The natural gas industry is still bleeding tons of methane into our atmosphere. The top body for American Scientists warns we must act now to prevent climate catastrophe. And an international team confirms the world food supply will be hit hard in a changing climate.
All interviews by Alex Smith for Radio Ecoshock
Incidental music by Alex Smith
In the 58 minute radio version, there is a good break point at 28 min 13 sec for those who need it.
First to our continuing coverage of methane emissions from natural gas. What could be more timely after a deadly blast in New York City, and a barrage of ads from the industry saying how green they are. Please notice I take care in the first story to let you know who funded this assessment of the industry, and some of the energy-friendly government labs who took part in it. Even so, they found a lot of leaking methane, and super-emitters in some states.
The biggest body of U.S. science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science releases a definitive report on climate change: "What We Know". In addition to scientist McCarthy, we talk with Wall Street insider Bob Litterman - how the financial industry sees climate change.
Then to a topic I've followed for years: the threat to world food production from an unstable climate. We're already seeing it, and the future has worse to come.
Dr. A.J. Challinore of Leeds University, UK is lead scientist behind a new paper on the threat of climate change to world food production. He's also an author in the soon-to-be-released Fifth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC.
Even though some areas will benefit with better crops, on average, billions of people will become food challenged as the century progresses into more unstable weather. It's already happened in Russia and Australia. Now it's in California. There may be no bigger story on Earth.