Google News - Living On Earth

The reconstructed skeleton of a Columbian Mammoth stands in the Page Museum in Los Angeles, California. Genetic evidence from the newly discovered Krestovka mammoth indicates that this species was a hybrid, descended from both Krestovka and wooly mammoths. (Photo: WolfmanSF, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Note on Emerging Science: Oldest DNA Ever Sequenced

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. Just ahead the serious health problems facing people when fracking facilities move in next door but first this note on emerging science from Grace Callahan. [SCIENCE NOTE THEME] CALLAHAN: Scientists have set a new record: they've sequenced the oldest DNA to date! An international team of scientists led by researchers at the Centre for Paleogenetics in Sweden has pieced together the genome of a mammoth fossil, more than a million years old. They published their findings in the journal Nature. This shatters the p...

Living On Earth5 days ago

Your refrigerator could be hiding a "climate bomb" of HFC gases. (Photo: nrd on Unsplash)

Carbon Bomb Fridges

CURWOOD: The climate emergency is so vast a problem that individual actions alone can't solve it. But collectively personal choices do add up and can make a difference. So, when Inside Climate reporter Phil McKenna needed a new fridge, he wanted to steer clear of any appliance that would use super-potent greenhouse gases to cool his groceries. And as someone who often writes about the kinds of "super-pollutant" chemicals that might be lurking in a shiny new fridge, he knew just what to look for. Or so he thought. The fridge Phil bought ended up being a "climate bomb". One that secretly cont...

Living On Earth5 days ago

Deb Haaland was confirmed as Secretary of the Interior on March 15, 2021, making her the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. Ms. Haaland previously served as a Democratic representative for New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 2019 to 2021. (Photo: United States Department of the Interior)

Madam Secretary Haaland

CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb Deb Haaland is now the first Native American to serve as Secretary of the US Department of Interior after her confirmation squeaked through with just 51 votes in the US Senate. No stranger to being first, she was also one of the two first Native Americans women ever elected to a seat in Congress which she won in 2018 as a Democrat from New Mexico. Ms. Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe and traces her ance...

Living On Earth5 days ago

Plant Bowen just outside Euharlee, Georgia. It's one of the biggest coal-fired plants in North America. The burning of coal is known to produce harmful ultrafine particulate matter. (Photo: formulanone, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)

One in Five Deaths from Fossil Fuels

CURWOOD: While the Covid-19 pandemic killed more than a half million Americans over the last year, a new report finds that every year some 300,000 or more Americans suffer premature deaths directly from burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuels like diesel and coal generate fine particles that can invade lungs and lead to a wide range of health problems including strokes, heart attacks, asthma as well as higher death rates from Covid. Worldwide, researchers found 8 million premature deaths are linked to fossil fuels. The study used methods that exclude other sources of fine particulates and was re...

Living On Earth5 days ago

Up to one billion migrating birds collide with US buildings each year and the Philly Lights Out Program could help prevent 80% of bird collisions in the city. (Photo: R'lyeg Imaging, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood and it's time now for us to turn to Peter Dykstra for a look beyond the headlines. Peter is an editor with environmental health news as ehn.org and daily climate.org. On the line now from Atlanta. Hi there, Peter. How are you today? And what do you have for us? DYKSTRA: I've got some good news from the City of Brotherly Love Philadelphia. They've announced a Lights Out Initiative. Philly will turn off and dim its skyscraper lights during the spring and fall migrat...

Living On Earth5 days ago

Families Sickened by Fracking

BASCOMB: When fracking facilities move in next door, they can completely upend rural life for many people. And there are serious health concerns associated with the chemicals used for fracking. Typically, a cocktail of generally toxic chemicals and water is injected into bedrock to create cracks through which oil and natural gas can be extracted. The chemicals each company uses are proprietary information not available to the communities where fracking occurs. But the water, air, and people can be sampled to get a sense of what chemicals are present. And in a 5-part series for Environmental...

Living On Earth5 days ago

Around 23% of United States waters are either fully or highly protected, like the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, here seen offshore of California's Big Sur coastline. The 30 by 30 movement seeks to protect 30% of land and water by 2030, as a steppingstone to protecting 50% of the globe by 2050. (Photo: Robert Schwemmer, CIMS, NOAA, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

30x30 To Save Species

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb President Biden has set an official goal of protecting 30% of US land and ocean for conservation by 2030, on the way to preserving 50% by 2050. Dozens of other national governments have also pledged the same goals. Brett Hartl is the Government Affairs Director for the Center for Biological Diversity. He says protecting nature helps address the climate emergency by sequestering carbon. At the same time it fights the extinction crisis while there is still time to conserve critical habitats. HARTL: We are so quic...

Living On Earth12 days ago

The Gulf Stream is a swift surface current that brings warm waters from the Gulf of Mexico up to the North Atlantic. It is part of a larger system of ocean currents called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). (Photo: NASA)

Warming Planet Slows Ocean Currents

CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. There is now more evidence that climate change is slowing down massive Atlantic Ocean currents, including the Gulf Stream that brings warm water north from the tropics along the East coast of the US. This marine conveyer belt is key to weather systems and nutrient transport, and research published in the journal Nature Geoscience finds it's the weakest it's been in over a thousand years. Researchers combined data fr...

Living On Earth12 days ago

Turnips can be planted on dryland wheat fields as part of cover cropping, a key practice in regenerative agriculture. (Photo: Garrett Duyck / NRCS Oregon, Flickr CC BY-ND 2.0)

Regenerative Farming In Action

BASCOMB: Well, regenerative agriculture not only offers climate protection benefits and investment opportunities it can also help farmers cope with the chaos climate disruption is bringing to their growing seasons. Rachel McDevitt is a reporter with StateImpact Pennsylvania and has our story. MCDEVITT: It was raining when I first visited Allegro Winery in southern York County last March, which seemed appropriate. In 2018, Pennsylvania's wettest year on record, grapes here burst on the vines, making them more vulnerable to disease. Owner Carl Helrich says a subsequent cold snap wiped out 3,0...

Living On Earth12 days ago

The Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid. The Swedish company is planning on going all-electric by 2030. (Photo: Overlaet, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Beyond the Headlines

CURWOOD: Well, it's time for a look beyond the headlines now with Peter Dykstra. Peter's, an editor with Environmental Health News, ehn.org and dailyclimate.org. On the line now from Atlanta, Georgia, where it's got to be spring there, Peter. I mean, we still have some ice and snow up here but you've got the flowers huh. DYKSTRA: We got 70 degrees, the flowers are starting, the birds are starting. And of course the legendary Atlanta pine pollen has started, where you can pretty much take a pine pollen shovel and shovel the sidewalks. There can be little pollen drifts everywhere. Not so good...

Living On Earth12 days ago

The Havasupai live deep inside the Grand Canyon. Havasu Falls is a tourist destination for a lot of Grand Canyon travelers. (Photo: Tripp Gogoi, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Protecting Badger-Two Medicine And The Grand Canyon

BASCOMB: Well, there are countless sites across the country that conservationists say deserve protection as part of President Biden's goal of thirty by thirty. And Living on Earth's Paloma Beltran has been looking at what might happen next. Hey Paloma! BELTRAN: Hi Bobby. BASCOMB: So, what do you have for us? BELTRAN: Well, I want to tell you about two areas that are up for protection and for both of them it's not just the land that would be protected but also the culture of the people that have lived there for thousands of years. In both cases Native Americans are working with the governmen...

Living On Earth12 days ago

A farmer in North Carolina cuts down a cover crop just before planting corn. This blanket of vegetation will reduce erosion, and provide season-long weed protection, moisture retention, and food for microbes in the soil. (Photo: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Regenerative Farming for Soil Health

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. Greening energy systems is key to addressing the climate emergency, but science suggests we also need to harness nature to take carbon out of the air and bank it in forests, grasslands, and the soil. A 2017 study in Nature estimated that widespread adoption of so-called regenerative farming could perhaps store as much carbon as all the cars, trucks, ships, trains and planes combined emit every year. And financial support for such farming could help companies offset all of their carbon pollution by 2030. A rece...

