Green Pulse

Green Pulse Ep 8: How climate change affects our food supply

13 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times dives into all things green, blue and brown. Green Pulse analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change. 

This episode educates more on the link between food and climate change, and how small actions, from wasting less food or eating more vegetables instead of meat, can help.

This month, ST’s environment correspondent Audrey Tan and assistant foreign editor David Fogarty chats with Professor William Chen, the Michael Fam Chair Professor and Director of NTU Food Science & Technology Programme, on the link between climate change and Singapore’s food supply. 

As a small island-state, Singapore does not have the space to accommodate acres of farmland. It imports more than 90 per cent of its food. In 2018, 53% of Singapore’s food supply was imported from Asean nations, according to the Singapore Food Agency.

In August, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted how climate change and poor land management practices threaten the world's farmlands and food security.

Global warming, for example, could affect the types of crops grown in the tropics, making food security an issue of concern for Singapore. 

Produced by: Audrey Tan ([email protected]), David Fogarty ([email protected]) & Ernest Luis

Edited by: Adam Azlee

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/J6EV 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Follow Audrey Tan on Twitter: https://str.sg/JLMB

Read her stories: https://str.sg/JLM2

Follow David Fogarty on Twitter: https://str.sg/JLM6

Read his stories: https://str.sg/JLMu

---

Discover ST's special edition podcasts:

Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2

Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB

Invisible Asia: https://str.sg/wuZn

---

Discover more ST podcast series:

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

SG Extra: https://str.sg/wukR

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

Bookmark This!: https://str.sg/JWas

Lunch With Sumiko: https://str.sg/J6hQ

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#greenpulse

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Green Pulse Ep 8: How climate change affects our food supply

13 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times dives into all things green, blue and brown. Green Pulse analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change. 

This episode educates more on the link between food and climate change, and how small actions, from wasting less food or eating more vegetables instead of meat, can help.

This month, ST’s environment correspondent Audrey Tan and assistant foreign editor David Fogarty chats with Professor William Chen, the Michael Fam Chair Professor and Director of NTU Food Science & Technology Programme, on the link between climate change and Singapore’s food supply. 

As a small island-state, Singapore does not have the space to accommodate acres of farmland. It imports more than 90 per cent of its food. In 2018, 53% of Singapore’s food supply was imported from Asean nations, according to the Singapore Food Agency.

In August, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted how climate change and poor land management practices threaten the world's farmlands and food security.

Global warming, for example, could affect the types of crops grown in the tropics, making food security an issue of concern for Singapore. 

Produced by: Audrey Tan ([email protected]) & David Fogarty ([email protected])

Follow Audrey Tan on Twitter

Follow David Fogarty on Twitter

Edited by: Adam Azlee

Follow more Green Pulse podcasts and rate us on:

Spotify: http://str.sg/oCXj

Apple Podcasts: http://str.sg/oyLk

Google podcasts: http://str.sg/oyLZ

Playlist: https://str.sg/JwRh 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Green Pulse Ep 7: Geoengineering: Can modifying the climate stop climate change?

12:50 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times dives into all things green, blue and brown. Green Pulse analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

This month, ST’s environment correspondent Audrey Tan chats with Dr Corey Gabriel, a climate scientist from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California on geoengineering - the act of modifying Earth’s natural systems to reduce the effects of global warming.

There are two main types of geoengineering strategies. The first is to increase the reflectivity of Earth so the sun’s radiation is reflected back into space.

This is known as the albedo effect, and scientists think some ways this can be done is by making marine clouds brighter or by injecting reflective particles in the stratosphere.

The second is through a process of carbon dioxide removal, where heat-trapping carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere through processes such as ocean fertilisation.

Under this scenario, iron is added to the ocean to help photosynthetic organisms called phytoplankton grow better. The theory is that more phytoplankton in the ocean would increase the drawdown of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, since these organisms require carbon dioxide to photosynthesise.

To date, geoengineering has remained largely theoretical, and is clouded by many uncertainties. It is also a thorny issue that some feel detracts attention away from climate change mitigation, or the need to drastically cut emissions from fossil fuels.

