TILclimate

Jun 06 2024 62 ep. 11 mins 2.1k
TILclimate Podcast artwork

Get smart quickly on climate change. This award-winning MIT podcast, Today I Learned: Climate, breaks down the science, technologies, and policies behind climate change, how it’s impacting us, and what our society can do about it. Each quick episode gives you the what, why, and how on climate change — from real scientists — to help us all make informed decisions for our future.

  Science
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2°C: the story of the global climate goal

Jun 06 2024 16 mins  
The landmark Paris Agreement of 2015 gave the world a shared target for halting climate change: that global warming should stop well short of 2 degrees Celsius. But how did that target come about, and what exactly does it mean?

Slow carbon, fast carbon

May 30 2024 9 mins  
The Earth naturally absorbs some of our climate pollution from burning fossil fuels. But how much, and how fast?

Is it safe to store CO2 underground?

May 23 2024 12 mins  
Today, companies are storing millions of tons of carbon dioxide underground every year to prevent this climate pollution from warming the planet. In the future it might be billions of tons. But is it dangerous to pump so much liquefied carbon below our feet?

An introduction to carbon capture (re-air)

May 16 2024 13 mins  
What if there was a way to continue using fossil fuels for energy without emitting CO2 into the atmosphere? To prepare for a new listener question about carbon capture, we're re-airing this season two episode.

How clean is green hydrogen?

May 09 2024 14 mins  
Is hydrogen fuel a climate solution? That depends on how you produce it.

Why are EVs more popular than hydrogen cars?

May 02 2024 10 mins  
Just 20 years ago, hydrogen cars and battery electric cars were pretty evenly matched as clean alternatives to gas-powered vehicles. But today, batteries are way ahead: the big car companies are rapidly electrifying their lineups, while only a few hydrogen cars are available. What happened?

An introduction to hydrogen energy (re-air)

Apr 25 2024 14 mins  
Hydrogen gas acts like a fossil fuel, but with no carbon emissions. Is it the silver bullet we’ve been waiting for? To prepare for some new listener questions about hydrogen energy, we're re-airing this season four episode in which Prof. Svetlana Ikonnikova of the Technical University of Munich explains how hydrogen works and its potential in the energy transition.

Do wind turbines kill birds?

Apr 11 2024 7 mins  
MIT Professor Michael Howland returns to the podcast to answer a listener's question about the risks of wind energy to birds—and explain how wind turbines compare to coal plants, power lines, office towers, housecats, and other threats to birdlife in the modern world.

Do wind turbines freeze up in the cold?

Apr 04 2024 7 mins  
You might have heard how wind turbines failed in Texas during a terrible cold front in 2021. Does this mean we can’t rely on this clean, renewable source of energy when the weather turns extreme?

Won’t more CO2 help plants grow?

Mar 28 2024 8 mins  
Plants take in CO2 from the air to grow—and today’s atmosphere has about 50% more CO2 than it did before we started burning massive amounts of fossil fuels. So, is that great news for plants?