Living on Earth

Our Earth Day special examines this decisive moment for the human species and our challenging relationship with our planet.

We meet people who envision a future reshaped by an emerging energy system and new power structures, as we wean off of fossil fuels.

Next we take a big-picture view of Earth as a complex and sustaining organism known as Gaia. Over billions of years life has interacted with the elements of this planet in cycles of constant change and adaptation. With the help of deep ecologists, children, an astronaut and more, we survey our place on this ever-evolving living planet.

And while science and policy are vital in building a more sustainable world, they can't convey the values we need as we strive for ecological harmony. Indigenous stories, holy scriptures, East Asian cosmologies, papal encyclicals and divine revelation all shed light on our duties and relationship to each other and to our common home.

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Some scientists are predicting this year’s Atlantic hurricane season will be extremely active as a La Niña develops amid ocean warmth linked to global warming. We discuss the science behind these factors and how people along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts can stay safe.

Also, the Biden Administration EPA recently awarded $20 billion to organizations who will turn around and offer low-interest loans to help communities participate in the clean energy transition. The program is catalyzing far more private capital and will help fund projects like insulating homes and replacing gas heating and cooking with heat pumps and induction stoves.

And in her poems, Catherine Pierce grapples with unfolding climate disaster and other 21st century perils, and the ways they reframe parenting. She shares poems from her books Danger Days and The Tornado Is the World and reflects on finding beauty and calls to action during the Anthropocene.

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The razor-thin majority Democrats hold in the Senate could be crucial to passing more climate legislation under a second term for President Biden, and in the event former President Trump is re-elected, could prevent the total unraveling of President Biden’s climate agenda. One of the key Senate races to watch in 2024 is the Ohio contest between incumbent Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and Trump-endorsed Republican Bernie Moreno.

Also, on the northern California coast the Yurok tribe is getting 125 acres of its stolen land back thanks to an historic partnership between the National Park Service, California State Parks, and Save the Redwoods League. Chairman of the Yurok Tribe Joseph L James describes how the land will help nurture Yurok cultural traditions.

And in the 2020 novel Migrations set in the future, polar bears are extinct. So are chimpanzees and wolves and big cats. For the novel’s protagonist, this mass extinction is personal. So, she does the first thing that comes to mind: she makes her way onto a fishing boat to follow what might be the very last migration of the Arctic Tern from pole to pole.

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China’s electric car sales are in the fast lane and lead the world while the U.S. EV industry lags. Although Biden administration policies are designed to jumpstart EVs, a partisan divide on EVs is slowing adoption. What’s going on with the U.S. EV industry and why the future looks bright. 

Also, millions of acres of cropland in the U.S. may be contaminated from PFAS-tainted sewage sludge spread on fields as fertilizer. These “forever chemicals” are taken up by plants and then consumed by livestock and people, making them sick. And some say EPA has failed its mission to protect the public.

Plus, an international team of astronomers recently reported the discovery of a 13 billion-year-old black hole, the oldest ever observed, thanks to the powerful James Webb Space Telescope. Lead author Dr. Roberto Maiolino explores new questions about how these mysterious, extremely dense objects form and grow. 

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Check out the full transcript we provide for every show, with pictures and links to more information, at the Living on Earth website, loe dot org.

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A recent study of 1500 women in China found links between personal care product use and in-vitro fertilization problems, including slower embryo development and miscarriage. We discuss the findings and the growing evidence linking hormone disrupting chemicals to pregnancy difficulties for people using IVF.

Also, climate disasters, adaptation costs and market shifts threaten the value of public companies that are inadequately prepared for climate change. So, the Democratic majority US Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved a rule that will require public companies to inform investors about their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks. But the rule was immediately met with pushback from industry and several Republican-led states.

And the handful of astronauts and cosmonauts on board the International Space Station float in a strange paradox, with the Earth constantly in view, but always out of reach. A new novel called Orbital explores the splendor of planet Earth as seen from orbit through a day in the life of six astronauts up on the ISS.

