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PODCAST

Climate Break

Climate change is upon us. Fires, droughts, hurricanes, sea level rise, and melting ice caps are all part of our new normal. But something else is happening as well. Scientists, innovators, organizations, cities, companies, and citizens are taking action, making progress, and finding solutions. Climate Break brings you stories of climate progress and interviews with climate innovators from California and around the world, in under 2 minutes. Our solution-oriented, radio-ready shows are produced by

science nature

All Episodes

00:01:45

Learning from Luxembourg's Approach to EVs with...

Climate Break ·

2023/08/18

Background on LuxembourgLuxembourg is a tiny country in Western Europe wedged between Belgium, France, and Germany. It has one of the highest vehicle densities in the EU, with nine out of ten people relying on personal vehicles. The country is currently facing rapid population growth, stressing its mobility infrastructure and complicating efforts to meet emission goals in line with the European Green New Deal. Luxembourg’s green mobility goals include increasing the number of EVs on the road,

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00:34:52

Climate Change Litigation on Behalf of Young People,...

Climate Break ·

2023/08/15

Youth-Led Climate LitigationWorldwide, litigants are turning to the courts as a forum for fighting climate change, filing lawsuits against governments in an attempt to force climate action. Plaintiffs in these lawsuits are often children and young adults, who represent those most affected by government climate inaction. A notable early example of youth-led litigation related to climate change was in the Philippines in the 1990s, where forty-three students sued the Philippine government to protect

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00:01:44

Tackling the Plastic Crisis, with Martin Bourque

Climate Break ·

2023/08/15

What is plastic? Plastic is a material derived primarily from carbon-based sources like natural gas, oil, and even plants. It is created by treating these organic materials with heat and catalysts to form various polymers. Producing plastic is energy-intensive, often relying on the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, both for power and as a primary source.As a product of fossil fuels, plastic itself is unsustainable because of its fundamental connection to nonrenewable energy.

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00:01:45

Hydrogen Fuel’s Potential to Decarbonize Aviation

Climate Break ·

2023/08/08

The Carbon Cost of AviationTransportation is a leading contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, with air travel playing a significant role. In the United States, the transportation sector accounted for 29 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. Commercial airplanes and large business jets contributed ten percent of U.S. transportation emissions, and three percent of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. EPA. Despite reduced travel during the COVID-19

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00:01:44

Using Mobile Apps to Improve Air Quality Awareness in...

Climate Break ·

2023/08/01

What’s the state of air quality in Ghana?Over the last century, environmental pollution and air quality have been worsening in Africa. An estimated 28,000 deaths in Ghana and 780,000 deaths across the continent each year are associated with poor air quality. The World Health Organization found air pollution in 2020 to be the second highest risk factor for premature death in Ghana. Vehicle emissions, industrial waste, slash-and-burn farming methods, industrial pollution, and biomass burning are the

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00:01:45

Using Paleo Valleys to Recharge Aquifers, with Dr....

Climate Break ·

2023/07/25

What are Paleo Valleys? Paleo Valleys were created at the end of the last ice age by melting glaciers that carved into the sediments deposited in the Central Valley. When the glaciers receded, high-velocity meltwater carried sediments and grain material into the valley. These sediments are extremely porous, and the permeability means they can absorb 60 times more water than surrounding clay. Because of this, they provide a pathway that can draw surface water hundreds of meters down to aquifers,

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00:01:45

Electrifying Motorcycle Taxis in Africa to Reduce...

Climate Break ·

2023/07/18

What are motorcycle taxis? Motorcycle taxis are indispensable in East Africa and other developing countries. In large cities experiencing unplanned growth, agile moto-taxis can navigate congestion while transporting millions of people. In Rwanda, more than half of all vehicles on the road at any moment are motorcycle taxis. But gasoline-powered motorcycles are not cheap: fuel is expensive, maintenance can be expensive, and the motorcycles can cause serious air pollution and emit greenhouse

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00:01:42

Prescribed Burns with Bill Tripp

Climate Break ·

2023/07/11

What is a Prescribed Burn?Prescribed burns “reduc[e] excessive amounts of brush, shrubs, and trees, encouraging the new growth of native vegetation, and maintaining the many plant and animal species whose habitats depend on periodic fire,” according to Smokey Bear. Prescribed burns are conducted by intentionally igniting a fire on a day with very little to no wind in the forecast, in an area with abundant dry brush that was not recently burned. Fire is a natural part of California’s ecosystems

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00:01:45

Rerun: Using Windows to Capture Solar Power with...

Climate Break ·

2023/07/06

What are solar windows? Solar windows, also known as building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), are windows that generate electricity from sunlight. They are typically made with thin, transparent layers of photovoltaic material that can capture and convert solar energy into electricity while still allowing light to pass through, so as to avoid sacrificing visibility. Solar windows are an emerging alternative to traditional solar panels in buildings and homes that can be seamlessly integrated into

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00:01:44

Climate Change Litigation on Behalf of Young People

Climate Break ·

2023/06/27

Youth-Led Climate LitigationWorldwide, litigants are turning to the courts as a forum for fighting climate change, filing lawsuits against governments in an attempt to force climate action. Plaintiffs in these lawsuits are often children and young adults, who represent those most affected by government climate inaction. A notable early example of youth-led litigation related to climate change was in the Philippines in the 1990s, where forty-three students sued the Philippine government to protect

en

00:01:45

Shifting Public Opinion with Warning Labels on Gas...

