather is becoming more extreme. These extreme events are occurring more often. And two, we definitely have an aging population. Ah, that baby boomer population isn't getting any younger. And so we have a growing amount of senior citizens. So I'm thinking as we go through the next 1020 years, what do we need to work on as a society to get people better prepared? We know we can't control the weather. I mean, obviously we could work on climate change and trying to reduce for extreme events. But from a society's perspective, let's plan on the preparation. If we know that there's probably going to be more extremely weather events that we've got this aging population. What do we need to work on to prepare those older adults? Like, what should we be working on collectively as society? What do you see as the biggest issue, the biggest thing that we need to work on to be prepared for the future? Lauren Southerland: I think we are, as you said, getting a growing generation of older adults that are living longer and staying in their own homes longer. And we could have a whole nother discussion on weather disaster plans for, nursing facilities and other group home facilities. But I'm kind of focusing on the community dwelling older adults because I think that's where we as individuals can have a little more impact in our own communities. And as I said, not every EMS agency has a list of vulnerable older adults in their community. They don't even know where to go. We don't even know who's capable of getting out of their homes and evacuating and who's not. Probably not even in your own neighborhood. There's probably some neighbors you've seen like, oh, that's Betty. She looks a little weaker today. You know, her garden is not as pretty as it normally is. I think I heard she was in the hospital, but you don't really know if there was a storm, could Betty get out? Should you go check on help on her? Check on her door and help her or if she has a plan? So I think one of the great things that the National Center for EMS and other big EMS agencies is doing is trying to really up our game on disaster preparedness across the US. But it's difficult because every disaster is a new one, right? But there are some things like trying to make lists of vulnerable people. There are other things. So EMS agencies can put lockboxes on your doors where they can get in and out, but nobody else can. And so that's really helpful for older adult. So if they have to call 911 or they fall or something, then EMS can get in and get them without someone else having to be there to open up the door. Or as I've seen people drag themselves with a hip fracture across the floor to the front door to reach up and hit the lock button. We can be better about knowing who needs help and getting them the help they need. Emergency response systems. Not everybody has a cell phone. Still are. there other ways that we can communicate with people about local disaster plans and ensure that people have local disaster plans. That's hard on the national level, because so much of this needs to be community by community. What Kirsten sees in a big city like Tulsa might be different from somebody. Imagine if you're in a rural situation. You're a rural EMS agency that covers so many miles, and how are you even going to get to all the people and check up on them? I. Need, like what my dentist has. Did you know you have appointment tomorrow? respond yes. If you're aware and you have a plan. If they can text me 800 times for a dental appointment, we should be able to set up something where we can send out an alert and get a little response from people who need help. Matt Holiner: Yeah, I think it all comes back to preparation and planning and that we always talk about this when it comes to these weather events. But there's a reason, I think when you bring senior citizens into it, it's even more important to do the preparation, do the planning, so that when the emergency happens, you know what to do. You have a plan, you're prepared for it. So do the planning ahead of time to get prepared for these events. Lauren Southerland: so if everybody that listens to this calls a couple older relatives or checks on people's in the neighborhood and, make sure they have a disaster preparedness plan and a weather preparedness plan, we've done a good thing today in New Jersey. Joe Martucci: We have something called Register Ready, which, identifies seniors who need special assistance. It was started kind of, in the wake of Sandy back in 2012, really just on the county level, first in one of the counties, and then spread it statewide. But I want to end with this because we kind of just touched on it before. I've heard just kind of over the years that as you age, it's better to be in a city as opposed to a suburb or a rural area. I want to know if you feel that's better for people's health as they get older, and why or why not, and how that could parlay into getting assistance when a disaster hits. Lauren Southerland: I think you can age gracefully and have a great life in a rural setting or city setting, but you need to be someplace where you can access health care well, which is not every place in the US. There's some places with a lack of primary care doctors, a lack of hospitals, a lot of rural hospitals closing. What does that do to our disaster management when we have so many rural hospitals closing? So you have to consider the risks and benefits to the person. And if they live far out, where you don't have a lot of neighbors or be hard for someone to even get to you to check on you, then it's going to be difficult to make sure people are okay. But I love the, Jersey response system. Joe Martucci: I want that mean, you know, can't all be New Jersey, but others try. Most fail to replicate. Well, I'll leave it off with that. I think that's a good note to leave it off on. But, Dr. Sutherland, we really appreciate the time. Thanks for, coming on and sharing your insight about this. And, we hope everyone that's listening got a