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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

To help address the climate crisis the city of Boston is piloting the replacement of natural gas with ground-source heat pumps in a public housing project. The technology also brings clean air, cooling and heating to historically disadvantaged tenants, advancing environmental justice. Also, the warmer winters of climate disruption are bringing shorter and shorter skating seasons on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada. We head into the Living on Earth archives for a taste of days gone by, when...

The Biden Administration has paused new export permits of liquefied natural gas over concerns that these enormous facilities would emit millions of tons of greenhouse gases every year. We discuss why LNG exports have been rising in recent years and the impact they are having on the Gulf Coast and the global climate. Also, China surged ahead of other countries in 2023 to add 66% more wind power than it had before and bringing online as much solar energy as the entire world had developed in...

Two cases in front of the Supreme Court are looking to restrict federal agency power by overturning the longstanding Chevron Doctrine. Environmentalists fear this could limit the ability of federal agencies to set strong environment and climate regulations. Also, a recent report finds that social media platforms like YouTube are amplifying and sometimes profiting from new forms of climate denial that falsely claim it’s too late to act on the climate crisis. We explore how climate...

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently granted more than $600 million to states and communities across the country to roll out new EV charging stations and tune up existing ones. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joins us to discuss the connections between EV charging access, environmental justice, and economic growth. Also, when scientists began to warn in the later half of the twentieth century that burning oil, gas, and coal could bring severe consequences for our planet,...

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley sends mixed signals on climate change, acknowledging that it’s real and human-caused while also touting her role in pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. Also, the electric vehicle industry is undergoing a transformation as US sales lag slightly behind production surges. Domestic manufacturing and sourcing requirements mean that fewer models currently qualify for the $7500 federal tax credit, but the forecast for the long-term future of EVs...

The climate emergency is creating a public health emergency by increasing risks for heat stress, vector-borne diseases, and traumatic injuries as well as disrupting healthcare access. Also, 2023 saw some notable environmental decisions in U.S. federal and state courts, from the Supreme Court’s removal of some wetlands protections to the landmark win for youth plaintiffs in a Montana climate case.  And 2023 is likely to go down in history as the hottest year ever seen by humans. But we still...

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 features stories of how other species on this Earth touch human lives. “Wildly Magical: Stories of Animal Encounters”, a storytelling special from PRX. --  As a non-profit media organization we could not produce high-quality journalism that educates and...

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 annual celebration of stories helps connect people with the natural world, and includes an Iroquois explanation of why the constellation Pleiades twinkles overhead and an Abenaki custom that asks forgiveness for any wrongs of the previous year. Seasonal stories and more, in this...

Nearly 200 nations attending the COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai came to a consensus to declare fossil fuels are on their way out, marking a breakthrough after three decades of climate summits. But much more is needed to turn the words into action. Also, author and animal whisperer Sy Montgomery’s latest book, Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell features miraculous stories of recovery at a hospital for gravely injured turtles. Sy joined us to share these stories...

The very first bill that Speaker Mike Johnson passed through the House would gut many energy and climate projects financed by the Inflation Reduction Act, even though Republican states are massively benefiting from this funding. The repeal would also block environmental justice efforts and deny a “just transition” for disadvantaged communities.  Also, even if the world’s nations soon come together to keep temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees, we face a troubling and uncertain future....

Leaked documents from the team leading the COP28 climate talks now underway in Dubai point to corporate coopting of the UN climate negotiations. COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber is also CEO of the UAE national oil company Adnoc, which according to the documents has used the COP process to try to cut oil and gas deals with companies and countries.  Also, in North Birmingham, Alabama, racist zoning practices and industrial coke production have plagued Black communities for decades. Despite a...

 Many of the chemicals used in fracking for natural gas are hazardous to human health, but loopholes in disclosure laws mean that companies can keep them secret. Pennsylvania’s Governor is moving to change that. Also, the world is way off track from the Paris Agreement goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. A new joint statement on fighting the climate crisis from the world’s two biggest emitters, China and the United States, offers a glimmer of hope. And as solar energy costs fall and...

The “Three Sisters” of corn, beans, and squash all grow together in a symbiotic planting relationship. A Chickasaw chef shares recipes and the significance of these crops to many Native American cultures. Also, the story of the “first Thanksgiving” that persists in American culture often stereotypes Native peoples and sanitizes what happened to them as white settlers dispossessed them of their lands. A picture book written and illustrated by Indigenous authors offers a new story of the “first...

The man leading the upcoming UN climate talks in Dubai heads the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company. Sultan Al Jaber is the climate envoy for the UAE and has led the state renewable energy company, but his critics question the substance of his green credentials. Inside the public relations campaign to green Al Jaber’s image and install an oil CEO at the heart of the UN climate process. Also, Antarctica’s ice shelves block glaciers from flowing into the sea, but a recent study found that...