Ask MIT Climate

Re-air and update: Carbon pricing

tilclimate@mit.edu (Madison Goldberg, Christopher Knittel) — Thu, 9 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0000

What exactly is a carbon price, and how does it work? To prepare for a new episode about climate economics, we’re re-airing this season one episode in which MIT professor Christopher Knittel explains economists’ favorite tool for addressing climate change. Professor Knittel also returns for a special update on big developments in the world of carbon pricing, from Canada, China, and the European Union.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/re-air-and-update-carbon-pricing

For more episodes of Ask MIT Climate, check out askmitclimate.org. Plus, find us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for outtakes, bonus content, and more climate knowledge from MIT. As always, we love hearing from our listeners; email us at askmitclimate@mit.edu.

The (micro)grid of the future

tilclimate@mit.edu (Madison Goldberg, David Hsu) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Solar panels, batteries, microgrids, and other emerging energy technologies are making it easier than ever before for a community to produce some or all of its own power. Prof. David Hsu lays out the policies and technologies challenging the traditional, centralized model of the electric grid, including in places that lack reliable access to electricity. As the world strives to make energy cleaner, cheaper, and more accessible, what can local models offer that a big utility can’t—and the other way round?

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e5-microgrid-future

The reshuffling of life on Earth

tilclimate@mit.edu (Madison Goldberg, Toni Lyn Morelli, Alexej Sirén) — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Climate change is putting pressure not only on humans, but also on our fellow species. How can plants, animals, and other living things survive as their habitats are transformed? In this episode, we explore one way: moving. Dr. Toni Lyn Morelli and Dr. Alexej Sirén help us understand how climate change is shaking up the map of where species live—and what that means for all of us who share this planet.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e4-reshuffling-life-earth.

Taking Earth’s temperature

tilclimate@mit.edu (Madison Goldberg, Samantha Burgess) — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The past three years have been the three hottest humanity has ever measured. But who does the measuring, and how? Dr. Samantha Burgess, of the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, joins the show to explain how we know the temperature of the Earth, and how a global community of scientists works together to keep tabs on the health of our planet.

For show notes and more resources, visit https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e3-taking-earths-temperature

Credits

Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

Madison Goldberg, Host and Associate Producer

Dave Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Michelle Harris, Fact-checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

License: CC-BY-NC-SA. View the license terms at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

The nuclear price tag

tilclimate@mit.edu (Madison Goldberg, Jacopo Buongiorno) — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Nuclear power offers huge amounts of round-the-clock energy free of climate-warming pollution. In the United States, it’s also become very expensive to build. As government support grows to bring more nuclear power to the U.S., Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno of MIT joins us to break down how nuclear got so costly and what we can learn from countries with more active nuclear industries.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e2-nuclear-price-tag

Marshes, mangroves, meadows

tilclimate@mit.edu (Julie Simpson, Madison Goldberg, Ernie Lee) — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Salt marshes humming with insects and birds. Mangrove forests with tangled, arching roots. Seagrass meadows that blanket the ocean floor. The world’s coastal saltwater wetlands provide shelter for wildlife, purify water, and protect seaside infrastructure. And as Dr. Julie Simpson of MIT tells us, they also have a climate superpower: drawing down and locking away extraordinary amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide.

We gratefully acknowledge Professor Heidi Nepf; Ph.D. student Ernie Lee; and undergraduate student Joyce Yambasu of MIT for additional assistance and participation in this episode. Thanks as well to the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and research coordinator Megan Tyrrell.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e1-marshes-mangroves-meadows.

New season, new name!

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The eighth season of MIT’s climate change podcast starts next week, and we’ve got some news! TILclimate is now Ask MIT Climate. It’s part of an effort to bring all of our climate change resources under one umbrella and reach learners in as many ways as we can.

We’re also diving into video! Find us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @askmitclimate for outtakes, bonus content, and more climate knowledge from MIT. And we love hearing from our listeners; email us at askmitclimate@mit.edu.

Update: Where we've been and where we're going

tilclimate@mit.edu (Madison Goldberg, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Tue, 4 Nov 2025 10:00:00 +0000

We’re dropping into your feed to share the news that our founding host, Laur Hesse Fisher, is departing MIT and TILclimate. In this episode, Laur sits down with new host Madison Goldberg to talk about the philosophies that have shaped TILclimate over seven seasons and take listeners behind the scenes of the show. They also discuss what’s in store for season eight—because TILclimate isn’t going anywhere.

Check out an extended video version of this conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB544MVZ9bg

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/update-where-weve-been-and-where-were-going

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Founding Host and Senior Editor

Madison Goldberg, Incoming Host and Associate Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Danielle Simpson, Editor

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Special thanks to Brett Paci of MIT OpenCourseWare and to the folks at Giro Studio for their help producing this episode.

Transmission: Power to the people

tilclimate@mit.edu (Joshua Hodge, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Power lines may not look as high-tech and inspiring as a wind turbine or a solar field. But as MIT’s Joshua Hodge explains, these lines—and the rest of the sprawling “machine” that is the transmission system—are critical for harnessing clean, cheap, reliable power. In this episode of TILclimate, we explore what we stand to gain from a bigger, better transmission system, and how we might make it happen.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e8-transmission-power-people.

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor

Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Madison Goldberg, Associate Producer

Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Cleaner air

tilclimate@mit.edu (Mary Rice, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Here at TILclimate, we’re often asked about the health and environmental effects of materials in solar panels and batteries. But what if the greatest costs are the ones we’re already bearing—from the fossil fuels those technologies would replace? In this episode, pulmonologist Dr. Mary Rice explains how air pollution from coal, oil, and gas can make us sick, and why a cleaner energy system benefits both the climate and our health.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e7-cleaner-air.

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor

Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Madison Goldberg, Associate Producer

Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Dealing with dead batteries

tilclimate@mit.edu (Linda Gaines, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 29 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000

The world’s demand for batteries to power electric vehicles is growing at incredible speed. What will we do with all these batteries when they die? Dr. Linda Gaines of Argonne National Laboratory joins TILclimate to explain what batteries are made of, how we obtain those materials, and how we can get them back when the batteries reach the end of their lives—along with other options to make this industry less wasteful and more productive.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e6-dealing-dead-batteries

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor

Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Madison Goldberg, Associate Producer

Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Geothermal: Earth’s infinite clean power

tilclimate@mit.edu (Roland Horne, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Deep beneath the Earth’s surface, a molten stew of metals radiates vast amounts of energy. Prof. Roland Horne, Director of the Stanford Geothermal Program, joins TILclimate to talk about the “geothermal energy” technologies that tap this underground resource for electricity, manufacturing, and home heating and cooling. He also shares the recent breakthroughs that have begun bringing this always-on, clean, renewable source of energy to new places and applications.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e5-geothermal-earths-infinite-clean-power

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor

Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

The great indoors

tilclimate@mit.edu (Tarek Rakha, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 3 Apr 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Modern buildings are complex machines, using heating, cooling and a host of other appliances to turn energy into comfort. But that energy comes with a cost: today, our buildings do more to warm the climate than heavy industry, agriculture, or transportation. Prof. Tarek Rakha provides an architect’s view of buildings and the climate, sharing how we can build anew—and upgrade our existing buildings—to use less energy, lower our living costs, benefit the climate, and live more comfortably, all at the same time.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e4-great-indoors

