"This summer’s scorching heat, raging wildfires and deadly floods are a warning of what lies ahead. We must make the overshoot above 1.5 degrees as small and short as possible." - UN Secretary-General Antőnio Guterres, speaking about the current UNEP report on "Limiting Overshoot" now that the world is exceeding the 1.5°C target set at Paris in 2015.

In France, television and radio programs have been examining the social and economic impacts of the nation's most extreme summer on record, with discussions like "2026, l'ete qui a tout change" (the summer that changed everything) via France Info.

Meanwhile, the guests on this episode of Bridging the Carbon Gap chart the indifference of the US educational system to climate education, even as a climate-transformed world is the future of every student in America.

Catherine Du, a student at Hunter College High School in NYC, interviews two of her fellow high school climate activists, who are now entering their first year of college: Helena Rambler, Hunter College High School '26 (UNC Chapel Hill '30) and Ananya Gupta, Geffen Academy at UCLA '26 (Stanford '30).

Helena Rambler has been part of the Bridging the Carbon Gap production team for several years, interviewing climate scientists and communicators for the show, including Professor Gail Whiteman, founder of Arctic Basecamp. That experience of being a reporter, of asking the tough questions of experts and then explaining their answers to students, really influences how she thinks about what a climate-literate high school education should actually be.

Bringing the University of California’s solutions-focused Bending the Curve climate course to high schools has been Ananya Gupta’s goal. She adapted it into a program for teens, called Intersections, and co-authored a peer-reviewed study on the outcomes with researchers at the University of California, San Diego, which found the course measurably increased students’ belief that climate change will affect them and future generations personally.

In this chat Helena and Ananya share what it’s like to have climate change as background noise growing up, why they believe eco-anxiety is more prevalent than tangible plans to act among their peers, how this year’s wildfires shifted conversations at home, and how they both believe any career, whether in architecture, AI or otherwise, can be a green job.

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In this episode, Catherine Du, a rising sophomore at Hunter College High School in NYC, interviews Veerabhadran "Ram" Ramanathan, a pioneer of climate science and Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Climate Sciences and Physical Oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.

Dr. Ramanathan added crucial understanding to the science of climate change with his discovery, in 1975, of the greenhouse effect of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Continuing his groundbreaking research in aerosol pollution in later decades, he has also advised governments and global leaders, including the Governor of California and two Popes, on the urgent need for effective worldwide climate policies.

Dr. Ramanathan's goal now is to create a million climate champions, focusing on young people between the ages of 15 and 35, to help lead solutions throughout the world. With this intention he led the development of the interdisciplinary climate program for the University of California campuses, Bending the Curve.

From his profile at UCSD/Scripps Institution of Oceanography:

"Ramanathan was honored as the science advisor to Pope Francis’ holy see delegation to the historic 2015 Paris climate summit and advised California Gov. Jerry Brown. He was named the U.N. Climate Champion in 2013; has been elected to the U.S. National Academy and the Royal Swedish Academy which awards the Nobel prizes. Foreign Policy named him a thought leader in 2014; In 2018, he (with James Hansen) was named Tang Laureate for sustainability science."

Dr. Ramanathan's profile on Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veerabhadran_Ramanathan

Dr. Ramanathan is a recipient of the 2026 Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences:

https://www.crafoordprize.se/news/crafoord-prize-laureate-showed-that-many-factors-affect-the-climate/

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"Individualism is an ideology. It has gone hyper and is causing great personal, social and environmental harm. If you are feeling this and want to fight back, The Miracle Inn is here for you."

Dr. Morgan Phillips worked at the NGO Global Action Plan for 6.5 years, developing a climate curriculum for the school system in the UK. He recently launched his own initiative, The Miracle Inn, to apply ideas he's developed over more than a decade of work on the social basis of climate communications and democracy.

https://www.themiracleinn.org/

In this episode, produced and edited by Catherine Du, he is interviewed by Catherine, Helena Rambler, and David Case, three students at Hunter College High School in NYC.

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In this introduction to our upcoming series of interviews on the role of education in a democracy, Catherine Du interviews four of her ninth grade classmates at Hunter College High School in New York City to find out what they think of the education on climate change they've received so far.

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Dr. Jyoti Mishra is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and in this episode she describes how we may reshape society to cope with the climate crisis.

We learned about Dr. Mishra's work first from an article she co-authored in Nature, "A mental health focus to amplify climate resilience actions" (for which her co-authors are Hahrie Han and Veerabhadran Ramanathan).

In our interview, Dr. Mishra describes how society is integral in climate transformations, and is influenced by everyone's individual, unique lived experiences. Climate education and action are deeply intertwined. Collective efficacy in solutions builds as we begin with baby steps and work up through awareness, to learning about solutions, and then to taking action. Dr. Mishra has also focused on transforming the medical system, and has hosted a climate change and mental health seminar for healthcare workers.

This interview is conducted by Helena Rambler, Hunter College High School Class of 2026, and edited by Catherine Du, Hunter College High School Class of 2029.

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Eugene Kirpichov, a former software engineer at Google, describes why he and his colleague Cassandra Xia left their positions at Google to create Work on Climate, a rapidly growing nonprofit aimed at mobilizing the talent that can build a regenerative green economy.

Kirpichov calls for redesigning the economy so that all activities will contribute to the health of the entire system. For those seeking ways to join the effort, Kirpichov explains that opportunities don't only come from companies that are already focused on climate. Since every industry has to change, there are a wide range of jobs where someone may make greater impact through bringing new ideas to roles that once may not have been 'climate-focused.' Kirpichov challenges the notion that the climate crisis is about saving nature, instead describing global destabilization as an existential threat to human civilization.

This interview is conducted by Marie Fadeyeva, a recent Columbia graduate in computer science.

https://workonclimate.org/

Transcript: https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/cityatlas-guests-interviews/eugene-kirpichov/

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Mark Gongloff is a Bloomberg Opinion editor and columnist covering climate change. He previously worked for Fortune.com, the Huffington Post and the Wall Street Journal.

Every week his climate column sends a stark, realistic viewpoint on the urgency of climate change action through the world’s 355,000 Bloomberg Terminals, the principal trading tool for people working in finance.

New York City high school seniors Helena Rambler, Pierce Siegel, and Giulia Di Vincenzo interviewed Mark at Hunter College High School, and were joined at the end of the interview by their physics teacher, Ross Pinkerton. This interview took place on October 8, 2025.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/authors/APR88DH6QO0/mark-gongloff

https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/people/mark-gongloff/

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Georgia Silvera Seamans, an urban forester, and Giulia Di Vincenzo, a high school student, explore the treescape of Washington Square Park, a public park in New York City that has been famous as a cultural center and gathering place for over a century.

Georgia gives Giulia a tour of the trees, giving insights on ecological and social benefits of nature in cities.

For this episode, video clips for the following trees are available at the link below:

Ginkgo Osage, Northern Catalpa, Bald Cypress, Willow Oak, American Sweetgum

https://newyork.thecityatlas.org/people/georgia-silvera-seamans/

Georgia writes and teaches in New York City, and her work can be seen here:

https://www.wspecoprojects.org/

https://www.georgiasilveraseamans.com/

“I write stories about people’s relationships with plants and narratives that connect people to trees.”

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