Climate Cast Minnesota Public Radio

Heating and cooling our homes and buildings in Minnesota contribute about 40 percent of our state’s greenhouse gas emissions. What opportunity exists to reduce our carbon footprint by updating our building codes?

MPR News correspondent Dan Kraker wrote about that recently and shared his key takeaways.

A scientist at the University of Minnesota may have found a better way to track the effects of climate change on Arctic and boreal regions like northern Minnesota where temperatures are rising at some of the fastest rates in the world.

Rui Cheng, a professor in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Minnesota, is behind the research on using leaf glow to monitor vegetation dynamics.

While not visible under natural light, leaf glow can be detected using remote sensing and can provide important information about the health of Arctic-boreal ecosystems.

Cheng shared more about the research on this week’s Climate Cast.

Renewable energy sources provided 33 percent of Minnesota’s electricity last year, which is 10 percent higher than the national average according to a new report.

So, what’s next for Minnesota’s clean energy transition?

Amelia Cerling Hennes, managing director of public affairs for Clean Energy Economy MN, shared more about the state’s clean energy progress.

“I’m sorry we broke the sea and sky and shortened the wings of the nightingale. I’m sorry that the Great Barrier Reef is no longer great, that we value Amazon much more than the Amazon.”

Those are the words of CNN’s chief climate correspondent Bill Weir from his new book called “Life as We Know It (Can Be).” He wrote it as a letter to his 4-year-old son River to read in the future.

It’s a future where he hopes we’ve fixed our broken climate.

Bill Weir, who began his career in Austin, shared more about the book on this week’s Climate Cast.

Hurricanes are getting so strong that some scientists say we should add a Category 6 to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.

That’s out of a recent study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looking at the link between stronger hurricanes and climate change.

Senior Climate Reporter Andrew Freedman wrote about it for Axios.

A recent study shows nearly 15 percent of Americans “do not believe in climate change.”

So, what drives climate denialism in the U.S.?

Joshua Newell is a professor and co-director of the Center for Sustainable Systems. He was one of the authors of this research and broke down his findings.