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor

Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Did climate change do that?

tilclimate@mit.edu (Andrew Pershing, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 09:00:00 +0000

A new type of climate science is allowing us to draw clearer connections between our warming planet, and the extreme weather events this warming creates. Thanks to “climate change attribution,” scientists can now say confidently when climate change has made a heatwave or hurricane more likely, and by how much. Dr. Andrew Pershing explains how attribution science works, and why this information is useful for understanding and adapting to a warming world.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e3-did-climate-change-do

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor

Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Hasn't the climate changed before?

tilclimate@mit.edu (David McGee, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 6 Mar 2025 10:00:00 +0000

The Earth has gone through massive climate change before—many times over, in fact!—but human civilization has not. Prof. David McGee, a specialist in the study of ancient climates, joins the show to explain what came before the 10,000 years of global stability in which complex human societies emerged and grew. Along the way, we explore the scientific tools used to study the distant past, the great cycles of the ice ages, and what it can all tell us about the climate change we’re experiencing today.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e2-hasnt-climate-changed

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor

Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Farm to table, with a side of fossil fuels

tilclimate@mit.edu (Jennifer Clapp, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 10:00:00 +0000

The way we grow and distribute food today is deeply dependent on fossil fuels, yet that dependence can feel invisible. Sustainable food systems researcher Prof. Jennifer Clapp joins the show to walk us through all the ways fossil fuels are used to produce one simple food item: a tortilla chip. Along the way, we’ll explore the hard work being done to eliminate climate pollution from the food we eat.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e1-farm-table-side-fossil-fuels

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits
Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Senior Editor
Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Grace Sawin, Student Production Assistant
Michelle Harris, Fact Checker
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

2°C: the story of the global climate goal

tilclimate@mit.edu (Maria Ivanova, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 6 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The landmark Paris Agreement of 2015 gave the world a shared target for halting climate change: that global warming should stop well short of 2 degrees Celsius. But how did that target come about, and what exactly does it mean? Prof. Maria Ivanova, a specialist in international environmental policy, shares with us the history and diplomacy behind those crucial 2 degrees.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit:

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Producer

Lindsay Fendt, Science Reporter

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Slow carbon, fast carbon

tilclimate@mit.edu (Daniel Rothman, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 30 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The Earth naturally absorbs some of our climate pollution from burning fossil fuels. But how much, and how fast? Geophysicist Prof. Daniel Rothman joins the podcast to explain the nature and scale of the natural carbon cycle, and how our appetite for fossil fuels has pushed it out of balance.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit:

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Producer

Andrew Moseman, Science Reporter

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Is it safe to store CO2 underground?

tilclimate@mit.edu (Bradford Hager, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 23 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Today, companies are storing millions of tons of carbon dioxide underground every year to prevent this climate pollution from warming the planet. In the future it might be billions of tons. But is it dangerous to pump so much liquefied carbon below our feet? Geologist and carbon storage expert Prof. Bradford Hager joins the podcast to explain the risks and how to avoid them.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit:

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Producer

Lindsay Fendt, Science Reporter

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

An introduction to carbon capture (re-air)

tilclimate@mit.edu (Brad Hager, Laur Hesse Fisher, Howard Herzog) — Thu, 16 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000

What if there was a way to continue using fossil fuels for energy without emitting CO2 into the atmosphere? To prepare for a new listener question about carbon capture, we're re-airing this season two episode in which Dr. Howard Herzog and Professor Brad Hager talk about capturing, using, and storing carbon emissions, and how it fits into a clean energy future.

How clean is green hydrogen?

tilclimate@mit.edu (Emre Gençer, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 9 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Is hydrogen fuel a climate solution? That depends on how you produce it. Dr. Emre Gençer of the MIT Energy Initiative takes us on a tour of the hydrogen spectrum, from climate-polluting “gray” hydrogen made from natural gas to the much more promising “green” hydrogen made with renewable electricity.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit:

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Producer

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Why are EVs more popular than hydrogen cars?

tilclimate@mit.edu (Sergey Paltsev, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 2 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Just 20 years ago, hydrogen cars and battery electric cars were pretty evenly matched as clean alternatives to gas-powered vehicles. But today, batteries are way ahead: the big car companies are rapidly electrifying their lineups, while only a few hydrogen cars are available. What happened? Sergey Paltsev, senior research scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative, helps TILclimate answer this listener question.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit:

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Producer

Andrew Moseman, Science Reporter

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

An introduction to hydrogen energy (re-air)

tilclimate@mit.edu (MIT Climate Project) — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Hydrogen gas acts like a fossil fuel, but with no carbon emissions. Is it the silver bullet we’ve been waiting for? To prepare for some new listener questions about hydrogen energy, we're re-airing this season four episode in which Prof. Svetlana Ikonnikova of the Technical University of Munich explains how hydrogen works and its potential in the energy transition.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e4-introduction-hydrogen-energy-re-air

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Producer

Andrew Moseman, Science Reporter

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Do wind turbines kill birds?

tilclimate@mit.edu (Michael Howland, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Wind power is the largest source of clean, renewable energy in the United States. But the large turbines that create that power can endanger wildlife. MIT Professor Michael Howland returns to the podcast to answer a listener's question about the risks of wind energy to birds—and explain how wind turbines compare to coal plants, power lines, office towers, housecats, and other threats to birdlife in the modern world.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit:

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Producer

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Do wind turbines freeze up in the cold?

tilclimate@mit.edu (Michael Howland, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 4 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000

You might have heard how wind turbines failed in Texas during a terrible cold front in 2021. Does this mean we can’t rely on this clean, renewable source of energy when the weather turns extreme? MIT Professor Michael Howland joins the podcast to explain how wind turbine operators prepare for frigid conditions, and why some turbines failed in Texas while others are working fine in Antarctica.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit:

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Producer

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Won’t more CO2 help plants grow?

tilclimate@mit.edu (David Des Marais, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Plants take in CO2 from the air to grow—and today’s atmosphere has about 50% more CO2 than it did before we started burning massive amounts of fossil fuels. So, is that great news for plants? Prof. David Des Marais, a plant ecologist at MIT, helps answer this listener question.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit:

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Producer

Andrew Moseman, Science Reporter

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Season 6 Preview: Something a Little Different

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher) — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The sixth season of Today I Learned: Climate is coming in two weeks, and this time we’re doing something a little different. People all around the world write into our team with questions about climate change. So this season, we’re working with scientists and experts at MIT and beyond, to answer those questions in language we can all understand.

