Earth Wise

By Randy SimonScience Education Self-Improvement Natural Sciences Nature

Earth Wise episodes

January 12, 2018 North Atlantic Right Whales
https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/EW-01-12-18-North-Atlantic-Right-Whales.mp3
North Atlantic right whales are one of the rarest marine mammals in the world. In fact, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are only about 450 of the whales left. Measuring approximately 50 feet long and weighing close to 100,000 pounds, North Atlantic right whales are now more critically endangered than mountain gorillas, black rhinos, and giant pandas.
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2 min
January 11, 2018 The 100-Day Giant Battery
https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EW-01-11-18-The-100-Day-Giant-Battery.mp3
The Australian state of South Australia suffered crippling electricity outages in September 2016, which coincided with gale-force winds and flooding rains. The outages were triggered by storm damage to major transmission lines followed by wind farms disconnecting from the power grid.
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2 min
January 10, 2018 Climate Change And Barley
https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EW-01-10-18-Climate-Change-and-Barley.mp3
The impacts of increased carbon dioxide and the changing climate are often complicated and, it turns out, not always negative. In some areas of the world, people can actually benefit from increased CO2 and climate change. Barley, the most important feed crop for beef production in Alberta, Canada, as well as the province’s beef industry itself actually stand to gain from the changes that are most assuredly not a good thing for much of the world.
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2 min
January 09, 2018 Disappearing Kelp Forests
https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EW-01-09-18-Disappearing-Kelp-Forests.mp3
In recent decades, ocean temperatures in many places have warmed by nearly 3 degrees Fahrenheit. An effect of this warmer water is the decimation of what were once luxuriant giant kelp forests in eastern Australia and Tasmania. There used to be thick canopies covering much of the region’s coastal sea surface, but they have wilted in the intolerably warm and nutrient-poor water.
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2 min
January 08, 2018 Turning Emissions Into Fuel
https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/EW-01-08-18-Turning-Emissions-Into-Fuel.mp3
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is an essential element in mitigating climate change. The best approach is to not produce the stuff in the first place and the ongoing transition away from fossil fuels is trying to do just that. But realistically, fossil fuels will be with us for a long time to come. Given that, additional approaches are necessary.
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2 min
January 05, 2018 Economics Of Solar And Wind Power
https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EW-01-05-18-Economics-of-Solar-and-Wind-Power.mp3
It is well-known that the cost of both solar and wind energy has been dropping dramatically in recent years. That trend is largely responsible for the rapid growth of both power sources. A recent study has revealed just how remarkable the economic progress has been.
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2 min
January 04, 2018 Carbon And The Dark Ocean
https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EW-01-04-18-Carbon-and-the-Dark-Ocean.mp3
Sunlight entering the water can travel as much as 3,000 feet into the ocean depths under the right conditions, but ordinarily there is no significant light that penetrates beyond about 650 feet down. That upper 650 feet is called the euphotic or “sunlight” zone and is home to most familiar marine life. The “dark ocean”, everything below that depth, makes up 90% of the ocean and remarkably little is known about it.
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2 min
January 03, 2018 Coffee Power
https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/EW-01-03-18-Coffee-Power.mp3
The residents of London are known for tea drinking, but in fact each of them consumes an average of 2.3 cups of coffee a day as well. But now, it won’t just be commuters that are running on coffee in the morning. London buses will in part run on oil produced from coffee grounds.
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2 min
January 02, 2018 A Philippine Coral Reef Survives
https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/EW-01-02-18-Philippine-Coral-Reef-Survives.mp3
One of the greatest coral reef ecosystems in the world, the Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines, continues to prosper. Undersea coral walls that plunge more than 300 feet deep are home to some 600 species of fish and 360 kinds of coral, about half of all known species. According to experts, the ocean wilderness of Tubbataha Reef is about the closest thing to a true natural state for any reef in the world.
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2 min
January 01, 2018 Floating Cities
https://earthwiseradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/EW-01-01-18-Floating-Cities.mp3
A familiar theme in science fiction is the idea of floating cities – independent, self-sustaining nation-states at sea where start-up societies work to redesign society and government and don’t have to fight over who owns the land. The concept even has a name: seasteading.
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2 min

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From green business and new environmental legislation to how nature impacts our environment in ways never before considered, Earth Wise offers a look at our changing environment.