Climate tipping points are critical thresholds that, once crossed, lead to the acceleration and irreversible change of our climate systems. For example, our ongoing greenhouse gas emissions are melting the world’s ice sheets and glaciers, which reduce the Earth’s ability to reflect hot solar radiation back into space. If we cross that tipping point and the ice dissapears, then the Earth’s surface will be darker, will absorb solar heat faster and consequently accelerate global warming. Or our melting of the arctic permafrost which will release large amounts of captured methane into the atmosphe
Despite desperate efforts by the oil industry and its captive U.S. government, the epoch of oil is collapsing. Even if we ignore the cheaper and more sustainable power provided by wind and solar energy, the world’s oil reserves are expected to dry up by 2050, leaving us no choice but to transition to new sources of energy. But most of the world isn’t waiting. Over the past decade clean energy investment has increased ten-fold. In 2025, clean energy investment was more than double that of fossil fuels. And renewables have now exceeded coal as the world’s top provider of electricity. With the ex
We’re in a vicious cycle. Climate change is increasing the likelihood of war, and war is increasing climate change. Environmental security is at its lowest point in history. A recent study from Queen Mary University of London reports that the first 60 days of war in Gaza created 281 thousand metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Another study, titled Climate Damage Caused By Russia’s War In Ukraine, reports that the first 18 months of that war created 150 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. This vicious cycle is caused by climate denialism. Climate deniers ignore environmen
CLIMATE HOUR – Climate change is now the most politically divisive issue in the United States. Yet climate disasters continue to kill people regardless of their political beliefs. Regardless of whether they’re natural or anthropogenic, climate disasters continue to destroy infrastructure and food systems needed by both conservatives and liberals. Climate politics are threatening our survival. They overwhelm both parties’ agendas, even though there are marketable climate solutions that easily reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, making the world better for everyone. Climate solutions that are g
CLIMATE HOUR – The Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 Endangerment Finding is the foundation of the U.S. government’s legal authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and to combat climate change. This finding is why the United States has vehicle emission standards. It is why the U.S. adopted the Clean Power Plan. It is why the U.S. became a party to the Paris Climate Agreement. Columbia University reports that the second Trump Administration has implemented significant rollbacks of environmental regulations, including over 200 climate-related laws. In July of 2025, Trump’s Department
CLIMATE HOUR – Our world is overflowing with archeological ruins. Not just Roman and Egyptian, but Akkadian, Assyrian, Vedic, Minoan, Phoenician, Aztec, Byzantine, Visigoth and more. Literally hundreds of apex human civilizations that are now empty shells haunted by archeologists trying to understand what went wrong. We can probably assume that most of these civilizations experienced societal collapse because of some combination of environmental disaster, disease, and war. Probably not that different than the conditions we see around us today. Today, we not only have a front row seat for the p
CLIMATE HOUR – For decades we’ve lived in a world where corporations actively deny proven independent science in order to promote profits. For instance, there’s lots of documentation of oil & gas industry scientists predicting current global warming events with amazing accuracy, as early as the 1950s. And that these petroleum industries chose to actively deny and negate their own research in order to maximize their long-term profits. In fairness, we should expect corporations to put their profits first. That’s just how capitalism works. But we should be able to rely on federal agencies and con
Tipping points are thresholds at which a tiny change can alter an entire system. A climate tipping point is a critical threshold at which a regional climate system changes from one stable state to another stable state. For example, the state of a region changing from cropland to desert. Or, in the case of today’s topic, the Arctic changing from an ice pack to open ocean. A study published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has identified nine global climate tipping points. We’ve already reached two of them. The collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and the collapse of t
One of the major drivers of climate change is perpetual economic growth. Throwing things away and buying new stuff emits far more carbon than repairing items or just creating durable products in the first place. During periods of economic recession, people buy less and emissions drop. For instance, the Great Recession of 2008 produced an emissions drop of 9.9% in the U.S. In contrast, the Covid pandemic of 2020 produced an emissions drop of 7%; less than that of a comparable economic downturn. None of us want to live through recession or pandemic to address climate change. But looking at these
A sustainable future is certainly no guarantee at this point. There are simply too many systems broken. And that’s why it’s so important to envision a sustainable future. For without a vision we have no direction, and without direction we just wander around until it’s too late. We have to envision the future we want, then develop frameworks and treaties to get us there. There are many things we can do individually to assure that our lives are the best they can be in today’s less than sustainable world. But a better world takes coordinated action at a governmental level. Governmental groups lik
Nature is on everyone’s mind these days. Our news cycle is filled with the latest natural disasters, the latest political battles between preservation and resource extraction. We’re all understandably concerned about how weather is going to effect our homes, our jobs, and how much longer our food systems are going to survive. Humankind doesn’t have a great track record of working with, or being part of nature. Yet, each of us individually can have a positive impact. We can work with nature and create our own park-like preserves in our yards, and communally in our churches, schools and workplac
Sustainability is about finding life’s balance. Producing enough to satisfy your customers’ needs while earning enough to satisfy the needs of you and your co-workers. In contrast, perpetual economic growth is about a cycle of producing surplus, more than is needed, then using mass marketing to convince people to overconsume. Perpetual economic growth is based on consumerism. Convincing people to buy more than they need. More than is healthy. Fast fashion, fast food, commercial animal farming are all symptoms of the overconsumption required to maintain perpetual economic growth. Overconsumptio