Why does it take five years to build a wind farm?

tilclimate@mit.edu (John Parsons, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 7 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000

The United States has a goal to power the country with 100% clean electricity by 2035. Unfortunately, our energy regulations are not set up to make this much change this quickly. Energy economist John Parsons of MIT joins the show to explain how much clean energy infrastructure we need to build, the obstacles to building it, and reform ideas to transform our energy system on the timeline our climate goals demand.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e8-why-does-it-take-five-years-build-wind-farm

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Scriptwriter and Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Energy storage: keeping the lights on with a clean electric grid

tilclimate@mit.edu (Asegun Henry, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

The large majority of new energy we’re building today comes from clean, renewable wind and solar projects. But to keep building wind and solar at this pace, we need energy storage: technologies that save energy when the weather is favorable, and use it when wind and sun are scarce. Prof. Asegun Henry joins TILclimate to explain how energy storage works, what storage technologies are out there, and how much we need to build to make wind and solar dominant.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e7-energy-storage-keeping-lights-clean-electric-grid

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Scriptwriter and Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

A public health expert’s guide to climate change

tilclimate@mit.edu (amruta nori-sarma, laur hesse fisher) — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

We all want to live full, healthy lives. But climate change is threatening a growing number of people’s lives and well-being. Amruta Nori-Sarma, assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health, joins the show to help us see climate change not in tons of carbon dioxide, but as a matter of health.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e6-public-health-experts-guide-climate-change

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Scriptwriter and Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TILclimate presents: What the heck is El Niño, anyway? (from Outside/In)

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 9 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

We were going to produce an episode on El Niño, and its relationship to climate change. And then we found out that Outside/In, from New Hampshire Public Radio, already did that. And they did a really good job. So please enjoy this episode of Outside/In, where you'll learn what El Niño is, how to tell if extreme weather events are caused by climate change or by El Niño, and what the powerful El Niño event of 2023 can tell us about our climate future.

Outside/In is a production of NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio, a podcast where curiosity and the natural world collide. In addition to their regular program, they have run special limited series covering issues from the offshore wind industry to lawns and gardens to Canadian hydropower.

Learn more at outsideinradio.org.

Wildfires and how we're changing them

tilclimate@mit.edu (Daniel Swain, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 2 Nov 2023 09:00:00 +0000

If you live in the U.S. Mountain West, the Pacific Coast of the Americas, or large parts of Australia or southern Europe, there’s a good chance a major wildfire has passed near you in the last five or six years—maybe one more intense than anything you’ve ever heard of in your area. But why exactly are wildfires getting worse? Is climate change entirely to blame? And what should we be preparing for next? Dr. Daniel Swain joins the TILclimate podcast to help break down what is going on with wildfires and climate change.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e5-wildfires-and-how-were-changing-them

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Scriptwriter and Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Can desalination solve water scarcity?

tilclimate@mit.edu (John Leinhard, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Today we’re talking about desalination: turning saltwater into freshwater, so we can drink it or use it to grow crops. And we’re talking about this because, in many parts of the world, freshwater is getting harder to come by. So… is converting saltwater a good solution? Our guest Prof. John Leinhard has devoted his whole career to this question—and its relationship with climate change.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e4-can-desalination-solve-water-scarcity

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Scriptwriter and Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Don’t throw away your refrigerator

tilclimate@mit.edu (Ron Prinn, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Refrigerants are in every refrigerator, freezer and air conditioner, and the world is on track to make a lot more of them in the years to come. They’re also powerful greenhouse gases: often thousands of times more warming than carbon dioxide. Prof. Ronald Prinn, an expert in the physics and chemistry of our climate system, joins TILclimate to discuss the past, present and future of how these chemicals affect our planet.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e3-dont-throw-away-your-refrigerator

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Scriptwriter and Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

How tackling methane cools the planet fast

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Desiree Plata) — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Carbon dioxide—CO2—is the greenhouse gas you’ve probably heard most about, on this podcast and elsewhere. But it turns out, methane is an incredibly important greenhouse gas too. Stopping methane emissions today is a powerful way to dampen climate change in the very near term—to keep the Earth cooler in the next 10 or 20 years. So today, Prof. Desiree Plata returns to TILclimate to tell us—how do we get that done?

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e2-how-tackling-methane-cools-planet-fast

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Scriptwriter and Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Wait, how do greenhouse gases actually warm the planet?

tilclimate@mit.edu (Desiree Plata, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 5 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

You probably know that today’s climate change is caused by certain gases—what scientists call greenhouse gases—that human activity has been adding to our atmosphere. But—how do these gases actually keep heat from escaping into space? And why these gases in particular? To help answer these questions, we invited Desiree Plata, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT and the director of the MIT Methane Network.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/wait-how-do-greenhouse-gases-actually-warm-planet

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Scriptwriter and Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Coming Soon: TILclimate Season 5

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 09:00:00 +0000

This is MIT’s climate change podcast, Today I Learned: Climate. If you're looking to get smart quick on climate change – without the jargon and without the politicking – this podcast is for you! In each episode, we work with experts at MIT and beyond to explain climate change science and solutions in fifteen minutes or less.

On October 5, TILclimate is returning for our fifth season!

We’ll give you the straight answers to things like:

What are the two biggest hurdles to getting all our energy from wind and solar – and how do we overcome them?
Why are so many people talking about methane gas these days?
Can’t we just get all our water from the ocean?
What makes some greenhouse gases more concerning than others?

And much more. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come.

America’s Big Year of Climate Action

tilclimate@mit.edu (Dr. Liz Reynolds, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 09:00:00 +0000

On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). It was the largest of three bills signed over the course of 10 months that together make up the United States’ largest investment in addressing climate change… well, ever. Dr. Liz Reynolds, lecturer in MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning and former Special Assistant to the President for Manufacturing and Economic Development at the National Economic Council at the White House, joins the TILclimate podcast to help us see the big picture of what these bills are trying to accomplish.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/americas-big-year-climate-action

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Scriptwriter & Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by

Aaron Krol

Announcing TILclimate's Live Event: "America’s big year of climate action"

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher) — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 09:00:00 +0000

On Wednesday, April 19, TILclimate will host its first live event at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts! Reserve your seat at tilclimate.org to watch a live recording and join the questions as your host Laur Hesse Fisher sits down with MIT lecturer and former Special Assistant to the President for Manufacturing and Economic Development Dr. Elisabeth Reynolds about “America’s big year of climate action” and the course set for U.S. climate policy in 2021-22.

TIL about recycling

tilclimate@mit.edu (Anders Damgaard, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 10:00:00 +0000

We often hear about recycling as a way to make an impact on climate change right in your own home. But how big a difference are we really making when we recycle? For this episode, Anders Damgaard, senior researcher at the Technical University of Denmark, joins the TILclimate podcast to help us understand the climate benefits of recycling—and why they depend on what we’re recycling and how.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-recycling

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Natalie Jones, Script Writer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about winter storms

tilclimate@mit.edu (Jennifer Francis, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Winters are warming faster than any other season here in the U.S. So why are some winter storms getting even more intense? Today, we’re going to explore the connections between climate change and extreme winter weather. For this episode, we sat down with atmospheric science expert Dr. Jennifer Francis of the Woodwell Climate Research Center.

Dr. Jennifer Francis is a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, and her research is focused on the rapidly changing Arctic. This work engages in why change is occurring, how those changes are affecting the Arctic as well as temperate regions across Earth where billions live. Dr. Francis has devoted more time in recent years towards effective science communication acoss media and helping non-scientists and public officials to gain deeper understanding of why the climate is changing and how it will continue to affect each of us.

