You're listening to The Great Simplification with Nate Higgins.

That's me.

On this show, we try to explore and simplify what's happening with energy, the economy, the environment, and our society.

Together with scientists, experts, and leaders, this show is about understanding the

bird's eye view of how everything fits together, where we go from here and what we can do

about it as a society and as individuals.

Today's guest is senior scientist at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Professor Steve Vavris.

Steve is a climate scientist with a specialization in Arctic climate dynamics and has contributed to IPCC modeling of Earth's paleo-climate and future climate.

Today, Steve and I discuss the state of current climate modeling, the potential implications

of an ice-free Arctic, and other aspects of our rapidly changing environmental situation.

Global warming and human macro systems are incredibly complex.

I found our discussion helpful to understand the context of our current climate situation,

and I hope you do too.

Please welcome Professor Steve Vavris.

Thank you.

Nice to see you, too, Nate.

You are an IPCC climate scientist and an environmental science professor at the University of Wisconsin,

but going way back, and I don't know the answer to this because we've never talked about it,

how did you first get interested in the environment and studying Earth's climate?

Well, my interest in climate is kind of a combination of my long-term interest in weather since

I was a boy growing up in Indiana where we had lots of tornadoes and thunderstorms and

blizzards and the like.

...