# data[].attributes.body
I learned that climate change can affect snowflakes in ways that we didn't even imagine - or more like me. What climate change does to snowflakes is that as the weather shifts from warm to cold several times, it has this yo-yo effect on snowflakes. There are three different things that can happen to snowflakes with this weather shift(s).
1. The snowflake only partially forms and melts down partially, making the snowflake less defined.
2. Because of warmer air, there is more liquid water in the air, as the water evaporates and goes up into the clouds, where it cools down, gains density, and falls in the form of rain, snow, hail, sleet, etc. So anyway, there is more warm water in the air and the droplets are called rime. The rime is something like a glue,, and so it sticks onto snowflakes. If several droplets of rime stick together, it will become a graupel, which is something like soft hail.
3. They smash together in wind are less able to reflect light.
This was vey interesting to me personally because I have never seen real snow except the fake ones from machines. It was also very interesting to me because snowflakes are personally very interesting, and that I am on a rush and that the podcast was four minutes long.
My impact is that I will now try the most to stop climate change (I will work harder) and maybe I'll try and talk it over to some people who think clmate change is fake.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Segment Transcript

IRA FLATOW: Now it's time to check in on the state of science.

SPEAKER 1: This is Kit Yari.

SPEAKER 2: For WWNO

SPEAKER 3: Saint Lewis Public Radio

SPEAKER 4: Iowa Public Radio News

IRA FLATOW: Local science stories of national significance. Well, it may feel like spring in some parts of the country but some scientists are still, well they still have snow on the brain. And it turns out that besides shaking up when and where it snows, climate change is also messing with the shapes of our snowflakes. And one local citizen's science project is asking you to help document the process.

Here with more about why climate change makes for weird snowflakes, WNYC reporter in New York and designer, Clarisa Diaz. Hi, Clarisa.

CLARISA DIAZ: Hi, thanks for having me.

IRA FLATOW: Tell us about this. I get that climate change would affect when it snows and where. But we're talking about the snowflakes themselves being misshapen.

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah. So, I think as we can probably feel, climate change is creating these fluctuating temperatures. So we have cold weather followed by warm weather followed by cold weather. It's basically like this yo-yo effect. But for a snowflake to form, it forms high up in the atmosphere. And ideally, it needs to pass through consistent layers of cold air in order to fully crystallize.

So if you have warmer layers of air in there, basically three things can happen to a snowflake. The first is that a snowflake can only partially form. And basically partially melts because of the warmer air. And this is actually known as rounding. And basically the structure, the intricacy, of that snowflake is less defined.

And the second thing that could happen is that because the air is warmer you actually have more liquid water in the air. So you get these droplets of water and those are called rime. And they will actually act like a glue and they'll stick onto the snowflake. And if you get a covering of rime, or covering of these droplets, it's known as graupel or soft hail.

IRA FLATOW: So why do these snowflakes need to be studied? What are you going to learn from that?

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah. So one other thing that happens is they kind of smash together in the wind. So they're less able to reflect light. And the important thing is not only what happens in the atmosphere but when it actually goes on the ground it creates this winter snowpack. And if the snowflakes are less able to reflect light then that means the snowpack is less able to reflect light too. So everything just melts faster.

And that actually can have implications for the hydrology of the region. The water that goes into streams and reservoirs, as well as the nutrients that that snowpack contains that's absorbed, usually gradually from the soil, by the soil and produces nourishment for spring vegetation.

IRA FLATOW: So you want our listeners to pitch in on a project. Tell us about that.

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah. We worked with Dr. Marco Tedesco at Columbia University's Earth Institute and his team and we basically followed them to understand how they collect data. And we worked with them to create this snow kit that anybody can use to kind of take photographs of snow flakes and see how they're changing. And also measure the depth of snow in their local area.

IRA FLATOW: Here's Jared Entin, manager of terrestrial hydrology program at NASA talking about it.

JARED ENTIN: When you think about these models that we use they need a lot of what we call validation. So we need people out there taking all sorts of different observations. What NASA's doing at this point is also trying to move beyond just is snow on the ground or not. And start to answer deeper questions like, how much water is actually stored in this snowpack.

IRA FLATOW: So you want our listeners to actually go out and do this?

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah and we actually have the snow kit all designed.

IRA FLATOW: What is a snow kit? You get a kit?

CLARISA DIAZ: Yes.

IRA FLATOW: And what do you do?

IRA FLATOW: You basically, it has a clip-on microscope that clips onto your smartphone and that allows you to take microscopic images of the snowflakes. It's really cool to see that.

IRA FLATOW: And then you email them somewhere?

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah. We have a website that we built with Columbia University where you can get all the resources that you need in order to use the kit as well as upload data for the scientists.

IRA FLATOW: That's cool.

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah.

IRA FLATOW: Get out there before the snow melts. Get out there while there's still snow. There is actually more on our website. If you want to do this, it sounds cool. sciencefriday.com/flakes. sciencefriday.com/flakes. Clarisa, thank you.

CLARISA DIAZ: Thank you.

IRA FLATOW: Taking time to be with us today. Clarisa Diaz, a reporter and designer at WNYC.
Copyright © 2019 Science Friday Initiative. All rights reserved. Science Friday transcripts are produced on a tight deadline by 3Play Media. Fidelity to the original aired/published audio or video file might vary, and text might be updated or amended in the future. For the authoritative record of Science Friday's programming, please visit the original aired/published recording. For terms of use and more information, visit our policies pages at http://www.sciencefriday.com/about/policies/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Climate Change Might Be Messing Up Snowflakes, But You Can Help

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Segment Transcript IRA FLATOW: Now it's time to check in on the state of science. SPEAKER 1: This is Kit Yari. SPEAKER 2: For WWNO SPEAKER 3: Saint Lewis Public Radio SPEAKER 4: Iowa Public Radio News IRA FLATOW: Local science stories of national significance.