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, as well as educator guides, sources and further reading, visit https://tilclimate.mit.edu. To receive notifications about new episodes, follow us on Twitter @tilclimate.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Aaron Krol, Associate Producer
Adam Nacov, Student Production Assistant
Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist
Michelle Harris, Fact Checker
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about carbon offsets

tilclimate@mit.edu (Barbara Haya, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 10:00:00 +0000

What if you could pay someone else to cancel out your carbon emissions? As countries, organizations, and even individuals around the world commit to lowering their impact on the climate, many have been doing just that. So today, we’re going to look at how “carbon offsets” work and whether they are an effective tool for slowing climate change. For this episode, we sat down with carbon trading and offsets expert Dr. Barbara Haya from the University of California Berkeley.

Dr. Barbara Haya is a Research Fellow at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California Berkeley. She leads the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, which studies the effectiveness of offset programs and carbon trading with the goal of ensuring these programs and policies support effective climate action. Dr. Haya is also helping the University of California to develop its own strategy of using offsets to meet their carbon neutrality goals. Haya received her PhD at UC Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group, and has previously worked with NGOs to help support international offset program reform.

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu. To receive notifications about new episodes, follow us on Twitter @tilclimate.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Aaron Krol, Associate Producer
Adam Nacov, Student Production Assistant
Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist
Michelle Harris, Fact Checker
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about everyday travel

tilclimate@mit.edu (Joanna Moody, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Roughly ten percent of the world’s CO2 emissions come from passenger vehicles: cars, pickups, motorcycles, buses, and taxis. So today, we’re going to zoom in on how people get around every day and what to consider when thinking about reducing carbon emissions from everyday travel. For this episode, we sat down with our former MIT colleague and transportation expert Dr. Joanna Moody.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-mobility

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Barrett Golding, Script Writer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about electric cars

tilclimate@mit.edu (laur hesse fisher, David Keith) — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Electric vehicles (EVs) are being touted as a major solution to climate change. But why is that? How do they work and what kinds of changes are needed as more EVs hit the road? To dig into this, we brought in MIT Sloan Prof. David Keith, who studies transportation technology.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-electric-cars

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Barrett Golding, Script Writer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about hydrogen energy

tilclimate@mit.edu (Svetlana Ikonnikova, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 09:00:00 +0000

Hydrogen gas acts like a fossil fuel, but with no carbon emissions. Is it the silver bullet we’ve been waiting for? Prof. Svetlana Ikonnikova of the Technical University of Munich joins us to bring light to how hydrogen works and its potential in the energy transition.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-hydrogen

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Natalie Jones, Script Writer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Michelle Harris, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about the changing ocean (part 2)

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Sylvia Earle) — Thu, 2 Jun 2022 10:00:00 +0000

The ocean is a critical piece of the climate change puzzle. It's estimated that the ocean has absorbed about one third of the excess CO2 humans have added to the atmosphere and more than 90% of trapped heat in the atmosphere. So, today, we’re going underwater to talk about the ocean and climate change with renowned oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-the-ocean

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Natalie Jones, Script Writer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Carolyn Shea, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Climate Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about the changing ocean (part 1)

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Sylvia Earle) — Thu, 2 Jun 2022 09:00:00 +0000

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-the-ocean

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Natalie Jones, Script Writer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Carolyn Shea, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Climate Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Season 4 Preview

Thu, 5 May 2022 18:12:42 +0000

At MIT, we have a commitment to sharing what we know about climate change. That’s why, this summer, we’ll be back soon with a fourth season of TILclimate, bringing you new episodes that dive into even more climate topics, like the role the ocean plays in our climate, solutions for reducing transportation emissions, the future of hydrogen energy, and a whole lot more. All around 10-15 minutes, with real scientists and experts.

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Aaron Krol, Associate Producer
Ilana Hirschfeld, Student Production Assistant
Natalie Jones, Script Writer
Barrett Golding, Script Writer
Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist
Carolyn Shea, Fact checker
Michelle Harris, Fact checker
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL what it costs

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Barbara Buchner) — Thu, 3 Feb 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Today’s episode is about the money of climate change. When people talk about how much it costs to stop climate change, what are we paying for? And who’s paying, exactly? And if we don’t pay to stop climate change – how much will that cost us? To answer these questions, we spoke with Dr. Barbara Buchner from the Climate Policy Initiative.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-what-it-costs

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Carolyn Shea, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about what I eat

tilclimate@mit.edu (Cynthia Rosenzweig, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Today we bring climate change to the dining room table. In this episode, we reinvited Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig onto the TILclimate podcast to tell us just a little more about the connections between the food we eat and climate change.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-what-I-eat

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Production Assistant

Carolyn Shea, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about farming a warmer planet

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Cynthia Rosenzweig) — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Over the last fifty years, our world has made remarkable progress in reducing hunger around the world. How can we keep our farms and food system resilient in a warming climate? Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, Senior Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, joins host Laur Hesse Fisher on this episode of TILclimate to explain how climate change is already impacting our global food system.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-farming-a-warmer-planet

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Student Production Assistant

Carolyn Shea, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about planting trees

tilclimate@mit.edu (Charles Harvey, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 7 Oct 2021 09:00:00 +0000

In our last episode, we talked about using technology to suck out extra carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But you might also be thinking—don’t trees do that? Yeah, they do! In fact, some people have proposed that by planting enough trees, we could make a big dent on climate change. In this episode of TILclimate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Charles Harvey helps us answer the question: could we just plant a whole lot of trees to solve our climate problem?

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-planting-trees

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Student Production Assistant

Robin Palmer, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about removing CO2 from the atmosphere

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Niall MacDowell) — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 09:00:00 +0000

We’ve had people ask us, if climate change is caused by adding too much CO2 into the atmosphere, can’t we just suck it back out? Won’t that solve our climate change problem? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), Professor Niall Mac Dowell of Imperial College London joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to demystify the process and feasibility of removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-technological-carbon-capture

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Student Production Assistant

Carolyn Shea, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about national security

tilclimate@mit.edu (James Renwick, Alice Hill, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Is climate change really a national security issue, in the same way we think about terrorism or nuclear weapons? And if so, what are our governments doing about it? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), national security expert Alice C. Hill joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to help answer these questions.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-national-security

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Student Production Assistant

Carolyn Shea, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about sea level rise, part 2

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, James Renwick) — Thu, 1 Jul 2021 09:00:00 +0000

Sea level rise is already happening and affecting people right now. We invited Prof. James Renwick back to TILclimate to talk about the near future: what will sea-level rise look like for coastal areas in the next 20 or 30 years, and what can we do about it?

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-sea-level-rise-part-2

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Student Production Assistant

Carolyn Shea, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL about sea level rise, part 1

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, James Renwick) — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 09:00:00 +0000

If you’ve heard only one thing about climate change, it might be that sea levels are rising, and many of the Earth’s islands and coastlines are at risk. But, why? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), Professor James Renwick of Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to break down the science of sea level rise and what’s in store for the future if we do — and don’t — significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-about-sea-level-rise-part-1

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Student Production Assistant

Carolyn Shea, Fact Checker

Sylvia Scharf, Education Specialist

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

TIL what Americans think about climate change

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Parrish Bergquist) — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 10:05:00 +0000

Surveys show that both left- and right-leaning Americans support policies that slow climate change. So why aren’t we seeing more of these policies pass as legislation? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT alum Parrish Bergquist joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to explain the significance of public opinion and climate change: what people believe, what influences their opinion and how policies are implemented. They also explore what bipartisan policy making could look like, and how to bridge the gap between support and action.

Parrish Bergquist, an MIT alum from the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Science and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/til-what-americans-think-about-climate-change.

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Aaron Krol, Associate Producer

Ilana Hirschfeld, Student Production Assistant

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Season 3 Preview

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Alice Hill, Charles Harvey) — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Climate change can be confusing, and there’s so much to know. That’s why we’re back with a third season of TILclimate, bringing you new episodes that explain the basics, like why exactly is sea level rising, how climate change affects our national security, how can soils and trees be part of the solution, and so much more. All with real scientists and experts who can give you the straight story, in about ten minutes, jargon-free.

Is it too late?

tilclimate@mit.edu (Noelle Selin, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 06:05:00 +0000

Is it too late to prevent climate change? Are the scary predictions that we hear about inevitable? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned Climate), MIT Prof. Noelle Selin joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to answer these questions. They explore what change is predictable, explain what climate goals like 1.5 C mean, and give insight to what it will take in order to achieve them.

Prof. Noelle Selin is Associate Professor in the Institute for Data, Systems and Society and in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. She also serves as the Director of MIT's Technology and Policy Program. Her research uses modeling and analysis to inform sustainability decision-making, focusing on issues involving air pollution, climate change and hazardous substances such as mercury.

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Aaron Krol, Associate Producer
Sabrina Gaitan, Student Production Assistant
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about cleaning up clean tech

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Suzanne Greene) — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Technologies like solar panels and batteries help us slow down climate change, but they’re not inherently perfect. In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned Climate), Suzanne Greene of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics and the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative sits down with host Laur Hesse Fisher to help us navigate how to massively scale up clean tech while making a conscious and dedicated effort to ensure people’s rights, health, and safety.

Suzanne Greene manages the Sustainable Supply Chains initiative at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics and is the lead on Metals, Minerals, and the Environment program at the Environmental Solutions Initiative. She collaborates with industry and stakeholders to develop new methods to calculate, report and offset carbon emissions, improving our understanding of the climate impact of products we use every day.

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Aaron Krol, Associate Producer
Sabrina Gaitan, Student Production Assistant
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about fusion energy

tilclimate@mit.edu (Dennis Whyte, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 09:00:06 +0000

Let’s talk about a technology that could change our whole energy system, but so far hasn’t generated a single watt. In the season finale of TILclimate (Today I Learned Climate), Professor Dennis Whyte sits down with host Laur Hesse Fisher to talk about fusion energy.

Dennis Whyte is the Director of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC), and a Hitachi America Professor of Engineering. As director of PSFC, Whyte has been a key enabler for the SPARC project, a compact, high-field, net fusion energy experiment. The core of the SPARC project, and many ideas for its development, have been conceived or advanced through Professor Whyte’s courses.

Season two of TILclimate focuses on our global energy system, its relationship to climate change, and what our options are for keeping the lights on while creating a clean energy future. We're partnering with the MIT Energy Initiative, which will air longer interviews with each guest to take a deeper dive into these topics.

Dive Deeper

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit: tilclimate.mit.edu

For related energy podcasts from the MIT Energy Initiative, visit: http://energy.mit.edu/podcast/

For a MITEI podcast discussing fusion energy, visit: http://energy.mit.edu/podcast/game-changing-fusion/

To learn more Professor Whyte’s SPARC project, a compact, high-field, net fusion energy experiment, visit: https://www.psfc.mit.edu/sparc

Want to learn more about how fusion works in stars? Check out: https://sciencing.com/life-cycle-mediumsized-star-5490048.html

For information on the U.S. Department of Energy Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program, visit: https://science.osti.gov/fes

In the episode, Professor Whyte talks about plasma in fusion reactions. Wondering what exactly plasma is? Check out: https://www.livescience.com/54652-plasma.html

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Jessie Hendricks, Graduate Student Writer

Aaron Krol, Contributing Writer

Skyler Jones, Student Production Assistant

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about carbon capture

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Howard Herzog, Brad Hager) — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 06:00:06 +0000

This season, we’ve talked about alternative energy sources that don’t emit carbon dioxide -- but what if there was a way to continue using fossil fuels for energy without emitting CO2 into the atmosphere? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned Climate), Dr. Howard Herzog and Professor Brad Hager sit down with host Laur Hesse Fisher to talk about capturing, using, and storing carbon emissions, and how it fits into a clean energy future.

Howard Herzog is a Senior Research Engineer in the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), where he has researched combating greenhouse gas emissions for over 30 years. He was also a Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage and a co-author on the MIT Future of Coal Study.

Brad Hager is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Earth Sciences in the MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). He is also the co-director of the MIT Energy Initiative’s Low Carbon Energy Center on Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Jessie Hendricks, Graduate Student Writer

Aaron Krol, Contributing Writer

Ruby Wincele, Student Production Assistant

Cecilia Bolon, Student Production Assistant

Skyler Jones, Student Production Assistant

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about nuclear energy

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Jacopo Buongiorno) — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 06:00:03 +0000

We know how to generate tons of electricity without pumping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, using a technology that’s already mature, widespread, and competitive with fossil fuels -- and also, very controversial: nuclear power. In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned Climate), Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno, Director of the MIT Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems, sits down with host Laur Hesse Fisher to explore how nuclear power works, why even some climate advocates don’t agree on using it, and what role it can play in our clean energy future.

Jacopo Buongiorno is the TEPCO Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Director of Science and Technology of the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory at MIT. He is also the Director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES), which is one of eight Low-Carbon-Energy Centers of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI).

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu

For related energy podcasts from the MIT Energy Initiative, visit:

http://energy.mit.edu/podcast/

For the MITEI podcast episode on the Future of Nuclear Energy, visit:

https://energy.mit.edu/podcast/the-future-of-nuclear-energy/

For the full MITEI report on the Future on Nuclear Energy, visit:

http://energy.mit.edu/research/future-nuclear-energy-carbon-constrained-world/

For a deeper dive into nuclear energy, check out Prof. Buongiorno’s course on edX:

https://www.edx.org/course/nuclear-energy-science-systems-and-society

To get a sense of the USA’s energy mix, visit:

https://www.epa.gov/energy/power-profiler#/

If you want to know more about how nuclear fuel is stored,visit:

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/safer-storage-spent-nuclear-fuel

For a comparison of the safety of different energy sources:

https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy

For the landmark report on Chernobyl mentioned in the episode, written by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), visit:

https://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html

For more details on the 2011 Fukushima accident, check out the official Fukushima Prefecture report:

http://www.pref.fukushima.lg.jp/site/portal-english/en03-01.html

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Jessie Hendricks, Graduate Student Writer
Aaron Krol, Contributing Writer
Darya Guettler, Student Production Assistant
Skyler Jones, Student Production Assistant
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about energy efficiency

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Harvey Michaels) — Thu, 7 May 2020 08:00:14 +0000

We hear a lot about technologies that produce carbon-free energy, but what about actually using less energy to begin with? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned Climate), Harvey Michaels, lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to explore the three ways that energy efficiency can help us reduce carbon emissions.

