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Last month, an international team of researchers released a study concluding that a worst-case climate scenario considered in past IPCC reports is now “implausible.” The scenario, known as RCP8.5 then SSP-8.5 involved a temperature rise of 4 degrees C by the end of the century. Although it seems like good news, the revision came after years of criticism from climate scientists, and even led to President Trump weighing in on the change.
Vox environmental reporter Benji Jones joins Ira to break down the course correction and discuss other news, including data on snake bite deaths, birds stealing each others’ nesting material, dung beetles’ preference for elephant dung, and a special project of his own to discover a new insect species in New York City.
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Segment Guests
Benji Jones
Benji Jones is a senior environmental correspondent at Vox in Brooklyn, New York.
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