Living on Earth Podcast
1) Trump Denies, China Leads on Climate; Highway Reborn as Public Park; An Extraordinary New Telescope; and more.
Speaking to the UN, President Trump railed against climate science and clean energy, drawing sharp rebukes from other nations, rival politicians and business leaders. Meanwhile, China for the first ti...Show More
2) Heat Waves Linked to Company Emissions, Insurance and Homeowners Underwater, The Light Between Apple Trees and more.
New research finds that since 2010 killer heat waves have become 200 times more likely, thanks to greenhouse gas emissions, and the scientists say about half of the increase in heatwaves can be attrib...Show More
3) Trump Stalls Offshore Wind, Huge Danger from Permafrost Loss, The Health Risks of Noise and more.
The Trump Administration is putting offshore wind energy on hold by canceling grants, cutting tax credits and revoking permits for projects that are nearly complete. We discuss the economic impacts to...Show More
4) PFAS Polluters Pay Up, Tylenol Upcycled from Plastic, Roadless Rule Under Fire, and more.
New Jersey officials are calling its $2 billion settlement with major manufacturers of PFAS “forever chemicals” the largest environmental settlement ever won by a state. We discuss the legacy of indus...Show More
5) Oyster Trash to Treasure, The Outlaw Ocean, A “Little Sea” with a Big Champion and more.
Oysters on the half shell are big business on Nantucket Island, and a local program recycles oyster shells from restaurant waste into habitat for young oysters. These recycled oyster shell reefs are h...Show More
6) Life as an Incarcerated Firefighter, An Ancient Climate Solution, Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, and more.
Around a thousand of the firefighters who battled blazes around southern California in January 2025 were incarcerated. They do essentially the same work as other firefighters but are paid as little as...Show More
7) Sounds of Soil, “Depaving” the Way to Greener Neighborhoods, The Light Eaters and more.
Sounds like the overlapping songs of birds can speak volumes about the biodiversity in an ecosystem, and now scientists are looking to use the tiny sounds made by earthworms, ants, and voles to study ...Show More
8) Complex Air Pollution and Public Health, Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer’s Guide to the Universe, Animal Self-Medicating
A study from Johns Hopkins researchers found that residents near or on the fence line of polluting enterprises are at higher risk for multiple health problems because of the toxic mix of air they brea...Show More
9) Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History, with Eels, Uprooted By Climate, Starborn: How the Stars Made Us and more.
Eels play an important ecological role in many rivers and streams, but they’re so eel-usive that even eel scientists have been challenged to observe them mating in the wild. Ellen Ruppel Shell is auth...Show More
10) EPA Cuts Scientific Research, Censorship in US National Parks, Zombie Fires in Canada and more.
The US Environmental Protection Agency is shutting down its Office of Research and Development, which represents 50 years of independent scientific research. We explain the impact of this federal deci...Show More