TED Climate

THINGS. They’re everywhere! And we’re constantly being pushed to buy more of them, like the hottest fashion or the latest tech. But the true cost our planet and its climate are paying is much more than the sticker price we see on the shelf. Dan reveals the hidden fees our planet is paying to make everyday items, like the shirt on your back and the phone in your pocket, and ways we can help offset them by being more sustainable shoppers. Find the text transcript for this episode at go.ted.com/TC4

TED Climate is produced and edited by Sheena Ozaki, mixed by Sam Bair, and hosted by Dan Kwartler. This episode adapted two lessons originally produced in animated form by the TED-Ed team. "The lifecycle of a t-shirt" was written by Angel Chang, and "What's in your smartphone?" was written by Kim Preshoff. Both pieces were produced with editorial support from Emma Bryce and Alex Rosenthal, and fact-checked by Francisco Diez. Special thanks to Gerta Xhelo, Michelle Quint, Banban Cheng, and Anna Phelan.

From raging wildfires in Australia to sub-zero winter storms in Texas, we’re seeing a rise in extreme weather across the globe. But how can we tell what’s caused by climate change, and what’s just bad weather? To answer this question, Dan breaks down the differences between weather and climate—what they are, how we predict them, and what those predictions can tell us. And then we visit a country that should LITERALLY be underwater to see how they’ve used human ingenuity to stay afloat, and what we can learn from them to do the same. Find the text transcript for this episode at go.ted.com/TC3

TED Climate is produced and edited by Sheena Ozaki, mixed by Sam Bair, and hosted by Dan Kwartler. This episode adapted two lessons originally produced in animated form by the TED-Ed team. "Is the weather actually becoming more extreme?" was written by Ramalingam Saravanan with support from Emma Bryce. "Why isn’t the Netherlands underwater?" was written by Stefan Al with support from Alex Gendler. Both lessons had editorial support from Dan Kwartler. Our fact-checker was Eden Girma. And special thanks to Alex Rosenthal, Gerta Xhelo, Michelle Quint, Banban Cheng, and Anna Phelan.

So, in the list of bad actors for the planet there's been the ice age, the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, and then … us? Yeah, it really looks like that sometimes. But we've got hope! So what can humans do to steer clear of steering the planet into seemingly inevitable doom? To find out, we look at the planet from the eyes of geologists millions of years in the future—and at what the world would look like if every human on earth just … suddenly disappeared. Read the text transcript for this episode at go.ted.com/TC2

TED Climate is produced and edited by Sheena Ozaki, mixed by Sam Bair, and hosted by Dan Kwartler. This episode adapted two lessons originally produced in animated form by the TED-Ed team. "How long will human impacts last?" was written by David Biello and fact-checked by Francisco Diez. "What would happen if every human suddenly disappeared?" was written by Dan Kwartler and fact-checked by Brian Gutierrez. Both pieces were produced with editorial support from Alex Rosenthal. Special thanks to Gerta Xhelo, Stephanie Lo, Michelle Quint, Banban Cheng, and Anna Phelan.

Plastic is everywhere. We know we should cut down on it where we can, but is plastic ever the answer? In this episode, a whole world of plastic you never knew about. Starting with: which bag is best: paper, plastic, or cotton? The answer might surprise you. Dan breaks down the pros and cons of each bag, and which you should carry on your next shopping trip. Then we follow the journey of three different plastic bottles after you throw them away, shedding light on the dangers these disposables present to our world. Plus, three things you can do to put a cap on our plastic problem. You can read the full text transcript for this episode at go.ted.com/TC1

TED Climate is produced and edited by Sheena Ozaki and hosted by Dan Kwartler. Our mixer is Sam Bair. This episode adapted two lessons originally produced in animated form by the TED-Ed team. “Plastic vs Paper vs Cloth Bags” was written by Luka Seamus Wright & Imogen Ellen Napper with editorial support from Alex Gendler and Dan Kwartler, with fact-check by Eden Girma. “What really happens to the plastic you throw away?” was written by Emma Bryce, with editorial support from Alex Rosenthal and fact-check by Sarah Silvergleid. Special thanks to them, and to Gerta Xhelo, Stephanie Lo, Michelle Quint, Banban Cheng, and Anna Phelan.

On his first day as president, Joe Biden signed a letter of acceptance that set in motion the 30-day process for the United States to re-join the Paris Agreement on climate. On the day the US returns to the accord, John Kerry, the US Special Envoy for Climate, sits down with Nobel Laureate Al Gore to discuss the make-or-break decade ahead of us. Listen as Kerry lays out how the US fits into the global plan to get to net-zero emissions, explains why the COP26 UN climate conference could be humanity’s “last best hope” to build international momentum and explores the role of business and youth activists in promoting environmental justice. (This interview features an introduction from Christiana Figueres, the principal architect of the Paris Agreement.)

"Business is screwed if we don't fix climate change," says economist Rebecca Henderson. In this bold talk, she describes how unchecked capitalism destabilizes the environment and harms human health -- and makes the case for companies to step up and help fix the climate crisis they're causing. Hear what a reimagined capitalism, in which companies pay for the climate damage they cause, could look like.

In this perspective-shifting talk, energy researcher Rose M. Mutiso makes the case for prioritizing Africa's needs with what's left of the world's carbon budget, to foster growth and equitably achieve a smaller global carbon footprint.

"The good news is it's now clearly cheaper to save the planet than to ruin it," says engineer and investor John Doerr. "The bad news is: we are fast running out of time." In this conversation with climate policy expert Hal Harvey, the two sustainability leaders discuss why humanity has to act globally, at speed and at scale, to meet the staggering challenge of decarbonizing the global economy (which has only ever increased emissions throughout history) -- and share helpful examples of promising energy solutions from around the world.

Sophie Howe is the world's only future generations commissioner, a new kind of government official tasked with advocating for the interests of generations to come and holding public institutions accountable for delivering long-term change. She describes some of the people-focused policies she's helped implement in Wales, aimed at cutting carbon emissions, increasing sustainability and promoting well-being as a national goal.

In 2019, Amazon signed the Climate Pledge, a commitment to become a net-zero carbon business by 2040. Dave Clark, Amazon's chief of consumer retail, and Kara Hurst, head of the company's sustainability efforts, sit down with entrepreneur and activist Lindsay Levin to discuss how the company is planning to reduce its carbon footprint across all aspects of business -- while inviting other companies to join them in this transformation.