Climate Change: America and the World Podcast

What is the US’ role in the climate crisis, and can a robust climate change framework exist without addressing climate change reparations and the different experiences of climate change across the globe?  

In the first episode of Climate Change: America and the World, Professor Kathryn Hochstetler (LSE International Development) and Christopher Callahan (Dartmouth College) discuss the experiences of climate change in the Global North and Global South. The discussion examines the role that international climate frameworks, including annual global COP summits, play in providing a venue for developing nations to voice their climate grievances, and whether financial compensation is needed to effectively address unequal climate damages. 

• Listen to Episode 1 on Spotify
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How does climate change contribute to migration to the US and elsewhere?    

Episode 2 examines climate change through the lens of migration and refugee creation, with a particular focus on migration from Latin America to the United States. Professor Sarah Bermeo (Duke University) and Professor Susana Beatriz Adamo (Columbia University) offer commentary on the implications of climate change induced migration, including whether it is even possible to attribute this migration to climate change. From discussions on the potential inadequacies of development aid to address climate change related issues in Latin America to the continual migration from Latin America to the United States, this episode begins to uncover the deep-rooted, structural problems that need to be overcome to offer a robust solution to climate change migration. 

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What is the role of the US military in climate change; does climate change mean we need to change the way we think about global security? 

This episode examines the intersection between climate change and global security. Professor Neta Crawford (University of Oxford) and Sherri Goodman (Wilson Centre) discuss how the American military can be implicated in making climate change worse through either direct conflict, or by its own carbon footprint. They also discuss how climate change induced natural disasters contribute to destabilisations that may eventually call upon military actions to address the problem. Do we need to change our understanding of security to include how the role of the military may make us more vulnerable to climate change?

• Listen to Episode 3 on Spotify
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Can a fight for climate justice also be a fight for greater racial equality in the United States? 

In this episode we look at the different experiences of climate change in the United States from a racial perspective. We are joined by Centennial Professor Laura Pulido (LSE Department of Geography and Environment and Phelan US Centre) and Jeremy Williams to discuss how environmental racism manifests and, how urban development has contributed to this problem. 

• Listen to Episode 4 on Spotify
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In what ways does climate change intersect with class?

This episode gives an overview of how climate change intersects with class in the United States and the rest of the world. Professor Rebecca Elliot (LSE Sociology) and Professor in Practice Swenja Surminski (LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change) discuss how climate change and climate related hazards disproportionately affect those from low-income backgrounds in the US and globally. 

• Listen to Episode 5 on Spotify
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Will increased political polarisation at the federal level make any meaningful attempt at addressing climate change in the US a pipe dream? What is the future of the climate change debate in America? 

The sixth and final episode of Climate Change: America and the World looks to the future to map out the potential ways in which the climate change debate may unfold in the United States. Professor Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo (Christopher Newport University) and Beth Gardiner experts offer their analysis on the changing prospect of climate change discourse in American public opinion, and what we can expect in terms of federal and state-level policies to address climate change. 

• Listen to Episode 6 on Spotify
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