Living on Earth

By World Media Foundation

What's Living on Earth about?

As the planet we call home faces a climate emergency, Living on Earth is your go-to source for the latest coverage of climate change, ecology, and human health. Hosted by Steve Curwood and brought to you by PRX.

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Big Emitters Silent at UN, ...

09.22.2023

At the UN Climate Ambition Summit in New York, some developed nations promised more money to help vulnerable countries adapt, but biggest emitting countries including the US and China had no new plans to put on the table. Also, microorganisms ...

Living on Earth episodes:

09.22.2023 Big Emitters Silent at UN, Regenerative Farming Powered by Microbes, Wolves Bouncing Back and more At the UN Climate Ambition Summit in New York, some developed nations promised more money to help vulnerable countries adapt, but biggest emitting countries including the US and China had no new plans to put on the table. Also, microorganisms ...
09.15.2023 EPA Charged with Reverse Discrimination, Turning Up the Heat on Climate Finance, Protecting Mediterranean Sea Life and more In 2022 the US EPA opened a civil rights investigation into whether the State of Louisiana overburdens Black communities along “Cancer Alley” with toxic industries. But the agency abruptly closed the inquiry when the Louisiana attorney general filed a suit ...
09.08.2023 Too Hot To Learn, Maui’s Toxic Landscape, Hydrogen Fueled Future and more As extreme heat linked to climate disruption becomes more common during the school year, many U.S. schools lack adequate cooling and ventilation systems to keep kids safe and focused on learning. And temperature and air quality affect learning outcomes for ...
09.01.2023 U.S. Primed for Climate Troubles, Burning Sugarcane Pollutes Communities of Color, and Troubling Trend of Fewer Babies Because of its unique geography, the United States is particularly vulnerable to nearly every kind of natural disaster: tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, blizzards, and more. And these natural disasters are getting an unnatural boost with climate change. Also, some Florida sugarcane ...
08.25.2023 Power to the People, Recycling and Unhoused Californians, The Hawk’s Way and more New York state has adopted a law aimed at using federal funds to boost public power from renewables and shut down six polluting “peaker” gas power plants. Advocates say this will bring huge benefits for public health, environmental justice, and ...
08.18.2023 Youth Plaintiffs Win Montana Climate Case, Warming Climate and Children’s Health, Koala: A Natural History and an Uncertain Future and more Sixteen young plaintiffs have won their suit against the state of Montana over its refusal to protect them from climate change. We explain the unprecedented ruling and where the case could head next. Also, children and adolescents are facing increasing ...
08.11.2023 The Great Displacement, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, and more Climate change is already making some places across the country unlivable and seems likely to uproot millions of Americans in the coming decades. The author of “The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration” collected the stories of ...
08.04.2023 Saving the Second Lung of the Planet, “Don’t Look Up” and the Absurdity of Climate Inaction, Jellyfish Age Backwards, and more The Congo Basin in Central Africa is a critical biodiversity hotspot and linchpin in the fight against climate disruption. But will the world make good on its promises to protect biodiversity in the Congo and around the world? Also, the ...
07.28.2023 Extreme Heat in Texas Prisons, The United Arab Emirates’ Climate Pledge, Europe’s New Nature Restoration Law, and more The summer of 2023 has seen extreme heat waves around the world. From Texas, how heatwaves have proven particularly dangerous for inmates in prisons that lack air conditioning. Meanwhile the UAE has increased its climate ambition targets under the Paris ...
07.21.2023 A Call to Cool the Earth, Financial Sector in Climate Denial, California Targets Bogus Carbon Offsets and more Earth is choked by too much carbon in the atmosphere and running a fever that is only bound to get worse if we fail to restore its balance. How soaking up that excess carbon with the help of trees and ...
07.14.2023 Rethinking the Recycling Symbol, The Risks of ‘Chemical Recycling’, Restoring the “River of Grass” and more The chasing arrow symbol that many consumers think means a plastic product is recyclable often doesn’t mean that in practice, since most plastics are of little to no economic value. Why revising the use of the recycling symbol could reduce ...
07.07.2023 Landmark Youth Climate Trial, Antarctic Deep Ocean Currents Slowing, and A New War on Cancer The first constitutional climate suit in the U.S. has made it to trial. Sixteen youthful plaintiffs allege that the state of Montana has violated their constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment” by promoting fossil fuel extraction in the ...
06.30.2023 PFAS Added to Plastic Containers, New Shell Plastics Plant Pollutes, Bringing Back the Endangered Species Act, and more PFAS “forever chemicals,” linked to cancer, liver problems and more, are leaching into cosmetics, household cleaners, and even food stored in plastic containers treated with fluorination. EPA is now going after a company that uses the fluorination process, but some ...
06.23.2023 EU Passes Deforestation-Free Products Legislation, An Introduction to Queer Ecology, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands and more The European Union’s new deforestation-free regulation blocks certain products made from cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya, and wood, from entering the European market if they have been produced on land deforested after 2020. In honor of pride month we ...
06.16.2023 Juneteenth: An Urgent Call for Climate Solutions + Robert Smalls’ Heroic Escape from Slavery Generations of Black Americans have faced racism, redlining and environmental injustices, such as breathing 40 percent dirtier air and being twice as likely as white Americans to be hospitalized or die from climate-related health problems. So the quest for racial ...
