What would you guess is the deadliest disaster in Minnesota history? A wildfire? Blizzard? Tornado? It was none of those. In 1936, a long-term heat wave killed at least 900 across Minnesota.

Heat is America’s top weather killer, even in the age of air conditioning and community pools.

For the return of the long-running Climate Cast, we wanted to revisit the terrible cost of the 1936 heat wave that hit 90 years ago this month. On July 14, 1936, experts estimated a person was dying every three minutes in Minneapolis alone as a direct result of the heat.

In this episode, MPR News chief meteorologist Ben Cathey speaks with with Geoff Williams, the author of a new book, “The Summer of Death.” Williams calculates that at least 12,000 people died across America. He thinks Minnesota’s official death toll is likely severely under-calculated.

Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

Derechos are devastating, fast-moving bands of thunderstorms capable of producing destructive winds. Minnesota has experienced several, including the Boundary Waters blowdown in 1999. But research suggests derechos could become twice as common in a warming climate.

MPR News chief meteorologist Ben Cathey spoke with members of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota in Roseville about the impacts these storms can have on wildlife.

He also spoke with Logan Bundy, a meteorologist at Northern Illinois University, about what derechos could look like in the future.

Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

For years, Climate Cast has been a place to make sense of a changing planet — explaining the science, the solutions and the people behind the issue.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner sat down with Tom Crann during the Minnesota Climate Adaptation Awards to reflect on Climate Cast’s roughly 650 episodes and its focus on climate science, news and solutions.

“Climate change is a huge problem. We are seeing it every day,” Huttner said. “But there are so many good people working on solutions, and the technology of those solutions is here now.”

Plus, hear some former guests of Climate Cast send along their regards to Huttner.

If you’ve attended or played in a softball or baseball game this summer, you likely share something in common with a lot of Minnesotans. The intense heat, coupled with the high humidity, has led to delays and sweltering conditions for fans, players, and umpires alike. That comes at the end of July 2026, which will go down as the warmest month in American history.

There are plenty of church leagues and beer leagues around the state, but one group that meets in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul is a little different. They have team names like the Grand Slamphibians, Tree Huggers, and Straight A Sluggers.

These aren’t just your average Joes. These players are almost all state government workers. Many of those folks work directly on climate issues at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

So we ventured out to the Dunning Fields on the hottest evening of summer to talk to the experts while they were off the clock.

With climate change exposing communities to more dangerous weather conditions and amplifying diseases, experts say more people need resources to adapt.

The University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership is working on creating Climate Resilience Hubs to help give people community spaces that can give support both in everyday life and during emergencies.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Dr. Kent Boyd, a Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Public Health Extension Educator at the University of Minnesota, who is leading this work.

Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

Burning fossil fuels is one of the primary drivers of climate change, releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, causing changes including increased temperatures and extreme weather events here in the Midwest.

But recent research took advantage of a 40-year ongoing experiment at the University of Minnesota’s Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve to study how this carbon is being stored in retired croplands.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Eric Seabloom, a professor at the University of Minnesota College of Biological Science who was an author on the research.

Warmer waters building in the tropical Pacific Ocean are suggesting an El Nino event developing late this year. Forecasts predict an event range from a moderate El Nino, to a so-called Super El Nino event, which could have dramatic effects on weather in Minnesota, the U.S. and the world.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Andrew Freedman, a Senior Reporter for Climate & Weather at CNN, who has reported on the event.

The transportation sector is a large contributor to climate change, accounting for about 28 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Within that sector, aviation accounts for around 2 percent of carbon dioxide global emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Looking to reduce its carbon footprint, the aviation industry is seeking fuels from more renewable biological sources. At the University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative, researchers are working to commercialize winter oilseed cover crops that can keep soil healthy and also be turned into aviation fuel.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Mitch Hunter, co-director of the Forever Green Initiative and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Minnesota.

Click play on the audio player above to listen to this episode or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.