The Case of the Killer Heat

In this episode, we explore the growing impact of heat on people and the planet. We talk to scientists and "climate detectives" trying to hold the perpetrators of this unprecedented global temperature increase accountable. Leah and Katharine speak with Neza Xiuhtecutli , executive director of the Farmworker Association of Florida ; Kate Marvel , climate science writer and physicist at Columbia University and NASA ; and Richard Heede , co-founder and director of the Climate Accountability Institute . Kate mentions the very first climate attribution study , which links human activity to the deadly 2003 European heat wave. Leah references two big lawsuits using attribution science to hold polluters accountable: one in Germany against RWE , and another against fossil fuel corporations in Hawai'i . Last, Leah mentions her home state of California, which just passed a cutting-edge law to improve early warnings for extreme heat. To learn more about Neza's research, watch this video on how heat impacts farm workers, and find out how the piece-rate system works (or doesn't work) for these laborers. Explore climate action in the courts with the Climate Change Litigation Database tool . And if you want to get involved in your own political sleuthing for climate, consider joining the Documenters . Next time, we'll explore the history, meaning, and challenges of the Justice40 Initiative — an unprecedented federal effort to promote environmental justice.

You can listen to The Case of the Killer Heat online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Case of the Killer Heat is an episode from A Matter of Degrees by Dr. Leah Stokes, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson.

This episode is 49:26 long.

This episode was published on Jan 19, 2023.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from A Matter of Degrees when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.