Meet Space Weather expert Krista Hammond who has been forecasting with the Met Office for 16 years. Kirsta is an operational Space Weather Meteorologist as well as a senior Account Manager for Space Weather.

As we enter into a solar maximum, Space Weather activity has been hitting the headlines, not only because of the frequency of the spectacular display of the aurora borealis but because there has been a forecast for one of the largest geomagnetic storms to have hit the earth for 20 year. This level of storm is powerful enough to knock out power grids, networks, navigation and more.

The scale of space weather is simple mind blowing. Krista talks about the difference between solar flare, solar radiation storms and coronal mass ejections (CME’s). She explains the remarkable speed that each can travel at and how much warning we might potentially have before they hit the Earth. A CME is in a whole league to its own and can affect not just a local region but an entire hemisphere.

Krista tells us that unlike modern forecasting for the weather on Earth, there is very limited ways to understand what’s happening in the sun. The main way to do this is to use satellites which look at the sun in different wavelengths and well as looking at the sun’s magnetic fields.

We learn why we need to know what a ‘Lagrange points’ is and why a European Space Agency mission called VIGIL could revolutionise space weather forecasting.

Listen on to find out why Krista loves summer, Noctilucent clouds and why even though she is a space weather forecaster she has never seen the Northern Lights!

If you would like to contact Krista she is on LinkedIn - Krista Hammond - Space Weather.

You can follow the podcast on ‘X’ we are @4loveofweather and on Instagram @fortheloveofweather.

Thanks so much for listening and supporting the podcast, and we hope you leave this episode loving the weather just a little bit more.

Sarah is the owner of an instagram account called @elecrify_this. She started the account one 40 degree day in Sydney in December 2023. Then on Christmas Day, she accidentally posted a reel that went viral, gaining her tens of thousands of followers.

She has a down to earth approach on how to decarbonise and electrify your house. Her instagram account has only been running a short time but it is already jam packed with practical videos on how to make your home more efficient. If kilowatt hours are your language, she has reduced hers to 12 a day during winter.

She ‘broke the internet’ with a video showing what an Australian ‘weather strip’ is - the post got over a million views. She is a keen observer of how politics in Australia are changing as they aim for 80% renewables by 2030.

If you are wondering why Sarah is so easy to listen to, she is a voice over artist and actor of 20 years, starring in the movie ‘Happy Feet 2,’ the launch promo for ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here’ in the UK, and she’s even shared a microphone with Robin Williams. If you are from Australia you may know her voice from Channel 7.

Listen to the whole podcast to find out why Sarah would like to have dinner with the early 20th Century actress Mae West, why she doesn’t like the beach, and why potatoes are pretty cool, as well as what her super power would be.

You can find Sarah on instagram @electrify_this and https://www.sarahaubrey.com/about

Thanks so much for listening and supporting the podcast, and we hope you leave this episode loving the weather just a little bit more.

If you would like to follow our podcast on ‘X’ we are @4loveofweather and on Instagram @fortheloveofweather.

WOW is all we can say. What an incredible guest! Meet Kirsten Neuschäfer who won the Golden Globe Race in 2022. The Golden Globe Race is a solo around the world sailing race and it took Kirsten 233 days to complete it.

Not only is she the only female to win the race, she is also the first South African to win the GGR. As well as that, during the race she rescued fellow competitor Tapio Lehtinen whose boat sank in the Indian Ocean.

Kirsten has a wonderful and simple philosophy for life. When someone says ‘it can’t be done’ she replies ‘have you tried it?. No? Well then, let’s try’. When she was just 22, Kirsten cycled home from Europe. A short hop of just 15,000km to South Africa to explore the Continent she is most passionate about, Africa. She started that journey with the words ‘let’s try’.

Her love of boats goes back to childhood. She grew up inland but went to the coast on holidays and just felt at home. She spent time in a dinghy with her friends at the Hartbeespoort Dam and thought ‘I think I would like to take to the Seas some day.’

Kirsten has been professionally sailing since 2006. She has specialised in high latitude sailing, taking film crews to places like South Georgia, the Falklands, Patagonia and the Antarctic peninsula.

Kirsten was inspired as a young person by one of her older brother’s best friends who was a ‘can do everything person’. Nothing was impossible for him and this left a big impression on Kirsten. He would always just find a way.

Through the podcast we delve into Kirsten’s 233 days at sea with her boat ‘Minnehaha’. We talk about life leading up to the point, all that she learned and her seeming never ending knowledge of weather and climate, which makes us smile to hear her say ‘I am not expert’. We disagree!

She says winning the race was incredible, and when people ask her how it feels to be a woman who won the race she says she only really thinks that she was a person who worked incredibly hard to win the race and prepare her boat and that for her is the most important part.

Kirsten says that being seen as a role model has taken time to sink in and wishes that there were more females in the sport as well as the industry. She says there is no difference between male and female and it’s a traditional construct we need to get past.

Listen on to learn about electrophysics, wildlife encounters, why she would like to be able to breath under water and how one day she might just write a book so she doesn’t forget what happened as perhaps another adventure is looming. We cannot wait to see what she does.

As a parting thought Kirsten reminds us that everything starts with one step and you will eventually take enough steps to have completed the journey. She is humble, funny and has an incredible philosophy in life and we hope that you hear the love and brilliance that she shares with us and as always we hope you leave the podcast loving the weather and climate just that little bit more.

You can follow Kirsten here:

Website: https://kirstenggr.com/

Instagram: @kirstenggr

LinkedIn: https://za.linkedin.com/in/kirsten-neusch%C3%A4fer-275822197

As well as here https://goldengloberace.com/skippers/kirsten-neuschafer/