Living On Earth12 days ago

Nature and the Beat

[Sfx gibbon howling] BASCOMB: Those Orangutans in Borneo share habitat with their smaller primate cousins, the gibbons, whose howling calls can travel up to two miles across the dense rainforests. Many animals make some sort of sound to find a mate, warn of predators, or claim and defend their territory. And now their sounds can be used to create music from your home as a fun diversion for all ages during this year-long pandemic. [SFX KATYDID] BASCOMB: For many of us the staccato notes of a katydid might conjure up memories of a warm summer night, but for Ben Mirin a katydid's chirp is musi...

Living On Earth19 days ago

Will Hsu, left, harvests ginseng with his father Paul on their farm in Marathon County, Wisconsin. (Photo: Courtesy of Hsu Ginseng Enterprises)

Hard Times for Ginseng Farmers

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. American ginseng farmers have been hit hard by the pandemic and the ongoing trade war with China. Ginseng is a knobbly, bitter root that's been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. And Native Americans also have a long history of using wild American ginseng, which once grew widely in the Appalachian region before it was overharvested in the 19th century. Ginseng may help boost the immune system, lower blood sugar and improve focus, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says there's not ...

Living On Earth19 days ago

Two IAEA experts examine recovery work on top of Unit 4 of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on 17 April 2013 as part of a mission to review Japan's plans to decommission the facility. (Photo: Greg Webb, Flickr, IAEA, CC BY SA 2.0)

Radioactive Water Dilemma at Fukushima

CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb At quarter to three in the afternoon of March 11th, 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake moved the main island of Japan eight feet, and launched a tsunami four stories high into the region of Fukushima, Japan, killing thousands and flooding a nuclear power complex. [SFX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spg62-MrYpQ] BASCOMB: In the hours and days that followed, the cooling systems failed and the uranium cores in the three op...

Living On Earth19 days ago

There are only an estimated 104,700 Bornean orangutans remaining, due to habitat loss, expansion of palm oil plantations, and poaching. (Photo: Bernard Dupont, Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

CURWOOD: Well, let's see what's going on beyond the headlines now. And of course, to do that we turn to Peter Dykstra. Peter's an editor with Environmental Health News that's ehn.org and dailyclimate.org. On the line now from Atlanta, hey there, Peter, how are you doing and what have you got for us? DYKSTRA: Well, hi, Steve. There's a story that is the nexus between the COVID pandemic and an environmental crisis in Indonesia, where rescued orangutans are being returned to the wild, despite of COVID risk because they're so similar in DNA to humans. CURWOOD: Yeah that's right. I mean, a lot o...

Living On Earth19 days ago

The New Climate War

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth. I'm Bobby Bascomb. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. Two decades ago, to critical acclaim, Penn State professor Michael Mann wrote the Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars. It included a chart resembling a hockey stick showing the explosive growth in human-caused CO2 emissions that are heating the planet. He now has a new book called, The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet, in which he describes the decades-long history of fossil fuel companies deflecting blame and responsibility in order to delay action on climate change. Professor Mann was also th...

Living On Earth19 days ago

The black footed ferret became one of the most endangered species in North America, thanks to a government program to poison prairie dogs, a primary food for these ferrets. (Photo: Ryan Hagerty, USFWS, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. Well, it's that time of the broadcast when we take a look beyond the headlines with Peter Dykstra. Peter's an editor with Environmental Health News that's ehn.org and dailyclimate.org. On the line now from Atlanta, Georgia. Hey there, Peter, how are you doing? And what are you going to talk to us about today? DYKSTRA: Hi Steve. We're going to travel out to the Great Plains of the United States on the news of the first cloning of a US endangered species, the black-footed ferret. CURWOOD: Okay, so what do you have to tell us? DYKSTRA: This hap...

Living On EarthFeb 25

A panoramic view of Perseverance's landing site on February 18, 2021. (Photo: NASA, Public Domain)

Searching for Life on Mars

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. After a spaceflight of over 200 days, the Perseverance rover landed safely on Mars on February 18th. [SFX touch down confirmed, Perseverance safely on the surface of Mars ready to begin seeking the signs of past life. (cheering)] CURWOOD: Venus is our closest planetary neighbor, but it's a hothouse of nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit and shrouded with clouds. Mars is much further away, but with a bit of atmosphere and morphology that suggests ancient rivers and oceans. So, NASA designed the Perseverance rover to search on the Red planet for sig...

Living On EarthFeb 25

The sudden deep freeze in Texas burst many pipes, putting safe drinking water in short supply. This map shows water quality complaints made to Houston's Public Works department on February 23 and 24, 2021. (Photo: Houston Public Works)

No Power For The People In Texas

CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. Ice was late to form last October in the Arctic Ocean, and the unusually warm air helped magnify dips of the polar jet stream, ultimately blasting the region that includes Texas with the coldest air in a decade. With a low of 2 degrees Fahrenheit, electric power plants in Texas froze up, leaving millions without electricity to heat their homes. Dozens died, some freezing to death and others killed by carbon monoxide as they tried to use vehicles a...

Living On EarthFeb 25

A Student Conservation Association crew is all smiles as they work to restore a trail in the popular Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park (Photo: Kevin Bacher / NPS, Flickr CC BY 2.0)

A Civilian Climate Corps

CURWOOD: A Civilian Climate Corps is part of President Biden's plans to address the climate crisis. The modern CCC harkens back to the Civilian Conservation Corps created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s. FDR's CCC put some 3 million men to work in conservation efforts, and yes, they were just about all men. They planted some 3 billion trees, constructed trails and shelters in parks across the country, and built thousands of fire towers. Much of that work can still be seen today. A job in the CCC earned a young man 1 dollar a day plus food and housing. And it put money in...

Living On EarthFeb 25

A male bumblebee flies toward a flower, ready to extract nectar. Wild bees such as these make up a significant share of crop pollination even in farms that use managed honeybees. (Photo: Sffubs, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Note on Emerging Science: Wild Bees a Boost to Crops

LYMAN: Although many farms in the United States use managed non-native honeybees to pollinate crops an analysis of seven crops in North America shows wild bees, such as bumblebees, contribute to crop pollination too, even on farms that utilize managed honeybees. A new study estimates that wild bees add at least 1.5 billion dollars in total yields of six fruit crops including watermelons cherries, and apples. To measure the contribution of wild native bees on pollination, researchers monitored bee visits to flowers at 131 commercial farms across the United States and Canada. They found farms...

Living On EarthFeb 25

There are around 10 quintillion insects on the planet, says Edward D. Melillo, author of The Butterfly Effect: Insects and the Making of the Modern World. (Photo: Phil Fiddyment, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

The Butterfly Effect: Insects and the Making of the Modern World

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. There are some 800,000 known species of insects, and surely many more not yet discovered. Many of us may not realize it but insects actually play a critical role in our daily lives. Insects pollinate our crops, of course, they're also used to make our apples shiny, our wood water proof, and some candy just the right shade of red. In his book, Butterfly Effect, Insects and the Making of the Modern World, Edward Melillo takes a deep dive into the surprising history of human-insect relationships and how they have ...

Living On EarthFeb 18

Tom Vilsack speaking about Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification in 2013. (Photo: Julie MacSwain, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

A New Leader for USDA

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth. I'm Bobby Bascomb CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. A final Senate vote to confirm Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture has been scheduled for February 23, and he has broad bipartisan support. The former Democratic governor of Iowa and one-time presidential candidate was also Agriculture Secretary for President Obama. But a lot has changed in the last four years. Catastrophic wildfires spurred by climate change have ravaged parts of the 200 million-acre National Forest system the USDA administers. And the Covid pandemic has tipped twenty percent of American h...

Living On EarthFeb 18

Disha Ravi is the recently jailed 22-year-old climate activist who founded the Indian branch of the Fridays for Future network. (Photo: Disha Ravi's Facebook)

India Climate Activist Jailed

BASCOMB: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Bobby Bascomb. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. The government of India is cracking down on climate activists who have joined farmer- led protests that have been escalating since November. Millions of farmers and their allies have shut down major roads across the country and set up make-shift camps in New Delhi, complete with generators, laundry service, and libraries, paralyzing the capital city. The farmers are protesting new laws that they say will benefit lar...

