Nature Quest: What Does Climate Change Sound Like?

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Feel like summers are hotter than they used to be? It’s not just your imagination. Climate researchers say that average annual temperatures around the country have been trending upwards for the past 50 years — and are still on the rise. But it can be hard to represent those numbers in a way that makes sense to everyday people. So Gulf States Newsroom reporter and New Orleans resident Drew Hawkins wondered: What if he could help people hear those changes for themselves? Turn temperatures into tunes?

This episode is part of Nature Quest, a monthly Short Wave segment that answers listener questions about their local environment.

Got a question about changes in your local environment? Send a voice memo to [email protected] with your name, where you live and your question. We might make it into our next Nature Quest episode!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Sources and methods, the crown jewels of the intelligence community.
0:05.0	Shorthand for, how do we know what's real? Who told us?
0:08.8	If you have those answers, you're on the inside. And NPR wants to bring you there.
0:12.9	From the Pentagon to the State Department to spy agencies, listen to understand what's really happening and what it means for you.
0:20.2	Sources and Methods, the new National Security podcast from NPR.
0:24.4	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:33.3	Hey, everyone, Emily Kwong here and Hannah Chin.
0:36.6	And this month's nature quest is a little different because we are joined by a special guest, public health reporter Drew Hawkins from the Gulf States Newsroom. Hey, Drew. Hey, Emily. Hey, Han. Great to be here.
0:48.3	And Drew, you're calling in from New Orleans, which isn't too far from where you grew up, right?
0:52.9	Yep. I am a proud product of South Louisiana.
0:56.3	And, you know, one of the best things about being from South Louisiana is the culture,
1:00.8	especially the music and the people who make it.
1:03.6	If you think about Mardi Gras, braids, even funerals in New Orleans,
1:07.5	they're followed by what's called a second line.
1:10.0	And it's a bunch of people mourning, but also dancing.
1:13.6	I think Danavan Calhoun Bettis, he really embodies this.
1:18.0	Music, background, church, school, marching.
1:22.3	To all life.
1:22.9	Whole life.
1:25.0	So Bettis grew up in New Orleans Seventh Ward.
1:28.1	He was a drum major of this super famous Marching 100 band from St. Augustine High School.
1:33.1	They're in like Macy's Thanksgiving parade and things like that.
	...

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