Your climate & weather questions, answered.

Your climate & weather questions, answered.

Author: ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather July 30, 2026 Duration: 1:01:55

Most climate change misconceptions don't come from bad faith — they come from genuinely confusing science, mixed messaging, and questions no one ever answered clearly. In this first mailbag special of Totally Cooked, Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and Iain Strachan open up the inbox to tackle the questions that come up most.

Is the weather forecast usually wrong? If the models carry uncertainty, how can we trust long-term climate projections? What's the actual difference between weather and climate, and does one hot day tell us anything? All your questions along just some of the stickiest climate change misconceptions doing the rounds: that trees alone can fix everything, that lockdowns during COVID-19 repaired the ozone hole, and that small nations changing their habits can't possibly matter while the big emitters carry on.

From net zero and overshoot to the Paris Agreement, planetary boundaries, and why methane is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than CO₂, Sarah and Iain work through the misinformation and misunderstandings without the jargon. Whether you're fighting against climate change, worried about it, or just someone trying to separate signal from noise, this episode is about clearing up the climate change misconceptions that get in the way of an honest conversation.

Iain records Totally Cooked on the lands of the Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation. Sarah records Totally Cooked on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging and recognise their unique and continuing connection to the land, skies, waters, plants and animals.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Ever feel like the weather forecast is just the opening act for a much bigger, more urgent story? That’s the space where Totally Cooked: The Climate & Weather Podcast lives. Guided by Professor Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a climate scientist who studies extreme heat, and Iain Strachan, a journalist who translates complex science, this conversation pulls apart the daily headlines and the long-term trends. They connect the dots between a specific storm, a record-breaking heatwave, and the broader shifts in our global climate system. The discussion isn’t just about melting ice caps far away; it’s about what changing weather patterns mean for health, fitness, and daily life, particularly in the Australian context where the effects are often felt first and hardest. This podcast from the ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather moves beyond alarmism into grounded, evidence-based exploration. You’ll hear clear explanations of the physical mechanisms driving our weather, frank assessments of risks, and thoughtful conversations about adaptation, all delivered with a relatable dynamic and the occasional necessary dash of dark humour. It’s for anyone who wants to move past the soundbites and understand the real-world implications of a planet that’s, well, totally cooked.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 35

Totally Cooked: The Climate & Weather Podcast
Podcast Episodes
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