YouTube Channel: Our Changing Climate - Charlie Kilman

What if climate change wasn't just a science story, but a social one?

Most climate channels explain the problem through data and physics. Our Changing Climate asks a different question: who does it actually affect, and why does that matter?

Started in 2016 by Charlie Kilman, a New York-based creator with a background in both filmmaking and environmental science, Our Changing Climate produces video essays that sit at the intersection of climate change and social issues. Kilman isn't a credentialed scientist, and he doesn't pretend to be. What he is, is a sharp, thoughtful storyteller with a genuine talent for connecting environmental systems to the human realities playing out inside them.

What the Channel Actually Is

Our Changing Climate operates in video essay format, which means longer, more narrative-driven content than the typical explainer. Kilman covers topics ranging from corporate greenwashing and fast fashion to food systems, degrowth, and the politics of climate policy, always pulling the thread back to how real people and communities are implicated.

One of the channel's more interesting strategies is intentional. Kilman has spoken openly about crafting titles and thumbnails that don't always signal climate content upfront, drawing in viewers who wouldn't otherwise seek it out. A video asking why a popular outdoor brand is so expensive becomes an entry point into supply chains and environmental accountability. It's a subtle but effective form of climate communication, meeting people where they already are rather than where we'd like them to be.

The production quality is polished and the pacing is patient. These are videos you watch, not just play in the background.

Why It Works for ClimateInvested.org Readers

The Climate Invested audience tends to be solutions-minded and already past the denial stage. Our Changing Climate serves that reader well precisely because it doesn't spend much time relitigating the basics. It assumes you're in, and moves straight to the harder, more interesting questions: who bears the burden, where does responsibility sit, and what does real systemic change actually look like?

That framing also makes the channel a good complement to more science-forward content. Where Simon Clark explains the physics, Kilman explores the politics and the people. Together they cover a lot of ground.

One Honest Note

Kilman's work sits further left on the political spectrum than Climate Invested's non-partisan approach, and some videos wade into systemic critique and anti-capitalist framing that may not land with all readers. This doesn't undermine the quality of the content, but it's worth knowing before you recommend a specific video to someone with different political sensibilities. The channel is best approached with that context in mind rather than as a one-size-fits-all recommendation.

The Bottom Line

Our Changing Climate is one of the more intellectually serious climate channels on YouTube. It won't tell you what lightbulb to buy. It will make you think harder about the systems behind the choices, and why those systems are the way they are.

🔗 Watch the channel — YouTube.

Who It's Best For: Readers who are already climate-aware and want to go deeper on the social, political, and systemic dimensions. Strong pick for anyone curious about environmental justice, corporate accountability, or how climate intersects with economics and inequality.

Subscribers: ~300,000

Upload Frequency: Regular, roughly every few weeks

Best Watched: In full, with some time to sit with it afterward