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Hello curious people.

I'm Professor Chris Turney,

Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Research
at the University of Technology Sydney,

a climate and earth science researcher,
Antarctic explorer and podcast host.

I'm here to answer your curious questions
about climate change,

tipping points,
and the actions we can all take.

This is Climate Curious.

The UTS community sent in

some thought-provoking questions
about climate that we want to tackle.

Let's get started.

Is there a difference
between climate change and global warming?

Now that is a great question.

Back in the day, we used to talk about
global warming an awful lot.

This idea of human activity,
the burning of fossil fuels,

leading to carbon pollution

and other greenhouse gases
was driving warming of the planet.

But in 2002, a political strategist
wrote a famous memo

during the presidency of George W Bush
that basically said they should stop

using global warming as a term
and instead use climate change.

And the idea was climate change was less
emotional, that it was more controllable.

And sure enough, the politicians
at the time started using that term

and it caught on.

But the reality is climate and change,
which sounds like it's

quite manageable
and okay and change is good, right?

Isn't actually the reality.

We're driving
extraordinary levels of global heating.

Global warming is just not good enough
anymore.

It's global heating.

The planet is heating up far
above and beyond

what is natural
and we now have a major problem.

What is a climate tipping point?

Is there one that concerns you the most?

Ah it’s a curious concept, isn't it,

and is one
that seems quite alien to many of us.

There's a fantastic book by Malcolm
Gladwell on Tipping Points.

But they're not just in society
and culture.

The Earth system as a whole
has a whole series of tipping points, but

a tipping point, a nice way of describing
it is really like this chair.

If I lean back, up to a certain point,
I can fall forwards again.

I won't push myself too
far, but if you go too far,

you tip,

and no amount of me pushing myself
forward will bring the chair back.

And the climate system and the Earth’s
system as a whole is a bit like that.

There's a series of places
around the world where parts of our system

won't go back.

So the Earth system has lots of these
tipping points, and we know they exist

because in the geological record,
we've seen them happen before.

So one example, and probably

the one that worries me
the most is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

This is a huge body of ice.

It contains enough water to raise

global sea levels by around 3.5m.

The problem is the West Antarctic
Ice Sheet sits on the seabed.

And so, as the oceans

warm up unnaturally
from all this carbon pollution

we're putting into the atmosphere,
that ice is melting.

And because it's on the seabed,
it will keep melting until eventually

it falls into the oceans
and sea level rises,

or at least a lot of that ice sheet will.

The question is just
how much heating needs to happen

for that ice sheet to melt?

Where is the tipping point?

And we don't know.

But we think it could be anywhere
from a global average

temperature of one
and a half to two degrees could be enough

to actually tip
the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and melt.

That's frighteningly close to where
we're heading at the moment.

We really have to watch out
and we have to build resilience.

We have to build planning and structures
that can protect our society

if and when these tipping points, like
the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, take place.

What is the Anthropocene Epoch
and are we in it now?

Oh gosh.

Scientists have wrestled
with this for centuries.

At the very beginning, when they were
looking at geological time periods,

you might have heard of things like
Cretaceous or Jurassic, Jurassic Park.

They've wondered for a long time
whether humanity had actually

changed the planet,
and it would change in a different way

that actually it wouldn’t
operate naturally.

And that's the Anthropocene Epoch.

This idea
that humanity is a geological superpower

and it's an incredibly complex question

to answer, because some scientists, myself

included, have argued
that we're now in an Anthropocene Epoch.

That if we were to magically disappear,

the world would not return back
to its natural state.

Now, that's a very challenging concept,

but it's the idea that the world is behaving
unnaturally.

It's no longer
going to return to its natural state,

but humanity's behaviour, its pollution,

the way we live, the way we've modified
the landscape will not return back.

And so in the future,
if some sort of alligator-like

archeologist came along and was rummaging
around in the landscape they would find

remains buried in the ground
that showed that we'd been here.

It's still controversial,
and it's not widely accepted,

but it's now something that scientists
are seriously wrestling with.

Where have we visited that has the most
visible effects of climate change?

Look,
I think one of the most sobering examples

for me, and I think we've all had them,

but for me, I was in the East Antarctic.

I was on the ice sheet,

which is the vast body of ice
that has built up over millions of years.

And when we were, there it was during
the summer time, 24-hour daylight.

And in spite of what should be freezing
temperatures, it was actually above zero.

And the ice sheet
was melting in front of our very eyes.