Climate Break ·

2023/06/21

What are Climate Change Disclosure Labels?Highlighting the link between a product’s consumption and its carbon footprint could potentially alter harmful consumer behavior that contributes to climate change. Similar to how warning labels on cigarettes changed the smoking habits of some users, placing climate change disclosure labels on gas pumps could introduce discomfort that serves as an effective intervention that connects consumers to the dangerous reality of fossil fuels and illuminates the

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00:01:45

Cool surfaces: Reflecting heat and reducing...

Climate Break ·

2023/06/13

What is a cool surface?Cool surfaces are roofs, walls, or pavements that are generally light-colored and highly reflective. When sunlight hits a white surface, its rays bounce off the surface rather than being absorbed, and are reflected back into space. Darker surfaces tend to absorb sunlight, trapping heat. Cool surfaces release this heat back into the atmosphere and space. What are the benefits of switching to a cool surface?Something as simple as painting the roof white has the potential to

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00:01:44

Improving on 100% Renewable Portfolio Standards...

Climate Break ·

2023/06/07

Peninsula Clean EnergyPeninsula Clean Energy is a community choice aggregation (CCA) founded in 2016 that serves about 310,000 customers in San Mateo County and the City of Los Banos. Peninsula Clean Energy has focused on increasing renewables since beginning service, setting higher targets for renewable energy procurement than those mandated by California under the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). By 2025, Peninsula Clean Energy is aiming to achieve 99 percent renewable electricity on an hourly

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00:01:47

Growing a Conservative Youth Environmental Movement,...

Climate Break ·

2023/05/30

History of Republican EnvironmentalismThe history of Republican environmentalism spans decades. On January 1, 1970, just a few months before the very first Earth Day, President Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) into law. NEPA created a program to review and require government agencies to take into consideration the environmental impacts and consequences of their actions or projects. After the first Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970, President Nixon signed into law a

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00:01:46

Municipal Investment in Clean Energy Tech through...

Climate Break ·

2023/05/24

What is Community Choice Aggregation?Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) is a system that allows local governments to purchase power directly from an energy supplier other than the existing utility. This means that while the existing utility continues to deliver the power, the CCA buys and generates the power itself, potentially from renewable sources. CCAs continue to pay fees to the existing utility for energy transmission and backup power. While not required, CCAs can set ambitious climate

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00:01:46

The Clean Energy Potential of Nuclear Fusion, with...

Climate Break ·

2023/05/16

What is nuclear fusion?Nuclear fusion produces energy by fusing atoms together. Atomic cores (nuclei) merge together to form a heavier—though unstable—nucleus, releasing mass to regain stability. This mass release corresponds to an energy release, given Einstein’s equation E=mc2, which says in part that mass and energy can be converted into each other. The sun, along with all other stars, uses nuclear fusion to generate energy, which is released as heat and light. The 2022 Fusion Breakthrough In

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00:01:44

Recharging Aquifers with Flood Waters, with Daniel Swain

Climate Break ·

2023/05/09

Climate change is increasing flood risk worldwide. Climate change is intensifying flood risk around the world, with potentially devastating consequences for communities and infrastructure. As the planet gets hotter, the atmosphere's capacity to hold water vapor increases, leading to more frequent and intense precipitation events in certain regions. Extreme rainfall events can overwhelm stormwater and other drainage systems and result in dangerous flash flooding. A 2021 study published by the

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00:01:45

How International Trade Policy Can Boost Climate...

Climate Break ·

2023/05/02

Existing Carbon Tariffs Subsidize Polluting IndustriesAccording to new international environmental economic research, most countries’ existing trade policies implicitly subsidize carbon pollution. That’s because many polluting industries, like oil production, face lower tariffs and fewer non-tariff barriers to trade (NTB) than industries selling finished products to consumers. In other words, carbon tariffs tend to be assessed on upstream industries only indirectly and later in the process (at the

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00:01:48

State Wildlife Management and Resilience, with Chuck...

Climate Break ·

2023/04/25

Climate Change Exacerbates California’s WildfiresNearly all of California’s landscapes are naturally fire-dependent or fire-adapted, and this beneficial relationship with fire allows ecosystems to maintain healthy functions and promotes biodiversity. However, high-intensity wildfires disrupt this relationship and cause detrimental damage to these ecosystems as wildfires impact tree regeneration, soil erosion, and water quality. According to modeling by the California Air Resources Board, climate

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00:01:44

Sequestering Carbon using Compost and Grasslands,...

Climate Break ·

2023/04/18

Carbon SequestrationCarbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide to slow the pace of climate change. There are two major types of carbon sequestration: geologic and biologic. Geological carbon sequestration injects carbon dioxide captured from an industrial or energy-related source into underground geologic formations. Biological carbon sequestration refers to the storage of atmospheric carbon in vegetation, soils, woody products, and aquatic environments

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