Tag: #climate-change — 415 segments on Living on Earth

Tag occurrences over time

2026

May 29, 2026: U.N. Affirms Climate Duty
More than two-thirds of U.N. members recently voted in favor of a resolution affirming a landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice that countries have a legal obligation to limit global warming. While this advisory opinion is not enforceable, it will likely be cited in lawsuits and appeals as a fact in the fight against climate disruption. Inside Climate News reporter Bob Berwyn speaks with Host Jenni Doering about the significance of the ruling and its U.N. adoption.
May 29, 2026: Terry Tempest Williams on 'The Glorians'
The Utah desert with its raw beauty has long been a muse for writer Terry Tempest Williams. In her 2026 book, The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary, she explores miraculous moments of grace that call for our attention, even in spaces that may at first seem unremarkable. Terry Tempest Williams joined Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering for an online Living on Earth Book Club event.
May 29, 2026: Note on Emerging Science: Sea 'Lavender' Stores Carbon
Sea ‘lavender,’ a purple flowering plant also known as statice that grows abundantly in salt marshes and coasts around the world, appears to be excellent at removing planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in soils. Living on Earth’s Julia Vaz reports on this recent research.
May 29, 2026: World Cup in a Warming World
The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup will mostly take place during the North American summer, and the prospect of extreme heat prompted a group of current and former players to write an open letter to FIFA calling for better protection of players. Stuart Parkinson, a co-author of the 2025 report “FIFA’s Climate Blind Spot: The Men’s World Cup in a Warming World”, talks with Host Steve Curwood about the risks for players and fans as well as the climate costs of the 2026 games.
May 22, 2026: Baby Right Whales Bring Hope
North Atlantic Right Whales were once so thoroughly hunted they nearly went extinct. When hunting these mammals was outlawed, they slowly started to bounce back, but today these Right whales are dealing with newer deadly threats, such as fishing gear entanglement and warming in the Gulf of Maine. So, it’s a relief to advocates to have a successful calving season like this year with 23 new calves, the most since 2009. Amy Warren, the Scientific Program Officer at the New England Aquarium, spoke with Host Aynsley O’Neill.
May 15, 2026: White House Accuses NCAR of "Climate Alarmism
The federally funded National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, in Boulder, Colorado has been a leading agency for decades assessing the risks and possible responses to the changing climate. But in November, the Trump administration declared it was dismantling NCAR, citing its contribution to what the administration calls “climate alarmism.” University of Colorado - Boulder Professor Waleed Abdalati talks with Host Steve Curwood about the role of NCAR and why its parent organization has filed a lawsuit alleging a “campaign of retaliation against the State of Colorado.”
May 15, 2026: Blocking New UK Oil and Gas
Great Britain is Europe’s third largest oil and gas producer, even with a commitment to a net-zero economy by 2050. A small group of climate activists is helping the UK meet that target by winning a Supreme Court decision that’s blocking any new UK oil and gas projects that don’t assess climate impacts. Sarah Finch of Surrey, near London led the fight against proposed oil and gas drilling in the region known as the Weald, and she’s been recognized with the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for Europe. She joins Host Steve Curwood.
May 15, 2026: The Quest for Green Steel
Just outside of Chicago, the country’s largest complex of steel mills faces an uncertain future. Air pollution, climate change and the preservation of union jobs are affecting the industry, as are the Trump administration’s stances on coal, steel, and tariffs. The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports on efforts to get big steelmakers in the region to switch from coal to natural gas or hydrogen, but overhauling existing infrastructure isn’t easy or cheap.
May 15, 2026: China Making Green Aluminum
As China rapidly builds out renewable energy, it’s using some of that clean energy to power industrial activities like making aluminum, which is in high demand from data center and electrification projects. China produces 60% of the world’s aluminum, and smelting the metal uses massive amounts of electricity. Energy and climate journalist Alexander Kaufman joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how Chinese aluminum is going green.
May 08, 2026: Willing to End Fossil Fuels
The first gathering of a new international “coalition of the willing” to transition away from fossil fuels recently took place in Colombia. It’s a separate event from the UN COP climate negotiations and was born in part out of frustration over fossil fuel friendly nations like the US, Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia stalling the COP process. Rodrigo Estrada, Senior Climate Advisor at Greenpeace International, was there and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share the takeaways and next steps.
May 08, 2026: AJR Rock Star Recruits for Climate Action
The indie-pop band AJR is known for its high-energy anthems and along with growing their fan base of mostly young adults, AJR is growing the climate movement. At sold-out concerts, they offer fans ways to plug in to climate advocacy. AJR bassist Adam Met also teaches sustainability as an adjunct at Columbia and is cofounder of the nonprofit Planet Reimagined, and he speaks with Host Jenni Doering about engaging fans to sign petitions, join local groups and, most importantly, vote.
May 08, 2026: Major National Climate Victory in S. Korea
The recipient of the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for Asia is South Korean activist Borim Kim. She and her organization, Youth 4 Climate Action, sued the South Korean government on the grounds that it was putting future generations at risk. And in August of 2024, they won at the South Korean Constitutional Court, making this case the first successful youth-driven climate litigation in Asia. Borim Kim joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss this historic decision.
May 01, 2026: How Oil Fuels Conflict
The US-Israel joint war against Iran has shaken global energy markets, closed the Strait of Hormuz and restricted the flow of oil and natural gas worldwide. It's the latest of conflicts over Iranian oil, though for the first time the growing emergence of fossil free energy sources is prompting visions of ending our decades of dependence on oil, with its pollution and inevitable wars. Michael Klare, emeritus professor of Peace and Security studies at Hampshire College and the defense correspondent for The Nation magazine, speaks with Host Steve Curwood.
April 24, 2026: Boundary Waters Mining Threat
On April 16 the US Senate voted to reverse a moratorium on mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, a million acres on the US-Canada border that’s teeming with wildlife and crystal-clear waters. For years a Chilean company has proposed to extract valuable copper, nickel, and cobalt there using copper sulfide mining. Democratic Senator from Minnesota Tina Smith speaks with Host Jenni Doering about why in her view mining in the same watershed as the Boundary Waters is not worth the risk.
April 24, 2026: Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism
While electrifying transportation is essential to addressing the climate crisis, the mining of nickel, copper, and lithium required to build out these green technologies brings its own environmental and social costs. To understand these impacts, author and political scientist Thea Riofrancos traveled to the Atacama Desert in Chile, home to one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. She joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss her book, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism.
April 24, 2026: Community-Led Wildfire Prevention in Africa
Nigerian conservation ecologist Iroro Tanshi rediscovered the short-tailed roundleaf bat in 2016, after decades when it was believed extinct in the region. The species is still critically endangered, with habitat loss from wildfires as one of its top threats. So Iroro joined with local groups to start a community-led program to develop safer field burning practices and wildfire fighting strategies. Iroro Tanshi is the recipient of the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa and talks with Host Jenni Doering.
April 17, 2026: 'Clearing the Air' and Climate Solutions Hope
Climate solutions like renewable energy tech that requires intensive mining can run into skepticism from people across the political spectrum. But according to data scientist Hannah Ritchie, many of the concerns are based on partial and misinformation, and the outlook for addressing the climate emergency isn’t as grim as some people may think. Ritchie is the author of Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change in 50 Questions and Answers and spoke with Host Steve Curwood.
April 10, 2026: Climate Coverage Dropoff
News media outlets are retreating from covering climate change, according to the Media and Climate Change Observatory at the University of Colorado Boulder, which has been tracking this trend for decades. They report that since a peak in 2021, climate news stories across the globe have dropped nearly 40 percent. Professor Max Boykoff is director of the Media and Climate Change Observatory and spoke with Living on Earth Host and Executive Producer, Steve Curwood.
April 10, 2026: Floating Border Wall
About two thirds of the US-Mexico border is along the Rio Grande, and the Trump Administration is working to install hundreds of miles of buoy barriers in the river, to prevent illegal crossings. Now residents of border towns, researchers, and activists are raising the alarm over how those buoys and other barriers could impact wildlife, restrict access to the river and sever cultural ties. Martha Pskowski, a reporter based in Texas for our media partner Inside Climate News, joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss.
April 10, 2026: Night Owl" -- Poems by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
The poems in Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s new book Night Owl offer a window into the magic of nature at night and a light in the darkness. She joins Host Jenni Doering to share selected poems from the collection and talk about how poetry can help us grapple with ecological loss and celebrate natural wonders alike.
March 27, 2026: A Woolly Rhino DNA Discovery
A recent discovery is giving us insights into the last days of the woolly rhinoceros in Siberia before it went extinct some 14,000 years ago. Researchers studied the DNA of a well-preserved piece of woolly rhino meat that was the last meal of a wolf pup. Study coauthor Camilo Chacón-Duque, a bioinformatician at Uppsala Universitet, speaks with Host Jenni Doering.
March 27, 2026: Climate Resilience Grants Resume
A federal judge recently issued an enforcement order mandating the release of funds from FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities or BRIC program, which the Trump administration had stalled. Alice Hill, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and the former senior Resiliency Director on the National Security Council for President Obama, discusses with Host Steve Curwood why money spent to protect critical infrastructure from disasters like storms, floods and wildfires pays for itself many times over.
March 27, 2026: The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything
Over billions of years of its history, the planet has frozen over almost completely and then lost all its ice as crocodiles basked in a balmy Arctic. Carbon-based life arose and adapted to all this change. And at the center of it all is the notorious greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, the focus of journalist Peter Brannen’s book The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything: How Carbon Dioxide Made Our World. He joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the extreme climate whiplash of Earth’s past.
March 20, 2026: Vanguard Retreats from ESG
The investment giant Vanguard is retreating from its climate initiatives as part of a $30 million settlement deal for an anti-trust lawsuit brought by Republican state attorneys general. The lawsuit alleged that Vanguard and fellow asset managers BlackRock and State Street, which are still fighting the suit, conspired to kill the coal industry. Vanguard did not admit to wrongdoing but is now barred from participating in climate investment watchdog groups such as Ceres. General Counsel for Ceres, Michael Boudett joined Living on Earth Executive Producer Steve Curwood to explain.
March 06, 2026: Stinky Seaweed Menace
Though the floating seaweed known as Sargassum provides critical habitat for many species in the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic, it is now finding a fertile home in southern waters, where it’s wreaking havoc on coastal communities and ecosystems. Teresa Tomassoni, oceans correspondent with our media partner Inside Climate News, spoke with Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill about impacts to respiratory health, tourism and sea turtles.
March 06, 2026: Sneckdowns" and Reimagining Streets
If you’re one of the millions of city-dwelling Americans who saw over a foot of snow in recent weeks, you might have felt a bit buried by the endless snowbanks. But all that snow made traffic slow down and gave people a chance to see sidewalks and streets differently than before. Living on Earth’s Bella Smith has this report on the phenomenon of the “sneckdown.”
February 27, 2026: Bonaire Residents Fight for Climate Justice
The Dutch special municipality of Bonaire in the Caribbean is already experiencing dangerous heat and could see a fifth of its land disappear under rising seas by 2100. But the Netherlands is discriminating against these overseas citizens by failing to adequately reduce global warming emissions and develop adaptation plans to help them cope, according to a January 2026 Dutch court decision. Greenpeace Netherlands campaigner Eefje de Kroon worked with eight Bonaire residents to bring their case and joins Host Paloma Beltran.
February 20, 2026: Ice Skating on the Rideau Canal
The warmer winters of climate disruption are bringing shorter and shorter skating seasons on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada. We head into the Living on Earth archives for a taste of days gone by, when reporter Bob Carty hit the ice to meet locals enjoying the serenity of a skate along the canal.
February 20, 2026: Bluetooth Butterfly Tracking
Monarch butterflies can travel thousands of miles each year between Mexico and North America in an epic relay race of multiple generations. And thanks to new technology, our phones and other Bluetooth devices can now tell us what paths these brave little insects take on this journey. Dan Fagin, who teaches environmental journalism at NYU and is writing a book about monarchs, talks with Host Steve Curwood about the tiny trackers and what it’s like to be among millions of monarchs where they overwinter in Mexico.
February 20, 2026: Trump Canceling Climate Regs
After a landmark Supreme Court case that directed EPA to determine whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health, the agency found in 2009 that indeed they do. Now, the Trump EPA is attempting to revoke that endangerment finding to unravel all subsequent regulations on tailpipes, smokestacks and more. Vermont Law and Graduate School emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau explains to Host Jenni Doering why this step is just the beginning of what looks to be a long legal fight.
February 13, 2026: US Losing Economic and Energy Edge to China
The ongoing efforts of the Trump Administration to walk back climate policy and clean energy development may be handing over the health of the US economy to our chief economic rival, China. Veteran BBC journalist Isabel Hilton, the founder of Dialogue Earth, joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss how China is outpacing US economic growth by supplying the world with clean technologies.
January 30, 2026: Punxsutawney Phil and Earlier Springtimes
While Punxsutawney Phil of Groundhog Day correctly predicts when spring will come only around 40% of the time, he has been predicting earlier springs more often in recent decades, trending with the reality of climate change.
January 23, 2026: US Leaves Top Climate Science Body
The Trump Administration is withdrawing the US from the scientific Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC, which reports agreement about the basic scientific facts of global warming and the impact of core technologies to address it. Physicist and climate scientist Bill Hare, a lead author of the IPCC fourth assessment report in 2007, tells Host Steve Curwood about how the fossil fuel industry has long pushed for such an action.
January 23, 2026: Ice Visions
As winter settles in over the northern hemisphere people find creative ways to get outside and enjoy nature. For environmental journalist and photographer Erik Hoffner, winter is a time for ice skating, a passion which gave rise to some unusual art, now 20 years in the making.
January 23, 2026: Health and Economic Costs of Fossil Fuels
The burning of fossil fuels is linked to some 300,000 deaths in America every year, not to mention the related carbon emissions that promote global warming. Dr. Vanessa Kerry directs Global Health and Climate Policy and teaches at the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health. She is also the World Health Organization Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health and joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the major health costs and lost opportunities linked to pollution.
January 16, 2026: Trump Ices Climate Diplomacy
The Trump Administration recently announced plans to withdraw the United States from dozens of United Nations treaties and organizations including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty that was ratified by the US Senate in 1992 and is the key international forum for addressing the climate crisis. Marianne Lavelle, the Washington Bureau Chief for Inside Climate News, speaks with Host Jenni Doering about what this decision could mean for global climate progress.
January 16, 2026: Fungi and Climate Resilience
Mycorrhizal fungi form intricate and vital partnerships with plants through enormous underground networks that could help ecosystems and agriculture withstand climate impacts. But these fungi are threatened by habitat loss, nitrogen pollution and more. 2025 MacArthur Fellow Toby Kiers is leading fungi research and conservation efforts. She shares with Host Jenni Doering the wonders of fungi and why they’re worth protecting.
January 16, 2026: Western Water Crisis Boiling Over
The Colorado River provides water to seven western states, and there is not enough to go around. Recently the federal government ordered the states to agree on a plan on how to share what's left amid a worsening drought. Luke Runyon co-directs The Water Desk at the University of Colorado-Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism. He joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss the challenges of allocating water resources when demand continues to outstrip supply.
January 09, 2026: Tropical Forests, Forever?
As the host of this year’s UN climate treaty negotiations and home to most of the Amazon tropical rainforest, Brazil led a major advance for forests and their indigenous inhabitants called the Tropical Forest Forever Facility. The new $125 billion fund, with guarantees for investors, will send its profits to countries with documented forest preservation, including some cash going directly to indigenous and local populations. Michael Coe, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center who was at COP30, joins Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering to explain why forest protection is a vital piece of stabilizing the climate.
January 09, 2026: Environment and Rule of Law Under Trump
In its first year, the second Trump Administration slashed environmental regulations and programs, overstepping its executive authority in the eyes of some environmental advocates. Pat Parenteau, who served as EPA regional counsel under President Reagan, talks with Host Aynsley O’Neill about the inability or reluctance of the judicial and legislative branches to provide a check on what he sees is abusive executive power that is threatening the health of people and planet.
January 09, 2026: EPA Ignores Climate Dangers
This June the US Environmental Protection Agency proposed eliminating regulations that limit climate changing gases from power plants, about a quarter of US emissions. Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus, an environmental and constitutional law scholar and author of The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court, speaks with Host Steve Curwood about the perils of the broader Trump administration effort to weaken federal environmental protections.
January 09, 2026: Innovation to Fund Tropical Forest Protection
The new Tropical Forest Forever Facility launched by Brazil at the 2025 UN climate talks is different from other efforts to protect nature in that it doesn’t rely on charity. Instead, it’s an investment fund that will pay dividends to both private investors and governments that keep their tropical and subtropical forest intact. Host Paloma Beltran walks Host Aynsley O’Neill through how it would work.

2025

December 26, 2025: A Green Message for the Next Generation
Tem Blessed, an environmentally and socially-conscious hiphop artist, sat down with host Steve Curwood to discuss how contemporary music can communicate the importance of the environment and sustainability to young audiences. He illustrates this with two of his own pieces: “I am the bee” and “Now is the time.”
December 12, 2025: Bill McKibben on Abundant Solar and the Waning Power of Fossil Fuels
Climate activist Bill McKibben, who authored The End of Nature nearly 40 years ago, is back with Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization. He joins us for a wide-ranging discussion on the stunning growth of renewable energy from the sun and wind, led in part by China, even as the fossil fuel industry digs in.
December 05, 2025: AI Power Demand and the Climate
Artificial intelligence or AI’s huge appetite for power is reviving demand for older and dirtier fossil fuel energy. Dan Gearino, clean energy reporter with our media partner Inside Climate news, speaks with Host Steve Curwood about the massive data centers that power AI, community pushback, and how the AI trend could put vital climate targets out of reach.
November 28, 2025: Life As An Incarcerated Firefighter
Around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. They do essentially the same work as other firefighters but are paid as little as around $5 a day. Eddie Herrera Jr. shares with Host Aynsley O’Neill what it was like to serve as an incarcerated firefighter, and how the experience helped him forge a new life after prison as a professional firefighter.
November 28, 2025: Underpaid Incarcerated Firefighters Get a Big Raise
Around a third of the firefighters who battle wildfires in California are incarcerated, and until recently they were paid just $5 to $10 a day. Under a state law enacted in October 2025, incarcerated firefighters are now paid at least $7.25 per hour while actively fighting fires. Formerly incarcerated firefighter and current fire apparatus engineer for the state of California, Eddie Herrera, Jr., returns to Living on Earth to speak with Host Aynsley O’Neill about how this pay raise can help transform lives.
