#256 | Climate Realities: Baked Arctic & Collapse As A Process, Not An Event w/ Nicholas Humphrey

Intro: 9:16

In this interview, I speak with meteorologist and geoscientist Nicholas Humphrey. 

As the nations of the world continue to confront the challenges of a global pandemic, and as the United States experiences the worst economic crisis in its history and convulses in the wake of accelerated social breakdown and civil unrest, the global climate crisis continues unabated. I ask Nicholas to provide his insights into the profound climate shifts the Arctic region has experienced the past several months (since the recording of this interview, a region in Siberia recorded a record-breaking temperature of 100.4°F/38°C). (https://lat.ms/2VnnYsG) This includes the impact these changes are having on the ocean currents and atmospheric jet streams — amplifying the severity of storms and nonlinear weather events around the globe, as well as triggering more tipping points and feedback loops in the climate system. We also examine how thawing permafrost in the Arctic is leading to infrastructural collapse, coastline erosion, and methane release, with the notable case of 21,000 tons of oil spilling into the Ambarnaya River in Siberia on May 29th, a potent example of the environmental consequences of this trend. (https://bit.ly/2VmnOlj) We then tie the roots of this particular crisis with the history of racial terror and economic exploitation inherent in a global capitalist system, reflective of the ecocidal relationship the dominant culture has with natural world at large.

Nicholas Humphrey is a meteorologist and geoscientist, with the focus on extreme weather events and their connection to our destabilizing climate. Nick’s goal is to communicate, in an interdisciplinary fashion, the serious risks from climate tipping points, extreme weather events, and ecological collapse. He graduated with a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in societal impacts of extreme weather from South Dakota State University in 2013, and earned a MS in Geosciences - Applied Meteorology from Mississippi State University in 2016. Nicholas is based in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Episode Notes:

- Follow Nicholas’ and support his work: https://www.patreon.com/MeteorologistNickHumphrey

- Follow his updates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wxclimonews

- Articles and research cited in this episode: https://bit.ly/2VmnOlj / https://bit.ly/2YBC0ZL / https://bit.ly/2Yy4iUG

- The songs featured in the episode are “Oh, Civilization” and “O Capitalismo” by Dan Hanrahan from the album Radical Songs for Rough Times: https://danhanrahan.bandcamp.com