Podcasts about goddard institute

Professor Antonio Lazcano: repression of science in the U.S. through the lens of political strongmen in Latin America. What can science-killing in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico tell us about the Trump repression? Followed by latest news – like Goddard Institute for  …

The United States Space Force (USSF)'s Space Systems Command (SSC) today awarded a National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Space Vehicle (SV) Processing Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) contract to Astrotech Space Operations (ASO). Firefly Aerospace scrubs the Message in a Booster mission for Lockheed Martin. China is working on a traffic management system to better organize satellite placement and operations, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. Our guest today is David Schleeper, RS&H Project Manager. You can connect with David on LinkedIn, and learn more about RS&H on their website. Space Systems Command Expands Commercial Space Vehicle Processing Capacity Alpha FLTA006 - Firefly Aerospace China plans space traffic management system amid commercial satellite boom AST SpaceMobile and U.S. National Science Foundation Establish Coordination Agreement Between Satellite and Ground-Based Astronomy Operations Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) Announces Key Milestone in Development of Aspera Space Astronomy Microsatellite Mission Space Foundation, Space Workforce for Tomorrow, and International Space University Sign MOU to Advance U.S. Space Workforce Development Trump administration cancels lease for NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies lab in New York City New Director Space appointed at the South Australian Space Industry Centre – SASIC Axiom Space Appoints Tejpaul Bhatia as CEO Old Soviet spacecraft to fall to Earth in early May 2025 We want to hear from you! Please complete our 4 question survey. It'll help us get better and deliver you the most mission-critical space intel every day. You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Please send your pitch to space-editor@n2k.com and include your name, affiliation, and topic proposal. T-Minus is a production of N2K Networks, your source for strategic workforce intelligence. © N2K Networks, Inc. T-Minus GuestSelected ReadingT-Minus Crew SurveyWant to hear your company in the show?Want to join us for an interview? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Gavin Schmidt, Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, joins us for a deep dive into climate science, climate modeling, and the future of sustainable civilization. Gavin shares insights on the Arctic's rapid warming, machine learning's role in climate predictions, and the impact of methane emissions. We also explore how climate science intersects with astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial civilizations.

In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast we explore climate change and its implications for property insurance through the lens of the wildfires in Los Angeles.  The fires that broke out in LA in January killed at least 29 people and destroyed or damaged thousands of structures. Early estimates from AccuWeather put the total damage and economic losses at more than $250 billion.  “Climate change is not the only culprit here, but it is an accentuating factor that made this event and other events more severe than they would have been otherwise,” says Terry Thompson, Chief Scientist in the Climate Center of Excellence at S&P Global.  We also talk to Gavin Schmidt, Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, about why extreme weather events like wildfires are becoming more frequent and severe as the world warms.  "We can prevent the situation getting worse by reducing, in the end to zero, carbon dioxide emissions," Gavin says. "There's really no practical other way to even stabilize the situation, let alone reverse it.”   And we hear how the insurance landscape is changing in an interview with former California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, who is now Director of the Climate Risk Initiative at UC Berkeley's Center for Law, Energy and the Environment.  Dave explains that some property insurers are raising prices and declining to write or renew insurance in places that face rising losses from disasters like the LA wildfires.  “The increase in price of insurance and the increased unavailability of insurance has significant economic consequences for households and businesses,” Dave says. “Insurance is the climate crisis canary in the coal mine, and the canary is starting to expire.”  Listen to our episode about Canadian wildfires: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/how-the-canadian-wildfires-impact-business-net-zero-health   Want to get in touch? Email us at lindsey.hall@spglobal.com or esther.whieldon@spglobal.com This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1, a part of S&P Global.            Copyright ©2025 by S&P Global    DISCLAIMER    By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties.    S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST.

