Earth’s Changing Oceans. Physical Oceanographer Nathan Bindoff

Professor Nathan Bindoff is a world renown physical oceanographer at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. His research takes him on voyages of discovery where he documented the first evidence of changes in the Indian, North Pacific, South Pacific and Southern Oceans, and the earth’s hydrological cycle from ocean salinity. He predicted fire catastrophes. His most recent work is studying the decline in oxygen content of the oceans. All of these global climate changes have been attributed to human activity. Nathan Bindoff is one of the lead authors contributing to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that are informing world leaders on climate policy.

Transcript
Catherine:

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Your positive imprint.

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What's your PI.

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Professor Nathan Bindoff and his background in physical

Catherine:

oceanography is so extensive.

Catherine:

There is no way I can cover his massive research studies,

Catherine:

but we can narrow it down.

Catherine:

Well, Nathan is a professor of physical oceanography at the

Catherine:

university of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic studies.

Catherine:

And my gosh, he was the coordinating lead author on the ocean's chapter in the

Catherine:

fourth intergovernmental panel on climate change in 2007, in which he was awarded

Catherine:

a certificate for his own contribution of Al Gore winning the Nobel peace prize.

Catherine:

That is just so amazing.

Catherine:

And then again, in 2014, he took a lead in the fifth assessment

Catherine:

climate change report.

Catherine:

Well professor Bindoff and his colleagues documented some of the

Catherine:

first evidence of the high melt rates of the Antarctic ice sheet.

Catherine:

His most recent work is on documenting the decline in oxygen content of the

Catherine:

oceans and dynamics of the Southern ocean.

Catherine:

When he's not on a boat doing research, he tries to be on his own boat that he built

Catherine:

from wood, a hobby that he so much enjoys.

Catherine:

And now he is here to talk about all of this and what the

Catherine:

future holds for our planet.

Catherine:

Professor Nathan Bindoff . Thank you so much for coming on the show to

Catherine:

share your amazing positive imprints.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Thank you, Catherine.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That's a lovely introduction.

Catherine:

This is so incredible to finally meet you after reading so many

Catherine:

articles and reading your research and hearing about you from other researchers.

Catherine:

There's so much to talk about and I'm going to kind of let you guide as to

Catherine:

what research you want to chat about.

Catherine:

Professor Bindoff explains who he is and how he came to be part of the

Catherine:

intergovernmental panel on climate change.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Oh, Nathan's a a practical, pragmatic

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

sort of guy that likes to, actually I, I often, draw parallels to, uh, parboil

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

detective stories where, you know, the, the, the lone detective is out there.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Well, private eye is out there and he's taking the clues and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

kind of discovering something.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, and that's kind of how I feel about science

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

actually.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

You know, you, you look at observations, you discover things, you compare them,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

you get evidence and you build a story.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And it's just like that parboiled detective guy, that those parboil

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

detective stories where you figure out what's going on and then you

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

write it up and turn it into a paper.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And the pragmatic part of me is the part that likes to, turn this sort

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

of discoveries in science, into things that are important and relevant to

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

people who think about the environment.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So you know, the participation in IPCC, for instance, Was sort of a

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

fluke, a wonderful fluke, by the way.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I was in the corridor one day and one of my ex supervisors came by and he said, oh,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

you should, you should nominate for IPCC.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And that's all he said.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And that night I went away, uh, put in a nomination and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

that began my career in IPCC.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I was invited to be a coordinating lead author in that fourth assessment

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

report, which was the one that actually led to a moment in history where

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the rejection of climate change had been very strong through 2005, 2006.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And then suddenly the stern report came out and that talked about the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

economic consequences of climate change.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And Al Gore had his movie on the inconvenient truth.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And then finally this fourth assessment came out and in 2000 and late 2007,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

2008, we had a change in our narrative around, uh, the acceptance of

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

climate change and the need to act.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And it was a terrific moment.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And then it was sort of topped off by IPCC winning with Al

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Gore, the, Nobel peace prize.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, and, and I actually liked the fact that it's not, it's not a, a

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

prize for scientific excellence.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's not a prize for intellectual endeavor.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Actually, it's a prize for creating an opportunity if you like for peace.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So you can see, I, I like the observations, I like the detail,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

like a narrative, and then actually, if it does good, if it does good,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

then that makes me very happy.

