What the climate story gets wrong

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Technology, Business

4.3 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hey everyone, it's Nilay. It’s been great being back in the Decoder chair this fall, and we’ve got a bunch of great episodes coming up to round out the year. But the production team is off this week for the holiday, so today, we’re going to share this episode of The Gray Area with you. This time, host Sean Illing is talking to data scientist Hannah Ritchie — about climate science and how although the crisis is definitely real, it’s not all bad news. There are actually a lot of great indicators out there in the data that show real progress in limiting emissions and boosting clean energy. It’s a nuanced, hopeful take at a time when, admittedly, it kind of feels like all the news about everything is pretty doom and gloom. Links: We can have growth while fighting climate change | Vox The Grey Area | Apple Podcasts Clearing the Air | Hannah Ritchie Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's time for Black Friday at Dell Technologies.
0:02.7	Save big on PCs like the Dell 16 Plus featuring Intelcore Ultra Processors.
0:07.3	Shop now at Dell.com.
0:08.3	It's time for Black Friday at Dell Technologies.
0:12.8	Save big on PCs like the Dell 16 Plus featuring Intelcore Ultra processors.
0:17.5	Shop now at Dell.combeck forward slash Black Friday.
0:20.3	It's time for Black Friday at Dell Technologies. Save big on PCs like the Dell 16 Plus featuring Intel Core Ultra Processors. Shop now at Dell.coma EK. forward slash Black Friday. Hey, everybody. It's Neely. It's been a lot of fun being back on Decoder this fall. And we've got a bunch of great episodes coming up to round out the year. I'm very excited about all of it. But we're off this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. So today, we're going to share this episode of the gray area with you. This time, host Sean Elling is talking to data science, Hannah Richie, about climate science. And how, although the climate crisis is definitely real, it's not actually all doom and gloom.
0:55.4	There are a lot of great indicators in the data that show real progress in limiting emissions and
0:59.7	boosting clean energy. It's a nuanced, hopeful take at a time when admittedly, it feels like most
1:05.0	of the climate news we hear is pretty doom and gloom. Okay, the gray area with Sean Elling. Enjoy.
1:13.5	Most stories about climate change begin in the same place.
1:19.1	With loss, fire, flood, extinction, collapse.
1:24.9	That's what all the charts and grass show us after all.
1:29.5	But what if there was a different story to tell? One that began with what's working, with what we're already building.
1:38.7	One based on a whole different set of numbers, the ones that show us how far we've already come.
1:46.8	I'm Sean Elling, and this is the gray area.
1:54.0	My guest today is Hannah Ritchie. She's a data scientist at Oxford and the author of Clearing the Air.
2:01.8	She calls herself a data optimist, and her work shows that the world is decarbonizing much faster than we think, and that the real challenge now isn't necessarily the technology.
2:14.0	It's belief.
2:15.3	Belief that progress is still possible.
2:17.9	The kind that isn't focused on shrinking our world, but expanding what's possible.
2:23.0	The kind that makes you want to live in the future.
	...

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