Harvey Michaels, an MIT alumnus now lecturing at the MIT Sloan School of Management, researches energy management and efficiency and smart-grid-related opportunities to mitigate climate change. He is a member of Future of the Grid at the MIT Energy Initiative, Efficiency Forward at the Sloan Sustainability Initiative, and Project Faculty for Energy Democracy at the MIT Media Lab. Prior to joining MIT, Harvey Michaels worked at energy efficiency companies Xenergy and Aclara Software.

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu

For related energy podcasts from the MIT Energy Initiative, visit:

http://energy.mit.edu/podcast/

For a list of U.S. energy efficiency incentives for by state, visit: https://www.dsireusa.org/

Check out this case study on the Bullitt Center in Seattle, which achieved a certification called the Living Building Challenge. The building is so energy efficient, the solar panels on its roof generate more electricity than the building needs:

http://www.bullittcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/living-proof-bullitt-center-case-study.pdf

Want to know how energy efficient your lightbulbs are? Check out this comparison:

https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/save-electricity-and-fuel/lighting-choices-save-you-money/how-energy-efficient-light

Here is a resource comparing the cost to fuel an electric car versus a gasoline car:

https://www.energy.gov/articles/egallon-how-much-cheaper-it-drive-electricity

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Jessie Hendricks, Graduate Student Writer
Aaron Krol, Contributing Writer
Darya Guettler, Student Production Assistant
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about wind and solar

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Magdalena Klemun) — Thu, 2 Apr 2020 09:00:16 +0000

What will it take to generate the electricity our society needs, without generating carbon emissions? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned Climate), Dr. Magdalena Klemun at the MIT Institute for Data, Systems and Society joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to begin exploring this question, starting with wind and solar power. What exactly are wind and solar power? What challenges do we currently face when trying to use wind and solar to generate most of our electricity? What’s the role of energy storage, and what could our future zero-carbon energy mix look like?

Dr. Magdalena Klemun, a postdoctoral associate at the Trancik Lab at the MIT Institute for Data, Systems and Society, works on understanding how the economic and environmental performance of technologies evolve in response to different innovation efforts, with an emphasis on the cost evolution of photovoltaic systems and nuclear power plants, and on the environmental performance evolution of natural gas technologies. She has degrees from MIT, Columbia University, and Vienna University of Technology.

TILclimate is produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative.

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, visit tilclimate.mit.edu

For related podcasts from the MIT Energy Initiative, visit:

Energy technology evolution: http://energy.mit.edu/podcast/21

Firm low-carbon energy resources: http://energy.mit.edu/podcast/firm-low-carbon-energy-resources/

Batteries & storage: http://energy.mit.edu/podcast/batteries-and-storage/

Game-changing solar: http://energy.mit.edu/podcast/game-changing-solar/

For more information on the world’s current energy breakdown, visit: https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics?country=WORLD&fuel=Energy%20supply&indicator=Total%20primary%20energy%20supply%20(TPES)%20by%20source

For the full break-down of where the US gets its energy:

https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/

Check out this selection of Dr. Klemun’s research:

Mitigating Methane Emissions of Natural Gas:

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2577/pdf

Intersection between Emissions Reductions and Technological Innovation in Wind and Solar:

http://energy.mit.edu/publication/technology-improvement-and-emissions-reductions-as-mutually-reinforcing-efforts/

For a more in-depth analysis of storage requirements for decarbonization, check out this study:

https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(19)30300-9

For a closer look at potential low-carbon energy mixes for future decarbonization, check out this study:

https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(18)30386-6

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Jessie Hendricks, Graduate Student Writer
Darya Guettler, Student Production Assistant
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Is it energy or electricity?

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 12:00:13 +0000

In this mini-episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), host Laur Hesse Fisher breaks down what we’re actually talking about when we use the word “energy”. In a few minutes, we cover the difference between energy and electricity, and the big picture strategy for how to reduce CO2 for each.

Season two of TILclimate focuses on our global energy system, its relationship to climate change, and what our options are for keeping the lights on while creating a clean energy future. We’re partnering with the MIT Energy Initiative, which will air longer interviews to take a deeper dive into these topics.

For more episodes of TILclimate, visit: tilclimate.mit.edu

To listen to the MIT Energy Initiative podcast, visit: energy.mit.edu/podcast

For the full break-down of where U.S. gets its energy: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Jessie Hendricks, Graduate Student Writer
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Special thanks to Neil Fisher.

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

TIL about fossil fuels

tilclimate@mit.edu (John Reilly, Laur Hesse Fisher) — Thu, 6 Feb 2020 09:30:09 +0000

Fossil fuels -- coal, natural gas, and oil -- provide the large majority of our power in the United States and around the world. In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), John Reilly of the MIT Sloan School of Management joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to demystify fossil fuels: what are the different kinds of fossil fuels, and how do they compare to each other? What is “fracking” and how did impact energy use and CO2 emissions in the United States? What kinds of decisions do we need to make to transition to clean energy, while providing electricity to a growing number of people?

John Reilly is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Co-Director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. An economist, he researches economic models that connect human activity with natural systems like the ocean, atmosphere, and vegetation.

Season two of TILclimate focuses on our global energy system, its relationship to climate change, and what our options are for keeping the lights on while creating a clean energy future. We’re partnering with the MIT Energy Initiative, which will air longer interviews with each guest to take a deeper dive into these topics.

For more episodes of TILclimate, visit: tilclimate.mit.edu

To listen to the MIT Energy Initiative podcast, visit: energy.mit.edu/podcast

For in-depth analyses on energy technologies, check out the MIT Energy’s “Future of” report series: energy.mit.edu/research-type/future-of/

For the full break-down of where U.S. gets its energy: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Rachel Fritts, Graduate Student Writer
Olivia Burek, Student Production Assistant
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

TIL about the electric grid

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, Harvey Michaels) — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 06:45:08 +0000

The electric grid are networks that carry electricity from central power plants to our homes. But how exactly is electricity generated and brought to our door? And what needs to change if we’re going to transition to generating “clean” electricity? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), Harvey Michaels, lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to explain the history and perhaps surprising features of the electric grid, and what changes are in store for the future.

This episode launches a new season of TILclimate that will explain our global energy system, its relationship to climate change, and what our options are for keeping the lights on while creating a clean energy future. For this season, TILclimate is partnering with the MIT Energy Initiative, which will air longer interviews with each guest to take a deeper dive into these topics.

For more episodes of TILclimate, visit: tilclimate.mit.edu

To listen to the MIT Energy Initiative podcast, visit: energy.mit.edu/podcast

For in-depth analyses on energy technologies, check out the MIT Energy’s “Future of” report series: energy.mit.edu/research-type/future-of/

Credits

· Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer

· David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

· Rachel Fritts, Graduate Student Writer

· Olivia Burek, Student Production Assistant

· Music by Blue Dot Sessions

· Artwork by Aaron Krol

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

TIL what I can do

Thu, 3 Oct 2019 09:00:11 +0000

Here at TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), there’s one question we get from our listeners more than any other: “What can I do to make a difference on climate change?” In this special episode of the podcast, three guests who have made acting on climate a big part of their lives join interim host Aaron Krol to share their stories and their advice for those who want to do more. Together, we discuss how to mobilize and inspire others, how small individual actions can lead to large societal ones, and why your contributions to a cooler, more resilient future can have benefits that aren’t just about rising seas or mounting heat waves.

