Climate Justice and Healing for Nepal, Leaders Meet Amid Climate Warnings, 12 Trillion Tons of Melted Ice and more.

After the deadly floods in Nepal this August, researchers rapidly assessed the event and concluded that climate change played a “very strong” role in the catastrophic glacial collapse. We discuss the human toll of the floods and the moral duty of the world to slow the climate crisis and help Nepal adapt. Also, the 2026 United Nations Climate Summit and Climate Week, which just wrapped up in New York City, took place in the wake of a summer marked by deadly extreme heat, the Nepal flood disaster and a UN report on the inevitable “overshoot” of the 1.5 degree C warming goal. We talk about the disjoint between urgent warnings and pleas for help from vulnerable nations, while countries like the US continue boosting fossil fuels -- amid the rapid growth and cost savings of renewable energy. And a recent study in the journal Scientific Data shows that since 1979, around 12.5 trillion tons of ice have melted from glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica -- enough to cover the entire US in 5 feet of ice. And the melting has been speeding up in the last two decades. We discuss the implications for future melting and global sea level rise. Plus: In addition to storing carbon through photosynthesis, trees have another carbon cycle trick up their sleeve, or rather, bark, and it's been hiding in plain sight. Scientists have discovered that tree bark hosts millions of microbes involved in consuming and producing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices