WEBVTT
00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:09.599
Welcome to Talking Climate with Catherine Hahoe.
00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:17.839
Each episode, we explore how climate change is affecting the people, places, and things we love, and what we can do to make a difference.
00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:25.600
From science to solutions and stories that inspire, you're in the right place for real talk about real change.
00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:32.000
Bogs were the topic of the Talking Climate newsletter guest edited by Merritt Terezky a few weeks ago.
00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:39.920
Now EOS, the news magazine of the American Geophysical Union, has an entire issue on peatlands.
00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:53.039
It's full of great bog stories, from ancient bog mummies to evidence that Antarctica was once a peatland, to news that birds are thriving at a solar park on degraded peat in Germany.
00:00:53.280 --> 00:01:04.000
One of the new studies they highlight finds that re-wetting Finland's 5 million hectares of drained peatland could turn them back into carbon sinks within a couple of decades.
00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:15.120
This is far faster than some earlier research suggested, and echoes what Merritt told us in her edition: put the water back and the carbon stays in the ground.
00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:24.480
This week we're talking about good news from ocean records, impossible choices in Afghanistan, and how you can help track climate change.
00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:26.079
Let's dive in.
00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:29.439
Good news.
00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:30.799
Even though the U.S.
00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:36.719
is canceling many types of scientific data collection, monitoring continues elsewhere.
00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:42.959
In the remote Faroe Islands, scientists have been tracking essential ocean currents for a long time.
00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:49.120
And this story from Tony Barrelmi explains how that long-term record holds some good news.
00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:58.640
One of the biggest tipping points scientists worry could be triggered by global warming is the Atlantic meridiomal overturning circulation, or AMOC.
00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:08.560
While the impacts of a weakening or even a collapse wouldn't be nearly as dramatic as imagined in the movie The Day After Tomorrow, they would still be severe.
00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:18.240
Faster sea level rise along North Atlantic coasts, colder winters in Northern Europe, and major disruptions to rainfall across the tropics.
00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:32.240
Despite rapid ocean warming and indications that Amok is in fact weakening across the Atlantic, ocean current measurements in the Faroe Islands have been holding steady since 1993 for now, and that's good news.
00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:40.159
This reminds us of what long-term monitoring makes possible because someone keeps taking careful measurements.
00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.159
Now it's happening in Afghanistan, too.
00:02:54.400 --> 00:03:02.879
Photographer Elise Blanchard traveled to Afghanistan and photographed families in Badgis province in the country's rural northwest.
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:07.199
Most villagers in Badge live in mud homes without electricity.
00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:14.319
Their contribution to climate change is virtually nothing, yet they are paying some of its steepest costs.
00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:25.280
Many shepherds and farmers are struggling to feed their families as climate change brings longer and harsher droughts that wither pastures and wipe out harvests.
00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:32.080
Faced with growing deaths, some families are marrying off their young daughters in exchange for bride prices.
00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:38.400
In one family, two daughters ages two and five are already engaged.
00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:44.159
I know they are too young to be engaged, their mother said, but we had no choice.
00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:52.080
One 14-year-old girl burst into tears on her wedding day, saying, I am not happy because I am very small.
00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:56.560
The reason why I'm a climate scientist is because of stories like this.
00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:03.039
Climate change takes so many of the inequities that already exist and makes them worse.
00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.680
It's profoundly unfair.
00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:15.360
Did you know you can contribute to climate monitoring?
00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:22.879
If you live in the U.S., nature's notebook lets you track seasonal changes in plants and animals near you.
00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:29.360
Right now, that might mean watching a favorite tree's leaves turn gold and noticing when they fall.
00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:32.959
In spring, you could look for its first buds and flowers.
00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:38.959
Scientists use these observations to understand how climate change is affecting nature.
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:55.199
Wherever you live, you can record observations of any plant or animal with iNaturalist, co-directed by my colleague Scott Laurie, with whom I published research on climate impacts on California's plants and any bird on eBird.
00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:03.040
You can also help transcribe historical weather records, which show how quickly climate has changed in locations around the world.
00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:06.480
Small observations and efforts like these add up.
00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:14.800
The reason we know about ocean currents off the Faroe Islands is because scientists kept measuring them in the same way for decades.
00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:24.959
Years of notes from thousands of people became a climate record, like the cherry tree blossom record in Kyoto, Japan that stretches back to the 800s.
00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:32.319
The faster climate changes, the more data we need to understand what's happening and why it matters.
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:46.160
Post-production and mix by John Crowley at Loudmouth Studio.
00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:54.800
For more resources, links, and actions you can take, check out the full newsletter at www.talkingclimate.ca.
00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:58.560
Until next time, keep talking climate.
