About This Episode
StarTalk All-Stars Series Premiere: Host Bill Nye the Science Guy explores the major challenge facing humanity, with a little help from climatologist and Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Dr. Gavin A. Schmidt. Together, they answer fan-submitted Cosmic Queries about climate change chosen by co-host Chuck Nice. You’ll learn about Milankovitch Cycles, solar expansion, and why it is unlikely that Earth will have another ice age in the future. Explore the impact of El Niño and rising sea levels on coastal flooding, and find out why “nuisance flooding” is anything but. Gavin explains how we can use isotopes (Carbon-14, Berylium-10 and Chlorine-36) and other data (ice cores, tree rings, and what’s being unveiled after hundreds of thousands of years by melting glaciers) to understand the history of climate change. Discover why producing synthetic oil from tar sands is so problematic, why methane is a more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2, and how molten salt can be used to harness solar energy more efficiently to power industry – even in the dark. You’ll also hear about the impact of climate change on agriculture, why vegetarianism may be better for the planet than eating meat, and why French Champagne producers are buying up land in England! Plus, Bill and Gavin lay out the most compelling arguments to use to convince climate change deniers of what’s really going on.
NOTE: All-Access subscribers can watch or listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: Understanding Climate Change with Bill Nye – StarTalk All-Stars.