Last week’s elections delivered climate wins and setbacks. What will a second Donald Trump presidency mean for climate policy going forward? What can President Joe Biden accomplish in the remainder of his term? And how did state climate measures perform? Host Amy Scott talks with Washington Post climate reporter Shannon Osaka to unpack it all.

In the wake of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, the internet was flooded with conspiracy theories and misinformation, ranging from false claims that the government geo-engineerd the storm on purpose, to false rumors around FEMA blocking aid from people who needed it.

In this installment of ?Burning Questions,? “How We Survive? host Amy Scott interviews climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe to find out what drives conspiracy theories after a climate disaster and what we can do to combat misinformation with our friends and loved ones. 

Resources to combat misinformation:

Katharine Hayhoe?s tools You can also check out Katharine’s “Talking Climate” newsletter FEMA?s hurricane rumor response Skeptical Science resources National Climate Assessment

After spending nearly a year exploring U.S. national security and climate change, some big questions remain: Should the American military be smaller? Is that even possible? And what about the upcoming election; Could it upend the military?s climate focus? In our last episode of the season, host Kai Ryssdal reflects on his past and explores the possibilities for the military?s future.  

To support Marketplace?s impactful journalism, donate here: https://support.marketplace.org/hws-sn

 

Imagine it?s 2044. We?ve failed to control global warming and temperatures have risen 2 degrees Celsius. Northern South America is suffering from extreme heat, mudslides, agricultural collapse and rolling blackouts. Governments are falling apart and 2 million people are on the move. If you were president of the United States, what would you do?

The U.S. military has used simulated scenarios, called wargames, for decades to help prepare for future threats. These days, climate change is the focus of some Pentagon wargames. In this episode, we look at how wargaming became a tool for the military to anticipate threats, and host Kai Ryssdal steps into the Oval Office to play out a climate crisis set in 2044, with help from two retired high-level military officials and a professional game designer.

To support Marketplace?s impactful journalism, donate here: https://support.marketplace.org/hws-sn

On Jan. 20, a 20-foot wave crashed into a community center on a U.S. military base in the Marshall Islands. The wave broke down the door, smashed windows and even dragged people under. Waves and storm-driven flooding aren?t uncommon in the Marshall Islands. But this one hit a base that?s vital to U.S. national security. It?s where the United States conducts missile testing. Very few people ever see this remote and fortified location on a tiny island halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Host Kai Ryssdal treks across the Pacific to find out how our military will respond to the existential climate threat, and asks: What do rich countries and major carbon emitters like the U.S. owe to the people and nations bearing the brunt of the climate crisis?

To support Marketplace?s journalism, donate here.

The Department of Defense is an enormous consumer of energy, using 73 million barrels of fuel annually. An F-22 Raptor, a fighter jet, burns 15 gallons of gas every minute when cruising. And more than a third of the DoD?s emissions come from powering its estimated 750 bases around the world.

On the flip side, the Pentagon has an enormous budget, about $850 billion a year. So how is it leveraging some of that money and power to work on some of our biggest climate problems?

In this episode, host Kai Ryssdal takes a look at some of the promising tech solutions that the military is investing in to make it more resilient and reduce emissions. We tour a warehouse in New York making sustainable aviation fuel, visit a microgrid at the original Top Gun school in California and swing by the E-ring, where the higher-ups in the Pentagon work. 

To support Marketplace?s journalism, donate here.

The Arctic is warming three to four times faster than the rest of the world, and as it warms, a whole new set of national security issues is emerging. This episode, host Kai Ryssdal traverses the frozen terrain that could be the center stage for global conflict. We hitch a ride with the Coast Guard, drop in on training exercises in the frigid Alaskan mountain range and uncover vital military infrastructure that?s falling into the ocean. How are climate change and national security converging in the Arctic? And is our military ready for it?

