Climate Change - weather, climate & science communications. Frank discussion with Research Meteorologist Jared Rennie

While it often feels like the weather is a chaotic spin of the dice, the long-term data tells a consistent story. In this episode of Whimsical Wavelengths, Dr. Jeffrey Zurek sits down with Jared Rennie, a research meteorologist from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), to bridge the gap between today’s forecast and the decades of data defining our changing climate.

We pull back the curtain on how scientists "take the temperature of the Earth," the rigorous peer-review process behind global datasets, and why the most important part of climate science happens at the kitchen table.

Topics

Weather vs. Climate: A definitive breakdown of why today's sunny high of 70°F is weather, while the 30-year average that says it should be 50°F is climate.

The Same Conclusion: Exploring how independent organizations like NASA, Copernicus (EU), and Berkeley Earth use different methodologies but arrive at the same result

Vulnerability & Resilience: Defining how exposure to hazards intersects with socioeconomic factors, including access to air conditioning and healthcare.

Climate Attribution: The emerging science of determining if a specific flood or heatwave was made more likely by human-caused climate change.

Effective Communication: "Climate" can be a trigger word and how using empathy and "kitchen table issues" helps make science relatable

Chapters

(00:00) Sunny Quips and Cloudy Chuckles

(01:45) The Overwhelming Data of the Atmosphere

(02:30) Definitions: Weather vs. Climate

(04:00) Guest: Jared Rennie (NOAA)

(07:30) In-Situ Measurements

(09:30) Sea Surface Temperature: the Ocean's Record

(11:30) The 30-Year Normal: 1991 to 2020 Baseline

(15:50) The 2024 Record: The Warmest Year

(19:00) Dealing with Skepticism: The Berkeley Earth Story

(22:30) Empathy in Communication: Listening to the Audience

(24:45) Kitchen Table Issues: Dr. Marshall Shepherd’s Strategy

(26:15) Local Impacts: Iowa Doesn't Care About Sea Level Rise

(29:40) The Polar Vortex vs. Global Warming

(32:30) 1:1000 Year Floods: Changing Probabilities

(36:15) Vulnerability: Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity

(41:10) Social Determinants of Health and Climate Equity

(44:00) Citizen Science: The CoCoRaHS Network

(48:00) Saving Us: Paraphrasing Dr. Katharine Hayhoe

(51:00) Optimism: Renewable Trends and Policy Changes

(52:30) The Science Joke

Links & Resources

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Whimsical Wavelengths: Deep-dive conversations where a working scientist unpacks how we know what we know, one paper, one idea, or whimsical detour at a time. Hosted by Dr. Jeffrey Zurek (P.Geo).