Topic: Gavin Schmidt

NPR reports on the "gobsmackingly bananas" heat of 2023 and 2024, citing climate scientists Zeke Hausfather and Gavin Schmidt. The report explores why temperatures exceeded expectations, ruling out solar cycles and volcanoes while investigating "ship tracks"—clouds formed by ship pollution. Scientists suggest that cleaner shipping fuel reduced these cooling clouds, contributing to a hotter planet, a logic the hosts find contradictory and reminiscent of "chemtrail" theories.

NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) claimed 2014 was the warmest year on record, a point emphasized by President Obama. However, GISS Director Gavin Schmidt later admitted there was only a 38% certainty for this claim due to a margin of error of 0.1 degrees Celsius, which exceeds the reported 0.02-degree temperature increase. The discussion questions the accuracy of global temperature measurements dating back to 1880.