# data[].attributes.body
1) POST the link to the Science Friday podcast that you chose for this week.

2) EXPLAIN the following in your post:

Explain what you learned from this podcast that helped you understand the impact of climate change.

Share details about your podcast that helps educate others about the topic

Be sure to share why this podcast was interesting to you

3) IMPACT and ACTION- now that you been armed with this new information, what impact or action can you take

# data[].attributes.headline
How Will These Long-Lived Trees Adapt To Climate Change?

# data[].attributes.subject
How Will These Long-Lived Trees Adapt To Climate Change?

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-will-these-long-lived-trees-adapt-to-climate-change/

In this podcast I learned all about Bristle-cone pine trees, they are a special kind of tree that can withstand, and grow in , extremely harsh and dry conditions. The oldest of these trees is 5,000 years old and is known today as one of the first known organisms on this planet. They began to elaborate on climate change and how it will affect this tree. Since it is so dense and dry, it can barely withstand any more, so climate change is going to deeply affect these brittle trees. I found this interesting because of how old the tree is. How could one tree possibly withstand that much wear and tear and still stand tall? It astounds me! This made me want to make a change. I am making it my goal to buy an electric car to help reduce the amount of fossil fuels into the air so that we can plant more of these trees and make the world a healthier place.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-climate-change-threatens-pikas/

From this podcast, I learned how sensitive pikas can be to their climate within their territory. For example, pikas can handle the cold very well with their thick fur layer: up to the freezing point. But with no snow pack in the winter, temperatures can drop below freezing, which pikas can’t handle and will eventually die sooner or later. Furthermore,  pikas can be sensitive to heat too. When a pika is in just 75°F weather, it can die in several hours. This shows the type of climate pikas must be in to survive but with climate change, it’s making it harder and harder for pikas to live and adapt to the climate. But since pikas are “fist sized potatoes with Mickey Mouse ears,” they are able to squeeze into boulders or any type of fractured rock which has a cooler temperature they are used to. This podcast was so interesting to me because I got to learn so much about pikas that I never knew about. For example, pikas only move locations once which is right after they are born. Once a pika finds a territory, it stays there for life. Also, pikas don’t hibernate so they collect a hay pile within their territory so they have enough food for winter. Think about it, pikas are actually pretty intelligent! But this podcast also made me more aware of climate change, and how I can help to prevent organisms from going extinct. To help the pika community, I will try to use less meat/dairy products because animals such as cattle provide a huge amount of greenhouse gas which affect the climate and creates global warming. I can also use more reusable containers and water bottles to help the environment and cause factories to make a little less products which emit greenhouse gases.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-climate-change-ruins-snowflakes/
I learned from this podcast that climate change is truly ruining snowflakes. Every single snowflake is different, it's not even possible for two to be the same. The reason why climate change is affecting snowflakes is because  snowflake has to go through many layers of cold air before it crystalizes, so if the weather is always changing from hot to cold, it cannot do that.
I can change things I do like, reducing the amount of trash, saving water and energy, and help spread awareness.

# data[].attributes.headline
How The Fashion Industry Is Responding To Climate Change

# data[].attributes.subject
How The Fashion Industry Is Responding To Climate Change

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/doc-climate-and-fashion/
today students and people around the world are  skipping school in support of taking action against climate change. You could say climate change is trending and if theres one business who would know about trends it would be the fashion industry long known for marketing inexpensive garments some fashion labels like fast fashion giant H&M are now embracing sustainable fashion trends. But can the fashion industry which is responsible for 8% global carbon admissions can it retool to lower their carbon footprint and who responsibility is it to insure clothing is sustainable. This podcast was interesting to me because I like fashion so that is why I choose this podcast.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-climate-change-ruins-snowflakes/

I learned from this podcast that the impact from climate change is very serious and severe. As you know, snowflakes are all shaped differently. No two are the same, kind of like people. However, due to global warming and climate change, the snowflakes aren’t looking right at all. Scientist from NYU are searching this small but interesting crisis. They figured that there are two main reasons why snowflakes are changing in shape.

1.) The snowflake itself is created partially melted, therefore, it looses shape quickly and changed into a misshapen blob.

2.) There is more liquid water that is used to create the  flake , so it is covered with this somewhat frozen rime that cause snowflakes to stick together and become known as hail.

I can change things like, recycling or saving energy. I can also donate money to charities that help preserve the environment and help prevent globe warming.

# data[].attributes.headline
How The Fashion Industry Is Responding To Climate Change 

# data[].attributes.subject
How The Fashion Industry Is Responding To Climate Change 

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/doc-climate-and-fashion/
In this podcast, I learned about how around the world are skipping school to protest in support of Climate Change. I chose this podcast because I never realized that the Fashion Industry contributed to the carbon footprint. From this podcast, I learned that the Fashion Industry is responsible for 8% of the carbon footprint! I also learned that there is a mini-debate going on regarding who's responsibility it is to make sure the clothes and fashion being bought is sustainable. The supplier's motive only lies in profit, and it isn't always the most profitable to create sustainable clothes. Companies should make products that can be easily recycle by the user,  especially since we are buying and getting rid of clothes at a faster rate than ever before. Another contributor to this is the question of whether the consumer will pay more for sustainable products. Without all this changing, the fashion industry's carbon footprint will continue to grow if the carbon emissions aren't continually decreasing.