Hear from Dr Gabriel on the types of geoengineering strategies and their surrounding controversies, and what this could mean for the global climate change debate.

Produced by: Audrey Tan ([email protected]) and Ernest Luis

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/J6EV 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Follow Audrey Tan on Twitter: https://str.sg/JLMB

Read her stories: https://str.sg/JLM2

---

Discover ST's special edition podcasts:

Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2

Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB

Invisible Asia: https://str.sg/wuZn

---

Discover more ST podcast series:

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

SG Extra: https://str.sg/wukR

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

Bookmark This!: https://str.sg/JWas

Lunch With Sumiko: https://str.sg/J6hQ

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#greenpulse

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Green Pulse Ep 7: Geoengineering: Can modifying the climate stop climate change?

12:50 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times dives into all things green, blue and brown. Green Pulse analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

This month, ST’s environment correspondent Audrey Tan chats with Dr Corey Gabriel, a climate scientist from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California on geoengineering - the act of modifying Earth’s natural systems to reduce the effects of global warming.

There are two main types of geoengineering strategies. The first is to increase the reflectivity of Earth so the sun’s radiation is reflected back into space.

This is known as the albedo effect, and scientists think some ways this can be done is by making marine clouds brighter or by injecting reflective particles in the stratosphere.

The second is through a process of carbon dioxide removal, where heat-trapping carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere through processes such as ocean fertilisation.

Under this scenario, iron is added to the ocean to help photosynthetic organisms called phytoplankton grow better. The theory is that more phytoplankton in the ocean would increase the drawdown of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, since these organisms require carbon dioxide to photosynthesise.

To date, geoengineering has remained largely theoretical, and is clouded by many uncertainties. It is also a thorny issue that some feel detracts attention away from climate change mitigation, or the need to drastically cut emissions from fossil fuels.

Hear from Dr Gabriel on the types of geoengineering strategies and their surrounding controversies, and what this could mean for the global climate change debate.

Produced by: Audrey Tan ([email protected]) & David Fogarty ([email protected])

Follow Audrey Tan on Twitter

Follow David Fogarty on Twitter

Edited by: Adam Azlee

Follow more Green Pulse podcasts and rate us on:

Spotify: http://str.sg/oCXj

Apple Podcasts: http://str.sg/oyLk

Google podcasts: http://str.sg/oyLZ

Playlist: https://str.sg/JwRh 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Green Pulse Ep 6: The winds of El Nino change: 

12:49 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times dives into all things green, blue and brown. Green Pulse analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

This month, we chat with Mr Rodney Martinez, international director for the Ecuador-based International Research Centre on El Nino, or CIIFEN, on a climate phenomenon known to wreak havoc all across the Pacific Ocean - El Nino.

El Nino is a natural climate cycle that can significantly influence weather patterns across the world. When it hits, on average every three to four years, it brings hotter and drier conditions to South-east Asia.

This causes forest fires in places such as Indonesia to burn harder and for longer, and in 2015, it resulted in the worst haze crisis on record for the region.

Across the Pacific Ocean, however, El Nino has an opposite, but no less destructive, impact. In places such as Ecuador and Peru, El Nino brings rain to the usually arid coast of South America, causing flash floods. And as the waters warm along the coast during El Nino events, the supply of nutrient-rich cool water to the surface is cut off, affecting fisheries and ecosystems there.

El Nino is a natural climate cycle that would occur regardless of human-caused climate change. But its impact - ranging from changing rainfall patterns to warming seas - offers us a glimpse into what things could be like in a warming world.

In April 2019, ST environment correspondent Audrey Tan and photojournalist Mark Cheong traced the footsteps of El Nino across the Pacific Ocean to investigate El Nino’s see-sawing impact.