November 28, 2025: Deadly Toll of Wildfire Smoke
Wildfire smoke is fouling air quality across the US with increasing regularity, and it carries a heavy toll. A September 2025 study published in the journal Nature found that every year around 40,000 Americans are dying from wildfire smoke, with more on the way as the planet warms. Senior author Dr. Marshall Burke, a professor in the Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University, joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how air filters, face masks and low-intensity prescribed burning can help protect the public from this growing threat.
November 28, 2025: Good Fire": How Cultural Burning Heals Land and People
Around the world, Indigenous people have been using fire on the landscape for thousands of years. One such practice comes from the Métis tradition in Western Canada. Cree-Métis scientist Dr. Amy Cardinal Christianson is a senior fire advisor with the Indigenous Leadership Initiative and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share how this low-intensity “good fire” helps rekindle cultural traditions and cultivate healthier ecosystems.
November 28, 2025: Wildfire Trauma and Recovery
Wildfires can take a huge mental toll and people who live in wildfire-impacted communities may experience post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. Host Jenni Doering tells Host Aynsley O’Neill about her frightening childhood experience of the 2003 Cedar Fire in San Diego and they discuss emotional resilience strategies shared by Jyoti Mishra, a UCSD professor of psychiatry who co-directs the University of California Climate Change and Mental Health Council.
November 21, 2025: Tropical Forests, Forever?
As the host of this year’s UN climate treaty negotiations and home to most of the Amazon tropical rainforest, Brazil led a major advance for forests and their indigenous inhabitants called the Tropical Forest Forever Facility. The new $125 billion fund, with guarantees for investors, will send its profits to countries with documented forest preservation, including some cash going directly to indigenous and local populations. Michael Coe, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center who was at COP30, joins Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering to explain why forest protection is a vital piece of stabilizing the climate.
November 14, 2025: Brazil On Fire
Heat, drought, and arson are fueling an explosion of fires in Brazil’s Amazon and Pantanal region, home to wetlands and grasslands. Marcio Astrini leads the Climate Observatory, a network of civil society groups. He joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to describe the roots of the crisis and the need for the world to act boldly on climate when Brazil hosts the UN climate talks next year.
November 14, 2025: Earth's Cryosphere On Thin Ice
Scientists attending the UN climate talks in Brazil are highlighting the alarming state of the cryosphere, or the frozen part of Earth covered in ice, snow, and permafrost. A recent report warns that the European Alps, Rockies of the Western U.S. and Canada, Iceland, and Scandinavia would lose nearly all ice at 2°Celsius of warming – a threshold we’re currently on track to exceed. Glaciologist and climate scientist Miriam Jackson is the Eurasia and Nordic director of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative and joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain how the perilous state of glaciers endangers human civilization as the Earth warms.
November 14, 2025: Rights of Nature for Stingless Bees
In the Peruvian Amazon, the Asháninka people have developed a symbiotic relationship with the local bees, which often lack stingers, and their honey. As habitat loss linked to climate change, forest fires, and deforestation threatens these pollinators and honey makers, a new and innovative law in Peru has granted these bees legal rights to help protect them and the indigenous people living with them. Reporter Teresa Tomassoni of our media partner Inside Climate News speaks with Host Aynsley O’Neill about the remarkable relationship between these bees and people.
November 14, 2025: UN Climate Ambition Gap
The 30th UN climate talks are underway in Belém, the “gateway to the Amazon” in Brazil, but national pledges are still way off track from what's needed to halt the quickening pace of global warming. Longtime climate talk observer and Senior Associate for E3G Alden Meyer is at COP30 and talks with Host Paloma Beltran about efforts to close that gap and the power of the talks to focus minds on the emerging reckoning.
November 07, 2025: UN Climate Talks Kick Off in Brazil
The biggest climate negotiations of the year, COP30, are kicking off in Belem in the Brazilian Amazon. Longtime COP observer Jennifer Morgan is a former executive director of Greenpeace and former state secretary and special climate envoy for Germany who is now a senior fellow at Tufts University. She joins Host Steve Curwood to preview COP30 and discuss the focus on closing the gap between current greenhouse gas reduction policies and what’s needed to limit warming to a safer level.
November 07, 2025: Pope and King Share a Prayer for Creation
King Charles III, who leads the Anglican Church, and Pope Leo XIV, who leads the Roman Catholic Church, recently joined in a historic prayer in the Sistine Chapel. This act of unity by these two faith leaders who are also sovereign heads of state was embedded in their shared concern for the environment, or creation. Tony Juniper coauthored King Charles's book on the environment, Harmony and chairs Natural England, a government conservation agency. He speaks with Host Steve Curwood about how these leading Christians may make a difference for the planet.
November 07, 2025: The Green King
King Charles III, the former Prince of Wales, has acceded to the throne and brings with him a lifelong passion for nature and environmental causes. His longtime advisor and co-author Tony Juniper joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss His Majesty’s contributions on environment and climate, how that might influence him in his new role as King, and the passing of the activist torch to his son William, the new Prince of Wales.
November 07, 2025: Hurricane Melissa Recovery Effort
As one of the strongest hurricanes ever documented in the Atlantic, Hurricane Melissa brought catastrophic damage to Jamaica and Cuba, and an extensive relief and recovery effort is now underway. Marianna Kuttothara is Head of Health, Disaster, Climate and Crisis for the Americas at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and joins Host Jenni Doering to talk about the aid efforts, long road to recovery, and importance of building back better.
October 31, 2025: Climate Monster in the Caribbean
Hurricane Melissa, the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean in modern times, left a wake of destruction in Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti that will take years to recover from. Jamaican climate physics professor Tannecia Stephenson describes the toll of this climate catastrophe, and meteorologist Ryan Truchelut of the consulting firm Weather Tiger joins Host Jenni Doering to explain how the storm grew so ferocious in the blink of a hurricane’s eye.
October 24, 2025: David Brancaccio on Fire Recovery
The thousands of homes that burned in Los Angeles this January included the home of Marketplace Morning Report Host David Brancaccio. David joined Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood to share what he’s learning about the challenges of rebuilding with a limited supply and huge demand for contractors.
October 24, 2025: Media and the Meat Habit
Meat is the biggest single source of carbon emissions from the food system, which is itself responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Sociologist David McBey from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland joins Host Paloma Beltran to talk about the gap between reality and coverage of how meat contributes to global warming, as well as effective strategies for encouraging people to choose to eat less meat without trying to force them to do so.
October 24, 2025: Rebuilding Back Better After Wildfire
David Brancaccio, the host of Marketplace Morning Report, is no stranger to climate disruption. He lost his home in the devastating Los Angeles fires this past January only two months after moving in. Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood checked back in with David Brancaccio to hear about his hopes to rebuild with fire-resistant material.
October 10, 2025: China's Climate Pledge
China has for the first time committed to an absolute target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, by 7 to 10 percent by 2035, though it is likely to achieve greater reductions. Climate activist Jennifer Morgan previously led Greenpeace International and worked with the German government as a Special Climate Envoy. She joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss China’s growing dominance in the global clean energy transition while the current US administration doubles down on fossil fuels.
October 03, 2025: Salmon Run Fattens Bears
The champion of Fat Bear Week 2025 is officially number 32 - “Chunk”, a big male who overcame a broken jaw to take the prize. Mike Fitz, the resident naturalist at explore.org, launched Fat Bear Week as a ranger at Katmai National Park in Alaska. He joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how this year’s strong salmon run in the Brooks River helped the local grizzlies bulk up.
October 03, 2025: Youth Climate Case
A preliminary hearing recently took place in federal court for the youth climate case Lighthiser v. Trump, in which plaintiffs are seeking immediate relief from three executive orders and subsequent actions of the Trump administration that boost fossil fuels. But the federal government maintains that the Lighthiser plaintiffs, like those in the prior case Juliana v. United States, lack standing. Environmental law veteran Pat Parenteau speaks with Host Aynsley O’Neill about the challenging legal basis for this lawsuit.
September 26, 2025: Trump Denies, China Leads on Climate
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump railed against climate science and clean energy, drawing sharp rebukes from other nations, rival politicians and business leaders. Meanwhile, China for the first time ever announced a specific target for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, by 7 to 10 percent by 2035. Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering talk about the diverging rhetoric and action on climate.
September 26, 2025: Highway Reborn as Public Park
The four-lane Great Highway used to run along the Pacific Ocean on the west side of San Francisco, where it was at risk of flooding from sea level rise. Now it’s been transformed into a park where visitors can bike, walk, skate, and play next to the water. Zach Lipton, a volunteer with the nonprofit Friends of Sunset Dunes, speaks with Host Jenni Doering about this highway’s transformation.
September 26, 2025: The EPA Wants to Ignore GHG Emissions
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed ending the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which requires the biggest industrial facilities and power plants in the country to report their global warming emissions. David Cash, former EPA Administrator for Region One – New England, joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the potential consequences of this Trump Administration decision.
September 19, 2025: Heat Waves Linked to Company Emissions
New research finds that since 2010 killer heat waves have become 200 times more likely, thanks to greenhouse gas emissions, and the scientists say about half of the increase in heatwaves can be attributed to big coal, big oil, big gas and cement. Dartmouth College associate professor Justin Mankin joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the severe economic and health consequences of extreme heat and efforts to make major carbon emitters pay for these skyrocketing costs.
September 19, 2025: Insurance and Homeowners Underwater
While the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season has been relatively quiet, last year damages from three major hurricanes ran to over 200 billion dollars and claims have stressed homeowners and insurance companies alike. Inside Climate News journalist Amy Green shares with Host Steve Curwood what she learned from Florida homeowners facing rising premiums and the cancellation of their insurance policies.
September 19, 2025: Massachusetts Ends Gas Subsidy
Many gas bills include a surcharge to help pay for gas connections to new homes. As Massachusetts seeks to phase out fossil fuels the state is now requiring developers to pay for new homes to be connected to natural gas, rather than having rate payers subsidize new hookups that would increase global warming emissions. Inside Climate News reporter Phil McKenna spoke with Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran about why utilities are on board and more.
September 19, 2025: The Light Between Apple Trees
As the air turns crisp in the northern U.S., many of us are heading out for the autumn tradition of apple picking. Priyanka Kumar, author of The Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit, joins Host Jenni Doering to share the fascinating and complex science and history behind the iconic apple and why apple trees have so captivated her since childhood.
September 12, 2025: Huge Danger from Permafrost Loss
With the Arctic warming four times as fast as the rest of the globe, and fires now routinely burning large swaths of northern forests, carbon stored in permafrost is rapidly escaping into the atmosphere where it can warm the planet even faster. Edward Alexander, Senior Arctic Lead at the Woodwell Climate Research Center and a Co-Chair of the Gwich’in Council International, speaks with Host Jenni Doering about the enormous climate risks of permafrost loss and how Indigenous cultural practices can help protect this vital resource.
September 05, 2025: Roadless Rule Under Fire
With an unusually short period for public comments the Trump administration is moving to repeal the “Roadless Rule,” which currently protects over 45 million pristine acres of national forests from access roads for logging. Randi Spivak, the public lands policy director for the Center for Biological Diversity, joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the potential consequences for critical habitat, watersheds, carbon storage and recreation if the Roadless Rule is repealed.
August 22, 2025: Life As An Incarcerated Firefighter
Around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. They do essentially the same work as other firefighters but are paid as little as around $5 a day. Eddie Herrera Jr. shares with Host Aynsley O’Neill what it was like to serve as an incarcerated firefighter, and how the experience helped him forge a new life after prison as a professional firefighter.
August 22, 2025: An Ancient Climate Solution
As the planet warms, water supplies are dwindling in Athens, Greece. To meet demand the city is looking to antiquity for solutions. One that’s attracting attention is an ancient aqueduct that runs beneath Athens. Niki Kitsantonis is a freelance journalist for the New York Times and a long-time resident of Athens, and she joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the project to fix it up and raise awareness about water scarcity.
August 15, 2025: The Light Eaters
A scientist who rappels down cliffs to hand-pollinate endangered plants. A vine that mimics the leaves of nearby species. Rice that crowds out strangers but leaves room for the roots of relatives. All of these are subjects of the book The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger, who tackles big questions of plant intelligence, consciousness, and communication. She joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about what we might discover when we look closely at the green life around us.
August 15, 2025: Depaving" the Way to Greener Neighborhoods
"Depaving parties" of volunteers with sledgehammers are turning paved yards into pollinator havens and green space. That can help reduce climate impacts from extreme heat and flooding. Living on Earth’s Sophia Pandelidis reports from Somerville, Massachusetts.
August 08, 2025: Fireflies at Risk
The summertime magic of fireflies lighting up at dusk is facing threats because of climate change and habitat destruction. Living on Earth’s Ashanti Mclean shares with Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Paloma Beltran a few tips that can help to protect firefly species.
August 01, 2025: Uprooted By Climate
The relentless heating of the Earth is prompting people to move after climate-related catastrophes and amid more gradual changes. Journalist Abrahm Lustgarten is the author of On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America, and he talks with Host Steve Curwood about the northward migration he anticipates as Americans seek to escape punishing heat, fire, and drought.
July 25, 2025: EPA Shutting Down Independent Research
The US Environmental Protection Agency is shutting down its Office of Research and Development, which represents 50 years of independent scientific research. Kyla Bennett is director of science policy for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and she joined host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the impact on EPA employees and science.
July 25, 2025: Zombie Fires in Canada
Wildfire season has scorched nearly 14 million acres in Canada this year, degrading air quality as far downwind as Montreal, Detroit and Philadelphia. A particularly dangerous kind of wildfire, known as “zombie fire”, can survive through the winter months by smoldering underground. Professor of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University Patrick Louchouarn joined Living on Earth’s executive producer Steve Curwood to discuss this phenomenon.
July 18, 2025: Weakening Disaster Prep
Weather forecasting, climate research and climate resilience are being hit with major budget and staffing cuts by the Trump administration. Alice Hill is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who served on the National Security Council under President Obama, and she joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how recent federal cuts can impact emergency preparedness for floods such as the one that devastated the Texas hill country.
July 18, 2025: NYC Recycling Food and Yard Waste
A few months into New York City’s mandatory curbside composting policy, there are still some kinks to work out, and enforcement and fines have been temporarily paused. Eric Goldstein, the New York City Environment Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, catches up Host Aynsley O’Neill on how the program is going and why composting food and yard waste can save money, benefit landfills, reduce NYC’s carbon footprint, and help gardeners.
July 18, 2025: Climate-Resilient Coffee
Research has long shown that the top two coffee species, Arabica and Robusta, are vulnerable to climate impacts like increased drought and heat. And by 2050 as much as half of coffee producing land could no longer be suitable for these top species. But Living on Earth’s Sophia Pandelidis reports that excitement is brewing over a climate resilient bean called excelsa.
July 11, 2025: Congress Busts Carbon Budget
As the climate crisis brings ever more devastating floods, storms, heat waves and fires, the Republican-led Congress has slashed around half a trillion dollars in clean energy tax credits that would have reduced climate pollution and helped America to better adapt to climate change. Executive Editor Vernon Loeb and Washington Bureau Chief Marianne Lavelle of our media partner Inside Climate News join Hosts Steve Curwood and Aynsley O’Neill to survey the likely consequences for the climate, environment, and our democracy.
July 11, 2025: Climate Disruption Worsens Flood Risks
Catastrophic floods like the one that claimed at least 100 lives in Texas this July are becoming more likely because of climate disruption. Meteorologist Sean Sublette is the owner of Sublette Weather and Consulting. He joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to talk about the atmospheric and climate conditions that contribute to flood disasters, and the growing need to be weather aware
July 04, 2025: EPA Employees Speak Out
In a rare act of public criticism, hundreds of EPA employees published a declaration of dissent from the agency’s policies under the Trump administration, calling out its alleged ignoring of scientific consensus to benefit polluters, undermining of public trust and more. David Cash led EPA’s Region One covering New England under the Biden Administration and shares his thoughts and opinions about the letter and the Trump EPA with Host Aynsley O’Neill.
July 04, 2025: Montana Climate Win
In a landmark 6 to 1 decision, the Montana State Supreme Court upheld a ruling that found young people, and by extension all people in Montana, have a constitutional right to a livable climate that state officials can’t ignore. Vermont Law and Graduate School Emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau explains to Host Steve Curwood how the plaintiffs presented their case and how the ruling could guide litigation in other states.
July 04, 2025: Montana Youth Climate Suit
A case in Montana brought by sixteen youth plaintiffs has become the first constitutional climate suit in the U.S. to make it to trial. They allege that the state of Montana has violated their constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment” by promoting fossil fuel extraction in the face of intensifying climate disruption. Inside Climate News reporter Richard Forbes was in the courtroom and fills in Host Jenni Doering on what happened and how the young plaintiffs’ powerful testimony contrasted with a bare-bones defense from the state.
July 04, 2025: Trump Faces Youth Climate Lawsuit
19-year-old Eva Lighthiser has experienced climate anxiety for most of her life, as her home state of Montana faces worsening floods, wildfires, and extreme heat. Now she and 20 other young people are suing the Trump administration over its efforts to boost fossil fuels while suppressing climate science and renewable energy. Eva Lighthiser, the lead plaintiff in Lighthiser v. Trump, joins Host Jenni Doering to share why she is pushing back against policies she believes are harming her future.
July 04, 2025: Youth Claim Climate Damage by Trump
The new youth climate lawsuit Lighthiser v. Trump is ambitious as it targets specific executive orders and agency actions of the Trump administration. Vermont Law and Graduate School emeritus professor Pat Parenteau offers his views of Lighthiser v. Trump to Host Jenni Doering and explains why he thinks it may have a better chance of making it to trial than the pioneering Juliana youth climate case filed in 2015 which was ultimately blocked by the US Supreme Court before any trial.
July 04, 2025: Tempered Hope for COP30
Ten years since nations adopted the historic Paris Agreement, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, and hopes are dimming that we can meet the Paris goal of limiting global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius. As global leaders prepare to meet in Brazil for COP30, some say the entire UN climate agreement system is broken. Preliminary sessions recently took place in Bonn, Germany where longtime UN climate observer and Senior Associate at E3G Alden Meyer was in attendance, and he joins Host Aynsley O’Neill.
June 27, 2025: EPA Ignores Climate Dangers
This June the US Environmental Protection Agency proposed eliminating regulations that limit climate changing gases from power plants, about a quarter of US emissions. Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus, an environmental and constitutional law scholar and author of The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court, speaks with Host Steve Curwood about the perils of the broader Trump administration effort to weaken federal environmental protections.
