The Day After Tomorrow: How Fast Can Our Climate Change? | S01E05 - Reality Check: The Science of Fiction

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome back to the podcast where wediscuss the plausibility of sci fi concepts with
experts. I'm your host, HeidiCompo, and today we're going to be
exploring the science behind climate change inthe movie The Day After Tomorrow. Joining
us is Carl Cassidy, who wasa TV meteorologist for eight years with a
passion for science and storytelling. Sheeven received her CNB seal in twenty nineteen,

(00:24):
which stands for and I had tolook this up is Certified Broadcast Meteorologist.
And that is ironic because we aredoing this episode today because just this
morning, my Amazon Alexa woke meup early to tell me about a severe
weather warning. So let me knowif your alexis ever done that in the
comments, because mine is acting up, so I need to know some AI's

(00:44):
taking over it or something. Hopefullyit's not the end of the world,
or if it, stay with usto the end when Krly is going to
be tackling our burning question, isglobal climate catastrophe possible within our lifetimes?
So, without further ado, let'sget ready for another mind blowing episode of
Reality Check. Paul, Thanks preparedfor hypercrime, Activate activity, just a

(01:06):
huge tractor of value were late forlight speed, light speed, it's too
slow, all right, reality checkstilliansO. So you probably saw the movie
the day after tomorrow when it cameout in two thousand and four. The
disaster thriller was full of CGI visualsthat were stunning for its time. But
did you know that director Roland Emmerichwas actually consulted. She consulted with NASA

(01:30):
scientists about the plausibility of the movie. This, similar to my Alexa incident
this morning, is ironic because NASAis where Carly and I met. So
I'm going to tell you, guysNASA's hilarious response to that inquiry in just
a bit. The first Carly,welcome. I am so glad to hang
you on here, and I justwant to open it up to you to

(01:51):
hear some of your initial thoughts aboutthe movie. Thank you. Yes,
so glad to be here. Ofcourse I saw it when it came out,
and I actually just rewatched it againon my because it's been almost twenty
years kind of tightened. I know, four is that insane to think about?
Maybe don't think about it very Yeah, but it is impressive as far

(02:14):
as you said, the visuals andeverything. But it also is very funny,
laughable as you're kind of watching it, especially from a science standpoint.
All right, so tell me,like, uh, let's just kind of
dive into the movie. So tellme about gosh, where do we even
start? Like we are going toget to the question of is this even
possible? But what I really kindof want to start off with is what's

(02:37):
really the difference between some of thesehot buzzwords that everybody hears, weather,
climate change, in global warming?Well, I think they're used interchangeably,
but they're different, right, Yeah, definitely, and they each have,
of course a huge difference in theimpact too. Okay, So like you're
talking about with your Alexa telling youthe weather for the day, So of

(02:57):
course weather is more so your dayto day the short term atmospheric conditions.
Then you have your climate and that'smore long term and usually about thirty years
that really determines the climate factor thereas far as for region. So kind
of how you can think about itis weather is what you wear, the
outfit that you pick out day today. Climate is what you have in
your closet for the seasons. Right, So that's kind of the difference between

(03:21):
the two. Then of course forglobal warming, that's always interchanged also with
climate change. But global warming isreally just one piece of climate change because
that's really into the greenhouse gases,increasing temperatures, increasing that in the atmosphere,
and the warming and then climate changeis all of that that's warming as
far as temperature. You can alsoprecipitation whend, so global warming is an

(03:46):
aspect of climate change. Climate changekind of embodies at all, got it?
So what would be the more sois there one term that's more appropriate
over the other for what's going onwith our planet as far as climate change
or global warming? Because they givebootbals say things like they're afraid of us
going into the next ice age,But to me, that doesn't make sense
if we're warming up right right?Yeah, and so yes you technically could

(04:09):
so go into a night stage.But yes, we are looking more as
far as a warming trend and havebeen and climate change. It's been happening
the entire time, and it isnatural, it's part of our geologic ways,
and it's also man made. Andthat's really where the concern comes in
as far as the rapid doing,so really the rate and then also the

(04:30):
magnitude of how fast it's changing.It's not as abrupt as what the movie
for trays, but the way thatwe are moving is faster and is where
we can run into obviously those issuesin our lifetime probably not, but into
future generations and relates for the future. That's the main concern. Gotcha.

