In June, global temperatures had surpassed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for 12 months straight, encroaching on the goal set in the Paris climate accord. We’ll explain why scientists use 1.5 degrees as a key benchmark and why it’s important to have hard conversations about climate change. Then, we’ll get into an investigation revealing how insurers profited from false diagnoses of Medicare patients. And, a billion-dollar donation to a medical school and new developments in textile recycling make us smile. Here’s everything we talked about today: “In a troubling milestone, Earth surpasses 1.5 degrees C of warming for 12 consecutive months” from LA Times “June 2024 marks 12th month of global temperature reaching 1.5°C above pre-industrial” from Copernicus “Burning Questions: What’s the deal with 1.5 degrees?” from Marketplace “‘We’re Not Dead Yet.’ Baby Boomers’ Good Times Drive the Economy.” from The Wall Street Journal “Insurers Pocketed $50 Billion From Medicare for Diseases No Doctor Treated” from The Wall Street Journal “How the Journal Analyzed Medicare Advantage Data” from The Wall Street Journal “Why scientists think they may finally have found a way to recycle clothes” from The Washington Post “Johns Hopkins to offer free medical school tuition from $1 billion Bloomberg Philanthropies grant” from The Baltimore Banner “$1 Billion Donation Will Provide Free Tuition at a Bronx Medical School” from The New York Times We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.