Science Books For Summer Reading. June 16, 2023, Part 1
Science Friday
Science Friday and WNYC Studios
4.4 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 16 June 2023
⏱️ 48 minutes
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Summary
Sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic have risen dramatically in recent weeks, to as much as 0.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the previous record—and over 1 degree C warmer than average temperatures from 1982 to 2011.
The reason for the unusually toasty waters isn’t entirely clear. Some climatologists attribute part of the rise to an El Niño ocean circulation pattern this year, replacing the La Niña pattern that had been suppressing temperatures. Other factors may include a decline in atmospheric dust from the Sahara, and atmospheric circulation patterns that are allowing warm surface water to stay in place longer.
The warmer temperatures aren’t just limited to the North Atlantic, however—for the past three months, global average sea surface temperatures have also been reaching new highs. Casey Crownhart, a climate reporter at MIT Technology Review, joins Ira to talk about the warming trend, and other stories from the week in science, including accusations of body part sales from the Harvard Medical School morgue, studies of the economics of heat pumps, and a lawsuit brought by youth in Montana over global warming.
The Best Summer Books, According To Two Science Writers
Summer is one of the best times to crack open a book and read the hours away, according to Jaime Green and Annalee Newitz. The two science writers are voracious readers, and they’ve compiled a list of their summer reading recommendations for Science Friday listeners. Green and Newitz join Ira from New Britain, Connecticut and San Francisco, California respectively, to discuss their favorite nonfiction and fiction books for the summer, and take questions from listeners.
To read the full list of summer book recommendations, visit sciencefriday.com.
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Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Science Friday, I'm I Reflate Out. Later in the hour, our annual summertime reading |
| 0:05.1 | picks. Do you have a science book to recommend for a vacation reading? We've got a bunch to give |
| 0:10.5 | you. So give us a call. Our number 8447248255, that's 844 Saitok or Tweet is at SIFRI. But first, |
| 0:20.8 | the approaching summer means rising temperatures for most of our northern oceans. But this year, |
| 0:26.5 | they're surprisingly warm and researchers aren't entirely sure why. Joining me now to talk about |
| 0:32.8 | that and other top science news of the week is Casey Crownhart, climate reporter for the MIT |
| 0:38.3 | Technology Review. She's here with me live in our New York studio. Welcome back, Casey. |
| 0:43.0 | Thanks so much for having me back. It's nice to have you. Okay, first on these warming temperatures, |
| 0:47.3 | how warm are we talking about here? Unusually warm? Yes, definitely unusually warm. So we just got |
| 0:52.9 | data back from the month of May. And it was this warmest May since records started being kept in 1850, |
| 1:01.2 | about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than normal, which is pretty significant when we're talking about |
| 1:06.0 | ocean temperatures. And this is all over the place or just one place? It's all over the place we're |
| 1:11.5 | seeing kind of more of a temperature increase in some parts of the oceans. The North Atlantic is |
| 1:15.8 | looking especially warm for some reason this year. But this is really kind of a worldwide thing. |
| 1:20.8 | And we don't know why. There are a lot of theories. Climate change, global warming. |
| 1:26.0 | It's kind of we're not totally sure. Like it's probably maybe a little bit something to do with |
| 1:30.1 | climate change. Maybe there's some natural variation, but there's a lot of kind of controversial |
| 1:36.1 | takes right now. Is there a number? How much warmer it is? So in total, it's about 0.8 degrees C |
| 1:42.9 | above normal or 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. So I mean, it's a lot. And that's definitely something to |
| 1:48.3 | kind of be concerned about because warmer ocean temperatures can mean more powerful hurricanes. |
| 1:53.6 | It can mean consequences for wildlife. So it can be a pretty big deal. Yeah, well, I'd like that |
| 1:58.6 | lives there. Okay, let's go to other climate news. There's an unusual lawsuit going on in Montana. |
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