It was actually a torrent of water
flowing off the ice sheet.

So much so that actually we were
almost trapped and we couldn't get out.

And then shortly afterwards,
we were on, on the ship

just off the coast,
and it started raining.

It started raining in Antarctica.

I just shouldn't be happening.

Why is it so hard to communicate
the effects of climate change

and make people care?

Gosh, that's a tough one, isn't it?

It's this awful situation we face

as humanity is putting more carbon
pollution into the atmosphere,

we're heating up the planet,

we know we're heading into a place where
humanity is really going to struggle.

But this is a classic issue
of urgent versus important.

We all have challenges in our day-to-day
lives.

The cost of living, getting from A
to B, just making ends meet.

How do you get society

to make the changes
to minimise the impact of global heating?

And that's the reality, sadly.

Climate is changing
and it's happening now.

The actions we take now

are just going to minimise
the impact of that changing climate.

And things are made so much worse
now by this scale

of misinformation
and disinformation out there.

Misleading comments,
whether intentional or not,

are just confusing the issue
even more and slowing down action.

We all need to step back
and actually make the changes

needed to stop this awful challenge
that we all face.

Do you think we have enough cross-collaboration to address global heating?

No, I don't.

I think we need to do a lot more.

No one discipline
or idea is going to solve this mess.

We're in a moment.

We need people from industry, government,
not-for-profits,

universities, society as a whole, coming
together, sparking off each other,

using our different skills to innovate,

to come up with those bite-sized solutions

that will help us deal
with this awful challenge that we face.

So just one example here at the University
of Technology Sydney is we have amazing

teams working on all different
aspects of the climate challenge.

A great example is the team working with
microalgae, these tiny living organisms.

But they're so effective – 40 times more
effective at trapping carbon than trees.

And the products that come from
that can be used for all sorts of things,

from making bioplastics, food
to capturing carbon from the atmosphere

and locking it away.

But that team has been able to do
so much more by working with engineers,

lawyers, business people
to get that technology

and idea out there
to make a difference in the real world.

And being a bit cheeky,

if you want to learn more
about the importance

of bringing people together
from all walks of life and expertise

do try out my podcast series
Unf*cking the Future.

How can entrepreneurship help address
climate change?

There is an extraordinary opportunity
here.

We have to turn round the centuries-old
fossil fuel global economy

into something that is carbon
neutral and climate neutral.

And we need to do it in the next
few decades.

That's a breakneck speed.

Entrepreneurs are going to be so important
for delivering those new ideas

and concepts and technologies out
to the wider world as quickly as possible.

So if you're an entrepreneur out there
and you have an idea, this is your moment

because the world needs these technologies
and ideas

and you're the ones to deliver it.

What is the role of universities
in addressing climate change?

Universities
have got such an important role to play.

We've got brilliant people
working on all sorts of issues,

but we need to partner with you,
with government,

businesses,
not-for-profits, our communities.

By partnering together, we can come up
with solutions that are so urgently needed,

and we need to do it at speed and scale.

So no matter where you are in the world,

you will have a local university
or hopefully something close to you,

reach out to them.

Find out how you can work together
to bring those solutions out

to where the world needs them.

What gives you the most hope
that we can address global heating?

Look, I think if I'm honest,
I think the youth of today.

You can see this passion and drive,

and it's actually affecting
all the other generations.

As a kid, as a teenager,
we had those ideas as well,

and it's realising that together
as a community. People give me hope.

If you could change one policy today
to help the climate, what would it be?

There's the elephant in the room, which
is the trillions –

yes, trillions – of dollars we spend
each year on fossil fuel subsidies.

We are spending a fortune,

several trillion dollars a year,
to destroy our future.

Get rid of the subsidies
and use that money to invest in renewables

and building resilience in our communities
to deal with global heating.

It would be a game changer.

What’s something small, but impactful
I can do to help address global heating?

Probably
the single most impactful thing you can do

is switch to a plant-based diet,
or at least have a low-meat diet.

The amount of carbon pollution
that comes from that is so much less.

In fact, a low meat diet
alone is about half the amount

of carbon pollution and other greenhouse
gas emissions than a full heavy meat diet.

And even if that's too difficult for you,
just don't waste food.

About a quarter of all the food
that's produced in the world is wasted,

and it accounts for nearly 10%
of greenhouse gas emissions.

So just don't waste food and reduce
the amount of meat that you consume.

That was all the questions for today.

I hope you learned something new.

Until next time, stay curious.