Living On EarthFeb 18

A catalytic converter installed on a Volkswagen Vanagon in 2013. (Photo: Vanagon Blog, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

CURWOOD: Well, let's take a look beyond the headlines now with Peter Dykstra. Peter is an editor with environmental health news at ehn.org. and dailyclimate.org. Joining us now on the line from Atlanta, Georgia. How you doing, Peter? And what do you have for us today? DYKSTRA: Hi, Steve, we're gonna start with a very, very unique environmentally themed crime wave. CURWOOD: Okay, environmental crime wave. Stolen trees, what are we talking about? DYKSTRA: Well thieves across the country are beginning to swipe catalytic converters that's that pollution control device that's been added to cars ...

Living On EarthFeb 18

Cassie Flynn, co-author of the UNDP People's Climate Vote, drew inspiration to use gaming apps to deliver the survey when she saw almost everyone on subways playing on their phones. (Photo: Mussi Katz, Flickr, Public Domain 1.0)

Angry Birds and the People's Climate Vote

BASCOMB: Now for a story about climate change... and Angry Birds. [ANGRY BIRDS THEME SONG] BASCOMB: That's right, the mobile game Angry Birds. In perhaps the largest opinion poll on climate change to date, the UN used that popular game and others to reach 1.2 million respondents in 50 countries. 64% of them said they think climate change is a global emergency. The United Nations Development Programme ran what they call the "People's Climate Vote" in high-, middle-, and low-income countries that together represent more than half of the world's people. Notable exceptions to countries surveyed...

Living On EarthFeb 11

Public transportation is essential for equitable mobility, but according to the American Public Transportation Association, 45% of Americans do not have access to public transportation. (Photo: Jason Lawrence, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Modernizing Mobility

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. Back in 2007 as the evening rush hour was getting underway in downtown Minneapolis, a bridge carrying highway I-35 over the Mississippi River suddenly collapsed. More a dozen people plunged to their deaths and nearly a hundred and fifty more were injured. That bridge collapse is a prime example of the nearly $2 trillion dollars worth of deferred maintenance and other broken parts of America's infrastructure that President Biden has pledged to "build back better." Not only is transportation a major part of infra...

Living On EarthFeb 11

Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman in the late 1860s. (Photo: Benjamin F. Powelson, Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

In Honor of Black History Month: Harriet Tubman and the Barred Owl

CURWOOD: And the barred owl also features in the story of the renown anti-slavery activist and underground railroad conductor, Harriet Tubman, a story we'd like to recall now during Black History month. Born in 1822 or so, Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery near Cambridge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1849 to the free state of Pennsylvania, just a hundred miles way. She returned some 13 times to guide another 70 or so people out of bondage. Her knowledge of the woods and wetlands near Chesapeake Bay and its creatures was crucial to her success. Under cover of night, Harriet Tubman wo...

Living On EarthFeb 11

Microplastic poses a growing concern in oceans and aquatic life. (Photo: 5Gyres, Oregon State University, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. Let's take a look beyond the headlines now with Peter Dykstra. Peter is an editor with Environmental Health News, that's ehn.org and dailyclimate.org. He is on the line now from Atlanta, Georgia. Hey there, Peter, what do you have for us today? DYKSTRA: Hello, Steve. We're going to start with a study that was reported by Hannah Seo about fish farming and its plastic problem. CURWOOD: There's a lot of plastic in the ocean, what's going on with fish farming? DYKSTRA: There have been a couple studies out recently,...

Living On EarthFeb 11

A pair of Barred Owls in a lush forest (Photo: (C) Gregg Thompson)

BirdNote(R): Here Come the Barred Owls

BASCOMB: One of the easiest birds for humans to imitate might very well be the barred owl. BirdNote's Mary McCann has more. BirdNote(R) Here Come the Barred Owls [Typical hoot sequence of a pair of Barred Owls]??The emphatic hoots of a pair of Barred Owls resonate in the still of a February night. [Typical hoot sequence of a pair of Barred Owls] So-called for the stripes on their breast, Barred Owls are among the largest owls in North America. They're also the most vocal. Their signature hooting sequence has been memorably described as "who-cooks-for-you?! who-cooks-for-you-all?!" [Typical ...

Living On EarthFeb 11

According to Oxfam India more than 75% of rural women in India who work full time are farmers but less than 13% of them own the land they till. Women have been a powerhouse throughout the protests, holding fort and cooking all in hopes in securing their jobs and land for future generations. (Photo: Niel Palmer, CIAT, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

India's Farm Crisis and the Climate Emergency

CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. India is home to more than 1.3 billion people and more than half of them make their living from farming. Massive farmer led protests and strikes erupted in India recently when the government announced new laws that farmers say would add an additional burden to their industry already struggling in the face of widespread droughts and floods. [PROTEST SOUNDS] BASCOMB: Millions of farmers and their allies have flooded i...

Living On EarthFeb 11

A bottlenose whale peeks out. (Photo: (C) Mark Seth Lender)

Bottlenose Whales in the Arctic

CURWOOD: Life on earth likely began in the primordial soup of the ancient ocean. And humans still carry that original home in our bodies. The salinity in the plasma of our blood is remarkably similar to that of the ocean for example. And in a way, Living on Earth's Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender says he longs to return. Conferatur A Pod of Bottlenose Whales Hudson Strait (C) 2020 Mark Seth Lender All Rights Reserved From the far and the wide, at the fall and the waves' rise a crescent moon of dorsal fin... An archipelago of long forms... Floating islands turning, wide... The flash ...

Living On EarthFeb 11

During the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, between January and October of 2020, US bike sales went up a staggering 62%. (Photo: Thomas Hawke, Flickr, CC by NC 2.0)

The COVID Biking Boom

DOERING: Bike ridership has gone up across much of the world since the pandemic began last year. People wanted to avoid gathering on crowded buses and subways, so they began to hop on bikes instead. Europe has spent over a billion dollars on biking infrastructure since last spring. And here in the US bike sales went up about 26 percent over the same time period. To see how the trend is going now, nearly a year later, we turn to Martin Morzynski, he's the Vice President of Marketing for Streetlight Data. Martin joins us to talk about their recent report, Autumn COVID Bicycling Trends. Martin...

Living On EarthFeb 4

Both humans and owls exhibit the same involuntary response: their pupils dilate when hearing a new sound. (Photo: Greg Clarke, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

An Owl-Inspired Hearing Test

BASCOMB: Newborn babies are given hearing tests shortly after they're born, it's important to establish they can hear properly to develop language skills, But it's tricky to do. Babies can't tell doctors what they are hearing so it's challenging to figure out how extensive hearing loss is in young children. Now it looks like researchers at the University of Oregon may have found a solution to the problem using... owls. Reporter Jess Burns with Oregon Public Radio has more. BURNS: Our story starts about 20 years ago at the University of Oregon. Neuroscientist Avinash Bala was trying to measu...

Living On EarthFeb 4

GM's commitment to phase out internal combustion light duty vehicles by 2035 is one of the most ambitious in the auto industry (Photo: Ivan Radic, Flickr CC BY 2.0)

GM in the EV Fast Lane

DOERING: It's Living on Earth, I'm Jenni Doering BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. Before the break Jody Freeman told us that one of the best ways to bake in permanence with an executive order is to get buy in from industry. That way a subsequent administration would get push back from business interests if it tries to roll back policies that are working. General Motors recently announced an ambitious plan that would do exactly that. GM plans to phase out combustion engines in their light duty vehicles by 2035. And within just 3 years, by 2025, they pledged that 40 percent of their new models...

Living On EarthFeb 4

In his first days in office, Joe Biden signed a flurry of Executive Orders, including several to fight against climate change and protect the environment. (Photo: Official @POTUS Twitter)

Biden's Pen and the Climate

DOERING: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Jenni Doering BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb President Biden has signed more executive orders in his first weeks in office than any other president since Franklin Roosevelt back in the 1930s. And many of President Biden's executive orders have focused on the environment and climate change. On his first day in office the president re-joined the Paris climate agreement, cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline, and directed federal agencies to review Trump era environme...