June 27, 2025: The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court
Against long odds, in 2007 the United States Supreme Court decided the case Massachusetts v. EPA in favor of the states and environmental groups that had sought regulation of climate disrupting emissions. The case had enormous implications for environmental law, and it laid the legal groundwork for the Obama administration’s climate change policies as well as the global Paris Climate Accord. Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus, the author of the new book “The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court,” discusses with Host Steve Curwood the gripping behind-the-scenes story of how Massachusetts v. EPA made it all the way to the Supreme Court.
June 27, 2025: Just Earth: How a Fairer World Will Save the Planet
In his recent book Just Earth: How a Fairer World Will Save the Planet, Tony Juniper explores how tackling economic inequality within and between countries will go far to solve the climate and biodiversity crises. Tony Juniper is a former head of Friends of the Earth UK, has long advised King Charles III on the environment and climate and now chairs Natural England, a government conservation agency. He joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the transformation that’s urgently needed to allow planet and people to thrive.
June 27, 2025: Court Catalyzes Climate Action
The nation's highest court handed environmentalists a historic victory, telling the EPA it can regulate greenhouse gas pollution. What will that mean for efforts to curb global warming? Living on Earth's Jeff Young reports the Supreme Court's decision is already making waves in industry and on Capitol Hill.
June 20, 2025: Juneteenth and "Joy as an Act of Resistance
Just as the enslavement of people was driven by commercial interests, today the enslavement of nature for profit violates a morality that sees value in all living things, according to the Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, pastor of New Roots AME Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts. She joins Host Steve Curwood to reflect on how overcoming slavery, which is celebrated on Juneteenth, can inspire us to find ways to depend on each other so we can thrive in a world of ecological justice.
June 13, 2025: Climate Injustice Floods Nigeria
At the end of May a flood caused by torrential rain swept into Mokwa, a poor rural community in western Nigeria, leaving behind a horrific scene of death and destruction. Uwaisu Idris reported from the scene for Deutsche Welle and joins Host Jenni Doering to talk about how climate change is bringing more intense floods to Nigeria, and the responsibility of the rich nations of the world to assist poor countries that did not cause the climate crisis.
June 13, 2025: Pumping the Earth Dry
A recent study finds the Colorado River Basin has lost a tremendous amount of water in the last two decades, in part from thirsty farms pumping water from deep aquifers much faster than it can be replenished. Lead author Jay Famiglietti, a Global Futures Professor at Arizona State University, spoke with Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran about the “Wild West” of unregulated groundwater, potential solutions and why the rapid depletion of ancient groundwater threatens the water supply for future generations.
June 13, 2025: US Disrupts African Food Tech
One of the development initiatives affected by the Trump Administration’s shutdown of USAID is the Soybean Innovation Lab, which works to improve soybean yields and production in Africa to help boost food supplies and farm income. Kerry Clark runs a mechanization development and fabrication training team at the Soybean Innovation Lab and joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss the work of the lab and why helping improve farmers’ yields is so fulfilling.
June 06, 2025: Protecting Farmworkers from Wildfire Smoke
Poor air quality from wildfire smoke and other pollutants can harm cardiovascular health and also make farmworkers more prone to work injuries, according to researchers. But in California, requirements for employers to hand out face masks do not kick in until the air quality has already deteriorated past the point where farmworkers are experiencing impacts. Reporter Rambo Talabong of Inside Climate News spoke with Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran about proposals to better protect farmworkers from air pollution.
June 06, 2025: Hurricane Forecasting in 2025
The 2025 hurricane season is underway, and experts say the U.S. is likely to see higher than average activity. The past couple of years, extremely warm water in the Gulf of Mexico helped storms rapidly intensify into major hurricanes. Ryan Truchelut of consulting firm WeatherTiger talks with Host Aynsley O’Neill about what’s in store this season and how cuts to federal weather monitoring and hurricane modeling could leave the U.S. underprepared for strengthening storms.
June 06, 2025: Saving Corals Amid Record Bleaching
Record-breaking heat in the oceans has led to the most widespread coral bleaching event ever documented, ongoing since January 2023. Bleaching weakens the corals and many end up dying, but others can recover and even thrive amid hotter oceans. Steve Palumbi, a Professor of Biology and Oceans at Stanford University, joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share how researchers are finding ways to help corals survive and thrive as the oceans warm.
May 30, 2025: After the Storm
Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence Mark Seth Lender is keenly aware of the risks of living right on the Connecticut coast as sea levels rise and hurricanes strengthen. But being that close to Nature, in all her ferociousness, sure does inspire.
May 30, 2025: CA Clean Air Tool Revoked
California’s car culture, trucking industry, and weather contribute to chronically bad air that it’s been gradually improving with its own laws and regulations and the blessing of the US Environmental Protection Agency. But now under President Trump, the EPA and Republican Congress are taking away California’s ability to clean up its air. Ann Carlson is a Professor of Environmental Law at UCLA and joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss the legal questions and public health impact.
May 30, 2025: Cuts to Clean Energy Tax Credits
The "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that passed through the House of Representatives on party lines guts multiple provisions from the Inflation Reduction Act, terminating or reducing tax credits for electric vehicles, clean hydrogen and advanced manufacturing. Dan Gearino, a clean energy reporter with Inside Climate News, talks with Host Paloma Beltran about why over a dozen House Republicans who had voiced support for clean energy tax credits ultimately voted to cut them, and what could happen as the legislation moves to the Senate.
May 30, 2025: Turbulence and Climate Change
Emerging research predicts that with rising global temperatures, climate change may increase clear-air turbulence by as much as four times along some of the most heavily traveled routes. Clear air turbulence as the name suggests is the kind of turbulence you can’t see on most radar. It can toss around large airplanes, damage aircraft and injure passengers and crew. Reporter Bob Berwyn of Inside Climate News joins Host Jenni Doering to explain how these changes tie into the jet stream.
May 23, 2025: Seagrass "Gardening
Seagrass is a foundation of marine ecosystems and stores as much as 35 times more carbon than a tropical rainforest, but warming ocean temperatures and other threats are wiping seagrass out. There is hope, though, as a project to “garden” or cultivate more resilient varieties is making waves along the U.S. East Coast. Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering chat about the benefits and promising results of this seagrass “gardening.”
May 23, 2025: EPA Cancels Climate Justice Grant
Last year, a nonprofit group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was awarded a large federal grant as part of a $2 billion climate justice program through the Inflation Reduction Act. But now that climate and environmental justice work are non grata at the federal government, their grant has evaporated. The Allegheny Front’s Julie Grant reports.
May 23, 2025: Trump Ignores Social Cost of Carbon
A new White House memo instructs federal agencies to disregard the economic impacts of climate change in their regulations and permitting decisions. This metric is known as the “social cost of carbon” and it has been used for decades to guide policy so that it considers the economic realities of our changing climate. David Cash served under President Biden as the New England Administrator for the US Environmental Protection Agency and he joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss.
May 16, 2025: Birdnote®: Toucan - Tropical Icon
In the Peruvian Amazon not far from where Pope Leo XIV lived for many years, you can find a most distinctive bird with a comically huge bill. BirdNote’s Mary McCann reports on the toucan, a tropical icon.
May 16, 2025: Pope Leo and Creation Care
The new Pope, Leo XIV, has worked with interfaith environmental networks and there’s hope around the world that he may follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Pope Francis and bring issues of the environment and climate change to the forefront of his agenda. Dr. Erin Lothes is a former professor of Catholic theology who now promotes global eco spirituality education and climate action with the Laudato Si’ Movement and she joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to shed light on Pope Leo XIV’s rhetoric on environment.
May 16, 2025: Defending Climate Science
When the Trump administration dismissed the roughly 400 scientists working on the National Climate Assessment, professional scientist organizations stepped up to coordinate their own collection of the latest climate research. Brandon Jones is President of the American Geophysical Union and joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about the importance of peer-reviewed climate science and clear communication with the public as climate impacts intensify.
May 16, 2025: Oystercatchers Bounce Back
The American oystercatcher is a conservation success story thanks in part to efforts to educate the public and protect their ground nests from unaware beachgoers. Host Aynsley O’Neill shares with Host Steve Curwood the story of how conservationists worked together to boost the numbers of this charismatic species.
May 09, 2025: Climate Wayfinding with Katharine Wilkinson
A project called Climate Wayfinding aims to tend to the deepest needs of climate activists by providing a space for reflection, connection, and clarity amid the chaos. Climate Wayfinding has its roots in the All We Can Save project, co-founded by Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, who joins Host Jenni Doering to share her own story of moving from feeling lost to gaining clarity about her role in the climate movement.
May 09, 2025: Faith in a Better Climate Future
The children of today and tomorrow are not to blame for the climate crisis and yet are likely to suffer it the most. In hopes of remedying this injustice the World Council of Churches has published “Hope for Children Through Climate Justice,” a handbook for communities of faith looking to hold financial actors accountable for their fossil fuel investments. Frederique Seidel is their senior program lead on children and climate and she spoke with Host Jenni Doering.
May 09, 2025: Depaving" the Way to Greener Neighborhoods
"Depaving parties" of volunteers with sledgehammers are turning paved yards into pollinator havens and green space. That can help reduce climate impacts from extreme heat and flooding. Living on Earth’s Sophia Pandelidis reports from Somerville, Massachusetts.
May 09, 2025: NY Climate Superfund
To help cover the rising costs of climate impacts like extreme floods and sea level rise, New York State has enacted a law that asks major fossil fuel companies to pay up, based on their historic sales of coal, gas and oil. Anne Louise Rabe is the former Environmental Policy Director at NY-PIRG, The New York Public Interest Research Group, and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how the revenues would fund climate adaptation and resilience.
May 09, 2025: Trump Sues States Over Climate Action
At the direction of President Donald Trump the U.S. Department of Justice has sued four states -- Vermont, New York, Hawaii, and Michigan -- that are trying to recover some climate costs from major fossil fuel companies through climate superfund laws and litigation. Vermont Law and Graduate School Emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain why he views the DOJ cases as frivolous extensions of the other actions the Trump administration has taken to aid the fossil fuel industry.
May 02, 2025: NOAA Climate Science Cuts
A key climate modeling program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA is slated for near-elimination, according to a draft White House memo. Abrahm Lustgarten investigated these planned cuts for ProPublica and discusses with Host Jenni Doering the potential impacts to weather forecasting, disaster preparedness, agriculture, military operations and more.
May 02, 2025: Air Gets Worse
The latest “State of the Air” report by the American Lung Association finds air quality has worsened so much that nearly half of people living in the U.S. now breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution. Soot and smog are on the rise in part because climate change heat is bringing more wildfires and low-level ozone-forming conditions. David Cash was the New England Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency under President Biden, and he joins Host Jenni Doering for an air quality update.
April 25, 2025: Evening" Poem by Dorianne Laux
As Poetry Month ends, we turn to poet Dorianne Laux, whose latest collection is titled Life on Earth. Her poem “Evening” from a few years ago simultaneously expresses her grief at her recent loss of her mother and the waning of the whole biosphere in the face of climate disruption. Dorianne Laux joined Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to read her poem and talk about finding solace in nature.
April 25, 2025: Pope Francis and the Climate: Laudate Deum
In 2023 Pope Francis published an even bolder update to Laudato Si’, his climate change encyclical. Christiana Zenner of Fordham University joined Host Paloma Beltran to discuss how “Laudate Deum” takes on climate denial and urges the world to act swiftly to avert climate disaster.
April 25, 2025: Pope Francis and the Climate: Laudato Si'
As the world remembers the legacy of Pope Francis we return to his groundbreaking 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.” It's a poetic, emotional call for a fundamental shift in our economic system, and a rethinking of our relationship with God's creation: the natural world. Assistant Professor of Theology, Science and Ethics at Fordham University, Christiana Zenner, discussed with Host Steve Curwood the Pope's powerful message.
April 25, 2025: Pope Calls for Harmony With Nature To Save Humanity
Pope Francis's highly-anticipated Encyclical, “Laudato Si,” subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home,”included a call for action on global warming, but the 184-page document offers much more than policy recommendations. It's a poetic, emotional call for a fundamental shift in our economic system, and a rethinking of our relationship with God's creation: the natural world. Assistant Professor of Theology, Science and Ethics at Fordham University, Christiana Peppard, discusses with host Steve Curwood the Pope's message to people to be moral stewards of the planet and rectify ecological and social injustices plaguing the world today.
April 25, 2025: The Pope and the Sin of Environmental Degradation
Pope Francis has called environmental exploitation the sin of our time. He is working on an encyclical about humanity’s relationship with nature. Christiana Peppard, Assistant Professor of Theology, Science and Ethics at Fordham University and author of the book Just Water, discusses the Pope’s call to “care for God’s creation” with host Steve Curwood.
April 18, 2025: Earth Day Celebration
Living on Earth is celebrating 55 years of Earth Day, kicking off with a conversation with Grammy nominated singer and Earth Day ambassador Antonique Smith. Her work uses the art of storytelling and music to promote environmental justice and climate action in communities of faith and color. Host Steve Curwood spoke to Antonique Smith about using culture and artistry to combat climate change.
April 18, 2025: Fighting Climate Change with Geothermal Networks
Using the Earth’s heat as an anchor for heat pumps yields virtually carbon-free energy. In contrast with intense deep geothermal heat, surface geothermal projects tap into the relatively constant temperature of the close to-the-surface earth, which sits around 55 degrees. The process is more efficient than air-coupled heat pumps, providing new hope for combatting the climate crisis. Phil Mckenna is a reporter with Living on Earth’s media partner Inside Climate News, and he joined host Steve Curwood to discuss the prospect of geothermal networks.
April 11, 2025: Trump Attacks State Climate Laws
President Trump has issued an executive order titled “Protecting American Energy from State Overreach”. The order directs the U.S. attorney general to identify and block state laws that deal with climate change, environmental justice, and carbon emissions, including the climate superfund laws passed in New York and Vermont that impose stiff fines on big fossil fuel companies. Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Paloma Beltran report.
April 11, 2025: Shrinking Clouds
In terms of physics, global warming comes down to an energy imbalance as Earth is taking in more energy than it is releasing. A new study suggests that shrinking cloud cover is playing a big role in that imbalance. Jennifer Francis, an atmospheric scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center joined Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss.
April 11, 2025: Sneezing and Climate Change
Warmer temperatures are causing plants to bloom earlier and longer, leading to longer and more intense pollen sneezing seasons for people susceptible to allergies. Dr. Neelu Tummala is an ear, nose, and throat physician at NYU Langone Health who has written on the impact of climate change on our allergies. She joined Host Aynsley O’Neill to talk about the connection between climate change and allergies.
April 04, 2025: Tornadoes in a Hotter World
Experts are still trying to piece together how tornado patterns have changed in the last century and are likely to keep changing as the world gets hotter. Meteorologist Ryan Truchelut of WeatherTiger joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the eastward shift of tornadoes in the US and how newly vulnerable populations can stay safe.
March 28, 2025: Deb Haaland: ‘Fierce for our Planet’
Congresswoman Deb Haaland of New Mexico is President-elect Biden’s nominee for Secretary of the Interior. She’ll be the first Native American to lead the Department if confirmed, and would bring a strong conservation, climate action, and tribal rights perspective to the department. Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering reports on Deb Haaland’s experience and what’s shaped her into who she is today.
March 28, 2025: Madam Secretary Haaland
On March 15th the U.S. Senate voted 51-40 to confirm Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior. A member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, Secretary Haaland is the first Native American to serve as head of a cabinet agency. Her historic appointment places her in command of a department that manages US public lands and oversees the Bureaus of Indian Affairs and India Education. Host Bobby Bascomb discusses Ms. Haaland’s appointment and her priorities for the future of the department.
March 28, 2025: Meet Deb Haaland, Native American Congresswoman
New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District is sending to Capitol Hill one of the first two Native American women to ever go to Congress, both elected as Democrats in 2018. Deb Haaland campaigned on climate change and other environmental issues, and cites a lifelong care for the environment inspired by her father. Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood talks with Deb about her environmental priorities for the new Democratic-majority House of Representatives.
March 21, 2025: Big Cash for Clean Energy
The Biden Administration EPA recently awarded $20 billion to organizations who will turn around and offer low-interest loans to help communities participate in the clean energy transition. EPA Administrator of New England David Cash and Host Steve Curwood cover how the program is catalyzing far more private capital and will help fund projects like insulating homes and replacing gas heating and cooking with heat pumps and induction stoves.
March 21, 2025: GOP and Clean Energy Tax Credits
As President Trump and the Republican-led Congress aim to shrink the federal government and renew major tax cuts, hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy tax credits could be on the chopping board. Twenty-one House Republicans whose districts are benefiting from the tax credits are petitioning GOP leadership to keep them intact. Inside Climate News Reporter Dylan Baddour joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss.
March 14, 2025: EPA Under Attack
The Trump administration has announced plans to roll back multiple environmental regulations, cut EPA spending and push back environmental justice programs. Christine Todd Whitman served as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush and she’s the only woman who has served as the governor of New Jersey. She joined Living on Earth’s host Steve Curwood and Paloma Beltran to discuss recent federal actions end her centrist approach on environmental regulation.
March 07, 2025: US Ducks World Climate Meetings
The Trump Administration barred government scientists from attending a key UN climate science meeting in February 2025. What’s more, it seems the customary US task force including officials from the State, Energy, Commerce and Transportation departments has not attended any meetings for the underlying UN climate treaty since the beginning of the Trump Administration. Ben Stockton of the Center for Climate Reporting joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss what this could mean for global climate diplomacy.
March 07, 2025: Gaps in Greenland Ice Sheet
A new study shows that crevasses or cracks on the Greenland Ice Sheet are widening more rapidly than expected due to climate change, which may accelerate ice loss and global sea level rise. Lead author Dr. Thomas Chudley, glaciologist and associate professor at Durham University, talks with Host Aynsley O’Neill about the findings of this study and the implications for the future.
March 07, 2025: NY Climate Superfund
To help cover the rising costs of climate impacts like extreme floods and sea level rise, New York State has enacted a law that asks major fossil fuel companies to pay up, based on their historic sales of coal, gas and oil. Anne Louise Rabe is the former Environmental Policy Director at NY-PIRG, The New York Public Interest Research Group, and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how the revenues would fund climate adaptation and resilience.
March 07, 2025: On the Greenland Ice
With its staggering volume of ice, the Greenland ice sheet is surely a sight to behold, and Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender brought back this memory from a visit to that otherworldly place.