Prolonged drought and powerful Santa Ana winds set up extreme conditions that have fueled the devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Those conditions were compounded by climate change. According to NOAA and NASA, the ten warmest years on record have all occurred in the past decade. Geoff Bennett and Daniel Schmidt of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies discussed the implications. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Hello Interactors,Flying provides a great opportunity to catch up on books and podcasts, but it also brings feelings of guilt. My recent trip likely contributed about 136 hot air balloons' worth of CO2 to the atmosphere. Should I feel guilty, or should the responsibility lie with airlines, manufacturers, and oil companies? We all contribute to global warming, but at least our destination was experiencing an unusually cool July. However, globally, the situation is very different and worsening faster than expected. What's to be done? Let's dig in.CLIMATE CONUNDRUMS CONFOUND CALCULATIONSThere are two spots on the planet that are not affected by climate change, and I recently flew over one of them. It's a patch in the ocean just off the coast of Greenland that our plane happened to fly over on a family vacation to Scotland. The other is a small band around the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. I likely won't be visiting that one.I learned this on the plane listening to a podcast interview by the physicist Sean Carroll with climate scientist and Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Gavin Schmidt. Gavin has been at the forefront of climate science, spearheading efforts to quantify Earth's climatic fluctuations, develop sophisticated models for projecting future climate scenarios, and effectively communicate these findings to the public and policymakers.In this discussion, they talked about the methods currently employed in climate research, while also offering insights into the anticipated climatic shifts and their potential impacts in the coming decades. Gavin is known for bridging gaps between complex science and accessible information. I'm writing this piece to bridge some of my own gaps.For example, there's often mention that climate change has created more extreme swings in temperature — that the weather is increasingly varying from extreme heat to extreme cold. In statistics, this is called variance. Some argue this variance may be hard for us to detect because temperatures have been shifting — a phenomenon known as shifting baseline syndrome.Gavin says there's more to this question than people realize. He notes that it is relatively straightforward to detect changes in the mean temperature because of the law of large numbers. Temperature varies across three dimensions - latitude, longitude, and altitude. We can calculate an average temperature for any two-dimensional slice of this 3D space, resulting in a single representative value for that area.This video is a conceptual simulation showing a 3D volume of temperature readings (warmer toward the ground and cool toward the sky). The 2D plane ‘slices' the cube averaging the values as it encounters them and colors itself accordingly. Source: Author using P5.js with much help from OpenAI.With enough data, it's clear that there has been a significant warming trend almost everywhere on Earth since the 1970s. Approximately 98% of the planet has experienced detectable warming, with a couple exceptions like the ones I mentioned.But determining changes in the variance or spread of temperatures is more complex. Calculating variance requires a comprehensive understanding of the entire distribution of data, which requires a larger dataset to achieve statistical confidence. Schmidt points out that while we have enough data to confirm that the distribution of temperatures has shifted (indicating a change in the mean), we do not yet have sufficient data to conclusively state that the variance has increased.Recent temperature spikes tell this story well. For the last decade or more, many climate scientists have been confident in predicting increased global mean temperatures by looking at past temperatures. The global mean has been predictably increasing within known variances. But in 2023 their confidence was shaken. He said,“Perhaps we get a little bit complacent. Perhaps we then say, 'Okay, well, you know, we know everything.' And for the last 10 years or so, [that's been] on the back of both those long-term trends, which we understand…”He goes on to explain that they've been able to adjust temperature predictions based on past trends and the cyclical variances of El Nino and La Nina. Scientists have boldly claimed,“'Okay, well, it's gonna be a little bit cooler. It's gonna be a little warmer, but the trends are gonna be up. You know, here's the chance of a new record temperature.' And for 10 years that worked out nicely until last year. Last year, it was a total bust, total bust like way outside any of the uncertainties that you would add into such a prediction.”How far outside of known uncertainties? He said,“…we were way off. And we still don't know why. And that's a little disquieting.” He added, “…we ended up with records at the end of last year, August, September, October, November, that were, like they were off the charts, but then they were off the charts in how much they were off the charts. So, they were breaking the records where they were breaking the records by a record-breaking amount as well. So that's record breaking squared, if you like, the second order record breaking. And we don't really have a good answer for that yet.”There is ongoing research into why and some have speculated, but none of them add up.For example, we're currently nearing a solar maximum in the sun's 11-year cycle which increases solar irradiance, but that small increase doesn't fully explain the observed changes. Other factors may be at play. For instance, there have been significant shifts in pollution levels in China, and the shipping industry has transitioned to cleaner fuels, which, as hoped, could be influencing climate patterns.However, Schmidt notes that the quantitative analysis of these factors hasn't yet matched the observed changes. Identifying potential contributors to climate variations is one thing, but precisely quantifying their impacts remains a challenge. Schmidt said climate and planetary scientists hope to convene in December to share and learn more, but the extreme shift remains concerning.CALCULATING CLIMATE'S COUNTLESS COMPONENTSThe amount of data required to model the climate is daunting. In a separate TED talk, Schmidt reveals that understanding climate change requires considering variables that span 14 orders of magnitude, from the microscopic level (e.g., aerosols) to the planetary scale (e.g., atmospheric circulation). These accordingly have their own orders of magnitude on a time scale, from milliseconds of chemical reactions to weather events over days or weeks to long term changes over millennia, like ice ages or long-term carbon cycles.Climate models must integrate processes across these scales to accurately simulate climate dynamics. Early models could only handle a few orders of magnitude, but modern models have significantly expanded this range, incorporating more detailed processes and interactions.Schmidt highlights that climate models reveal emergent properties—patterns that arise from the interactions of smaller-scale processes. For instance, no specific code dictates the formation of cyclones or the wiggles in ocean currents; these phenomena emerge naturally from the model's equations.But there is a staggering amount of data to model. And it all starts with the sun.The sun provides 99% of the Earth's energy, primarily in the visible spectrum, with components in the near-infrared and UV. This energy interacts with the atmosphere, which contains water vapor, greenhouse gases, ozone, clouds, and particles that absorb, reflect, or scatter light.The energy undergoes photolytic reactions. Photolytic reactions are chemical reactions that are initiated or driven by the absorption of light energy which breakdown molecules into smaller units. We couldn't breathe without it. The earth's ozone is decomposed into oxygen in the atmosphere through these reactions, which is initiated by sunlight — especially in the stratosphere. This too must be tracked as the Earth rotates, affecting sunlight exposure.Upon reaching the ground, some sunlight is reflected, by snow for example, or absorbed by oceans and land. This influences temperatures which is then radiated back as infrared energy. This process involves complex interactions with clouds, particles, and greenhouse gases, creating temperature gradients that drive winds and atmospheric motion. These dynamics further affect surface fluxes, water vapor, cloud formation, and associated chemistry, making the entire system highly intricate. And this doesn't even remotely begin to approach the complexity of it all.To simplify Schmidt says they capture what they can in a column roughly 25 kilometers high and wide to study the inherent physics. Most of which he says,“…is just vertical. So, the radiation you can think of as just being a vertical process, to very good order. Convection is also just a vertical process. So, there's a lot of things that you can do in the column that allows you to be quite efficient about how you solve the equations.”  Schmidt adds that “each column [can] sit on a different processor, and so you can do lots of things at the same time, and then they interact via the winds and the waves and those kinds of things.”He said most of the calculations come down to these two sets of equations: Euler and Navier-Stokes. Euler equations are a set of partial differential equations in fluid dynamics that describe the flow of non-viscous and fluids, absent heat exchange. Named after the Swiss mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler in the 18th century, these simplify the analysis of fluid flow by neglecting viscosity and thermal conductivity, focusing instead on the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy.Navier-Stokes, named after the 19th century French civil engineer Claude-Louis Navier and the Irish physicist George Gabriel Stokes, is based on Euler's work but adds viscosity back into the equation. Schmidt says these equations are sometimes used to measure flows closer to the surface of the earth.This video is a conceptual simulation showing a 3D volume of vectors (randomly changing direction and magnitude) with particles entering the field of vectors. Each particle (e.g. dust, rain, aerosol) gets pushed in the direction of the vector each encounters. You can clearly see the emergent swarming behavior complex adaptive systems, like our atmosphere, can yield. Also present are the apparent challenges that come with measuring and predicting these outcomes. Source: Author using P5.js with much help from OpenAI.These complex computational models are inherently approximations. They are validated against observations but remain simplifications of reality. This inherent uncertainty is a critical aspect of climate science, emphasizing the need for continuous refinement and validation of models.And while human-induce climate change denialists like to say the climate models are wrong and not worth considering, Schmidt has a clever retort,“Models are not right or wrong; they are always wrong, but they are useful.”NAVIGATING NATURE'S NEW NORMALMany wish climate change predictions had the kind of certainty that comes with basic laws of physics. While there are indeed efforts in complexity science to identify such laws, we're still in the foothills of discovery on a steep climb to certainty.For example, to even achieve the current level of climate prediction took approximately 30 years of research, involving multiple methods, replication, and more sophisticated physical modeling. This led to accurate calibration techniques for the paleothermometers that measure ice cores which reveal temperatures from around the planet dating back three million years.While there is some empirical certainty in this — derived from the periodic table, fundamental laws of physics, or observed correlations from spatially dispersed ice core samples — recent extreme variations in global temperatures give reason to question this certainty. These relationships were based on spatial variations observable today, but failed to account for change over time, which behave very differently.Schmidt says, “…it turns out that the things that cause things to change in time are not the same things that cause them to change in space. And so empirical relationships that are derived from data that's available rather than the data that you need can indeed lead you astray.”It begs the question: how far astray are we?We know over the last one hundred years or so the planet has warmed roughly an average of 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is a number that has been contorted in the media to mean some kind of threshold after which “something” “might” happen. But Schmidt cautions there is no way to know when we hit this number, exactly, and it's not going to be obvious. Perhaps it already pushed passed this threshold, or it may not for another decade.He says, “we are going to continue to warm on the aggregates because we are continuing to put carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Until we get effectively to net zero, so no more addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, temperatures will continue to climb. The less we put in, the slower that will be. But effectively, our best estimate of when global warming will stop is when we get to net zero.”Getting to net zero involves significant and radical changes in energy production, industrial processes, and consumption patterns. Moreover, it will require an unprecedented comprehensive and coordinated worldwide effort across all sectors of the economy, institutions, and governments.This is true even for hypothetical and speculative climate engineering solutions like injecting sulfates into the atmosphere in attempts to cool the planet. According to Schmidt, not only would this require cooperation across borders, so long as we keep spewing emissions into the atmosphere, we'd be forever trying to cool the planet…for eternity or at least until we've exhausted all the planet's fossil fuels.It's hard to imagine this happening in my lifetime, if ever. After all, climate change is already disrupting and displacing entire populations and we're seeing governments, and their citizens, becoming increasingly selfish and isolationist, not collaborative.As Schmidt admits, “We're not on the optimum path. We're not on the path that will prevent further damage and prevent the need for further adaptation. So, we're going to have to be building climate resilience, we're going to have to be adapting, we're going to have to be mitigating, and you have to do all three. You can't adapt to an ever-getting-worse situation, it has to at some point stabilize.”Schmidt says he derives no joy in telling people “that the next decade is going to be warmer than the last decade and it was warmer than the decade before that.” He says, “It gives me no joy to tell people that, oh yeah, we're going to have another record-breaking year this year, next year, whenever. Because I'm not a sociopath. I'm a scientist, yes, but I'm also a person.”Schmidt's words resonate deeply, reminding us that behind the data and predictions are real people—scientists, citizens, and future generations—all grappling with the weight of our changing world. As we stand at this critical juncture, we're not just passive observers but active participants in Earth's unfolding story, a story that's leaving its mark on nearly every corner of our planet.The butterfly effect, as meteorologist Edward Lorenz proposed, isn't just about tornados in Texas being set off by a chain of events from the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil; it's a powerful metaphor for our collective impact. Each of us, in our daily choices and actions, creates ripples that extend far beyond our immediate sphere. In a world where only two small patches—one off Greenland's coast and another near Antarctica—remain untouched by climate change, our individual actions carry profound significance.The path to net zero isn't just about grand gestures or technological breakthroughs. It's about millions of small, intentional actions coalescing into a force powerful enough to alter our trajectory. As we face the challenges ahead, let's remember that our individual agency, when combined, has the potential to create tsunamis of change, even in places we may never visit ourselves.In the end, it's not just about preserving a habitable planet — it's about preserving our humanity, our connection to each other and to the Earth that sustains us. As we navigate this critical decade and beyond, let's carry with us the knowledge that every action, no matter how small, contributes to the larger narrative of our planet's future. We are all butterflies, and in a world where climate change-free zones are becoming as rare as a family vacation to Antarctica, our wings have never mattered more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit interplace.io