Living On EarthFeb 4

The cover of Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt's American Wilderness. (Image: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster)

Teddy Roosevelt's Conservation Legacy

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth I'm Bobby Bascomb DOERING: And I'm Jenni Doering In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt shouted through the wind as he stood at the rim of the Grand Canyon and delivered a famous rallying cry for conservation. "Leave it as it is," he said. "The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it". TR acted on those words and preserved over 230 million acres of public land using the Antiquities Act. But President Roosevelt was a flawed man. He was racist and a known eugenicist who viewed white Americans as superior, and believed Native Americans had no rightful ...

Living On EarthFeb 4

The American Lobster (Homarus americanus) is an iconic and economically important harvest in New England. A new study published in the Journal of Ecology and Evolution sheds light on possible adaptive genetic response of larval lobsters to climate change. (Photo: Ann Dabney, Flickr, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Beyond the Headlines

DOERING: Well, it's that time of the show when we call up Peter Dykstra. Peter is an editor with Environmental Health News. That's ehn.org and dailyclimate.org, and he's on the line from Atlanta, Georgia. Hey, Peter, what have you dug up from beyond the headlines this week? DYKSTRA: Hi, Jenni. It's always good to start with a little good news. We don't always have a lot in the environment realm. Here's a study from New England, from the Gulf of Maine, just published in the journal Ecology and Evolution potentially offers some good news for lobsters in the era of climate change. Baby lobster...

Living On EarthFeb 4

Miko Robert Lee Yargee was the chief of the Alabama ceremonial grounds. He carried Muscogee Creek ceremonies such as the yearly Green Corn Ceremony. He passed away from COVID-19 in 2020. (Photo: Courtesy of Jason Salsman)

COVID Risk for Tribal Cultures

BASCOMB: As Winona mentioned, pipeline construction is bringing workers from around the country to Native American communities where the coronavirus pandemic has been especially deadly. The mortality rate for native peoples in the US is nearly twice that as for whites. Across the board the virus is most dangerous for older people and for many Native American groups losing elders means more than just losing a loved one it's also a loss of culture, tradition, and language. [MUSCOGEE LANGUAGE] BASCOMB: For many tribes, including the Muscogee of Oklahoma, there are less than a thousand people r...

Living On EarthJan 28

The Antarctic Peninsula as the sun rises. (Photo: Mark Seth Lender)

Vista: A Break in the Storm

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. And now a trip to the edge of Antarctica with Living on Earth's Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender. Vista A Break in the Storm Antarctic Peninsula (C) 2020 Mark Seth Lender All Rights Reserved We depart our last anchorage and port of call and haul away and into the storm. Now outside the bight... Now, passing the sharp outline of the promontory... And now the sea. Irate! The older sibling wishing you were never born. The sky is a coffin lid tucked all in on itself. The sea ice, torn. The spray stings like...

Living On EarthJan 28

Workers prepare a section of an Enbridge pipeline for removal following a spill in 2010, where a 30-inch pipeline ruptured in Michigan, contaminating the Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River with hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil. Opponents to the Line 3 expansion worry similar spills would endanger their lands and waters. (Photo; US EPA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Resisting Line 3 Pipeline

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. On his first day in office President Biden issued an executive order that canceled the permit for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Native American tribes and allies had been protesting the pipeline for more than a decade and applauded the president's decision. But several other pipelines are still in the works despite concern from conservation groups and Native American tribes. Among them is the Line 3 pipeline which, like Keystone XL, would bring carbon heavy tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada into th...

Living On EarthJan 28

President Joe Biden signs the Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad as Vice President Kamala Harris looks on, January 27, 2021. (Photo: Screenshot from White House video)

The Whole of Government For Climate Action

BASCOMB: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Bobby Bascomb. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. Some Democratic senators are among climate activists who are urging President Joe Biden to declare a national state of emergency regarding the climate, including Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who spoke on MSNBC: SCHUMER: I think it might be a good idea for President Biden to call a climate emergency. Then he can do many, many things under the emergency powers of the President that wouldn't have t...

Living On EarthJan 28

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971, in order to protect wetlands around the world, like these Shortland wetlands in Australia. (Photo: Geoff Whalan, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

CURWOOD: It's time now to take a look beyond the headlines. And our guide is Peter Dykstra. He's an editor with Environmental Health News, that's EHN.org and DailyClimate.org. On the line now from Atlanta, Georgia. Hey there, Peter, what do you have for us today? DYKSTRA: Well, hi, Steve. You know, we've been hearing so much lately about threats to democracy. But there's a recent study that may have found that climate politics, once again, has led the way. CURWOOD: Oh, what are you talking about here? DYKSTRA: Just like those leaked emails nearly a dozen years ago from climate scientists be...

Living On EarthJan 28

A pod of sperm whales socializing. The whales are known to be highly social and tend to travel in groups. (Photo: Will Falcon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0)

'Becoming Wild' and Culture Among Animals

CURWOOD: For people culture is characterized by language, food, customs, certain territories and a shared sense of esthetics. And biologists are now paying more attention the concept of culture in the animal world. Carl Safina's latest book is called Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty and Achieve Peace. In this book he writes about how animals from whales to birds live their lives within cultures with language, food and customs that define them in ways similar to how cultures define us. Becoming Wild is Carl Safina's tenth book, and he joins me now. Welcome bac...

Living On EarthJan 28

There are less than 400 Northern Atlantic Right whales left and no more than 100 breeding females. (Photo: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, FWC Fish and Wildlife research Institute, Flickr, CC by NC ND 2.0)

Little Time Left to Save Right Whales

BASCOMB: Conservation groups recently filed an emergency rule-making petition asking the US government to expand protections for North Atlantic Right whales. Once hunted to near extinction, right whales supposedly came by their name because they were the right whale to hunt. They move slowly through the water and tend to float once killed instead of sink like most whales, making them easy to retrieve for their blubber and meat. Once hunting was banned in 1935 the population of right whales began to slowly bounce back, but today the population is again in free fall. Ship strikes and entangle...

Living On EarthJan 21

The wels catfish often grow to a size of 6 feet and a weight of 140lbs, but some scientists speculate that they can grow to over twice that size. (Photo: Craebby Crabbson, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. Well, it's time for a trip beyond the headlines with Peter Dykstra. Peter's an editor with Environmental Health News. That's EHN.org and DailyClimate.org. Hey there, Peter, what do you have for us this week? DYKSTRA: Well, hi, Bobby. As you know, every once in a while we get an invasive species story that sounds like it's straight out of either the cartoons, or the sci-fi world. Well, in this country, we've got the Asian carp, you may have seen video of these 10 or 20 pound fish who breach way clear out of the...

Living On EarthJan 21

President Joe Biden at his inauguration ceremony January 20, 2021 at the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (Photo: Screenshot of Presidential Inauguration)

U.S. Back in Paris Agreement

BASCOMB: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Bobby Bascomb. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. Well, the US is now headed back into the Paris Climate Agreement thanks to a letter President Biden sent on the afternoon of his inauguration. It was among a dozen executive actions and orders, including many aimed at reversing former President Trump's environmental rollbacks. But time, the climate emergency and the world have moved on, and the US can't simply re-engage using the old Obama Administration playbook. J...

Living On EarthJan 21

President Biden immediately signed an executive order that directs many actions including reviewing the option to restore Bears Ears National Monument, which former President Trump reduced in size by 85%. The dramatic desert landscape is home to abundant rock art, ceremonial kivas, and ancient cliff dwellings including Moon House, above. (Photo: Bob Wick / BLM, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Biden Reverses Trump Rollbacks

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. So, Steve, re-joining the Paris agreement is a huge step forward for the United States to get back on track when it comes to working with the international community to tackle climate change. CURWOOD: It most certainly is, and President Biden has been wearing out his pen since the 20th on domestic environmental issues as well, undoing much of former President Trump's environmental damage. I understand you've been looking into some of those actions for us Bobby. BASCOMB: Yeah I have! Shortly after the inaugurat...

Living On EarthJan 21

Dr. Mamphela Ramphele is a physician, activist, and founder of the Agang South Africa political party. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)

Ubuntu and Unity for Healing

CURWOOD: History will likely recall Joe Biden's speech at his inauguration on January 20th both for its inventory of America's present woes and the challenging solution he called for. PRESIDENT BIDEN: A cry for racial justice, some four hundred years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer. A cry for survival comes from the planet itself, a cry that can't be any more desperate or any more clear. And now a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront, and we will defeat. To overcome these challenges, to restore...