February 28, 2025: David Brancaccio on Fire Recovery
The thousands of homes that burned in Los Angeles this January included the home of Marketplace Morning Report Host David Brancaccio. David joined Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood to share what he’s learning about the challenges of rebuilding with a limited supply and huge demand for contractors.
February 21, 2025: Climate Disruption to Lose Trillions
As costly climate disasters multiply around the planet, some financial experts are raising alarms that proceeding with business as usual without sharply reducing emissions could cut global GDP in half as soon as 2070. Dr. Tim Lenton is a Professor at the University of Exeter and a co-author of the 2025 Planetary Solvency Report, and he joins Host Jenni Doering to talk about how human civilization can steer towards a more stable future.
February 14, 2025: No Help From America
The Trump administration’s attempt to freeze all foreign assistance and bid to lay off nearly all USAID staffers are bringing disastrous consequences for millions of acutely hungry people, including those in war-torn Sudan. Nisreen Elsaim is a Sudanese climate and environmental activist and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the desperate situation and send a warning to the US about the perils of isolationism.
February 14, 2025: Climate Whiplash" Between Extreme Wet and Dry
Global warming is increasing the frequency and severity of “climate whiplash” events, which are rapid transitions between very wet and very dry conditions. One such event set the stage for the devastating L.A. wildfires in January 2025. Dr. Daniel Swain is a climate scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources and joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain how climate whiplash works and what societies need to do to prepare.
February 07, 2025: Zeldin New EPA Head
The new EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says there needs to be urgency in addressing climate change but also hints that the Trump EPA will not pursue greenhouse gas reductions. Marianne Lavelle is Washington bureau chief at Inside Climate News and joins Hosts Paloma Beltran and Jenni Doering to discuss how the Trump EPA seems to be looking to pull back on climate and other regulations.
January 31, 2025: Life As An Incarcerated Firefighter
Around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. They do essentially the same work as other firefighters but are paid as little as around $5 a day. Eddie Herrera Jr. shares with Host Aynsley O’Neill what it was like to serve as an incarcerated firefighter, and how the experience helped him forge a new life after prison as a professional firefighter.
January 31, 2025: An Ancient Climate Solution
As the planet warms, water supplies are dwindling in Athens, Greece. To meet demand the city is looking to antiquity for solutions. One that’s attracting attention is an ancient aqueduct that runs beneath Athens. Niki Kitsantonis is a freelance journalist for the New York Times and a long-time resident of Athens, and she joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the project to fix it up and raise awareness about water scarcity.
January 31, 2025: Bird Flu Warning
So far avian flu hasn’t been seen spreading from human to human, but recent mutations indicate some variants are becoming better adapted to infecting humans. Dr. Richard Webby of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital also directs a World Health Organization center on the ecology of influenza. He joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain what we know about bird flu so far, and how we can prepare for the possibility of a pandemic.
January 24, 2025: Ice Visions
As winter settles in over the northern hemisphere people find creative ways to get outside and enjoy nature. For environmental journalist and photographer Erik Hoffner, winter is a time for ice skating, a passion which gave rise to some unusual art, now 20 years in the making.
January 24, 2025: EVs in the Trump Era
One of President Trump’s Day One executive orders commands a reversal of the Biden Administration’s goal for half of vehicles sold in America by 2030 to be electric. Getting rid of the $7,500 EV tax credit and federal funding for charging stations may take acts of Congress, but auto journalist Jim Motavalli tells Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill that already this effort to shift EVs into reverse is making for uncertainty in the US auto industry.
January 24, 2025: Trump Blocks Climate and Eco Action
Back in power, President Trump immediately took aim at climate and environmental protection with a flurry of executive orders such as blocking the Paris Climate Accord and boosting fossil fuel sales. Environmental law expert Pat Parenteau joins Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering to explain why the President may have over-reached but could still do lasting damage to the climate and environment.
January 17, 2025: Redwood Rebirth After Fire
Nearly all the tall coast redwoods in California’s Big Basin Redwoods State Park burned in a 2020 wildfire. But within a few months, the charred trunks had grown a fuzz of healthy green shoots. A paper documents how the trees were able to regenerate using energy reserves stored for many decades. Lead author Drew Peltier teaches at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas and joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the science behind this stunning recovery.
January 17, 2025: La Niña and El Niño Dance
With the recent appearance of a flip from an El Niño back to a weak La Niña climate pattern, Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering discuss what it could mean for U.S. and world weather patterns, as well as how the El Niño / La Niña oscillation is changing in the era of climate disruption.
January 17, 2025: Green Light for State Climate Cases
Facing huge costs for climate adaptation and disaster recovery, some states and localities are suing fossil fuel companies for damages. The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined an attempt to block these lawsuits, and Vermont Law and Graduate School Emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain the significance of some of them proceeding to trial.
January 10, 2025: Jimmy Carter's Green Legacy
The Carter Presidency left a legacy of environmental action, ranging from major habitat protection to trying to address the then largely unrecognized threat of fossil fuels to climate stability. Gus Speth chaired the White House Council on Environmental Quality under Jimmy Carter and sat down with Host Steve Curwood to recall pivotal moments and ponder what might have been if the solar-panel-loving President had won a second term.
January 10, 2025: U.S. To Abdicate Climate Lead Again
President-elect Trump’s stated plans to again remove the U.S. from the Paris Accord would be just the latest whiplash in a decades-long trend of U.S. inconsistency on the climate. E3G senior consultant Alden Meyer and Host Jenni Doering talk about what’s ahead for global and domestic climate policy over the next four years.
January 10, 2025: Wildfires Bring 'Climate Trauma'
Wildfires like those hitting southern California take an enormous social and psychological toll on victims and observers alike. Jyoti Mishra is a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego and joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how people and communities can heal from the ‘climate trauma’ brought by wildfires and other disasters linked to the climate crisis.
January 03, 2025: A Call to Cool the Earth
Earth is choked by too much carbon in the atmosphere and running a fever that is only bound to get worse if we fail to restore its balance. Biologist Dr. George Woodwell explains to Host Steve Curwood why soaking up some of that carbon with the help of trees and plants is vitally important to life on Earth as we know it.
January 03, 2025: George Woodwell Tribute
In 2024 the world lost a giant of climate science and eco activism, George Woodwell. Host Steve Curwood remembers this man who advised President Jimmy Carter on climate, helped start major environmental organizations and helped inspire the Living on Earth broadcasts. We return to moments from a conversation Steve Curwood and George Woodwell recorded for the program in 2016 and hear reflections from colleagues who knew him well.
January 03, 2025: Woodwell - A World to Live In
Ecologist George Woodwell has decades of research and environmental action under his belt, from documenting the dangers of DDT and climate change to founding the Woods Hole Research Center helping start other key organizations including the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute. His new book, “A World To Live In,” offers a reflection on the dangers of exceeding the planet’s biophysical limits. Speaking with Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood he shared some lessons he has learned about nature and environmental policy.
January 03, 2025: Montana Climate Win
In a landmark 6 to 1 decision, the Montana State Supreme Court upheld a ruling that found young people, and by extension all people in Montana, have a constitutional right to a livable climate that state officials can’t ignore. Vermont Law and Graduate School Emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau explains to Host Steve Curwood how the plaintiffs presented their case and how the ruling could guide litigation in other states.
January 03, 2025: New Climate Champion in Congress
Freshman U.S. Representative Yassamin Ansari, a Democrat representing Arizona’s 3rd district, puts climate at the top of her priority list. She joins Host Steve Curwood to reflect on her work with the UN on the Paris Climate Accord, discuss how extreme heat is affecting her constituents, and preview her climate aims in Congress.

2024

December 27, 2024: The Extreme Life of the Sea
Life in the ocean is a longstanding mystery to most humans, and even now that we can travel deep beneath the waves, we've barely scratched the surface. A 2014 book, The Extreme Life of the Sea, sheds an entertaining and informative light on some of the ocean’s oldest, oddest, fiercest and strangest creatures. Coauthor and biologist Steve Palumbi discusses the work with Host Steve Curwood.
December 13, 2024: Clean, Green Swedish Steel
Steel production accounts for 10% of all carbon dioxide emissions worldwide, in part because it’s typically made with coal. But in Sweden, there are alternatives that can cut steel’s carbon impact down to almost nothing. Reid Frazier of the Allegheny Front reports.
December 13, 2024: LNG Carbon Bomb
The carbon footprint of U.S. liquefied natural gas, or LNG exports is 33% higher than for coal, according to research from Cornell University. Author Robert Howarth is a professor of ecology and environmental biology at Cornell and joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain why LNG is so carbon intensive and discuss the climate risks of a planned expansion of U.S. LNG exports.
December 06, 2024: Climate Action at the World Court
The world’s biggest climate case is underway at the International Court of Justice at the Hague in the Netherlands. Over 100 countries and intergovernmental organizations are arguing before a 15-judge panel, which could decide to issue an advisory opinion to clarify nations’ obligations to limit global warming emissions.
December 06, 2024: Giraffes in Trouble
Facing habitat loss, poaching and climate disruption, giraffes have declined more than 40 percent in the last thirty years. The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed listing three giraffe subspecies as endangered and two others as threatened. Danielle Kessler, US Director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and Host Jenni Doering talk about the threats to giraffes and how their proposed addition to the Endangered Species List could aid recovery.
December 06, 2024: Why Exxon is Pro-Paris
Major fossil fuel corporations including ExxonMobil are clearly stating they would prefer the U.S. remain in the Paris Climate Agreement, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to take the country back out. Samantha Gross directs the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institutions and explains to Host Jenni Doering how oil majors are making long-term plans for an energy transition.
November 29, 2024: UN Climate Summit Falters
The UN climate treaty summit known as COP29 teetered on the edge of collapse as less developed nations implored the rich countries of the global north to provide financial relief to help them cope with rising climate costs. Alden Meyer, senior consultant with E3G, was at the COP and joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the frustrations with the process and the compromise delegates eventually reached.
November 22, 2024: Biden Climate Cash in Jeopardy
Given President-elect Trump’s vow to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act, some communities are concerned about their applications for climate and environmental justice funding. Jillian Blanchard of Lawyers for Good Government talks with Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill about what’s on the line and why bipartisan support for the IRA may help preserve some federal support.
November 22, 2024: Earth Prayer
Nulhegan Abenaki storyteller Joe Bruchac joins Host Steve Curwood to deliver his poem of gratitude for the gifts of the Earth, called “Earth Prayer.”
November 22, 2024: Trump's Anti-Green Rollback Team
President-elect Trump has nominated three men to run federal departments critical for climate and environmental protection with a mandate to roll back green rules and regulations. Vermont Law Emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau is among the critics of these choices and joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the nominees, former US Rep. Lee Zeldin for EPA, Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright for Energy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum for Interior.
November 15, 2024: 29th UN Climate COP Kicks Off
Delegates from nearly 200 countries are meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 29th Conference of the Parties. Alden Meyer of the climate think tank E3G is a longtime observer of these meetings, and he joins Host Paloma Beltran to share his first impressions as these talks kick off.
November 15, 2024: Earth’s Fever
Although the global average temperature has been steadily increasing for decades, in 2023 there was a sudden jump of 0.2 degrees Celsius. This has raised alarm among climate scientists about how fast the climate crisis is progressing. Dr. Jennifer Francis is Senior Scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, and she joined Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to discuss the temperature spike and its implications.
November 08, 2024: Climate and Trump's Re-Election
The re-election of Donald Trump casts US climate action into doubt. President-elect Trump has vowed he will again pull the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, cancel President Biden’s climate policies and unleash American fossil fuels. Inside Climate News Executive Editor Vernon Loeb and Reporter Marianne Lavelle join Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering for a roundtable discussion about what’s next for the climate, environmental policy and journalism.
November 01, 2024: Climate Goal in Trouble
The UN says the current plans of nations to reduce global warming emissions would result in a destructive three degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels, far higher than the 1.5 C goal set by the Paris Climate Agreement. Bob Berwyn of Inside Climate News joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss the widening gap between these plans and the ambition that’s needed to prevent catastrophic climate impacts.
October 25, 2024: Climate Disrupts Florida Politics
In this election year, hurricanes are part of the political conversation about climate change in Florida, where communities are still cleaning up from Helene and Milton. Inside Climate News reporter Amy Green joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss how Florida’s candidates for U.S. Senator and Republican Governor Ron DeSantis are addressing climate change in the wake of these massive storms.
October 25, 2024: Huge Untapped Earth Energy
The heat within Earth’s crust could become a major source of always-on, carbon-free, renewable geothermal electricity thanks to the emergence of fracking technology that can drill now as much as six miles below the surface and reach hot zones. Jamie Beard is the founder of Project InnerSpace and joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain why a partnership between the oil and gas and geothermal industries could bring transformational change to the energy sector worldwide.
October 25, 2024: No Early Intervention of EPA Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency motion from industry to block an EPA rule that compels a 90% reduction in carbon emissions by 2032 for some coal and gas power plants. It will now be up to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit to decide first about the rule and its requirement for carbon capture and storage.
October 25, 2024: The Greening of Antarctica
In addition to the retreat and collapse of huge ice shelves, climate change is associated with rapid greening in Antarctica as plants thrive in warmer temperatures. A recent study found that plants have increased more than tenfold on the Antarctic Peninsula in the last few decades. Co-lead author Dr. Olly Bartlett joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the potential ecological consequences of a more verdant Antarctica.
October 18, 2024: Journey to a Melting Glacier in Antarctica
Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica holds enough ice that its melting could raise sea levels worldwide by 2 feet, but it’s so remote that until recently no one had ever approached where it meets the sea. Elizabeth Rush was a writer-in-residence on board the first research icebreaker to visit Thwaites and chronicles the journey in her book The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth. She joined Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood to share the experience of witnessing the glacier’s unraveling and the crucial data the scientists on board unearthed.
October 18, 2024: Rising: Dispatches From The New American Shore
As ocean levels rise, coastal communities contend with higher floods, stronger hurricanes, and saltwater intrusion. Some are even being forced to retreat to higher ground. From Louisiana to Staten Island to Pensacola, writer Elizabeth Rush set out to document the stories of people caught in these rising tides. Rush speaks with Host Steve Curwood about her new book, Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore.
October 18, 2024: Climate and the PA Senate Race
As control of the US Senate hangs in the balance, the Pennsylvania race between Democratic incumbent Senator Bob Casey and his Republican challenger Dave McCormick is heating up. Inside Climate News reporter Kiley Bense joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the climate and environment dimensions of Pennsylvania’s Senate race.
October 11, 2024: Loading the Hurricane Dice
Unusually warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico helped fuel the rapid intensification of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Meteorologist Sean Sublette explains to Host Jenni Doering that as humans continue to pump climate-warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, we are loading the dice for stronger storms.
October 11, 2024: Hurricanes’ Hidden Toll
New research published in Nature suggests that initial death tolls only account for a tiny fraction of the mortality that can be linked to hurricanes. On average, each tropical storm or hurricane contributes to 7,000 to 11,000 excess deaths as long as 15 years afterwards. Lead author Rachel Young of UC Berkeley joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain how societal disruptions can bring these long-term effects.
October 04, 2024: Birdnote®: Here Come the Merlins
The Merlin is one of the world’s smallest falcons yet it’s something of a trailblazer. Rising global temperatures are forcing many species to head north, but as BirdNote®’s Mary McCann reports, these adaptive predators have begun to move south to occupy the abandoned homes of other avian migrants.
October 04, 2024: Jill Stein for the Greens
Physician Jill Stein, the 2024 Green Party nominee for US President, urges a much quicker phaseout of fossil fuels than either of her Republican or Democratic opponents appear willing to consider. Jill Stein joins Host Jenni Doering to lay out her vision for what she calls a “real” Green New Deal and to push back against claims by Democrats that voting for her in a swing state could hand victory to Donald Trump.
October 04, 2024: Jill Stein and the Planet
Dr. Jill Stein is the 2016 Green Party nominee for President of the United States. In a wide-ranging interview with host Steve Curwood they discuss her “Green New Deal” to avert a climate emergency, her plans to scale back military spending, and why she participated in protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline that led to a warrant for her arrest.
October 04, 2024: Disastrous Climate Wake Up
Hurricane Helene brought devastating storm surge and winds to the Gulf Coast and deadly floods to the inland mountains of North Carolina. Journalist Abrahm Lustgarten is the author of On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America and joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the societal toll of repeated climate-fueled disasters and whether this latest super cyclone might prove a tipping point for greater climate awareness and action.
October 04, 2024: Sudan's Climate and War Misery
Millions of Sudanese people have fled armed conflict in recent months, only to face famine as well as floods and extreme heat worsened by climate change. Nisreen Elsaim is a young climate activist from Sudan who co-chaired the UN Secretary General’s first youth advisory group on climate change. She joins Host Steve Curwood to describe the harrowing conditions for Sudanese refugees and what gives her hope.
September 20, 2024: Ravaging Floods in Africa
West and Central Africa have been hit hard by extreme flooding in mid September that has claimed thousands of lives and left millions stranded in Nigeria and neighboring countries. Living on Earth intern Nana Mohammed is from northeast Nigeria and joins Host Steve Curwood to describe the perilous situation, which is prompting urgent pleas for wealthy nations to provide more climate adaptation assistance.
September 20, 2024: Chaos in the Climate System
Catastrophic flooding in Africa, Europe and Asia is linked to changes in the jet stream and warming of the Arctic. University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann joins Host Steve Curwood for a discussion about why climate disruption is making extreme weather events much more likely, and how the world can still avert the worst outcomes of runaway climate change.
September 20, 2024: Beyond the Headlines
Peter Dykstra, publisher of Environmental Health News and the Daily Climate, discusses some recent environmental stories that didn’t make US headlines with host Steve Curwood, including salt water fouling aquifers in Bangladesh and rare earth mining in Greenland.
September 13, 2024: Debate Sidesteps Climate Crisis
Climate change got just one token question at the first and perhaps only debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Marianne Lavelle of Inside Climate News joins Hosts Steve Curwood and Aynsley O’Neill to offer other climate questions that should be asked about the Inflation Reduction Act, holding oil companies accountable and more.
September 13, 2024: Flood Buyout Delays
South Carolina is offering to help homeowners move away from areas plagued by flooding, but at one flagship buyout, only one in ten eligible residents chose to participate. Freelance journalist Daniel Shailer reported on this for Inside Climate News and explains to Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering why delays and predatory real estate practices are getting in the way of moving people out of harms’ way.
September 13, 2024: Brazil On Fire
Heat, drought, and arson are fueling an explosion of fires in Brazil’s Amazon and Pantanal region, home to wetlands and grasslands. Marcio Astrini leads the Climate Observatory, a network of civil society groups. He joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to describe the roots of the crisis and the need for the world to act boldly on climate when Brazil hosts the UN climate talks next year.
