12/16/2016

A Somber Room of Climate Scientists

7:08 minutes

Earth and climate scientists converged in San Francisco this week for the annual American Geophysical Union meeting. But this year discussions of research and achievements in the field were overshadowed by a shared concern for the future of climate science under a Trump administration. At a presentation on Wednesday, California governor Jerry Brown emphatically promised a room full of conference scientists that the state “will launch its own damn satellite” if Trump chooses to de-fund NASA’s near-Earth climate research. The anxiety over whether the next administration will pull the plug on climate data collection has prompted a call to download and protect climate data currently being housed on government servers.

Science and environment reporter Lauren Sommer joins Ira to discuss the somber mood at AGU. Plus, a look at the Arctic Report Card, and news on how a planet actually tilts when there are big volcanoes that shift its mass.

Segment Guests

Lauren Sommer

Lauren Sommer is a science and environment reporter for KQED Public Radio in San Francisco, California.

Meet the Producer

About Katie Feather

Katie Feather is a former SciFri producer and the proud mother of two cats, Charleigh and Sadie.