(04:51):
Gotcha? So climate change happening overis the thirty year period? Is that
just kind of like a rough estimationor is that more of like when we're
talking about climate science, is thereperiods of time that these changes are classified
under or umbrellas. I'm sure soas far as we're looking at different things
in different decades or however many years. But as far as for weather and

(05:15):
like, if you ever hear yourlocal mediorologists saying the average temperature for today,
that's over that thirty year period,so that's where that average comes from
for climate data. Oh, Inever knew that, So never knew that
is wrong. So I've also heardthis is when you're getting like the weather
in your phone or the news orwhatever, and it's saying that the what

(05:36):
I say, the average or theestimated rainfall, we started, you know,
let's get started. I actually becauseit's like, okay, it's going
to be a percentage. Is likethat a thirty percent chance of meat house
or like what like are they talkingabout coverage? Is it going to be
coverage of the area. Well,that's also kind of what happens with those

(05:57):
models. It is different models pullingdifferent data and just giving you a percentage.
So as far as how they're pullingthe data, I don't know exactly
what they're pulling it from. Butif you watch for your local news station,
your local meteorologist, and also everyonekind of interprets it differently, right,
So if I say, like yousaid, thirty percent, you're going
to maybe think it is just thirtypercent of the day, thirty percent of

(06:20):
the viewing area, thirty percent asfar as how hard or how much rain
you're going to get, so atleast for what I tried to do and
portray to my viewers was kind ofa mix of all of that. And
that's why it does depend too.You can't just look at the day and
say, oh, thirty percent fortoday, Well, what time, how
heavy? How much? Because itcould rain just for three hours in the

(06:42):
morning, but you could maybe getfive inches. Well I could you know,
rain for longer and you could getless. So it really does depend
too as far as kind of thevariables that go into it and putting that
together versus just a percentage and thencommunicating that effectively. Okay, So it's
not in an exact science where yousaid they they are giving you information,

(07:04):
where's this information being aggregated from,or they're analysts. They're just taking it
from different weather pols and data pointsand then giving you that data. So
there's lots of satellites floating up above, like we're at NASA, so lots
of satellites, and that polls fromdifferent models as far as weather models.
So it's a lot of the samemodels that I look at too when I

(07:24):
make my forecast. But you havethe NAM like the North American, the
RPM, the European, the EUROSo there's tons of different models that poll
data. Some work better in differentlocations because of topography. So obviously here
where I am in Colorado, we'vegot mountains differences compared to arms in Kansas
very flat. So some also modelswork a little bit better as far as

(07:48):
rain compared to snow events, timingthings like that. So that's the different
models that you are looking at asit's pulling that data in and then making
that forecast, and also just kindof having that experience too as far as
the location, the topography, thingslike that, how things have played out
in the past, putting that alltogether. So there's some areas that it's

(08:09):
easier to predict the weather. Iwouldn't say easier, but you can see
things come in a little bit betterand know those patterns. Compared to as
the mountains here, they're going totake a lot of that energy coming down
the mountains, She's not going toget as much. While say you're like
in the Panhandle Voklahoma, you cansee those storms coming, nothing's really going
to take it or stand in theway. So there's just that difference in

(08:31):
knowing that topography and not even inthe movie for Day After Tomorrow, just
like how at the beginning when LosAngeles had like ten tornadoes on the screen
at once, like that would neverhappen. Also because of the topography of
Los Angeles. I even looked itup. It's since two thousand they've only
had ten tornadoes report and they hadlike ten in that one scene. So

(08:54):
it's just very different as far asthe topography. And then say for the
Midwest where you have Tornado Alley andget tornadoes. It brings in a lot
of that gulf moisture, so it'sreally warm. It creates those thunderstorms,
you get those big updrafts sixty seventythousand feet, then it can rotate in
la You're not getting that warm waterbased and you're not getting that same structure,

(09:16):
So tornadoes are really rare there.You would never see that to that
extent. So it does so thinkingabout climate change, as as the climate
changes, does the possibility of tornadoesoccurring in certain areas? Does that change?
Like if you never see a tornadosomewhere, is it never going to

(09:39):
be that way because of the mountainsin the weather patterns, or is it
possible for some places on our planetthat have never experienced certain weather patterns tornados
are anything else. Yeah, allof a sudden start experiencing totally different weather
patterns. I wouldn't say totally differentweather patterns, but you could start to
see maybe heavier rate events compared tojust regular rain events. I mean we
even see that nowadays, since weare getting those warmer temperatures, we are

(10:03):
seeing as far as getting more ofthose really kind of longer term impacts and
also events more rain, more drought, longer droughts, also tropical storms they
feed off without warm water. Sinceeverything's warming, we're getting some more of
those stronger storms, more numbers upthem. So yes, we could see
more of it, but again itwill take a longer period of time to

(10:28):
really get to that extent that abruptclimate change and that abrupt weather pattern really
difference. Okay, that's that's kindof making sense to me. And I'm
thinking about what you said earlier,where it's like you have your outfit for
the day, that's your weather,and then you have what's in your wardrobe
for the whole season that's your climate. So we can't have like, let's
say, you just can't have snowin Florida because we've hit a critical point