# data[].attributes.headline
How We Use Land Contributes To Climate Change

# data[].attributes.subject
How We Use Land Contributes To Climate Change

# data[].attributes.body
From this podcast I learned that we need to balance the number of bio energy crops and food production. I learned that 30% of the earth’s surface is land and that there are 7 1/2 million people that live on the land. The podcast explained that 80% of our food is land based. It explains that meat based diets have a higher greenhouse gas emission compare to our plant based diets. This provide me that all the meat that I eat doesn't help the environment and that if I want to help the environment I should probably eat less meat. The podcast explains that farmers should use more cover crops so that they can reduce greenhouse gas emission. I chose this podcast because I wanted to know how using land could contribute to the climate change on earth. To help the environment  I can eat less meat and  encourage my family to eat less meat because it cause a higher amount of greenhouse gas emission.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Segment Transcript

IRA FLATOW: This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Flatow, from cutting back on fossil fuels to planting a million trees. People and policymakers around the world are looking for more ways to curb climate change. Well, another solution to add to the list- how we use land. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the famous IPCC, released a special report this month that looks at the impact land management has on climate change. And here to tell us about the report is Cynthia Rosenzweig, a senior research scientist at NASA Goddard, for Space Studies and one of the lead authors of the report. Thank you for joining us today.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Thank you, Ira.

IRA FLATOW: Give me a few of the main takeaways from the report.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: For the report overall, the main takeaway is that climate and land are strongly connected, and that land has an enormous role to play in solutions to climate change.

IRA FLATOW: In both how we can recover from what we've done, and also actually exacerbating it? Give me an idea.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Sure. Well, first of all, let's just realize, so the land is 30% of the global- global surface area. But the 7 and 1/2 million people, like us, like you and me, live on the land. So we have

IRA FLATOW: A billion people.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Billion, billion, billion. 7 and 1/2 billion people, and projected to go up to almost 11 billion by the end of the century. And so we are all strongly connected to the land. So that's why I think this report has a really strong message for, not only the policymakers, of course, but for everybody who's so connected to the land. For example, 80%, over 80%, of the food that we eat comes from land based sources.

IRA FLATOW: Give me an idea of how the land interacts with the climate. What is going on in the soil, for instance.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Yes. So, the soil is an enormous repository of carbon. And one of the main ways that we can help to solve climate change- the land can't do it all, there's a lot of things that we have to do with fossil fuels as well but- the land can be used as a sink for soil carbon. That's called soil carbon sequestration.

IRA FLATOW: You mean soaking up the CO2.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Soaking up CO2 from the atmosphere, excess CO2 from the atmosphere. It can also be used to grow bioenergy, which we need to substitute for fossil fuel. But we have to be careful that we don't run into a competitive situation between food production and solving climate change. So one of the things that the authors of the report worked on a lot is looking at how we can do both, with the land. Grow enough- grow bioenergy but, at the same time, grow enough food so we make sure that we are able to feed those, nearly, 10 something billion people in 2100.

IRA FLATOW: Our number, 844-724-8255. Our phone number again, 844-724-8255. You can also tweet us @scifri. One of the issues that the report addresses is converting more and more forest land into farmland. And we're seeing that in the Amazon rainforest. We were just talking about that. Tens of thousands of fires have been started, this year, to burn out the forests for agriculture. And that must be an incredible hit to the environment.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Yes, it is. Because when those fires are started and burn, they burn up. When they are on the old growth forest, in particular, then there's an enormous hit of carbon into the atmosphere. And then it takes a really long time to get that back. So it is- that is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. But we also, by the way, there's also air quality and health effects, of course, from the smoke, as well, that we're seeing in the news, very much in the news, today. So what the report is really saying is that, these different land uses, the importance of the natural ecosystems, such as the Amazon Rainforest as well as food production, they can co-exist. But we need to, wisely, manage them. And we have to start doing that soon. And we're going to need to scale up those solutions, rapidly.

IRA FLATOW: But that means you're going to need international cooperation, right?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Right. Well-

IRA FLATOW: Isn't that a challenge? Well, the, certainly, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate is a body organized by the United- it's by if by the United Nations. And so this report is approved- the summary for policymakers, which we just got back from Geneva from the approval session with the delegates from the countries. And the scientists and the delegates of the countries work together to bring forward together these key- this key knowledge that can be used to find the solutions.

IRA FLATOW: Well if all these countries, you know, the history is full of wars and things that are fought over oil or treasure, or riches and people, saying, you know, if you do this, you we don't get enough of that. Why is there not more international pressure on Brazil, for example, for these fires? They're going to affect the rest of the world's life, they the lungs of the earth. Why are we not seeing more pressure from all the countries that are going to have to live in this, on the planet, from years on, to stop these fires. I mean, you know?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Well-

IRA FLATOW: Is this- is this a diplomatic nicety that, you know, no one wants to take on?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Well, Ira, I'm a scientist. And what our role is to really provide the knowledge that is needed, so that other countries can make their own decisions. That's really how the Paris Agreement for climate change is really organized, that the commitments are nationally determined. And there's many, many years of ongoing discussion to actually find solutions for the climate change challenges. And that's what this- and the report offers so many of them.

