Come Rain or Shine USDA Southwest Climate Hub & DOI Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
-
- Science
-
Collaborative product of the USDA Southwest Climate Hub and the DOI Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. We highlight stories to share the most recent advances in climate science, weather and climate adaptation, and innovative practices to support resilient landscapes and communities. We believe that sharing forward thinking and creative climate science and adaptation will strengthen our collective ability to respond to even the most challenging impacts of climate change in one of the hottest and driest regions of the world. New episodes on the first Wednesday of each month. Sign up for email alerts and never miss an episode: https://forms.gle/7zkjrjghEBLrGf8Z9. Funding for the podcast comes from the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture funded Sustainable Southwest Beef Project.
-
Solutions for Sustaining Environmental Flows
Flows in the Rio Chama, a tributary of the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico,
have dwindled from drought and rising temperatures as well as diversion for agricultural irrigation. These diminished flows threaten groundwater resources and habitat for endangered plants and animals. Paul Tashjian, Director of Freshwater Conservation with Audubon Southwest, tells us about solutions that have been implemented to alleviate pressures on the Rio Chama and other waterways, bringing back flows for the natural habitat.
Relevant Links:
Five-Year Lease of Water Rights for Environmental Flows Along the Rio Chama
If you’re enjoying this podcast, please consider rating us and/or leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, or Podchaser Thanks!
Follow us on X @RainShinePod
Never miss an episode! Sign up to get an email alert whenever a new episode publishes!
Have a suggestion for a future episode? Please tell us!
Come Rain or Shine affiliate links:
DOI Southwest CASC: https://www.swcasc.arizona.edu/
USDA Southwest Climate Hub: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southwest
Sustainable Southwest Beef Project (NIFA Grant #2019-69012-29853): https://southwestbeef.org/ -
Climate Change, Coastlines, and Aquaculture
How is climate change affecting our coasts and ocean? What about aquaculture? Halley Froehlich, an expert in climate change impacts to coasts and oceans, with a strong focus on aquaculture, joins us to discuss this important topic as we wrap up our series highlighting Key Messages in the Southwest Chapter of the 5th National Climate Assessment.
Relevant links:
Read the 5th National Climate Assessment (NCA5)
Webinars and podcasts on the NCA5
NCA5 Atlas
If you’re enjoying this podcast, please consider rating us and/or leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, or Podchaser Thanks!
Follow us on X @RainShinePod
Never miss an episode! Sign up to get an email alert whenever a new episode publishes!
Have a suggestion for a future episode? Please tell us!
Come Rain or Shine affiliate links:
DOI Southwest CASC: https://www.swcasc.arizona.edu/
USDA Southwest Climate Hub: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southwest
Sustainable Southwest Beef Project (NIFA Grant #2019-69012-29853): https://southwestbeef.org/ -
Fifth National Climate Assessment, Southwest Chapter: Health, Water, Agriculture, and Wildfire
We continue our discussion of the Southwest Chapter of the 5th National Climate Assessment (NCA5). Each Chapter of NCA5 is organized around Key Messages. This month we interviewed the lead authors of four Key Messages in the Southwest Chapter, covering human health, water, agriculture, and wildfire. Each author shares what they would like people to know and what they found hopeful or encouraging within their Key Message topic.
Relevant links:
Read the 5th National Climate Assessment (NCA5)
Webinars and podcasts on the NCA5
NCA5 Atlas
If you’re enjoying this podcast, please consider rating us and/or leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, or Podchaser Thanks!
Follow us on X @RainShinePod
Never miss an episode! Sign up to get an email alert whenever a new episode publishes!
Have a suggestion for a future episode? Please tell us!
Come Rain or Shine affiliate links:
DOI Southwest CASC: https://www.swcasc.arizona.edu/
USDA Southwest Climate Hub: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southwest
Sustainable Southwest Beef Project (NIFA Grant #2019-69012-29853): https://southwestbeef.org/ -
Inside the Fifth National Climate Assessment, Southwest Chapter
Drs. Emile Elias and Dave White discuss the Southwest chapter of the 5th National Climate Assessment (NCA5). They share what it was like to be lead authors of the Southwest chapter, what’s new in this assessment, how it’s being shared, some major findings, and other highlights. We wrap up this episode with what each of them found encouraging or hopeful from the assessment.