06.09.2023 The Double-Edged Sword of Disinfectants, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, A World Without Plastic Pollution and more New research is showing that antimicrobial chemicals called quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), which are widely used in disinfectants, pesticides and personal care products, are linked to numerous health concerns like asthma and infertility. But there are major gaps in regulation ...
06.02.2023 Supreme Court Strips Away Wetlands Protections, Environmental Justice in All of Government, Curbside Capture of Desert Rain, and more In a decision reversing five decades of legal precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively stripped environmental protections from nearly half of the wetlands in the nation. Also, the new White House Office of Environmental Justice will coordinate EJ efforts across ...
05.26.2023 ExxonMobil Sued in Guyana, Less Water for the Dry West, The Great Displacement and more Guyana has one of the fastest growing economies on the planet as an offshore oil boom gets underway. But a potential spill could wipe out its fishing and ecotourism economy. So a trial judge recently ruled that a major ExxonMobil ...
05.19.2023 Power to the People, Restoring Finland’s Peatlands, Backyard Chickens and more New York state has adopted a new law aimed at using federal funds to boost public power from renewables and shut down six polluting “peaker” gas power plants. Advocates say this will lower electricity rates and boost public health, environmental ...
05.12.2023 Amazing Animal Mothers, Bringing a Plastics Giant to Justice, Finding the Mother Tree and more This Mother’s Day we’re celebrating the incredible tenacity and tenderness of animal mothers, from crocodiles to leopards to whales. Our guest shares why observing mother orangutans inspired her own journey to becoming a mother. Also, an intricate web of roots ...
05.05.2023 Oceans Hotter Than Ever, U.S. Primed for Climate Troubles, Plastic Burning Pollution Flies Under the Radar and more The world’s ocean surfaces are rapidly warming and recently hit an all-time temperature high. At the same time, the La Niña weather pattern is now shifting to an El Niño cycle, warming the oceans more still. Also, because of its ...
04.28.2023 A New Clean Power Plan, Cleaning Up a Copper Mine in Zambia, Jellyfish Age Backwards: Nature’s Secrets to Longevity, and more The EPA is trying again with power plant rules to fight climate change, but this time, the agency is backed up by statutes in the Inflation Reduction Act. It’s using these to carefully craft new rules designed to survive legal ...
04.21.2023 Celebrating the Earth through Music, Poetry, and Storytelling This Earth Day, we’re celebrating our planet with poetry, storytelling, and music, featuring an orchestral and choral work called “Lament of the Earth” that evokes the beauty and wonder of our planet as it speaks directly to the question, ‘where ...
04.14.2023 Cleaning Up Toxic Air, Hidden Plastic Waste Polluting Global South, Revving Up U.S. EV Manufacturing, and more The EPA is proposing to cut the amount of toxic air pollutants industrial sources are allowed to emit. The targeted chemicals include known carcinogens that have long contaminated communities in Appalachia and Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley.” Also, there are many sources ...
04.07.2023 Green Energy Gridlock, Righting Racial Wrongs, Koala: A Natural History and an Uncertain Future and more America can’t meet its goals of reducing carbon pollution from power plants unless power grids get major upgrades and rules to bring clean energy online are detangled. We’ll explore the challenges and opportunities facing implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act. ...
03.31.2023 Microplastics – “A Poison Like No Other,” Climate Scientists Sound the Alarm, Nat’l Audubon Keeps Enslaver’s Name and more Microplastics are everywhere scientists have looked for them, from the deepest ocean trenches to mountain peaks; in our air, water, and food, even our own bodies. We’ll take a deep dive into the world of these tiny pollutants laden with ...
03.24.2023 EPA Proposes Strict Limits for PFAS Chemicals in Drinking Water, Greenwashing and “Chemical Recycling,” Mapping the Ocean Floor to Better Predict Coastal Flooding, and more! The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed strict new limits for PFAS “forever” chemicals in drinking water. PFAS are associated with health concerns including cancers and reproductive issues, so the move is being called a huge win for public health. Also, ...
03.17.2023 Jane Goodall on Helping People to Help Nature, Broken Promise for the Arctic, Saving the Second Lung of the Planet and more Jane Goodall is on a mission to protect habitat worldwide by empowering local communities to develop sustainably. And it all started when she was just ten years old and dreamed of studying wild animals in Africa. Also, a massive new ...
03.10.2023 The Human Toll of Pollinator Loss, Nature on the Federal Balance Sheet, Indonesia Squelching Biodiversity Research and more A study finds the decline of pollinators is contributing to an estimated half a million deaths a year worldwide. That’s because yields of nutritious foods that keep us healthy, like most fruits, vegetables, and nuts, are falling as the pollinators ...
03.03.2023 Dioxin Concerns After Train Crash, CO2 Pipeline Safety Risks, Climate Change and Mating, and more The train derailment in Ohio last month led to a controlled release and burn of vinyl chloride, which can produce dioxin. Locals are concerned that the soot that fell on their homes in the wake of the disaster may contain ...
02.24.2023 Chemical Concerns of the Ohio Train Disaster, Workers Left in the Dark About Chemical Risks, The Power of Black History and more Eleven of the 38 train cars that came off the tracks in East Palestine, Ohio contained hazardous materials including the carcinogen vinyl chloride. Crews intentionally released and burned vinyl chloride to avoid a potential explosion, and residents have lingering concerns ...
02.17.2023 Big Oil Bid in Alaska, High Levels of PFAS in Wild Freshwater Fish, Toxic Black Hair Products and more A plan by oil giant ConocoPhillips to drill in Alaska on federal land is poised to move ahead if it can secure President Biden’s final consent. The Willow project would dump millions of tons of climate disrupting carbon into the ...