IRA FLATOW: Give me a few examples of what some of those are.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Sure, absolutely. So I'm going to talk about the food part, because I was the-

IRA FLATOW: Food's- we're all going to have to eat.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: We're all going to have to eat. And we all do eat. And that's why we all have a role to play. The report takes a food system approach. So it doesn't just only look at the farmers now, in the production side. Of course, there's important things that the production side needs to do to both reduce greenhouse gases by, for example, developing paddy rice, since systems that don't produce as much methane. But at this- but this food system approach then allows us to look at the supply chains.

OK. From the field to the fork, there's a lot of transportation, there's a lot of energy use for storage, for grain drying. These are some very high- some of these are very high energy and high fossil fuel using processes. And so we can- we need to look and see how, with a supply chain, as well. But the part then, also, that now this approach, food system approach, really enables us to do, is look at the consumption side as well. What about people's, two things- diets and, also, food, loss, and waste.

These are two areas that many people have choices about. Not everybody in the world has choices about the food we eat, and we have to be very careful that we're not making any blanket statement for everybody. But for those who have food choices, the report def- the report brings forward that some diets, in particular those rich in red meat, are higher- have higher greenhouse gas emissions than more diets, plant based diets.

IRA FLATOW: Yeah because, they use also a lot of water as a resource, which is going to be getting scarcer.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Yes, exactly. And so focusing on diets that reduce land use, and that have efficient water use, as well as lower greenhouse gases, this is really an important area that we can- that the report brings forward.

IRA FLATOW: You talked about the soil being a sink, a technical term for a sponge. And you have a sink, the water goes down the drain. Sink, [INAUDIBLE], lot of people have trouble with that word?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Thank you. You're the communicator.

IRA FLATOW: But what about having- we've tried to talk also about what farmers can do to grow different kinds of crops, or maybe in the off season, what to do with their soil. What are some of the suggestions here?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Oh, yes, surely. So there are cover crops. So for a long time there, some farming systems would actually- and this is, I think, part of the problem in Brazil right now, with the burning- so they would burn the residues of the crops and then, and sometimes, even plow up and have just that bare soil. Well that plowing action is just basically providing conduits, pathways, for carbon dioxide to be emitted from the soil. If farmers use cover crops, especially, for example, legumes that provide nitrogen to the soil, they're simultaneously reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. And they are also enriching the soil for their next crop.

IRA FLATOW: Our farmers must be receptive to these ideas, right?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Well, you know, farmers are stewards of the land. And when we think about how farmers can help- and with the report also, we had a great team of policy specialists and policy experts. Again, not telling any country what to do. But one of the things they brought forward was things like incentives for farmers to store up carbon, using their sponge- their soils as sponges for carbon.

IRA FLATOW: I don't understand why an incentive? A good incentive is your grandchildren.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: I agree with that, long term.

IRA FLATOW: Why do you need to have such monetary incentives all the time just to know, wouldn't you like to leave something over for your grandchildren?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Absolutely. The long term intergenerational equity, we call that, is very important. But you know we need to get going on these solutions, now.

IRA FLATOW: You think?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Are you kidding?

[LAUGHTER]

You know, so, this idea of what can we do now, such as soil carbon sequestration. But you know what? Just doing a better job growing crops, because then the roots will store more carbon.

IRA FLATOW: Do we have- I mean, can we do both? Can we feed a growing world, and also be a good steward?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: The report gives a resounding yes to the answer- as the answer to that question. Not all the scenarios who- as scientists, we use a lot of scenarios into the future. Not all the scenarios have this. If we do bioenergy and very, very large scale mono-crop ways, not paying attention to the environment, we can run into competition between bioenergy for solving climate change and food production.

But if we work on sustainable land management, of both the bioenergy cropping systems, for example, with the second generation of with switchgrass, those C4 grasses, warm season grasses, as well as being very good stewards of our food production, the report comes forward and says yes we can. But we need to start now. When we need to start soon. We need to scale up, and we need to do this really carefully.

IRA FLATOW: I'm Ira Flatow. This is Science Friday, from WNYC Studios, talking with Cynthia Rosenzweig, a senior research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, one of the lead authors of the new IPCC report on climate change, about agriculture. I think we have a couple of questions. Yeah. Let's go to the phones. Well let's go to Greg in Baton Rouge. Hi, Greg.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Hey. How are you doing?

IRA FLATOW: Hi there.

GREG: I just wanted to know if that report touches on aquaculture at all. There are a lot of stories out there about the comparative efficiency and the sustainability of aquaculture versus traditional animal crops. And I just wondered if you guys had a chance to delve into that.

IRA FLATOW: Dr. Rosenzweig, yeah?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: The report looks at aquaculture on land in freshwater situations, because there is another special report coming out of the IPCC which is going to be, I think, coming out in September, which deals with oceans and the cryosphere. So the marine aquaculture is handled there. But we did look at- in our food security chapter, we included aquaculture. And it certainly is, and can play, an important role.

IRA FLATOW: That's fish farming.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Yes, fish farming.

IRA FLATOW: What about algae, or some alternative sorts of foods? Did you look into those?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Yes, we did. In particular, on the meat question. So there are now beginning to be technologies that are looking at cultured meat. They are looking-

IRA FLATOW: Phony meat. I had a great phony hamburger, the other day.

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: They're looking at cellular, that's the cultured meat from cellular development. And we even- we also looked at the literature on insects, because insects are high protein sources of food. So what we found was, this is early days for the work on these alternative protein sources. They may play a role in transition. Right now, it's hard to say what their carbon footprint will actually be. And that's what in all- in any kind of food production system, you have to look at what the carbon footprint is.

