Cambridge Climate Lecture Series
#CCLS2023 A Forum For Discussing Climate Change - Cambridge, UK
Shaping The Future - From Pandemic to Climate Change
Interviews with environmental / climate change experts discussing the choices we collectively face in determining what future we will shape for ourselves, future generations and all other life within the biosphere. 
The podcast is produced by Nick Breeze and hosted on the CCLS website, as an appendage to the series.
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Thanks,
Nick Breeze
“Surely if you are going to be intervening with some risk in something where the risk is greater if you don’t intervene then let’s research the intervention!”
Welcome to Shaping The Future - From Pandemic to Climate Change. In this episode I am speaking with Cambridge University’s Dr Hugh Hunt who is also working as part of the Centre For Climate Repair In Cambridge looking at ways to repair the climate.
Hugh makes the point that the risks of Geoengineering are less than the impacts from climate tipping points that we are facing if we don’t do it.
He also gives us an overview of the Centre For Climate Repair set-up by former UK Chief Government scientist, Sir David King, and discusses why funding on a scale to meet the enormity of the climate crisis means unconventional sources maybe be necessary.
The paper that this interview is based on coauthored by Hugh Hunt and Dan Bodansky can be downloaded free here: https://bit.ly/3ich6Yw
In this episode of Shaping The Future, I am speaking with Gail Bradbrook, environmental activist and co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, as the Autumn rebellion gains momentum in major cities across the UK.
Gail talks about the XR demands for this rebellion and the power of activism for the individual and how that can lead to systemic change at the societal level.
We finish discussing the potential for a global citizens assembly to be held in parallel during next years UN climate conference, COP26, that will be hosted in November in the UK.
Thanks for listening, this podcast is available on all major podcasting channels and on Youtube.
Welcome to Shaping The Future - in this episode, I interview NASA climate scientist and author, Peter Kalmus, about the extreme fires in California and Hurricane Laura that struck Louisiana.
Peter talks about the underlying drivers of these frightening impacts that stem from our collective addiction to burning fossil fuels.
He also talks very personally about his conscious decision to speak out about how terrified he is with regard to the worsening climate breakdown.
Welcome to Shaping The Future - In this episode, I am talking to Kontur CEO Arben Kane about How Big data is a vital resilience tool in responding to increased frequency and intensity of climate impacts.
Kontur was born out of a research project at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in the US and is still evolving new perspectives for viewing information that can enhance how we live on Earth at a time when the viability of life itself is being called into question from Climate Change.
Arben and his team have been involved in mapping huge global disasters from earthquakes and hurricanes, with their work building the Pacific Disaster Centre, to more recently the spread of COVID-19 across the communities that span the globe.
Arben talks about how big data is a vital tool that when used correctly can be a huge asset to humanity and how his team are aiming to get around manipulation and security breaches by utilising distributed ledger technology among many other innovations.
There are many more episodes of the podcast being produced so please do subscribe on any of the main podcasting channels. Thanks for listening.
Welcome to Shaping The Future - from pandemic to climate change and in this episode I am speaking with Dr. Renée Lertzman, a pioneer in bridging the gap between human psychology and the environmental and climate crisis.
Renée talks here about how climate professionals can become better leaders and show guidance by becoming attuned to those whom we engage with.
Renée also offers a set of principals developed as a tool-set for psychological survival at a period in time when uncertainty about the future can lead to existential anxiety.
Of course this is also a time of opportunity, when radical new thinking can shape a vastly better future than the current horizon suggests.
Thanks for listening and please subscribe to the podcast to hear more in this series.
Welcome to Shaping The Future - from pandemic to climate change. In this episode, I am speaking with Philosopher and prominent Extinction Rebellion spokesperson, Dr Rupert Read, about his new booked titled, ‘Extinction rebellion: Insights from the inside’.
This is a collection of works, including essays, interviews, and internal XR memos, reflecting Rupert’s thoughts on what has been and what next for XR.
We discuss key concepts in the book including, how critical this time we are in right now is, and, how each one of us, as individuals and in collective groupings, can find agency to make a difference amid complex and disturbing times.
Purchase the book by clicking here and proceeds from the book will be donated to Extinction Rebellion.
Please note that we still have episodes coming with Dr Kai Kornhuber on the dynamics driving Arctic heating, with Dr Renée Lertzman on climate psychology, and Contour CEO, Arben Cane who has worked on global projects mapping COVID-19 data and who also pioneered global warning systems like the Pacific Disaster Centre, among others.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to Shaping the Future. In this episode, I am talking to Paul Keil who is a PhD candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology about the mysterious cold blob in the northern Atlantic Ocean.
This cold blob appears conspicuously on global temperature anomaly charts located south of Greenland.
It is currently the focus of a lot of research looking at the mechanisms that contribute to climate change and how these are being impacted by the billions of tonnes of CO2 we add annually to the atmosphere.
I have also added links to two recent articles posted by the Carbon Brief and Mashable that look at Paul and his colleagues' research in more detail.
In this interview, Nick Breeze speaks to Professor Penny Emdersby, the Chief Executive Officer of the UK’s Met Office who is in charge of one of the most important climate change modelling computers in the world.
Penny takes us inside the climate model and reflects on the hard truths that the data outputs are telling us.
Quote: "...my headline message to anybody is, the faster we can undertake the mitigation, the better it will be and if we can’t hit 1.5ºC we still want to hit 2ºC and 2 is better than 3 and 3 is better than 4! So we should try and the time for action is now. It is urgent to do something."
It is worth listening to Penny talk us through the Earth system simulator the UK has developed to navigate us through what is currently an undecided and uncertain future.
Penny mentions 2 reports released by the Met Office that can be accessed below:
Projected frequency of 40ºC in the UK
WMO related Met Office press release
Welcome to Shaping The Future Podcast. In this episode, I am speaking to Professor Jason Box at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.
We are discussing how the colossal Greenland ice sheet is changing as the Earth warms and what impact this will have on the global climate system.
So much of Jason’s work bridges the void between climate science in obscure corners of the planet, and the risks posed by pollution from industry, as well as how we in wealthier countries conduct our lives.
Shaping the future means envisioning the world we want and committing to a pathway to achieve it. In that vane, we end this discussion by considering the social movements that are emerging as part of the growing awareness of the necessity to change.
In this episode I speak with Professor Kevin Anderson who is the formerDirector of the UK’s Tyndall Centre for climate change research, he is also a part-time professor at the University of Uppsala in Sweden and even squeezes in a day a week at a university in Norway.
In this episode, we discuss who are the culprits of climate action failure, how coronavirus has shown us we are all equal in society and how solving current inequality is an essential component of solving the climate crisis.
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Professor Rupert Read | Denial On Trial & What To Do When The COP fails
Climate Famine In Southern Madagascar: “…a crisis that should not happen!” Menghestab Haile, UN WFP
Dr Shaun Fitzgerald OBE | Flipping buildings from carbon source to sink
Sir David King Interview | Arctic Briefing | Climate Crisis Advisory Group
Martin Bunzl | Thinking While Walking | Are we delusional about our perception of nature?
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