Climate Change

Dr. Michael E. Mann is distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State and director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center. He is recognized around the world as a leading expert on climate change. His latest book is “The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet,” published by Hachette. WPSU’s Kristine Allen talked with Michael Mann about tactics used by climate change deniers, what needs to be done about the climate crisis, and why he's optimistic about tackling climate change.

David Pribulka, manager of Ferguson Township in Centre County, stood on a suburban street in late February, as snow melted and ran down a drain. The township recently adopted a stormwater fee, and he was pointing to one of the projects the fee will help pay for: a badly needed improvement to a drainage way. 

For Ron Reese, a dairy farmer in western Centre County, a tour of the farm on a warm fall day includes a short history lesson. 

After World War II, the family bought stalls for dairy cows from Sears and Roebuck, and started shipping whole milk.

“In 1946, Sears and Roebuck was the Amazon of the world,” Reese said.

 The property where Reese and his wife, Jane, live is about 650 acres. That includes about 400 acres that’s farmed, along with picturesque rolling hillsides and forested land.

When COVID-19 hit Pennsylvania in March, universities moved to shut down in-person classes and suspend some lab work work and field research. For environmental scientists, that’s meant changes and delays in how work gets done.

In her book, “Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore,” Elizabeth Rush takes readers around the country to see rising tides . Rush talks with people around the country who have lost their homes and communities; with scientists who study what’s happening; and with conservationists trying to find ways to restore wetlands. Rush’s book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. WPSU's Anne Danahy spoke with Rush, who will be in State College March 23 to give a talk at 7 p.m. at Schlow Library to celebrate Earth Day.

A recent study published in the journal Science found the number of birds in North America is plummeting. The bird population dropped by more than a quarter over the past 50 years. Grassland birds, shore birds and songbirds are all affected. WPSU's Anne Danahy spoke with Greg Grove, editor of Pennsylvania Birds, and Doug Wentzel, president of the State College Bird Club, about bird watching and those trends

Wildfires continue to burn in parts of Australia. So far, more than 30 people have died and about 41,000 square miles have been burned. It’s estimated that hundreds of millions of animals have perished. WPSU’s Anne Danahy spoke about the fires with Jenni Evans, professor of meteorology and atmospheric science at Penn State and 2019 president of the American Meteorological Society.

We hear a lot about global warming, but not necessarily about how effective different proposed solutions actually are.

We talked with Tom Richard, the director of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment at Penn State, who helped organize the first ever Project Drawdown conference – which looked at the top 100 actions to reverse climate change.

And we talked with Jonathan Foley, the executive director of Project Drawdown, about the conference and the book it’s based on.  

TRANSCRIPT:

Climate change one of the most pressing issues of our time, but it's so big that it can be difficult to imagine how you as an individual can make an impact — or even know how to talk about it with other people in a meaningful way. This episode offers a few creative suggestions for addressing both of those things.

Our guest is Graham Bullock, associate professor of political science and environmental studies at Davidson College. His work covers everything from public policy to deliberative democracy, and the ways those things interact when it comes to climate and sustainability.

Student activists around the globe skipped school on Friday, September 20 to call for action on the issue of climate change.

In State College, a couple hundred activists of all ages participated, including many students.  They gathered at the Allen Street gates and marched to the steps of Penn State's Old Main.  Many of them held homemade signs with slogans like "Save the Earth," "Unite behind science," and "There is no planet B."

Penn State will host the Project Drawdown conference Sept. 16-18. It’s based on a book that outlines the 100 top actions to reverse climate change.

We talked with two conference presenters about “Drawdown” and the research they’re doing into fighting global warming.

An atmospheric scientist and evangelical Christian, Katharine Hayhoe is known for her ability to communicate science to everyday people, including skeptics of climate change. She is an award-winning professor at Texas Tech University and is involved in a number of educational initiatives, including hosting "Global Weirding," a public media program on YouTube.

Don Voigt is a retired a research associate for Penn State’s Ice and Climate Exploration group. During his career, he logged 18 seasons in Antarctica, seven in Greenland and two in Alaska. We’ll talk with him about his research with the Penn State Ice and Climate Exploration, his experiences at the ends of the earth, and his advice for aspiring scientists.  

Scientists agree that climate change is happening here and now--and that the sooner we act, the lower the risks and costs of catastrophic climate impacts. The documentary "Managing Risks in a Changing Climate," examines how scientists advised the Louisiana coastal region's decision-makers and citizen-stakeholders to create an action plan--something proactive cities across the globe are undertaking as well.

Republican Bob Inglis, a former South Carolina Congressman, lost his bid for reelection in 2010 for what many of his colleagues considered heresy: saying publicly that not only is climate change real, but that it's our duty to do something about it.  Slate magazine says his about-face on climate change makes him, "America's best hope for near-term climate action."  In 2012, Inglis launched the Energy and Enterprise Initiative, which promotes conservative and free-enterprise solutions--not subsidies and government regulations--to address climate change.