Shows
Climate RouletteDOE Sets Out to Rebut the Scientific ConsensusAs part of the Administration's efforts to rescind the EPA's 2009 Endangerment Finding relating to carbon dioxide emissions, the Department of Energy has just released a 151 page report attempting to undercut consensus climate science, authored by 5 prominent climate skeptics. This podcast reviews the report's basic findings, how scientists are reacting to the report, and the Climatographers' own interpretation of the report.
2025-08-0115 minClimate RouletteCan the EPA Rescind the Endangerment FindingThe Trump administration wants to undo the 2009 Endangerment Finding from the EPA that set the stage for federal efforts to regulate greenhouse gases through fuel efficiency standards and other means. The legal basis for such a step is questionable at best, but with today's Supreme Court it's hard to predict what will happen. This episode provides a good look at the issues involved.
2025-07-3117 minClimate RouletteWhere the Business Climate Risk Conversation Stood in 2011The first business climate risk textbook, written for the London School of Economics, was published in 2011. It was co-authored by the Climate Roulette podcast's producer Dr. Mark Trexler. It's main points and conclusions have stood the test of time remarkably well. It represented one of the earliest calls for companies to place more emphasis on their "policy footprint" than their "carbon footprint." It pointed out that the only way to really manage the business risks of climate change would be to mitigate climate change, and that that would require public policies. This extended episode provides an in-depth overview of tha...2025-07-301h 02Climate RouletteMaking the ICJ Climate Ruling Really MatterThis is our third Climate Roulette episode involving the recent ICJ Climate Ruling. This one specifically explores the challenges the Advisory ruling faces in really changing climate outcomes. We use the metaphor of Climate Chess, also discussed in prior episodes of the podcast, to explore strategies that would make the ICJ ruling more consequential.
2025-07-2917 minClimate RouletteAre Global Forests Threatened by Fire?According to a new paper fires are rapidly growing in importance as a source of so-called "forest disturbance" around the world. This isn't unexpected as climate change increases the length of fire seasons, creates dryer fuels, and creates more weather events conducive to fires. It's too early to say whether a "tipping point" has been reached, and the picture is complicated by how rapidly our ability to directly observe global forests is improving, but it's an element of the climate roulette picture that bears close watching.
2025-07-2806 minClimate RouletteIs the Land-Based Carbon Sink Disappearing?It's well known that the oceans and land-based ecosystems have historically absorbed about 50% of human emissions of CO2, with the other half remaining in the atmosphere. But scientists have worried that this natural uptake of CO2 might not last forever. This new paper suggests that as the world warms, land-based CO2 sinks might already be close to tipping, which would substantially accelerate the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere.
2025-07-2706 minClimate RouletteWill Adapting to Climate Change be More Successful?There are lots of reasons we're failing to mitigate climate change at the scale scientists are calling for, and there's a lot of discussion of the need to focus more on adapting to the climate change that will occur. But will adaptation be more successful than mitigation, or do they both face the same kinds of barriers. This episode explores this very interesting and important question.
2025-07-2521 minClimate RouletteClimate Extremes and Food PricesRisk experts have been worried about the implications of climate change for food prices around the world for years. This episode reports on one of the first studies to try and empirically link specific climate events with specific food price spikes. No one study can be definitive, but it's an interesting exploration of not only the observed effect on food prices, but the impact of food prices on geopolitical stability.
2025-07-2418 minClimate RouletteIndividual Opinions from the ICJ JudgesPart 1 of this episode series focused on the unanimous ruling delivered by the large bench of ICJ judges. This Part 2 focuses on the supplemental opinions that almost all the judges also added to the record, in most cases wishing the court had been willing to go further than it did in specific areas of the ruling. Even though the unanimous ruling itself is only advisory, these supplemental opinions are likely to provide climate advocates with ideas of where to try and take climate change litigation in the future.
