This show with climate change researcher and activist Bruce Melton was first broadcast as Hurricane Harvey was approaching landfall – and it includes time specific information about the approaching storm. On the show, Melton discusses with host Thorne Dreyer the past, present, and future of hurricanes — in the context of global warming.
According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projections, hurricane intensity will double by 2100 as a result of climate change. The number of Cat 4 and Cat 5 storms will double and overall energy from hurricanes will increase 20 percent by 2100. And sea levels should rise to 10 feet of sea level by 2100. This means the 5-year flood will happen every two months, and the 100-year storm will happen every four years. Bruce Melton is a professional engineer, environmental researcher, filmmaker, author, and director of the Austin nonprofit, the Climate Change Now Initiative. Founded in 2005, the Initiative is the oldest independent climate science education organization in the world. Their work includes over 400 plain English reports on the latest academic climate science, 60 popular press articles, a book, two experimental music documentaries, and 36 songs. The Initiative uses global warming psychology to create more effective outreach materials than in the past and their work can be seen at ClimateDiscovery.org. Bruce Melton’s writing has been featured on The Rag Blog, and this is his fifth visit to Rag Radio. This show was broadcast during KOOP Radio’s Fall Membership Drive and fundraising pitches have been removed.
Photo of Bruce Melton by Roger Baker at the KOOP studios in Austin, August 25, 2017.
Rag Radio is produced in the studios of KOOP 91.7-FM, an all-volunteer, cooperatively-run, solar-powered community radio station in Austin, Texas, in association with The Rag Blog and the New Journalism Project, a Texas 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The host and producer of Rag Radio, Thorne Dreyer, is a prominent Austin-based activist and writer who was a pioneer of the ’60s underground press movement. The show’s engineer and co-producer is Tracey Schulz and the staff photographer is Roger Baker. The syndicated show is broadcast (and streamed) live Fridays, 2-3 p.m. (Central) on KOOP, and is later rebroadcast and streamed on WFTE-FM in Mt. Cobb and Scranton, PA., on Houston Pacifica’s KPFT HD-3 90.1, and by KKRN, 88.5-FM in Round Mountain, CA — and as a featured podcast at Veterans Today Live. Running time: 48:24. Contact: ragradio@koop.org.