IRA FLATOW: It could be pretty strenuous to find out exactly what that is. Let's go to a tweet. Diana, on Twitter, wants to know about the potential of regenerative agriculture. You know what she's talking about?

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Well, we look at- there's a whole set of agricultural techniques that have been developed under different rubrics. One of them is conservation agriculture. One is agroecology. One is climate smart agriculture. And we do, in the report, look at that. I'm not sure we looked at regenerative, specifically. But there are all these great techniques that are coming together under these groups who are following these. And those can very much play a role. In particular, diversification in agricultural systems. Getting away from this monoculture commercial, industrial farming that is one end of the spectrum. But diversification can help, in regard to being resilient to the climate changes. Because increased extreme events We also have to-

IRA FLATOW: It's happening, and we've got to-

CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG: Exactly. So not only do we have to be feeding more people, we have to be reducing our greenhouse gas emissions from our agricultural systems. But we also have to be getting those to be more resilient to the extreme events.

IRA FLATOW: Dr. Rosenzweig, thank you very much for taking the time to be with us today. Cynthia Rosenzweig, senior research scientist at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, lead author on the new UN IPCC report on agriculture. We're going to take a break. When we come back, we can talk about the iconic features of the summer night skies- fireflies. Everything you wanted to know about them, we'll talk about it after the break. Stay with us.
Copyright © 2019 Science Friday Initiative. All rights reserved. Science Friday transcripts are produced on a tight deadline by 3Play Media. Fidelity to the original aired/published audio or video file might vary, and text might be updated or amended in the future. For the authoritative record of Science Friday's programming, please visit the original aired/published recording. For terms of use and more information, visit our policies pages at http://www.sciencefriday.com/about/policies/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How We Use Land Contributes To Climate Change

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Segment Transcript IRA FLATOW: This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Flatow, from cutting back on fossil fuels to planting a million trees. People and policymakers around the world are looking for more ways to curb climate change. Well, another solution to add to the list- how we use land.

# data[].attributes.headline
Investigating the USDA's Silence on Climate Change

# data[].attributes.subject
Investigating the USDA's Silence on Climate Change

# data[].attributes.body
The USDA is an important organization that studies issues involving agriculture and the food supply. Recently, the USDA has been completely silent about climate change. Helena Bottemiller Evich investigated this silence. Surprisingly, they were still working on a project. They discovered that when rice was put into an environment with increased CO2, , when put in an environment with increased CO2, lost vitamins. The researchers were very aware that the project would most likely be pretty big news. The multiple University's involved in the research all wrote up a press release and compared with each other, but at the last second, they decided not to send it out. After Helena reached out to USDA, they stated that their leadership had specifically told them not to use words like climate change in their writing until "further research and reviews" are complete. Note: They tested for TWO YEARS on just this study. Its obvious something is going on involving the government and climate change censorship, and I believe that is the only thing that needs "further research and reviews."

# data[].attributes.headline
How  The fashion industry is responding to climate change 

# data[].attributes.subject
How  The fashion industry is responding to climate change 

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/doc-climate-and-fashion/

In this podcast I learned about the fashion industry and what they’re responsible for in climate change and then changing it. I want to the fashion industry is responsible for 8% of global carbon emissions and they can do something about it.  The question is “Are the consumers responsible for keeping close to stainable?”  Well that depends on your opinion,  but I think where the consumers  your responsibility, and the fashion industry has a responsibility. Where are the ones paying for it and or getting rid of it, but the fashion industry is the one making it. But we can all do something about it.  We can start by giving away our clothes instead of throwing them away to people who need them, we can start recycling more, and when we’re old enough and have enough money we can fund good healthy organizations that help the environment and not destroy it.  I think all of these things that I can do, that you can do our important and we should start doing them as soon as possible.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Will These Long Lived Trees Adapt To Climate Change?

# data[].attributes.subject
How Will These Long Lived Trees Adapt To Climate Change?

# data[].attributes.body
In this podcast, I learned about Bristlecone pine trees. These pine trees are extremely long lived, the oldest reaching about 5000 years. The 5000 year old tree is one of the oldest known organisms on this planet. During the podcast, they talked about how the changes in the climate are affecting all of the trees. Since the trees are all very brittle and dry, more heat could kill them. Since these trees do better in a cooler environment, the pines in the mountains tend to do better. Personally, I found this podcast very interesting because of how they discussed the pines. They asked experts about how the climate could affect the pines and their answers interested me. One action that I could take to help the climate is recycle and reuse more things.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Segment Transcript

IRA FLATOW: Staying with our tree theme, if you had to take a guess of what type of tree lives the longest, what would you say? I'd guess the Redwood. Well, I'd be wrong. The most ancient trees actually live on mountaintops in harsh, dry climates. And they are called bristlecone pines. These trees have evolved lots of adaptations to live in rough terrains.

But it's going to get even tougher. Climate change is raising temperatures and pushing the trees to adapt once again. So how will these trees survive in a warmer future? That's the topic of our latest Macroscope video, which features my next guest, Brian Smithers, Assistant Ecology Research Professor at Montana State University in Bozeman. And you can watch the video up on our website at sciencefriday.com/pine. Welcome to Science Friday.

BRIAN SMITHERS: Thanks for having me. It's really a pleasure.

IRA FLATOW: You're welcome. And when you say pine trees, a pointy Christmas tree comes to mind. But these bristle- they're not really like a Christmas tree, are they?