(10:54):
of climate change and now all ofa sudden, everything's getting flitited right,
right, and maybe in some daythat the temperatures would get cold enough there.
But it's also the rate as faras how the atmosphere and the waters
change. Ocean waters really change,you know, we do have that difference
from the morning hours to the afternoon. Right, It's cooler in the morning

(11:15):
in the afternoon it warms up,So we do have that rate of change
in the atmosphere, but that isan abrupt rate of change, just like
in the movie too, where peoplewere freezing instantaneously. That defies the law
of the rhodynamics, and it wouldnever get to that extent because you can't
that. It's just it's too immenseas far as the atmosphere and the ocean

(11:37):
waters the rate, it would physicallynever. It cannot change that fast.
So the movie kind of goes intoand I'm gonna butcher this name. You're
gonna have to correct me. Thethermohalenes circulation. I say that right,
that's the basically our ocean's currents,and the movie suggests that the disruption to

(11:58):
that current leads up to a rapidice age. What is so is that
a real thing, that thermohaling circulation. So what I found and kind of
looked up is more so than AMOC. So that's what it's called the Atlantic
Miri O'Donnell overturning circulation. And yes, that is a real thing, and

(12:18):
it is as far as the patternand so forth. But again, because
the ocean is huge, there's tonsof water. It's an immense volume.
The rate as far as slowing orlosing heat or gaining heat, it cannot
physically change that fast. Obviously,it's a movie. It's traumatized. You

(12:39):
know, they got to fitted itin two hours. But that would never
happen in real life in whatever timeperiod, what was it like three to
four days, So it was likegall like two weeks or something in two
weeks. So yes, even intwo weeks, it would still would never
happen to that extent. Even ifI did look at as far as Noah

(13:00):
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, as faras the AMOC slowing down, it could
They are really researching that as faras the weakening over the past century.
So if it did ever in thefuture completely sup or slow down, they're
testing into that. But right nowthat really remains uncertain. The main thing

(13:22):
if it were to do so everin the future, as the planet continues
to warm, really then we wouldhave more melting at the ice poles that
it would shift a lot of asfar as that fresh water and then also
the rain water, and so itcould cause droughts in different areas that don't
expect it or really don't ever haveit. And then the sea level could
rise in other areas. So it'sjust kind of switching things up as far

(13:45):
as that pattern. Okay, soway less scary than portraying the movie.
Yeah, what about some of thethere's there's so many other like random little
things, like the electro magnetism ofthe planet, Like what would happen if
like the I'm forgetting the term rightnow. You guys are gonna roast me
in the comments. Please please dogoose engagement. It's a good thing.

(14:09):
Please roast me. But it's likewe always have like our our our north
and south poles with the you know, the compass always points north. But
if those magnetisms like flip, itcan rapidly change the planet's total ecosystem,
like it would draw off bird migrationand could could something like that potentially cause
rapid climate change. I have noidea as far as that, but I

(14:31):
would not think so, so Icannot really speak to that part. I
don't know, Okay, Yeah,and that's totally fine. I love when
experts around here and telling me whatwe know and what we don't know,
and that's that's what it's all about. So what what were some of the
things that you've maybe noticed that thatwe're a little bit more on the realistic

(14:52):
side that you're like, hey,you know that could maybe happen from the
movie mm hmm, not a lot, because of course, you know,
you had the ice sheet that droppedoff and then it caused kind of this
whole commotion, this whole widespread storm, even over the entire northern hemisphere,

(15:15):
and that would never happen. Youcan never have a storm. It can't
be storming everywhere once. The atmosphereis always trying to reach equilibrium, and
so that's why we have lows,why we have highs, the jet stream
and so forth, and so youwould never have it just blanketed across So
that would never happen. We talkedabout tornadoes in la that is very very

(15:37):
rare to ever have that sense.The the isitaneous freezing that goes against the
law of thermodynamics. And it wasalso funny because Jack, the main character,
he's you know, walking through tryingto go save his son and friends,
and he's not freezing, but everyoneelse is freezing and drowing right like

(16:00):
he's just just like he's going skiingor something. So it's funny too,
how you know he can survive that, but everyone else couldn't. But let
me get to my temperatures here,because I think they said it was minus
one hundred and fifty in the movieas the cold temperature where you were like
freezing, and that temperature has nevereven been recorded. We've never really in

(16:23):
that cold no nowhere, So Ithink our let me get to it.
So while you're pulling that up,this might be a funny time to say.
So they did consult with the NASA, so some scientists and NASA they
asked, They're like, hey,what do you guys think about this movie?
And NASA came back with a statementthat said that the events in the

(16:45):
movie were too ridiculous to even occur, and they denied request to comment at
all, And then they sent outa memo to all of their employees stating
that they were not even allowed tocomment on the likelihood of the movie.
But then they later years later theyretracted that statement. But I found that
on internet movie database, and Ithought that that was just like so funny

(17:07):
that they're like, listen, thisis so ridiculous. Don't you guys can't
even comment about it? And usuallyhere a reality check, we get things
that are like threes to fives,like some of my fives have absolutely terrified
me. And today I just thoughtit would be fun to explore a little
bit more of a ridiculous concept.Yeah, so I'm with that error.
So I was thought you were pullingout. No, I'm not in a

(17:30):
three or five with that, butI did find so the coldest temperature observed,
this is the lowest recorded temperature onEarth. It was minus one hundred
and twenty eight point six and thatwas an Antarctica and nic this is clarify
fahrenheit and celsius. No, itis fahrenheit. Yeah. Yeah. And
then the coldest recorded temperature in NorthAmerica that was only only minus yeah eighty

(17:56):
one point four. And I wasin the Yukon territory that was nineteen forty
seven. So there, minus onehundred and fifty degrees is way out of
the ball park, don't think,thankfully. Even minus one hundred sounds really
crazy because I've I've been in stateslike you know, Wyoming. You go
out in the winter and it takesyour breath away there. I don't know

(18:19):
if you would be aware of thisas a meteorologist, but is there like
a temperature where it's just you physicallycannot breathe. I don't know exactly.
I would think more so of thewind shill factor is really what takes it
away, because with the way andit just there's nothing right and that's why
you always have to be covered up, and that's really the dangerous part of
it as far as getting hypothermia,freezing things like that. So it'd have

(18:41):
to be a windshill really factor andnumber and then however long you're outside really
that extended period reality check. SoI'm still kind of really curious about your
job so as a meteorologist, becauseit's like we've got like all this it's
like crazy ridiculous weather, which likeI think we've kind of established spoiler alert,

(19:04):
we got to know with stretch ofthe scores going. So I kind
of want to, like, likenow just like interested in like you and
what you do. So do meteorologistsactually or what you did do when you
were working as meteorologists. Do meteorologistslook at the data and then you would
make the predictions or would you simplybe reporting other predictions made from staff that

(19:25):
you worked with. No, Iwould do everything myself. So I do
have a meteorology degree, went toschool for it, and that's always what
I had wanted to do growing up, and so started my career in Twin
Falls, Idaho. And you know, you start out in those smaller markets
and there's maybe about three to fourmeteorologists on the team, but no,
you do everything on your own.There's no one that's making the forecast for

(19:47):
you or pulling the data. Imean anyone, any of us even right
now. You could just go online, go to the National Weather Service and
look up all these different models.There's weather Bell, there's lots of different
projections, of course, so lookat all the data. Every single day,
I'd make my own forecast, makeit all together, put it in
the graphics. So everything that you'dsee on the system or on TV,

(20:08):
it's really from this system that's kindof like a fancy power point. See
you type everything in, you know, update everything, get your forecast all
ready to go. And then you'dhave your time on TV as well,
so updating the web, radio thingslike that in between. So everybodys respect
that job so much more, becauseyeah, I always thought that like your

(20:30):
meteorologists or your sports reporters would justlike the blenny face online who were just
like, all right, here's thefacts, now back to you. Back
to you guy. Uh, that'scrazy. You did it all. So
you were going to laugh at this. This is such a funny. This
is like a meteorologist story, likethe only only someone who reports on the
weather's gonna laugh at So in thenineties, So I grew up in Salt

(20:51):
Lake City, Utah, and inthe nineties we had a what a weather
man, our weather man. Hisname was Pulpart. That was not it.
That was totally different. Let's cutthat out here. We're totally miss
misspoke. So back in the ninetieswe had our weather man and he left

(21:12):
for vacation once he decided to takehis family on a trip to Hawaii.
And Utah doesn't get tornadoes, right, it's been that week we got a
tornado in a week. Our weatherman was on vacation and he could not
get back fast enough. I thinkhe like got on like the next flight

(21:33):
to come back, and he likeshowed up like the next day, like
disheveled, like you could just soundlike he what it was like that chortay
no, the toornade, and itwas like the highlight of his entire career
and he missed it. Yeah,and I get it growing up. Our
whole family laughed, like he probablynever took another vacation after that. Yeah,
it always happens that way, right, I think that's I think that's

(21:56):
Murphy's law. Yeah, And sowhat it was been some of the craziest
weather patterns you've observed in your career. I guess when I was in Texas,
that's where it was more so hurricanes. I was in college station like
where Texas A and M is at. So I was through a Hurricane Harvey,

(22:17):
which was obviously a huge storm,a ton of flooding, and also
down into Houston, so covered thatwe had some tornadoes spawn off, but
mainly it was of course all thedamage from the flooding, so covered a
lot of tornadoes. And I alsowas in North Carolina, so there again
along the coast, covered a lotof tornadoes and kind of same. Sorry.

(22:37):
I was at home on vacation inKansas and there was a tornado coming,
or mean not a tornado, ahurricane coming, and so I actually
did fly back to a day earlyso I could coverage. Yeah, it's
a real thing. So I didfly back a day early, so I
could get back also, so Icould get home, you know, and
get back to where it's supposed tobe before maybe if things were shut down

(23:00):
and things like that. So I'vecovered a lot of hurricanes, tropical storms,
and then now I'm currently in Denver, so got a little bit of
everything from the mountain weather to snowblizzards to that outside of blizzard for like
twelve hours. That was really fun. What's the scariest kind of weather do
you think? I think tornadoes justbecause they can pop up and they are

(23:23):
so violent and can cost so muchdestruction, and so at least with hurricanes,
you get a lot of time torepair, right, you see them
coming, you have that forecast,you have some time. Yes, they
can be of course very destructive too. But I think also with tornadoes,
it's just everyone also has that fear. I mean, even twister things like
that. That it's just it's moreso the really daunting factor of it.

(23:48):
Interesting, I would have thought itwould have been hurricanes because of the flooding,
but you're you're right, yeah,like you do see your hurricanless for
me, that's that I would morescared and I feel like it's like more
at life risk than but of courseflooding hurricanes are a huge concern too.
What about freezing rain, because I'veexperienced that once and it was the weirdest

(24:10):
weather thing that I have ever seen, because it came down like rain,
It looked like it was raining.Yeah, and you walk outside and literally
every single surface is a sheet ofice, right, and it was thick
eyes like it didn't melt for awhile, and we just like we couldn't
leave the house because there was literallynot a single surface that wasn't covered in
it, like it iced over eventhe snow. Yeah, I thought the

(24:33):
freezing rain was pretty crazy. Yeah, and it's super dangerous too because you
can't see it. It's like blackeyes and if you go out, it's
just the skating rink. But it'sbecause so the whole temperature profile in the
atmosphere is just above freezing, sothat's why it's coming down as rain and
then ride up the surface and rideat whatever it's touching that's freezing, so

(24:53):
it just freezes on contact. Soit's kind of we'd always say like on
a glazed stoneut it's the glaze whereit's just like it's a light layer of
glaze or in some cases can bethink if it keeps coming down and just
keeps freezing on contact, because otherwisefor that's really you know, coming down.
Otherwise, if you would just haveit as rain, it'd still be

(25:14):
above freezing here at the surface.So it's not going to freeze on contact.
So let me get this straight.Then, So it comes down as
rain and then it there's like ashelf that's like a freezing point, and
it freezes right before it touches down. So yeah, so like your whole
column of air, right it's allaround us, there's always you know and
obviously see it or feel. Butyeah, so you have your whole column
of air, just stay to rideabout. It could be up thirty three

(25:37):
degrees, just ride above freezing.So that's why it's coming down as rain.
And then right at that surface levelit's at freezing or well below.
And so that's why when it hitsit freezes on contact and it creates that
skating rink and that ice layer andeverything around it. So because it can't
go, it's not above freezing.So it's not saying this rain got it,
got it? That's so how howdoes that shelf happen? Because I

(26:03):
know that freezing rains really rare.I've only experienced it once in my lifetime.
Are the conditions that cause that shelf? Do they have to be just
perfect or what else is going onto create that? Yeah, you pretty
much do have to have perfect conditionsbecause it doesn't happen a ton, right,
But the atmosphere it's constantly moving,constantly changing, and so sometimes you
just is it's coming on down,it's freezing as it's coming down, or

(26:26):
it's not. And so it reallyjust depends on the air temperature profile a
system we had before, what youhave coming in timing, everything like that,
A lot of variables to it interesting. That is interesting. And then
again, growing up in Utah,Sorry, I'm gonna like turn my nose
up at Colorado people. Anse Ourlicense points say greatest on Earth, So

(26:47):
well we've got it, so Utah, we I think with the one to
correct me if I'm wrong, Ithink why we have I'm doing air quotes
for those of you listening, whywe have the greatest on Earth is because
of the Great Salt Lake, andas the clouds move over the lake,
the salt in the lake kind oflike dries up the clouds. But then