September 13, 2024: Uprooted By Climate
The relentless heating of the Earth is prompting people to move after climate-related catastrophes and amid more gradual changes. Journalist Abrahm Lustgarten is the author of On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America, and he talks with Host Steve Curwood about the northward migration he anticipates as Americans seek to escape punishing heat, fire, and drought.
September 06, 2024: Poems for a "New Nature" with Ada Limón
Poetry can be up to the seemingly impossible task of capturing ecological loss, wild joy, and empathy for other species on this embattled planet. US Poet Laureate Ada Limón joins Host Jenni Doering to share poems from her new anthology, You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World and discuss why she believes we need a new kind of nature poetry for the new nature amid the climate crisis.
September 06, 2024: Tim Walz's Climate Record
Tim Walz, the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, has signed climate legislation as Minnesota Governor and supported regenerative agriculture bills as a Congressman. Inside Climate News reporter Kristoffer Tigue joins Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering to discuss the praise Walz has received for his climate work as well as some criticism over his history of supporting the ethanol industry and oil pipelines.
September 06, 2024: Can the Planet Afford Gas in New Homes?
Some new affordable homes built by Habitat for Humanity are being fitted with solar panels and labeled as “zero-net energy”, meaning they are supposed to produce as much or more energy than they use. But as reporter Dharna Noor of the Guardian explains to Host Jenni Doering, some of these homes include gas appliances, canceling out many of the climate benefits.
September 06, 2024: Bright Future for Western Solar
The Bureau of Land Management is updating its master plan for developing solar energy on BLM lands in the West, to help the US meet ambitious clean energy targets. Gregg DeBie is an attorney with the Wilderness Society and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how the proposed plan aims to reduce barriers to solar by highlighting “previously disturbed” lands and automatically excluding critical habitat.
August 23, 2024: Kamala Harris on Climate and the Environment
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris she has a long environmental history from her time as a former California attorney general who took on oil companies, her work on the Inflation Reduction Act as Vice President, to her engagement in international climate diplomacy. Marianne Lavelle from Inside Climate News joins hosts O’Neill and Steve Curwood to walk through Kamala Harris’ environmental record and what it could mean for her campaign.
August 23, 2024: Young Conservative Climate Voters
Climate change has been a polarizing issue between Republicans and Democrats but there is a growing young conservative movement that's calling for action. American Conservation Coalition Action calls for increasing nuclear power, streamlining energy permitting processes, and prioritizing U.S. energy dominance. Chris Barnard, President of American Conservation Coalition Action, joined hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Steve Curwood to discuss ACC Action’s platform.
August 23, 2024: Sunrise Youth Want To Be Courted
The 2020 elections were determined in part by young voters. Polling suggests President Biden lost support from that demographic throughout his term, so Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will need to attract them in her bid to keep the White House blue. The Sunrise Movement is among the multiple climate groups representing youth climate advocates that have yet to endorse a presidential candidate. Ariela Lara, a first-time voter and youth organizer for the Sunrise Movement, joined hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Steve Curwood to cover the organization’s demands on environmental policy.
August 16, 2024: The Crochet Coral Reef
To raise awareness about the threats facing coral reefs, crafters everywhere are picking up their crochet hooks and contributing to a worldwide “Crochet Coral Reef.” Host Paloma Beltran spoke with Alyssa Velazquez, the curator of the Pittsburgh Satellite Reef at the Carnegie Museum of Art about what it’s like to stand inside the exhibit and how it came together.
August 16, 2024: How to Make Your Home More Wildfire-Safe
When a wildfire powered by extreme heat and drought nears a neighborhood, all it takes is a single spark to send homes up in flames. John Fernandez is a professor of architecture at MIT and joins Host Jenni Doering to share some steps homeowners and renters alike can take to reduce that risk.
August 09, 2024: Orbital: An Earth-Centric Novel Set in Space
The handful of astronauts and cosmonauts on board the International Space Station float in a strange paradox, with the Earth constantly in view, but always out of reach. The 2023 novel called Orbital explores the splendor of planet Earth as seen from orbit through a day in the life of six astronauts up on the ISS, and author Samantha Harvey joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss her book.
August 09, 2024: Methane Tracking From Space
A new satellite recently blasted off into Earth orbit with the important mission of tracking methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure across the globe. Dr. Stephen Conley is an atmospheric scientist and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain why free public access to the data from MethaneSAT is a game-changer for holding oil and gas companies accountable for climate pollution.
July 26, 2024: Kamala on Earth
Vice President Kamala Harris has garnered more than enough delegates for the Democratic nomination for President. Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering review her record on the environment, which has included prosecuting cases against polluting oil companies, supporting a Green New Deal, and representing the US at UN climate meetings.
July 26, 2024: The Light Eaters
A scientist who rappels down cliffs to hand-pollinate endangered plants. A vine that mimics the leaves of nearby species. Rice that crowds out strangers but leaves room for the roots of relatives. All of these are subjects of the book The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger, who tackles big questions of plant intelligence, consciousness, and communication. She joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about what we might discover when we look closely at the green life around us.
July 26, 2024: Trump on Earth
The four years of the Trump Administration brought over a hundred regulatory rollbacks, the exit of the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, and a conservative dominated Supreme Court that is skeptical of environmental regulation. Inside Climate News Reporter Marianne Lavelle joins Hosts Steve Curwood and Jenni Doering to share insights from a former Trump EPA official, environmental policy experts and advocates about the environmental impacts of the Trump presidency and what a second one could bring.
July 19, 2024: Climate Voter Power
Climate may not always top the list of voter concerns, but research suggests it can tip the scales in US presidential elections, including the 2020 election which came down to 44,000 votes. So the Environmental Voter Project is trying to mobilize nearly 5 million registered voters who rate environment or climate as a top concern but might not otherwise turn out this November. Nathaniel Stinnett is its founder and director and joined Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill to explain why this latent voting bloc is worth tapping into.
July 19, 2024: GOP Rep. Bentz on Climate
Republican Cliff Bentz represents Oregon’s second district in Congress, where he chairs the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife and is part of the Conservative Climate Caucus. He sat down with Host Steve Curwood to share his views on conservative approaches to climate adaptation, carbon capture and storage, wildfire prevention, public lands stewardship and more.
July 12, 2024: Climate Action to Protect the Oceans
Island nations are facing a flooded future and running out of time for the world to get its climate act together. So, they turned to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and in May 2024, a court found that countries do have legal obligations to stop greenhouse gases from polluting the world’s oceans. Katie Surma is a reporter with Inside Climate News and joins Host Jenni Doering to explain what the decision could mean for global climate action.
July 12, 2024: Hawaiian Kids Win Climate Case
Thirteen young plaintiffs who took the Hawaii Department of Transportation to court over its role in the climate crisis have won a settlement that requires the agency to fast-track public transit, new bike lanes, and electric vehicles. Attorney Joanna Zeigler represented the plaintiffs for Our Children’s Trust and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the new and cleaner future of transportation in Hawaii.
June 28, 2024: Listening on Earth: African Penguin Calls and Chicks
In this short segment we hear why African penguins are sometimes nicknamed “jackass” penguins. Also, four chicks that recently hatched at the New England Aquarium are giving some hope to this threatened species.
June 28, 2024: Presidential Debate and the Climate
At the first debate of the 2024 presidential election, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump gave vastly different responses to the single question on climate change. Inside Climate News Reporter Phil McKenna joins Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering to discuss the highlights, what was left out of the debate, and what the two presidents have done on climate and environment in their times in office.
June 28, 2024: A Black-led Land Trust
The 40 Acre Conservation League is an African-American grounded land trust that seeks to ease access to the outdoors for people of color, who have historically been excluded from green spaces. The nonprofit recently purchased its first piece of land, 650 acres bordering the Tahoe National Forest in northern California. Jade Stevens is the president of the 40 Acre Conservation League and joined Host Steve Curwood to discuss her vision for the land and improving access to nature for Black and Brown folks.
June 28, 2024: Stay Safe in Summer Heat
Heat waves can bring health problems and death for anyone but especially for the young, elderly, and people with conditions like heart disease and diabetes. And heat often coincides with other health-harming climate impacts like floods and wildfires. Dr. Ari Bernstein directs the National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the CDC and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to talk about the public health risks posed by heat and share tips for staying safe this summer.
June 21, 2024: Robert Smalls' Legacy and Liberating Nature
Host Steve Curwood and guests Michael B. Moore and Admiral Cecil Haney continue their conversation about Robert Smalls and are joined by Joel Christian Gill, a cartoonist and historian who authored a graphic biography about Smalls. They discuss Robert Smalls’ legacy, the current enslavement of nature, and how his courage relates to the courageous action and leadership that is now urgently needed to deal with the climate emergency.
June 21, 2024: Finding Climate Hope in the Black Vote
Heather McTeer Toney and Host Steve Curwood continue their conversation about her book Before the Streetlights Come On: Black America’s Urgent Call for Climate Solutions and talk about how faith, voting, and community engagement can help address the climate emergency.
June 21, 2024: An Urgent Juneteenth Call for Climate Solutions
Generations of Black Americans have faced racism, redlining and environmental injustices, such as breathing 40 percent dirtier air and being twice as likely as white Americans to be hospitalized or die from climate-related health problems. So the quest for racial justice now must include addressing the climate emergency, writes Heather McTeer Toney in her 2023 book Before the Streetlights Come On: Black America’s Urgent Call for Climate Solutions. She joins Host Steve Curwood in part one of their conversation.
June 07, 2024: Alaska's Rusting Rivers
Streams in northern Alaska are turning a cloudy orange, and scientists think the cause is metals like iron leaching from melting permafrost as the Arctic rapidly warms. Jon O’Donnell is an ecologist for the Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network at the National Park Service and discusses the research and potential consequences of these changes with Host Jenni Doering.
June 07, 2024: Mexico's 'Presidenta' and Climate
Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman to be elected President of Mexico, has a background in climate and energy, having co-authored two IPCC climate reports and later implemented clean transportation projects while mayor of Mexico City. Sheinbaum has pledged to boost renewable energy in Mexico but her political links with the current oil-friendly administration could present challenges to reaching green goals. Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran joins Host Jenni Doering to unpack Sheinbaum’s record and hear how Mexican scientists are responding to her election.
June 07, 2024: 'No Place to Hide' In Pakistan
Summer has barely begun in the Northern Hemisphere but extreme heat is already baking Pakistan, where climate disruption is also bringing frequent catastrophic floods. Rafay Alam, an environmental lawyer and member of Pakistan’s Climate Change Council, joins Host Steve Curwood to describe what it’s like to be in Lahore right now, how people are trying to cope and why these climate disasters are compounding Pakistan’s economic and security challenges.
May 31, 2024: From the History Books
Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Aynsley O’Neill look back to the 1990 outbreak of 65 tornadoes that tore through Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan. They also note an anniversary for the listing of leatherback turtles as an endangered species.
May 31, 2024: First Nations Stop Australian Coal Mine
First Nations people in Australia saw plans to build an enormous new coal mine in Queensland as a threat to their culture, so they went to court and won. Murrawah Maroochy Johnson is a Wirdi woman from the Birri Gubba Nation who was awarded a 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize for her leadership in stopping the coal mine. She joins Host Jenni Doering to share the significance of land and water to her people.
May 31, 2024: Hot Battery Tech
Carbon-intensive industries like steel and chemical manufacturing require a lot of heat to operate, most of which comes from burning fossil fuels. Now engineers are working on turning electricity from renewable sources into heat with something called a thermal battery. Inside Climate News reporter Phil McKenna joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how the technology works and plans for commercial-scale deployment.
May 31, 2024: US-Mexico Water Treaty
Amid extreme drought affecting Rio Grande tributaries, Mexico is struggling to make water deliveries to Texas as required by an 80-year old treaty. Martha Pskowski is a reporter with Inside Climate News and spoke with Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran about how the situation is linked to climate change and farmer livelihoods in both the US and Mexico.
May 24, 2024: The Drowning South
Sea levels are rising everywhere due to climate change but not equally, and a recent Washington Post series called “The Drowning South” documents how the US southeast is experiencing an especially rapid rise. Journalist Chris Mooney joins Host Paloma Beltran to talk about how communities near Mobile, Alabama and St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana are being affected.
May 24, 2024: Uncovering the Truth About Beef and Deforestation
The Brazilian cattle industry has led to massive land clearing in the Amazon rainforest. Investigative journalist Marcel Gomes set out to uncover which companies were involved and documented a direct link between the meatpacking company JBS and illegal deforestation in Brazil. He received the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize for Central and South America and joins Host Paloma Beltran to talk about the need for more transparency about where beef comes from and better cattle grazing practices.
May 24, 2024: Vermont's "Climate Superfund" Bill
Facing costly climate impacts such as the billion-dollar flood disaster of July 2023, Vermont is seeking to make fossil fuel companies pay. Vermont Law and Graduate School Emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss the state’s “Climate Superfund” bill and its potential influence.
May 17, 2024: Eco Grief Among Scientists
2023 was the hottest year on record, at 1.48 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. That’s just below the 1.5 C increase that the UN says is the limit to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. As the summer of 2024 approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, climate scientists are raising the alarm on dangerous impacts of ongoing heat waves. Bob Berwyn from Inside Climate news joined Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill to discuss ocean heat waves and profound grief among marine scientists.
May 17, 2024: Phantom Carbon Credits
Shell’s flagship carbon capture and storage project in Canada generated millions of dollars in carbon credits based on greenhouse gas emission reductions that never took place. According to a study by Greenpeace Canada, the scheme was part of Shell’s billion-dollar Quest carbon capture project. While these phantom credits were legal from 2015 to 2021 under approved carbon tax rules, Shell’s actions raise questions about carbon capture practices in Canada’s lucrative fossil fuel industry. Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood spoke to Greenpeace Canada researcher Keith Stewart.
May 10, 2024: New Power Plant Rules
To replace the Clean Power plan the Obama Administration failed to get past the courts the EPA published new rules for existing coal plants and new gas power plants that tighten standards for mercury emissions, wastewater, and coal ash and also curb coal plant CO2 emissions over time. Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran discusses with the rule with David Doniger, a former White House and EPA clean air official and attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Fund.
May 10, 2024: Protecting India’s Forest
The 2024 Goldman environmental prize winner from Asia mobilized his community to protect the Hasdeo Aranya forests in the state of Chhattisgarh from coal mining. These forests are known as the “lungs of Chhattisgarh”, and a report from the Wildlife Institute of India estimated that around two-thirds of local annual income is tied to forest resources. Living on Earth’s Aysnley O’Neill spoke to Alok Shukla through a translator about his successful anti-mining campaign.
May 03, 2024: New Era for Nuclear Power
The Biden Administration is helping finance advanced nuclear power reactors and refurbishment of traditional nuclear power stations to promote the generation of zero emission electricity. Some of the new designs incorporate liquid sodium to offer more flexibility in power output to an electrical grid where renewable energy is intermittent. MIT professor Jacopo Buongiorno talks with Host Steve Curwood about nuclear power technology and the implications for public health and safety.
April 26, 2024: Uncle Sam Wants YOU for Climate Corps
On Earth Day President Biden announced the official launch of his new climate-focused jobs program, the American Climate Corps. Maggie Thomas is Special Assistant to the President on Climate and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the thousands of jobs the Corps offers in community outreach, biological surveys, invasive species removal and more.
April 19, 2024: Greening the Economy
Our Earth Day special examines this decisive moment for the human species and our challenging relationship with our planet. Host Steve Curwood starts by meeting people who envision a future reshaped by an emerging energy system and new power structures, as we wean off of fossil fuels.
April 12, 2024: Big Cash for Clean Energy
The Biden Administration EPA recently awarded $20 billion to organizations who will turn around and offer low-interest loans to help communities participate in the clean energy transition. EPA Administrator of New England David Cash and Host Steve Curwood cover how the program is catalyzing far more private capital and will help fund projects like insulating homes and replacing gas heating and cooking with heat pumps and induction stoves.
April 12, 2024: Poetry in the Time of Climate Troubles
In her poems, Catherine Pierce grapples with unfolding climate disaster and other 21st century perils, and the ways they reframe parenting. She joins Host Steve Curwood to share poems from her books Danger Days and The Tornado Is the World, and to reflect on finding beauty and calls to action during the Anthropocene.
April 12, 2024: Supercharged Hurricane Season
Some scientists are predicting this year’s Atlantic hurricane season will be extremely active as a La Niña develops amid ocean warmth linked to global warming. Meteorologist Ryan Truchelut of Weather Tiger joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the science behind these factors and how people along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts can stay safe.
April 05, 2024: Migrations: A Powerful Novel About A World Losing Life
In the 2020 novel Migrations set in the future, polar bears are extinct. So are chimpanzees and wolves and big cats. For the novel’s protagonist, this mass extinction is personal. So, she does the first thing that comes to mind: she makes her way onto a fishing boat to follow what might be the very last migration of the Arctic Tern from pole to pole. Host Steve Curwood speaks with author Charlotte McConaghy about her masterful debut work of environmental fiction.
April 05, 2024: Ohio Senate Race and Climate
The razor-thin majority Democrats hold in the Senate could be crucial to passing more climate legislation under a second term for President Biden, and in the event former President Trump is re-elected, could prevent the total unraveling of President Biden’s climate agenda. One of the key Senate races to watch in 2024 is the Ohio contest between incumbent Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and Trump-endorsed Republican Bernie Moreno. Inside Climate News reporter Dan Gearino talks with Host Steve Curwood about the candidates and how electric vehicles and agriculture factor into the politics of this race.
March 29, 2024: From the History Books
Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra shares a couple of notable items from this week in history with Host Aynsley O’Neill, including the 1971 startup of the first nuclear reactor at Fukushima Daiichi and the 1970 release of environmental classic “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell.
March 22, 2024: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Aynsley O’Neill talk about a study that found safer lead levels in people living in federal public housing versus low-income private housing. Also, a $600,000 sand dune paid for by residents of Salisbury, MA washed away just days after being put in place. And in history they celebrate the birthday of French mathematician Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier, who first proposed the existence of the greenhouse effect 200 years ago.
March 22, 2024: Investment Risks from Climate
Climate disasters, adaptation costs and market shifts threaten the value of public companies that are inadequately prepared for climate change. So the Democratic majority US Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved a rule that will require public companies to inform investors about their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks. Emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau of Vermont Law and Graduate School joins Living on Earth’s Steve Curwood to explain the rule and the pushback from industry and several Republican-led states.
