Bread Baking Science And Denial In Climate Report. Oct 4, 2019, Part 2

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🗓️ 4 October 2019

⏱️ 47 minutes

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Summary

Flour, salt, yeast and water are the basic ingredients in bread that can be transformed into a crusty baguette or a pillowy naan. But what happens when you get a sticky sourdough or brick-like brioche? Chef Francisco Migoya of Modernist Cuisine breaks down the science behind the perfect loaf. He talks about how gluten-free flours affect bread structure, the effects of altitude and humidity on dough and how to keep your sourdough starter happy. Plus, amateur baker and “Father of the Xbox” Seamus Blackley describes how he baked a loaf of bread from an ancient Egyptian yeast. The Bureau of Land Management issued an environmental impact statement last month that examines the effects that oil development will have on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Buried deep in the appendix of the report was this BLM response to a public comment: "The BLM does not agree that the proposed development is inconsistent with maintaining a livable planet (i.e., there is not a climate crisis). The planet was much warmer within the past 1,000 years, prior to the Little Ice Age, based on extensive archaeological evidence (such as farming in Greenland and vineyards in England). This warmth did not make the planet unlivable; rather, it was a time when societies prospered." The comment alludes to the so-called “Medieval Warm Period,” which is commonly referenced by climate change deniers to justify their beliefs. The BLM has since said the comment had no bearing on the scientific conclusions contained elsewhere in the report. Adam Aton, a climate reporter at E&E News, joins Ira to talk about the report, and what fossil fuel development in the Arctic might mean for local wildlife and the planet.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Flato.
0:02.6	Later in the hour, it's going to be a bread feast.
0:06.5	We're going to talk about the science of bread baking, and we want to help you with your home baking issues.
0:13.0	Do you have a question about your sourdough fermentation?
0:16.5	You don't know how different flowers will affect your bread structure.
0:20.4	What's going on, anyhow anyhow when you bake bread?
0:22.3	Give us a call.
0:23.0	Our number 844-724-8255.
0:27.1	844-724-8255, or you can tweet us at SciFri.
0:32.7	That's coming up after we talk about this.
0:35.1	The Arctic holds 90 billion barrels of undiscovered oil,
0:39.5	according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and up to 10 billion barrels of that might be in the Arctic
0:45.7	National Wildlife Refuge, meaning that patch of pristine Alaskan real estate, is in the crosshairs
0:52.3	of oil companies and the Trump administration, both of whom want to get that oil out of the ground.
0:58.0	Last month, the Bureau of Land Management released an environmental impact statement on what fossil fuel development would mean for the wildlife refuges environment, cultural resources, and, of course, its wildlife.
1:11.5	But tucked away deep in the appendix, over 600 pages in, was a classic pearl of climate
1:19.0	denialism, an off-repeated, fallacious talking point that a warming planet is actually a good
1:25.1	thing for civilization, and the assertion that, quote,
1:28.3	there is not a climate crisis. How did that make it into a supposedly science-based analysis?
1:35.2	And what would drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, as it's called,
1:40.1	what would it mean for Alaska and the planet? Two-thirds of Americans surveyed by the Yale Center for Climate Change Communication, opposed drilling in Anwar.
1:49.3	But we're polling you, our listeners, what do you think?
	...

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