Salt marshes humming with insects and birds. Mangrove forests with tangled, arching roots. Seagrass meadows that blanket the ocean floor. The world’s coastal saltwater wetlands provide shelter for wildlife, purify water, and protect seaside infrastructure. And as Dr. Julie Simpson of MIT tells us, they also have a climate superpower: drawing down and locking away extraordinary amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide.

We gratefully acknowledge Professor Heidi Nepf; Ph.D. student Ernie Lee; and undergraduate student Joyce Yambasu of MIT for additional assistance and participation in this episode.

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/e1-marshes-mangroves-meadows.

For more episodes of Ask MIT Climate, check out askmitclimate.org. Plus, find us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for outtakes, bonus content, and more climate knowledge from MIT. As always, we love hearing from our listeners; email us at askmitclimate@mit.edu.

The eighth season of MIT’s climate change podcast starts next week, and we’ve got some news! TILclimate is now Ask MIT Climate. It’s part of an effort to bring all of our climate change resources under one umbrella and reach learners in as many ways as we can.

We’re also diving into video! Find us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @askmitclimate for outtakes, bonus content, and more climate knowledge from MIT. And we love hearing from our listeners; email us at askmitclimate@mit.edu.

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We’re dropping into your feed to share the news that our founding host, Laur Hesse Fisher, is departing MIT and TILclimate. In this episode, Laur sits down with new host Madison Goldberg to talk about the philosophies that have shaped TILclimate over seven seasons and take listeners behind the scenes of the show. They also discuss what’s in store for season eight—because TILclimate isn’t going anywhere.

Check out an extended video version of this conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB544MVZ9bg

For a deeper dive and additional resources related to this episode, visit: https://climate.mit.edu/podcasts/update-where-weve-been-and-where-were-going

For more episodes of TILclimate by the MIT Climate Project, visit tilclimate.mit.edu.

Credits

Laur Hesse Fisher, Founding Host and Senior Editor

Madison Goldberg, Incoming Host and Associate Producer

Aaron Krol, Writer and Executive Producer

David Lishansky, Editor and Producer

Danielle Simpson, Editor

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Artwork by Aaron Krol

Special thanks to Brett Paci of MIT OpenCourseWare and to the folks at Giro Studio for their help producing this episode.