Science & Society 3: Our Climate Crisis

The urgency of the climate crisis has permeated public consciousness. How bad might things get? Our fossil-fuel economy has created a global emergency, and the Green New Deal has thrust the issue, and the magnitude of changes needed, to the political forefront. Where does the latest science point us? What are the most promising solutions? And what does our changing climate mean for New York City? Our guests Rhiana Gunn-Wright, a director at New Consensus and policy lead for the Green New Deal, and Dr. Kate Marvel, climate research scientist at NASA and Columbia University, join series host Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Pioneer Works science scholar and founder of Ocean Collectiv, to grapple with the scientific realities of the cultural, governmental, and corporate shifts needed to mitigate our climate crisis.

Rhiana Gunn-Wright is policy director for New Consensus, the think tank developing the Green New Deal. Previously, she was policy director for Abdul El-Sayed’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign. She has also worked on policy for the Detroit Health Department, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, and for former First Lady Michelle Obama. She was a Rhodes Scholar, and her gif game is on point.

Dr. Kate Marvel is a climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University. Her research focuses on how human activities affect the climate, using satellite observations, computer models, and basic physics to study the human impact on variables from rainfall patterns to cloud cover. Earth is her favorite planet.

This project is supported by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science.