Read their stories from Indonesia and Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands here: 

Produced by: Audrey Tan ([email protected]) and Mark Cheong ([email protected])

Edited by: Adam Azlee

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/J6EV 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Follow Audrey Tan on Twitter: https://str.sg/JLMB

Read her stories: https://str.sg/JLM2

---

Discover ST's special edition podcasts:

Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2

Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB

Invisible Asia: https://str.sg/wuZn

---

Discover more ST podcast series:

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

SG Extra: https://str.sg/wukR

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

Bookmark This!: https://str.sg/JWas

Lunch With Sumiko: https://str.sg/J6hQ

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#greenpulse

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Green Pulse Ep 6: The winds of El Nino change: 

12:49 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times dives into all things green, blue and brown. Green Pulse analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

This month, we chat with Mr Rodney Martinez, international director for the Ecuador-based International Research Centre on El Nino, or CIIFEN, on a climate phenomenon known to wreak havoc all across the Pacific Ocean - El Nino.

El Nino is a natural climate cycle that can significantly influence weather patterns across the world. When it hits, on average every three to four years, it brings hotter and drier conditions to South-east Asia.

This causes forest fires in places such as Indonesia to burn harder and for longer, and in 2015, it resulted in the worst haze crisis on record for the region.

Across the Pacific Ocean, however, El Nino has an opposite, but no less destructive, impact. In places such as Ecuador and Peru, El Nino brings rain to the usually arid coast of South America, causing flash floods. And as the waters warm along the coast during El Nino events, the supply of nutrient-rich cool water to the surface is cut off, affecting fisheries and ecosystems there.

El Nino is a natural climate cycle that would occur regardless of human-caused climate change. But its impact - ranging from changing rainfall patterns to warming seas - offers us a glimpse into what things could be like in a warming world.

In April 2019, ST environment correspondent Audrey Tan and photojournalist Mark Cheong traced the footsteps of El Nino across the Pacific Ocean to investigate El Nino’s see-sawing impact.

Read their stories from Indonesia and Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands here: 

Produced by: Audrey Tan ([email protected]) and Mark Cheong ([email protected])

Edited by: Adam Azlee

Follow more Green Pulse podcasts and rate us on:

Spotify: http://str.sg/oCXj

Apple Podcasts: http://str.sg/oyLk

Google podcasts: http://str.sg/oyLZ

Playlist: https://str.sg/JwRh 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Green Pulse Ep 5: How tropical rainforests are important world carbon sinks

8:46 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times dives into all things green, blue and brown. Green Pulse analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

In this episode, we chat with Dr Arief Wijaya, senior manager for climate and forests at the World Resources Institute Indonesia, on the importance of tropical rainforests - ecosystems that help to regulate the amount of heat-trapping carbon in the atmosphere.

Through the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere. But human activities, such as deforestation and poaching, are affecting the their ability to play this role.

This December, the annual United Nations climate change talks will take place in Chile, South America. The region is home to the Amazon, the largest tropical rainforest in the world.

Large swathes of tropical rainforests can also found be found closer to Singapore. South-east Asia is home to the third largest rainforest in the world, and patches of them can be found in Singapore, in places such as the Central Catchment and Bukit Timah Nature Reserves.

Produced by: Audrey Tan ([email protected]) and Mark Cheong ([email protected])

Follow Audrey Tan on Twitter

Edited by: Adam Azlee

Follow more Green Pulse podcasts and rate us on:

Spotify: http://str.sg/oCXj

Apple Podcasts: http://str.sg/oyLk

Google podcasts: http://str.sg/oyLZ

Playlist: https://str.sg/JwRh 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Green Pulse Ep 5: How tropical rainforests are important world carbon sinks

8:46 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times dives into all things green, blue and brown. Green Pulse analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

In this episode, we chat with Dr Arief Wijaya, senior manager for climate and forests at the World Resources Institute Indonesia, on the importance of tropical rainforests - ecosystems that help to regulate the amount of heat-trapping carbon in the atmosphere.

Through the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere. But human activities, such as deforestation and poaching, are affecting the their ability to play this role.

This December, the annual United Nations climate change talks will take place in Chile, South America. The region is home to the Amazon, the largest tropical rainforest in the world.

