June 15, 2017 9:05 pm

Learn about the Science of Climate and Weather with Neil Tyson, co-host Scott Adsit, ex-NOAA Administrator Kathy Sullivan, and more this Friday.

The science of predicting weather has always fascinated me. So, I’m glad we are giving it the full coverage on StarTalk Radio. Also, given that climate change is the biggest problem humanity faces, it’s always good to discuss how these systems work, and who better to do that than former NOAA Administrator Kathy Sullivan?

In-studio Neil is joined by comic co-host Scott Adsit and climate scientist Radley Horton to discuss the science of climate and weather. There are also appearances in this episode by local NYC meteorologist Nick Gregory, StarTalk All-Stars host and astrobiologist David Grinspoon, paleoclimatologist Linda Sohl, and Bill Nye The Science Guy.

A former astronaut and the veteran of 3 space shuttle missions – including STS-31 which deployed the Hubble Space Telescope – Kathy shares her experiences as the first American woman to walk in space and describes what it’s like to watch lightning storms from low Earth orbit. She and Neil also discuss NOAA’s mission statement, the advancements of climate and weather computer modeling, the global sharing of climate and weather data, and much more!

You’ll hear fan-submitted Cosmic Queries about Jupiter’s stormy Red Spot and Venus, which has the most extreme climate in our solar system.

Our panel also tries to uncover the reasons behind the human fascination with deadly weather. While most people are fascinated by the uncontrollable energy and power that comes with a deadly hurricane or ferocious tornado, I go against the trend when it comes to deadly weather. That’s because I used to live in Iowa, one of the more popular places for chasing tornados. I remember being a kid and thinking how crazy that seemed! People would sometimes stand on their front porches and watch a tornado spin just a couple of miles away. This was also the time I was scared to death from watching the movie Twister. Maybe it has just been engrained in my neurons to shy away from deadly weather.

However listening to meteorologist Nick Gregory explain the process of predicting a blizzard was such a cool thing to hear, along with hearing Linda describe how our planet was once colorfully described as “snowball Earth.”

Wanna go storm chasing with StarTalk? Then please join us tomorrow night for The Science of Climate and Weather at 7pm EDT right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. And if you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too, as well as Neil’s extended interview with Kathy Sullivan.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen