IN REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER… starting with our most recent show
2024 SEASON
Arctic Flames November 20, 2024 The Arctic burns as never before. Scientist Jennifer Balch introduces new climate “fast fires”. Reports from the north fire-front: a panel on Arctic wildfires at the Arctic Circle Assembly in October. Changes in the Arctic change the world, but it is a lawless land. Joint-action in the Arctic is in a coma, with military in the wings. In fire and heat, nature’s violence is taking over, all around the Polar sea. Look North. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Jeremy Rifkin: Revolutionary Change November 13, 2024 “We have misunderstood the planet we live on – that misunderstanding has taken us to an extinction event in the 21st century.” Jeremy Rifkin is the big-picture man behind “The Third Industrial Revolution” in Germany and China, visionary of mega-trends like “The End of Work“. We spend an hour with Jeremy on his latest book (of 24): “Planet Aqua: Rethinking Our Home in the Universe”. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
AMOC: Freezing Europe More Likely Despite Global Heating November 6, 2024 The United Kingdom could experience winters as cold as northern Canada – if warming waters from the tropics stop flowing in a collapse of the ocean system called “AMOC” – the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. You hear the latest science from Dr. Stefan Rahmstorf. UK author and strategist Laurie Laybourn joins us. Philip Boucher-Hayes explains expectations in Ireland. From Utrecht University, Rene van Westen predicts AMOC collapse before 2057 and an extra meter of sea level rise to boot. The program begins with a clip from BBC reporting on the Big Freeze of 1963. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Atmospheric Rivers: A New Face of Climate Change October 30, 2024 From Vancouver to Asheville N.C., atmospheric rivers smash rain records, homes and lives. North Carolina scientist Dr. Orrin Pilkey: “nobody expected this” in a climate haven. Scientist Dr. Qinghua Ding says atmospheric rivers are changing both Poles. Alex with news beyond election theater in U.S. & UK – the real world is calling. Find out. When rivers in the sky fall – all at once. Another atmospheric river just blasted the Pacific Northwest. Vancouver Canada was hit by flooding in multiple suburbs and emergency evacuation in nearby Deep Cove. For a city used to rain, this was a crazy record fast downpour that washed away homes and killed at least two people. The surprise super flooding in Appalachia with Hurricane Helene was possible because an atmospheric river accompanied the hurricane. That is a known connection. Another is La Nina and we investigate all this in this program. Less known, atmospheric rivers are moving toward the Poles, invading both the Arctic and Antarctica. That changes the ice world and that changes everything. Later in the show, we talk with author and acknowledged expert Dr. Qinqhua Ding. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Killer Myths & Perilous Times October 23, 2024 Half of scientists polled think we are headed for a 3 degrees C hotter world within a single lifetime. From Exeter University UK, Professor Tim Lenton returns with the 2024 State of the Climate Report. His colleague at Exeter Dr. James Dyke fact-checks a popular climate myth about “overshoot”. With author and activist Mike Tidwell, we talk hurricanes, Appalachia, and coping. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Milton: Florida Paradise Lost? 4 Experts October 16, 2024 After Hurricanes Helene & Milton, four experts on disaster storms during human-made global warming. Storm-chaser Meteorologist Jeff Masters; Senior Research Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Dr. Michael Wehner; highly-cited storm scientist Kerry Manuel from MIT; Environmental Planner Patrick Marchman: will there be an exodus from the coasts – “climigration”? Welcome to a packed Radio Ecoshock special. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
