Why Melting Ice In Antarctica Is Making Hurricanes Worse In Texas

Short Wave

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🗓️ 31 May 2023

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

Ice in Antarctica is melting really quickly because of climate change. That's driving sea level rise around the world, and the water is rising especially fast in the seaside city of Galveston, Texas — thousands of miles from Antarctica. Why do Antarctica and Texas have this counterintuitive relationship? And what does it mean for a $34 billion effort to protect the city from hurricanes?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:05.0	So, Rebecca Herscher, the Atlantic hurricane season is upon us.
0:11.0	It starts tomorrow, June 1st.
0:13.0	Yes, it does.
0:14.0	Yes, it does.
0:15.0	And in honor of Hurricane season, because so many Americans spend this part of the year vaguely concerned about whether a storm will come their way, we thought it would be good to talk about climate change and hurricanes.
0:25.0	But in a new way, in a way we have never done before in this podcast.
0:29.0	Indeed, and you've brought a lot of hurricane science to Shortwave over the years.
0:34.0	You've talked about how hurricanes are getting more powerful, rainier, and even slowing down because of climate change.
0:41.0	What are we focusing on today on the eve of hurricane season 2023?
0:45.0	Hurricane season eve, we are traveling far, far away from where hurricanes are born, far from the tropics, far from the US coast, to Antarctica.
0:54.0	Whoa, what does that sound?
0:59.0	Yeah, that is a recording from underneath a melting glacier in Antarctica.
1:04.0	That whistling sound is a seal.
1:07.0	And what sounds like rumbling thunder?
1:09.0	That is the sound of the ice cracking apart.
1:13.0	This is some recording.
1:16.0	This is it.
1:17.0	I mean, this melting glacier in Antarctica, you said, has something to do with hurricanes.
1:21.0	Yes, in fact, this exact glacier is making it more difficult to protect people who live in Texas from hurricanes.
1:29.0	Okay, that is a far distance away. I am intrigued.
1:31.0	Yeah, you're intrigued. That is the idea.
	...

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