Climate Cast

It’s not your imagination — the cost of your home insurance is going up. Weather-related extreme events have sent homeowners’ insurance rates skyrocketing. Federal budget cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency will exacerbate these issues, particularly affecting state budgets and risk reduction efforts. In Minnesota, homeowners insurance rates increased the last decade due to hail damage, leading to non-renewals and some companies leaving the market. Jordan Haedtler, a climate financial policy strategist with Climate Cabinet, based in Duluth, talks with MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner about climate-change-fueled risks and steps the state Legislature is taking to address to address the issues.

Climate change has amplified the hydrologic cycle in Minnesota. Our more erratic precipitation patterns are driving faster transitions from drought to floods. So, can AI-driven forecasts help predict floods on rivers like the Mississippi? “We need to make innovations in these sorts of models and in our flood forecasting in general,” said Zac McEachran, a research hydrologist from the University of Minnesota. McEachran talked with MPR News meteorologist Paul Huttner about a new flood forecasting model that uses AI to improve local flood predictions. Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

Weather data suggests Minnesota has warmed more than three degrees in the past 150 years, and the state’s winters have warmed more than five degrees since 1970.So how are Minnesotans seeing and feeling these climate changes? “Here in Minnesota, we are experiencing climate change predominantly in the winter,” said Kristoffer Tigue, a reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune.“We base a lot of our culture around our winters, and so to have our winters being the season that's changing the most, I think it tells a narrative of the direction we’re going as a state.”Tigue explained that the state is experiencing warmer winters, an increase in precipitation and melting. Tigue wrote about the many ways Minnesotans are seeing climate change — from warmer falls, to a lack of foliage color and wildfire smoke. Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

Minnesota winters are not what they used to be. The bone-chilling season has warmed more than 5 degrees on average since 1970. Those warmer temps have contributed to another weather phenomenon: more snow — even if it doesn’t seem that way.How do we explain that paradox? Climatologist Kenneth Blumenfeld tracks snowfall trends for the Minnesota State Climate Office. He explained the connection between snowfall rates and higher global temperatures on Climate Cast.Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

Minnesota has a goal to move toward 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040.That will have significant impacts on certain parts of the state where coal plays a major part in the economy — like Itasca County.So, how are people in this part of northern Minnesota adapting?Itasca County Commissioner John Johnson spoke about how the county is planning for the transition.Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.