Our climate is changing. In the last 100 years, the planet has warmed about 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to NASA. But how can we learn more about our planet's climate and what we can do to slow the changes? Gavin A. Schmidt, a top NASA climate scientist and director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, spoke with WSJ reporter Emily Glazer at the Future of Everything Festival on May 22, 2024 about the future of climate science and the data NASA is collecting on the Earth by looking at it from space. What do you think about the show? Let us know on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or email us: FOEPodcast@wsj.com  Sign up for the WSJ's free The Future of Everything newsletter. Further reading: 2023 Was the Hottest Year on Record  Extreme Heat, Floods, Fire: Was Summer 2023 the New Normal?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Earth's climate keeps changing, largely due to the effects of human activity, and we haven't been doing enough to slow things down. Indeed, over the past year, global temperatures have been higher than ever, and higher than most climate models have predicted. Many of you have probably seen plots like this. Today's guest, Gavin Schmidt, has been a leader in measuring the variations in Earth's climate, modeling its likely future trajectory, and working to get the word out. We talk about the current state of the art, and what to expect for the future.Support Mindscape on Patreon.Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2024/05/20/276-gavin-schmidt-on-measuring-predicting-and-protecting-our-climate/Gavin Schmidt received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from University College London. He is currently Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and an affiliate of the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University. His research involves both measuring and modeling climate variability. Among his awards are the inaugural Climate Communications Prize of the American Geophysical Union. He is a cofounder of the RealClimate blog.NASA web pageColumbia web pageGoogle Scholar publicationsWikipediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2024 had the hottest March ever recorded. And it was the 10th month in a row to break its record.On one day in March, the Antarctic was 38.5 degrees warmer than the average. Climate change is a terrifying reality.Even if that heat measure proves to be an anomaly we're still in big trouble – because of the level of emissions we pump into the atmosphere.As climatologist and director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies Gavin Schmidt tells In the News, we're in uncharted waters because climate models can't explain the huge heat anomaly in 2023 – and now 2024 with the impact of El Nino to be factored in, sure outcomes look even more difficult to predict.We're on course for catastrophic warming, one way or the other, unless radical changes are made.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Space, Astronomy and Science Podcast. SpaceTime Series 27 Episode 16 *The Moon is shrinking A new study has confirmed earlier research showing that the Earth's moon is shrinking causing landslides and instability around the lunar south pole. *NASA analysis confirms 2023 as warmest year on record A new analysis by NASA has confirmed that planet Earth's average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest on record. *Stars travel more slowly at Milky Way's edge By clocking the speed of stars throughout the Milky Way galaxy, physicists have found that stars further out in the galactic disk are traveling more slowly than expected compared to stars that are closer to the galaxy's centre. *The Science Report People who sit for prolonged periods at work have a 16% higher risk of death. Claims average global temperatures have already risen by 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Outdoor artificial light at night could be linked to an increased risk of a kind of macular degeneration. Skeptics guide to Bedfordshire hotbed of supernatural activity https://spacetimewithstuartgary.com https://bitesz.com This week's guests: Planetary scientist Simon O'Toole from Macquarie University Gavin Schmidt The director NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies And our regular guests: Alex Zaharov-Reutt from techadvice.life Tim Mendham from Australian Skeptics

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 18 October 2023: Lucy Mission to fly by asteroid Dinkinesh: The flyby, which will see Lucy pass within just 300 miles (480 km) of Dinkinesh, will combine science and engineering goals as the craft both reveals this small world to humanity and performs a rigorous first test of its innovative Terminal Tracking System. Planet Earth - Season 4 Episode 56: Earth Information Center; COVID, cars and temperatures; Landsat observes Amazon deforestation; EMIT observes mineral dust; astronaut Nicole Stott observes thunderstorms; CALIPSO decommissioned; SuomiNPP and NOAA 20 observe "milky sea" bioluminescence; Gavin Schmidt (Director, Goddard Institute for Space Sciences) on the 2023 July Global Temperature Report; MAIA to be launched next year; PolSIR approved; atmospheric ozone primer. (Inserts courtesy GSFC, NASA, AGU)

Get your DEMYSTICON 2024 tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/demysticon-2024-tickets-727054969987 Dr. Gavin Schmidt is the Director of the Goddard Institute of Space Science, and is back for a followup conversation about carbon dioxide, climate change, modeling, and to set the record straight about wether or not we have more glaciations in our future. 00:00:00 Go! 00:00:18 Controversy! 00:04:48 Steelmanning Lindzen 00:13:04 Ocean mixing 00:23:12 Interglacial max temps 00:34:48 No more glaciations? 00:43:39 Every civilization has been threatened by climate change 00:50:38 CO2 v. toxin 00:56:18 Peak oil? 01:03:09 Hole in the Ozone...still there? 01:08:11 Cosmic rays & climate (Nir Shaviv) 01:13:10 Closing thoughts Support the scientific revolution by joining our Patreon: https://bit.ly/3lcAasB Tell us what you think in the comments or on our Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub #climate #climatechange #nasa #nasascience #science #iceage #philosophy #climatemodels #moldeling #GISS #philosophyofscience #predictions #civilization Check our short-films channel, @DemystifySci: https://www.youtube.com/c/DemystifyingScience AND our material science investigations of atomics, @MaterialAtomics https://www.youtube.com/@MaterialAtomics Join our mailing list https://bit.ly/3v3kz2S PODCAST INFO: Anastasia completed her PhD studying bioelectricity at Columbia University. When not talking to brilliant people or making movies, she spends her time painting, reading, and guiding backcountry excursions. Shilo also did his PhD at Columbia studying the elastic properties of molecular water. When he's not in the film studio, he's exploring sound in music. They are both freelance professors at various universities. - Blog: http://DemystifySci.com/blog - RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/2be66934/podcast/rss - Donate: https://bit.ly/3wkPqaD - Swag: https://bit.ly/2PXdC2y SOCIAL: - Discord: https://discord.gg/MJzKT8CQub - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DemystifySci - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DemystifySci/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/DemystifySci MUSIC: -Shilo Delay: https://g.co/kgs/oty671

REEF's 2023 Discover the Sea Underwater Photo Contest is now accepting entries through September 18, 2023. There are several categories including fish portraits, macro, and more. You can check it out at www.REEF.org/photocontest The third quarter 2023 Alert Diver Magazine from DAN arrived. This edition features Stan Waterman as the  profiled diver. You can also learn about diving in San Diego, Lembah, Palau and Turks and Caicos. Check out the DAN was there for me section for another story of why DAN membership is so valuable. The Toronto Star newspaper had an article "New government rules spell end for Nova Scotia's distinctive shark fishing derbies". After 30 years, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has decided these tournaments no longer serve any scientific purpose and will only issue licenses under certain conditions. Turns out the tournaments aren't able to meet those conditions. NASA's Climate Change Newsletter reported that according to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, July 2023 was the hottest month on record since 1880. Still think climate change is a hoax? Commentary Being prepared as a diver is critical. Two stories demonstrate the need to be prepared. These two stories had positive outcomes but could have easily been very different. First, there were four divers rescued 50 miles off the coast of North Carolina. They got caught in a current and couldn't make it to the boat. Fortunately, one of the divers had a strobe that was spotted by a Coast Guard plane. They were ultimately picked up by a Navy destroyer. But what happened to their boat. Did they have anyone onboard? Being 50 miles offshore takes more preparation and perhaps they should have also taken a portable GPS in the water with them - especially if they didn't have anyone onboard while diving. Then there is the story of a diver in Florida being rescued by two off duty police officers who were out fishing. They saw a diver flopping his arms in the water and they thought it was a bird. Turns out, the diver also got caught in a current and was pushed two miles from his boat. There was someone on the boat but couldn't spot their missing diver because of the swell. I don't think this diver had an SMB and it sounds like they were diving alone. Also, did the person on the boat, know how to effect a rescue. In this episode of Sea Hunt - Base of Operations - Mike is testing out a new underwater platform for sustained diving operations when he encounters two well-known underwater photographers who want him to help them with a deep dive to a wreck. When Mike refuses to help them, they decide to practice their deep diving alone. They get in trouble with nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness. Mike must first fight the narc'd diver and then take the other one down to his Base of Operations for in-water recompression. Mike pulls out all of his tricks to save the diver.

Dr. Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, discusses current global temperatures, levels of greenhouse gasses and where 2022 ranks in the climate record. Then, Brenda Mann, program director of the University of Utah science and engineering fair, shares fascinating school science and engineering projects.