March 15, 2024: Methane Tracking From Space
A new satellite recently blasted off into Earth orbit with the important mission of tracking methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure across the globe. Dr. Stephen Conley is an atmospheric scientist and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain why free public access to the data from MethaneSAT is a game-changer for holding oil and gas companies accountable for climate pollution.
March 08, 2024: Vital Ocean Current Threatens Collapse
As the climate crisis intensifies, a vital ocean current that includes the Gulf Stream seems to be falling apart, and thus could fail its mission to moderate the climate by bringing heat north from the tropics and cold back south. AP science and environment reporter Seth Borenstein joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the latest research and the potentially disastrous shutdown of this current.
March 01, 2024: States Challenge EPA "Good Neighbor" Rule
Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia have challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Good Neighbor” rule in the Supreme Court. The regulation is designed to keep one state’s ozone emissions from spilling downwind and pushing another state out of compliance. Michael Burger from the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University joins Host Paloma Beltran to explore what this challenge means for the environmental regulation landscape.
February 23, 2024: Flooded Out by Racism
Dr. Robert Bullard continues to earn his moniker as the “father of environmental justice” by calling for justice for the community of Shiloh, Alabama. The area has suffered repeated flooding ever since a highway was widened and elevated in 2018, causing destruction to homes that Black landowners have proudly kept since the Reconstruction era. Dr. Bullard sat down with Host Steve Curwood to describe the trouble in Shiloh and how it’s affecting residents. They also take a wider look at environmental racism in America today and increasing vulnerabilities from climate change in the years to come.
February 16, 2024: Mann Bites Lapdogs (Beyond The Headlines)
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood catch up on climate scientist Michael Mann’s $1 million legal victory over bloggers who were found to have defamed him. Also, Puerto Rico is encouraging more solar development to help with grid reliability and reduce emissions, and in history they look back to when an ice jam left Niagara Falls high and dry.
February 16, 2024: Remembering Bob Edwards and Ross Gelbspan
Host Steve Curwood shares some recordings and memories of the late Bob Edwards and Ross Gelbspan, two giants of journalism who helped support Living on Earth from its earliest days getting on the air.
February 16, 2024: The Crochet Coral Reef
To raise awareness about the threats facing coral reefs, crafters everywhere are picking up their crochet hooks and contributing to a worldwide “Crochet Coral Reef.” Host Paloma Beltran spoke with Alyssa Velazquez, the curator of the Pittsburgh Satellite Reef at the Carnegie Museum of Art about what it’s like to stand inside the exhibit and how it came together.
February 16, 2024: Exxon Sues Climate Investors
ExxonMobil recently sued activist investors in federal court in Texas for a repeated effort to bring a climate resolution to a vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. The giant oil company has persisted even though the activists have withdrawn the petition. Pat Parenteau of Vermont Law and Graduate School joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain the backstory and chilling effect Exxon’s actions could have on investor engagement.
February 09, 2024: Ice Skating on the Rideau Canal
The warmer winters of climate disruption is bringing shorter and shorter skating seasons on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada. We head into the Living on Earth archives for a taste of days gone by, when reporter Bob Carty hit the ice to meet locals enjoying the serenity of a skate along the canal.
February 09, 2024: Green Cooling and Heating for Public Housing
To help address the climate crisis the city of Boston is piloting the replacement of natural gas with ground-source heat pumps in a public housing project. The technology brings fossil-free cooling and heating as well as cleaner air to historically disadvantaged tenants. Host Jenni Doering speaks with Kenzie Bok, the Administrator of the Boston Housing Authority.
February 09, 2024: Beyond the Headlines
Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood with news of a reprieve -- for now -- for the drinking water supplies threatened by saltwater intrusion in coastal Louisiana. Also, a city in Germany is using the Rhine River as a giant source of heat and cooling potential on an industrial scale. And in history, they mark the birthday and exoneration of the Renaissance’s Galileo Galilei.
February 02, 2024: Journey to a Melting Glacier in Antarctica
Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica holds enough ice that its melting could raise sea levels worldwide by 2 feet, but it’s so remote that until recently no one had ever approached where it meets the sea. Elizabeth Rush was a writer-in-residence on board the first research icebreaker to visit Thwaites and she chronicles the journey in her new book The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth. She joined Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood to share the experience of witnessing the glacier’s unraveling and the crucial data the scientists on board unearthed.
February 02, 2024: Rising: Dispatches From The New American Shore
As ocean levels rise, coastal communities contend with higher floods, stronger hurricanes, and saltwater intrusion. Some are even being forced to retreat to higher ground. From Louisiana to Staten Island to Pensacola, writer Elizabeth Rush set out to document the stories of people caught in these rising tides. Rush speaks with Host Steve Curwood about her new book, Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore.
February 02, 2024: Biden Pumps Brakes on Gas Exports
The Biden Administration has paused new export permits of liquefied natural gas over concerns that these enormous facilities would emit millions of tons of greenhouse gases every year. Reporter Halle Parker of WWNO in New Orleans joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss why LNG exports have been rising in recent years and the impact they are having on the Gulf Coast and the global climate.
February 02, 2024: Renewable Power Surge in China
China surged ahead of other countries in 2023 to add 66% more wind power than it had before and bring online as much solar energy as the entire world had developed in 2022. Isabel Hilton, founder of China Dialogue, joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to examine the geopolitical and economic implications of China’s dominance in the renewable energy sector.
January 26, 2024: Climate Deception
When scientists began to warn in the later half of the twentieth century that burning oil, gas, and coal could bring severe consequences for our planet, they touched a nerve in the powerful fossil fuel industry. In this second installment of our series on climate change disinformation, historian of science Naomi Oreskes and Host Steve Curwood dive into how the fossil fuel industry infiltrated the political sphere and scientific community to block climate action.
January 26, 2024: Fossil Fuel Deception
The fossil fuel industry has known its products would cause dangerous warming for decades but chose to deceive the public to stall climate progress around the globe, says Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science at Harvard. She joined Host Steve Curwood to describe the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long disinformation campaign and what can be done to turn the climate conversation back towards the truth.
January 26, 2024: SCOTUS Could Strip Agency Power
Two cases in front of the Supreme Court are looking to restrict federal agency power by overturning the longstanding Chevron Doctrine. Pat Parenteau, emeritus Professor at Vermont Law School, joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how this could limit the ability of federal agencies to set strong environment and climate regulations.
January 26, 2024: Phoenix" Trees Rise from the Ashes
Nearly all the tall coast redwoods in California’s Big Basin Redwoods State Park burned in a 2020 wildfire. But within a few months, the charred trunks had grown a fuzz of healthy green shoots. A new paper documents how the trees were able to regenerate using energy reserves stored for many decades. Lead author Drew Peltier teaches at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas and joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the science behind this stunning recovery.
January 26, 2024: The New Climate Denial
A recent report finds that social media platforms like YouTube are amplifying and sometimes profiting from new forms of climate denial that falsely claim it’s too late to act on the climate crisis. Imran Ahmed is the CEO and founder of the Center for Countering Digital Hate and joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about how climate disinformation has evolved from attacking science to attacking solutions.
January 19, 2024: Feds Power Up Electric Cars
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently granted more than $600 million to states and communities across the country to roll out new EV charging stations and tune up existing ones. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss the connections between EV charging access, environmental justice, and economic growth.
January 19, 2024: Climate Deception
When scientists began to warn in the later half of the twentieth century that burning oil, gas, and coal could bring severe consequences for our planet, they touched a nerve in the powerful fossil fuel industry. In this second installment of our series on climate change disinformation, historian of science Naomi Oreskes and Host Steve Curwood dive into how the fossil fuel industry infiltrated the political sphere and scientific community to block climate action.
January 19, 2024: Fossil Fuel Deception
The fossil fuel industry has known its products would cause dangerous warming for decades but chose to deceive the public to stall climate progress around the globe, says Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science at Harvard. She joined Host Steve Curwood to describe the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long disinformation campaign and what can be done to turn the climate conversation back towards the truth.
January 19, 2024: Joe Manchin, 3rd Party Candidate?
A potential third-party presidential run by West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin could influence the outcome of the 2024 election. Inside Climate News reporter Phil McKenna is back on the campaign trail in New Hampshire with this report about Senator Manchin’s support of fossil fuels and the climate concerns of New Hampshire voters.
January 19, 2024: Nikki Haley on Climate
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley sends mixed signals on climate change, acknowledging that it’s real and human-caused while also touting her role in pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. Inside Climate News reporter Phil McKenna caught up with the Haley campaign in New Hampshire and joins Hosts Paloma Beltran and Jenni Doering to examine Nikki Haley’s climate record and rhetoric as well as share feedback from voters.
January 12, 2024: Nikki Haley on Climate
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley sends mixed signals on climate change, acknowledging that it’s real and human-caused while also touting her role in pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. Inside Climate News reporter Phil McKenna caught up with the Haley campaign in New Hampshire and joins Hosts Paloma Beltran and Jenni Doering to examine Nikki Haley’s climate record and rhetoric as well as share feedback from voters.
January 12, 2024: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Paloma Beltran with a couple of stories about thoughtful dwelling design. In sweltering Egypt, buildings that incorporate centuries-old techniques help naturally keep inhabitants cool. And in Florida, residents in a new development designed with plentiful rooftop solar and energy efficiency pay nothing for electricity. In history they look back to when the Nixon administration stepped in to block a massive jetport that could have impacted the delicate Everglades ecosystem.
January 12, 2024: Fossil Fuel Deception
The fossil fuel industry has known its products would cause dangerous warming for decades but chose to deceive the public to stall climate progress around the globe, says Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science at Harvard. She joined Host Steve Curwood to describe the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long disinformation campaign and what can be done to turn the climate conversation back towards the truth.
January 12, 2024: Wolverines at Risk
Fierce and fuzzy wolverines are in decline, especially in the Lower 48 states where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently designated them as a Threatened species. Wildlife biologist Doris Hausleitner joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how disappearing snow and habitat is affecting wolverines and share the creative techniques needed to study these elusive creatures.
January 05, 2024: Our Fragile Moment
2023 is likely to go down in history as the hottest year ever seen by humans. But we still have a chance to rein in global warming before it runs too hot for our civilization, says UPenn Professor Michael Mann. He joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss his recent book Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis.
January 05, 2024: Youth Plaintiffs Win Montana Climate Case
In a first of its kind ruling in the U.S., sixteen young plaintiffs have won their suit against the state of Montana over its refusal to protect them from climate change. Vermont Law and Graduate School Emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the unprecedented ruling and where the case could head next.
January 05, 2024: Climate is a Public Health Emergency
The climate emergency is creating a public health emergency by increasing risks for heat stress, vector-borne diseases, traumatic injuries and more. Dr. Vanessa Kerry is the World Health Organization Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss these risks and the importance of fortifying health systems against climate impacts.
January 05, 2024: Key Court Cases of 2023
2023 saw some notable environmental decisions in U.S. federal and state courts, from the Supreme Court’s removal of some wetlands protections to the landmark win for youth plaintiffs in a Montana climate case. Law professor Pat Parenteau joins Host Steve Curwood to explain what these decisions could mean for environmental law and policy going forward.
January 05, 2024: Supreme Court Strips Away Wetlands Protections
In a decision reversing five decades of legal precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively stripped environmental protections from nearly half of the wetlands in the nation. Veteran environmental lawyer Pat Parenteau joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the ruling and its impact.

2023

December 22, 2023: Native American Tales
Wampanoag storyteller Medicine Story spins a tale about the shortest days of the year, and how the Wampanoag people persuaded Grandfather Sun to return. And Cherokee storyteller Gayle Ross shares seasonal tales of the importance of the warmth and the promise of spring handed down in her family.
December 15, 2023: Ending the Fossil Fuel Era
Nearly 200 nations attending the COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai came to a consensus to declare fossil fuels are on their way out, marking a breakthrough after three decades of climate summits. Alden Meyer, a senior consultant at E3G, joined Host Steve Curwood from Dubai to explain the outcome and what’s needed to turn the words into action.
December 08, 2023: A Traveler's Guide to the End of the World
1.2 degrees Celsius of global warming is already bringing dangerous climate impacts, and even if the world’s nations come together to keep temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees, we face a troubling and uncertain future. Writer David Gessner tries to grapple with this in his 2023 book, A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World: Tales of Fire, Wind, and Water, and he joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss a complicated relationship with hope amid a warming world.
December 08, 2023: Australia's Climate Visas for Tuvalu
The tiny island nation of Tuvalu faces inundation from rising seas, and a new treaty would allow a limited number of its citizens to study, work or live in Australia under a climate-related visa program. Abul Rizvi is the former Deputy Secretary of the Dept. of Immigration in Australia, and he joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the geopolitical implications of the deal.
December 08, 2023: Poetic Plea for The Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands’ thousands of residents are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner describes life on the island and the threat from rising seas and performs her poem “Tell Them.”
December 08, 2023: House Republicans Oppose Environmental Justice
The very first bill that Speaker Mike Johnson passed through the House would gut many energy and climate projects funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, even though Republican states are massively benefiting from this funding. The repeal would also block environmental justice efforts and deny a “just transition” for disadvantaged communities. Opinion writer Derrick Jackson joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss what he calls racist and hypocritical elements of the House GOP agenda.
December 08, 2023: UN Climate Summit COP 28 Update
As the UN Climate Summit in Dubai heads towards its scheduled final day on Tuesday, December 12, delegates have yet to achieve consensus for the Global Stock take. That’s a report on progress meeting the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aspires to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. A majority of delegates and climate advocates say there is insufficient progress to meet those goals and want COP28 to find consensus to adopt additional measures. Many nations and NGOs are also decrying the failure to fully fund climate adaptation for poor nations.
December 01, 2023: Corporate Coopting of COP28?
Leaked documents from the team leading the COP28 climate talks now underway in Dubai point to corporate coopting of the UN climate negotiations. COP President Sultan Al Jaber is also CEO of the UAE national oil company Adnoc, which according to the internal documents has used the COP process to try to cut oil and gas deals with companies and countries. Ben Stockton of the Centre for Climate Reporting, which partnered with the BBC to verify and review these leaked documents, joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss.
November 24, 2023: China and US Restart Climate Diplomacy
The world is way off track from the Paris Agreement goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. A new joint statement on fighting the climate crisis from the world’s two biggest emitters, China and the United States, offers a glimmer of hope for global action on the eve of COP28. Alden Meyer of the climate think tank E3G joins Host Steve Curwood to explain.
November 10, 2023: Greenwashing an Oil CEO
The man leading the upcoming COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai heads the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company. Sultan Al Jaber is the climate envoy for the UAE and has led the state renewable energy company, but some critics question the substance of his green credentials. Journalist Ben Stockton of the Centre for Climate Reporting wrote about this for The Intercept and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the long-term public relations campaign to green Al Jaber’s image and install an oil CEO at the heart of the UN climate process.
November 10, 2023: Sea Level Risk From Antarctica
Antarctica’s ice shelves block glaciers from flowing into the sea but a recent study found that these ice shelves lost 8.3 trillion tons of ice in the last 25 years and are at risk releasing more glacier ice into the ocean. Richard Alley is a professor of Geosciences at Penn State University and joined Host Steve Curwood to shed light on what all this could mean for sea level rise and future ice loss in Antarctica.
November 10, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra briefs Host Aynsley O’Neill on some early research into coral cryopreservation as a tool to help restore bleached reefs. Also, a study in Finland has found signs that outdoor learning gives preschoolers an immune boost. And in history, they look back to President Bush Sr.’s signing into law of the Clean Air Act Amendments.
November 03, 2023: A Climate Skeptic House Speaker
The new House Speaker, Republican Mike Johnson of Louisiana, has voted for legislation on the environment and some key social issues just 2% of the time, from the perspective of the League of Conservation Voters. Senior VP of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld joins Host Jenni Doering to voice LCV’s concerns about Speaker Johnson’s climate skepticism, oil and gas industry campaign contributions and bids to repeal President Biden’s signature climate law.
November 03, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood discuss the nutritional value and relative ease of growing pumpkins. Also, the construction industry offers a huge opportunity to incorporate recycled materials. And in history, they look back to when Congress passed an act to protect the popular striped bass also called rockfish.
November 03, 2023: Virtual Power Plants
The aging grid is struggling to accommodate the surge in renewables like wind and solar . And since they don’t produce electricity around the clock, there’s often a mismatch between when the power is being generated and when it’s being used. Ryan Hledik of the consulting firm The Brattle Group explains to Host Steve Curwood how “virtual power plants” can tap home and electric vehicle batteries and shift the timing of HVAC and appliance demand to help close this gap.
November 03, 2023: Warming Supercharges Hurricane Otis
Exceptionally warm waters in the Eastern North Pacific off Acapulco, Mexico fed the rapid strengthening of Hurricane Otis into a deadly Category 5 storm that weather forecasters failed to understand in time to warn the public. MIT Professor of Atmospheric Science Kerry Emanuel joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the science behind the storm and share how needed improvements in weather forecasting can help communities better prepare for extreme storms.
October 27, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood to divulge how decommissioned offshore oil rigs can become homes for sea life in what are dubbed “rigs to reefs.” Also, churches are putting solar panels on their roofs to engage in “creation care.” And in history they look back to the opening of the first New York City subway line, all the way back in 1904.
October 27, 2023: Greening Maine's Grid?
On November 7th voters in the state of Maine will be able to choose if they want to replace the state’s two existing for-profit electric utilities with a non-profit utility largely governed by an elected board. Freelance reporter Annie Ropeik discusses with Host Steve Curwood how the new utility could help the state decarbonize its electricity sector.
October 27, 2023: Rift Over Loss and Damage
Wealthy nations have agreed to pay low-income countries for some of the loss and damage caused by the climate crisis. But rich and poor nations are still divided on key elements of the fund with just a few weeks to go before COP 28. Bob Berwyn, a journalist with Inside Climate News, joins Host Jenni Doering to explain.
October 20, 2023: How to Make Your Home More Wildfire-Safe
When a wildfire powered by extreme heat and drought nears a neighborhood, all it takes is a single spark to send homes up in flames. John Fernandez is a professor of architecture at MIT and joins Host Jenni Doering to share some steps homeowners and renters alike can take to reduce that risk.
October 13, 2023: Kids Sue 30+ European Countries on Climate
Six young plaintiffs from Portugal are suing over 30 European countries they say have violated their rights to life by failing to act on climate change. Patrick Parenteau is an emeritus professor at Vermont Law School and joins Host Jenni Doering to recap the recent hearing in front of a “Grand Chamber” of judges in the European Court of Human Rights and discuss what it could mean for climate action.