Catherine:

We talked about some of his quotes and I brought up this one.

Catherine:

"When I commenced my career, the question of whether the ocean state

Catherine:

had changed was completely open.

Catherine:

It was a voyage of discovery."

Catherine:

Well, professor Bindoff has been on this voyage of discovery, bringing back his

Catherine:

research to share with the IPCC., the intergovernmental panel on climate change.

Catherine:

And I asked professor Bindoff about the history of the IPCC

Catherine:

and the state of the ocean.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So let's, let's talk IPCC for a moment.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

IPCC was a, a vision and that vision was an understanding that the changing

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

composition of the atmosphere.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So this was for measurements of atmospheric CO2.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

The changing composition of the atmosphere was going to influence the planet.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

At that moment there was a decision and it was in the time of, Margaret

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

A decision was made to create a panel.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And that panel was a joint effort between United nations environment program and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the world meteorological organization.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And what happened was that that panel was created very perceptively it excluded

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

it's not quite true, but it is basically excluded non-governmental organizations.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So they made it a report to governments.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And because it's a United Nations process, that process demands that every country

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

has a, what they call a focal point.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And that focal point in each country is the avenue by

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

which the IPCC reports, , and.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Development and their commissioning is, created within each of

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the countries that participate.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

United Nations is 195 countries and almost all participate in the IPCC process.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So this process immediately meant that, every report is well understood.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

at some levels of governments.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That's unusual relative to other kinds of reports.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

There's a similar report around, , chlorofluorocarbons,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

in the upper atmosphere.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And there's a similar process there.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So that's basically the process around, but, , the IPCC, it

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

was created in 1992, I think.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And it came from the inspiration of Bert Bolin.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Bert Bolin was a, Swedish, atmospherics, scientist, famous actually.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And it was him plus a couple of others.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And the first report was quite very, very thin.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Actually, it didn't even say that humans were influencing climate, but

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

curiously, that report was enough to create the United Nations Framework

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Convention on Climate Change.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And that's the body that runs the conference of parties every year, which

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

negotiates, , the processes around emissions and hopefully emissions

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

reductions, as we go into the future.

Catherine:

You've given a wonderful explanation on the IPCC.

Catherine:

And I appreciate that because I was unaware of some of the history,

Catherine:

and I was definitely unaware in how much of the partaking you have

Catherine:

had in this historical and most important piece that is going to take

Catherine:

us and is taking us into the future

Catherine:

with regard to legislation and changes in lifestyle.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Yeah.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So IPCC evolves actually.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And in the first report, there was no mention of the oceans and in

Catherine:

oh, there was no mention of oceans.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Correct.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And then the second assessment, there was, uh, no mention really either.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And then in the third assessment, they talked about sea-level and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

then in the fourth assessment, they actually introduced an oceans chapter.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, and the reason an oceans chapter was introduced was because there

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

had been a bit of a revolution going on in the oceanography community.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It goes to the first question you asked.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

The oceans were considered to be static, unchanging.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

They had so much, , inertia that they were basically unable to change.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

They were kind of a fixed fly wheel.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

If you like, circulating the global ocean.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And then increasingly oceanographers and atmospheric scientists have

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

understood that there was El Nino.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Then we came to understand actually the deep ocean was changing subtly as well.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And we found that, that there was on starting to appear on global scales.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So what really happened was that we understood that the oceans too were

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

responding, that they weren't static and that they were changing and that

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

knowledge and the amount of literature that was starting to accumulate at

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

that time allowed for the introduction of this chapter around oceans.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's the building of the momentum around the science.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It was a increased realization that the oceans were important that

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

they were changing and evolving.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, at that time, we believe that the ocean, uh, sea level change was through

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

primarily through, thermal expansion.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So that's where you warm up the ocean and it expands.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And that's the biggest contributor to the rising sea levels.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That's actually changing again, so that rising sea levels, are now

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

dominated by the melt of the ice caps, both Antarctica, Greenland, and, the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

glaciers mountain glaciers as well.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So the heating of the oceans, isn't the biggest component to

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the rising sea level anymore.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So that's a new level of knowledge that we've actually got.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So this is part of this voyage of discovery where we're actually learning

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

more progressively more about the earth's system in response to climate change

Catherine:

One of Nathan's earliest discoveries was that of the planet's

Catherine:

melting Antarctic ice shelves.