Science agencies in the US and Europe this week released their temperature data for 2022, revealing what has become an annual headline: Last year was one of the hottest on record. 2022 tied for fifth hottest, according to NASA. The US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, which uses slightly different data, said it came in sixth.That's even though La Niña cooled the equatorial Pacific, which typically turns down global temperatures.  “This was, in fact, the warmest La Niña year in the whole record,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.Earlier this week, Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service revealed 2022 was that continent's second-hottest year ever, and hottest summer.Last year was about 2 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the preindustrial average, or 1.1 or 1.2 degrees Celsius, depending on whose data you use. That's edging closer and closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a limit most countries in the world have pledged not to exceed. That goal is written into the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, alongside a less-ambitious target of limiting warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius. But it's the lower target that has taken hold in recent years as both a goal and a rallying cry for aggressive climate action. Keeping 1.5 “alive” became the mantra of Alok Sharma, the UK politician who served as president of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in late 2021. UN Secretary General António Guterres also frequently references the figure, among many others.  A coalition galvanized by low-lying island nations lobbied to get the more-ambitious target written into the Paris climate deal, arguing that exceeding that threshold represented an existential threat for their counties."It means we are dead. Just simply dead," former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed told The World in 2021. “A whole country gone. A whole people gone. A whole society gone. A whole community gone. And this is the case with many, many low-lying islands.”That target has always been wildly ambitious. But in the last seven years, as carbon emissions have continued to rise, it has gotten even more so. Global greenhouse gas emissions would need to be slashed 45% by the end of this decade to meet it, and a UN report published in October said there was no “credible” pathway to 1.5 in place.Many climate scientists say that they don't believe the target will be met.  “I'm pessimistic for the 1.5,” said Thomas Stocker, a climate scientist at the University of Bern who co-led an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on the physical basis of climate change in the years leading up to the Paris agreement's creation. “We're not on the pathway to actually keep the warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius,” he said. “We [would] be extremely lucky to hold the temperature warming below 2 degrees.”Three scientists involved in tracking the global temperature data that was released this week also said they saw limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius as unlikely.  “I think it's very challenging to stay below 1.5,” said Schmidt, saying he was speaking only for himself, not NASA.  “My expectation is that we will hit 1.5 degrees sometime in the 2030s,” said Samanath Burgess, deputy director of Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service.“I think it's very unlikely that we avoid overshooting that level of warming,” said Zeke Hausfather, with Berkeley Earth, an independent research group that also released its 2022 temperature data on Thursday.It's technically still possible to keep warming at 1.5 degrees, according to the science of atmospheric warming. But a recent IPCC report shows it would require a massive shift away from coal, oil and gas at a speed that's hard to imagine. And it almost certainly would require overshooting the 1.5 limit for a time, then removing carbon from the atmosphere again before the end of the century to bring the globe's average temperature back down.Still, Hausfather said he thinks that the goal itself has been useful.“Even if it's a target we don't hit, I feel like the fact that we are trying means we'll probably end up in a better place than if we were aiming higher,” he said.Hausfather points out countries responsible for around 80% of emissions now have targets to reach net-zero emissions by midcentury. Whether they meet them, of course, is an entirely different question, but the goal itself is based on the science behind the 1.5-degree goal.  The target being written into an international agreement “holds political leaders accountable,” Burgess said.  Even as 1.5 continues to be held up as the goal by political leaders and activists, scientists aren't exactly shouting from the rooftops how much of a stretch it really is.Swiss scientist Thomas Stocker said there's a concern that doing so would stymie ambition.“I disagree,” he said, arguing it should instead galvanize even faster action.“The consequence should be that under no circumstances will we lose the second target and make the same mistakes again.”  Some scientists worry that the 1.5-limit has been framed as a kind of tipping point, a make-or-break goal.“The reality is that every single fraction of a degree matters; 1.5 isn't a cliff edge where bad things will happen. Bad things are already happening,” Burgess said.Keeping warming below 1.7 degrees, say, would be better than 1.8 — 1.9 would be better than 2. Each 10th of a degree could cause more extreme rainfall, like the kind flooding California right now, and worsen heat waves, droughts and hurricanes, and further push up sea levels imperiling low-lying island nations.  Leaders and activists in those vulnerable countries largely are not ready to talk about a post 1.5-world, at least to reporters. "I can't afford to think that 1.5 degrees is not attainable," former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed said in 2021. “That would be a death sentence on our countries, and many low lying islands and coastal regions.”With current pledges made under the Paris agreement, the UN Environment Program estimates the world is on track for 2.4 to 2.6 degrees Celsius of warming by century's end.   

Science agencies in the US and Europe this week released their temperature data for 2022, revealing what has become an annual headline: Last year was one of the hottest on record. 2022 tied for fifth hottest, according to NASA. The US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, which uses slightly different data, said it came in sixth.That's even though La Niña cooled the equatorial Pacific, which typically turns down global temperatures.  “This was, in fact, the warmest La Niña year in the whole record,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.Earlier this week, Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service revealed 2022 was that continent's second-hottest year ever, and hottest summer.Last year was about 2 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the preindustrial average, or 1.1 or 1.2 degrees Celsius, depending on whose data you use. That's edging closer and closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a limit most countries in the world have pledged not to exceed. That goal is written into the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, alongside a less-ambitious target of limiting warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius. But it's the lower target that has taken hold in recent years as both a goal and a rallying cry for aggressive climate action. Keeping 1.5 “alive” became the mantra of Alok Sharma, the UK politician who served as president of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in late 2021. UN Secretary General António Guterres also frequently references the figure, among many others.  A coalition galvanized by low-lying island nations lobbied to get the more-ambitious target written into the Paris climate deal, arguing that exceeding that threshold represented an existential threat for their counties."It means we are dead. Just simply dead," former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed told The World in 2021. “A whole country gone. A whole people gone. A whole society gone. A whole community gone. And this is the case with many, many low-lying islands.”That target has always been wildly ambitious. But in the last seven years, as carbon emissions have continued to rise, it has gotten even more so. Global greenhouse gas emissions would need to be slashed 45% by the end of this decade to meet it, and a UN report published in October said there was no “credible” pathway to 1.5 in place.Many climate scientists say that they don't believe the target will be met.  “I'm pessimistic for the 1.5,” said Thomas Stocker, a climate scientist at the University of Bern who co-led an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on the physical basis of climate change in the years leading up to the Paris agreement's creation. “We're not on the pathway to actually keep the warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius,” he said. “We [would] be extremely lucky to hold the temperature warming below 2 degrees.”Three scientists involved in tracking the global temperature data that was released this week also said they saw limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius as unlikely.  “I think it's very challenging to stay below 1.5,” said Schmidt, saying he was speaking only for himself, not NASA.  “My expectation is that we will hit 1.5 degrees sometime in the 2030s,” said Samanath Burgess, deputy director of Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service.“I think it's very unlikely that we avoid overshooting that level of warming,” said Zeke Hausfather, with Berkeley Earth, an independent research group that also released its 2022 temperature data on Thursday.It's technically still possible to keep warming at 1.5 degrees, according to the science of atmospheric warming. But a recent IPCC report shows it would require a massive shift away from coal, oil and gas at a speed that's hard to imagine. And it almost certainly would require overshooting the 1.5 limit for a time, then removing carbon from the atmosphere again before the end of the century to bring the globe's average temperature back down.Still, Hausfather said he thinks that the goal itself has been useful.“Even if it's a target we don't hit, I feel like the fact that we are trying means we'll probably end up in a better place than if we were aiming higher,” he said.Hausfather points out countries responsible for around 80% of emissions now have targets to reach net-zero emissions by midcentury. Whether they meet them, of course, is an entirely different question, but the goal itself is based on the science behind the 1.5-degree goal.  The target being written into an international agreement “holds political leaders accountable,” Burgess said.  Even as 1.5 continues to be held up as the goal by political leaders and activists, scientists aren't exactly shouting from the rooftops how much of a stretch it really is.Swiss scientist Thomas Stocker said there's a concern that doing so would stymie ambition.“I disagree,” he said, arguing it should instead galvanize even faster action.“The consequence should be that under no circumstances will we lose the second target and make the same mistakes again.”  Some scientists worry that the 1.5-limit has been framed as a kind of tipping point, a make-or-break goal.“The reality is that every single fraction of a degree matters; 1.5 isn't a cliff edge where bad things will happen. Bad things are already happening,” Burgess said.Keeping warming below 1.7 degrees, say, would be better than 1.8 — 1.9 would be better than 2. Each 10th of a degree could cause more extreme rainfall, like the kind flooding California right now, and worsen heat waves, droughts and hurricanes, and further push up sea levels imperiling low-lying island nations.  Leaders and activists in those vulnerable countries largely are not ready to talk about a post 1.5-world, at least to reporters. "I can't afford to think that 1.5 degrees is not attainable," former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed said in 2021. “That would be a death sentence on our countries, and many low lying islands and coastal regions.”With current pledges made under the Paris agreement, the UN Environment Program estimates the world is on track for 2.4 to 2.6 degrees Celsius of warming by century's end.   

To round out summer listening, we are scheduled to hear from Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, winner of the prestigious 2022 World Food Prize, which honors leaders who are making huge strides in enhancing global food security and availability. Dr. Rosenzweig, a senior research scientist and head of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) at Columbia University, is a pioneer in the study of climate change and agriculture.