October 13, 2023: New Climate Writings from Pope Francis
Pope Francis is back with an even bolder update to Laudato Si’, his climate change encyclical. Christiana Zenner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theology at Fordham University and joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss how “Laudate Deum” takes on climate denial and urges the world to act swiftly to avert climate disaster.
October 13, 2023: Pope Calls for Harmony With Nature To Save Humanity
Pope Francis's highly-anticipated Encyclical, “Laudato Si,” subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home,”included a call for action on global warming, but the 184-page document offers much more than policy recommendations. It's a poetic, emotional call for a fundamental shift in our economic system, and a rethinking of our relationship with God's creation: the natural world. Assistant Professor of Theology, Science and Ethics at Fordham University, Christiana Peppard, discusses with host Steve Curwood the Pope's message to people to be moral stewards of the planet and rectify ecological and social injustices plaguing the world today.
October 13, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Paloma Beltran with a couple of warnings from scientists about how the warming planet is affecting species, from brook trout that may get wiped out from streams in the Great Lakes region to mother polar bears who can’t make enough milk because of shrinking Arctic sea ice. In history, they look back to 1988, when three gray whales stuck in the ice captured the world’s attention.
October 06, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra and Host Aynsley O’Neill talk about the plan to phase out single use plastics on U.S. public lands, and the late Senator Dianne Feinstein of California’s environmental record. In history, the Erie Canal has a big birthday – 200 years – since its dedication.
October 06, 2023: Salt Water in the Mississippi
Amid widespread drought, salty water from the Gulf of Mexico is slowly seeping up the Mississippi River towards New Orleans, Louisiana. Halle Parker of public radio station WWNO explains the situation, how it's linked to climate change and possible solutions to Host Jenni Doering.
October 06, 2023: Young Conservatives Tired of Climate Denial
As the 2024 campaign season heats up, some young Republicans want their party to move on from climate denial and offer solutions. Karly Matthews is Vice President of the American Conservation Coalition and joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss policies that align with the environmental roots of the party.
September 29, 2023: California Leads with Climate Disclosure Bills
California is poised to enact two laws that would require companies to disclose how climate change affects their business, and how their operations impact the climate. Dave Jones directs the Climate Risk Initiative at Berkeley Law and joins Host Jenni Doering to explain how this transparency can help investors, consumers, and regulators make better decisions related to climate change and business.
September 29, 2023: A Civilian Climate Corps
President Biden has directed the federal government to plan a Civilian Climate Corps loosely styled on the New Deal CCC that put millions to work building trails and park facilities during the Great Depression. Washington Governor Jay Inslee joins Host Steve Curwood to share a vision for how a climate corps could aid conservation, combat climate disaster, and help save energy while harnessing the energy of youth volunteers in America.
September 29, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to warn of how climate disasters are hitting the national blood supply. Also, weather disasters hit 90% of US counties in the last decade. And in history, a 40 year anniversary of the release of a nature movie called “Never Cry Wolf” about a scientist’s change of heart about wolves.
September 29, 2023: Fossil Fuels Richly Subsidized
Governments are increasingly touting clean and renewable energy as the way of the future. But if you follow the money, you would find that fossil fuels are receiving massive subsidies, worth around $7 trillion dollars each year, according to a recent report from the International Monetary Fund. Antung Liu is a coauthor of the report and joined Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood to explain how the fossil fuel industry is receiving such generous subsidies every year.
September 29, 2023: The American Climate Corps
Ninety years after the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Biden administration is mobilizing a national workforce to tackle today’s crisis of climate disruption. The American Climate Corps aims to train 20,000 young people in its first year for jobs in clean energy, climate resilience, and land restoration. Trevor Dolan of Evergreen Action joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss.
September 22, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss a youth climate lawsuit against 32 European states, and the restoration of a Clean Water Act rule that was rolled back by the Trump administration. In history, they raise a glass of hard apple cider for Johnny Appleseed’s birthday.
September 22, 2023: Big Emitters Silent at UN
At the UN Climate Ambition Summit in New York, developed nations promised more money to help vulnerable countries adapt, but big emitting countries including the US and China had no new plans to put on the table. Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran joins Host Jenni Doering to share highlights from the summit.
September 15, 2023: Enduring Against Seemingly Impossible Odds
In remembrance of Roz Zander we present a story to highlight her work on possibility.In 1914, British explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men set sail for Antarctica. Disaster struck when their ship the “Endurance” became trapped in pack ice and later broke up, yet the entire crew persevered. Rosamund Zander, the author of Pathways to Possibility: Transforming Our Relationship to Ourselves, Each Other, and the World, recently passed away and joined Host Steve Curwood in 2020 to talk about how we can harness the power of optimism to carry us through difficult times.
September 15, 2023: Protecting Mediterranean Sea Life
Overfishing, warming oceans, invasive species, and unsustainable tourism threaten the rich marine life in the Mediterranean. So Turkish civil engineer and diver Zafer Kizilkaya got together with local fishermen to pilot a community-run Marine Protected Area that led to expanded marine conservation in Turkey. Mr. Kizilkaya was awarded the 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize for Asia for his work, and he joined Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb.
September 15, 2023: Turning Up the Heat on Climate Finance
Africa has emitted a tiny fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions from the more developed parts of the world but is experiencing catastrophic impacts with little ability to adapt. Alden Meyer of E3G joins Host Jenni Doering to explain how climate finance was a focus of the recent Africa Climate Summit, which took place in advance of the Climate Ambition Summit that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is convening in New York on September 20th.
September 15, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Jenni Doering to share how small island nations are making a case for planet-warming greenhouse gases to be considered ocean pollutants. Also, the EPA delays setting new standards for ozone, a major air pollutant. And in history, they look back to 1992 when the first African American woman went to space.
September 08, 2023: Too Hot to Learn
As extreme heat linked to climate disruption becomes more common during the school year, many U.S. schools lack adequate cooling and ventilation systems to keep kids safe and focused on learning. Dr. Joseph Allen, an Associate Professor and Director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, joins Host Paloma Beltran to explain how temperature and air quality affect learning outcomes for low-income kids and students of color the most.
September 08, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Paloma Beltran to note the concern about climate change from young conservatives and discuss the results of a study that found coronavirus circulating among deer in Ohio. In the history books, they look back 35 years to 1988, when the massive Yellowstone wildfires spared the historic Old Faithful Inn.
September 08, 2023: Hydrogen Fueled Future
If you combine hydrogen from carbon-free sources and oxygen in a fuel cell, you get water and electricity. Bruce Gellerman reports on how this chemical reaction is fueling visions of future, carbon free flights and changing voyages of fantasy into reality.
September 08, 2023: Maui's Toxic Landscape
The wildfires that killed more than 100 people and displaced thousands on the Hawaiian island of Maui left in their wake a toxic mess of melted and charred metals, plastics and more. Andrew Whelton, a Professor of Civil Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University, recently returned from Maui to help assess the risks and joins Host Jenni Doering to explain how testing air, water, and soil can keep communities safe from contamination as they rebuild.
September 01, 2023: U.S. Primed for Climate Troubles
Because of its unique geography, the United States is particularly vulnerable to nearly every kind of natural disaster: tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, blizzards, and more. And as Associated Press science writer Seth Borenstein explains to Host Aynsley O’Neill, these natural disasters are getting an unnatural boost with climate change.
August 25, 2023: Methane Supercharges Climate Change
Scientists are sounding the alarm about a recent uptick in methane emissions. Methane is roughly 85 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas when it’s first emitted and reducing methane releases now may be one of the fastest ways to slow down climate change. Kristofer Covey, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Sciences at Skidmore College, talks with Host Steve Curwood about the sources of this surge and how they can be addressed.
August 18, 2023: Montana Youth Climate Suit
A case in Montana brought by sixteen youth plaintiffs has become the first constitutional climate suit in the U.S. to make it to trial. They allege that the state of Montana has violated their constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment” by promoting fossil fuel extraction in the face of intensifying climate disruption. Inside Climate News reporter Richard Forbes was in the courtroom and fills in Host Jenni Doering on what happened and how the young plaintiffs’ powerful testimony contrasted with a bare-bones defense from the state.
August 18, 2023: Warming Climate and Children’s Health
Children and adolescents are facing increasing health risks from extreme heat, and a study that looked at heat and pediatric emergency department visits found that black and brown children are especially impacted. Lead author Dr. Aaron Bernstein is a Pediatrician and Director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the CDC and joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the implications of the research.
August 18, 2023: Youth Plaintiffs Win Montana Climate Case
In a first of its kind ruling in the U.S., sixteen young plaintiffs have won their suit against the state of Montana over its refusal to protect them from climate change. Vermont Law and Graduate School Emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the unprecedented ruling and where the case could head next.
August 11, 2023: The Great Displacement
Climate change is already making some places across the country unlivable and seems likely to uproot millions of Americans in the coming decades. Journalist Jake Bittle collected the stories of people across the U.S. who have been driven out by fires, floods, droughts, and extreme heat. He joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss his new book, “The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration.”
August 04, 2023: “Don’t Look Up” and the Absurdity of Climate Inaction
Don’t Look Up, Adam McKay’s 2021 film, uses humor and the metaphor of an impending, Earth-obliterating comet to satirize the ideological denial of climate change that pervades much of our current public discourse. Michael Mann, at that time Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State University, joined Host Steve Curwood to discuss how the film holds up a mirror to the political obstacles to climate action and false promises of future technological fixes.
August 04, 2023: Carbon in the Congo
A team of scientists recently found a massive peatland holding more than 30 billion metric tons of carbon in the Congo Basin. It is crucial the carbon remain sequestered there to avoid exacerbating the climate crisis. Senior reporter for Mongabay John Cannon, wrote a four-part series looking into the Congo peatlands and joined host Bobby Bascomb.
August 04, 2023: Saving the Second Lung of the Planet
The Congo Basin in Central Africa is a critical biodiversity hotspot and linchpin in the fight against climate disruption. Conservationist Irene Wabiwa joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the urgent need to turn the United Nations’ promises to protect biodiversity into reality in the Congo and around the world.
July 28, 2023: Overheated in Prison
The summer of 2023 has seen record temperatures and extreme heat waves that can be particularly dangerous for prison inmates without access to air conditioning. Texas Public Radio’s Paul Flahive tells the story of overheated prisoners in Texas.
July 28, 2023: Europe Votes to Restore Nature
To address the main causes of biodiversity loss, the European Union Parliament has approved a nature restoration plan, designed to restore at-risk ecosystems like wetlands. The goal is to conserve 30% of EU territory by 2030. Inside Climate News reporter Bob Berwyn joins host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss.
July 28, 2023: Mining Riches on the Ocean Floor
In the depths of the sea, parts of the ocean floor are covered with manganese nodules. These contain valuable minerals that could be extremely useful for renewable energy resources, like electric car batteries. But mining these nodules could prove hazardous for deep ocean biodiversity, Professor Eugene Gallagher from the University of Massachusetts Boston explains to host Steve Curwood.
July 28, 2023: The UAE Boosts Climate Pledge
The UAE has increased its climate ambition targets under the Paris Agreement following criticism around their choice of a top oil executive to lead this year’s UN climate talks. But researchers claim the UAE is unlikely to meet its climate targets given its plans to boost oil and gas production. David Tong, the Global Industry Campaign Manager for Oil Change International, joins host Aynsley O’Neill to explain what the UAE policy means for COP28.
July 21, 2023: A Call to Cool the Earth
Earth is choked by too much carbon in the atmosphere and running a fever that is only bound to get worse if we fail to restore its balance. Biologist Dr. George Woodwell explains to Host Steve Curwood why soaking up some of that carbon with the help of trees and plants is vitally important to life on Earth as we know it.
July 21, 2023: Lowballing Sea Level Rise
Many U.S. states and cities are underestimating how much the seas could rise even as they plan long term infrastructure, according to a study. Lead author Andra Garner of Rowan University joins Host Steve Curwood to explain why the moving target of climate impacts is confounding some planners.
July 21, 2023: California Targets Bogus Climate Offsets
The California legislature is considering measures that would require large businesses to publicly disclose carbon emissions and verify claimed offsets. Aaron Cantu is a reporter for Capital and Main and joined Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to give an overview of the bills and how advocates say they could help California meet its ambitious climate goals.
July 21, 2023: Finance and Climate Denial
The financial sector isn’t taking likely climate impacts like moderate sea level rise into account when it calculates risks to assets, according to a report. That leaves retirement accounts and pensions vulnerable in a warming world. Inside Climate News reporter Dan Gearino joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain the findings.
July 14, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to mourn the loss of most of Georgia’s crop of juicy peaches in 2023, thanks in part to an unusually warm winter. Also, a meta-study finds that low-emission zones in some cities are reducing heart attacks, strokes, and breathing problems. And in history, it’s the 30 year anniversary for the release of the film “Free Willy” that was based on the plight of a real captive orca whale named Keiko.
July 14, 2023: Restoring the "River of Grass
Extensive draining and channeling of the Everglades ecosystem has led to toxic algae blooms and land loss in Florida, so now a huge restoration effort is attempting to reverse some of those human caused consequences. But environmental groups have raised concerns about the design of the sixteen square mile reservoir at the heart of the project. Inside Climate News reporter Amy Green joins Host Jenni Doering to explain.
July 07, 2023: Antarctic Deep Ocean Currents Slowing
Climate disruption is showing up in the slowing of deep ocean currents that transport heat, carbon, and nutrients around the globe. Researchers found that deep ocean circulation around Antarctica has slowed by almost a third in the last 30 years, faster than predicted by climate models. Physical oceanographer Kathy Gunn joins Host Steve Curwood to explain what’s happening and why it may spell trouble for the entire climate system.
July 07, 2023: Montana Youth Climate Suit
A case in Montana brought by sixteen youth plaintiffs has become the first constitutional climate suit in the U.S. to make it to trial. They allege that the state of Montana has violated their constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment” by promoting fossil fuel extraction in the face of intensifying climate disruption. Inside Climate News reporter Richard Forbes was in the courtroom and fills in Host Jenni Doering on what happened and how the young plaintiffs’ powerful testimony contrasted with a bare-bones defense from the state.
June 30, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share news of the “Atlantification” of the Arctic Ocean, as species more accustomed to warmer waters find safe harbor in the warming Arctic. They also cover the $10 billion settlement deal with 3M over contamination from the PFAS chemicals it manufactures. And in history, a look back to the delisting of the bald eagle, which had recovered following a few decades on the endangered species list.
June 30, 2023: Bringing Back the Endangered Species Act
Only a few dozen species have ever recovered enough to make it off the endangered species list, due to a lack of funding and political controversy. Pat Parenteau, emeritus professor at Vermont Law and Graduate School discusses with Host Aynsley O’Neill some recent updates to the Endangered Species Act by the Biden Administration and where he says they fall short.
June 23, 2023: An Introduction to Queer Ecology
The academic discipline known as “queer ecology” looks at environmental politics through a queer lens, rejecting heterosexual and cisgender identities as the only norms. Host Aynsley O’Neill speaks with Cate Sandilands, who coined the term ‘queer ecology’ in the 1990s, about diverse displays of gender and sexuality in nature, as well as how queer resistance can make an impact in the fight against the climate crisis.
June 23, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss how a batch of hastily crafted hand sanitizer inadvertently released toxic chemicals like the carcinogen benzene. Also, how outdoor activities during the summer are moving indoors due to increasing temperatures from climate change. They follow with REI and Dick’s Sporting Goods banning PFAS forever chemicals in their products. And for history, after a 1907 decision by President Theodore Roosevelt the Owens Valley water was diverted to serve Los Angeles, eventually leaving the valley dry.
June 23, 2023: Danger Days
Poet Laureate of Mississippi Catherine Pierce describes these days of extreme heat and humidity that are changing summer vacation as the planet warms in her book Danger Days.
June 23, 2023: EU Bans Deforestation Products
The European Union has enacted legislation aimed at reducing global deforestation with a ban on the sale of products made from cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya, and wood, produced on land deforested after 2020. Anke Schulmeister, the Senior Forest Policy Officer for the World Wildlife Fund joined Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to explain.
June 16, 2023: Robert Smalls' Legacy and Liberating Nature
Host Steve Curwood and guests Michael B. Moore and Admiral Cecil Haney continue their conversation about Robert Smalls and are joined by Joel Christian Gill, a cartoonist and historian who authored a graphic biography about Smalls. They discuss Robert Smalls’ legacy, the current enslavement of nature, and how his courage relates to the courageous action and leadership that is now urgently needed to deal with the climate emergency.
June 16, 2023: Finding Climate Hope in the Black Vote
Heather McTeer Toney and Host Steve Curwood continue their conversation about her book Before the Streetlights Come On: Black America’s Urgent Call for Climate Solutions and talk about how faith, voting, and community engagement can help address the climate emergency.
June 16, 2023: An Urgent Juneteenth Call for Climate Solutions
Generations of Black Americans have faced racism, redlining and environmental injustices, such as breathing 40 percent dirtier air and being twice as likely as white Americans to be hospitalized or die from climate-related health problems. So the quest for racial justice now must include addressing the climate emergency, writes Heather McTeer Toney in her 2023 book Before the Streetlights Come On: Black America’s Urgent Call for Climate Solutions. She joins Host Steve Curwood in part one of their conversation.
June 02, 2023: Environmental Justice for All of Government
President Biden recently created a White House Office of Environmental Justice to coordinate EJ efforts across all federal agencies. EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss how the office can help address the disproportionate pollution and climate-related damages that environmental justice communities in the Southeast U.S. often suffer.
June 02, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Jenni Doering to share news of Uruguay’s salty tap water as a severe drought has forced managers to use estuary water to boost supply. Also, new research links plastic waste clogging up storm drains to a deadly flood in Mumbai in 2005. And in history, they wish Bryce Canyon National Park a very happy 100th birthday.
June 02, 2023: Curbside Capture of Desert Rain
Thirty years ago, a neighborhood group in Tucson started harvesting local rainwater by directing runoff into street-side basins filled with native, food-bearing plants. Co-founder Brad Lancaster joined Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to tell how “planting the rain” improves neighborhoods, builds climate resilience, and helps the desert bloom.
June 02, 2023: Less Water for the Dry West
The states that rely on the Colorado River for water are facing a supply crisis as climate change reduces the river’s flow. Now, after months of tense debates and delay, California, Arizona, and Nevada have finally agreed to substantially reduce their Colorado River water use, at least for now. KUNC reporter Luke Runyon joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the deal and the federal help these states will receive to ease some of the economic pain of cutting water use.
