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Big Picture Science

Cold to Hot

Big Picture Science

Big Picture Science

Science, Technology

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2026

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The icy-white crust of Arctic permafrost is melting, and increased plant growth is turning the glacial north green. Metals like iron, once locked inside the ice, are leaching into hundreds of Arctic rivers, giving them an orange hue. Vivid changes may catch our eye, yet invisible shifts are also afoot. Microbes locked in the frozen ground since the age of the mammoths can now be revived when they thaw. We’re exploring the consequences of changes in permafrost, how AI may help us better understand Greenland ice loss, and get reactions from scientists about the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), one of the premier climate and weather researcher centers in the world. Guests: Tristan Caro – Postdoctoral Fellow, Geological and Planetary Sciences Division, California Institute of Technology Twila Moon – Glaciologist and deputy lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, within the cooperative Institute for Research and Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Abagael Pruitt – Biochemist and ecosystem ecologist, postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Davis Karina Zikan – Glaciologist and snow hydrologist, PhD candidate at Boise State University Roland Pease – Science writer and broadcaster often heard on the BBC World Service, and former presenter and host of its program Science in Action Alan Sealls – Retired broadcast meteorologist, adjust professor at the University of South Alabama and president of the American Meteorological Society Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.

0:05.3

This episode is brought to you by Vanta.

0:08.0

Security and compliance done wrong is a headache.

0:10.5

Done right, you build trust and grow faster.

0:13.0

That's Vanta.

0:14.1

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0:19.6

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0:22.1

compliance, risk and automating workflows. From startups like Cursor to enterprises like Snowflake,

0:27.9

top companies choose Vantor. Do security and compliance right. Get started today at vanta.com.

0:34.8

Hear that? It's your big McDonald's hunger calling. Because the Big Arch is back.

0:39.3

And this time it's here to stay with juicy beef, cheddar cheese and that Big Arch sauce.

0:44.3

Hungry? You are now.

0:46.3

Order delivery on the McDonald's app.

0:48.3

Surf from 11am. Upcharges and fees apply to delivery orders.

0:52.3

Subjects availability, price and participation may vary.

1:04.3

That shatter comes from the country's top researchers gathering to discuss the health of the Arctic

1:09.6

at a recent science conference.

1:11.6

Let us start by first acknowledging that the warming of our planet, driven by human

1:17.6

greenhouse gas emissions into our atmosphere, is amplified in the Arctic.

1:21.6

The Arctic continues to warm much faster than the globe overall, amplified by the loss of reflective sea ice and snow,

1:30.1

causing more of the sun's heat to penetrate and to land an ocean. One facet of a rapidly warming Arctic

1:36.1

is the melting of permafrost, which has other consequences. One of the lesser-known effects,

...

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