Emily Her is a student at Boise State University, previously at Timberline High School, and a regular volunteer for the Sierra Club. While still in high school, she co-organized a campaign in favor of climate change education in Idaho schools and participated in the Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 campaign, petitioning the City of Boise to commit to a 100% clean energy mandate for sourcing its electricity.

Linda Cheung, an alumna of the MIT Sloan School of Business and the Sloan Sustainability Certificate program, is the founder and CEO of Before It’s Too Late, a Miami-based nonprofit that uses art and technology to educate and inspire on climate issues. Her projects at Before It’s Too Late include interactive murals, live games, hackathons, and personal challenges. She previously worked in the finance and renewable energy industries.

The Reverend Mariama White-Hammond is the pastor of New Roots AME Church in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, and serves in leadership positions with a number of environmental and social justice organizations, among them the Green Justice Coalition. Previously the Executive Director of Project HIP-HOP, the Reverend White-Hammond focuses on the intersection of the climate crisis with other social justice issues, especially where climate change will contribute to problems afflicting vulnerable minority communities.

For more short climate change explainers, check out: www.tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Aaron Krol, Interim Host
Cecelia Bolon, Olivia Burek, and Alyssa Farkas, Student Production Assistants
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Special thanks to Tom Kiley and MIT Open Learning.
Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

More Info

For more information and inspiration on climate action, check out:

TIL about geoengineering

Wed, 1 May 2019 09:00:03 +0000

When talking about climate change solutions, we often hear about reducing emissions and adapting to climate impacts, but a third option is starting to get more attention: altering the atmosphere. In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT alumnus Janos Pasztor joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to explain geoengineering: what it is and the different technologies that are being researched. They also dive into the opportunities and challenges presented by geoengineering, and what difficult decisions we might need to make as a society.
Janos Pasztor, an MIT alum, is the Executive Director of the Carnegie Climate Geoengineering Governance Initiative (C2G2), which seeks to create effective governance for geoengineering; it aims to expand the conversation from the scientific and research community to global policy-making, and to encourage a society-wide discussion about the risks, potential benefits, ethical and governance challenges. Before his current position, Mr. Pasztor was the UN Assistant Secretary General for Climate Change and the Policy and Science Director of the WWF (2012-2015). From 1993–2006, he worked at the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

For more short climate change explainers, check out: www.tilclimate.mit.edu.

Links

To learn more, check out:
Mr. Pasztor’s work:

Carnegie Climate Geoengineering Governance Initiative Website
Video - Global Ethics Forum: The Ethics and Governance of Geoengineering (Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs)

For more information on geoengineering:

What is geoengineering? (Oxford Geoengineering Programme)
Geoengineering overview (Global Challenges)
Rules for geoengineering the planet (MIT Technology Review)
Excerpt from “Geoengineering: Climate Tragedy, Repair, and Restoration (Holly Jean Buck, published in MIT Technology Review)

More on absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (carbon dioxide removal):

Nature-based solutions (World Resources Institute)
Direct air capture (DAC) (Fortune)
* Biomass Energy Carbon Capture & Storage (BECCS) (Carbon Brief)

TIL about carbon pricing

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:00:03 +0000

What exactly is a carbon price, and how does it work? What would it look like and how would it change everyday life? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT economics professor Christopher Knittel joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to break down the complexities of carbon pricing. Together, they explain different types of programs, give us a sense of how much it would cost, and explore how countries and U.S. states are experimenting with carbon pricing now.
Christopher Knittel is a professor of applied economics at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, director of the MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR), and co-director of the MIT Electric Power Systems Low Carbon Energy Center. Prof. Knittel’s research focuses on energy and environmental economics, and he works to compare the efficiency and costs of different programs and policies that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For more climate explainers, check out: www.tilclimate.mit.edu.

Links
For more information on carbon pricing, check out:

The work of Prof. Knittel:

Prof. Knittel’s website

Overviews of carbon pricing:

About Carbon Pricing (UNFCCC)
Map - Carbon pricing programs around the world (World Bank)
Map - U.S. state carbon pricing policies (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions)

Examples of carbon pricing policies outside of the U.S.:

British Columbia’s Carbon Tax (British Columbia)
Canada’s Carbon Pricing Plan (Government of Canada)
European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU)
China will start the world’s largest carbon trading market (Scientific American)

Examples of carbon pricing policies in the U.S.:

California’s Current Cap and Trade System (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions)
The existing Northeast US Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
Federal carbon pricing proposals introduced 2017–2018 (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions)
Citizens of Washington state voted against a carbon tax in 2018 (NBC)

About the US sulfur dioxide (SO2) cap and trade program

Acid Rain Program (EPA)

An overview of climate change:

Climate Science and Climate Risk: A Primer (Kerry Emanuel)

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Cecelia Bolon, Student Production Assistant
Ruby Wincele, Student Researcher
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Special thanks to Tom Kiley and MIT Open Learning.
Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about climate impacts

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 09:00:27 +0000

With climate change, some parts of the world will get more water, but others will experience droughts. Some will start seeing more mosquitoes, but some fewer. And some regions might actually benefit economically. What’s the deal? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT professor Elfatih Eltahir joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to talk about how climate impacts will differ across the globe. Together, they do a quick world tour, exploring how climate change will affect malaria in Africa, water availability in the Nile, and heat waves in Southern Asia.

Elfatih Eltahir is a professor of Hydrology and Climate in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and he has taught at MIT since 1994. Prof. Eltahir is interested in understanding how regional land use/land cover change, as well as global climate change, may impact society through changes in the patterns of water availability, extreme weather, and spread of vector-borne diseases. Working with his students, he develops numerical models that are used for predicting these impacts at regional scales.

For more short climate change explainers, check out: www.tilclimate.mit.edu.

Links

For more information on regional climate impacts, check out:
The work of Prof. Eltahir:

Prof. Eltahir’s website
China could face deadly heat waves due to climate change (MIT News)
Parts of Asia might be too hot for people by 2100 (National Geographic)
Nile faces greater variability (MIT News)
3Q: Elfatih Eltahir on what Malaria and Dengue can tell us about Zika (MIT News)

The New York Times graphic that Prof. Eltahir mentions at 9:10:

How Americans Think About Climate Change, in Six Maps (New York Times)

Large-scale climate:

Climate change and vector-borne diseases (UCAR)
Sand from Greenland’s Melting Ice Sheet Could Bring in Business (American Geophysical Union)
Does global warming mean it’s warming everywhere? (NOAA)
More Floods and More Droughts: Climate Change Delivers Both (New York Times)

Climate impacts in the US:

National Climate Assessment Overview (U.S. Global Change Research Program)

An overview of climate change:

Climate Science and Climate Risk: A Primer (Kerry Emanuel)

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
[David Lishansky]((https://twitter.com/DaveResonates), Editor and Producer
Cecelia Bolon, Student Production Assistant
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Special thanks to Tom Kiley and MIT Open Learning.
Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about uncertainty

Wed, 10 Apr 2019 09:00:08 +0000

How do we make choices in the face of uncertainty? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT professor Kerry Emanuel joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to talk about climate risk. Together, they break down why the climate system is so hard to predict, what exactly scientists mean when they talk about “uncertainty”, and how scientists quantify and assess the risks associated with climate change. Although this uncertainty shrinks every day — as researchers refine their work, computing power grows, and models improve — what we do and how quickly we act will ultimately come down to how much risk we are willing to accept.
Kerry Emanuel is an MIT Professor of Atmospheric Sciences and the co-founder and co-director of the MIT Lorenz Center. In 2006, he was included in Time Magazine’s “100 People who Shape Our World”. Through his decades of experience studying the atmosphere and earth’s climate, Prof. Emanuel focuses on trying to quantify the risks of these anthropogenic (human-caused) changes, especially focusing on hurricanes.