Catherine:

He and his colleagues made measurements, studied the data and concluded

Catherine:

something absolutely extraordinary.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

With colleagues.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Um, so I wrote some early papers around, the melt of , the Amery ice shelf.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

In fact, I remember a conversation.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I said, oh, 50% of this.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

ice shelf is melting, from the ocean, from the underside.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's a paper that's buried in the past, the glaciologists

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

telling me that was impossible.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Well, actually what's happened is this has become a prime research, , activity

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

here in Hobart and elsewhere in the world.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It was the capacity for those ice sheets to have a huge, huge impact

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

on rising sea level, is enormous.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I've used a lot of superlatives there, but it's true.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

There were some papers just recently, which some people are backing away from

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

a little bit, but they were predicting 16 meters of sea projecting, 16 meters of

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

sea level from Antarctica alone by 2500.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So think about 16 meters of sea level.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That's enormous.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

These estimates, are reducing, , but they're still very large.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Just recently in the report that we did on oceans and cryosphere and a

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

changing climate, the governments' insisted on showing the sea level

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

rise projections out to 2300.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So for a lot of people, 2300 is a long way away, we don't care,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

but the sea level projections were showing, at the upper range, five

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

meters of future sea level rise by 2300.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Now, just to give a context, I think if it's eight meters, we can

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

row in our boat to the footstep of, Capitol hill and step out.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Of course, in the case of the Thames parliament, uh, we

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

could step through the windows.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Uh, uh, you know, uh, most of Florida has disappeared, south Australia.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I think if it goes to eight meters, we can have a ocean in the middle of Australia.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So, so, you know, these are very significant, profound,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

possibilities for, , future, sea level in an unmitigated world.

Catherine:

that's key.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

that's the key.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And so, so it hasn't happened of course.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Um, it's, it's something that humans could, materially alter

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

by making certain decisions.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So it's sort of a value judgment.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We can have this hotter, higher sea level world if we choose, or we can actually

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

step back, we mitigate emissions and not have that hotter higher sea level world.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And there are some distinct benefits,, I think that's my value judgment, if we

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

were to reduce our emissions to zero.,

Catherine:

oh, I think it is a decision that we do need.

Catherine:

But there are people who won't change until it's legislated

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So some of the language we might use, we

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

scientists might use is that we society needs a license to, reduce emissions.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Society has the license to omit them.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Yeah.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Right.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We now need a license to reduce them to zero.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, uh, that is actually something that no individual can accomplish.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Right.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So, so therefore means that, no individual country can

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

actually accomplish it alone.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So it does require a genuine collaboration of all the nations to actually agree,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and then follow a pathway to reduced emissions, , to kind of avoid the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

worst outcomes of climate change.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Some people may not realize, but we've already committed to

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

quite a bit of climate change.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We've already come one degree of warming since the instrumental

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

record began say in the 1850s.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Now one degree of global warming means that actually over Australia,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

it's 1.4 times that, over the, Arctic it's, uh, even more and over

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the tropics, it's actually less.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's a global average.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Some areas will have larger temperature changes than others.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We've already committed to that.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We can already see that, the water cycle over the planet has been altered.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We can already see that Greenland and Antarctica are losing increased mass.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That's something that's become very obvious in the last 20 years

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

on this voyage of discovery.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

These things mean that we've already committed to those changes.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

If we switched off our missions tomorrow, right which is, would

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

be an extraordinary thing.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We would still warm up by another 0.3 to 0.4 degrees.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

if we want to avoid 0.5, we'd have very little time left

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

actually, if you think about it.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Cause if we've committed to a further 0.3 degrees, we've come 0.1.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We've only got 0.2 of headroom.