To support Marketplace?s impactful journalism, donate here: https://support.marketplace.org/hws-sn

Today, the White House and the Department of Defense recognize climate change as a threat to national security. And the military is on the front lines of having to deal with the fallout.

In this episode, “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal remembers what it was like serving in the military during the Cold War tensions of the 1980s. He visits a Navy research lab that studies warfighter performance in extreme temperatures, where he becomes a guinea pig. And he explores how climate change has become a ?threat multiplier.?

To support Marketplace?s impactful journalism, donate here: https://support.marketplace.org/hws-sn

For ?Marketplace? host Kai Ryssdal, joining the Navy fresh out of college was one of the most consequential times of his life. It was the 1980s; the Cold War and the Soviet “evil empire,” in President Ronald Reagan’s words, was the greatest threat. Fast-forward through 40 years and one career change, and the threat looks different. Climate change does not have a face or a flag, but it will fundamentally change the way the U.S. military trains and fights. It already has. 

In the sixth season of “How We Survive,” Ryssdal travels to far corners of the world, from a small Arctic village to a remote island in the Pacific. He shines a light on how the institution that shaped him could shape our climate future.

To an individual, the climate crisis can feel overwhelming. There?s only so much composting you can do, right? It can be tempting to bury your head in the sand. But what if instead we imagine that we can succeed in fighting climate change? That?s the subject of Ayana Johnson?s new book, “What If We Get It Right?” Amy talks with Johnson about how we can fight off climate dread and work toward a more sustainable future.

 

One important way individuals can make a difference in their carbon emissions is to electrify their home. But that can feel like a daunting change when you?re just getting started. In this episode, Amy talks with Donnel Baird, founder of BlocPower, a start up that?s focused on electrifying homes and buildings. They dive into all the climate conscious changes, big and small, you can make in your own home.

Learn more:

Explore the Department of Energy’s guide to home energy rebates for homeowners and renters Check out these budget-friendly tips for making your home more energy efficient from The Washington Post

Do I need to stop eating meat if I care about the planet? Does it really matter where I buy my food? How can I make climate-friendly food choices if I?m short on time? Amy chats with Melissa Nelson, professor of Indigenous sustainability at Arizona State University, about how our day-to-day food choices can make a difference to the planet.

Learn more:

Find locally grown food with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Farmers Market Directory Check out the climate impact of different food groups with this interactive article from the New York Times

?How We Survive? listener Anna wants to know: “Where should I live? Every now and then I look at maps and try to determine the safest place to live, but I don’t even know where to start when it comes to evaluating climate risks.”

In this episode of “Burning Questions,” Amy talks with Marketplace climate reporter Samantha Fields about the practical tools buyers and renters can use to figure out where the heck it’s safe to live as the climate crisis unfolds.

Try it yourself: Search for a property’s climate risk on Redfin or Realtor.com Check out this housing climate risk guide from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

In the past decade, 1.5 has become an important number when talking about the climate crisis. (As in 1½ degrees Celsius, which equates to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.) It?s considered the maximum increase in temperature since preindustrial times that Earth can handle before all sorts of terrible things happen. But on the surface, 1.5 degrees doesn?t sound like a huge number. So what gives? In this episode, Amy chats with climate experts to dive deeper into what this number actually means.

Have you ever wondered where it’s safe to buy (or rent) a home? Maybe you?re looking to make more environmentally friendly choices at the supermarket. Or, you?d like to know how to keep climate despair at bay. We?re here to help! The ?Burning Questions? series from “How We Survive” responds to your concerns, big and small, about the climate crisis. Join us as we navigate how our choices intersect with the well-being of the planet, starting June 26.

The Colorado River, vital to the American West, faces a crisis as demand surpasses its supply due to rising temperatures and unsustainable usage practices. As millions depend on its waters for survival, challenges like rampant growth and water-intensive farming further strain this precious resource. Across the region, communities must rethink water distribution and utilization to adapt to a drier future.