What can the climate on Venus tell us about Earth? On this episode, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice answer questions about climate modeling, the state of climate change, and future predictions with climate scientist, Kate Marvel. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/cosmic-queries-predicting-earths-climate-future-with-kate-marvel-phd/Photo Credit: Buiobuione, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commo

Listener Aaron asks referencing a NASA study, has nuclear energy saved lives? I saw this in an article on South Korea's Multi-Pronged Approach to Boost Nuclear Energy and wanted to get your thoughts: "For years, nuclear proponents have argued that the relative dangers of nuclear energy are vastly exaggerated. In fact, a 2013 study by NASA scientists found that overall, nuclear energy has actually saved lives that would have otherwise been lost due to causes associated with air pollution from the combustion of fossil fuels that nuclear has displaced. The model made by the scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute found that over the past 50 years, nuclear had saved an incredible 1.8 million lives – a number that has surely grown considerably in the decade since the study was published." -------------- Submit a question for The New Next: https://www.matthewadjensen.com/podcast Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewadjensen Connect with Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-mcvey-308aa326

What is a heat wave? On this explainer, Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice explore the massive heat waves that have been sweeping the world with Director of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Gavin Schmidt. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/whats-the-deal-with-these-heat-waves/Photo Credit: Cristian Ibarra Santillan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Watch the video with slides at: https://youtu.be/y3lYUARfw-sAn in-depth look at recent research papers on the environmental consequences of nuclear war and some survival mitigations. This was pretty depressing work to make this.TimestampsIntro: 0:00Relations can degrade quickly: 2:14First impactful major nuclear winter study 1983: 3:56Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in December 1987: 4:26Nobody wants nuclear war - Treaties 4:55The thermonuclear bomb: 7:57Have you heard of Gnomon and Sundial nuclear devices (gigaton)?: 11:12Terragrams: 16:30Limited Nuclear War Research (India versus Pakistan): 19:00Full-scale nuclear war research (2008 paper): 25:32Full-scale nuclear war research (2019 paper): 39:26Some brief talk about prepping: 52:02Topics I want to look at future videos 1:03:0080s paper on Nuclear Winter: Global Consequences of Multiple Nuclear Explosions:https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.222.4630.1283Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races:https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/01/03/p5-statement-on-preventing-nuclear-war-and-avoiding-arms-races/2020 limited war study:https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1919049117Environmental consequences of nuclear war 2008:https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.3047679Nuclear Winter Responses to Nuclear War Between the United States and Russia in the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model Version 4 and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies ModelE:https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2019JD030509Sundial Bomb paper:https://thebulletin.org/2021/11/the-untold-story-of-the-worlds-biggest-nuclear-bomb/#%3A~%3Atext%3DSo%20a%2010-megaton%20bomb%2C20.3%20miles%20(33%20kilometers).https://www.rbth.com/opinion/2016/01/05/nuclear-overkill-the-quest-for-the-10-gigaton-bomb_556351

We speak with Dr. Gavin Schmidt, climate scientist, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and co-founder of the RealClimate climate science blog. Gavin's research focuses on understanding the past, present and future of the climate system and the impacts of the various drivers of climate change. In this episode we take a deep dive on the science of climate change covering how it is observed, detected and attributed. Along the way Gavin debunks several climate skeptic talking points and discusses the changing challenges of climate communication.Links:Gavin's profile at NASA GISS.The RealClimate blog.The IPCC on humanity's unequivocal influence on the climate.The Oridivician (Not Oligocene) was the geological age that Gavin was referring to.The Smithsonian project to document 500 million years of global-mean temperature (Science).Gavin giving the Stephen Schneider Lecture in 2013: What should a climate scientist advocate for?

In this ClimateGenn special episode, I publishing my first interview with Dr Jim Hansen who was at the time Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. This was recorded in 2012 at the European Geophysical Union, the annual conference that takes place every year in Vienna. Please support at https://patreon.com/genncc or follow on https://genn.cc. In recent weeks I have exchanged emails again with Dr Hansen to discuss his recent work that has a working title of ‘The Big Climate Short'. Hopefully this will be recorded once his latest work is submitted for publication. What strikes me about this decade old interview is that the language is so clear and the warnings regarding urgent action are in the timeframe of the next 1-1.5years. He even states the danger of waiting a decade to what would be 2022. Hansen made international news in the late 80's when he testified to US Congress about the need to change our energy system and reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases. He is straight pragmatic speaker who has consistently issued warnings that have been ignored despite the rising cost inflicted by such ignorance. Here he gives very clear definitions of what tipping points are and the danger of crossing them. He discusses the challenges that scientists face in communicating these problems. He also highlights evidenced strategies that could have significantly dealt with them at the time but with each passing year create an ever growing challenge. We are now where we are. The recent IPCC report talks about the closing window of opportunity to act. Coming at a time of extreme chaos and suffering in Europe, it is hard to see how we will navigate the coming weeks, months and years. How we deal with our own fear and concern regarding these issues is very important. War is obviously not the answer and neither is any sense of nihilism. Being able to focus on the problems and act with a broader sense of community is far more rewarding. In the next episode I am speaking to climate and policy analyst, David Spratt, Research Director at the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration in Melbourne, Australia. We will be discussing a range of subjects including the accelerating rate of impacts, what climate models don't tell us, as well as the tipping point risks we can't see or measure and that may already have been crossed. Thank you for listening to ClimateGenn. I have many more episodes to produce so please do subscribe. Thank you to all who are supporting the channel via Patreon. You can also drop me a note or comment on my website genn.cc and I will always try to respond. Thank you.

On The Space Show for Wednesday, 2 February 2022: Upulie Divisekera (Monash University) - A New Era of Space Exploration James Webb Space Telescope - The next-generation infra-red observatory has entered orbit around L2, the second Lagrange Point Swift Observatory enters safe mode - Also, a feature from the Goddard Space Flight Centre, in Greenbelt, Maryland describes one of the discoveries during the Swift Observatory's 17 year mission. Planet Earth Episode 29: Enrico Palermo (Australian Space Agency) - Australian Earth Observation from Space Roadmap Karen St. Germain (NASA) - Towards the Earth System Observatory Ceddric David (JPL) - Plan A: There is no Plan B Gavin Schmidt et al (Goddard Institute for Space Studies & Goddard Space Flight Center feature) - Global Temperatures 2021

Earth's global average temperature in 2021 was the sixth warmest on record, according to two new reports issued this week by U.S. Government agencies. Scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies report that collectively the past eight years were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880. The research adds to overwhelming evidence of climate change.This episode looks at the role played by carbon-free nuclear power in providing one solution to the growing climate crisis. Our guest, British environmental activist and science communicator, Zion Lights, tells us whyt she changed her mind about nuclear safety and reliability. After playing a leading role with Extinction Rebellion UK, Zion left the group and founded Emergency Reactor, which calls on fellow activists to "stop spreading misinformation and fear. Follow the science about nuclear energy." "People are already worried and scared about climate change. Let's look at solutions," she tells us.This show is the latest in a series of "How Do We Fix It?" episodes about the need to come up with pragmatic, workable solutions that limit the damage to our warming planet. Recommendation: Richard has spent part of the past year reading literary classics, including the three books of Dante's "Divine Comedy", Virgil's "The Aeneid", and The Iliad and Odyssey by Homer. "My recommendation is to challenge yourself. This may lead you to change your mind about something that's important to how you see the world," says Richard.Note: Zion Lights is an amateur astronomer. Her Tedx talk, "Don't Forget to Look Up" is full of curiosity and wonder about stargazing and the universe. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One troubling issue associated with global warming is the effect it has on crops. Climate change requires scientists to connect climate science, crop models and economic models to examine food security and future crop yields.NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies is among the research groups looking into this troubling problem. We'll learn more about that work today. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The World of the Unseenby David Sacks “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” — Robert Jastrow Professor of Geophysics at Columbia University and Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies Do you believe all that exists can be seen with your eyes?Or are there realms that exist, some dwarfing even our own, that remain completely hidden?Up until recently, if you attested to the unseen, you were called a believer. For good reason. The unseen was the ballroom where mystics gathered. Then slowly but surely, scientists started crashing the party. When Louis Pasteur discovered that the microbes in unpasteurized milk were causing illness, the villagers laughed at him. How can germs be there if you can't see them? But Pasteur was right, and they were wrong. Countless lives were saved, and microbiology was born. Today, physicists, astronomers, and mathematicians, all understand that there are entire dimensions beyond our own that exist that can't be seen.I don't know if they've given them names yet. But I wonder if one day, they'll realize it's heaven. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Last week, the UN Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change released its new climate science report. The report is a blistering reminder that even if we stop burning fossil fuels today, the planet is locked into decades of warming and adverse climate outcomes.  On this show, Host Bill Loveless interviews Climate Scientist Dr. Kate Marvel for her interpretation of the report's conclusions. She's a Research Scientist at the Center For Climate Systems Research at Columbia University and a scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Kate doesn't have “hope” that we can slow climate change and transition away from fossil fuels, but she has something she says is better: Certainty that we have knowledge, tools and technology we need today to start decarbonizing rapidly. 