02.10.2023 Great Salt Lake Going Dry, Red Tape for Green Buses, Black History: George Washington Carver and more Some scientists predict that without emergency conservation measures, Great Salt Lake will dry up completely in the next five years, devastating migratory bird populations and creating a public health crisis linked to toxic dust in the lakebed. Also, the bipartisan ...
02.04.2023 Designing Whale-Safe Lobstering Gear, EV Price War, The Nutmeg’s Curse and more The births of at least 11 North Atlantic Right Whales this season is a bright spot for a species on the brink of extinction. And safer lobstering gear is being designed to prevent human-caused whale deaths. Also, despite inflation automakers ...
01.27.2023 Big Oil Under Fire in Puerto Rico, Recovery and Resilience in Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria, Hurricanes as a Driver of Evolution, and More! Municipalities in Puerto Rico sue the biggest fossil fuel companies for damages from category 5 Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The cities and towns allege the fossil fuel companies knew their products would change the climate and intensify storms and colluded ...
01.20.2023 Oil Chief to Lead Climate Talks, Burning Sugarcane Pollutes Communities of Color, Dolphin Casualties of Russia’s War and more Activists are outraged by the United Arab Emirates’ decision to appoint a high-ranking oil executive to lead the 2023 UN climate treaty negotiations in Dubai. It’s the latest example of how fossil fuel interests are deflecting progress in the treaty ...
01.13.2023 Pink Snow and the Climate, Extreme Weather and the Jet Stream, Saving Bats From Deadly Cold and more Pink snow, also known as “watermelon snow” or “glacier blood,” is the result of a late summer bloom of pink colored algae that flourish in melting snow. And although snow algae are still very understudied, scientists are worried that darker ...
01.06.2023 Environment and the Law in 2023, Midnight in the Everglades, The Accidental Ecosystem and more Cases like West Virginia v. EPA and legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act made 2022 a landmark year for environmental law, and now as 2023 gets underway there are even more legal actions and decisions on the horizon including on ...
12.30.2022 Wildly Magical: Stories of Animal Encounters From one woman’s dream of swimming with marine iguanas, to uncommon encounters with common rabbits, to a Native American tale of how the dog came to be our loyal companion, and much more, this Living on Earth holiday storytelling special ...
12.30.2022 Holiday Season Stories of Warmth and Light The Power Of Stories / Native American Tales / Stories of the Night Sky and an English Wassail Native American myths and tales help us endure or even enjoy the short days and long nights of winter. Living on Earth's ...
12.16.2022 Averting the Biodiversity Crisis, Cloud Forest Bird Count, Holiday Décor from Your Own Backyard and more To try to address the biodiversity crisis that threatens as many as 1 million species with extinction, thousands of delegates from around the world are meeting in Montreal with a goal of updating the United Nations treaty on biological diversity. ...
12.09.2022 Drafting a Treaty for the Plastic Waste Crisis, Bipartisan Support for Offshore Wind, Ancient Stories of Sea Level Rise and more The United Nations is working towards creating a treaty to tackle the plastic crisis all the way from production to disposal – its full “life cycle”. Also, as the Biden Administration moves forward with plans for offshore wind, in Congress ...
12.02.2022 Lobster Industry on the Hook to Save Right Whales, Climate Change and Your Health, Battle for the Sepik River and more Entanglement in lobster fishing gear is one of the biggest threats to endangered whales, so the Marine Stewardship Council has suspended its sustainability certificate for the lobster fishery in the Gulf of Maine prompting Whole Foods to halt sales of ...
11.25.2022 Low Ambition Climate Summit, Breakthrough for Loss and Damage, Cleaning Up Crypto and more The United Nations climate talks in Egypt produced an unprecedented agreement for rich nations to pay for loss and damage from climate disasters in poor countries. But no money has been provided yet to stricken nations and many details still ...
11.18.2022 Plant and Planet-Centered Eating, Celebrating the "Seven Sisters," The Reign of Wolf 21 and more As Americans prepare to gather to give thanks over a feast, a look at how embracing the plant world in our diets connects to climate, health, and democracy. Also, in some Native cultures four more crops join the “Three Sisters” ...
11.11.2022 Climate at the Ballot Box, Ozone-Killing Chemicals Declining, Extreme Wildlife Loss and more California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom handily won re-election and now has 4 more years to work towards his goal of achieving carbon neutrality in the state by 2045. Mr. Newsom and other Governors have billions of dollars in climate funding ...
11.04.2022 Toxic Air In Utero, New President to Protect Amazon, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us and more Before they’ve even taken their first breath, most babies are exposed to air pollution that passes from their mother’s blood stream through the placenta and has now been found in fetal tissues. Also, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a.k.a. “Lula,” ...
10.28.2022 Fishing for Plastic, Climate Disasters and Debt, Cool Season Gardening and more By some estimates there could be more plastic, by weight, than fish in the oceans in less than 30 years. A UN “Young Champion of the Earth” is helping Greek fishermen be part of the solution by collecting plastic along ...
10.21.2022 California Wind Power Breakthrough, Saving Big Forests to Save the Planet, Fat Bear Week and the Salmon Behind It All, and more The federal government is leasing sites for innovative floating offshore wind farms in the deep waters along the California coast, and the oil and gas industry has expertise that can be put to good use for this untapped resource. Also, ...
10.14.2022 Wetlands on the Line at Supreme Court, Building Codes and Hurricane Resilience, Protecting Coral Reefs with “Sponge Bobbie” and more In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, the first significant federal regulation to protect the waters of the United States, or “WOTUS.” The rules that define WOTUS, however, have often been contested over the years. Now, WOTUS is back ...

