Look pretty much anywhere on our planet and it’s clear that human beings are having an outsized impact on the Earth. And it’s not just climate change. There’s our enormous land footprint, our rapidly growing numbers, our thirst for resources, and the vast quantities of waste we produce every year. 

But how did homo sapiens transform from a species with only minor numbers in parts of Africa, to one that’s spread across the world with 7 billion people, and whose consumption patterns have become so voracious that we’re now threatening the very stability of the planet we depend on? 

In this special episode of The Elephant we go on a journey from the dawn of Earth to the 21st century to find out -  how exactly did we end up here?

S2 Episode 1: How Did We Get Here?

Welcome to The Elephant! An interview and storytelling podcast investigating up-and-coming solutions to one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change. Supported by Climate-KIC

News

Elon Musk this year partnered with The X-Prize to create a $100 million prize for the best solutions for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or ocean. This $100 million represents the biggest incentive prize in history, and likely the biggest single investment made into negative emissions to date. We talk wih the X-Prize's Executive Director Marcius Extavour and Erica Dodds, the CEO of the Foundation for Climate Restoration about the prize and the lay of the land when it comes to developing and executing these processes that would pull CO2 back out of the atmosphere.

The $100 Million Prize for Carbon Dioxide Removal

In this episode we speak to Peter Eisenberger the co-founder of Global Thermostat -  one of the leading direct air capture companies in the world. 

In the interview we talk about how we could create what Peter calls the renewable energy and materials related economy, how the current Coronavirus pandemic influenced his thinking on climate change, and why he is convinced that all organizations within the direct air capture sector need to cooperate to help accelerate the technology as quickly as possible.

Global Thermostat Website: https://globalthermostat.com/ 

You can find our original series on direct air capture here: https://bit.ly/directairpod

Peter Eisenberger on The Promise of Direct Air Capture

Today we're featuring an episode from one of our favourite podcasts Future Ecologies, and their new mini-series "Scales of Change." 

In the series, hosts Mendel and Adam take a deep dive into the various "Dragons of Climate Inaction," the psychological barriers which prevent us from collectively responding to climate change with the appropriate urgency.

Listen to this episode on "Technosalvation" and subscribe to their series by searching for Future Ecologies, wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Website: https://www.futureecologies.net/dragons

'Scales of Change' - Technosalvation

It’s the recommendation show! With all the new time many of us have on our hands, we wanted to tip our hat to some of our favourite things we think you should know about. In this episode we speak with Anja Krieger, the journalist behind one of our favourite environmental podcasts called The Plastisphere. In it she investigates the complex nature and hard to solve challenges caused by that most wondrous and durable of materials: plastic. And later on, we feature an episode of the Plastisphere called: “Confused About Bioplastics?” 

The Plastisphere’s Website: www.plastisphere.earth 
The Plastisphere on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2LpqhWz 
The Plastisphere on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/plastisphere-podcast 

Foreign Policy’s Heat of the Moment Podcast: https://foreignpolicy.com/podcasts/heat-of-the-moment-climate-change/

Music in this episode by Podington Bear and Blue Note Sessions

Inside the Plastisphere

Solomon Goldstein-Rose is a climate activist and former Massachusetts state representative. In his new book, "The 100% Solution" he breaks down what it will take in his view for society to come up with a complete systemic solution to climate change, and achieve net negative emissions by 2050.

S2 Episode 1: How Did We Get Here?

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