Nature Breaking

This year marks the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Lunar calendar. To mark this occasion, Ginette Hemley, WWF's senior vice president for wildlife conservation, joins the show to talk about the global effort to protect wild tigers. Ginette touches on the current state of wild tiger populations (1:55), why protecting tigers matters to nature writ-large (4:52), what we've learned from a 12-year global initiative to double tiger numbers (9:38), and how people in the US can help make a difference (16:30).

LINKS:

WWF Action Center: Support the Big Cat Public Safety Act

WWF's Tiger Fact Page

Op-Ed: On Global Tiger Day, Nepal notes milestone (Asia Times)

This year has brought another set of reminders about the risks of flooding in a warming world. Communities from Wyoming to Kentucky to Pakistan have faced the terrible consequences that floods can bring. In this episode, Jeff Opperman, WWF's global lead scientist for freshwater, breaks down the science behind what's driving more frequent and severe floods (2:32), explains how floodplains can play a role in helping communities limit the harm from future floods (4:30), and shares examples of communities that have led the way in embracing floodplains as nature-based solutions (8:15).

LINKS:

WWF's Rivers of Food page: https://rivers-of-food.panda.org/

America Adapts Episode on Flooding (deeper dive featuring Jeff and several other WWF experts): https://www.americaadapts.org/episodes/2018/10/6/flooding-and-natural-and-nature-based-solutions

Report: Waterways to Resilience: https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/waterways_to_resilience_naturebased_solutions_wwfabinbev.pdf

This week, Erin Simon, WWF's head of plastic waste and business, explains the scale of the plastic pollution crisis and why it matters for both people and nature (1:54). She dives into the factors driving this crisis (4:35) and discusses how companies and individuals can help address it (8:05). And lastly, Erin breaks down efforts by the United Nations to create a new treaty to address the plastic crisis (17:00).

LINKS:

WWF's Plastics Initiative: https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/plastics

ReSource Plastic: https://resource-plastic.com/

This week, Anita van Breda, WWF's senior director of environment and disaster management, joins the podcast to talk about how the impacts of climate change are driving more intense and destructive hurricanes (1:48). She shares insights about how communities can reduce risk to hurricanes and other disasters (3:41) and what factors they should consider when building back after extreme weather events (9:05). She also shares her experience working with communities harmed by wildfires, and what communities in the path of potential fires should be thinking about (17:18).

LINKS:

WWF's Environment and Disaster Management Program: https://envirodm.org/

In this episode, Craig Beatty, WWF's manager of forest strategy and research, talks about how forests can help deliver health benefits to people by limiting the spread of diseases (3:50), regulating heat (7:40), and more. He also shares some steps governments and other actors can take to help keep forests intact (13:30).

LINKS:

Vitality of Forests Report: https://www.worldwildlife.org/publications/the-vitality-of-forests-illustrating-the-evidence-connecting-forests-and-human-health

WWF Forests Page: https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/forests

Hear a preview of what's to come in this new bi-weekly podcast focused on the news and trends affecting our natural world. Nature: Breaking will help listeners make sense of today's environmental headlines by showcasing the incredible array of experts at WWF. You'll hear from scientists focused on climate change, oceans, rivers, and wildlife, as well as engineers, technical advisers, and field conservationists working with Indigenous communities, businesses, and other stakeholders to keep nature intact.

If you've ever found yourself asking, "What's a Climate COP?" or, "why does it seem like floods are getting worse and worse," then this is the podcast for you. We hope you'll tune in!