BRIAN SMITHERS: Interestingly, where they grow, protected, with plenty of water, they do. They grow nice and straight and look lovely. The problem is that happens pretty rarely where these grow. These are found throughout the Great Basin, which is a dry area, mostly kind of centered around Nevada, at the tops of mountains. And they get just beaten down by the conditions, by wind, by snow, by drought, by heat. They get them all. And so they really get gnarled and twisted and deformed by the physical conditions in which they live.

IRA FLATOW: So they've had to adapt over the years to be some of the longest living trees.

BRIAN SMITHERS: It's part of living in that kind of a climate is you can't grow quick and fast, like say, you mentioned a Redwood or Sequoia, where they get plenty of water. Their adaptation is to grow slowly. And a byproduct of that slow growth means they have incredibly dense wood. And that dense wood allows them to just keep on growing. They don't get knocked over by wind. They can't get invaded by parasites or pests. And so they just keep on trucking along.

IRA FLATOW: So how old do they get?

BRIAN SMITHERS: We don't really know the answer to that. There are a couple of specimens that we have aged to over 5,000 years, which you said they were the oldest tree. They're actually the oldest organisms on Earth that aren't colonial in some way.

IRA FLATOW: I'm just- I'm silent because I'm in awe. A 5,000-year-old tree. Wow. And these trees are going to need to find- I mean, you say how tough they are, but they are facing another challenge, which is climate change. With warming temperatures, they're going to have to move up the mountain to cooler climes?

BRIAN SMITHERS: They will. You can imagine a 5,000-year-old tree has seen quite a bit of climate change in its life. Adults are probably fine, for the near term anyway. It's really about how will the young trees establish- how will they establish in response to climate change. Can they establish in places where the adults are found now? Or is it now too warm and, hence, too dry to establish there? Or do they need to move up slope in order for the species to keep up with climate change?

IRA FLATOW: So when we say that they have to move up the mountain, it will be the young trees, the new trees falling- trying to take root in a different place and surviving better than their parents down the mountain.

BRIAN SMITHERS: Correct.

IRA FLATOW: And that's how it actually moves.

BRIAN SMITHERS: Adult trees are really bad at moving.

It's really about the seeds and the young that need to make that move. That's all plants, of course.

IRA FLATOW: Of course. I'm Ira Flatow. This is Science Friday from WNYC Studios, talking with Brian Smithers of Montana State University in Bozeman. Why do the trees need these cooler temperatures? We were just talking about these other maple trees. What about these trees? Are they- same story?

BRIAN SMITHERS: That's funny. I really enjoyed the conversation you were having with the prior guest. There's a- there's a bristlecone pine growing in front of the California State capitol in Sacramento, California. It is not known for being cool in Sacramento, California. Temperatures up to 120 degrees in the summer. That tree is doing just fine because it's getting- it's getting watered.

Bristlecone pine isn't relegated to these rough, dry, windy spots because it enjoys it. It's there because there's not a whole lot of competition. It's- what it does well is grow slowly and persistently. But it doesn't compete well with faster growing trees that are typically found further down slope.

IRA FLATOW: And it's interesting that you say that because isn't there another species, a limber pine, that is competing for the same real estate?

BRIAN SMITHERS: Yeah, that's right. So there is a species that they sort of coexist, although limber pine is typically found a little further down slope, can handle hotter and drier temperatures. And they have, what we called leapfrogged, right over bristlecone pine and are charging up slope. In the last, say, 50 years we've seen this trend, where limber pine is establishing in far higher numbers than bristlecone pine is above what is usually all adult bristlecone pines.

And so the concern is are they taking all of the good spots? Are they taking all of the available real estate up slope of where you do find these bristlecone pine trees? We don't know the answer to that. Sorry, go ahead.

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

IRA FLATOW: You almost answered my question. I was going to ask is there going to be a definite winner in this race?

BRIAN SMITHERS: There certain- I don't know the answer to that question. There certainly looks like there is a short-term winner. And that's limber pine. The problem with saying something like short-term is that we probably think of that as decades or something. But when we talk about trees that live for thousands of years, short-term can be 5,000, 10,000 years, multiple generations of these trees, where we will probably see a far higher abundance of limber pine in these historically, you know, pretty historically bristlecone pine forests.

I think we won't know the answer to your question for 10,000 years? 20,000 years?

IRA FLATOW: All right, we'll meet back here and talk about-

BRIAN SMITHERS: Yeah, we'll talk. That's great. Yeah. I'll enjoy it.

IRA FLATOW: But this is one case of changes that happened due to climate change, right?

BRIAN SMITHERS: It's absolutely- it's absolutely a climate change issue. But these- and a recent climate change issue. Interestingly, there are, of course, natural climate changes, which have also happened. Because these trees grow so slowly and respond to climate so slowly, they're still actually responding to coming out of what we call the Little Ice Age, which started getting warmer around 1850. They're still actually responding to that climate change, much less the more recent anthropogenic climate change. So it's kind of a convoluted mess out there.

IRA FLATOW: Well, that's a great way to end this conversation, thinking about they're still adjusting from 1850. Brian Smithers, Assistant Ecology Research Professor at Montana State University in Bozeman. Thank you for joining us today.

BRIAN SMITHERS: Thanks so much. It was my pleasure.