Catherine:

yes.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

so say you can see that it's now

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

becoming a very urgent problem if you want to minimize the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

consequences of climate change..

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

One of the things that became obvious was that the, interaction between the ocean

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and the ice sheet was quite significant.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And so we actually did a wintertime voyage.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We went to Antarctica in July.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So that's our Southern hemisphere winter.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We were there against the continent in a, , ice breaker and making measurements

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

right in front of the, of a, um, it's not, not the biggest glacier.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Uh, they'd called the Mertz glacier.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's actually that place has now broken off, but it was a source of

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

very dense what we call Antarctic bottom water, very dense waters, some

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

of the densest waters in the world.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And because they're dense, they'll actually flow down the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

continental slope so they'll start off on the continental shelf

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

they'll fly down the continental slope and then they end in the abyss and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

they actually drive a circulation that we call the overturning circulation.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And this overturning circulation is an important component of the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

global thermohaline circulation or the global thermite.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Global thermohaline circulation in the world.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's a driver of the deep ocean circulation.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And as a consequence, we were there exactly to study that flow.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Now I've talked about the deepest ocean that right there in front of the glacier,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

you also see and toughen the case, very fresh waters that reflect the melt of

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the bottom of the, glaciers themselves.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And so we estimated that melt rate and we came to understand how much was being,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

lost by the ice sheet there in winter.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

What's new and more important to the story of climate change is we've realized

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

that these glaciers are thinning..

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And so they're losing, they're not in equilibrium.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

If they're an equilibrium sea level would be unchanged, but

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

actually they're thinning.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And so sea level is actually going up as a consequence and the ice sheet itself

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

on average is actually losing mass.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So it's transferring mass that, in the Antarctic ice sheet itself into the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

oceans and causing sea level to go up.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And that voyage was the first ever against the Antarctic continent in winter.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That was 1998.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That voyage, was actually on the relatively newly commissioned

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Aurora Australis so that was the Australian icebreaker.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That ship has now come to end of life.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And it's about to be replaced.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

There'll be a new Australian ice breaker that will replace the Aurora Australis.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It was both a science ship and also a resupply, ship.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And the moment that we actually got that, icebreaker, the Australian Antarcitc

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

research took a quantum step upwards.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That vessel gave Australia new capabilities that it

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

didn't have prior to 1992.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

, it's interesting.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I was sort of, um, a little bit hesitant.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I have to say, there you go.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I was a little bit hesitant about going to, , Antarctica working at sea.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I've spent more than two years at sea now, uh, in my career.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Right?

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So I've got over the hesitancy, but, the first trip I was, it was

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

actually a particularly rough trip.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I remember kind of feeling only 80,, 90%, 90% of the time.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Uh, and, uh, that was, that was a tough voyage actually.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, and, you know, shaped my life.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Sea-going life is actually a very pleasant once you get into the rhythm

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

of it, it's a very simple life.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And in the case of, research in Antarctica itself, you

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

get the most fantastic views.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

You know, you're privileged in a way you, you see these ice sheets, um, they're,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

they're cliffs right there in front of the ocean and they're brilliantly white.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And then, , the green of the green to sort of clear blue of the ocean and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the contrast in color is, , striking.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And then sometimes you see these ice sheets, they have icebergs and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

they're flat tabular kinds of icebergs.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Icebergs

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

always flattened tabula, typically in the Antarctic, quite unlike the icebergs

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

in the, from the Greenland ice sheet.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, but often you see surf on the have wave cup platforms on them and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

you can see surf there and people,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

oh, that's cool.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and some people have actually surfed them.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So, so there are these very beautiful, there's this, sea

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

life, some extraordinary sea life.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

The thing that's grabbed me the most actually, and what allows

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

me to keep on going back is the science that's associated with it.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

The science in the end is the driver of this activity and, and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the, the, joy of seeing it all is kind of a peripheral thing.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Hate, hate to say it that way, but actually that's what,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

makes it for repeat trips.

Catherine:

well, it certainly shows your dedication to not just the work

Catherine:

that you're enjoying doing, but to the future of decision-making of our planet

Catherine:

and populations that live on our planet.