Relevant links:
Read the 5th National Climate Assessment (NCA5)
Webinars and podcasts on the NCA5
NCA5 Atlas
“Startlement”, a poem by Poet Laureate Ada Limón for NCA5
If you’re enjoying this podcast, please consider rating us and/or leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, or Podchaser Thanks!
Follow us on X @RainShinePod
Never miss an episode! Sign up to get an email alert whenever a new episode publishes!
Have a suggestion for a future episode? Please tell us!
Come Rain or Shine affiliate links:
DOI Southwest CASC: https://www.swcasc.arizona.edu/
USDA Southwest Climate Hub: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southwest
Sustainable Southwest Beef Project (NIFA Grant #2019-69012-29853): https://southwestbeef.org/ -
Harvesting Hope: Tackling Food Waste, Hunger, and Climate Change
We speak with the directors of two non-profit organizations who are turning problems into solutions by getting nutritious food that would normally go to waste back into our food system and into the hands of those who can use it - reducing waste, methane emissions, and fighting food insecurity all at the same time. Cover Image credit: USDA Photo by Lance Cheung
Relevant links:
Association of Gleaning Organizations
Falling Fruit
National Gleaning Project
Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act
If you’re enjoying this podcast, please consider rating us and/or leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, or Podchaser Thanks!
Follow us on Twitter @RainShinePod
Never miss an episode! Sign up to get an email alert whenever a new episode publishes!
Have a suggestion for a future episode? Please tell us!
Come Rain or Shine affiliate links:
DOI Southwest CASC: https://www.swcasc.arizona.edu/
USDA Southwest Climate Hub: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southwest
Sustainable Southwest Beef Project (NIFA Grant #2019-69012-29853): https://southwestbeef.org/ -
Indigenous Agriculture and Climate Resilience
Continuing with our agriculture theme, this month we are joined by Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson (Hopi Tribe of Arizona) who discusses Indigenous agricultural knowledge, traditional farming, Indigenous participation in conservation programs, climate change, and more. USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
Relevant links:
Johnson, M.K., Rowe, M. , Lien, A.M.& Hoffman-Lopez, L. 2021. Enhancing Integration of Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge into National Resource Conservation Service Cost-Share Initiatives. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. Online. https://www.jswconline.org/content/76/6/487
If you’re enjoying this podcast, please consider rating us and/or leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, or Podchaser Thanks!
Follow us on Twitter @RainShinePod
Never miss an episode! Sign up to get an email alert whenever a new episode publishes!
Have a suggestion for a future episode? Please tell us!
Come Rain or Shine affiliate links:
DOI Southwest CASC: https://www.swcasc.arizona.edu/
USDA Southwest Climate Hub: https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southwest
Sustainable Southwest Beef Project (NIFA Grant #2019-69012-29853): https://southwestbeef.org/
Customer Reviews
Fun and informative!
I’m already learning a lot from this podcast. Keep
up the good work!
Great, but…I have a beef
I really love this show and usually find it fantastic and informative. I love the energy of the hosts and feel like they each bring strengths to the show and interviews. I’d give this a solid five stars except for one major concern — I can’t help but cringe every time they go on and on about “sustainable” beef practices in the Southwest. That’s like talking about “clean coal.” It just doesn’t make sense from an environmental perspective. There’s just no way to make cows in the desert sustainable because the desert can’t sustain whole herds of energy-intensive animals. That’s just a fact. Otherwise the desert would have already had large herbivores walking around before we brought them here. The last episode they interviewed someone from the beef project who actually downplayed the science, while at the same time advocating for having cows start here and then get shipped to another state where grass grows. As if there’s anything even remotely “sustainable” in that equation! And the host just acted like that was a viable solution, even though the guest was clearly stretching the idea thinly. It just felt like the show was pandering to some corporate sponsor or something, and I had to take a break for a while. I think it harms the credibility of the show and their other guests when they don’t address these incongruencias or ask any tough questions when someone literally says the data don’t match their projections. BUT if you disregard those episodes (and there are quite a few of them), this is a great show. The Katharine Hayhoe episode was especially amazing. So, I do love the show, but I have a beef with all the beef.