Topic · 7 episodes
Climate & Energy
Every Onpode episode on Climate & Energy.
Episodes
How melting permafrost and ocean warming create self-reinforcing carbon release cyclesPermafrost holds 1,400–1,700 billion tonnes of carbon — two to three times what is currently in the atmosphere — and its thaw-driven release is self-reinforcing: the CMIP6 model range of 1.8°C to 5.6°C climate sensitivity reflects feedbacks already running, not future risk, and permafrost carbon loss after overshoot appears irreversible.
UK households can now install balcony solar panels without permission starting August 27From August 27, 2026, UK households can install plug-in solar panels without planning permission under SI 2026/848 — but renters still need landlord consent, leaving roughly five million flat-dwellers dependent on a text reply, not the law, to access solar energy.
NYC commits $43 million to stop urban flooding as climate effects accelerateNew York City's Bureau of Coastal Resilience launched in 2023 with just six staff and a ~$1 million budget to oversee a $1.45 billion flood-gate project. Mayor Mamdani's July 24, 2026 announcement commits $43.2 million to expand the BCR to 75 staff — but a full coastline funding plan still doesn't exist.
The 'Great Climate Insurance Collapse' is now hitting US homeowners in flood and wildfire zonesSenator Sheldon Whitehouse coined the term 'Great Climate Insurance Collapse' to describe a structural breakdown: State Farm, Allstate, and Farmers have exited California and Florida, 23.1% of U.S. homes worth $11.2 trillion sit in severe climate-risk zones, and state last-resort insurers are absorbing concentrated exposure they were never designed to hold.
Over 150,000 people evacuated as wildfires merge across France and Spain todayOver a quarter-million people were displaced as wildfires merged across France and Spain in July 2026, prompting Spain's first-ever national emergency over wildfires and France's deployment of the army and EU aerial support. The Gironde fire alone grew from 10,000 to 19,000 hectares within roughly two days, while simultaneous fires burned in Sicily.
Scientists warn: 1976-style heatwaves will become normal life unless emissions drop and buildings adaptUK heatwave preparedness carries a government-calculated benefit-cost ratio of 10-to-one now, rising to 30-to-one by the 2040s — yet care homes and hospitals still lack air conditioning. Scientists say 1976-style heatwaves are already normal, not a future warning, because Britain's buildings were never designed to shed heat.
Europe's deadly heatwave is pushing electrical grids toward blackouts and spiking costsEurope's 2026 heatwave—its third in a single year—pushed electricity prices two to three times above normal as air-conditioning demand surged 14% while France's Golfech nuclear reactor went offline because the Garonne River was too warm to cool it, creating a simultaneous supply-and-demand crisis that grid infrastructure was not designed to handle.