00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:09.599
Welcome to Talking Climate with Catherine Hahoe.
00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:17.839
Each episode, we explore how climate change is affecting the people, places, and things we love, and what we can do to make a difference.
00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:25.600
From science to solutions and stories that inspire, you're in the right place for real talk about real change.
00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:32.000
Bogs were the topic of the Talking Climate newsletter guest edited by Merritt Terezky a few weeks ago.
00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:39.920
Now EOS, the news magazine of the American Geophysical Union, has an entire issue on peatlands.
00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:53.039
It's full of great bog stories, from ancient bog mummies to evidence that Antarctica was once a peatland, to news that birds are thriving at a solar park on degraded peat in Germany.
00:00:53.280 --> 00:01:04.000
One of the new studies they highlight finds that re-wetting Finland's 5 million hectares of drained peatland could turn them back into carbon sinks within a couple of decades.
00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:15.120
This is far faster than some earlier research suggested, and echoes what Merritt told us in her edition: put the water back and the carbon stays in the ground.
00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:24.480
This week we're talking about good news from ocean records, impossible choices in Afghanistan, and how you can help track climate change.
00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:26.079
Let's dive in.
00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:29.439
Good news.
00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:30.799
Even though the U.S.
00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:36.719
is canceling many types of scientific data collection, monitoring continues elsewhere.
00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:42.959
In the remote Faroe Islands, scientists have been tracking essential ocean currents for a long time.
00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:49.120
And this story from Tony Barrelmi explains how that long-term record holds some good news.
00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:58.640
One of the biggest tipping points scientists worry could be triggered by global warming is the Atlantic meridiomal overturning circulation, or AMOC.
00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:08.560
While the impacts of a weakening or even a collapse wouldn't be nearly as dramatic as imagined in the movie The Day After Tomorrow, they would still be severe.
00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:18.240
Faster sea level rise along North Atlantic coasts, colder winters in Northern Europe, and major disruptions to rainfall across the tropics.
00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:32.240
Despite rapid ocean warming and indications that Amok is in fact weakening across the Atlantic, ocean current measurements in the Faroe Islands have been holding steady since 1993 for now, and that's good news.
00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:40.159
This reminds us of what long-term monitoring makes possible because someone keeps taking careful measurements.
00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.159
Now it's happening in Afghanistan, too.
00:02:54.400 --> 00:03:02.879
Photographer Elise Blanchard traveled to Afghanistan and photographed families in Badgis province in the country's rural northwest.
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:07.199
Most villagers in Badge live in mud homes without electricity.
00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:14.319
Their contribution to climate change is virtually nothing, yet they are paying some of its steepest costs.
00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:25.280
Many shepherds and farmers are struggling to feed their families as climate change brings longer and harsher droughts that wither pastures and wipe out harvests.
00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:32.080
Faced with growing deaths, some families are marrying off their young daughters in exchange for bride prices.
00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:38.400
In one family, two daughters ages two and five are already engaged.
00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:44.159
I know they are too young to be engaged, their mother said, but we had no choice.
00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:52.080
One 14-year-old girl burst into tears on her wedding day, saying, I am not happy because I am very small.
00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:56.560
The reason why I'm a climate scientist is because of stories like this.
00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:03.039
Climate change takes so many of the inequities that already exist and makes them worse.
00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.680
It's profoundly unfair.
00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:15.360
Did you know you can contribute to climate monitoring?
00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:22.879
If you live in the U.S., nature's notebook lets you track seasonal changes in plants and animals near you.
00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:29.360
Right now, that might mean watching a favorite tree's leaves turn gold and noticing when they fall.
00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:32.959
In spring, you could look for its first buds and flowers.
00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:38.959
Scientists use these observations to understand how climate change is affecting nature.
00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:55.199
Wherever you live, you can record observations of any plant or animal with iNaturalist, co-directed by my colleague Scott Laurie, with whom I published research on climate impacts on California's plants and any bird on eBird.
00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:03.040
You can also help transcribe historical weather records, which show how quickly climate has changed in locations around the world.
00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:06.480
Small observations and efforts like these add up.
00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:14.800
The reason we know about ocean currents off the Faroe Islands is because scientists kept measuring them in the same way for decades.
00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:24.959
Years of notes from thousands of people became a climate record, like the cherry tree blossom record in Kyoto, Japan that stretches back to the 800s.
00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:32.319
The faster climate changes, the more data we need to understand what's happening and why it matters.
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:46.160
Post-production and mix by John Crowley at Loudmouth Studio.
00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:54.800
For more resources, links, and actions you can take, check out the full newsletter at www.talkingclimate.ca.
00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:58.560
Until next time, keep talking climate.