Living On EarthJan 21

Ice Visions

CURWOOD: 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. HOFFNER: The first house I rented after moving to New England two decades ago was on a lake. I love ice skating, and felt lucky when a cold, dry December created a perfect scenario for skating just outside my door. [ICE SKATING SOUNDS] Most mornings I'd pull on skates and glide across that lake until my legs were shaky and sore. The hiss...

Living On EarthJan 14

Deb Haaland on top of a wind turbine at El Cabo Wind Farm in New Mexico, August 2019. (Photo: Office of Congresswoman Deb Haaland, Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0)

Deb Haaland: 'Fierce for our Planet'

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood President- elect Biden recently nominated Deb Haaland to be the next Secretary of the Interior. Congresswoman Haaland represents New Mexico's 1st Congressional district and if confirmed she would be the first Native American to run the Department, which oversees the Bureaus of Indian Affairs and Indian Education as well as wildlife protections and public lands that cover roughly a fifth of the nation. Living on Earth's Jenni Doering has more. DOERING: As a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, Democratic Congressw...

Living On EarthJan 14

Beyond the Headlines

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. Let's take a look beyond the headlines now with Peter Dykstra. Peter's an editor with Environmental Health News. That's EHN.org and DailyClimate.org. He's joining us now on the line from Atlanta, Georgia, where you've been looking out beyond those headlines, Peter and seeing what? DYKSTRA: Hi, Steve. Well, last year is not everybody's favorite year 2020. But in one category, we were number one, or at least tied for number one, because 2020 and 2016 are tied as the hottest year ever on record. CURWOOD: Yeah, I'...

Living On EarthJan 14

An oil pumpjack stands near Casper, Wyoming. President-elect Biden has pledged to stop issuing new leases for oil and gas drilling on public lands during his time in office. (Photo: US Department of Energy, Flickr, Public Domain)

Interior's Next Frontiers

BASCOMB: Assuming she is confirmed, Deb Haaland has her work cut out for her. She'll be the top boss for more than 400 sites and 85 million acres in the National Park system. She'll also be in charge of the Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees endangered species protections and manages roughly 150 million acres in the National Wildlife refuge system. And she'll have final say at the Interior Department about the quarter of a billion acres of other public lands handled by the Bureau of Land Management, and whether or not those lands, along with offshore areas, be mined for coal, gas, an...

Living On EarthJan 14

Leydy Pech is a Mayan beekeeper known as "la guardiana de las abejas" or "the guardian of bees". In this picture, Leydy is holding a flower called "tajonal", which is a source of nectar for the bees in Yucatan and the surrounding region. (Photo: Courtesy of the Goldman Environmental Prize)

A Mayan Bee Guardian

BASCOMB: For the Mayan communities of Northeastern Mexico beekeeping is a sacred practice that goes back more than 3,000 years. And the forests of the Yucatan peninsula, full of flowering plants, are an ideal location for raising bees and producing honey. But starting in 2012 farmers in the region began growing soybeans that had been genetically modified so they could be sprayed with the herbicide glyphosate without damaging the crop. But, glyphosate is considered a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization and bee keepers in the region soon had a problem. Leydy Pech, a Mayan wom...

Living On EarthJan 14

Judge Merrick Garland was nominated by then-President Obama to the Supreme Court in 2016, but his nomination process was delayed and eventually expired at the end of the 114th Congress session. (Photo: Chuck Kennedy, Official White House Photo, Wikimedia CommonsPublic Domain)

Merrick Garland and the Environment

BASCOMB: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Bobby Bascomb. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. The chief judge of what many call the nation's second highest court has been tapped by President-elect Biden to serve as attorney general. Merrick Garland has spent more than 20 years on US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, which is the exclusive venue to resolve many disputes relating to environmental rules and regulations. In 2016 Senate Republicans blocked Judge Garland's nomination by President Obama to the U...

Living On EarthJan 14

A wild rabbit Julie Zickefoose loved which she called "Red," relaxing in her yard. (Photo: Julie Zickefoose)

Care for the Common Critter

BASCOMB: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Bobby Bascomb. DOERING: I'm Jenni Doering. O'NEILL: And I'm Aynsley O'Neill. As you guys know, for these couple of weeks around the holidays and the winter solstice we like to take a little break from the news to share some storytelling on the show. DOERING: Yeah, and for today's show, we asked some of our favorite story tellers and guests to share some of their animal stories with us. Bobby, I think you talked with Julie Zickefoose I mean, thanks to her I'm not...

Living On EarthDec 31

A wolf crosses the highway in Whitehorse, Yukon. (Photo: Joseph, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

'It Could Be the Last One': Stories of People Helping Rare Critters

BASCOMB: It's Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb. DOERING: I'm Jenni Doering. O'NEILL: And I'm Aynsley O'Neill. We continue our holiday special now with some more animal stories. Jenni, what do you have for us? DOERING: Yeah, I talked with Tierra Curry, she is a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. Today she mostly has a desk job, working towards getting legal protection for endangered species, plants and animals but she started by telling me about a close encounter she had a while back working with animals in Alaska. CURRY: I want to go back to about a decade ago when...

Living On EarthDec 31

Jennifer Junghans had long dreamed of traveling to the Galapagos to swim with the marine iguanas. (Photo: Jennifer Junghans)

Wildly Magical: Animal Encounters in the Galapagos

DOERING: So, Aynsley, I know from hearing your stories around the office that you lived in Ecuador for a while and actually you spent some time in the Galapagos, around all those strange and wonderful animals. O'NEILL: Yes, it was definitely one of the coolest experiences in my life! BASCOMB: Oh, I'm jealous. The Galapagos is high on my list of places I'd love to visit. O'NEILL: You definitely should if you ever get the chance. But in the mean time we have a story from writer Jennifer Junghans that will take you to the Galapagos, at least for a few minutes. JUNGHANS: For as long as I can re...

Living On EarthDec 31

Dogs hold a special place in many people's hearts and are lovingly referred to as "man's best friend". (Photo: Nathanael Coyne, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Native American Stories of Human and Animal Kinship

DOERING: We're back with Living on Earth, I'm Jenni Doering. O'NEILL: I'm Aynsley O'Neill BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. Many Native American communities belong to a clan which identifies with an animal. There are bear, deer, and loon clans to name a few. Those animals are featured in their traditional stories. So, to hear some of them I called up Joe Bruchac. He is a story teller and musician with the Nulhegan Abenaki tribe of Vermont and Upstate New York. And Joe carves and plays traditional flutes. [FLUTE MUSIC PERFORMED BY JOE BRUCHAC] BRUCHAC: We say that the flute came to be when a w...

Living On EarthDec 31

A grey wolf stalks (photo: bigstockphoto.com)

The Power Of Stories

CURWOOD: From the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios in Boston, this is Living on Earth. Here in the Northern half of the world we're deep into winter. For many of us the holiday season is usually a time for reflection and gatherings with friends and family, though the coronavirus pandemic has made gatherings difficult. But it's still a time to look back on the year, and refresh our shared memories and traditions. A tradition we've had for many years here at Living on Earth is to feature stories and legends of the winter holiday season, and not our usual fare of environmental news and comment...

Living On EarthDec 24

A clear winter night (photo: bigstockphoto.org)

Stories of the Night Sky and an English Wassail

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. We continue our storytelling now with Nulhegan Abenaki storyteller, Joe Bruchac. BRUCHAC: Long ago, the Iroquois people say there were 7 boys who wanted to do just as their fathers did. To have a special medicine lodge society. In such a lodge, they would play a drum and they would dance and sing and they would have a great feast afterward, and so they went to their parents and told them what they wanted to do. But their mothers and their fathers, they laughed at those boys: "You are too young to do this sort of thing! Go and play some other...

Living On EarthDec 24

Stories of the seasons (Photo: Barbara Friedman, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Native American Tales

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. Our gift to you this holiday season is an old-fashioned one of some stories. They're about earth n keeping how things came to be, and human relationships with other living things. [Music by Medicine Story] CURWOOD: That's the music of Medicine Story, a Wampanoag storyteller who passed away in 2018. He wrote several books, including Return to Creation and Children of the Morning Lighte. And here is his story about the darkness of winter and welcoming the sun. ROSS: Just about now we're having the longest nights of the year. And as of the sols...

