Ask MIT Climate

Jaksot

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  Dry spells and downpours 02.07.2026 14min

  How can climate change cause both more intense droughts and more severe floods? With help from Prof. Mathew Barlow, we dive into the water cycle on a warming planet, and learn how the basic physics of water moving through the atmosphere can explain a lot of the strange weather we need to prepare for as the world heats up.
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  To the ice sheets with a polar scientist 11.06.2026 14min

  Dr. Sarah Das, a Scientist Emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, takes us behind the scenes: into the world of glacier science, “boomerang flights,” and ice as far as the eye can see.
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  Polar ice in a warming world 28.05.2026 14min

  The frozen parts of our planet—from sprawling polar ice sheets and floating sea ice to mountain glaciers and frigid soils—face profound risks from climate change. Already, a warmer world has transformed these landscapes, with consequences that span the globe.
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  A hard look at steel 14.05.2026 14min

  Antoine Allanore, a professor of metallurgy at MIT, explains how CO2 became so entrenched in the chemistry of steelmaking—and the creative ways scientists and engineers are trying to get it out.
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  An economist’s guide to climate change 30.04.2026 15min

  Solutions to climate change, like building clean energy, come with a price tag. But unchecked warming also brings serious costs. As we make investments to rein in our climate pollution, how should we weigh costs and benefits?
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  Re-air and update: Carbon pricing 09.04.2026 15min

  What exactly is a carbon price, and how does it work? To prepare for a new episode about climate economics, we’re re-airing this season one episode in which MIT professor Christopher Knittel explains economists’ favorite tool for addressing climate change. Professor Knittel also returns for a special update on big developments in the world of carbon pricing, from Canada, China, and the European Union.
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  The (micro)grid of the future 26.03.2026 13min

  As the world strives to make energy cleaner, cheaper, and more accessible, what can local models offer that a big utility can’t—and the other way round?
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  The reshuffling of life on Earth 12.03.2026 15min

  Climate change is putting pressure not only on humans, but also on our fellow species. How can plants, animals, and other living things survive as their habitats are transformed?
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  Taking Earth’s temperature 26.02.2026 14min

  Dr. Samantha Burgess, of the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, joins the show to explain how we know the temperature of the Earth, and how a global community of scientists works together to keep tabs on the health of our planet.
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  The nuclear price tag 12.02.2026 13min

  As government support grows to bring more nuclear power to the U.S., Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno of MIT joins us to break down how nuclear got so costly and what we can learn from countries with more active nuclear industries.
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  Marshes, mangroves, meadows 29.01.2026 14min

  The world’s coastal saltwater wetlands provide shelter for wildlife, purify water, and protect seaside infrastructure. And as Dr. Julie Simpson of MIT tells us, they also have a climate superpower: drawing down and locking away extraordinary amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide.
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  New season, new name! 22.01.2026 1min

  The eighth season of MIT’s climate change podcast starts next week, and we’ve got some news! TILclimate is now Ask MIT Climate.
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  Update: Where we've been and where we're going 04.11.2025 15min

  Our departing host Laur Hesse Fisher and new host Madison Goldberg sit down together to talk about the philosophies that have shaped TILclimate over seven seasons and take listeners behind the scenes of the show.
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  Transmission: Power to the people 10.07.2025 14min

  In this episode of TILclimate, we explore what we stand to gain from a bigger, better transmission system, and how we might make it happen.
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  Cleaner air 12.06.2025 14min

  Here at TILclimate, we’re often asked about the health and environmental effects of materials in solar panels and batteries. But what if the greatest costs are the ones we’re already bearing—from the fossil fuels those technologies would replace?
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  Dealing with dead batteries 29.05.2025 15min

  The world’s demand for batteries to power electric vehicles is growing at incredible speed. What will we do with all these batteries when they die?
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  Geothermal: Earth’s infinite clean power 17.04.2025 15min

  Deep beneath the Earth’s surface, a molten stew of metals radiates vast amounts of energy. Prof. Roland Horne, Director of the Stanford Geothermal Program, joins TILclimate to talk about the “geothermal energy” technologies that tap this underground resource for electricity, manufacturing, and home heating and cooling.
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  The great indoors 03.04.2025 15min

  Modern buildings are complex machines, using heating, cooling and a host of other appliances to turn energy into comfort. But that energy comes with a cost: today, our buildings do more to warm the climate than heavy industry, agriculture, or transportation.
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  Did climate change do that? 20.03.2025 13min

  A new type of climate science is allowing us to draw clearer connections between our warming planet, and the extreme weather events this warming creates.
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  Hasn't the climate changed before? 06.03.2025 15min

  The Earth has gone through massive climate change before—many times over, in fact!—but human civilization has not.