Mindscape 276 | Gavin Schmidt on Measuring, Predicting, and Protecting Our Climate

Patreon: / seanmcarroll
Blog post with audio player, show notes, and transcript: www.preposterousuniverse.com/...
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. 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.
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.
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[@michealcline2469]

Wake up, get coffee, and turn up MindScape... My favorite part of Mondays.

[@mrglassscience]

Climate Change episode, yes. I know it's a tough topic to speak about, but we appreciate that you are doing it.

[@user-ib6gb9sr4b]

Tough topic? There are no politics here. It's all 100% science/facts/empirical evidence. Not tough at all. Just the facts, Ma'am (Mister).

[@gsilcoful]

Thank you.

[@trevorcrowley5748]

I reviewed the GISS GCM Model E Fortran source code. Very impressive work. I very much enjoyed reading the RealClimate blog as well. I have hope

[@SnoopGotTheScoop]

good podcast, but the audio was not the best

[@BoyKhongklai]

I woke up, saw the thumbnail and thought to myself, that doesn't look like Sean, or he's transformed 😂

[@usathomeintheworld677]

Just a heads up, but there were some audio problems.

[@AlanMGross]

Very interesting discussion of the topic, but I feel Gavin Schmidt copped out at the end. After all, he has a model that predicts how changing inputs change climate. Why didn't he answer the question of what we citizens can do collectively that will be most effective in changing (reducing) climate change.

[@Nope-w3c]

the answer is nothing. we did too little too late. it appears all models underestimated the effects and it looks like we're heading to a 3-3.4 degree increase.

[@AlanMGross]

@@Nope-w3c My point is, if what you say is correct, what can we do to get closer to 3, rather than 3.4?

[@BjerkeRobin]

You did it! You guys solved climate change! In all seriousness though, this was an excellent episode 👍 it's more important than ever now to have vontent like this that focusses entirely on the science. 👌

[@thesilentmajority2765]

I love everything science but something about climate science is very boring to me

[@trevorcrowley5748]

"People feel boredom a lot when they feel trapped. And feeling trapped is a big part of boredom. That is, they are stuck or constrained so that their will cannot be executed. For example, adolescence is a peak period for boredom, largely because children and teenagers are not given a lot of control over what they want to do." - Eight Reasons Why We Get Bored

[@John-tc3ln]

I wonder if it's some kind of avoidance. TMT ... I noticed immediately some kind of resistance myself lol

[@DanaVastman]

Boring? Wow... This kind of reaction just reinforces the feeling that I'm stuck on a ship of drunken fools

[@DanaVastman]

Boring? Wow... This kind of reaction just reinforces the feeling that I'm stuck on a ship of drunken fools

[@emptycloud2774]

What science do you like?