2025-07-2319 minClimate RouletteThe ICJ's Brand New Climate Ruling - Part 1Climate advocates have been waiting for this ruling from the International Court of Justice for many months, and it largely delivers on what advocates were hoping for! This Part 1 of the podcast focuses on the main ICF ruling, which was unanimous. Part 2 focuses instead on a whole series of supplemental rulings and declarations from the very same judges, in many cases wishing the court had gone further in its decision.
2025-07-2319 minClimate RouletteCan We Get to the Critical Minerals we NeedThis episode explores Ernest Scheyder's 2024 book "The War Below - Lithium Copper and the Globl Battle to Power Our Lives," which in turn digs into how difficult it would be to try and access critical minerals in the United States given the opposition to new mines that would be inevitable.
2025-07-1821 minClimate RouletteThe Growing Challenge of Climate MigrationThis episode digs into "On the Move - The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America." It's part of a larger conversation about the likelihood that a warming world will displace hundreds of millions if not billions of people. The secondary geopolitical and other implications are hard to get our heads around.
2025-07-1720 minClimate RouletteExploring Paul Gilding's "Great Disruption"Paul Gilding wrote a great book in 2011 where he envisioned that by 2018 we'd hit a societal tipping point that would motivate dramatic efforts to tackle climate change. It may have been the first serious look at the ideas of an "inevitable policy response" and "positive tipping points." The book includes a detailed "1 Degree War Plan" that lays out what would be required to stop global warming in its tracks.
2025-07-1618 minClimate RouletteA Big Picture Look at Under-Estimating Climate RiskThis podcast episode pulls together an entire collection of reports focused on the topic of under-estimated climate risk, going back to 1987. There will be other episodes going into detail on individual sources - this one provides a big picture overview which is why it's a longer episode.
2025-07-1553 minClimate RouletteNotebookLM - A Great Resource for Climate ChangeThis episode explores how the Climatographers are using NotebookLM, which includes production of this Podcast series. But it does a lot of other things as well which anyone focused on climate change can take advantage of!
2025-07-1421 minClimate RouletteAlex Epstein, Energy Humanism, and the "Big Beautiful Bill"Alex Epstein is an "energy humanist" who believes that we need to burn more fossil fuels in order to improve the human condition. And he had a big impact in the discussions leading up to the signing of the "Big Beautiful Bill" that radically rolled back efforts to reduce U.S. GHG emissions. This episode explores his views and his influential role.
2025-07-1115 minClimate RouletteThe Next Frontier in Climate Engineering?Geoengineering is a hot topic in climate circles. There are all kinds of such proposals in play, but now there is a completely new idea to contend with. Can we stop Antarctic glaciers from sliding into the sea and causing sea level rise? That's the question some scientists are now exploring, and we explore it in this episode of Climate Roulette.
2025-07-1020 minClimate RouletteHow Sensitive Is Global Temperature to GHG Emissions?"Climate Sensitivity" is the most important "known unknown" when it comes to climate change. As greenhouse gas concentrations increase in the atmosphere, how will average global temperature respond? Scientists have been discussing this question for decades, but we just don't really know the answer.
2025-07-0913 minClimate RouletteWhat Does "Abundance" Mean for Climate Change?"Abundance" has been everywhere when it comes to podcasts and social media for the last couple of months. Particularly with respect to permitting reform, it's being characterized as key to climate progress. But what IS "abundance," and what does it really imply with respect to climate outcomes?
2025-07-0821 minClimate RouletteAre Renewables Really Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels for Electricity Generation?As is the case with so many things, it depends on how you ask the question, and what you mean by "cheaper?" The Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) is often used to compare the costs of different generation resources, and to show the renewables are in fact the cheapest generation resource. But it turns out that LCOE is pretty misleading when it comes to the bigger picture of what actually gets added to the grid.
2025-07-0721 minClimate RouletteTackle Climate Misinformation with "Skeptical Science"Skeptical Science is an amazing resource for anticipating and responding to climate change misinformation. It individually covers more than 200 misinformation messages floating around the topic of climate change. This episode of Climate Roulette introduces you to the website and its potential.