In this special, we follow Leigh Harris and her husband Franck Avril, residents grappling with water scarcity in their dream home built on a dry lot. Their journey underscores the urgency of finding affordable water sources amidst worsening drought. Additionally, we delve into technological innovations, from desalination to rain water, offering potential solutions to the crisis. We also examine a growing movement, rooted in Indigenous values, to give nature ? rivers, fish, crops and trees ? the same rights as people, and what that might mean for the future of the Colorado River.

We are working on another season of our series Burning Questions and we want to hear from you! What are your most pressing climate questions? Are you trying to figure out when to invest in an electric car? Or maybe you want to make climate-friendly changes to your diet?

Whatever your question is you can send us a note or a voice memo to [email protected]

We have a special episode for you today. We’re sharing an episode of the new podcast from APM Studios and Western Sound called ?Ripple.?

The largest oil spill in American history captivated the public’s attention for the entire summer of 2010. Authorities told a story of a herculean response effort that made shorelines safe and avoided a worst case scenario. Was that really the whole picture?

?Ripple? is a new series investigating the stories we were told were over.

In Season One, the reporting team traveled hundreds of miles across the Gulf Coast to learn the ongoing effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill — which are still impacting many coastal residents more than a decade later. Here is episode 1! And if you?d like to hear more episodes, you can find ?Ripple? wherever you get your podcasts.

Participate in the cycle of life and sequester some carbon while you?re at it ? even if you don?t have a city-provided green bin! Caleigh Wells and Candice Dickens-Russell geek out about their own composting methods, and discuss what they?ve learned from an urban farm owner.

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The Colorado River has been carved up and relentlessly fought over for decades. But has anyone ever asked what the river wants? Until recently, that answer was ?no.?

There?s a growing movement, rooted in Indigenous values, to give nature ? rivers, fish, crops and trees ? the same rights as people (and corporations). It?s known as Rights of Nature. In our last episode of the season we travel to the other side of the world, visit a mountain town making history and learn from salmon in the Pacific Northwest, as we figure out if personhood is feasible for the Colorado River and what that would mean for the river and those who depend on it.

As water supplies in the west dry up, finding solutions is critical. The good news is that water is all around us, if you know where to look and how to treat it. In this episode, we?re going on a road trip to check out the fascinating technology producing water from the sewer, the ocean and even out of the sky! Plus, Amy tastes the next generation of water and shares her favorite.

Las Vegas is a fantastical Disneyland for adults in the middle of the desert. It features fabulous displays of water ? like the thousand dancing fountains of the Bellagio Hotel or the winding canals that recreate Venice at the Venetian Hotel. But surprisingly, it?s a city that has also become known for water conservation and innovation.

In this episode, we sit down with Pat Mulroy, who was the top water manager in Southern Nevada for 25 years and led conservation efforts in the desert city. We talk with her about the existential crisis that Las Vegas and other desert cities face, how Southern Nevada has been able to cut its Colorado River water use by 31% in the past two decades, and what that means for the trade-offs that we all may have to consider to keep living where we want to live.

When Leigh Harris and her husband, Franck Avril, moved into their dream home, Leigh said she felt like the luckiest person in the world. The home is in Rio Verde Foothills, Arizona, outside Scottsdale, in unincorporated Maricopa County. It?s a large stucco house, with high ceilings, a fireplace and 35 windows to take in the mountain views.

There was just one downside. Their home was built on a dry lot, which meant water was hauled in by trucks from Scottsdale. And amid a worsening drought, Scottsdale had to cut them off. This episode, we follow Leigh and Franck as they scramble to find an affordable water supply and make the most of every last drop.

Kingman, Arizona, a small farming town in the desert, is a cautionary tale in the West?s water crisis.

About a decade ago, large corporate farms started moving into the desert of Mohave County, growing thirsty crops like alfalfa and nuts. At the time, there were practically no rules restricting groundwater pumping, and local officials worried the farms would run the town dry. So local leaders did something that hadn?t been done in 40 years. They asked the state to step in and pass strict rules on groundwater pumping.