Older episodes

Living on Earth

What's Living on Earth about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Living on Earth episodes:

Big Emitters Silent at UN, Regenerative Farming Powered by Microbes, Wolves Bouncing Back and more

EPA Charged with Reverse Discrimination, Turning Up the Heat on Climate Finance, Protecting Mediterranean Sea Life and more

Too Hot To Learn, Maui’s Toxic Landscape, Hydrogen Fueled Future and more

U.S. Primed for Climate Troubles, Burning Sugarcane Pollutes Communities of Color, and Troubling Trend of Fewer Babies

Power to the People, Recycling and Unhoused Californians, The Hawk’s Way and more

Youth Plaintiffs Win Montana Climate Case, Warming Climate and Children’s Health, Koala: A Natural History and an Uncertain Future and more

The Great Displacement, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, and more

Saving the Second Lung of the Planet, “Don’t Look Up” and the Absurdity of Climate Inaction, Jellyfish Age Backwards, and more

Extreme Heat in Texas Prisons, The United Arab Emirates’ Climate Pledge, Europe’s New Nature Restoration Law, and more

A Call to Cool the Earth, Financial Sector in Climate Denial, California Targets Bogus Carbon Offsets and more

Rethinking the Recycling Symbol, The Risks of ‘Chemical Recycling’, Restoring the “River of Grass” and more

