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Paul Huttner

The state of the climate in 2018, and its sticky mess

Maple syrup
A finished bottle of maple syrup sits alongside at Camp Aquila on Star Lake near Maplewood State Park in rural Minnesota.
Ann Arbor Miller for MPR News file

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Not only is climate change making for biblical floods and devastating wildfires, it's also wreaking havoc on a Minnesota maple-syrup maker.

We'll look to the past and toward the new year on this week's Climate Cast with MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner. Here's what you'll hear on the show:

• The state of the climate heading into 2018. Last year was full of records and will likely go down as the warmest El Niño-free year on record, said Jason Samenow, editor of the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang. He and Huttner go over 2017, and where things are at heading into the new year.

• A sticky, climate change mess. For Mark Hayes, the most annoying effect of climate change comes when he makes maple syrup. Sporadic weather makes it a rare occasion for temperatures to fall between 35 and 42 degrees — the sweet spot for maple syrup, he says. "Maple sap is like milk. It spoils like milk. In the last two years I've dumped more maple sap than I've actually cooked. It's just a mess."

• 78 percent. That's the percentage of total electric demand generated by wind power in Denmark on New Year's Day. And wind generation is going up across Europe and Minnesota, too.

Hear the whole episode of Climate Cast using the audio player above.