Episodes
On this episode, Carolina Marghidan Pereira is hosting the show and interviews Nathalie Doswald, Senior Officer for Nature-based Solutions at the IFRC, and Veronica Ruiz,  Nature-based Solutions Program Officer at IUCN. They discuss the benefits and challenges of using nature-based solutions to adapt to climate change.  References and supplemental material: Intro to nature-based solutionsIUCN Nature-Based SolutionsThe intro music is Welcome to the Show, and the background music is Beauty...
Published 05/31/23
Published 05/31/23
 Was that climate change? That's the question that comes up after a devastating storm, flood, or heatwave. Scientists are now able to give us an answer, and relatively quickly! This week Margot Curl, Manager Innovative Engagement and Youth at the Climate Centre,  is hosting the show and she interviews Sjoukje Phillip, KNMI, who works as part of the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group to provide rapid, and scientifically robust answers to the attribution question. Margot also talks to...
Published 11/01/22
Do you remember a moment when you got a chance to make significant progress or change happen? That is the goal of a new network, created by and for African researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to exchange knowledge and take action on climate and health issues. CHANCE stands for the Climate-Health Africa Network for Collaboration and Engagement, and it's already generating a sense of excitement. Those who attended the network's first meeting heard a first-hand account of how climate is...
Published 09/26/22
Promoting hand-washing and providing people with toilets are two interventions for a field of work called "WASH" which stands for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene.   This month,  I learn about what WASH has to do with the climate and how such basic interventions can be both cost-effective and life-saving.  We were joined by Yusuf Kabir, Programme Specialist: Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene and Climate, DRR and Emergency Focal Point at UNICEF India, who told us about his experience...
Published 08/08/22
It's June! That means temperatures are rising around the northern hemisphere as we enter the summer months. This year we held the first ever, Heat Action Day, on June 14th, 2022, with over 50 heat flashmobs performed in cities and towns around the world to raise awareness of heat risks and simple actions to #BeatTheHeat. In this episode, we hear from IFRC President Rocca, as well as representatives from the Bangladesh Red Crescent, Norwegian Red Cross and even the Chief Heat Officer from...
Published 06/28/22
Water is essential to all human life, and yet it's a challenge to match the needs of people with the availability of water throughout the year. There may be too much, or too little water or the water may be polluted and unusable. On top of this climate change and trends like urbanization are contributing to increasing water scarcity. This month, we were joined by Ruth Matthews, senior manager at SIWI, and Dr. Jean-Christophe Comte, PI of the Connect 4 Water Resilience project to talk about...
Published 04/20/22
Back in July 2020, we told you about a new frontier in forecasting, Impact-based Forecasts, that tell us "what the weather will do." Now, we are back with season 3 and bringing you the experiences of the people who are trying to build Impact-based Forecasting systems around the world. We'll hear from meteorologists in South America, South Africa, and Indonesia on what they are learning in the process. References and supplemental material: The Asia Regional Resilience to a Changing Climate...
Published 03/24/22
The world of corporations is finally starting to take climate change seriously. What are they doing and what are the motivations of companies taking climate action? How skeptical should you be every time you see company announce a climate pledge?  These are all questions that Edward Cameron, author of the new book, The New Corporate Climate Leadership, deftly answers for us. His experience working with civil society and businesses makes him uniquely qualified to share lessons on how...
Published 12/06/21
As world leaders gather at COP26, we discuss the report that underpins it all.  The IPCC released part 1 of its Sixth Assessment report on our physical understanding of climate change. I spoke with two IPCC authors, Dr.  Sonia Seneviratne of ETH Zurich, and Dr. Fredi Otto of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, to find out what the headline messages are, and what they mean for the humanitarian community. The findings, in some cases are grim, and we discuss how to go...
Published 11/04/21
In this episode we talk about what happens when climate and conflict mix to create a whole new set of vulnerabilities.  Catalina Jaime from the Climate Centre tells us that the climate doesn't quite cause conflict, but it can be a factor and shares an example from Nepal. Marcia Wong from the International Committee of the Red Cross shares how the ICRC is taking climate into account in every part of their work.   Listen to find out more. References and supplemental material: The Climate and...
Published 09/21/21
In this episode of the Can't Take the Heat podcast, we are zooming into the interface of climate and health. Kristen Aunan tells us why climate and health research needs to inform climate adaptation and policy, while Antonio Gasparrini talks about how climate change is already impacting human health, by playing a role in a third of heat-related deaths globally. Francesca de’Donato shares the most up-to-date evidence on whose most vulnerable to extreme heat and the biggest gaps in our...
Published 07/12/21
In this episode we talk about Missing Maps - the collaboration between the humanitarian and mapping communities to preemptively map parts of the world where disasters and disease epidemics might occur. Andrew Braye from the British Red Cross tells us ...
Published 04/26/21
Two of the biggest trends of this century are urbanisation and climate change. In fact, by 2050 more than two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in urban areas, and 90 percent of this increase will be in Asia and Africa. At the same time,...
Published 03/15/21
In the northern hemisphere, as countries were starting to enter the hottest time of the year, the world shut down in lockdowns intended to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. What happened to people living in informal settlements who had to deal...
Published 12/08/20
The IFRC's Climate:RED summit brought together 10,000 participants from countries around the world to talk about climate issues and humanitarian work. This episode contains snippets from a session in which climate science experts answered audience...
Published 10/12/20
Talking about your personal experience with climate change is one of the most powerful ways to grow the climate movement, according to young people at the forefront of the movement. In this week's episode, I spoke with Abby Kleiman, a Junior at Barnard...
Published 09/22/20
In part-two of our series on what it takes to keep people safe from extreme heat in New York City, I interview Sonal Jessel, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. She talks about how decades old policies and decisions...
Published 09/03/20
What does it take to keep people in one of the largest cities in the world safe from extreme heat? I interview Kizzy Charles-Guzman, the Deputy Director of the New York City Mayor's Office of Resiliency, about what the City does every time a heat...
Published 08/18/20
How many times have you been to a meeting that could have been an email? Or you are listening to someone give a powerpoint, and you have something interesting to add, or a question to ask, but theres simply no time for interaction? There is a team at...
Published 08/04/20
Meteorologists have been forecasting the weather for centuries. Our ability to predict how hot it will be, or how much it will rain has improved a lot over time! Now, scientists are going a step further. They want to predict the impacts of extreme...
Published 07/22/20
In this episode we discuss the ground-breaking work of one group of humanitarians determined to act early, before disasters happen. We follow the story of Forecast-based Financing (FBF) - a term that was coined at an Oktoberfest in 2012 - that...
Published 07/08/20
Heatwaves are a surprisingly deadly hazards . . . find out why in today's episode.
Published 06/25/20