The world is entering a new era in space exploration, with more players and private companies vying for their place in space. As the Biden administration tries to restore America's status domestically and internationally, can it lead the way in the conquest of space? Guests: Charles Bolden- Former NASA administrator under President Barack Obama, retired United States Marine Corps Major General and a former astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions Gavin Schmidt- Acting NASA senior climate adviser, climatologist and former director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies Watch other episodes of Inside America ➡ Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics.

This week James catches up with world-renowned climate scientist and science writer, Dr. Kate Marvel. Kate is research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a professor at Columbia University’s Department of Applied Physics and Mathematics. One of the reasons for inviting Kate on the show was to get to the bottom of how a climate model works. How can we know with any certainty what we are doing to the planet – and why are there still some things that we do not know for sure? What role do the oceans play? Why a hotter planet is more conducive to natural disasters? What are the differences between a world that experiences a 2°C temperature increase as opposed to a 5°C temperature increase?As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback at james.shaw@parliament.govt.nz. Follow James on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Does A Vaccine Help You If You’ve Already Had COVID-19? Vaccines doses have started to rollout and are getting into the arms of people. We know that if you already had COVID-19, you build up antibodies against the virus. So do the vaccines affect you if you’ve already had COVID-19?  Science writer Roxanne Khamsi talks about recent studies showing that a single dose of vaccine could boost immunity for former COVID-19 patients. She also discusses a study that found over 140,000 viral species in the human gut and Elizabeth Ann, the first cloned black-footed ferret. The Aftermath Of Texas’ Winter Storm While power has been mostly restored, journalists report Texans are now facing water shortages, housing damage, and crop losses.  Texas grocery store shelves have begun filling out again. But for the state’s agriculture industry, recovering from the winter storm will take time, and consumers are likely to feel it in their pockets. The historic freeze and power outages brought agriculture across the state to a halt. Dairy farmers were forced to dump gallons of unpasteurized milk for days as processing plants were left without power. Packing houses also shut down with machinery cut off from electricity and employees unable to make their shifts, said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Meanwhile, the products on the market were quickly bought up by panicked Texans just before and after the storm. By Monday, Miller said he had seen the price of hamburgers go up to $8.50 a pound, and he expects prices to remain elevated as the food supply chain stabilizes. “It’s not going to be back to normal for at least six to eight weeks,” Miller said. “You’ll still see shortages of some stuff, and even though the shelves may be full, the prices will be high.” Read and listen to the full story in the State of Science series.  Keeping An Eye On The Climate, From Space The climate is changing, and so is the U.S. government’s approach to it. The Biden White House has made the climate crisis a high priority, and has created several new positions focused on climate science. One of those new climate posts can be found at the space agency NASA. While rockets and Mars rovers may seem far removed from climate issues, NASA is actually the lead federal agency in climate observations, with a fleet of satellites tracking everything from sea temperature to CO2 levels to chlorophyll. Ira talks with Gavin Schmidt, who has recently been named in an acting role to be the senior climate advisor for NASA. He’s also director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. They discuss upcoming climate-focused NASA programs, last week’s cold weather in Texas, and the challenge of making better decisions in an uncertain climate future.

On an Instagram Live broadcast Monday night, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told the world in detail about her harrowing experiences during the Capitol insurrection.  11 House Republicans join all House Democrats in stripping QAnon Representative Marjorie Taylor Green of committee roles.  Senate Democrats pass a budget bill in the wee hours this morning paving the way for passing Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package through reconciliation. The bill was passed only after Vice President Kamala Harris cast a tie-breaking vote.  Joe Biden fired all 10 members of the Federal Services Impasse Panel this week.  The FSIP is a labor panel that settles federal labor disputes between public unions and the different federal agencies, but under Trump, the Panel was stacked with Koch operatives and used to break federal sector unions.  Congressional Democrats are pushing Biden to cancel $50,000 in student loan debt. During the campaign Biden says he would support canceling $10,000 in student loan debt, but pressure led by Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Ilhan Omar, Ayana Pressley, Alma Adams, and Mondaire Jones seems to be having an effect. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted “Our team is reviewing whether there are any steps he can take through executive action and he would welcome the opportunity to sign a bill sent to him by Congress.” The good folks at the American Prospect have an “Executive Action Tracker” on their website as part of their #DayOneAgenda project.  Over 1,100 Columbia University students have pledged to go on a tuition strike, saying they refuse to pay full tuition for all on-line classes.  This Super Bowl Sunday General Motors will unveil their electrical vehicle line. GM has said they will eliminate all their combustion engine vehicles by 2035.  Governor Tom Wolf released his annual budget address on Wednesday.  The Governor called for an increase in the personal income tax and a tax credit program that will reduce taxes for 70% of working Pennsylvania families.  He also called for the legalization of recreational cannabis use and an increase in the $15 minimum wage. Nikil Saval released a response to Gov. Wolf’s budget proposal, saying that his budget “does much to move funding swiftly, and equitably, to those who need it most.” But, Saval wrote that the absence of vigorous environmental protection to respond to the climate crisis and the budget’s silence on dealing with the housing crisis, especially during the pandemic, represents “two missed opportunities.”  Former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor has gone from political irrelevance to defending Donald Trump during the upcoming impeachment trial.  Castor managed to burn every bridge possible while serving as the Montgomery County District Attorney and as the Acting Attorney General of Pennsylvania.  Congratulations, Bruce? Kathy Boockvar steps down after a major screw up that set back the fight for a Constitutional Amendment allow abuse survivors access to justice.  Scott Perry’s faculty instructor at the Army War College pens an op-ed to the York Daily Record saying that he finds Perry’s behavior “troubling” and calls on Perry to “remove his name from any website that infers, in any way, that the Army War College considers him to be of the same stature” of some of the celebrated graduates of the college.  White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki could not say what the future of the Space Force will be under the Biden Administration. She promised to get together with the point of contact with the Space Force for more information. The Space Force flag was waving during the inauguration we should say.  On Super Bowl Sunday, SpaceX is launching a commercial for what it’s billing as the “first ‘all-civilian’ spaceflight” as part of their Inspiration4 project with billionaire Jared Isaacman. The commercial tells viewers they’ll have a chance to climb aboard. According to Space.com,  there are three non-billionaire seats available: “One seat is up for grabs in a contest to anyone who makes a donation to St. Jude's Children Research Hospital. Another seat will go to a St. Jude's healthcare worker, and the third will go to the winner of an entrepreneur contest run by Isaacman's Shift4Shop.” And in a major shift away from the Trump organization, Biden created a new role at NASA to prioritize Earth sciences to combat the climate crisis. The new Senior Climate Advisor position will report directly to NASA’s administrator. The head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Gavin Schmidt, will be the acting senior advisor until they fill the role permanently.  Sean got shipments of pots this week. That’s pots, plural.  Free Will Releases Juice Money - Sour Ale with Plum, Black Currant, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Vanilla, and Milk Sugar. C.O.B. - Coffee Oatmeal Brown Ale brewed with flaked oats and a variety of dark malts, then later rested atop two pounds per barrel worth of freshly roasted coffee beans from Speakeasy Coffee Company.  Shout out to an old friend and the folks at Narragansett Brewery in Providence, RI.

Cool Science Radio's guest in this episode is Director Gavin Schmidt, of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies . Each year, NASA and NOAA undertake the huge task of measuring the average temperature of the Earth, using an impressive fleet of satellites in orbit, interrogating hundreds of buoys as well as scientists making local measurements all around the globe. Understanding these long-term changes is vital to how we interact with our environment, from planting different crops to managing water resources to predicting the strength of hurricanes.