My God The Machine October 9, 2024 When disaster comes, and governments can’t help, people boil over. From Athens, we talk with foreign correspondent and climate security analyst Peter Schwartzstein. His new book is: “In The Heat and the Fury: On the Frontlines of Climate Violence”. Then: why are scientists still talking about 1.5 degrees of warming as the goal, when last year was already hotter than that? We ask leading researcher Christoph Bertram for a more realistic take. Appalachia and Nepal are reeling from city-breaking floods, and Las Vegas is still sinfully hot in October. Sorry United Kingdom, you drew the never-ending-rain card in the climate casino. Who’s next? Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Welcome to Climate Havoc October 2, 2024 This week’s guest Vandana Shiva says it is no longer climate “change” but “climate havoc”. Then U. of California Distinguished Professor Michael Prather: methane stays in the atmosphere longer than we were told. Dr. Michael Polanyi on logging industry myths Canada tells the world, more self-delusion on emissions driving disruption of the atmosphere. I’m Alex Smith with three interviews, let’s go. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Super Marine Heat Waves & Collapse Of Plant World September 25, 2024 As extreme weather slams people and records around the world, Dr. James Carton points to super marine heat waves. Hotter oceans change everything. Carbon dioxide poured into the atmosphere faster in 2023. Even record fossil fuel use cannot explain it. A new study finds natural recapture of CO2 by land plants has “collapsed” during record heat. French co-author Dr. Philippe Ciais joins us. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Sold Out to the Volcano September 18, 2024 Did a South Pacific volcano cause extreme heat waves of 2023 and ’24? Atmospheric scientist Mark Schoberl investigates. Bleak big picture with Greek author George Tsakraklides: climate collapse in necro-capitalism. Plus clips from two new climate songs. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
What Just Happened – and What’s Next? (NEW) September 11, 2024 Welcome back to a new season of Radio Ecoshock. Extreme weather expert Jeff Masters tells us when climate disasters turn the U.S.A. upside down, and what we can do to prepare. What caused the unexpected rise in heat? Former NASA scientist James Hansen says reduction in ship emissions. Dr. Andrew Gettelman investigated and you get the verdict. Plus headlines of global climate chaos Pole to Pole in the summer of 2024. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Sorry For The Disruption (replay) September 4, 2024 Renewables for off-grid and cooling mirrors. Dr. Emilio Moran, lead author of “Advancing convergence research: Renewable energy solutions for off-grid communities”. Then sustainability expert Dr. Jem Bendell apologizes for “bright-siding” climate change. Scientist Ye Tao’s fast run-down of the “Meer” project – cooling Earth with mirrors. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Climate Hope and Horror (replay) August 28, 2024 Three degrees C warming by 2050? Catastrophe, and what we have to do to avoid it – famous American scientist V. Ramanathan from his life work & new science. Dr. Andy Ridgwell from UC Riverside on the last great warming of 5 degrees C. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Drilling Deep Into Catastrophe August 21, 2024 With heat waves all over the world, are we on the edge of catastrophe? Renowned Swedish scientist Johan Rockström answers in a short TED presentation August 15, 2024. Chevron just announced a “new frontier” for oil: drilling deep below the sea. Alex checks similarities to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout – America’s worst marine disaster. A new article in the journal Nature asks: “What is the hottest temperature humans can survive?” We covered that with the lead scientist Ollie Jay in 2019. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Post Climatic Stress Disorder (replay) August 14, 2024 Two environmental psychologists, Dr. Robert Gifford and Dr. Joseph Reser, on reasons why we don’t react to the threat of catastrophic climate change. Plus new film on Gregory Bateson, co-inventor of the “double bind” and eco-connection – by his daughter Nora. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Silicon Dreams and Carbon Nightmares (new) July 31, 2024 “Silicon Dreams and Carbon Nightmares: The Wide Boundary Impacts of AI”. A hair-raising journey through developing dark futures. Bees, birds, and people as fodder for the system, while climate change is accelerated by corporate artificial intelligence. Dr. Nate Hagens is Director of The Institute for the Study of Energy & Our Future – talking with American social philosopher Daniel Schmachtenberger. Buckle up. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
This Future Doesn’t Work (replay) July 24, 2024 World cities projected to go 4 degrees C hotter and beyond – scientist Lei Zhao. Dr. Robert Nicholls of UK Tyndall Centre finds plans to green the planet with bio energy creates water stress for billions of people. Johannes Lohmann from the University of Copenhagen warns Earth will hit climate tipping points much sooner than expected due to the rate of climate change. Buckle up for hair-raising triple science right here on Radio Ecoshock. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
