Why do sunsets move us so much?

In this episode of Atmosphere, we're exploring the science, stories and emotions behind one of nature's most beautiful daily spectacles.

Cameron Hewitt, director of content at Rick Steves Europe, has traveled the world chasing and photographing sunsets. He'll share what makes a truly spectacular sunset, where he's found the most memorable ones, and why a sunset can mean something completely different depending on where you are — and what is happening in your life.

Then certified consulting meteorologist and green flash photographer Jan Null takes us into the atmosphere to explain what's really happening as the sun drops toward the horizon. Why do sunsets turn red and orange? How do clouds and atmospheric particles shape the colors? And what creates that fleeting, elusive green flash?

It's a conversation about travel, memory, physics, perspective and the simple act of stopping to look up.

Links from the Show:

Jan Null's Green Flash Photography
Cameron Hewitt's Website

Cameron on Instagram

Cameron on Facebook

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The OTUS Project is a family-run team flying custom-built drones directly into tornadoes — including the first-ever drone flight inside a tornado's eye, captured in May 2024. Co-founder Louis Tucker joins us to talk about how he and his brother Nelson build drones tough enough to survive tornado wind speeds, how they forecast and chase storms in real time, and the near-surface wind data they're collecting for organizations like NIST — data that could directly shape future building codes. We also cover the near-misses, including a tornado that crossed their exact location two minutes after they left, and what it's actually like to pilot a drone into a tornado while your team protects you from the very phenomenon you are documenting.

We like to think of scientists as people who have the answers. But what about the questions they still can’t answer?

In this episode of Atmosphere, meteorologist Emily Gracey sits down with marine scientist, author, and science communicator Dr. Ellen Prager to explore some of the biggest mysteries in science and the natural world. What happens beneath a volcano before it erupts? Can we ever truly predict a tsunami, rogue wave, or rapidly intensifying hurricane? What is happening in the deepest parts of the ocean—and why have we explored so little of it? And how quickly will climate change reshape the planet?

From Mount St. Helens and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to rogue waves, rip currents, sharks, hurricanes, deep-ocean exploration, and a changing climate, this conversation explores what scientists know, what they still don't know, and why those unknowns matter.

But perhaps the biggest lesson is that the most important thing keeping scientists up at night isn't always what we don't know. It's what we do know—and whether we're paying attention, preparing, and taking action.

Because science doesn't begin with what we know. It begins with what we don't know.