quark and awe episode 4

The podcast episode titled "The Heat Is On" discusses the topic of climate change. It addresses the skepticism surrounding climate change and presents evidence supporting its reality. The episode discusses temperature data, ice cores, rising sea levels, extreme weather events, ocean acidification, shifting ranges of plant and animal species, and the impacts of climate change on the planet. It emphasizes the consensus among scientists that human activities are primarily responsible for climate change. The episode concludes by urging listeners to take action to reduce their carbon footprint. Welcome curious minds to Quark and Orr, the Sciencecast, episode 4 of The Heat Is On. This thermal charge debate on climate change where we swelter in the sticky ecosystem of wacky theories with a dash of humour and a dose of reality. I'm Nathan Parry. So welcome climate change sceptics, or maybe you're just someone who's tired of hearing the whole climate change thing. Well fear not, this is just for you. Today we're going to take a deep dive into the wonderful world of climate change, denial and I feel the chills of debate already. Now you're thinking, climate change? That's just a bunch of liberal propaganda. Or maybe you're convinced it's all a big conspiracy. Well let's get one thing straight, the Earth is definitely getting hotter and it's not because we've accidentally turned up the thermostat. Let me share this interview with Professor Brian Cox and sceptic Malcolm Roberts courtesy of the BBC. This is now a clear global problem. The absolute, absolute consensus is that human action is leading to an increase in average temperatures. Absolute consensus. I know you may try to argue with that, but you can't. No, not in my opinion. But therefore, the key point is, can we respond to it? Do we have the political institutions and the political will and the organisation globally to respond to this challenge? And that worries me immensely. I don't think we do at the moment. And I'm absolutely stunned that someone who is inspired by Richard Feynman, a fantastic scientist who believes in empirical evidence, is quoting consensus. Can I just say, I brought the graphs here. First of all, that the data has been corrupted, and we know that the 1930s were manipulated by NASA. As far as I'm concerned, politics should be based on empirical evidence. All policy should be based on empirical evidence. I've heard consensus, which is not science. I've heard appeals to authority, which is not science. I've heard various illusions. But hey, you need scientific evidence when you can have a good laugh. Let's talk about some of the funniest arguments against climate change. You know, some people think it's a natural cycle, like the Earth is just going through a phase, when you can swipe on your teenage daughter goes through a phase where she thinks she's a vampire. And then there are people who think that climate change is good for us, let's say, and make the weather nicer. I mean, who wouldn't want to live in a world where it's 30 degrees Celsius or 100 degrees Fahrenheit for our American audience every single day? But this also means some countries will get colder and wetter. Sorry, UK, looks like you're going to have more weather to complain about. So what evidence do we have for this phenomenon? Well, let's make a start with decades of temperature data from weather stations worldwide that show a clear upward trend. The ice cores we analyse in Antarctica and Greenland for appeals past temperature fluctuations and greenhouse gas levels, confirming the current warming trend is unprecedented in recent history. And when we say recent history, we're talking about going back to the last ice age. The oceans are absorbing most of the excess heat from the Earth's surface, leading to warmer ocean temperatures. Sea levels are rising due to the expansion of warmer water, melting of glaciers and ice sheets. But let's be clear about this. It's only the glaciers and ice sheets on land that are adding to this. If the North Pole, which you can think of as a giant ice cube, melts, then sea levels won't change. But there is a lot more water in Siberia and in Greenland and Antarctica that is on land and is going to flow into the ocean. Extreme weather events like heatwaves, droughts, hurricanes and floods are becoming more and more frequent and intense. How many times this year alone have you reported the hottest days since records began? The oldest continuous record temperature is the Central England Temperature Data Series, which began in 1659. That's nearly 200 years before the Industrial Revolution was even thought of. We have changing precipitation patterns, reduced Arctic sea ice and glacial retreat. Ocean acidification, where the ocean absorbs a significant portion of human-produced carbon dioxide, leading to the pH level dropping. Acidification poses a threat to all marine ecosystems, particularly those that rely on calcium carbonate for their shells or exoskeletons. We've already seen a massive bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Shifting ranges, many plant species and animal species are shifting their geographical ranges in response to climate change. We've already seen examples of this in the Arctic where polar bears are coming further and further south and grizzly bears are migrating further and further north. We're having earlier spring events where plants are blooming earlier. This affects insects and most importantly pollinators. These are just a few examples of the extensive evidence supporting the reality of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC if you're into acronyms, a leading body for the assessing of science related to climate change has consistently concluded that climate change is real, primarily caused by human activities and has already had significant impacts on the planet. But seriously though, climate change is a real problem and it's not something we can ignore. So let's do our part to reduce our carbon footprint and if that doesn't work, maybe we can just move to Mars. Thank you for listening to The Heat Is On. We hope we enjoyed this air-conditioned walk through climate lunacy. Stay curious, stay sceptical and join us next time for more myth-busting madness.