World Wildlife Fund Nature Breaking

Bonus episode

The last few weeks have brought an unprecedented series of extreme weather events. At a global scale, July 4th went down as potentially the warmest day in recorded history. And more locally, communities from Arizona to China have been breaking all-time records for heat. We’ve also seen wildfires in Canada sending smoke into communities from Detroit to Washington, and intense floods inundating areas of Vermont and New York. It’s clear that climate change is fueling a season of extreme weather. Dr. Stephanie Roe, WWF’s Global Climate and Energy Lead Scientist, joins this episode to discuss whether these climate impacts match up with previous scientific projections, the role of El Niño in exacerbating underlying climate conditions, and the steps we need to take to avoid the worst effects of climate change in the future.

Perhaps no species on Earth has been more directly associated with climate change than polar bears. As Arctic sea ice melts, the habitat for these bears will continue to shrink. But did you know that polar bear populations have a complicated history? 

Last month Apple TV+ launched a new show called Extrapolations, which portrays a variety of scenarios that could play out in the coming decades if we fail to address climate change.

This time of year marks the beginning of the annual appropriations process in Congress. That’s the months-long process through which Congress determines how much money it’s going to allocate for a wide array of federal programs – including those that support global conservation efforts. That’s why, every March, WWF asks our national network of supporters to consider joining us for a day of advocacy on Capitol Hill. It’s an opportunity to meet in-person with Members of Congress and their staff, and to let them know why funding for global conservation is important.

We’re releasing this episode a day early because today, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a major new report offering the most comprehensive accounting of climate science to date. It's the final report in the IPCC's Sixth Assessment series. One of the lead authors of that series, Dr. Stephanie Roe, also serves as WWF’s Global Climate and Energy Lead Scientist.

To mark International Women’s Day, this week’s episode focuses on an exciting new initiative that WWF is involved with to advance women- and community-led solutions to climate challenges. It’s an outgrowth of an alliance that WWF has with CARE, the global development organization that works to address poverty and hunger, with a focus on gender equality. 

Last October, Alaskan officials canceled the snow crab harvest for the first time in history, after the population dropped nearly 90% between 2018 and 2021. 

COP27, the UN’s annual climate summit, begins on November 6 in Egypt. This two-part episode explains everything you need to know before the summit kicks off. 

Bonus Episode

Every two years WWF releases its flagship Living Planet Report, which monitors populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around the world. The latest version of this report was released last week, and found an average decline of 69% in species populations since 1970. To help explain this finding and dive deeper into the report, we’re joined this week by Rebecca Shaw, WWF’s chief scientist. 

This year has brought another set of reminders about the risks of flooding in a warming world. Communities from Wyoming to Kentucky to Pakistan have faced the terrible consequences that floods can bring.