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Check out the full transcript we provide for every show, with pictures and links to more information, at the Living on Earth website, loe dot org.

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A new satellite recently blasted off into Earth orbit with the important mission of tracking methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure across the globe. Free public access to the data from MethaneSAT is a game-changer for holding oil and gas companies accountable for climate pollution.

Also, since 2001 the Mars Society has run over 270 simulated missions at a remote site in the high desert of Utah, to study the effect of extra-vehicular activity or EVA on the human body and mimic field research people might run on Mars one day, such as looking for fossilized life. What a day in the life of a participant looks like and why some believe we should send humans to Mars.

And on April 8th millions across North America will have the opportunity to experience a total solar eclipse, when the moon briefly blocks out the sun. How our ancestors reacted to this strange, otherworldly phenomenon, and how you too can safely witness it.

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As the climate crisis intensifies, a vital ocean current that includes the Gulf Stream seems to be falling apart, and thus could fail its mission to moderate the climate by bringing heat north from the tropics and cold back south. We explain the latest research and the potentially disastrous shutdown of this current. 

Also, a decade ago California became the first US state to ban single-use plastic bags, and eleven states followed suit. But some 18 other states have gone in the opposite direction and even blocked local cities and towns from prohibiting single use plastic bags. We cover successes and setbacks for efforts to minimize plastic bag waste.

And poet and essayist Ross Gay is back with a follow up to his 2019 Book of Delights, loaded with moments of good that sprout amid our troubles. He shares readings from his new Book of (More) Delights celebrating simple joys such as clothes on a clothesline, garlic sprouting, and dandelion abundance.

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Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia have challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Good Neighbor” rule in the Supreme Court. The regulation is designed to keep one state’s ozone emissions from spilling downwind and pushing another state out of compliance. Michael Burger from the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University explores what this challenge means for the environmental regulation landscape.

Also, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced new measures to reduce the allowable amount of fine particulate pollution in the air. Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy discusses these new standards, as well as the Inflation Reduction Act and the role of women in the environmental movement.

To kick off Women’s History Month, we dive into the legacy of women outdoors in America. From abolitionist Harriet Tubman to novelist Louisa May Alcott, some of the country’s most important women trailblazers shared a connection with the natural world in their girlhood. Tiya Miles shares their stories in her book Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation.

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In this Black History Month special, “father of environmental justice” Dr. Robert Bullard is calling for justice for the community of Shiloh, Alabama, which has suffered repeated flooding ever since a highway was widened and elevated in 2018, causing destruction to homes that Black landowners have proudly kept since the Reconstruction era. 

Also, Katherine Johnson was an African American trailblazer who while living under Jim Crow in the south worked at NASA as a mathematician and helped put a man on the moon. Her daughter Katherine Moore shares her mother's story.

And poet Camille Dungy transformed her sterile lawn in white Fort Collins, Colorado into a pollinator haven teeming with native plants and the wildlife they attract. Her book Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden recounts that journey alongside a world in turmoil amid the coronavirus pandemic, police violence and wildfires.

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Hormone-disrupting chemicals in plastics take a yearly economic toll in the hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. alone, according to a recent study. Pediatrician Leonardo Trasande discusses the research and explains why PFAS, phthalates, BPA and flame retardants in plastics are so harmful to human health. We also examine the lax regulations around chemicals and plastics and explore ways that people can individually and collectively reduce plastic use and exposure.

Also, ExxonMobil recently sued activist investors in federal court in Texas for a repeated effort to bring a climate resolution to a vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. The company has persisted even though the activists have withdrawn the petition, raising concerns about a chilling effect on investor engagement.

And to raise awareness about the threats facing coral reefs, crafters everywhere are picking up their crochet hooks and contributing to a worldwide “Crochet Coral Reef.” The curator of the Pittsburgh Satellite Reef at the Carnegie Museum of Art describes what it’s like to stand inside the exhibit and how it came together. 

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