(27:07):
it still precipitates with the snow,but it's not heavy rain snow. It's
just all the fluff is like thefluffy ice crystals. So we get this
really dry, really really fluffy snowis have you heard the same thing.
Well, it's also kind of likewhen yeah, when it moves over,
you can just kind of create thissnow machine or so forth, and so
yeah, it just keeps it going, so you get some nice snow not

(27:30):
to do. Yeah, it's funnybecause this is a secret for those of
you listening inside inside your secret.Don't tell anybody else, Yeah, ar
don't you? Yes, the bestsnow is definitely the Codwoods, like Big
Klew Canyon, Little Codwood Canyons.So Snowbird, Alta, Solitude, and
Brighten because once the cloud passes overinto Park City, it's not the same

(27:56):
snow. And like Park City andDeer Valley, they get way icier that
it's just like a totally different experience. But all the locals like that.
The tourists all go to Park Cityand they can keep whatever antics over there,
and we can keep our nice localresorts over it. Righting, snow
Word and Alta and snow Saltude Saltude'slast one. I'm actually the only one.

(28:25):
But so, what, what aresome other things that you noticed in
this movie that you think we're eitherjust like extremely absurd that you want to
educate people on, or we're reallyinteresting that you just want to comment on.
Hmmm, well, we kind oftalked about as far as the weather
aspects, but I mean it's kindof dale with to right, because you

(28:48):
do want to bring people's attention tothis. It's just that it was also
so far fetch that people like myselfwere laughing at the movie and you know,
maybe take it as a joke andyou're not going to take it as
seriously. Of course, it's dramatized. It's propaganda, YadA YadA. They
even say too. It's obviously notlike a scientific documentary and you can't fit

(29:10):
that in two hours. But Ithink it would be nice to try to
hopefully find that middle ground at somepoint to where we do like capture people's
attention while still being scientific and somethingfor the future that's like plausible. Of
course, it's probably not going tobe a blockbuster seller like this, but
that would have been kind of niceto find a little bit more of that

(29:30):
middle ground because of course this isjust one extreme after the other after the
other. So yeah, it wasa little for me kind of hard to
follow at some like yes I followedit, but you know, just stay
like totally on board with it all. So looking at our real world examples
of what we're seeing is like Iwould say, more extreme weather or climate

(29:55):
patterns. It feels like to me, and again I don't study this,
but it feels we're seeing more tsunamisthan normal, We're seeing more earthquakes and
normal, we're seeing more fires thannormal. Are so those those are is
that correct? Are those upticking inthe rates that we're seeing them. So
I'm not as sure as far asthe numbers of tsunami or earthquakes because that's

(30:15):
not really categorized as far as forweather data, that's different. But as
far as fires, yes, Imean, I mean contest to that.
Here living in Colorado, we've hadsome of the worst fires even over just
the past couple of years. Soyes, fires if you even remember just
a couple four months ago or soup in Canada all the whale fires there.

(30:37):
So yes, we are still seeingmore fires and even we are adding
to it too with more deforestation,so that is continuing to increase. Of
course we're seeing more greenhouse gases that'screating the temperatures to really increase, keeping
that heat trapped in the atmosphere,and then that leads to droughts being a
little bit longer. When we hadall the fires here in Colorado a couple

(30:57):
of years, we work all theway across the state in the drought for
the longest time over a year.Thankfully, we got a ton of rain.
So this is where the flip sideof climate change also comes into play.
This past year, my basement evenflooded. We had so much rain
that we completely out of the drought, which is great. But it's these

(31:18):
extremes where you are saying the droughtfor so long, or you're getting so
much rain that you are getting somuch flooding things to that extent, and
it's that you know, heavy precipitationfor so long for just like that.
It was in May where we hadso much rain it was even think over
double our average monthly rainfall totals.So that's just crazy to see from one
extreme to the other. So itdoesn't have to be the whole extreme as

(31:41):
far as the movie, but westill are seeing some of those local extremes
too that could just be double theup reality check any science fiction. So
besides fires, then are we seeinganything else that we can be concerned about?
And then what I would really beinterested in hearing you say is so
it's like, what can we dois like just your average day to day

(32:02):
person to kind of mediate that,Like I try to, I try to
recycle, I use a bambootooth brushlike I do. I do, I
do little things. But what aresome things that we can do to kind
of help our planet a little bitmore? Yeah, I mean it's doing
all of those things. And Ithink also we just need to really back
up the science more and each personkind of learn a little bit more about

(32:25):
as far as where we are goingfor the future. I mean, we
all do try to recycle, compost, little things like that, and that
does help, but we also needto see the bigger picture as far as
we're down the line. And soI think it also is greenhouse gas emissions.
We have to find different ways asfar as for you know, public
transportation things like that on a biggerscale. So it is hard for each

(32:45):
individual, you know, maybe tofeel like you are making the difference.
But I think also you know,having these conversations, being involved in those
conversations, being involved in political conversationsabout it too, and not just saying,
oh, it's if I'm at Shane. No, it's for the future
generations. But if you have kids, they have kids, like it will
be impacting them. To the otherpoint of your question, I think also

(33:08):
tropical storms, hurricanes, those continueto get bigger. We're having more of
those just because they're fueled by warmwater, and the waters keep warming,
so we will just continue to seesome more numerous and stronger storms, and
then that can create obviously more devastation. Okay, so what would you what
advice would you give to people whoare living in some of those hurricane zones.