Landmark Youth Climate Trial, Antarctic Deep Ocean Currents Slowing, and A New War on Cancer

PFAS Added to Plastic Containers, New Shell Plastics Plant Pollutes, Bringing Back the Endangered Species Act, and more

EU Passes Deforestation-Free Products Legislation, An Introduction to Queer Ecology, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands and more

Juneteenth: An Urgent Call for Climate Solutions + Robert Smalls’ Heroic Escape from Slavery

The Double-Edged Sword of Disinfectants, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, A World Without Plastic Pollution and more

Supreme Court Strips Away Wetlands Protections, Environmental Justice in All of Government, Curbside Capture of Desert Rain, and more

ExxonMobil Sued in Guyana, Less Water for the Dry West, The Great Displacement and more

Power to the People, Restoring Finland’s Peatlands, Backyard Chickens and more

Amazing Animal Mothers, Bringing a Plastics Giant to Justice, Finding the Mother Tree and more

Oceans Hotter Than Ever, U.S. Primed for Climate Troubles, Plastic Burning Pollution Flies Under the Radar and more

A New Clean Power Plan, Cleaning Up a Copper Mine in Zambia, Jellyfish Age Backwards: Nature’s Secrets to Longevity, and more

Celebrating the Earth through Music, Poetry, and Storytelling

Cleaning Up Toxic Air, Hidden Plastic Waste Polluting Global South, Revving Up U.S. EV Manufacturing, and more

Green Energy Gridlock, Righting Racial Wrongs, Koala: A Natural History and an Uncertain Future and more

Microplastics – “A Poison Like No Other,” Climate Scientists Sound the Alarm, Nat’l Audubon Keeps Enslaver’s Name and more

EPA Proposes Strict Limits for PFAS Chemicals in Drinking Water, Greenwashing and “Chemical Recycling,” Mapping the Ocean Floor to Better Predict Coastal Flooding, and more!

Jane Goodall on Helping People to Help Nature, Broken Promise for the Arctic, Saving the Second Lung of the Planet and more

The Human Toll of Pollinator Loss, Nature on the Federal Balance Sheet, Indonesia Squelching Biodiversity Research and more

Dioxin Concerns After Train Crash, CO2 Pipeline Safety Risks, Climate Change and Mating, and more

Chemical Concerns of the Ohio Train Disaster, Workers Left in the Dark About Chemical Risks, The Power of Black History and more

Big Oil Bid in Alaska, High Levels of PFAS in Wild Freshwater Fish, Toxic Black Hair Products and more

Great Salt Lake Going Dry, Red Tape for Green Buses, Black History: George Washington Carver and more

Designing Whale-Safe Lobstering Gear, EV Price War, The Nutmeg’s Curse and more

Big Oil Under Fire in Puerto Rico, Recovery and Resilience in Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria, Hurricanes as a Driver of Evolution, and More!

Oil Chief to Lead Climate Talks, Burning Sugarcane Pollutes Communities of Color, Dolphin Casualties of Russia’s War and more

Pink Snow and the Climate, Extreme Weather and the Jet Stream, Saving Bats From Deadly Cold and more

Environment and the Law in 2023, Midnight in the Everglades, The Accidental Ecosystem and more

Wildly Magical: Stories of Animal Encounters

Holiday Season Stories of Warmth and Light

Averting the Biodiversity Crisis, Cloud Forest Bird Count, Holiday Décor from Your Own Backyard and more

Drafting a Treaty for the Plastic Waste Crisis, Bipartisan Support for Offshore Wind, Ancient Stories of Sea Level Rise and more

Lobster Industry on the Hook to Save Right Whales, Climate Change and Your Health, Battle for the Sepik River and more

Low Ambition Climate Summit, Breakthrough for Loss and Damage, Cleaning Up Crypto and more

Plant and Planet-Centered Eating, Celebrating the "Seven Sisters," The Reign of Wolf 21 and more

Climate at the Ballot Box, Ozone-Killing Chemicals Declining, Extreme Wildlife Loss and more

Toxic Air In Utero, New President to Protect Amazon, An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us and more

Fishing for Plastic, Climate Disasters and Debt, Cool Season Gardening and more

California Wind Power Breakthrough, Saving Big Forests to Save the Planet, Fat Bear Week and the Salmon Behind It All, and more

Wetlands on the Line at Supreme Court, Building Codes and Hurricane Resilience, Protecting Coral Reefs with “Sponge Bobbie” and more