Living On EarthDec 24

President Xi Jinping spoke at the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit and pledged to reduce China's carbon intensity over 65% by 2030. (Photo: Screenshot of UN Climate Summit)

UN Moves Forward with Paris Climate Agreement

CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. BELTRAN: And I'm Paloma Beltran. The annual UN climate meetings scheduled to take place in Glasgow at COP26 this year were postponed until next year due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the important work of ramping up international ambition on climate must go on, as the Paris Climate Accord turns five. So despite a year full of challenges and limitations 70 world leaders and heads of state convened for a virtual "Climate Ambition Summit" co-hoste...

Living On EarthDec 17

Banks and insurance agencies pour billions into coal projects each year. (Photo: Roman Ranniew, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Keeping Coal from Going to the Bank

BELTRAN: It's Living on Earth. I'm Paloma Beltran CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. At the virtual climate summit French president Emmanuel Macron emphasized his country's commitment to tackling climate change by addressing climate culpability in the financial sector. That's been the same approach of French environmental activist Lucie Pinson, who won a Goldman Environmental Prize for her work stopping new coal development. The coal industry needs loans and insurance to operate, and she convinced some of the biggest banks and underwriters to divest. Lucie Pinson joins me now on the line from ...

Living On EarthDec 17

One of President Xi's pledges involves increasing China's forest stock by 6 billion cubic meters, as compared to their 2005 levels. (Photo: Yunastic, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

China's Bold Climate Action Plan

CURWOOD: Now turning back to China, the boldest commitments unveiled at the Climate Ambition Summit came from President Xi Jinping. He promised to cut the CO2 intensity in China's economy by two thirds over the coming decade, and at the same time increase China's wind and solar energy capacities to more than 1,200 gigawatts. President Xi also pledged to add six billion tons of wood to China's forests and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. For more insight we turn now to Ranping Song, the Developing Country Climate Action Manager for the World Resources Institute. He's on the line now from N...

Living On EarthDec 17

A protest in front of the Norwegian Parliament. In the background is an art piece consisting of 400 reindeer skulls, created by M?ret ?nne Sara. (Photo: Astrid Carlsen (WMNO), Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY 4.0)

The Reindeer Chronicles: Working with Nature to Heal the Earth

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. BELTRAN: And I'm Paloma Beltran. Environmental destruction and habitat loss can feel overwhelming but the trend can be reversed. That's according to environmental researcher Judith Schwartz. Her book, The Reindeer Chronicles: And Other Inspiring Stories of Working with Nature to Heal the Earth, details how people around the world are reclaiming land and helping mother nature. The book's title is inspired by a case from Norway where the native Sami people still herd reindeer just as they have for generations. The Norwegian government claimed ...

Living On EarthDec 17

Scientists find that some sea turtle communities nesting along the Red Sea only produce females as a result of a rise in sand temperatures. (Photo: Frank_am_Main, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

CURWOOD: Well, it's time now for us to take a look beyond the headlines with Peter Dykstra. Peter is an editor with Environmental Health News as EHN.org and DailyClimate.org, and he's on the line now from Atlanta. Hey, Peter, what do you have for us this week? DYKSTRA: Oh, hi, Steve. Got a little bad news from a journal called Conservation Science And Practice. They studied sea turtle nests, loggerhead turtles, hawksbill turtles all nest around the Red Sea. And with each species, including the ones that are most threatened or endangered, there are some nesting populations that produce only ...

Living On EarthDec 17

Denim microfibers were found to dye wastewater discharge blue, and are ingested by rainbow smelt fish. (Photo: Noirathsi's Eye, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Microfiber Pollution: Note on Emerging Science: Denim

[SCIENCE NOTE THEME] MOK: Denim is one of the most widely worn fabrics in the world. But it can have a huge environmental cost. A recent study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters shows that each washing of a single pair of jeans can release up to 56,000 denim microfibers, those are tiny cotton threads encased with chemical additives, including indigo dye. From washing machines, those microfibers make their way through the sewage system. And then they are frequently discharged into aquatic ecosystems where they can wreak havoc on the environment. To learn more...

Living On EarthDec 17

For more of Joe Bruchac's storytelling, tune in next week. (Photo: Enrico Strocchi, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Story Time

CURWOOD: Here at Living on Earth we have a holiday tradition of taking a break from the news to share some story telling. Over the next couple weeks we'll have stories of the winter solstice, human kindness to animals, and some traditional Native American tales. To kick it off we are going to offer a sneak peak of what we are working on with Joe Brushac. Joe is a storyteller and musician with the Nulhegan Abenaki tribe of Vermont and Upstate New York, and like many of us, a dog lover. BRUCHAC: Yeah, the dog is a very special being. And you know, we say that we learn from every animal that e...

Living On EarthDec 17

Coho salmon struggle up a stream in the Pacific Northwest. (Photo: Oregon Department of Forestry, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

O'NEILL: It's time now for us to take a look beyond the headlines with Peter Dykstra. He's an editor with Environmental Health News, that's ehn.org, and DailyClimate.org. And he's on the line now from Atlanta, Georgia. Hey there, Peter! What do you got for us this week? DYKSTRA: Hi, Aynsley. We're gonna look at a murder mystery in the Pacific Northwest. Every time a heavy rain would hit around Puget Sound and the Seattle area, there would be a die-off of coho salmon in all the spawning streams along the Sound. And scientists have finally put a finger on, not solving the crime, but at least ...

Living On EarthDec 10

December is the start of several gift-giving holidays, such as Hanukkah and Christmas. (Photo: PX Here, Public Domain)

'Tis the Season for Green Gifts

BASCOMB: Hey Aynsley! So this year has gone by so fast. We're right in the middle of gift giving season already. Hanukkah just started this week and Christmas is just around the corner. O'NEILL: I know! And what a weird year. A lot of people aren't going to be seeing many friends or family this season. BASCOMB: Right. But you know, we can still celebrate just a little bit differently this year. So, to kick it off, we asked the crew here at the show to come up with some green gift ideas. But, no recycling that decades old fruitcake though. O'NEILL: No, but one of our producers Paloma Beltran...

Living On EarthDec 10

The Pacific Crest Trail runs 2,650 miles from the U.S. border with Mexico to the Canadian border. (Photo: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington, Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Journeys North: The Pacific Crest Trail

O'NEILL: It's Living on Earth, I'm Aynsley O'Neill. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. Every year, several hundred intrepid hikers walk all the way from Mexico to Canada, along the Pacific Crest Trail. At more than twenty-six hundred miles long, it covers some of the most challenging and spectacular terrain in North America. But it's not just about the pretty scenery. In his book Journeys North: The Pacific Crest Trail author Barney Scout Mann writes about the tight-knit community he and his wife Sandy found when they hiked the PCT. He joins us now from his home in San Diego, California. Welco...

Living On EarthDec 10

Microbeads, such as those in many skincare products, have been showing up in the world's waterways en masse. (Photo: MPCA Photos, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Produce and Microplastics

O'NEILL: It's Living on Earth, I'm Aynsley O'Neill BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. Many people are concerned about pesticides in our food, and new research suggests there is another potential contaminant that we should be aware of. Plastic. Researchers are finding literally tons of microplastic particles on farmland. They can range in size from five millimeters, about the width of a strand of spaghetti, to microscopic, the size of a virus. A buildup of microplastic on farm soil raises concerns about degrading farmland and of course the safety of our food. Freelance journalist Kate Petersen ...

Living On EarthDec 10

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa receives a shipment of N95 face masks and other Personal Protective Equipment. (Photo: GCIS, GovernmentZA, Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)

Africa's Low Covid Fatality Rate

BASCOMB: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth, I'm Bobby Bascomb. O'NEILL: And I'm Aynsley O'Neill. The COVID 19 infection and death rates across the African continent are turning out to be lower than previously feared, to the astonishment of scientists and public health workers alike. Africa is home to 17% of the world's population, but the continent only accounts for 3.5% of the world's reported COVID deaths. Even with the knowledge that there may be some underreporting, epidemiologists are still puzzled by wh...