27 Ways Heat Can Kill You – Update 2024 July 17, 2024 How your body breaks down in extreme heat. We start with paper “Twenty-Seven Ways a Heat Wave Can Kill You: Deadly Heat in the Era of Climate Change”. Medical terms explained. Short clips from Ecoshock interview with lead author Dr. Camilo Mora included. Australian heat and health expert Elizabeth Hanna makes it all clear (replay). Quick review of 15 lessons from the Russian heat wave of 2010 (55,000 killed, wheat exports annihilated, and more). A new compilation of heat survival know-how. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Cat 6 and Beyond – What You Need to Know (replay) July 10, 2024 Will climate change foster super storms bigger than anything before? Dr James Hansen warns “yes” and Meteorologist Jeff Masters explains. First, we revisit a fundamental interview with MIT’s Dr. Kerry Emanuel, surely one of the world’s top hurricane experts. Get informed and get ready. These are best of Radio Ecoshock replays – what you need to know about hurricanes in a new climate age. Hurricane Beryl was the first Atlantic Cat 4 storm ever seen in June. It became the earliest Cat 5 as well. Atlantic ocean waters have been record hot for over a year. The U.S. Government Agency NOAA is forecasting a range of 17 to 25 total named storms for 2024, with an 85% chance of above normal big storms. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
The Great Acceleration – toward an unknown climate (replay) July 3, 2024 Science shows humans have left the stable patterns of former climates. From the Stockholm Resilience Center, Owen Gaffney explains. As Australia burns with heat, Tasmanian scientist David Bowman reveals great regions of the world where fire will strike. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Dead Coral & the Metabolism of Capitalism June 5, 2024 Global coral could disappear in one lifetime, after millions of years on Earth. Listen to the Director of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch Program Derek Manzello. Then Dr. Eric Pineault on Social Ecology, and the dangerous metabolism of Capitalism. Will we expand until it all explodes? Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Climate Killers Go on Holiday May 29, 2024 Tornados, killer heat domes, and tipping points: we have it all. Climate scientist Paul Beckwith and Alex cover the latest shocking climate news and science in a destabilizing the world. How, why, and when. Plus 2 AI climate songs: “One Hot World” and “Closing Soon”. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Shades of the Future May 22, 2024 How hot will people get, how many dying, before someone tries geoengineering? Should scientists test out last-ditch solutions? Long-time journalist, film-maker, and author Dr. Gwynne Dyer says “yes” in his new book “Intervention Earth – Life-Saving Ideas from the World’s Climate Engineers”. You get in-depth discussion plus an update on the field and 20 cautions in this week’s Radio Ecoshock. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Drop The Distractions: Transcontinental Extreme Heat May 15, 2024 Mexico, Africa, Southeast Asia is burning hot as never before. New state of the world? From Ahmedabad India, Dr. Minal Pathak reports from one of the hottest. Is the new heat beyond science? From Aix Marseille Université France, senior research scientist Wolfgang Cramer on “Earth Risk”. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Climate Homicide May 8, 2024 Records show fossil fuel executives and big corporations knew their products would cause disastrous global damage – for decades. Should they be charged with homicide? From Public Citizen David Arkush makes the case. From Rutgers, Journalism Professor Melissa Aronczyk on Greenwashing the Canadian Tar Sands. We investigate corporate propaganda trying to dress up one of the dirtiest fuels in the world. Plus more AI climate music – even the machine wants justice! Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
