extreme weather

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  (IPCC) 2018 -PW092

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  (IPCC) 2018 predicts far more dire and rapidly escalating consequences of Climate Change than any IPCC analysis thus far, and calls for a historically unprecedented  transformation of the world economy to avert the worst of the damage. Two of the IPCC’s authors, Dr. Nathalie Mehowald of Cornell and • Read More »


Earth and Mars Scientists Discuss Current Research-PW091

  Chris McKay, NASA Mars Researcher, and Friederike Otto, University of Oxford climate modeller Science is the focus of this week’s Planet Watch.  Senior NASA scientist Chris McKay, in the Planetary Systems Branch of NASA Ames, is an expert on the evolution of the solar system and the origins of life. Chris is also involved in • Read More »


What to do About the Human Predicament? A Conversation with Friends-PW081

Friends visit Planet Watch’s Joe Jordan for a free-ranging conversation on what an “everyday person” can do about the consequences of anthropogenic climate change, including our attitudes and actions when confronted catastrophic floods, droughts, crop failures, world hunger, the extreme decline in biodiversity, and a world on fire. Jack Nelson, Surrey Kent, and Diane Warren, • Read More »


Dr. Robert Kopp on the Latest Climate Report-PW052

We hear from Dr. Robert Kopp, one of the leading climate scientists in the U.S. talking about the most recent government report and what it says about sea level rise. Also, a story about selective logging in Santa Cruz County and a wave energy test facility in Oregon. Plus bombogenesis, ridiculously resilient ridges, and other • Read More »


Fog Into Water: Dr. Dan Fernandez-PW020

If you live in London or San Francisco, a constantly renewing source of water hovers all around you: Fog. Planet Watch interviews  California State University Monterey Bay scientist Dr. Dan Fernandez about his work capturing moisture from fog and how that research may someday allow all of us to have water making machines in our • Read More »


City Climate Action Coordinator: Tiffany Wise-West of Santa Cruz, California – PW012

Climate Action Coordinator for the city of Santa Cruz, California – Dr. Tiffany Wise-West discusses the city’s Climate Action Plan and the process of preparing for sea level rise. She explains the distinctions between climate mitigation and adaptation and describes the city’s  first sea level rise vulnerability and social vulnerability assessments, in which her team • Read More »


Adapting to Climate Change: Water & Ecosystems-PW006

On today’s show, two scientists talk about ecosystems and water resources in a changing planet. University of California Santa Cruz evolutionary biologist, Professor Erika Zavaleta discusses her work on ecosystems and how they adapt to extreme changes in climate. UCSC marine scientist Dr. Adina Paytan tells about the Oroville dam failure and shares other unfolding • Read More »