(33:32):
Like I'm actually moving to Houston,Texas in about six months, and
I have never been through a hurricane. So what do people need to kind
of like do or know to preparefor hurricanes? If they are getting worse
and were frequent. Should we juststop living in those places? I mean,
that is a personal choice if youwould like to, But then that's
also you know, would you justnot live in Tornado Alley because there are

(33:54):
tornadoes are you just not going tolive in certain spots because of other things
going on too, So of coursecan take that into account. But I
think you know, listening to yourlocal meteorologists as far as forecasts over phones
and apps, they are tracking them, looking at them and there to help

(34:14):
you and to also provide that information. So I think definitely listening to that
and listening to if there are evacuationsin place, definitely doing so, following
those really guidelines or recommendations, listeningto FEMA things like that, having flood
insurance, you know, having ahealth and safety get ready to go,

(34:35):
and being prepared and you know youalways see people stockpiling at the last mike
when grabbing the water, grabbing thebread, things like that, but being
prepared by the toilet paper that too, right, So being prepared, you
know, and doing so in asafe way. Interesting, Yeah, because
so my husband was living in Floridaduring that last hurricane I think it was

(34:57):
Hurricane Ian, which touchdown I thinkis the what is it? You're totally
the laugh of me is five thebiggest category five? Okay, So yeah,
so it like I think as soonas it hit the coast, it
was like A five, which wasbigger than Katrina, and they they granted
it category five like after the fact, like the day of there, like
kids a four, they're like,oh, from the backing that it was

(35:20):
a five. But it was interestingbecause not everybody evacuated, and that was
it was. It was FORECASTA tohit Tampa, so like Panela's County,
Clearwater Beach, which hadn't seen ahurricane in over one hundred years, so
those people were definitely not ready.But all these Floridians were just like whatever,
man, you know, we've seenhurricanes before. We were fine,

(35:43):
We've lived through this. We're notgonna be bothered by this. Like where
do you think that that disconnect iscoming from? With like the meteorologist saying
like, please evacuate for your life, and people just be like, nah,
man, we've been through this before. It's happened before, no big
deal. I think exactly what youjust said. If you've lived through it

(36:04):
before, and if you've lived thereand you've done it before, you're not
immune to it. But you aregoing to be more like no, I'm
not gonna leave my house and leaveeverything. You know, you are going
to choose what you want to do, and so I think it's just that
mindset, like everyone has their ownmindset of what we're going to do.
Yes, we can tell you asmany times. It's like anyone like your
mom telling you what clean up yourroom or something. You're not always gonna

(36:28):
listen, right, You're still gonnado what you want to do. And
so I think it's just the mindset. And if you know, it's oh,
I've driven in snow before I livedin the Midwest. Like I can
drive in snow, I can stillget in the car accident in the snow.
So it's you know, people arealways gonna push the envelope and do
what they want as far as theiragenda, and it's their choice if they

(36:50):
decide to or not. So Ilook at two things. Mom. I
know that you're an avid listener.I always clean my room, and I
know you kind of attest to thatclean quink. Oh. And then the
second thing is really it is interesting, you know, because it sounds like
what I'm hearing is that the publicdoes need to acknowledge climate change and acknowledge
that these hurricanes are getting bigger andmore frequent and more dangerous and not shake

(37:14):
it off because that like really,it does become like a sort of like
a public health and like a lifesaving conversation for people to recognize that,
hey, this is not going tobe the same hurricane climate that it has
been for the last twenty years.The next twenty years is going to look
different, and you need to payattention to when the experts say evacuate for

(37:35):
your life, and it is importantto have those like go kits and have
being stockpiled and like just being readyin advance. And it does really seem
like there's probably going to be certainareas that potentially become less livable, Like
we are really lucky that Hurricane Iandid not hit Clearwater Beach because it would
have detroyed that peninsula. Yeah,and I love I love Clearwater Beach,

(38:00):
but it is such a fragile littlestrip where like all the celebrities have their
house gets. It's gorgeous, butit's like if a hurricane did hit that,
it would obliterate that area. Andso it really makes you think about
your personal choices of like zoning andlocating, like where you want to put
your home or your business. No, absolutely, and even for other aspects