Catherine:

I think that's a huge responsibility for scientists to undertake when you know,

Catherine:

very well that when you are doing this research and you're coming back with

Catherine:

the statistics and the projections, and if we keep going the way we're going

Catherine:

and things don't get changed, if you lose populations, animal populations,

Catherine:

that's a, that's a heavy emotional burden.

Catherine:

I think

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

You're quite right that, but I'm not

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

actually frustrated, by the world.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I feel personally that I've actually done the work, I've made, made with the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

measurements, we've reported the science I've worked with IPCC with literally,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

you know, uh, 200 to 300 scientists with the similar kind of thinking.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We've put these assessments together with, literally seven to 10,000

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

different papers, we've assessed it.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We've written the reports.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

They're being communicated to government.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We have actually done our job.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, and, and in that sense, , I'm not frustrated because I can see that actually

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

to make the decision and for society to agree to act on it is a big thing too.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And we're in that process.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So my task is really to continue to do that job, to communicate

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

what's going on, how things are changing, why it might be urgent.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Um, what are the consequences?

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Cause that's, that's the projections part.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

You know, we can look a bit into the future.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

If we continue on this path, this is what it will mean.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, and if we continue to do that, then hopefully the rest of society can find

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the solutions that allows to transform to the new world where we don't have

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

emissions going into the atmosphere.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We limit the amount of damage caused by climate change.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, we address the other problems that we need to solve.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And that's a deeply society related question.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I think scientists have done a terrific job in communicating it.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's deeply political to get to perhaps, uh, where we might like

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

to be, but we're in this moment where we're trying to get there.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That's why we have these institutions like IPCC, United Nations, the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Framework

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Convention on Climate Change.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's why they have a meeting every year, every year, the ministers and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

bureaucrats of every country actually go and discuss how to make the decisions.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

They may not succeed, but they actually do do it, every year.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So ya, there's a considerable effort going into the process and hopefully we'll turn

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the corner and, uh, really have action.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We have had action in the past and that's why I'm not, uh, pessimistic.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I think it is a solvable problem.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

There was a report just released that describes the fact that, you know, with a

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

concerted effort, we could actually limit global warming to one and a half degrees.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We could actually do it.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And there are pathways to get there.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Scientifically, there are pathways to get there and then sociologically

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and decision-making, let's see if we can get to those parts.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So, so you can see I've stepped back from being frustrated

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

sure.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

Sure.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

because I feel like we've,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I've done as much as we can.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Scientists have done as much as they can.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

And,

Catherine:

you've great at what you are doing.

Catherine:

and it's inspiring.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and so, well, thank you.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And so the other half of it is can we as society, accept that, make the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

value decision and transform itself.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And the nice thing I think is that, , 20 years ago, renewables may not have

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

been so cheap and you can see the huge increase in renewables in the landscape.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And you can see many of the transformations of the energy business

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

that are going on, and you can see the pressure on the coal industry.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So you can see that there are forces and pressures trying to

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

change the pathway that we were on.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Emissions are still going up.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

We haven't turned the corner, but you can see that there's action.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Not enough maybe.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Maybe it's my worldview, but that narrative I gave was

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

one, of precisely about hope.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It was about the hope that we could collaborate globally and actually

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

understand the innovations that we can embrace and change the course.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And it does require the world to do it together.

Catherine:

Bindoff predicted the catastrophic fires that would occur.

Catherine:

Right now my own state of New Mexico is experiencing horrific fires, which are

Catherine:

the absolute worst in recorded history.

Catherine:

Well, professor Bindoff wrote papers years ago on this very subject.

Catherine:

He wrote.

Catherine:

"If the temperature rose and continues to rise

Catherine:

sea levels could rise by three to four meters and Greenland could disappear.

Catherine:

There would be at least a 20% increase in fire danger and catastrophic fire

Catherine:

events would be more likely to occur."