good taste of her expertise and her words about how to, always stay safe and stay prepared in both, any kind of weather that we have, particularly the significant, extreme weather that we have. So thank you again for coming on. Lauren Southerland: Thank you as well. Joe Martucci: And we want to thank Dr. Lauren Sutherland again for coming on the podcast. And if you're keeping score at home, because I know I have, that is two of our last three podcasts where our guests like something that New Jersey does. So there's that. Matt Holiner: The New Jersey connection keeps showing up. Joe Martucci: Listen, often replicated, never duplicated. Sean Sublette: The State University of New Jersey. Joe Martucci: That's right, Rutgers. The State University of New Jersey at New Brunswick. If you want to go a step. Sean Sublette: Forward, because that is where that's a lot to put on a sign. Joe Martucci: Man yes. That's why we just put the little block R. We hope people get, that it's Rutgers at that point. So what'd you guys think? What'd you guys think? Sean Sublette: No, it was good. My mom is starting to get older as well. So these are things that we have to start thinking about as she continues to get older, to maintain good quality of life for her and to be sure that she is in a safe place when the weather is threatening. She's at a good place now, and we want to be sure and keep it that way. But these are things and also, as people who the four of us, we message severe weather, right? Whether it's the classical damaging individual storms, a hurricane, a flood, an ice storm, to remember these important messages, to share with those who can't go somewhere, because sometimes they just can't. Matt Holiner: Yeah, one of the things that stood out to me is when we're talking about severe weather coverage and what to do during a tornado warning, hey, get to the lowest floor of your home, get into the basement. And then you think you're telling people to do this, but there's some people that physically cannot do it. They might be watching you or listening to your report to take Shell shelter, and they're on the second floor of their home in a wheelchair, and there's nobody else in the home with them. And how are they going to get down to the first floor? How are they going to get down to the basement? So some people not being able to physically do it, and, that's a scary thought that you could be telling people to take action, they just can't do it. So making sure that to prepare those people and make sure that again, I think it's all about the plan and preparation. When you know there's a potential for a severe weather outbreak and there's going to be a chance to rain, that's paying attention to the forecast, then making sure that that person who cannot physically who may have to take shelter and can't physically do it. Making sure there's someone in the home with them to make sure that they can get to that safe spot. They can physically carry them down if need be. If they're not physically able to do it, they have someone with them who can help them in an emergency situation. So, paying attention to the forecast. And if you don't live near your older relatives, finding someone who can help them out, a close family friend or another family member, someone who can have access to help them out in case the worst should happen and a tornado is on the ground headed towards yeah, all good stuff. Joe Martucci: And we appreciate her coming on, and especially as we're getting into winter weather, you have your blizzards snowstorms where you might actually be trapped in the house for a day or something like that. it was real good information. So we thank Lauren for coming on again here. Looking forward. We have an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson coming up Joe Martucci: Sean, I'm going to turn it over to you because we got, a big podcast coming up next Monday, don't we? Sean Sublette: Yeah. So I'm getting ready to have an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson, as he likes to say, your personal astrophysicist. he's launching kind of a book tour. A new book came out called To Infinity and beyond, talking about humans moving up through the atmosphere and beyond into the stars. the book tour is going to bring him down here through Richmond, so I was fortunate enough to score a 15 minutes zoom interview with him ahead of time. That interview we are actually doing, on, the 7 November. So we should drop that into the podcast, after that. So we'll talk about the importance of science and science communications, in an era of misinformation, which the four of us working in media, I know we've seen a lot of. So I'm very much looking forward to having him, do the interview and parlaying that into a podcast, coming up. Joe Martucci: Awesome. Matt Holiner: Yeah. Joe Martucci: And we got plenty more episodes after that. I'll, pat ourselves on the back, our across the sky podcast team, because we have episodes lined up pretty much until the end of the year at this point. I think we're missing one at this point, one empty slot. But we got a lot coming up for you as we go forward in time. If you want to have a question or leave a question for us, you can on our, Voicemail Hotline. I should say 609-272-7099. Again, 609-272-7099. We did have a question a, couple of weeks ago, of course. So if you want to leave a question, we're more than happy to answer it. or you can email podcast@lee.net. So for Kirsten Lang, Matt Holiner and Sean Sublette I'm Joe Martucci. And thanks again for listening to another episode of the across the Sky podcast.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Making fuel out of food. Sounds like it could be pretty sustainable, right? But then again, does it make sense to be growing crops for fuel that could otherwise be food? We travel to the US, Kenya and Germany to interrogate how biofuels came about, their promises and drawbacks and why it is we're still using them. This episode originally aired in December 2023.

This week on World Ocean Radio are two forward-looking government-proposed initiatives that offer opportunities for progress in climate policy, investment, resiliency and sustainability. The first is Bridgetown 2.0, proposed by the Prime Minister of Barbados, to urge UN member states to consider an ambitious finance-driven program of climate-change response and implementation; the second is an ambitious climate commitment by the State of California to reach 100% carbon-free by 2045, as part of their proven commitment to environmental protection and action. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.World Ocean Radio offers five-minute weekly insights that dive into ocean science, advocacy and education, hosted by Peter Neill, Director of the W2O, author, and lifelong ocean advocate. Episodes offer perspectives on global ocean issues, today's challenges, marine science and policy, and exemplary solutions. Available for RSS feed, podcast, and syndicated use at no cost by community radio stations worldwide.

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No relief yet from devastating bushfires in rural Queensland. More than 50 homes have been burnt down in Tara, about 300 kilometres west of Brisbane- and two people have died. Conditions are expected to worsen tomorrow, with gusty winds and temperatures topping 40 degrees. Australian correspondent Murray Olds says they don't have exact numbers on how many homes have been destroyed. "Because they haven't been able to send assessment teams out to other parts of the fire ground, there could be dozens more. We simply don't know at this point." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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AP correspondent Julie Walker reports on Drought Pumpkins

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

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

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Rural farmers are facing a slew of challenges. Ongoing interest rate hikes are placing further financial pressure on farmers as the cost of lending increases. And prices aren't the only thing rising in rural America.  In the coming decades, global warming will force farmers to find new ways to adapt to increasing heat. On this episode of The Hot Dish, we look at these two forces and what this means for people in rural America.Joel and Heidi first speak with Brad Nordholm, the President and CEO of Farmer Mac. Farmer Mac is a financial services company servicing rural communities across the United States.Later, Joel and Heidi are joined by climate scientist Dr. Mason Fried to talk about his new report on what rising temperatures will mean for rural America.  To find out more about the One Country Project, visit our website.