(38:20):
too, just going forward in thefuture, thinking that far down the line
too, like what are you goingto do? Then? But there's always
you know, and I feel likethe media too, always isn't the best
portraying it because there's always that personthat's walking down the street and then it's
like, oh, it's fine,you know, and then of course that
goes viral compared to what really shouldas far as the information and what's coming

(38:42):
out of it first. But weknow how the internet works and things like
that. Now, yeah, yeah, no, it's you definitely get the
two extremes on every side. Andthat's that's one reason why I love starting
this podcast and just like breaking itdown and having conversations with real scientists that
I can talk to and just belike explain to be the science. And
it sounds like a lot of thethings I'm hearing is it's like, we

(39:02):
don't need to worry about Los Angelesgetting tornadoes tomorrow, like twenty at them
at once, but we do needto pay attention to some of the changes
that are happening that could be lifethreatening, like the hurricanes hitting up like
Texas and Florida and up the coast. Those things could all be dangerous and
for those of you listening. Thatis my dog's tail wagging. He loves

(39:27):
talking about climate change is his favoritetopic. Gets if you guys hear a
little tail wag in the background,just know he's just really excited about spear.
So this has been really really interesting. Has there been any other things
that you wanted to touch on thatwe haven't gotten to yet? Oh?

(39:49):
I don't think so we did apretty good job. I feel like covering
a lot as far as what wesaw from the movie and kind of portraying
it back to this is definitely kindofbrupt and just a movie kind of draun
sization, because yes, climate changeis happening, just of course, not
to that extent or in that timeframe, but it does start a good conversation,

(40:10):
and I mean, the movie's doinghis job. We're still talking about
it twenty years later, so weare continuing that conversation. Of course,
we've also learned a lot in twentyyears, so just to continue on that
track and to think more forward asfar as future generations and that future of
where the earth and everywhere is going, because it's not going to head in
the same direction as where we've comefrom, and it's not just our fault.

(40:34):
It's also how the world in Earthhas been a volped so it's everybody's
part. I hate that that moviewas twenty years ago. I absolutely hate
that part. Hey, Jill,it all the baby. So you guys
leave your predictions. What do youthink Carly's gonna say? Drop a comment,
let me know what you think she'sgonna say. But Carly, it

(40:54):
is time for a reality check momenton our one to five scale, what
would you give the day after tomorrow? So I am going to give it
a two? Okay the kilav sciencebecause I could go between a one,
the pure fiction and the two.But it does have true climate change in

(41:15):
it and again does get the conversationgoing. It's just it's the complete extreme,
the complete abrupt version, right,but it does have some good points
to get things going, so it'snot complete fiction of course. So yes,
I give it a two. Sogot a ways to go though.
So this is something that could happenand maybe another thousand years, but definitely

(41:38):
not happening in two weeks. No, Well that was a relief because I
was worried this morning. Went Iwas worried this morning when Alexa woke me
up on purpose, to tell meabout severe weather warning, which I don't
even think my alexa is set forthe right city right now, so it
was warning me about some other city. Oh it's you're prepared. I am

(42:00):
so prepared for what happens anywhere.Carly, Thank you so much. If
people do want to follow up withyou about anything that you've worked on,
is there anywhere where they could followyou or find you or hear about any
of the projects you're working on.Yeah, absolutely on Carly Cassidy Weather.
So it's c A R L Yc A S S A D y w

(42:21):
X on all platforms as far asX, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube,
all those good things if you wantto connect. Awesome, No, and
Carlie guys like she was super cool, Like we did meet a really fun
Yeah, well we've we met ita super fun event at NASA. And
so I know that, you know, we're getting into you know, you
and I are both getting into moreinteresting things in the space sphere. And

(42:45):
that'll be you know, I'll haveyou on the show in another twenty years
when we're geriatric, and we'll talkabout weather in space because I made any
one before then really, you know, could add some more filters to help
us out. Yes, yes,well by then we're all going to be
androids, so it'll be fine.So that'll be it'll be a promo for
our cyborg episode. We're talking toa human augmentation specialist about soldier enhancement,

(43:09):
so that'll be nice segue into thatone. Maybe i'll play that one after
this, we'll see a thank youso much for coming on the show,
Carly guys. Let me know whatyou think about Carly Score and if you
have any other of your own thoughtson climate change whether please let us know
in the comments. Until next time, Thank you, Thanks, Reality to Check.

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The Day After Tomorrow: How Fast Can Our Climate Change? | S01E05

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Day After Tomorrow: How Fast Can Our Climate Change? | S01E05