This episode, we travel to Kingman to look at a complicated solution that has splintered a community, pitting neighbors against each other and farmers and ranchers against elected officials.

The city of Albuquerque exists in part because of the Azotea Tunnel, a massive infrastructure project that effectively rerouted part of the Colorado River into the Rio Grande. The project helped sustain Albuquerque?s rapid population growth. Meanwhile, some communities lost out. Water that would have flowed through the Jicarilla Apache Nation was instead diverted via the tunnel.

In this episode, we travel 180 miles north of Albuquerque to the town of Dulce to talk to Daryl Vigil, retired longtime water administrator, about how the tribe is fighting for a seat at the table in ongoing Colorado River management. And we visit To?Hajiilee, a community dealing with water insecurity that stands to benefit from leasing Jicarilla settlement water.

Over a century after its namesake river ? the Gila ? was stolen by colonization, the Gila River Indian Community won its water rights back. Now the community is using the water to restore its farming economy, build back wetlands that long ago dried up and help stabilize the Colorado River system.

Buckeye, Arizona, is a small city with dreams of becoming ?the next Phoenix.? It?s one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. In the past few decades, its population has ballooned more than twentyfold, and the city plans to add more than 100,000 new homes in coming years.

The only catch? Growth requires water. And Buckeye doesn?t have enough. So what?s a small city with big dreams to do? Part of the answer lies in one scrubby acre of land way out in the desert that?s owned by a group of investors.

The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the American West. Millions of people rely on it to live. But we?re using more water than the river has to give, and it?s already lost trillions of gallons to rising temperatures since 2000. Meanwhile, rampant growth and water-intensive farming have depleted groundwater supplies. This means Western states must fundamentally rethink how water is divided up and used. In this season of “How We Survive,” we find an oasis in the desert, float down Las Vegas? finest canal and give wastewater a taste as we continue our hunt for solutions to the climate crisis.

When it comes to solving the climate crisis, artificial intelligence can be a powerful tool, but it comes with some significant risks. Marketplace?s AI reporter Matt Levin talks with Priya Donti, Assistant Professor at MIT and co-founder Climate Change AI about the promises and perils of AI.

WATCH: Can AI Help Solve the Climate Crisis? – TED

READ: How Big Tech AI models nailed forecast for Hurricane Lee a week in advance – The Washington Post

CHECK OUT: Climate Change AI

Do my food choices really matter? What about solutions like composting? In this installment of Burning Questions, NYT?s food journalist and best-selling cookbook author Priya Krishna is in conversation with restaurateur and founder of Zero Foodprint, Anthony Myint, to chat through the personal and structural changes we can make to our food choices to better the climate.

CHECK OUT: The impact of specific foods on the environment

COMPOST: Even if your city doesn’t offer municipal pick-up

DIG DEEPER: The science of regenerative agriculture with Anthony Myint

Some climate activists think it?s time to ramp up their efforts by vandalizing multimillion-dollar artworks and even sabotaging key infrastructure.  Should activists move beyond peaceful protests? Host Amy Scott talks with filmmakers Daniel Goldhaber and Ariela Barer about some of these ideas that show up in their environmental thriller ?How to Blow Up a Pipeline.?

Related Links:

OPINION: The moral case for destroying fossil fuel infrastructure – Andreas Malm

WATCH: TED – The fairy tales of the fossil fuel industry — and a better climate story – Luisa Neubauer

STREAM: How to Blow Up a Pipeline (Film)

Is it really that bad to buy a shirt from a fast fashion company? How can I tell if a company is really committed to sustainable practices? Do things like the quality of fabric matter to the environment? LAist?s Josie Huang sits down with fast-fashion expert and Columbia University professor Elizabeth Cline to discuss the impacts of what we wear.

