Weight of the world revisited: the climate scientists who copped it

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.2 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2024

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Science Weekly revisits episode two of this 2023 mini-series from Full Story. In part two of Weight of the world, three Australian climate scientists reveal the professional and personal toll of their predictions. Lesley Hughes tells us about the axing of Australia’s Climate Commission, a group tasked with educating the public about climate science and the need to cut carbon emissions; Graeme Pearman talks of the pushback from government and industry; and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg speaks of the personal attacks and death threats that followed his warnings. All three express their disbelief that meaningful action didn’t follow the science, with Pearman saying he was ‘naive’ to think it would. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is the Guardian.
0:06.0	Hi, Ian here.
0:08.0	Science Weekly is having a Christmas break.
0:11.0	We'll be back next week, but in the meantime we're featuring a mini-series from our Guardian
0:15.4	Australia colleagues called Weight of the World.
0:19.1	In part two we hear from three Australian climate scientists who predicted the crisis about the
0:24.3	professional and personal toll it took. I hope you enjoy it.
0:30.3	It's March 2011 and we're in the middle of Australia's bitter and divisive climate wars. Julia Gillard, you're alive.
0:45.0	It was a toxic, it was a really toxic time.
0:48.0	Yeah, yeah.
0:49.0	We were tense, I have to say.
0:51.0	We were tense. Since we met Leslie Hughes in our last episode,
0:55.0	she's become a leading expert on climate change.
0:58.0	Julia Gillard's Labour government has created the Climate Commission
1:02.0	to explain the signs to the
1:04.2	Australian public. Pews is asked to be a member.
1:07.2	Australia can't afford any more delays on climate change.
1:12.1	But now she's in an unfamiliar place for a scientist,
1:15.0	in a media spotlight at the centre of a political storm.
1:19.0	A couple of days before our very first town hall was that famous protest on the land. of the
1:25.0	couple of days before our very first town hall was that famous protest on the lawns of Parliament house
1:26.0	with July posters and ditch the witch and all of that sort of thing.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Guardian, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Guardian and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.