O Artificial Savior From the Heat May 1, 2024 Millions are caught in the climate fire. Australian scientist Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick on global overview: “Extreme terrestrial heat in 2023”. But it is not just climate. Huge natural systems are failing. From University of Hawaii, Dr. Charles Fletcher is co-author of the heavily viewed new paper “Earth at risk: An urgent call to end the age of destruction and forge a just and sustainable future”. Toss in hot news of crazy weather flips, AI catastrophe forecasts, failing ocean currents, and here you go – a full Radio Ecoshock show. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Extreme Heat = More Mass Migration (replay) April 24, 2024 Extreme heat and rising seas will push hundreds of millions of people toward sanctuary. New compilation of previous interviews: Alex de Sherbinin reveals hundreds of millions of climate refugees expected by an unlikely source: the World Bank. What cities, deltas or whole countries will be lost? Scientist Benjamin Krauss at Climate Central joins us. More AI climate music. Alex is back next week with all new shows. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Nomad Century & Bad Banks (replay) April 17, 2024 Are your savings helping the mad new expansion of fossil fuels? From RAN, Dr. April Merleaux names big banks expanding oil, gas & coal from the Arctic to the Amazon. From London, broadcaster, author, and science journalist Gaia Vince on coming mass climate migration in her book “Nomad Century – How To Survive The Climate Upheaval”. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
The Coming Monster Heat Waves April 10, 2024 New monster heat waves are killing people across the world: the old, children, mothers, simple outdoor workers. A new analysis shows oil and gas production from just five well-known corporations will kill at least 5 million people, and maybe more than 10 million people. The real cost of burning our future with guest researcher Sarah Biermann Becker from Global Witness. Longer, hotter heat waves are here and worse to come. From Utah State University, we speak with co-author of new science – Dr. Wei Zhang. Plus global heat news media leaves out – and two little AI-made climate songs. Pay attention, we will test: are you a human? Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Why So Hot So Fast? April 3, 2024 Gavin Schmidt is Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. He tells us “Climate models can’t explain 2023’s huge heat anomaly – we could be in uncharted territory.” Meanwhile, so much ice is melting at the Poles, Earth’s rotation is changing. Dr. Chad Greene from NASA’S lab in California reveals Greenland lost even more ice than we knew. Cutting climate science from NASA, this week on Radio Ecoshock. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Climate Sci-Fi Gets Too Real March 27, 2024 Is it science or fiction? Both! Top climate science fiction writers Kim Stanley Robinson & Bruce Sterling. Robinson shocked the world with his 2020 book “The Ministry of the Future” where 20 million people perished in a massive heat wave. We talk consequences in a new interview. My feature on the climate sci-fi work of Bruce Sterling was produced in 2006 – but sounds like today (unfortunately). Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Whiplash & Greenlash March 20, 2024 When big systems flip into another state, that is trouble for species needing normal. Like us. We get the latest on global tipping points in 2023 from one of the world’s experts, Professor Tim Lenton from Exeter University. Then we explore earth energy imbalance at the poles with Hamish Prince and “greenlash” – backward steps in the European Union. I’m Alex. Welcome to Radio Ecoshock. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Is This a Glimpse of the New Hot Future? March 13, 2024 Lost in endless political hype, this planet is hotter. Expert Earth System Modeler Till Kulhbrodt says this may be a glimpse of a future three degrees above pre-industrial. Are we approaching tipping points, or are some already behind us? We revisit an interview with Dr. Tim Lenton on cascading tipping points, as I line up guests to report the latest tipping science. The show closes with tips to survive times of mass fear. But first, let’s learn more from the best, about how our planetary home really works. Welcome to Ecoshock. I’m Alex Smith. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Broken News March 6, 2024 Amid human disasters, some hope evolution can save us. Maine Professor Tim Waring worries evolutionary design may stop humans from solving climate change. New science: a major meltdown in Antarctica can happen not in thousands of years, but less than 200. That leads to a new age of rapid sea level rise around the world. Royal Society Research Professor Eric Wolff explains. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Why Renewables Cannot Power Your World – Simon Michaux February 28, 2024 Renewables cannot power the world we know. Dr. Simon Michaux from the Geological Survey of Finland crunched the numbers: not enough time, and not enough metals. In this unique interview on Rachel Donald’s PlanetCritical broadcast, Michaux explains the limits – and what we CAN do in a sustainable society. Edited for radio by Maria Gilardin of TUC Radio and Alex Smith of Radio Ecoshock. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
