DeepSummary
In this episode, Sean Carroll interviews climatologist Gavin Schmidt about the current state of the Earth's climate and the science of climate change. Schmidt explains how human activities, particularly greenhouse gas emissions, have caused observable and measurable changes in temperature, sea levels, and weather patterns across the globe. He discusses the methods and challenges of modeling and predicting future climate trajectories, as well as the need for both mitigation efforts to reduce emissions and adaptation strategies to cope with unavoidable impacts.
Schmidt emphasizes that while climate models have been remarkably successful in capturing large-scale trends and patterns, there are still uncertainties and surprises, such as the unexpectedly high global temperatures observed in the past year. He highlights the importance of continued scientific research, public engagement, and policy action to address the climate crisis.
Towards the end of the episode, Schmidt reflects on the psychological and emotional aspects of working in climate science, where making accurate predictions often means delivering sobering news about the consequences of inaction. He encourages individuals to use their various roles and platforms to raise awareness, influence decision-makers, and support solutions that can mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The Earth's climate is measurably changing due to human activities, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane.
- Climate models have been remarkably successful in predicting large-scale trends and patterns, but there are still uncertainties and surprises, as evidenced by the unexpectedly high global temperatures observed in the past year.
- Continued scientific research, public engagement, and policy action are necessary to address the climate crisis, including efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to unavoidable impacts.
- Achieving net-zero emissions is crucial for stabilizing global temperatures and preventing further warming.
- Climate scientists face the psychological and emotional challenge of delivering sobering news about the consequences of inaction, but find purpose in informing and motivating positive change.
- Individuals can use their various roles and platforms to raise awareness, influence decision-makers, and support solutions that can mitigate and adapt to climate change.
- Technological fixes like solar radiation management may work in theory but face significant practical and geopolitical challenges that make them unreliable as long-term solutions.
- The episode emphasizes the importance of understanding the science of climate change and taking appropriate action to address this urgent global issue.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “We have been predicting why it was going to change, why it is changing, and why it will continue to change for many decades now. And we have been doing so successfully.“ by Gavin Schmidt
- “We are now very clearly a geophysical force, and our imprint on the system is comparable to almost the biggest things that have happened in the last 65 million years and down one of the.“ by Gavin Schmidt
- “What is the point of sitting around waiting for your predictions to come true? And so we don't, so in fact, right now, the joy, the satisfaction that one gets from being a scientist now is being able to tell people what is happening and having people act accordingly and having them understand what it is that is happening in order to avoid our predictions being correct.“ by Gavin Schmidt
Entities
Company
Person
Organization
Website
Episode Information
Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
Sean Carroll | Wondery
5/20/24
The Earth's climate keeps changing, largely due to the effects of human activity, and we haven't been doing enough to slow things down. Indeed, over the past year, global temperatures have been higher than ever, and higher than most climate models have predicted. Many of you have probably seen plots like this. Today's guest, Gavin Schmidt, has been a leader in measuring the variations in Earth's climate, modeling its likely future trajectory, and working to get the word out. We talk about the current state of the art, and what to expect for the future.
Support Mindscape on Patreon.
Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2024/05/20/276-gavin-schmidt-on-measuring-predicting-and-protecting-our-climate/
Gavin Schmidt received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from University College London. He is currently Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and an affiliate of the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University. His research involves both measuring and modeling climate variability. Among his awards are the inaugural Climate Communications Prize of the American Geophysical Union. He is a cofounder of the RealClimate blog.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.