Aug 20, 2026 · 13 min
Physicists find new stakes in climate research
Making a case for physicists to join climate research
The episode connects climate science to core physics while showing how funding and political pressure can constrain the researchers needed to study it.
- 1Physics, planetary science, and climate research share equations and tools that can travel across fields.
- 2Storms and extreme winds offer a focused way to connect short-lived weather events with broader climate questions.
- 3Funding uncertainty in the United States is disrupting climate proposals, graduate training, and postdoctoral hiring.
Don't miss
O’Neill confirms that U.S. scientists have made confidential inquiries about moving to Toronto as American climate research faces funding uncertainty.
The brief
Morgan O’Neill traces her move from theoretical astrophysics toward climate research, where the societal stakes of climate change made the field impossible to ignore.
The conversation compares spinning galaxies, hurricanes, and fluid dynamics, showing how related equations can cross disciplines when researchers adapt the relevant constants and terms.
O’Neill focuses on the weather–climate boundary, especially storms and extreme winds, where brief events can illuminate larger questions about a changing climate.
Through the American Physical Society’s Group on the Physics of Climate, she is helping create a home for physicists from traditional specialties to enter climate research.
The discussion turns sharply to funding and political pressure in the United States, including uncertainty affecting proposals, graduate students, and postdoctoral hiring.
O’Neill confirms that U.S. scientists have made confidential inquiries about moving to Toronto, while stressing that American research still needs strong physicists.
Featuring
American Physical Society
University of TorontoListen to the full episode and explore every guest, topic, and moment on PodLume.