Smog Cloud Silver Lining

Summer 2023 was a pretty scary one for the planet. Global temperatures in June and July reached record highs. And over in the North Atlantic Sea, the water temperature spiked to off-the-chart levels. Some people figured that meant we were about to go over the edge—doomsday. In the face of this, Hank Green (a long time environmentalist and science educator behind SciShow, Crash Course, and more), took to social media to put things in context andto keep people focused on what we can do about climate change.

In the process, he came across a couple studies that suggested a reduction in sulfurous smog from cargo ships may have accidentally warmed the waters. And while Hank saw a silver lining around those smog clouds, the story he told—about smog clouds and cooling waters and the problem of geoengineering—took us on a rollercoaster ride of hope and terror. Ultimately, we had to wrestle with the question of what we should be doing about climate change, or what we should even talk about.

Special thanks to Dr. Colin Carson and Avishay Artsy.

EPISODE CREDITS:

Reported by - Lulu Miller
with help from - Alyssa Jeong Perry
Production help from - Alyssa Jeong Perry
Original music and sound design contributed by - Jeremy Bloom
with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom
Fact-checking by - Natalie Middleton
and Edited by - N/A

CITATIONS:

Videos:

Sci Show (https://www.youtube.com/@SciShow)

Crash Course (https://www.youtube.com/crashcourse)

Articles:

The article Hank came across (https://zpr.io/zKYxWht3Nmy7)

Books:

Under a White Sky (https://zpr.io/zKYxWht3Nmy7): The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert

Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!

Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.

Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.

Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.