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's uh, the fire season has been

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

an extraordinary wake up call for, Australia and the wildfires in the USA

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

, had extraordinary impacts.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

The report that you referred to we wrote, basically pointed to the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

fact that these extreme conditions are going to occur more frequently.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So we said twice as often, but they actually affect the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

bigger area, uh, as well.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and then when you put those two together, they turn out to

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

be four times more workload.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's like a 20% per decade, increase.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So these are nontrivial changes that are emerging because of that warming.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And it's primarily because of the warming.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

There are other things that go into fire, but there's, that's primarily because

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

of the warming that goes, associated with increasing the fire danger.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So, so yes, we did talk about that years ago and I'm off to meet the Premier today.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And I'll probably mention it again.

Catherine:

Well, my goodness.

Catherine:

I would love to have an update on that meeting that professor

Catherine:

Bindoff had with the Premier.

Catherine:

Well today, professor Nathan Bindoff and his team are studying oxygen levels.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Yeah.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So, so oxygen, a lot of people, don't understand that the ocean is a very

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

small reservoir of oxygen, obviously critical for fish to live off and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

much of life, within the oceans.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

But it turns out that if you make measurements of the oxygen content

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

in the oceans, there are some areas where it's actually declining and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

this work that we're doing is actually about documenting those declines.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And there are some particularly big declines in the equatorial

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

zone of the Pacific and also in the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And there are declines at high latitudes as well.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

These declines aren't so aren't so big that the fish can't, can't ac tually

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

still function but their declines are altering the distribution to some

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

extent of fish in the equatorial parts.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's just reflecting the fact that we're on this voyage of discovery,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

where the oceans are changing and oxygen is just another one

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

of those things that's changed.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, you know, it's, it's not talked about a lot about, it's actually a

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

thing that's going to have influence, particularly in the equatorial

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

zone, future equatorial zone.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

In the past records, the paleo oceanographic records we have, it's often

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

talked about, the, chain variations in oxygen in the global oceans.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So geologists have understood that there are, uh, changes in

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the oceans on long time scale.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

The difference here is that these changes that we're talking about

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

are connected to human activity.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So it's, uh, human induced oxygen decline, in fact, in the United States,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

there have been some famous, uh, kills of crabs washed up on the Oregon coast.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And these are connected to this, changing oxygen levels, in

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the equatorial ocean actually.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And at various times, those low oxygen zones catch up with the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

crabs, which are sitting out there on the continental shelf.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

They suddenly don't have enough oxygen.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So they actually, asphyxiated, I suppose and then washed up, that

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

is an example of the growth of this oxygen minimum layer in that zone.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So it is influencing, uh, Marine life and their distribution.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's a sort of a localized catastrophe for those animals.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Tuna populations have tended to move a little bit in response

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

to these oxygen content changes.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

There are other kinds of effects on Marine wildlife.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It's, it's always complex, but that's actually what's going on.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, uh, the project that I was that, that I was referring to there is

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

about understanding how that oxygen is actually changing the global oceans.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And we have relatively few observations for it.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So it's, it's a, um, it's not as detailed or accurate picture as we

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

might have for ocean temperatures

Catherine:

oh, but you'll get that

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

with a few more measurements.

Catherine:

right?

Catherine:

Yeah.

Catherine:

And the reason I had mentioned fisheries is because that

Catherine:

will be an economics question.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Yeah.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So, so this is, something we've detailed in our most recent IPCC report actually.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

There are three things going on if you like.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

The atmosphere's warming up..

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

The surface ocean warms up at a faster rate than the deeper ocean.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And because the surface ocean is warming up at a faster rate,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

um, warmer water is lighter.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And so, uh, the surface waters are becoming more buoyant

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

relative to the deeper waters.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And now oxygen mostly gets into the deeper waters because there's a,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

what we call ventilation, literally, you know, uh, the exchange between

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the atmosphere and the deep ocean.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Um, and that process is inhibited or reduced or slowed by the warming

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

up of those surface waters, because it's actually physically harder

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

to take the surface water and move it into the deeper ocean.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Because it's physically harder there's less oxygen being

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

moved into the deeper ocean.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So when I say deeper below a hundred meters, and as a consequence of