Mark Cane is the center of the “family portrait” of climate scientists that are featured in this first season of Deep Convection. In recognition of his special role, we are going to cover Mark's life in two episodes – this is Part I. Mark Cane is most famous for his seminal work on the El Niño/Southern Oscillation phenomenon, which will be one of the main topics of Part II. But this conversation starts at the beginning, with Mark's origins in Brooklyn during the age of the Dodgers, before the club moved to Los Angeles in 1957. It was a time when baseball was more than a game: When the Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson in 1947 as the first black player in the modern major leagues, it was a big step forward for the American civil rights movement. After graduating from Harvard in the 60s, Mark became himself a civil rights activist and spent a summer in the South trying to register people to vote. Back in New York and working as a programmer at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, he had his first encounter with Jule Charney, who was brought in as a consultant for the project he was working on. Charney left a strong impression on anyone who worked with him (in episode 2, Kerry Emanuel shares some of his memories of this exceptional meteorologist), and Mark was no exception: “And it quickly became clear that he understood how things worked. I was kind of amazed by that since I assumed nobody understood it. […] And I asked him a lot of ignorant, very ignorant questions because I had no basis for asking other than ignorant questions. And he was actually pretty patient with me looking back. I mean he wasn’t always so patient with fools but there you go.” After an interlude as a math professor in rural New Hampshire, Mark decided to go back to graduate school – he chose to go to MIT, where he switched to physical oceanography and became Charney's student. This was the beginning of an outstanding career filled with many highlights, including the development of a groundbreaking forecast model that helps millions of people around the world become more resilient and better prepared for El Niño weather patterns. But more on that in two weeks, in Part II. You can find more information about Mark and his work here. The interview with Mark Cane was recorded in May 2019. 

Auf der Norfolk Insel im Südwest-Pazifik, 800km nördlich von Neuseeland und 1.400km östlich von Australien, werden seit 1915 Temperaturen gemessen. Die #Originaldaten sind beim australischen Bureau of Meterology und auch im Goddard Institute in New York City abrufbar. Es gibt im #GISS-System '#justierte', '#gesäuberte' und '#homogenisierte' Daten, die ganz andere Tendenzen im Temperaturverlauf zeigen. Zeigen die Rohdaten einen ziemlich konstanten Temperaturverlauf über 100 Jahre, so sind die 'adjusted, cleaned und homogenized' Daten auf einen deutlich ansteigenden Verlauf getrimmt. Besonders interessant ist, dass bis 1975 die Temperaturen abgesenkt sind und danach angehoben wurden. Zur Erinnerung: Norfolk Island liegt mitten im Pazifik. Da gibt es keine benachbarten Messstellen, die eine Mittelung, Justierung oder Anpassung erforderlich machen. Besonders zu erwähnen ist, dass der Großteil der Klimaforschung diese 'korrigierten' Daten verwendet.

This week's show is ripped from the headlines! A study by Michael Way and Anthony Del Genio of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies reveals that VENUS may have been habitable for it's first THREE billion years! For some unknown reason, 750 million years ago, a catastrophic amount of carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere. The hellish conditions consumed the entire planet, resurfacing it from pole to pole. What the if... we found an archaeological site on Venus? Like Pompeii, a city that captured a record of it's in habitants attempting to survive a world that is erupting around them. What would it have been like to live on Venus during the years of transformation from Eden to Hell? Planetary Geologist KIRBY RUNYON a member of the team at John's Hopkins Applied Physics Lab that sent NEW HORIZONS to Pluto. What caused the apocalypse on Venus, and what would it have been like to live through it? Let's fly there now, to find out! * * * Follow Kirby on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/nasaman58 And visit his WEBSITE: https://kirbydanielrunyon.space * * * This episode is sponsored by ASTRONOMY Magazine's "Space And Beyond Box," an awesome subscription where you'll automatically receive boxes and boxes of super educational and super fun stuff from Astronomy's editors. Visit the website -- SpaceAndBeyondBox.com/Giveaway -- to learn more, and get a chance to WIN a free annual subscription! * * * Like the show? Share your love for the IF by dropping a review on Apple Podcasts! itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1250517051?mt=2&ls=1 Have you subscribed? Grab one (always free!) at pod.link/1250517051 and never miss an episode! Keep On IFFin', Philip & Matt, WhatTheIF.com

Welcome to the first episode of our climate cluster. This isn’t a series about whether “the science is real” on climate change. This is a series about what the science says — and what it means for our lives, our politics, and our future. I suspect I’m like a lot of people in that I accept that climate change is bad. What I struggle with is how bad. Is it an existential threat that eclipses all else? One of many serious problems politics must somehow address? I wanted to kick off the series with someone who knows the science cold. Kate Marvel is a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a professor at Columbia University’s Department of Applied Physics and Mathematics. But Marvel isn’t just a leading climate scientist. She’s also unique in her focus on the stories we tell each other, and ourselves, about climate change, and how they end up structuring our decisions. We discuss: - How a climate model actually works - Why this is the good place - Why there is so much variation in climate scientists’ predictions about global temperature increases - Why global warming is only one piece of the much larger problem of climate change - Why a hotter planet is more conducive to natural disasters - The frightening differences between a world that experiences a 2°C temperature increase as opposed to a 5°C temperature increase - Whether the threat of climate change requires solutions that break the boundaries of conventional politics - The underlying stories that animate much of the climate debate - Whether the planet can sustain continued economic growth - What it means to “live morally” amid climate change And much more... Book recommendations: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler Annihilation by Jeff Vendermeer My book is available for pre-order! You can find it at www.EzraKlein.com. Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com You can subscribe to Ezra's new podcast Impeachment, explained on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts, or your favorite podcast app. Credits: Producer and Editor - Jeff Geld Researcher - Roge Karma Engineer - Ernie Erdat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erin’s career is focused on assessing how climate risks affect varied agencies and the publics they serve while building pathways to cut carbon and achieve resilient outcomes.  Currently, she serves as SFO's first Sustainability Director, where she brokers sustainability and net zero investments across campus projects and develops and implements the Airport's Strategic, Sustainability and Climate Action Plans, including annual reporting. Erin previously served the City of Cupertino as its first Sustainability Manager and, next, Assistant to the City Manager working to oversee a portfolio of energy, water, and materials programs earmarked in the City’s Climate Action Plan, including the launch of Silicon Valley Clean Energy and Silicon Valley’s Climate Adaptation & Resilience Plan, etc. Erin also supported environmental initiatives through work at the Conservation Law Foundation, Goddard Institute of Space Studies, and National Park Service. Erin is a LEED AP and holds a MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University. Erin Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: Sustainability issues in the airport and airline industries, including sustainable aviation fuel Leading sustainability while engaging multiple stakeholders including passengers and airport tenants SFO's low carbon and zero waste future Advice and recommendations for sustainability leaders Erin's Final Five Question Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Don't be afraid to be a Jack of all trades. I think this field is certainly evolving and there's an opportunity for specialty and specialization, but the more you dabble in more fields and aspects of sustainability, the more empowered you'll be in a conversation, in a decision or in the execution of a bold, ambitious target for the organization that you're looking to serve. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I'm thinking back to the Jack of all trades comment. Obviously, I dabble in so many different things. It's hard to narrow to one thing. I'm sure my energy came across relative to sustainable aviation fuel. I think that is a perfect example of an industry coming together to really transform a marketplace and to recognize the richness that comes from collaboration. So whether it's public-private partnerships or public-public partnerships, just the collaboration intensity that I think is elevating the game for sustainability and achieving really big results for this sector. Every single day, just the opportunity I have to engage with so many thoughtful, insightful and progressive leaders is incredible and I don't know a lot of industries that are as ambitious but also do so not in competition but in direct collaboration. So continuing that is something that I look forward to every single day, getting out of bed and biking my way to the airport. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? I'm obviously loving Paul Hawkins Project Drawdown right now, as you heard earlier, recognizing the challenges in central plant operations at our airport, not just in natural gas but also in refrigerant management. I heard him speak on that and I think it's just fascinating how it's so critical that we don't lose sight of the operations and maintenance schedules of things before we put forward big bold goals like zero net energy. We need to make sure that our infrastructure is sound and safe and well equipped, and that we've got a robust set of operators that know how to manage and maintain and really transform this infrastructure that they're working on. So, that to me really resonated as well as just the richness of the subject, the values and needs of empowering women, giving people access to good education and food resources and how that can actually transform into direct results in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. It was a great set of research, so definitely pick that up or schedule a call with me and we could have a book club. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in the work that you do? Just on the collaboration topic, SFO is very lucky to team up with Ceres recently, an NGO that works on really progressive environmental and climate action policy through their investor network. So we recently joined two of their programs, Connect the Drops for water conservation and BICEP - businesses investing in clean energy policy. They've been hosting a series of different advocacy days, here in Sacramento as well as at the capital. I think that really the champions of change come through collaboration and having a unified voice. I saw that happen firsthand and certainly that resonated with our electeds and I really look to those types of networks for influence, and opportunities to really push and continue to stretch. We've been very grateful to partner and team up with The Airport Council International, and also locally we have the California Airport Council that's been working to have more unification in the progressive policies and also best practices that are happening as a new standard in the airport space within our great state. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work that you're leading at SFO? SFO has a great website flysfo.com. We have a twitter handle and also a Facebook page, so definitely visit those things. We are always happy to receive comments and questions from folks that are traveling to and from our airport, or generally wanting to up the environmental or sustainability game of our airport. So our contact information is also saved there. Please reach out. Obviously our strategic plan is set and our city is driving and directing, but we want to be as responsive to the folks that we're looking to serve on a daily basis, which is our traveling public and of course the airport employees that help our airport to thrive and create a great environment. So check us out there and keep us posted on what should come next.