2025-06-2520 minClimate RouletteAn In-Depth Look at E-Liability GHG AccountingE-Liability is commonly promoted as an alternative to today's Scopes 1-3 GHG accounting frameworks. This episode goes deep into the topic, looking at its potential advantages as well as the challenges any such system would encounter. This "Deep Dive" episode complements our "E-Liability 101" Climate Roulette podcast released at the same time.
2025-06-2428 minClimate RouletteIntroduction to E-Liability GHG AccountingE-Liability is a proposed alternative to today's greenhouse gas (GHG) carbon accounting based on Scopes 1-3 emissions. This episode of Climate Roulette introduces the topic of E-Liability for listeners not familiar with it. Another episode being released at the same time offers a much more detailed look at E-Liability for listeners wanting that additional detail.
2025-06-2406 minClimate RouletteIs 3.5% of the Population Really All You Have to Activate?3.5% has become famous as the fraction of the population that, if activated to protest, should lead to political change. But the actual meaning of the number is a lot less clear than that. In this Climate Roulette episode we explore the history of the number, and how it should be interpreted.
2025-06-2322 minClimate RouletteIt's Climate Stripes Day!Climate Stripes Day profiles the idea of climate stripes that Professor Ed Hawkins pioneered in 2018. Stripes are all over the place today (at least in Europe - not so much in the United States). Learn more in this episode, and consider purchasing Climate Stripes merchandise to bring the Stripes to the U.S.!
2025-06-2014 minClimate RouletteWhere the Climate Risk Conversation Really Started in 1987The topic of "climate roulette" dates back a long ways - almost 40 years. We've launched a podcast series looking at the evolution of climate risk discussions across some 18 reports, starting in 1987. This episode launches the series!
2025-06-2013 minClimate RouletteAre Carbon Emissions a Cost or a Benefit?A report written in 2014 makes the case that carbon emissions do not represent a net societal cost, but a net societal benefit. The report is not technically credible, but it is worth understanding the arguments being made, because they will continue to pop up as part of climate change misinformation campaigns, and as arguments in climate change litigation cases.
2025-06-1912 minClimate RouletteThe Big Carbon Offsets Challenge - IntangibilityThere is a huge debate over carbon offsets as a climate change mitigation strategy, but relatively little discussion of the most important contribution to the challenge facing carbon offsets, namely their intangibility. This episode starts by discussing the challenge of counterfeit products generally, despite their tangibility, and then expands the conversation to carbon offsets as a totally intangible commodity.
2025-06-1815 minClimate RouletteWhat's the Story of Tropical Deforestation?You've no doubt heard of tropical deforestation, but did you know the perception of tropical deforestation as a global problem dates back almost 50 years? Probably not! This episode retraces the conversation, leading up to today's concerns about climate change tipping points resulting from hitting deforestation thresholds.
2025-06-1731 minClimate RouletteExplore Your Climate ToolboxYourClimateToolbox is the sponsor of the Climate Roulette podcast. In this episode we dig into the Toolbox, why it was created, what's in it, and how you can take advantage of it! The bottom line? It represents thousands of hours of curated climate knowledge with the goal of helping you find "your" actionable climate knowledge.
2025-06-1618 minClimate RouletteThe Climate in 2084This second-edition of James Powell's pioneering book on climate fiction, or Cli-Fi, first published more than a decade ago, is an excellent way to explore what climate change will look like in 2084. But even more importantly, it's an introduction to the role of Cli-Fi in informing climate change conversations.
2025-06-1516 minClimate RouletteWhy is Climate Chess the Right Metaphor?Climate change is a "wicked problem," and so it makes a lot of sense to think about the best strategies and tactics for tackling the problem. The Climatographers coined the idea of Climate Chess years ago, and are trying to popularize the idea. That's the focus of this episodie.
2025-06-1421 minClimate RouletteIs Climate Change Accelerating?This episode reports on a new study suggesting the change in average global temperature is accelerating substantially, and far beyond what was expected just a couple of decades ago. It raises big questions about what comes next!