Consume Less, Learn More:

Read: ?Fashion Creates Culture, and Culture Creates Action” from Vogue

Peruse: The ReMake brand directory

Get up to speed on: The Fabric Act

Ever wonder how our food choices impact the climate? Or how to make smarter selections when it comes to buying fast fashion? Us, too! ?How We Survive?s” Burning Questions video series explores those questions we?ve all had about how our actions contribute to the climate crisis. Join us as we find climate solutions big and small. 

We?re hard at work on the next season of ?How We Survive,? but we?re dropping into your feed today to say thank you.

To show our thanks, we?re going to give you a little peek behind the curtain to show you how we make ?How We Survive.? We’ll also play a few stories that?ll be new to our podcast audience about the dangers of the climate crisis and the solutions that help people live safely in vulnerable coastal communities ? at least for a while longer.

It?s listeners like you who keep this podcast going, and this Earth Day, we ask that you consider making a donation in support of Marketplace?s climate journalism. Every donation makes a big difference. Give here: marketplace.org/survive

You?ve raised your house up on stilts and your town has added higher seawalls and pumping stations, but sea level rise is relentless. Eventually, you may have to consider the ultimate solution: Leaving your home, giving the land back to nature and starting over somewhere else. There?s a jargony sounding name for this solution: Managed Retreat.

In our season finale, we head to a small island community off the coast of Louisiana that has lost 98% of its land to rising seas and sinking land. Now residents have to decide if they?re ready to leave the place most have called home their whole lives, or be swallowed up with it. Later in the episode, we unpack what managed retreat might mean for the rest of us, even those of us who don?t think we?re at any risk.

In this episode, we travel back in time to the place South Florida used to be ? the Everglades before it was drained, developed and transformed into the megalopolis we know today. We start with a bird?s-eye view of the ecosystem. Then we get down on the ground to look at the consequences of drainage up close. Finally we discuss why a restoration plan passed more than two decades ago is more pressing now than ever before.

We?ve told you the insurance industry in Florida is in crisis. Or as one industry insider put it, it?s holding on by ?a piece of chewing gum.?

In this episode, we explore possible solutions. We dive into the business of reinsurance, or insurance for insurers (turns out you can insure almost anything, including insurance policies); and we look at another possible solution that was born from the wreckage of Hurricane Andrew 30 years ago: the catastrophe bond, a financial instrument that allows investors to bet against storms and make money on risk. So long as a big storm doesn’t wipe them out completely.

You asked, we answered. Listeners wrote in wanting to know: “Who the hell loans these people money for mortgages? in risky coastal areas? Who ultimately owns the risk? Do certain investments, like REITs, drive gentrification (and what the heck is a REIT, anyway)? And finally, we tackle the age-old riddle: to rent or to buy? This episode is devoted to answering listener questions.

The insurance industry quietly rules our lives. It determines where and what we build. It?s also a linchpin of the housing market. Without it, homeowners can?t get mortgages. And without mortgages, most people can?t buy homes, and the whole housing market starts to collapse.

In this episode, we dig into Florida?s broken insurance market and what?s at stake if we don?t fix it. And we look back at Hurricane Andrew, the 1992 storm that changed the insurance industry.

What do a burning shed, a beautiful above-ground bunker and an island of misfits all have in common? They are all places we visit on our hunt for solutions.

This episode, we find out what it will take to stay in the places we love. We play around at a research lab where scientists are figuring out how to make our homes and buildings more resilient to the elements. Then, we leave the lab to see what it looks like to implement safer building methods and materials in real life; first, at a plastic surgeon?s impressive home ? 18 feet above sea level. Then, we head south to explore an island where living with the water is a way of life.

Buckle up, grab a hard hat, a tent (and maybe a snack). It?s going to be a bumpy ride! From camping on top of a glacier, right before billions of tons of ice melt off of it, to dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane that destroys Miami, this episode we?re diving head first into the realclimate predictions ? and the imagined ways society will handle them. 

