Today, my usual, totally biased praise of the most recent episode of Science for The People will be extra-biased. This week, host Desiree Schell interviews Christopher White about the effects of climate change in Glacier National Park. The discussion focuses on the clearly visible changes in the park, how those changes are monitored, and the cascade of effects resulting from those changes on the park’s ecology. Christopher White and I were both at the Santa Fe Science Writers Workshop earlier this year. He is one heck of a nice guy.
He did, however, miss a good reason to keep calling Glacier National Park “Glacier National Park”, even after all the glaciers are gone. The name begs the question, “Why do you call it Glacier National Park if there are no glaciers?” That question has a sobering and educational answer.
The show’s second interview, with Stephen Castles about human migration patterns, is equally interesting. Castles debunks some of the more grandiose claims about the effect of climate change on migration and refocuses the discussion on the true complexity of the issues.
Finally, how many podcasts do you know that provide links to supporting materials? Well, you know at least one now.
The Finch and Pea 