IRA FLATOW: And you can watch our latest Macroscope video featuring Brian and these bristlecone pines at our website at sciencefriday.com/pine.
Copyright © 2019 Science Friday Initiative. All rights reserved. Science Friday transcripts are produced on a tight deadline by 3Play Media. Fidelity to the original aired/published audio or video file might vary, and text might be updated or amended in the future. For the authoritative record of Science Friday's programming, please visit the original aired/published recording. For terms of use and more information, visit our policies pages at http://www.sciencefriday.com/about/policies/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Will These Long-Lived Trees Adapt To Climate Change?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Segment Transcript IRA FLATOW: Staying with our tree theme, if you had to take a guess of what type of tree lives the longest, what would you say? I'd guess the Redwood. Well, I'd be wrong. The most ancient trees actually live on mountaintops in harsh, dry climates.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Pikas are theatened to climate change 

# data[].attributes.subject
How Pikas are theatened to climate change 

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-climate-change-threatens-pikas/

In the podcast I learned the pikas are extremely sensitive to temperature and climate change. I found it really interesting that once they are born they go out and search for a territory and they stay there for the rest of there lives. The podcast really taught me that we aren’t the only ones suffering, it’s other animals too! I think we really need to plant more trees and decrees carbon sources. Pika’s are most conforatable in temperatures just below freezing. There sensitivity means that it has to be the perfect temperature, it cant be too cold and it can’t be hot. The scientist explained that the pikas are very difficult to take care of. There starting to vaccinate the animals from getting the plague.

# data[].attributes.headline
Investigating the USDA's Silence On Climate Change 

# data[].attributes.subject
Investigating the USDA's Silence On Climate Change 

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/investigating-the-usdas-silence-on-climate-change/
The USDA aka United States Department of Agriculture, is supposable with holding information about climate change. Each year the USDA gets 1billion dollars for research. They do this research but doesn't release it. The USDA paired up with multiple universities like University of Washington, for a research project. They were research how the rise in CO2 affected rice. Their data shows iron, vitamins, and protein drops in rice, in areas with a high level CO2. This study went on for 2 years. After, the USDA and University of Washington both wrote press releases. Right before they were about to release the statements the USDA called it off. USDA told UW it was because of their data, so the university went over their data and released it anyway. The USDA thought the data would spark conversation. The USDA is holding back important information about climate change.

# data[].attributes.body
I honestly knew a lot about snowflakes and how climate change can affect them, but some facts were really interesting and smart. According to Dr. Jared Entin, NASA's Terrestrial Hydrology Program Manager, scientists use satellite imagery and drones to get a high level of snow visibility, but they also need to know what is happening on the ground. Warm winter air changes the way snowflakes are formed, but instead of wallowing in sadness and nostalgia, we spent an interim period developing a set for photographing snowflakes and snow cover that everyone can use to participate in a research project. Scientists need much more data than they can collect on their own.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Segment Transcript

IRA FLATOW: Now it's time to check in on the state of science.

SPEAKER 1: This is Kit Yari.

SPEAKER 2: For WWNO

SPEAKER 3: Saint Lewis Public Radio

SPEAKER 4: Iowa Public Radio News

IRA FLATOW: Local science stories of national significance. Well, it may feel like spring in some parts of the country but some scientists are still, well they still have snow on the brain. And it turns out that besides shaking up when and where it snows, climate change is also messing with the shapes of our snowflakes. And one local citizen's science project is asking you to help document the process.

Here with more about why climate change makes for weird snowflakes, WNYC reporter in New York and designer, Clarisa Diaz. Hi, Clarisa.

CLARISA DIAZ: Hi, thanks for having me.

IRA FLATOW: Tell us about this. I get that climate change would affect when it snows and where. But we're talking about the snowflakes themselves being misshapen.

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah. So, I think as we can probably feel, climate change is creating these fluctuating temperatures. So we have cold weather followed by warm weather followed by cold weather. It's basically like this yo-yo effect. But for a snowflake to form, it forms high up in the atmosphere. And ideally, it needs to pass through consistent layers of cold air in order to fully crystallize.

So if you have warmer layers of air in there, basically three things can happen to a snowflake. The first is that a snowflake can only partially form. And basically partially melts because of the warmer air. And this is actually known as rounding. And basically the structure, the intricacy, of that snowflake is less defined.

And the second thing that could happen is that because the air is warmer you actually have more liquid water in the air. So you get these droplets of water and those are called rime. And they will actually act like a glue and they'll stick onto the snowflake. And if you get a covering of rime, or covering of these droplets, it's known as graupel or soft hail.

IRA FLATOW: So why do these snowflakes need to be studied? What are you going to learn from that?

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah. So one other thing that happens is they kind of smash together in the wind. So they're less able to reflect light. And the important thing is not only what happens in the atmosphere but when it actually goes on the ground it creates this winter snowpack. And if the snowflakes are less able to reflect light then that means the snowpack is less able to reflect light too. So everything just melts faster.

And that actually can have implications for the hydrology of the region. The water that goes into streams and reservoirs, as well as the nutrients that that snowpack contains that's absorbed, usually gradually from the soil, by the soil and produces nourishment for spring vegetation.

IRA FLATOW: So you want our listeners to pitch in on a project. Tell us about that.

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah. We worked with Dr. Marco Tedesco at Columbia University's Earth Institute and his team and we basically followed them to understand how they collect data. And we worked with them to create this snow kit that anybody can use to kind of take photographs of snow flakes and see how they're changing. And also measure the depth of snow in their local area.

IRA FLATOW: Here's Jared Entin, manager of terrestrial hydrology program at NASA talking about it.

JARED ENTIN: When you think about these models that we use they need a lot of what we call validation. So we need people out there taking all sorts of different observations. What NASA's doing at this point is also trying to move beyond just is snow on the ground or not. And start to answer deeper questions like, how much water is actually stored in this snowpack.

