Living on Earth

11/22/2024

Exploring the Deep Sea with Susan Casey event at the New England Aquarium

Thursday, December 5, 2024 | 6:30 p.m.
In person at the Simons Theatre or via live stream

We are partnering with the New England Aquarium to host Exploring the Deep Sea, with Susan Casey. You may have heard her on the show when she spoke about her latest book The Underworld: Journeys to the Depth of the Ocean. Please join us as she discusses the past, present, and future of the deep ocean with our executive producer, Steve Curwood.

Register here: https://support.neaq.org/site/Calendar?id=109447&view=Detail

Photo credit: Joe MacInnis

08/02/2024

We are saddened to announce the death of our longtime contributor Peter Dykstra. He passed away Wednesday morning due to complications from pneumonia. He was 67.

He was a giant in environmental journalism and advocacy. His career included time at CNN, Greenpeace, and Environmental Health News.

We will broadcast a tribute to Peter later this month. If you would like to share your memories of him on the show, please reach out to us at [email protected].

09/22/2023

Microorganisms in soil generate carbon-rich soil and help plants grow, but too often our food comes from industrial farms that limit beneficial microbes by depleting the soil with tillage and toxic chemicals. Farmer and author Dorn Cox joined Living on Earth Host Steve Curwood at an LOE Book Club event on September 14, 2023 to describe his collaborative high-tech vision of harnessing the power of microbes outlined in his book The Great Regeneration: Ecological Agriculture, Open-Source Technology, and a Radical Vision of Hope.

09/20/2023

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 EPA and the Department of Justice abruptly closed the inquiry when Louisiana's Attorney General filed a lawsuit charging reverse discrimination.

Monique Harden of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice joins us to explain the suit, and the progress toward environmental justice that could have been made with the 2022 investigation.

This week's Living on Earth, PRI's environmental news and information program. Full transcript with streaming and downloadable audio available.

09/14/2023

Tonight! Author Dorn Cox joins us for our next live book club event, with an in-person interview at Dover Public Library in New Hampshire. (And a virtual event on Zoom!)

Tune in to learn how regenerative agriculture can combat climate change and food scarcity. We hope to see you there!

Register for the in-person event here: https://ow.ly/wbub50PC46a

Register for the online Zoom event here: https://umassboston.zoom.us/webinar/register/6716914361317/WN_1uDli8bxRU6Y9DbsSdgdWA

Listen in to a live author interview about how regenerative agriculture can combat climate change and food scarcity.

09/06/2023

Thanks to the country's geography, the United States is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and blizzards. And climate change is only making it worse.

How can we prepare for these disasters? Learn more:

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 as Associated Press science writer Seth Borenstein explains to Host Aynsley O’Neill, these natural disasters are gettin...

09/05/2023

"These endocrine-disrupting chemicals are found everywhere.” - Professor Shanna Swan spoke with us about the compounds helping fuel fertility declines, the environmental injustices of the issue, and her 2021 book “Count Down."

Listen here:

Over the past four decades, s***m levels among men in Western countries have dropped by more than 50%, and female fertility is also declining. Chemicals known as hormone disruptors are key culprits, including phthalates found in plastics. Shanna Swan, professor of Environmental Medicine and public h...

08/30/2023

Recycling in California relies heavily on unhoused residents, but the state has rarely supported their informal labor.

Reporter Isabella Zavarise digs into the story to learn more.

Listen here:

The California recycling system depends heavily on the informal labor of unhoused residents who collect recyclables and bring them to recycling centers. But many unhoused people say the state has rarely engaged with them and can even make it more difficult for them to do their work. Reporter Isabell...

08/29/2023

"We need to invest in solutions that are going to mature today and solutions that are going to mature in 10 and 20 years. We’re still going to be fighting this for a long time.”

-Skidmore College Professor Kristofer Covey on methane’s role in the climate crisis

Learn more here:

Scientists are sounding the alarm about a recent uptick in methane emissions. Methane is roughly 85 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas when it’s first emitted and reducing methane releases now may be one of the fastest ways to slow down climate change. Kristofer Covey, Assistant Profes...

08/28/2023

"This is what I found was the greatest gift of falconry. Just like friendships with different people, relationships with individuals of other species have lessons to teach us."

- Author Sy Montgomery on her book “The Hawk's Way"

Listen here:

Falconry, also known as the practice of hunting with birds, can be traced back perhaps as far as the Ice Age. Many modern aficionados, like author Sy Montgomery, consider the sport to be more about the interaction with these hawks, falcons, and owls, rather than about the hunting itself. Her book Th...

08/22/2023

Sept 14 is our next book club event with School for the Environment, New Hampshire Public Radio & Dover Public Library

, co-author of "The Great Regeneration," explains how regenerative agriculture can combat climate change and food scarcity - and you can tune in live, on Zoom or in person!

Register for the in-person event here: https://ow.ly/wbub50PC46a

Register for the online Zoom event here: https://umassboston.zoom.us/webinar/register/6716914361317/WN_1uDli8bxRU6Y9DbsSdgdWA

Listen in to a live author interview about how regenerative agriculture can combat climate change and food scarcity.