Large swathes of tropical rainforests can also found be found closer to Singapore. South-east Asia is home to the third largest rainforest in the world, and patches of them can be found in Singapore, in places such as the Central Catchment and Bukit Timah Nature Reserves.

Produced by: Audrey Tan ([email protected]) and Mark Cheong ([email protected])

Edited by: Adam Azlee

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/J6EV 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Follow Audrey Tan on Twitter: https://str.sg/JLMB

Read her stories: https://str.sg/JLM2

---

Discover ST's special edition podcasts:

Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2

Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB

Invisible Asia: https://str.sg/wuZn

---

Discover more ST podcast series:

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

SG Extra: https://str.sg/wukR

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

Bookmark This!: https://str.sg/JWas

Lunch With Sumiko: https://str.sg/J6hQ

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#greenpulse

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Green Pulse Ep 4: Lessons from the female sperm whale Jubi Lee found dead in Singapore in 2015

14:37 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

This week, we discuss the scientific lessons learnt from what is perhaps the most charismatic marine mammal to ever be recorded in Singapore: The sperm whale.

In a paper published on April 5, 2019, in scientific journal Peer J, a team of scientists led by Mr Marcus Chua - mammal researcher at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum - demystified the enigma of the female sperm whale nicknamed Jubi Lee. The team painted a clearer picture about what she ate and where she lived.

Hear more about the tales told by this dead whale as we chat with Mr Chua and Mr Stephen Beng, chairman of the marine conservation group of the Nature Society (Singapore).

The whale had been found dead and floating off Jurong Island with a gash in her back on July 10, 2015. Her appearance during Singapore's golden jubilee year had led a museum staff member to give her the nickname Jubi Lee.

Her serendipitous discovery had provided scientists with a good chance to learn more about this charismatic marine mammal, which was the subject of Herman Melville's classic 1851 novel Moby Dick.

Produced by: Audrey Tan ([email protected]) and Mark Cheong ([email protected])

Edited by: Adam Azlee

Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and rate us:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/J6EV 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Follow Audrey Tan on Twitter: https://str.sg/JLMB

Read her stories: https://str.sg/JLM2

---

Discover ST's special edition podcasts:

Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2

Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB

Invisible Asia: https://str.sg/wuZn

---

Discover more ST podcast series:

Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7

Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN

In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt

Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m

SG Extra: https://str.sg/wukR

#PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad

ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE

Bookmark This!: https://str.sg/JWas

Lunch With Sumiko: https://str.sg/J6hQ

Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts!

#greenpulse

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Green Pulse Ep 4: Lessons from the female sperm whale Jubi Lee found dead in Singapore in 2015

14:37 mins

Synopsis: In this new podcast series for 2019, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

This week, we discuss the scientific lessons learnt from what is perhaps the most charismatic marine mammal to ever be recorded in Singapore: The sperm whale.

In a paper published on April 5, 2019, in scientific journal Peer J, a team of scientists led by Mr Marcus Chua - mammal researcher at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum - demystified the enigma of the female sperm whale nicknamed Jubi Lee. The team painted a clearer picture about what she ate and where she lived.

Hear more about the tales told by this dead whale as we chat with Mr Chua and Mr Stephen Beng, chairman of the marine conservation group of the Nature Society (Singapore).

The whale had been found dead and floating off Jurong Island with a gash in her back on July 10, 2015. Her appearance during Singapore's golden jubilee year had led a museum staff member to give her the nickname Jubi Lee.

Her serendipitous discovery had provided scientists with a good chance to learn more about this charismatic marine mammal, which was the subject of Herman Melville's classic 1851 novel Moby Dick.

Produced by: Audrey Tan ([email protected]) and Mark Cheong ([email protected])

Follow Audrey Tan on Twitter

Edited by: Adam Azlee

Follow more Green Pulse podcasts and rate us on:

Spotify: http://str.sg/oCXj

Apple Podcasts: http://str.sg/oyLk

Google podcasts: http://str.sg/oyLZ

Playlist: https://str.sg/JwRh 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]