IRA FLATOW: So you want our listeners to actually go out and do this?

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah and we actually have the snow kit all designed.

IRA FLATOW: What is a snow kit? You get a kit?

CLARISA DIAZ: Yes.

IRA FLATOW: And what do you do?

IRA FLATOW: You basically, it has a clip-on microscope that clips onto your smartphone and that allows you to take microscopic images of the snowflakes. It's really cool to see that.

IRA FLATOW: And then you email them somewhere?

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah. We have a website that we built with Columbia University where you can get all the resources that you need in order to use the kit as well as upload data for the scientists.

IRA FLATOW: That's cool.

CLARISA DIAZ: Yeah.

IRA FLATOW: Get out there before the snow melts. Get out there while there's still snow. There is actually more on our website. If you want to do this, it sounds cool. sciencefriday.com/flakes. sciencefriday.com/flakes. Clarisa, thank you.

CLARISA DIAZ: Thank you.

IRA FLATOW: Taking time to be with us today. Clarisa Diaz, a reporter and designer at WNYC.
Copyright © 2019 Science Friday Initiative. All rights reserved. Science Friday transcripts are produced on a tight deadline by 3Play Media. Fidelity to the original aired/published audio or video file might vary, and text might be updated or amended in the future. For the authoritative record of Science Friday's programming, please visit the original aired/published recording. For terms of use and more information, visit our policies pages at http://www.sciencefriday.com/about/policies/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Climate Change Might Be Messing Up Snowflakes, But You Can Help

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Segment Transcript IRA FLATOW: Now it's time to check in on the state of science. SPEAKER 1: This is Kit Yari. SPEAKER 2: For WWNO SPEAKER 3: Saint Lewis Public Radio SPEAKER 4: Iowa Public Radio News IRA FLATOW: Local science stories of national significance.

# data[].attributes.body
(Angelica De La Cruz)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q0xUXo2zEY
In this podcast I learned that the climate change and us destroying nature, ruins the climate, I also learned about how Fossil Fuels are the worlds worst enemies. Now that I know this information I can tell my parents, and inform others so that more people know about these issues, especially about " When we need Nature the most, were destroying it the faster than ever."

# data[].attributes.body
Taylor Walker
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-climate-change-ruins-snowflakes/
From this podcast I learned that climate change is ruining snowflakes. One reason climate change is ruining snowflakes is because they are formed high up in the sky and when they are coming down if they do not go through layers of cold air they will melt. one other reason climate change is ruining snowflakes is because when they go through a lot of wind they can come together and when they come together they cant reflect light which causes everything to melt faster. that is how climate change is ruining snowflakes. To help this problem we can be more aware of the things we are using and make sure they are good for the environment.

# data[].attributes.body
While listening to this podcast, I learned that climate change is ruining a lot of things, including snowflakes. You may just think that they are getting destroyed because the air is getting warmer so it contributes to snowflakes becoming damaged, but that's not all of it. They said that, ''Climate change causes fluctuating temperatures and warmer layers of air'' which changes the way showflakes are formed. This podcast was interesting to me because I go to Nevada a lot where it snows and this was very interesting to learn about what climate change does to snowflakes.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Will These Long-Lived Trees Adapt To Climate Change?

# data[].attributes.subject
How Will These Long-Lived Trees Adapt To Climate Change?

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-will-these-long-lived-trees-adapt-to-climate-change/

I learned that trees up in the mountains are dying because of climate change. The trees in the mountains are called Brittlescone, and they can live a really long time, nobody knows how old, because, it will be a while before one dies, the oldest ones are 5,000 years old! The old ones cant move, but the young ones will have to move up the mountain to survive. This podcast caught my eye because of the tree in the twisted shape it was. One action I can take is I can stop using lights as much or protest, and other things.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/how-climate-change-ruins-snowflakes/

Some of the things I learned were I learned what rounding is, when snowflakes have warm air in them making it half melted and half formed which has been happening recently with the climate changes. Because the air is so warm in the atmosphere liquid water in the air or rime sticks to the snowflakes. When there is a covering of this so called thing called rime it is either called soft hail or grapple. One other thing I learned was when this grapple is colliding with other pieces of grapple or snowflakes, usually snowflakes reflect light but this grapple does not so that is a sign that shows it would be grapple is a snow pack that also does not reflect light this podcast was influential in my opinion is that I love snow and to see it go away would be sad so I am going to do further research when I have the time to. One of the impacts and action that was listed were there are these kits that help test to see if it is grapple or actually snow and the way they do this is with microscopic cameras that you can put on your phone and a website where you can send the scientists your information for further studies to try and fix the climate change problem.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Is The Fashion Industry Responding To Climate Change?

# data[].attributes.subject
How Is The Fashion Industry Responding To Climate Change?

# data[].attributes.body
Overall I have learned that the people in the fashion industry have not been doing the best jobs on responding to climate change. People working to help fix this problem have been noticing that the consumers which are mostly younger people that buy these products have becoming way more aware of this problem but aren't actually taking action on trying to fix it. I have also learned about how much energy it uses in our environment. There are and unbelievable amount of steps that go into creating even just one t-shirt, from being produced from and oil rig or a farm to creating the fibers and the fibers being shipped around the world then the fibers being spun and woven, and the shipped again ex. there is an insane amount of energy going into these products and the more the people consume it the more people will make them. We are not doing our part on saving our world, and the big problem of climate change.