Living On EarthDec 10

The Road To Darwin

DOERING: Australia is full of wonderful and strange animals. From salt water crocodiles and turtles that breathe through their behinds to the duck billed platypus, a mammal that lays eggs. For all its oddities the island country isn't home to any native big cats. But rumors of sightings have circulated since the 1800s and Living on Earth's Explorer in Residence, Mark Seth Lender, recently had a close encounter of his own. The Road to Darwin Driving north on the Stewart Highway, (two lanes straight as an arrow) the tarmac belongs to the Road Trains. Three and four trailers 120 metric tons ea...

Living On EarthDec 3

Newly named Wilton Cardinal Gregory is the Archbishop of Washington, DC.(Photo: DC-wiki-2020, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Beyond The Headlines

DOERING: It's time now for look beyond the headlines with Peter Dykstra. He's an editor with environmental health news. That's EHN.org and DailyClimate.org. And he's on the line from Atlanta, Georgia. Hi, Peter. What do you got for us this week? DYKSTRA: Well, hi, Jenni and Atlanta, Georgia is where we start because the former Catholic Archbishop of Atlanta Wilton Gregory, then moved to Washington to be Archbishop there, was just raised by the pope to be Wilton, Cardinal Gregory, the first US African American Cardinal. He's also one of the most active and vociferous Cardinals on climate cha...

Living On EarthDec 3

As unemployment surged after a major shutdown of businesses during the coronavirus, pandemic food banks became understaffed and overwhelmed by demand. (Photo: Chief Petty Officer Sarah Foster, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

The Pandemic And American Hunger

DOERING: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Jenni Doering. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. The coronavirus pandemic has exposed a number of fault lines in America, from skepticism and outright rejection of proven science to the perilous economic state of many households. The long lines at food banks are testimony of growing food insecurity in the US, which was already at ten percent of households before the pandemic, and more and more people without a job now struggle to feed their families. But the US pr...

Living On EarthDec 3

The Arctic tern has the longest migration route out of any bird. Every year, it flies from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back. (Photo: Ed Dunens, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Migrations: A Powerful Novel About A World Losing Life

DOERING: It's Living on Earth, I'm Jenni Doering. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. Charlotte McConaghy has written a debut novel Migrations that is attracting a lot of attention for its brilliant writing and core topic, climate disruption. The novel is set in a future in which many of the animals we know and love, like polar bears and the great apes are extinct and the oceans are running out of fish. Yet, the Arctic Tern, a bird known for having the world's longest migration, remains. In years yet to come one woman follows what might be the very last migration of Arctic Terns from pole to po...

Living On EarthDec 3

To adapt to COVID-19 precautions, many scientific researchers have had to socially distance while at work, if they have been able to continue their research. (Photo: Dennis Schroeder, National Renewable Energy Lab, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Troubles For Science Research In The Pandemic

CURWOOD: The Coronavirus pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of life and society, including the ways in which some scientific research is conducted. A number of laboratories have had to shut down and funding has become more of a challenge. Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Jes Burns has the story. BURNS: During the early days of the pandemic, whether or not you had a backbone could have been the difference between life and death. At least if you were a lab animal. BRANDER: LSU would let you take care of fish during the shutdown, but invertebrates were not considered to be, I guess, ...

Living On EarthDec 3

Chibeze Ezekiel giving a talk on climate change to schoolchildren in Ekumfi for his "Children for Climate Action" program. (Credit: Goldman Environmental Prize)

Ghanaian Climate Leader Wins Goldman Prize

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. DOERING: And I'm Jenni Doering. In 2013, the government in Ghana planned to build a 700 MegaWatt coal power plant in the coastal fishing community of Aboana. But for Ghanaian environmental activist Chibeze Ezekiel the risk of a coal fired power plant was too high. He'd seen how coal had polluted other African communities and was worried it would worsen climate change. So, Mr. Ezekiel organized a grassroots youth campaign and successfully convinced the government to drop coal and invest instead in renewable energy. For his work Chibeze Ezekie...

Living On EarthDec 3

The Hoopoe's raised crest contributes to its distinctive appearance. (Photo: Nash Chou, Creative Commons)

BirdNote(R): What In The World Is A Hoopoe?

BirdNote(R) ??What in the World Is a Hoopoe? Written by Bob Sundstrom [Hoopoe song http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/6665, 0.44-.48] These soft, modest hoots signal a bird so distinctive, so fabled, that it is hard to know where to begin its story. So, let's start with the bird's name, Hoopoe [pronounced HOO-poo] -- or Hoopo -- modeled on its song. [Hoopoe song http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/6665, 0.44-.48] Its scientific title, too, comes from those mellow hoots: Upupa epops. Hoopoes are also the only extant members of a unique family of birds: Upupidae [pr: oo-POO-puh-dee] And it's a cra...

Living On EarthDec 3

The landscape of Monte Vista, Colorado. (Photo: Mark Seth Lender)

The Dark

CURWOOD: When night falls and animals can no longer see many instead rely on sound to find each other and communicate....... As Living on Earth's Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender found in the mountains of Colorado. LENDER: Two bald eagles come through the woods, a last shadow in the failing light. All afternoon, not far from here, eight of them perched in the same tree. They were waiting for the slough to thaw, to feed, upon the carp beneath the ice. The thaw never came. Now the eagles are headed home. There is no moon... Moments later it is too dark to see. [CRANE SOUNDS] A flight of...

Living On EarthNov 26

Democratic challenger Jon Osoff supports a major infrastructure program that includes renewable energy, sustainability, and coastal community adaptation. (Photo: John Ramspott, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

The Climate & Georgia Senate Showdown

CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. With the announcement that John Kerry will be the special Presidential climate envoy for the Biden Administration, it's clear America is headed back into climate action. Mr. Kerry is a former Secretary of State and one of the architects of the Paris Climate Agreement. And he will undoubtedly shepherd a host of executive orders and rules to advance climate action and reverse the anti-climate policies of the Trump administration. Scoring major gains...

Living On EarthNov 26

The Metropolitan Transit Authority, which runs New York City's subway system, is asking for $12 billion in relief funding to deal with its $16.4B deficit. (Photo: Pom', Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. And on the line now from Atlanta, Georgia is Peter Dykstra. Peter is an editor with Environmental Health News. That's ehn.org and dailyclimate.org. Hey there, Peter! What do you have to tell us about what's going on beyond the headlines today? DYKSTRA: Well, hi, Steve! We'll start out with a little big news from Texas. That tired old cliche about everything being big and bigger in Texas. But here's some good, big news from Texas on the clean energy front. CURWOOD: Oh, what do you got? DYKSTRA: The Samson project in northeastern Texas is a hu...

Living On EarthNov 26

An estimated 850,000 registered voters in Georgia consider climate or the environment to be their top priority when it comes to voting. (Photo: Phil Roeder, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Mustering Georgia's Environmental Voters

CURWOOD: The November general election in Georgia was very close, and the two Senate seats will be decided in runoffs January 5th. So to see how environmental and climate voters might influence those races we called up Nathaniel Stinnett to crunch the numbers. He's founder and executive director of Environmental Voter Project. Welcome back to Living on Earth, Nathaniel! STINNETT: Thank you, Steve. It's so great to be back. CURWOOD: Nathaniel, please remind us how you determine who is and who isn't an environmental voter. STINNETT: We actually have a pretty high bar for what it means to be a...

Living On EarthNov 26

In Alaskan kelp reefs, otter populations help to keep sea urchin populations in check. (Photo: Canopic, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Note on Emerging Science: Sea Otters Protect Alaskan Reefs

CURWOOD: Just ahead why protecting the health of our planet is crucial to protecting our own human health but first this note on emerging science from Leah Jablo. [SCIENCE NOTE THEME] JABLO: New research published in the journal Science finds that sea urchins are destroying both carbon sequestering kelp and the coral bedrock beneath it, showing us how small animals can pack a big ecological punch. [OTTER SOUNDS] Animals like sea otters. The relationship between sea otters eat sea urchins is well known. A keystone species, sea otters eat sea urchins and keep their populations in check. But t...