2025-06-1310 minClimate RouletteSpecial Release - This Week on LinkedIn June 12thLinkedIn is a great source of climate insight. Our "weekly" Climate Change on LinkedIn Newsletter pulls together some of the best insight, and this podcast episode covers the same ground in more detail and in an audio format. It's a quick way to track some of what's being talked about!
2025-06-1322 minClimate RouletteCan We "Just"" Focus on Climate Change?Malcolm Harris' new book tackles the challenge "systemic incrementalism" when it comes to climate change. In other words, everyone talks about climate change as a systemic challenge, but then tends to focus in on just one aspect of the problem. Malcolm Harris' new books suggests this strategy is doomed to failure.
2025-06-1216 minClimate RouletteA New Report on Extreme HeatThis episode reports on a new study analyzing extreme heat trends against an historic baseline. More frequent extreme heat events are being being recorded all over the world, even as the average global temperature increase remains at less than 1.5o C.
2025-06-1111 minClimate RouletteClimate Update for May, 2025A monthly episode of the Climate Roulette podcast, it summarizes what happened in May, 2025. Whether extreme events, climate litigation, climate policy developments, climate protests, and much more, it provides you with a quick synopsis. The document the podcast is drawn from is available at yourclimatetoolbox.com.
2025-06-1024 minClimate RouletteThis Week on LinkedInThis episode complements our Climate Change on LinkedIn Newsletter, which points readers to some of LinkedIn's most notable climate content for the week. The episode reflects on about 25 LinkedIn posts and associated commentary, providing listeners with a broad-brush overview of what was being discussed this week.
2025-06-0331 minClimate RouletteVoluntary Carbon Market UpdateEcosystem Marketplace puts out a great report every year full of statistics and trends having to do with the voluntary carbon market (VCM). In this episode we discuss the newly released report on VCM trends during 2024.
2025-06-0219 minClimate RouletteA GHG Accounting Conversation SnapshotGreenhouse gas (GHG) accounting is key to how investors, consumers, and even regulators understand companies' contributions to climate change, and the efforts companies are making to reduce those contributions. GHG accounting has been around for decades, but the pressure is building for major changes to how the accounting is done, and what claims companies can make with regard to their progress towards net zero. This podcast episode provides a rapid introduction to the world of GHG accounting, setting the stage for future podcast episodes that dig deeper into specific questions and proposals for change.
2025-06-0121 minClimate RouletteThe New Climate Legal Ruling Everyone is Talking AboutA new court ruling out of Germany has the climate change litigation world excited, since the court accepted the idea that large greenhouse gas emitters could be held proportionally responsible for the climate change impacts of their emissions. That said, the court rejected making such a finding in this case. So what happens next for the idea of corporate liability for GHG emissions?
2025-06-0111 minClimate RouletteNear-Term Climate ScenariosThe new NGFS short-term climate scenarios are a significant addition to the climate scenarios toolbox, and are potentially relevant to all kinds of business, financial, and investment decision-making. This episode introduces the scenarios, and pulls in the discussion on LinkedIn when the scenarios were published.
2025-06-0118 minClimate RouletteA New Report Quantifies How Much Warmer the World Already Is"Climate Change and the Escalation of Global Extreme Heat: Assessing and Addressing the Risks" is a product of Climate Central, the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, and the World Weather Attribution network. The report reviews heat around the world during the period May 2024 to May 2025, and assesses the impact of climate change on the number of extreme heat days. You can access the report and a written summary of the report here: https://bra.in/9q5MrK
2025-05-3011 min
The Eco Well podcastWhat's wrong with corporate sustainability? With Mark Trexler PhDThis week's episode goes on a deep dive into corporate sustainability - specifically, why isn’t it working? Over the last few decades, we’ve seen lots of new reporting requirements for companies. On the flip side, during that same time frame where sustainability has become fashionable, things have gotten, for the most part, worse. This episode features Dr. Mark Trexler from Climatographers on where have we gone wrong? And what can we do about it? Interested in supporting the podcast? Please share, subscribe and write a review! If it's accessible, we also have a Patreon which you c...2024-11-1237 minClimate RouletteClimate Roulette Podcast TrailerA quick introduction to what the Climate Roulette Podcast will cover, how it will be delivered, and its co-hosts! The podcast is edited and fact-checked by the Climatographers' Dr. Mark Trexler, who has more than 35 years of climate risk assessment and management experience.