Sea level rise may be climate change’s biggest long-term impact. With just today’s 1.2 degree Celsius increase in global temperature, we can expect sea level rise of at least 1-2 meters (3.3-6.6 feet). And that’s our best case scenario. If countries continue to ignore the Paris Climate Accord and temperatures rise 2.5 degrees Celsius, we can expect the collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets. And that will raise sea level 10-12 meters (40 feet). We’re seeing the affects now. Many of the major roads in the Florida Keys will be underwater this year. Cities like Miami, New Orleans
Climate issues are clearly on everyone’s minds. The constant weather disasters, disruption of our food systems, sea level threats to coastal communities. Yet in the face of what we see every time we open our front doors, climate denialism continues to flourish. People continue to deny that the climate is changing or that our lifestyle choices are contributing to that change. And there’s plenty of disinformation to help the deniers. Scientists in the oil & gas industry were accurately predicting today’s global warming issues as far back as the 1950s. And the petroleum industry spent millions of
The study of volcanoes and rocks help scientists chart our planet’s history of warming and cooling. These studies provide quantifiable data that is accurate, objective, and results in a high degree of consensus among scientific communities. Consensus among geologists who study our planet’s rocks and the minerals and processes that shape and form them. Consensus among geomorphologists who study our planet’s surface, why landscapes look the way they do, and how they evolved. And consensus among volcanologists who study the lava and magma beneath our planet’s surface. Together, these hard science
Today’s electric vehicles out-perform gas vehicles on every front. A study at Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute found that the average cost to operate an EV in the U.S. was $485 per year, compared to an average cost of $1,117 to operate a gas vehicle. That’s a 56% savings in EV operating costs. A U.S. Department of Energy study found that scheduled maintenance on an average EV costs 6.1 cents per mile compared to a cost of 10.1 cents per mile for an average gas vehicle. That’s a 40% savings in EV maintenance. And our friends at the Union of Concerned Scientists report that, over the
You can make trees. You can plant them, watch them grow, and they will automatically fight climate change for you. Trees are made out of cellulose and cellulose is carbon. There are literally six atoms of carbon in every molecule of cellulose. And all of the carbon going into trees come out of the air. So make a tree, and that tree will fight climate change for you. Trees look good. They smell wonderful and they produce fruit and nuts. Planting trees is certainly easier than mowing grass. And the more trees you have around your house, the cooler and cleaner your air will be. So plant a tree. O
Generation Z is now the world’s largest demographic group, representing over 20% of U.S. population and 25% of world population. Members of GenZ, born around 1997 to 2012, have grown up in a period of political unrest and social change, climate crisis and covid pandemic, during the Great Recession of 2007 and the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. They’ve also grown up with life-changing technologies like mobile computing and social media. GenZ is the most tech-savvy generation in history. GenZ received their first smartphone around the age of 12 and have had continuous acce
Prospering may sound like it has financial overtones, but there’s more to it than that. A prosperous life is one filled with joy and love; full of friends and community. We’re prosperous when we have our health and can enjoy fresh air & water. Prosperity is measured by the wealth of our daily activities and not by the balance of our bank account. Scientists started blowing whistles about climate change in the 1980s. That’s over half-a-century ago, far too long ago to avoid or stop climate change now. The climate has already changed and it’s going to continue to change. The question is can we b
Many people are experiencing climate-related disasters on a regular basis. This can lead to climate anxiety; a type of emotional anxiety which may express itself as distress about future climate disasters, or even distress over the long-term existence of humanity and the survival of our friends and family. Worry about climate is not the same as climate anxiety. We all need to be worried about climate issues. This is a healthy response to real problems. But when worry becomes anxiety, it can lead to physiological symptoms like a racing heart or shortness of breath, and can get in the way of hea
Current political trends are making it harder and harder to express climate optimism. Not only are countries failing to meet their Paris Climate Treaty commitments, but recent elections have given climate deniers control of many governments. The prospect for significant climate action through legislation is dimming. But the potential for economic solutions to climate change are growing. Electricity produced from renewable wind and solar is now cheaper than that from fossil fuels. The operation and maintenance of electric vehicles now costs significantly less that traditional cars and trucks. I
Women are deeply effected by the climate crisis. They repeatedly demonstrate that they have the strength, ideas and skills to make crucial decisions about how we live with the Earth and with each other. Women around the world direct their family’s lifestyle and consumption habits. Women farmers feed the world, producing as much as 80% of food in the Global South. Indigenous women in particular hold invaluable traditional knowledge on regenerative farming and the preservation of our waters and lands. Women vote more often. They work harder to get out the vote. And they lead on enacting, environ
We as individuals know that we can do things that reduce our personal carbon footprint – things that make us healthier, more secure, save us money – all while helping the environment and reducing climate change. But we also know that it’s going to take collective action to fight the most egregious impacts of climate. And to act collectively, we must engage with our governments to create positive climate legislation and then engage with that legislation to make real-world change. A good example of this is the United States’ 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. As the name implies, the goal of the legi
What is the role of state government in the challenge of Climate Change? The scientific consensus is that global warming of over two degrees Celsius will threaten human life as we know it. The Paris Agreement defines 1.5 degrees as a more desirable goal to limit the worst outcomes. Yet as of October, 2023, the planet’s average surface-temperature increase was already 1.4 degrees Celsius. There’s many things we can do to reduce our personal carbon footprint. But we also need to engage in collective climate actions. We have to take action with our communities, our national governments, and at th
Connections between humans and the natural world are often seen as exploitative or destructive. But scientists continue to find surprising ways that the natural world can heal us, both physically and mentally. Join host, Bob Grove, and Florence Williams, science journalist and author, to discuss the surprising connections between humans and the natural world. Guests Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, has been awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in science and technology, an Audie in general nonfiction, two Gracie Awards