For more short climate change explainers, check out: www.tilclimate.mit.edu.

Links

For more information on climate risk, check out:
The work of Prof. Emanuel:

Information about predicted levels of warming and impacts of that warming:

Summary of the impacts of 1.5 degrees of warming (MIT Climate Portal)
2100 warming projections (climateactiontracker.org)
Climate action ratings by country (climateactiontracker.org)

An overview of climate change:

Climate Science and Climate Risk: A Primer (Kerry Emanuel)

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Cecelia Bolon, Student Production Assistant
Ruby Wincele, Student Researcher
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Special thanks to Tom Kiley and Laura Howells.
Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about hurricanes

Wed, 3 Apr 2019 09:00:11 +0000

Scientists predict that hurricanes will hit us harder in the future — but why? And what can we expect to see? In this episode of #TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT professor Kerry Emanuel joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to break down how these “heat engines” work and how a changing climate will increase hurricane intensity, storm surges, and flooding. They also explore how people around the world are adapting to growing hurricane risks.
Prof. Emanuel is the Cecil & Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science at the MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and co-director of the MIT Lorenz Center. He is a prominent meteorologist and climate scientist who studies tropical cyclones. In 2006, he was named by Time Magazine as one of the “100 People Who Shape Our World”.

An educator guide for this episode can be found here: https://climate.mit.edu/educator-guide-til-about-hurricanes

For other climate explanations, check out: www.tilclimate.mit.edu.

Learn more about:

The work of Prof. Emanuel and other hurricane researchers:

Video footage of storm surges (as mentioned by Prof. Emanuel 5:59)

Hurricane storm surge (NOAA Ocean Today)

Kerry Emanuel’s explanation for natural sea level rise in New York (As mentioned by Prof. Emanuel 6:30):

“During the peak of the glaciation, the weight of the ice deformed the earth's crust much as a rock deforms a pillow it is placed on. The pillow sinks under the weight of the rock but bulges upward just outside the perimeter of the rock. When the rock is lifted, the depression in the pillow rebounds upward while the bulge around it collapses. New York was near the center of the bulge caused by the ice sheet, and when it melted, the bulge relaxed downward...equivalent to a rise in sea level. That is still happening.”

Examples of how communities are adapting to hurricanes:

Partnerships to advance climate risk insurance approaches in Grenada, Jamaica, and Saint Lucia (UNFCCC)
Connected mangroves in Malaysia (UNFCCC)
National resettlement plan in Uruguay (UNFCCC)
Public private people partnerships for climate compatible development (4PCCD) in Mozambique (UNFCCC)

An overview of climate change:

Climate Science and Climate Risk: A Primer (Kerry Emanuel)

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Ruby Wincele, Student Researcher
Cecelia Bolon, Student Coordinator
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol

Special thanks to Tom Kiley and Laura Howells.

Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about materials

Wed, 27 Mar 2019 09:00:08 +0000

Humans use around 90 billion metric tons of materials every year, creating about ⅓ of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Which materials produce the most emissions? You might be surprised.

In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT professor Elsa Olivetti joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to talk about materials, or as Prof. Olivetti calls it, “the study of stuff”. Prof. Olivetti explains where these emissions come from and how to reduce emissions and waste in our manufacturing.

Prof. Olivetti is the Atlantic Richfield Associate Professor of Energy Studies in the Material Science and Engineering Department at MIT. Prof. Olivetti focuses her research on developing strategies to make materials and manufacturing more efficient, inexpensive, and environmentally-friendly.

For other climate explanations, check out: www.tilclimate.mit.edu.

Read more about:
Prof. Olivetti’s projects:

Brick made out of industrial waste
Faculty Highlight: Elsa Olivetti (MIT News)

Solutions developed at MIT & beyond:

A company founded by MIT alumni recently developed a new way to process steel, that could cut 5% of CO2 emissions
MIT students found that plastic from disposable water bottles can be used to make concrete that is up to 15% stronger (MIT News)
An MIT Climate CoLab winner designed concrete made from hemp
An MIT research group focused on sustainable concrete

Credits
Laur Hesse Fisher, Host and Producer
David Lishansky, Editor and Producer
Ruby Wincele, Student Researcher
Cecelia Bolon, Student Coordinator
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Artwork by Aaron Krol
Special thanks to Tom Kiley and Laura Howells.
Produced by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

TIL about clouds

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 09:00:01 +0000

Wrap your head around this: humans have changed clouds. In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT professor Dan Cziczo joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to spell out why this is, and what this has to do with climate change. They explore how clouds form in the first place, how human activity has impacted cloud formation and rainfall, and what scientists are still trying to understand. They touch upon the emerging field of geoengineering and how humans could create more clouds to cool the planet — but we’ll have full episode on that coming out soon.
Prof. Cziczo is a professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and has been an MIT faculty member since 2011. Prof. Cziczo is interested in the relationship between particulate matter and cloud formation, and his research focuses on how human activities are changing clouds and particles, and what those changes mean for atmospheric science.

For other short, climate-explainer podcasts, see: www.tilclimate.mit.edu on MIT’s Climate portal.

TIL about planes

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 08:55:04 +0000

“I love to travel. But I hate the fact that something I love to do, creates so much pollution.” In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT professor Steven Barrett and host Laur Hesse Fisher dig into how — and why — air travel impacts our earth’s climate, and what solutions are on the horizon.
They explore the surprising heating effect of condensation trails (“contrails”), how computer simulations of the earth’s climate system are built, and what scientists and engineers are doing to make flying, well, less bad for the planet.
Prof. Barrett is a professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Director of the Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment. Through this lab, he coordinates the MIT Electric Aircraft Initiative, which aims to assess and develop sustainable electric aircraft technology. To read more about Barrett’s research on contrails, biofuels, fuel efficiency, electric aviation technology, and more, check out the links below.

For other short, climate-explainer podcasts, see: www.tilclimate.mit.edu on MIT’s Climate portal.

Coming Soon: TILclimate from MIT

tilclimate@mit.edu (Laur Hesse Fisher, MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative) — Wed, 6 Mar 2019 19:04:12 +0000

MIT Climate is launching a new show that breaks down climate science and its impact on our society. Here's a teaser. Full episodes will be released on March 20th.

Follow us on Twitter @TILclimate
Check out our website tilclimate.mit.edu
Send a question you have about the climate to tilclimate@mit.edu