It’s no joke – climate science with Stuart Goldsmith

Let’s get fired up with five fascinating fast facts about climate science, a deep dive into carbon footprints, an interview with Stuart Goldsmith, an English comedian with a passion for communicating about climate change, and a sea level experiment for you to try yourself at home.

Presented by Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe. Written and produced by Jenny Lynch. Music by Purple Planet Music. Sound effects by Pixabay.

https://www.creativescience.com.au

Episode content:

00:00 Introduction and fast facts

03:41 Carbon footprints and reducing carbon emissions

05:43 Stuart Goldsmith and climate comedy

12:58 Rising sea level activity

 

For adult listeners, find out more about Stuart Goldsmith’s stand-up comedy, climate comedy, and comedy podcast: https://www.stuartgoldsmith.com

 

Rising sea level activity instructions:

You will need: A few ice cubes, two small drinking glasses that are the same size and shape, sticky tape, and a rock or some other heavy object that will fit in the base of one of the small glasses.

1. Place the two small glasses side-by-side on a bench.
2. Put the rock in the bottom of one of the glasses and add water to this glass until the water is just below the top of the rock.
3. For the other glass, add water until the water is at about the same level as the glass with the rock.
4. Place one or more ice cubes on the rock, making sure the ice is not touching the water.
5. Add the same number of ice cubes to the glass without the rock, making sure the ice cubes are floating. If they are not floating, add some more water to the glass.
6. Use sticky tape to mark the water level in each glass. You might have to dry the outside of the glasses with a cloth to get the tape to stick and you should carefully line up the side of the tape with the surface of the water before sticking it to the glass.
7. Wait until all of the ice cubes have completely melted and then look at the water level in each glass. Have the water levels changed?

When land ice melts, like the ice in glaciers, the melt water causes the sea level to rise. When sea ice melts, the sea level doesn’t change much because the ice was already floating in the sea. However, with less sea ice, the ocean absorbs more light from the Sun, which makes the oceans warm up even more. And when the oceans warm up, the volume of water in the sea increases, causing the sea level to rise.