Wicked problems are significant issues with no single, straightforward answer, and they are everywhere! Transportation is a wicked problem that touches every aspect of our lives, whether we realize it or not. It affects what we have on our dinner tables, the clothes we wear, and everything we have inside our homes. It even affects where we work, how we get there, and how we spend our vacations. Yet, we tend to take it for granted. I'm Marla, the Green Home Coach, coming to you live from Shock City Studios in St. Louis, Missouri. I am delighted to have my occasional co-host, Tony Pratte, join me today to discuss the wicked problems surrounding transportation.  The transportation system is undeniably complex and multifaceted. I invite you to listen in as we journey through the evolving world of our transportation system and explore the wicked problems it presents.  Impact of COVID-19  The absence of commuters and students traveling to school during the pandemic highlighted a significant shift in how we perceive transportation. I found it eye-opening to see the streets resembling quiet Sunday mornings when it used to be rush hour. Electric Cars and Infrastructure A noticeable change after the pandemic has been the proliferation of electric cars, even in states like Oklahoma, traditionally associated with fossil fuels. The increasing presence of electric vehicles is encouraging. But we must recognize that the infrastructure to support them is evolving, and supply chains for materials like copper and lithium must grow exponentially to meet the 2035 EV goals.  Mining Mining, especially overseas, raises concerns about environmental and ethical practices. Those considerations are essential as we make the shift to electric transportation. Transparency in the Supply Chain Many pieces get hidden from the average consumer within the supply chain for energy and transportation. With both gasoline for cars and the materials used in the batteries of electric vehicles, transparency remains a challenge. We need better labeling and reporting to know where our products come from, because that awareness allows us to make informed choices, not only for environmental reasons but also to support ethical and responsible sourcing. Public Transportation The lack of robust public transportation networks, especially in the Midwest and Southeastern United States, forces many to rely on personal vehicles. However, expanding and improving public transportation could significantly reduce congestion, pollution, and the need for massive parking lots in urban areas. Achieving a well-balanced transportation system that combines individual and public options remains a challenge yet to be overcome. Walkable Cities The issues with transportation issue also extend to city planning and the use of land. Deciding whether we want to continue sacrificing valuable space for parking lots or promote walkable cities that will reduce our reliance on cars is a balancing act, and the choices we make today will have consequences for future generations. This complexity highlights the need for thoughtful, integrated solutions, considering the environment, society, and economics. Maintaining Existing Infrastructure We often rush into building new infrastructure before adequately maintaining existing systems. We must prioritize maintenance and repair to ensure the longevity of our transportation networks and reduce costs and environmental impact in the long run. In essence, addressing the wicked problem of transportation requires a multifaceted approach, incorporating sustainability, ethical considerations, and urban planning for a better future. Maintenance in Transportation Maintenance for transportation still tends to get overlooked in the planning process, leaving far-reaching implications. It is easier to secure funds for capital budgets than to get funding for ongoing operational expenses. Capital expenditures have the allure of job creation and development, making them more appealing to budget approvers. Unfortunately, maintenance often falls by the wayside despite its critical role in preserving and extending the life of our transportation systems. Unforeseen Consequences The bias towards capital expenditure, driven by political and economic factors, is concerning. When creating impressive new structures gets prioritized, it is easy to lose sight of the need to maintain existing systems. The consequences of this negligence are evident on the roads. A simple blowout caused by the poor condition of a road can lead to severe consequences, from inconvenience to accidents and increased healthcare costs. That is a stark reminder of the vital role of maintenance in ensuring our safety and well-being. Extreme Weather and Infrastructure Challenges Many regions, like St. Louis and Oklahoma City, face extreme weather conditions that wreak havoc on their transportation infrastructure. Asphalts expand and contract under temperature extremes, creating fissures and potholes. These constant shifts necessitate research into more resilient road materials that can withstand the stresses.  Shifting Transportation Modes  Considering the most efficient modes for moving goods is crucial. Shifting from road transportation to rail can reduce the number of trucks on the road and the associated pollution. Trains are known for their economical and environmentally friendly tonnage transportation, as they can carry a considerable load with minimal fuel consumption. Exploring the potential for rail transportation can significantly impact the overall efficiency of our transportation systems. Collaborative Planning Transportation decisions should prioritize the greater good, not the preferences of the few. Fostering collaboration among multiple stakeholders, including federal and local governments, businesses, and the general public, remains a challenge. Those stakeholders often vie for their share of the transportation budget, further complicating the decision-making process. Budget allocation is influenced by political interests, so the focus must shift from individual gains to what is best for the collective community. We need a comprehensive master plan that does not cater to personal preferences or political influence.  The Complexity of Transportation Transportation is a wicked problem that is more intricate than housing and buildings. The many parties involved, from government agencies to private industries, and the relentless battle for funding require a multifaceted approach.  Collaboration The wicked problem of transportation demands our unwavering attention and collaboration to ensure a safer, more efficient future for all. Have a great green day! Links and resources Green Home Coach Workshop - How to Sell the Value of Green Homes and Features  How do All Electric Cars Work Building the electric-vehicle charging infrastructure America needs The EV Battery Supply Chain Explained - RMI Transportation Trends 2022-2023  Bureau of Transportation Statistics 

Thousands of homes across Scotland and the Midlands have been flooded in recent days. Jessica Murray reports from Chesterfield. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

The country has been battling weather alerts over recent days but are they freak events or our new normal due to Climate change? Speaking to Shane this morning was John Sweeney, Climatologist and Professor Emeritus at Maynooth University a little earlier and started by asking him if thinks climate change is playing a part in our extreme weather.

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

Solar panels and batteries keep the lights on, and it's stocked with emergency supplies. Learn more at https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/

Are you a home service entrepreneur looking to scale your business efficiently? In this episode of "Owned and Operated," we delve into the intricacies of middle management, scaling, and the challenges faced by home service companies as they grow. Join us as we explore valuable insights shared by industry experts.Discussion Highlights:Recruitment Strategy: Finding the right talent to manage different business pillars, such as plumbing, HVAC, and roofing, requires assessing their prior experience and team size management skills.Transition Challenges: Adapting employees from cost-saving to revenue-generating mindsets can be a significant hurdle, especially when bringing individuals from other industries.Organizational Structure: The importance of defining roles and structures as your business grows, including trade managers, field managers, and service managers.Scaling Call Centers: The growth of call centers is a critical aspect, with the need to adapt to increasing leads and adjust staffing to handle peak call times effectively.Challenges at $10 Million Mark: Crossing the $10 million mark often leads to operational challenges due to rapid scaling and limited infrastructure, especially in HR and accounting.Maintaining Momentum: Challenges at $20 million are different but exciting as you have momentum and resources to address issues creatively.Handling Extreme Events: Managing the call center during extreme weather events or high call volumes requires careful planning and real-time adjustments.Versatile Call Center: The call center can handle a wide range of home service industries, making it a vital component for comprehensive customer support.Episode Hosts:John Wilson: @wilsoncompaniesJack Carr: @thehvacjackSpecial thanks to our sponsor: Service Scalers: Looking to scale your home service business? Service Scalers is a digital marketing agency that drives success in PPC and LSA. Discover more growth strategies by visiting Service Scalers. Don't forget to subscribe!Youtube: @OwnedandOperatedPodcastX: @ownedoperatedcoSPOTIFY | APPLE PODCASTwww.ownedandoperated.comContact us:info@ownedandoperated.com

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

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

We are aware of the key role played by insurance, more so as we face increasing events of extreme weather destruction. Government agencies are signaling policy and coverage shifts, and there is a growing realization that existing policies and programs are not adequate to the new realities. Insurance is fundamental yet largely invisible until it is not there, and may be the driving force toward necessary change for the future.About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.World Ocean Radio offers five-minute weekly insights that dive into ocean science, advocacy and education, hosted by Peter Neill, Director of the W2O, author, and lifelong ocean advocate. Episodes offer perspectives on global ocean issues, today's challenges, marine science and policy, and exemplary solutions. Available for RSS feed, podcast, and syndicated use at no cost by community radio stations worldwide.

PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest grid operator, is proposing a new plan to reduce the risk of blackouts during extreme weather events. And while both fossil fuel and renewable power generators are on board, a potential cap on the imposition of penalties when blackouts do occur is raising questions. POLITICO's Catherine Morehouse breaks down the details of the plan, why it's coming now, and how it might be the start of wider reforms by PJM. Plus, the Biden administration is expected to reach a deal today with Venezuela to ease oil sanctions, according to a media report.   For more news on energy and the environment, subscribe to Power Switch, our free evening newsletter: https://www.politico.com/power-switch And for even deeper coverage and analysis, read our Morning Energy newsletter by subscribing to POLITICO Pro:  https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter-archive/morning-energy   Catherine Morehouse is an energy reporter for POLITICO and the host of the POLITICO Energy podcast. Nirmal Mulaikal is a POLITICO audio host-producer.  Kara Tabor is an audio producer for POLITICO. Gloria Gonzalez is the deputy energy editor for POLITICO.  Matt Daily is the energy editor for POLITICO.

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

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

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

They're beautiful. They're historic. But they're not really built for this new era of extremes. From Paris to Venice to Rotterdam, how European cities are trying to adapt — and what's standing in their way.

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

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen

Guest: Dr. Randy CervenyWhen we hear about extreme weather and changing climate, often we hear about the extreme records that are associated with these events: Things like the hottest temperature streak, the heaviest rainfall, and so forth. You may notice when these events are reported, it's often with the caveat: “if verified”. An often overlooked, but vitally important caveat. So, who are these verifiers and how do they corroborate world record weather? For the World Meteorological Organization, one of those people is Dr. Randy Cerveny and he's joining us today to discuss how extreme events are verified and why it's so important to go through a rigorous verification process.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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