We?re unpacking why a glacier halfway around the world is causing sea levels around South Florida to rise faster, and then we?re heading to an imagined world (that doesn?t seem too far from reality) where millions of people in Miami and South Florida are displaced after a hurricane ravages the metro area. With every twist and turn of the episode, we?re exploring the ways we can still have hope in the face of what?s to come.

The Little River community in Miami is known for frequent flooding during heavy rains, high tides and storms. And when the neighborhood floods, sewage can spill into the yard; toilets back up. Even though it floods, the housing market here is hot. Long-time residents face displacement. This episode looks at flooding and flipping and how the two are related.

Whether you live on the coast or not, sea-level rise will have profound impacts on all of us. So we packed up our bags and headed to Miami, a city that is considered one of the most vulnerable coastal cities in the world. How Miami responds will serve as a test case for how other places around the country survive the effects of climate change. Experts say seas here could rise by 5 feet or more by 2100, eventually leaving whole parts of the city underwater. So if the city is doomed, why isn?t the housing market acting like it? From multimillion-dollar waterfront mansions to a flood-prone block miles from the beach, we went on the hunt for answers.

A powerful hurricane was churning toward the southwest coast of Florida. It looked like it was going to be bad. So we hopped on a plane and headed first to Boston where we embedded with a team of catastrophe modelers who were tracking the disaster and calculating the potential losses.

The number they came up with is staggering high: $100 billion. And only $63 billion of that is insured.

We then visited Gasparilla Mobile Home Estates in Placida, Florida to see what these data points looked like on the ground, and talk to people who lost everything.

There?s the mythical version of Miami, the version that?s all about wealth and glamour and a never-ending party on the beach. And then there?s the real Miami, a deeply unequal place that could eventually be swallowed up by the Atlantic Ocean because of glaciers melting halfway around the world. Miami has been called the most vulnerable coastal city in the world because of climate change. South Florida could be one of the first places in the United States to see true devastation wrought by the climate crisis, devastation that threatens its very existence. This season, we?re asking: How will South Florida survive sea-level rise?

Technology will help us avoid the worst outcomes of the climate crisis, and it?ll help us adapt to a warming planet. But technology alone can?t save us. Humans need to make profound changes. We need to change our behavior, our consumption, our policies and our mindsets.

In the final episode of the season, we talk to a climate psychologist about how our minds react to change and hear from a politician relying on Fergie and Megan Thee Stallion to get Americans excited about energy policy. We also visit an encampment in the desert where people are already adapting to a changing climate, living off-grid and generating their own renewable energy.

Imagine a future where all the lithium we need has already been extracted from the ground and is endlessly recycled. Or where the batteries we use to store renewable energy are made from abundantly available materials ? like salt. This episode, we visit a lab where a couple of brilliant scientists are trying to build the batteries of the future. And we drop in on a company that?s extending the life cycle of lithium through something called ?urban mining.?

Our favorite place to look for climate solutions: Science fiction. In fact, sci-fi (and its sub-genre, cli-fi) is what got us thinking about adaptation in the first place.   Cli-fi can get a little bleak ? weather turns deadly; earth becomes uninhabitable; humans flee to space. And while it?s entertaining to imagine the worst-case scenarios, the best of the writing is hopeful. It allows us to dream up solutions that don?t involve billionaires, rockets or climate-changing satellite stations.  This week, Molly sits down with climate fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson to discuss his most recent book, “The Ministry for the Future,” which almost reads as a blueprint for saving the planet. 

Our journey through the California desert continues. We visit the quiet front-runner in the race to extract lithium from the superhot, corrosive brine bubbling underground. And we dive into the past to look at an earlier attempt to harvest lithium from the Salton Sea. That project ended in failure, but its patents live on. And those patents could be a roadblock for the companies racing to extract the ?white gold? today. With millions of dollars invested and a global supply of lithium waiting below the Salton Sea, there is a lot on the line.