Climate Curious TEDxLondon

This week, we’re speaking to data artist, TED Senior Fellow, and founder of Translating Nature, Dr. Julie Freeman, to delve into the hidden beauty in climate data. Numbers, charts, graphs – data gets a bad rep as being dense and hard to interpret. So what if we could use art to visualise data in more appealing formats? That’s exactly what Julie set out to do with her commission for Hiscox, ‘More Than Us’; a live data-driven digital artwork that uses Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life algorithms to respond to multiple data sets including future climate catastrophe predictions and the past 100 years of climate related disasters.

Small Indigenous communities make up only five percent of the world’s population, but they defend 80 percent of the biodiversity that remains on Earth, says Anjan Sundaram. Climate Curious spoke to war reporter turned climate reporter, Anjan Sundaram, about the realities of reporting on our planet’s bloody ecological frontlines, and how corporations and cartels will stop at nothing, even taking human life, to destroy our last natural ecosystems. Recorded live at TED 2024.

Ever met a mathematician turned war reporter? Yep, neither us! Until we met Anjan Sundaram, a war reporter turned climate reporter, who joins Climate Curious at TED 2024 to share his work sharing the stories of indigenous communities defending our planet's last pristine ecosystem, particularly in Mexico. Anjan shares the dangers faced by environmental defenders, the cause of these conflicts (large-scale industrial projects, corruption, and cartels), and the urgent need for global awareness and solidarity for these forgotten climate conflicts. Sundaram also reflects on his career shift from mathematics to frontline reporting, and shares the motivations behind his work.

You know what they say… if you want answers, follow the money! Understanding where all the money is going is key to finding the right climate solutions, says Eric Berlow, data ecologist, TED fellow, and CEO of Vibrant Data Labs. Tracking how 350 billion dollars of private philanthropy and investments to climate relevant organisations in the U.S. is being spent, Eric joins TEDxLondon’s Climate Curious to chat climate and cash; sharing insights on how to maximise the impact of climate funding.

Why do we need to better understand the role of aerosols on our ecosystems? And what can it help us learn? To provide the answer is Kelly Wanser, a climate innovation expert and founder and executive director of SilverLining. Kelly joins Climate Curious to explain the cooling effects of particles on clouds. Recorded live at TED 2024.

What the frick is fracking? Stand.Earth’s Canadian Oil and Gas Programs Director Sven Biggs joins Climate Curious to provide a concise explainer on what fracking is, and how it’s being used in Canada. Recorded live at TED 2024.