2024-10-1904 min
Zero: The Climate RaceThere are now 800 carbon removal startups. How many is too many?Tackling climate change now requires not just reducing planet-warming emissions to zero, but also finding a way to draw down existing carbon dioxide from the air. Over the past few years, tech companies have taken the lead to seed hundreds of startups that want to sell carbon removal credits and help companies meet climate goals. But the failure of a major startup, Running Tide, has raised questions about the long-term viability of the market. This week on Zero, we hear from Nan Ransohoff, head of climate at Stripe, and pioneer of the carbon-removal market. Explore further:...2024-07-0231 min
The Eco Well podcastSustainability Challenges & Opportunities for the Cosmetics Sector, Roundtable.This episode featured the closing panel for our Sustainable Beauty E-Summit that happened back in January on Sustainability Challenges and Opportunities for the Cosmetics Sector. We came at the topic of sustainability challenges and opportunities from a wide scope of expertise. Featuring Akemi Ooka, Ph.D., Head of Global Supply Chain and Sustainability Resources at the Independent Beauty Association, Mike Fevola, Ph.D., Vice President of R&D at Inolex, and Mark Trexler, Ph.D., director at The Climatographers. Enjoy! Interested in supporting the podcast? Find us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell2023-04-121h 08
The Eco Well podcastCorporate Sustainability - is it actually helping? Feat Dr. Mark TrexlerThis week, we covered the topic of corporate sustainability management and reporting through the lens of… is this actually going to help combat climate change? From measuring greenhouse gases to carbon offsetting, is current corporate sustainability and policy pointing us in the right direction? Or is there potential for it to do more harm than good? Joining me for this conversation is Dr. Mark Trexler from The Climatographers. Enjoy! Interested in supporting the podcast? Please subscribe and write a review. If it's accessible, we also have a Patreon page. Find us at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Massive th...2023-04-0451 minZero: The Climate RaceHow did a good idea go so wrong? Carbon offsets with Mark TrexlerCarbon offsets are everywhere – a $2 billion dollar industry that’s set to grow even more as the US is even incorporating them in its effort to fulfill international climate pledges. Yet in the thirty years since they were created, they have not been proven to work. How did such a good idea go wrong and why is it so sticky? In this episode of Zero, Akshat talks to Mark Trexler of The Climatographers, who helped build the first carbon offset program in 1988, about what went wrong with offsets and if there’s any way to fix them. Read mo...2022-12-0134 min
Climate NowWhat's Wrong with Carbon Offsets? with Mark Trexler and Derik BroekhoffAs the climate crisis worsens, more and more companies are committing to go "net-zero". Most of these commitments include the purchase of carbon offsets or investment in negative emissions projects, designed to offset the emissions resulting from companies' operations.The carbon offset market is in high demand due to this surge of net-zero pledges, but does the market actually work? How can companies be sure their dollars are removing carbon that otherwise wouldn't be removed from the atmosphere? And what are the risks of a market that doesn't uphold its promise of truly offsetting emissions?...2021-07-3035 min
The Biofriendly PodcastAre Carbon Offsets Actually Helpful? with Dr. Mark TrexlerWhen it comes to tackling the challenges of climate change we often need a new perspective so that's why this week we welcomed Dr. Mark Trexler from The Climatographers to The Biofriendly Podcast. Mark shares a new way of thinking that could bring about more collective action, how carbon offsets were first created, and how is this all like a pregnancy test?
2021-07-2347 min