logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2023
8m 2s

California’s Atmospheric Rivers Are Gett...

WIRED
About this episode
As climate change makes storms warmer and wetter, the state’s flood control system is struggling to keep up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 
Up next
Sep 2024
Introducing WIRED's Gadget Lab!
Although we paused on publishing narrated versions of WIRED articles in this feed, you will still hear the latest in tech from the WIRED team.On WIRED's Gadget Lab, you'll find hosts Lauren Goode and Michael Calore tackling the biggest questions in the world of tech with knowledg ... Show More
2m 58s
Sep 2024
Introducing WIRED Politics Lab!
Although we paused on publishing narrated versions of WIRED articles in this feed, you will still hear the latest in tech and politics from the WIRED team. Join host Leah Feiger and a rotation of guests as they guide you through the exciting, challenging, and sometimes entertaini ... Show More
2m 51s
Jul 2024
The Bird Flu Threat Keeps Growing
Human cases keep ticking up, are very likely to be underreported, and offer the virus the opportunity to learn how to spread from person to person. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 
9m 52s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2020
UCLA Study: Less Snow and More Rainfall Spell Trouble for California
By the 2070s, climate change will reduce snowpack and increase extreme rainfall in the Sierra Nevada and California’s reservoirs will likely be overwhelmed. That’s according to a new study by UCLA climate scientists, who predict that run-off during so-called atmospheric rivers  w ... Show More
25m 44s
Jan 2023
The California Floods
<p>For weeks, a string of major storms have hit California, causing extreme flooding. While it might seem as if rain should have a silver lining for a state stuck in a historic drought, the reality is far more complicated.</p><p>Today, how California’s water management in the pas ... Show More
26m 49s
Jun 2023
Give Rivers Space: The Simple Flood Risk Fix
With much of California's massive snowpack yet to melt, downstream communities remain on high alert for flooding. Hundreds of homes were destroyed or damaged during the record-breaking winter, which tested the state's aging flood infrastructure. To prevent flooding, communities o ... Show More
10m 25s
Nov 2023
Climate emergency
Category 5 hurricane Otis, which devastated Acapulco, was supercharged by global warming; hurricane expert Kerry Emanual tells Science in Action. Also, Brazilian ecologist Erika Berenguer has witnessed the destruction caused by the prolonged drought in Amazonia, where the rivers ... Show More
26m 28s
Jul 2021
Losing Alaska
<p>As floods, wildfires, and heatwaves hit many parts of the world, signs of climate change seem to be all around us. Scientists have been warning us for years about the looming threat of a warming planet. And yet it’s really hard for many of us to wrap our minds around this exis ... Show More
24m 23s
Dec 2020
Season 3, Episode 7: Storm Warning
Get swept away as we fly into massive hurricanes, and hear how the rumblings of climate change will cause clouds to gather into ever more powerful storms. 
36m 21s
Oct 2023
Hydro Dams Are Struggling to Handle the World’s Intensifying Weather
Climate change is robbing some hydro dams of water while oversupplying others—forcing managers to employ new forecasting technology and clever strategies to capitalize on what they have. Thanks for listening to WIRED. Talk to you next time for more stories from WIRED.com and read ... Show More
13m 15s
Sep 2021
Is the planet warming up faster?
Some extreme weather events are puzzling scientists. 
6m 46s
Aug 2020
Godzilla's Bathtub
Older American cities have a dirty problem — outdated sewer systems that use a single pipe to carry both sewage and stormwater to treatment facilities. As population growth and climate change have increased both sewage and stormwater, those pipes can get filled to capacity, and t ... Show More
24m 28s