June 02, 2023: Taking Stock of Climate Progress
Delegates gather starting June 5 in Bonn, Germany to discuss loss and damage for vulnerable countries and progress under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, key issues leading up to COP28 in Dubai later this fall. David Waskow of the World Resources Institute joins Host Jenni Doering to give a preview of the agenda at Bonn and the controversy over the incoming COP28 President, an oil executive.
May 26, 2023: The Great Displacement
Climate change is already making some places across the country unlivable and seems likely to uproot millions of Americans in the coming decades. Journalist Jake Bittle collected the stories of people across the U.S. who have been driven out by fires, floods, droughts, and extreme heat. He joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss his new book, “The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration.”
May 26, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about Montana’s new law that blocks climate concerns from permitting decisions. Also, Bisphenol A or BPA is linked to cancer, obesity, and diabetes. Now private researchers say significant levels of BPA can be found in some sports bras and other athletic clothing. And in history, they look back to the creation of the Nobel Prizes.
May 26, 2023: Less Water for the Dry West
The states that rely on the Colorado River for water are facing a supply crisis as climate change reduces the river’s flow. Now, after months of tense debates and delay, California, Arizona, and Nevada have finally agreed to substantially reduce their Colorado River water use, at least for now. KUNC reporter Luke Runyon joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the deal and the federal help these states will receive to ease some of the economic pain of cutting water use.
May 19, 2023: Environmental Justice for All of Government
The new White House Office of Environmental Justice will oversee EJ efforts in every federal agency. The Biden administration also wants new power plant rules that call for carbon capture and storage technology, which has yet to be proven at scale and could have environmental justice impacts. Monique Harden, Director of Law, and Policy at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss these developments.
May 19, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Jenni Doering to share how exotic fruits could give California farmers options for replacing thirstier crops like almonds in a warming world. They also discuss how warmer temperatures mean more flowering days each year and therefore longer allergy seasons. In history they look back to the precise date, three years in a row, that the little town of Codell, Kansas was hit by tornadoes.
May 19, 2023: Restoring Finland's Peatlands
Peat that’s burned for energy is a major greenhouse gas emissions source in Finland, which aims to become net zero by 2035. Peat mining is also a leading cause of habitat loss in the country. Tero Mustonen is the 2023 winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize for Europe for his efforts to stop peat mining and joins Host Steve Curwood to share how life is flourishing in the peatlands he’s helped restore.
May 12, 2023: Finding the Mother Tree
An intricate web of roots and fungi connects life in an old growth forest, allowing ancient “Mother trees” to nourish and protect their kin. Forest ecologist Suzanne Simard studies these connections at the University of British Columbia and takes readers into the field with her in her book, Finding the Mother Tree. She joins Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to share her research findings and reflects on how these trees helped her through the challenges of motherhood and a cancer diagnosis.
May 12, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss new Indigenous reserves in the Brazilian Amazon totaling a million and a half acres. They also unpack how in the U.S., Indigenous care for the forest, including traditional burning, has been disregarded and contributed to massive wildfires in California. In history they look back to the man who gave Cape Cod its name.
May 05, 2023: Oceans Hotter Than Ever
The average sea surface temperature of the world’s oceans is rising as the planet warms and global temperatures recently hit all-time highs. Now the La Niña weather pattern of the last 3 years is shifting to an El Niño cycle, warming the oceans even more. Kevin Trenberth is a Distinguished Scholar at the National Center of Atmospheric Research and joins Host Bobby Bascomb to explain why the rapid warming of the oceans puts the whole Earth at risk.
May 05, 2023: U.S. Primed for Climate Troubles
Because of its unique geography, the United States is particularly vulnerable to nearly every kind of weather-related disaster: tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and more. And as Associated Press science writer Seth Borenstein explains to Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill, these natural disasters are getting an unnatural boost with climate change.
April 28, 2023: A New Clean Power Plan
Under President Obama the Environmental Protection Agency tried to fight climate change by curbing overall emissions from the electric power sector, but those rules were blocked in court and then repealed by President Trump. Now the agency is trying again and it’s now backed up by provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. Its new power plant emissions rules are crafted on a plant-by-plant basis designed to survive legal challenges, according to environmental law expert Pat Parenteau, who joins Host Steve Curwood to explain.
April 28, 2023: Supreme Court Limits EPA Power
In a major 6 to 3 decision with sobering implications for climate policy, the conservative majority of the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority when it created guidelines for how utilities generate electricity. Vermont Law School Professor Pat Parenteau joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss how the decision goes against precedent and hampers efforts to tackle climate change.
April 21, 2023: Earth Needs a Movement
Host Steve Curwood wraps up this Earth Day special with a reflection on the silence of so many who say they are concerned about the Earth amidst its destruction and the climate emergency.
April 21, 2023: “Earth, Sometimes I Try to Play It Casual”
Poet Catherine Pierce joins Living on Earth’s Jenni Doering to read her poem, “Earth, Sometimes I Try to Play It Casual” and her thoughts about the meaning of “celebrating the Earth” by being present to the wonders around us.
April 21, 2023: Turtle Wisdom for Earth Day
Author Sy Montgomery joins Host Steve Curwood to share the multicultural story of the “World Turtle” and why turtles are remarkable creatures and models for human care for the Earth.
April 14, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share the rewilding of a river in the Florida Everglades. Plus, a study finds that the warming climate is creating better conditions for home runs in baseball. And in history, they mark the birthday of Aaron Burr, well known for his deadly duel with Alexander Hamilton. He also launched the first New York City water utility.
April 07, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Jenni Doering to share news of the uptick in green burials and a new study that finds a link between climate change and the powerful supercell storms that can give rise to destructive tornadoes. And in the history calendar, they look back 75 years to the indictment of nine corporations for allegedly conspiring to shut down streetcar lines in Los Angeles and elsewhere and replace them with buses made or fueled with their own products.
April 07, 2023: Green Energy Gridlock
America can’t meet its goals of reducing carbon pollution from power plants unless power grids get major upgrades and rules to bring clean energy online are detangled. American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet joins Host Jenni Doering to explain the challenges and opportunities facing implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act.
March 31, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
Living on Earth Contributor Peter Dykstra joins Host Bobby Bascomb to talk about Scotch whiskey going green. Also, armadillos are marching north into the Midwest thanks to climate change. And in history, they look back to likely the only time mafia boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano was held accountable for a killing, with the victim a pheasant.
March 31, 2023: Dire Climate Warning From IPCC
The world has no more than a year or two to start bending the curve of carbon emissions downward to avoid more drastic impacts of climate change, according to the latest scientific consensus the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. UPenn climate scientist Michael Mann joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss what’s at stake for the planet and what’s necessary to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
March 24, 2023: Mapping the Seafloor to Predict Coastal Flooding
The topography of the coastal seafloor has a lot to do with how much flooding coastal areas will experience during hurricanes. As reporter David Levin reports, a team of scientists is working on a new technology to create more accurate seafloor maps in the Gulf of Mexico.
March 24, 2023: Greenwashing Energy from Plastic
So-called “chemical recycling” is a greenwashing term used for incinerating plastic, according to critics including Veena Singla with the Natural Resources Defense Council. She tells Host Jenni Doering that “chemical recycling” is contributing to climate change and poor air quality for many marginalized communities.
March 24, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
LOE contributor Peter Dykstra shares with host Jenni Doering new research that found plastic bags scouring the deepest parts of the ocean floor. Also, a huge Sargassum seaweed mass is making its way toward the Florida coast just in time for Spring Break. And in the history books, the 52nd anniversary of Tokyo Electric Power Company opening the ill-fated Fukushima nuclear reactors which later were the source of one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters.
March 24, 2023: Insects Need More Protection
Roughly three quarters of the world’s insect species are inadequately protected, even in conservation areas. To help insects, which are important pollinators and the base of many food chains, Scott Black of the Xerces Society tells Host Bobby Bascomb that even small areas of protected habitat can make a big difference.
March 17, 2023: Saving the Second Lung of the Planet
The Congo Basin in Central Africa is a critical biodiversity hotspot and linchpin in the fight against climate disruption. Conservationist Irene Wabiwa joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the urgent need to turn the United Nations’ recent promises to protect biodiversity into reality in the Congo and around the world.
March 17, 2023: The Next Chapter of the Living on Earth Book Club
In the coming decades millions of Americans will be uprooted by wildfires, floods, and rising seas in the largest migration in our country’s history. And many are already on the move. "The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration" by Jake Bittle compassionately tells their stories and uncovers how government and insurance policies are shaping who rebuilds and who retreats. Tune in on March 23rd for the next Living on Earth Book Club event – live with Jake Bittle.
March 17, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
PFAS “forever” chemicals are everywhere, including in toilet paper, Peter Dykstra reveals in this week’s chat with Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb. Also, everything’s big in Texas, including renewable energy, and the state is by far the biggest producer of wind and solar in the U.S. And 55 years ago, prospectors struck black gold on Alaska’s north slope, forever changing the state’s economy and environment.
March 17, 2023: Broken Promise for the Arctic
A massive new oil drilling project in the Arctic just got the green light from President Biden despite his promises for no new drilling on federal lands. Environmental law expert Pat Parenteau joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the climate contradictions within the White House and what could happen next.
March 17, 2023: Carbon in the Congo
A team of scientists recently found a massive peatland holding more than 30 billion metric tons of carbon in the Congo Basin. It is crucial the carbon remain sequestered there to avoid exacerbating the climate crisis. Senior reporter for Mongabay John Cannon, wrote a four-part series looking into the Congo peatlands and joined host Bobby Bascomb.
March 10, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
Host Steve Curwood and Living on Earth contributor Peter Dykstra look beyond the headlines to a United Nations ocean biodiversity protection treaty, along with the newly designated Chilean Tictoc marine park for whales. Then, the pair discuss Antarctica's diminishing sea ice, before looking back to the historic resignation of EPA Administrator Anne Gorsuch-Burford.
March 10, 2023: Heat Pump Challenges
One of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the US comes from heating buildings. The Biden administration is trying to change that by promoting efficient electric heat pumps. But as the Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports, getting Americans to switch to heat pumps won’t be easy.
March 03, 2023: Climate Change and Mating
Showy traits like dark pigmentation on a dragonfly’s wings or a lion’s big, dark mane play a key role in how some animals choose a mate. New research suggests that climate change is making some classically attractive traits more difficult to pull off. Evolutionary ecologist Michael Moore at the University of Colorado Denver joins Host Bobby Bascomb to share more.
March 03, 2023: CO2 Pipeline Safety Risks
Proponents of carbon capture and storage hope to expand a network of pipelines that transport carbon dioxide from source to sink so that it can’t get into the atmosphere to warm the planet. But these pipelines carry high-pressure CO2 that can be dangerous, even lethal. Bill Caram, the executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, explains these safety concerns.
February 17, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
Journalist Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood this week to discuss the recent Ohio train derailment, which sent 50 cars carrying toxic chemicals including vinyl chloride careening off their tracks. They also discuss the proposed more efficient energy standards for washing machines, refrigerators, and freezers. For a history lesson, they dive into a prescient 1969 paper warning that the Arctic pack ice is thinning and the summertime ocean at the North Pole would soon become open water.
February 17, 2023: Big Oil Bid in Alaska
A major plan by oil giant ConocoPhillips to drill in Alaska’s North Slope is poised to move ahead after preliminary approval by a federal agency, though it still needs President Biden’s final consent. The potentially lucrative Willow drilling project on federal land could dump millions of tons of climate disrupting carbon into the atmosphere over its lifetime and pose risks to the health of nearby Alaska Native communities and biological diversity. Andy Moderow is Alaska State Director for the Alaska Wilderness League and joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss.
February 10, 2023: Environment & President Biden's State of the Union
Though it was not the central theme of his 2023 State of the Union speech, President Biden devoted more time to the environment than previous presidents have in this annual ritual. Commentator Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood discuss President Biden's mentions of climate investments across the United States and an initiative to replace lead pipes that drew bipartisan applause. For history they talk about Lyndon B. Johnson, the first US President to mention climate change in a written addendum to a State of the Union speech.
February 10, 2023: Great Salt Lake Going Dry
Since 1860 the Great Salt Lake has lost three-quarters of its water, mostly due to human activities, and some scientists now predict it will dry up completely in the next five years unless emergency conservation measures are taken. The loss of the lake would devastate migratory bird populations and create a public health crisis linked to toxic dust in the lakebed. Brigham Young University ecologist Benjamin Abbott spoke with Host Jenni Doering about the crisis and why water conservation in the agricultural sector is vital.
February 03, 2023: Ice Fishing on a Tidal River
Winter can be cold and dark, but the bright light reflected from frozen lakes, ponds, and streams can be cheery and warm. And that's the secret of ice fishing. Mark William Damsel explains the joys of ice fishing on a frozen river in this audio postcard from Living on Earth's Bobby Bascomb.
February 03, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
This week, journalist Peter Dykstra reaches Beyond the Headlines to bring us good news. People in Montana are constructing artificial beaver dams to restore marshes. Companies are flooding into Georgia to build electric vehicles, providing 28,000 jobs. And, since the banning of DDT in the 1970s, Brown Pelicans have made a strong comeback.
February 03, 2023: EV Price War
Despite inflation. automakers including Tesla, Ford and General Motors are now in a price war over electric vehicle sales. The lowered stickers also bring some models under the $55,000 price cap required to qualify for federal tax credits. Jim Motavalli, who writes about green transportation for Autoweek and Barrons, joined Host Steve Curwood to discuss what these aggressive price markdowns mean for electric vehicle consumers.
February 03, 2023: The Nutmeg's Curse
Native to the Banda Islands in Indonesia, nutmeg and other spices like cloves were coveted for their trade value by colonial powers, who set about exterminating the local people to dominate the nutmeg trade. In his 2021 book The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, author Amitav Ghosh reveals the origins of our current climate crisis in the violent extractive economies pioneered by colonial powers centuries ago. Amitav Ghosh joined Host Steve Curwood for a Living on Earth Book Club event to discuss this dark history of the so-called 'enlightenment'.
January 27, 2023: Big Oil Under Fire in Puerto Rico
Sixteen municipalities in Puerto Rico sue big fossil fuel companies for damages from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The communities allege the fossil fuel companies learned their products would change the climate and intensify storms and then colluded to lie about it to the public. A win for the plaintiffs would be historic. LOE's Steve Curwood spoke with Melissa Sims, Senior Counsel with the Plaintiff's law firm Milberg.
January 27, 2023: Beyond the Headlines With Peter Dykstra
Journalist Peter Dykstra joins host Steve Curwood to discuss why fewer iguanas are falling in Florida during cold snaps. They also consider if England's recent ban on some single-use plastics set to take effect in October will stem the accumulation of disposable plastic. For a history lesson, they dive into Karl Benz's 1886 patent for a three-wheeled, chain-driven, gasoline-powered horseless carriage he obtained with financial and design help from his wife Bertha.
January 27, 2023: Rebuilding With Resilience in Puerto Rico
Human-induced climate change has supercharged massive storms like Hurricane Maria in 2017 that devastated Puerto Rico, killing thousands of people. Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb travelled to the island in 2018 and found ravaged communities organizing to rebuild with resilience.
January 27, 2023: Science Note: Hurricanes, Lizards, and Leafblowers
Hurricanes may act as a force of natural selection for Caribbean lizards, according to a study in the journal Nature. Living on Earth’s Don Lyman explains how scientists used leaf blowers to simulate hurricane-force winds and learn how the hardiest lizards hang on.
January 20, 2023: Controversial Oil CEO to Lead UN Climate Treaty
Activists are expressing outrage in the wake of the decision by the United Arab Emirates to appoint oil executive Sultan al-Jaber as President of this year’s UN climate treaty negotiations at COP28 in Dubai. Mithika Mwenda, executive director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance and May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, join Host Steve Curwood to explain the concerns and discuss how fossil fuel interests are deflecting progress in the treaty process.
January 20, 2023: Beyond The Headlines
Journalist Peter Dykstra joins Host Steve Curwood this week to discuss a proposal to phase out gas cooking stoves linked to health risks. and They also consider the climate rhetoric of the new Republican Chair of the US House Science, Space and Technology Committee. And in history they look back to President Nixon’s 1970 State of the Union address with its soaring language about protecting the environment.
January 13, 2023: Pink Snow and the Climate
Pink snow, also known as “watermelon snow” or “glacier blood,” is the result of a typically late summer bloom of pink colored algae that flourish in melting snow. And although snow algae are still very understudied, scientists are worried that darker snow will absorb more of the sun’s heat than white snow and cause the snowpack to melt more quickly. Jim Elser, a professor of ecology at the University of Montana, joins Host Bobby Bascomb to explain the implications for climate change and summertime water supplies that rely on steady runoff.
January 13, 2023: Extreme Weather and the Jet Stream
Weather records are now routinely getting shattered across the United States, with recent severe rainstorms in California, freezing temperatures in Texas, and a warm January thaw for the northeast. Jennifer Francis, Senior Scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, joins Host Steve Curwood to explain why a climate disrupted jet stream is behind much of this extreme weather.
January 13, 2023: Rescuing Bats from Extreme Cold
In Texas, this winter’s extreme weather delivered an unusual cold snap that some bats just couldn’t deal with. So, Mary Warwick, the Wildlife Director of the Houston Humane Society, sprang into action and along with help from Bat World Sanctuary saved around 1600 Mexican free-tailed bats from hypothermic shock. Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran shares her story.
January 13, 2023: Beyond the Headlines
In this week’s look Beyond the Headlines, environmental journalist Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood admire the greenery in New York City, which a new study has reported absorbs as much carbon as all the traffic in the city emits on many summer days. They then discuss the climate implications of the Republican House Speaker battle before looking back at Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, who created the Grand Canyon national monument on January 11th, 1908.
January 06, 2023: Auld Lang Syne
This week, journalist Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood take some time to reflect on some lives we lost in 2022. From Living on Earth's former producer Lucia Small to the infamous climate change skeptic Pat Michaels, the two discuss the passing of individuals who made their mark on the environmental sector, for better or for worse.
January 06, 2023: Environment and the Law in 2023
The case West Virginia v. EPA and the Inflation Reduction Act made 2022 a landmark year for environmental law. Pat Parenteau, former EPA regional counsel and emeritus professor at Vermont Law School, joins Host Steve Curwood to look ahead to environmental legal actions on the horizon in 2023, including Supreme Court clean water and other decisions, environmental justice implementation, and suits alleging climate racketeering.

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