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

biological activity in that depth range, the oxygen content is the oxygen is

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

consumed and it's, uh, becomes lower.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So this decline in oxygen is really caused by surface ocean warming and,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and a reduced rate of exchange between the atmosphere and the, and the deeper

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

ocean, below 100, 200, 300 meters.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Um, and, and that's what we've been documenting.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And we can attribute it to the human influence because we know that, in

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

following the scientific method, if you like, models that do not have

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

changing cO2 do not have warming of the surface ocean, um, will still have

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the same equilibrium oxygen inside.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

But when you warm the ocean progressively from rising greenhouse gases, you

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

find that the pattern of oxygen change, agrees with what's observed

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and you can formally attribute it to that rise in, , CO2 in the atmosphere.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

So the response looks like climate change, and that's why we say

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

it's to do with human activity.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

, so, so Catherine, I can talk quite a lot as you might have, uh, appreciated

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

but let me say, it's been a pleasure to chat, about these bigger picture

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

issues with a little bit of extra time versus a normal media event.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

It allows, I think a, um, kind of a nice, nice discourse about, the

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

problem that is confronting the earth..

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I'm I'm very optimistic that we can actually solve these, this,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

this particular problem, because I can see the innovation that we

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

acquire, the technologies we require.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I can see that there's a potential for the transformation transformations

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

that we acquire to occur.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And so I'm actually hopeful that we can accelerate the progress and actually,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

minimize, minimize the, problem at hand.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And, and of course I can then just go back to doing ordinary old oceanography.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Don't have to, uh, work on these socially relevant problems,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

become the academic that I was.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Um, you know, it's been very interesting and fascinating time

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

to be working in the oceans.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

The oceans, unlike meteorology, the oceans, Uh, 20 years behind

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

the meteorological community.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

And so I've actually entered this career into this career at a, at a kind of an

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

exciting moment where we've kind of become to understand much more about the oceans

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and we've developed, tools and methods to explore and see, how it's changing and

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

how it's moving and how it's responding to, climate change, for instance.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I've been a participant in these things, iPCC, I feel actually that, uh, if

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

there are any budding scientists out there, if you do it right, there can be

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

a very exciting and exhilarating career..

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

Oh, I, I agree.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

Thank you so much, Nathan.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

You are just so good in your field and you are a very well-spoken speaker.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

You're extremely inspiring and your positive imprints are certainly global

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

but your, your imprints are such a legacy because this research is for

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

yesterday, today and the future, and it's going to be obviously research needed.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

I commend you for taking on the role that you are taking, not just as

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

a scientist, but as a spokesperson

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

and I appreciate that.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

, I think that I want to end with letters to earth,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

Nathan, I'm going to

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

share my screen with you because this letter that you wrote to earth

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

is very inspiring and it just shows your optimism and everything that you

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 1):

Speaker:

believe in for the future of our earth.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Um, thank you Catherine.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

From time to time.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

I do think about the future.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

My dream is that the picture we so frequently paint will be different.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

Not the catastrophe that is so frequently forecast, but a world where the pressing

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

problems that cutoff circumvented with human ingenuity and self-realization

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and mobilized by collaborative effort, a world where humans decide the future

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

to be sustainable and transformed,

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

and a transformed one that successfully reconciles climate change, our needs

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

for food, energy, and all of life.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

That is what I imagine we can achieve.

Catherine:

Professor Nathan Bindoff.

Catherine:

thank you.

Catherine:

so much for your inspiration and your commitment to your science and research.

Catherine:

Thank you for sharing on your positive imprint.

nathanbindoff on 2020-02-04 at 14.47 (Track 2):

Speaker:

thank you Catherine..

Catherine:

To learn more about professor Nathan Bindoff and his research go

Catherine:

to university of Tasmania website, UTAS.edu.au and search button for Nathan

Catherine:

Bindoff, N a T H a N B I N D O F F.

Catherine:

You can read more letters from scientists and oceanographers

Catherine:

from isthishowyoufeel.com?

Catherine:

You can also write your own letter to earth by going to letterstoearth.com.

Catherine:

In two weeks, join members of the Matt Palmer band as they share music and their

Catherine:

climate change research from England.

Catherine:

Your positive imprint.

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