In Episode 16, Quinn & Brian ask: what's the future of climate modeling? Also, what's a climate model? Enter Dr. Kate Marvel. She's a climate scientist and a writer. A theoretical physicist by training, she is now an associate research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University’s Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics. Because, sure. Dr. Marvel's research focuses on how human activities affect the climate and what we can expect in the future, using satellite observations, computer models, and basic physics to study the human impact on variables from rainfall patterns to cloud cover. Want to send us feedback? Tweet us, email us, or leave us a voice message! Links: Dr. Kate Marvel on Twitter Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity The Earth System Grid Marvel Climate We Need Courage, Not Hope - OnBeing Her pick for Trump’s Book Club: The Constitution of the United States of America Quinn Emmett on Twitter Brian Colbert Kennedy on Twitter Intro/outro by Tim Blane Subscribe to our newsletter at ImportantNotImportant.com! Like and share us on Facebook! Check us on Instagram! Follow us on Twitter! Pin us on Pinterest! Tumble us or whatever the hell you do on Tumblr! Ok that’s enough good lord Support this podcast

In Episode 26 of Hidden Forces, host Demetri Kofinas speaks with NASA's Chief Climate Scientist and Head of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Gavin Schmidt. The two cut through the controversy surrounding climate change and dive right into the heart of climate science. They parse through the data, explore the climate models, and consider the impact that further warming could have on humanity in the decades to come. What is driving the warming of our planet? What is causing the acidification of the oceans? What is shrinking the ice sheets? What is causing the rise in sea levels, the decrease in snow cover, and the melting glaciers? Is there a causal connection between human activity and the prolonged droughts, intense heat waves, and raging wildfires we have seen in recent years? What are the feedback mechanisms of climate change? How do we measure the impact of losing reflective layers of ice, exposing permafrost, or releasing vapor into the atmosphere? What does the cooling of the upper atmosphere tell us about the cause of global warming? Could changes in solar activity, sunspots and cosmic rays, and their effects on clouds be to blame for climate change? How will humanity respond to more extreme weather events – hurricanes, droughts, floods, and forest fires – as our populations grow and the density of our coastal regions increases? And is there anything we can do, to prepare? Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod

In this edition of Science & U! we hear from Dr. Gavin Schmidt of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Ocean Explorer Fabien Cousteau. Carol Anne Riddell and Dr. Max Gomez ask the experts what they are seeing as a result of climate change.

Is 2016 the warmest year in all of history? We’re going to tackle a bold and controversial statement this week: that 2016 is likely the single warmest year in the history of human civilization. We’re joined by Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, to talk through it. Is it fair to say this year is the warmest one we’ve ever experienced? We’d like to thank Wunder Capital for their support. Invest directly in solar projects here: WunderCapital.com/warm. Links: Kxcd climate comic: http://xkcd.com/1732/ A new article from Gavin Schmidt at FiveThirtyEight: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-we-dont-know-if-it-will-be-sunny-next-month-but-we-know-itll-be-hot-all-year/

Gulf Coast Transportation: Coping with the Future Climate affects the design, construction, safety, operations, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and systems. The prospect of a changing climate raises critical questions regarding how alterations in temperature, precipitation, storm events, and other aspects of the climate could affect the nation’s roads, airports, rail, transit systems, pipelines, ports, and waterways in the region of the U.S. central Gulf Coast between Galveston, Texas and Mobile, Alabama. This region contains multimodal transportation infrastructure that is critical to regional and national transportation services. More broadly, what happens in the Gulf region will no doubt, have ripple effects nationwide and internationally, as was evident in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. New York City: Preparing for Climate Change New York City (NYC) represents one of the first substantial efforts to undertake climate-change planning for infrastructure changes in a large urban area. Notable characteristics of the NYC system are that it is a mature infrastructure system, that its managers are skilled at dealing with existing hydrologic variability, and that there are many potential adaptations to the risk of climate change in the NYC water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems. Capitalizing on this expertise and experience, the work of the Climate Change Task Force of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, has focused on the water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems of NYC. The Task Force included representatives from all of the operating and planning bureaus in NYCDEP along with experts from Columbia University’s Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR) and other universities and engineering firms. A key element of the process was that it was agency-wide, allowing the development of an integrated climate change program throughout the entire organization. Biographies Michael J. Savonis has 25 years of experience in transportation policy, with extensive expertise in air quality and emerging environmental issues. He has served as Air Quality Team Leader at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), since 1996. For the past 16 years, Mr. Savonis has overseen the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program which invests more than $1.5 billion annually to improve air quality. He directs FHWA’s transportation / air quality policy development, research program, and public education. He received DOT’s Silver Medal in 1997 and FHWA’s Superior Achievement Award in 2004. Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig is a Senior Research Scientist at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University. Her primary research involves the development of interdisciplinary methodologies by which to assess the potential impacts of and adaptations to global environmental change. She has joined impact models with global and regional climate models to predict future outcomes of both land-based and urban systems under altered climate conditions. Advances include the development of climate change scenarios for impact and adaptation analysis, and the application of impact models at relevant spatial and temporal scales for regional and national assessments. Recognizing that the complex interactions engendered by global environmental change can best be understood by coordinated teams of experts, Dr. Rosenzweig has organized and led large-scale interdisciplinary, national, and international studies of climate change impacts and adaptation. She co-led the Metropolitan East Coast Regional Assessment of the U.S. National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, sponsored by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and was the lead scientist on the New York City Department of Environmental Protection Climate Change Task Force.

Gulf Coast Transportation: Coping with the Future Climate affects the design, construction, safety, operations, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and systems. The prospect of a changing climate raises critical questions regarding how alterations in temperature, precipitation, storm events, and other aspects of the climate could affect the nation’s roads, airports, rail, transit systems, pipelines, ports, and waterways in the region of the U.S. central Gulf Coast between Galveston, Texas and Mobile, Alabama. This region contains multimodal transportation infrastructure that is critical to regional and national transportation services. More broadly, what happens in the Gulf region will no doubt, have ripple effects nationwide and internationally, as was evident in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. New York City: Preparing for Climate Change New York City (NYC) represents one of the first substantial efforts to undertake climate-change planning for infrastructure changes in a large urban area. Notable characteristics of the NYC system are that it is a mature infrastructure system, that its managers are skilled at dealing with existing hydrologic variability, and that there are many potential adaptations to the risk of climate change in the NYC water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems. Capitalizing on this expertise and experience, the work of the Climate Change Task Force of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, has focused on the water supply, sewer, and wastewater treatment systems of NYC. Biographies Michael J. Savonis has 25 years of experience in transportation policy, with extensive expertise in air quality and emerging environmental issues. He has served as Air Quality Team Leader at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), since 1996. For the past 16 years, Mr. Savonis has overseen the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program which invests more than $1.5 billion annually to improve air quality. He directs FHWA’s transportation / air quality policy development, research program, and public education. He received DOT’s Silver Medal in 1997 and FHWA’s Superior Achievement Award in 2004. Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig is a Senior Research Scientist at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University. Her primary research involves the development of interdisciplinary methodologies by which to assess the potential impacts of and adaptations to global environmental change. She has joined impact models with global and regional climate models to predict future outcomes of both land-based and urban systems under altered climate conditions. Advances include the development of climate change scenarios for impact and adaptation analysis, and the application of impact models at relevant spatial and temporal scales for regional and national assessments. Recognizing that the complex interactions engendered by global environmental change can best be understood by coordinated teams of experts, Dr. Rosenzweig has organized and led large-scale interdisciplinary, national, and international studies of climate change impacts and adaptation. She co-led the Metropolitan East Coast Regional Assessment of the U.S. National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, sponsored by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and was the lead scientist on the New York City Department of Environmental Protection Climate Change Task Force.