Living On EarthNov 26

Planetary Health

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. Human health is an integral part of any discussion about our changing planet and with the pandemic, it is more relevant than ever. Scientists say that our impacts on the environment increase the risk of pandemics. Deforestation, for example, brings us closer to animals that might have zoonotic diseases like Covid 19. And our agricultural system relies on large livestock farms that could serve as reservoirs for viruses. Physician Sam Myers studies the intersection of environmental change and human health. As part of our LOE Book Club live eve...

Living On EarthNov 26

Birth control pills typically contain synthetic progestin and estrogen. (Photo: Sarah C, Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)

Making the Pill from Yams to Fish

CURWOOD: Worldwide, more than 150 million women use birth control pills. Most use a version made of two synthetic hormones, progestin, and estrogen. The little pills come from a surprising source, and these hormones can also affect waste water. Reporter Alison Bruzek has the story. BRUZEK: Step one in making a birth control pill: Find the right wild yams. SANTEN: The brilliant move was to go down to Mexico and find all of these yams. BRUZEK: This is Richard Santen, an endocrinologist at the University of Virginia. And he's talking about the 1942 trip that gave us one of the pill's key compo...

Living On EarthNov 26

A new Canadian study finds that marine mammals like beluga whales may be particularly at risk of coronavirus from humans. (Photo: Jason Pier, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

CURWOOD: Well, let's take a look beyond the headlines now with our usual guide. That's Peter Dykstra. He's an editor with Environmental Health News. That's ehn.org and dailyclimate.org. He's on the line now from Atlanta, Georgia. Hey there, Peter, how you doing? What's going on? DYKSTRA: Well, hi, Steve. We've heard a lot justifiably about the tragedies of COVID-19. A quarter of a million human beings killed in this country by the pandemic with warnings that the worst could be yet to come. Here's one more little thing that you probably haven't heard. COVID could be a risk if transferred fro...

Living On EarthNov 19

Succotash is a traditional Native American dish consisting of sweet corn, lima beans and other shell beans. (Photo: Susan Lucas Hofman, Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0)

Native American Traditions of Giving Thanks

CURWOOD: Thanksgiving is one holiday that most Americans feel free to celebrate. No matter what religious or cultural background we come from many of us, in a normal year at least, will gather with friends and family on the fourth Thursday of November to feast on the foods of the harvest season. This year, of course is different, but the spirit of gratitude is still alive during the pandemic. But Thanksgiving is rather more complicated for the people at the center of the Thanksgiving story, Native Americans. There are nearly 600 Native American tribal nations in the US today, each with thei...

Living On EarthNov 19

The Biden-Harris administration has pledged to move the United States towards a 100% clean energy economy, but this is challenged by national oil and gas extraction and a need for renewable energy sources. (Photo: The White House, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

How Biden Can Keep It in the Ground

CURWOOD: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. Just as President Trump's denial of the science of Covid-19 is amplifying its deadly course, his denial of the science of climate change is speeding up the world's rush into deadly climate disruption. All that will make for heavy lifting by the incoming Biden-Harris Administration as it will soon try to reverse and realign climate and environmental policies to respect the truth of science. Halting or reducing the exploitation of public lands to av...

Living On EarthNov 19

The pawpaw tree is the largest edible fruit native to the United States. (Photo: Alice Crain, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Down Yonder in the Pawpaw Patch

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. In many parts of North America, it's well past harvest time, but not for the paw-paw. The paw paw is a native fruit in the Eastern US that ripens in the late fall. Paw paws were a delicious food source for Native Americans, as well for people escaping from slavery on the journey North to freedom. And there are still some paw paw patches feeding folks today, though you can't find them in grocery stores. Last spring When Living on Earth's Bobby Bascomb spoke with Michael Weishan, former host of the Victory Garden on PBS, about gardening amid t...

Living On EarthNov 19

"Emily's Oysters" are sustainably farmed in Casco Bay, Maine. (Photo: Courtesy of Emily Selinger)

Sustainable Thanksgiving Fare from the Sea

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. In the 19th century oysters were a popular food item in the US, especially with the advent of commerical food canning, and by 1900 Americans were gobbling down some 160 million pounds of oysters a year. But over consumption, sanitation concerns about raw oysters and the huge expansion of the beef and pork business that the railroads made possible, led to the oyster's decline. Farmed correctly, oysters can be sustainable and their reefs protect coastal areas, so in recent years the popularity of local foods has spawned new oyster farmers--far...

Living On EarthNov 19

President-elect Joe Biden and his transition team have to move quickly now to hit the ground running on climate change from Day One of his presidency. Seen here in 2014, then-President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden hustle along the Colonnade of the White House during a "Let's Move!" video taping. (Photo: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Climate and the Biden Transition

BASCOMB: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Bobby Bascomb. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. By January 20th President-elect Joe Biden has to figure how to make nearly five thousand appointments of people to lead the federal government, and how to budget some five trillion dollars next year to get all the work done. Top priorities are Covid-19, climate, the economy and equal justice. The transition to power takes planning and coordination, but as we go to air, the Trump administration is making false claims...

Living On EarthNov 12

The coyote darts across a street in Sacramento. (Photo: Jennifer Berry Junghans)

Midtown Coyote

BASCOMB: The pandemic has put a spotlight on the challenges of parenting in the absence of childcare. But even in an era of remote learning and spotty Zoom meetings we humans probably still have it easier than many animals trying to successfully raise their young. Here's writer Jennifer Berry Junghans on how a mother coyote manages to eke out a living in the heart of California's capitol. JUNGHANS: She dug her den in the dense ivy butting up against the sidewalk in a residential neighborhood of midtown Sacramento. A fresh mound of dirt at the entrance of her 10-foot burrow gave it away, beh...

Living On EarthNov 12

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banned lead shot for waterfowl hunting on public lands back in 1991, but lead ammunition is still widely used for hunting other game, like the above white-tailed buck. (Photo: Larry Smith, Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Lead in Hunted Meat

CURWOOD: Fall is a peak time for hunting deer and moose, and millions of families put that meat on the table with pride. And what they can't use is often given to food banks. But much of that game is shot with lead ammunition that splinters and contaminates the meat, which can lead to health problems in adults and impair cognitive development and functioning in children. There are alternatives to lead ammunition such as copper, and some 25 years ago the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banned the use of lead shot to hunt waterfowl. And California recently became the first state to issue a ful...

Living On EarthNov 12

Each tree ring represents a year in the life of the tree. The youngest rings are the outer ones, closest to the bark. This bald cypress is estimated to have been about 700 years old when it was fossilized. (Photo: James St. John, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

Tree Story: The History of the World Written in Rings

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood. BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. As we enter uncharted territory for humans with climate change many scientists are turning to the past to find answers about what to expect in the future. Shifts in the global climate happen naturally over millennia and they can leave a number of clues behind. At the University of Arizona, paleoclimatologist Valerie Trouet uses dendrochronology to learn about the ancient climate on earth by studying tree rings. Trees are constantly storing information about climatic conditions and some of them can live to be t...

Living On EarthNov 12

New Jersey is banning single use plastic bags as well as polluting products like foam food products and clam shell takeout boxes. (Photo: Gill King, Flickr, CC BY SA 2.0)

Beyond the Headlines

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood BASCOMB: And I'm Bobby Bascomb. It's time now for a look Beyond the Headlines with Peter Dykstra. Peter is an editor with environmental health news that's ehn.org and dailyclimate.org. Hey there, Peter, what do you have for us this week? DYKSTRA: Well, hi Bobby, we're gonna start with a trip back to my beloved ancestral home New Jersey. Last week, Governor Phil Murphy signed the most sweeping restrictions on single use plastic bags, in grocery stores and other retail establishments, plastic bags are going to be phased out by May of 2022. BASC...

Living On EarthNov 12

The Biden-Harris plan for clean energy aims to reach net zero emissions by the year 2050. (Photo: Gage Skidmore, Flickr, CC BY SA 2.0)

Biden, Republicans and the Climate

O'NEILL: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley studio at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth. I'm Aynsley O'Neill. CURWOOD: And I'm Steve Curwood. As we go to broadcast all indications are that Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States, though President Trump has not yet conceded. Mr. Biden will take office in the midst of the surging coronavirus pandemic and the climate emergency. Both threats will require a bipartisan effort to address them. During the campaign Mr. Biden released a clean energy plan aimed at pushing the United States towards...

Living On EarthNov 5