2 Degrees by 2030 and Panic Politics February 21, 2024 1.5 degrees C is already behind us. Could 2 degrees of warming arrive by 2030? Despite pushback, Dr. Malcolm McCulloch makes the case from Perth, during Australia’s roasting, hottest-ever February. But first, UK Professor Emeritus and psychoanalyst Paul Hoggett on climate, victimhood, and the authoritarian urge. I’m Alex Smith. Welcome to Radio Ecoshock – exploring minds in twisted times. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Cat 6, Grid Down & the Behavior Crisis February 14, 2024 Horrendous climate-driven storms are here. From Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, senior scientist Dr. Michael Wehner makes the case for Cat 6. Electricity from natural gas is more reliable than renewables, right? Wrong. Mark Specht from the Union of Concerned Scientists finds gas plant failures bring grids down. From the New Zealand Joseph Merz on the latest World scientists’ warning: The behavioral crisis driving ecological overshoot Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Climate Cities: Radical Adaptation February 7, 2024 Is your city ready for extreme heat, floods, and wind? No! It is time for “Radical Adaptation” with Professor Brian Stone, Director of the Urban Climate Lab at Georgia Tech. Can we still make cement, steel – the basics – without fossil fuels? Is fossil-free tech out there now? We catch up with Jeffrey Rissman, Senior Director, Industry at Energy Innovation. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Methane: Monster Or Myth? January 31, 2024 Cornell Professor Robert Howarth returns to Radio Ecoshock reporting the whole Liquefied Natural Gas process leaks so much methane it may be worse than coal for the climate. Oxford Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert tells us methane worries are overblown. Carbon dioxide is the real threat driving Earth to a horrible Hothouse state. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Going Over the Snow Cliff and Dark Mining January 24, 2024 A warming world is pushing us off the “snow cliff”. Snow drought is increasing. Dry fire-filled summers with low rivers and crop loss surely follow in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere. We talk with Lead Author Alexander Gottlieb from Dartmouth. Then “satellites don’t lie”. Australian mining expert Dr. Tim Werner finds twice as much mining activity and damage, half of it undocumented – the dark mining economy. Welcome to Radio Ecoshock. I’m Alex Smith. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
UNREPORTED: Amazon Emergency & Destabilized Atmosphere January 17, 2024 The Amazon – lungs of the world – is in last-stage crisis. It is boiling in record smashing heat, drought, and fire. We visit the last stand with Rhett Butler, Founder and CEO of independent media hub Mongabay. Does it seem more stormy where you live? Senior scientist Aiguo Dai confirms the atmosphere has been destabilized and is expected to get more wild as warming continues. I repeat: the atmosphere is destabilized. The show wraps with Dr. Douglas Sheil in Norway: can trees make their own weather? Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Spectacle, Necrocapitalism, & Methane January 10, 2024 Welcome to a wild ride into “Necrocapitalism” – cutting observations by Greek scientist and author George Tsakraklides. Then more worrying news about methane: frozen under the deep sea around every continent, methane can melt, migrate and release closer to shore. We talk through this new discovery from Petroleum Geologist and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University Richard Davies. It all wraps up with my short-take on French Situationalist Guy Debord and “Society of the Spectacle”. You are living in it. All the creative images in this blog were created by our guest George Tsakraklides, as an artist using AI tools. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
Avoiding the Doom Loop in the Age of Crisis (replay) January 3, 2024 (Original Release Date: March 29, 2023) – Can crisis tip us into an ecologically sane civilization? UK Think tank report author Laurie Laybourn on a future where disasters ripple across the world. Then let’s get away – to Antarctica. Why did sea ice crash around that frozen continent? Increasing El Nino events may drive global sea levels higher. Australian scientist Adriaan Purich shares big changes at the South Pole. Download or listen to this Radio Ecoshock show in CD Quality (57 MB) or Lo-Fi (14 MB)
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