The planet's natural calendar, with its cycles of hibernation, sprouting, fading and rebirth, can seem remote in our techno-filled lives. Tune in to the remedy: ECOtime. This week, we hear about gray days.

In a last minute weekend ruling, a federal judge issued a restraining order on the sale of oil and gas leases near several national parks. Idaho Statesman reporter Rocky Barker tells host Steve Curwood it’s now up to the Obama administration to make the next move on oil and gas exploration in the region.

The world's farmers bring us food, clothes, and increasingly - greenhouse gas emissions. Through crop and livestock production and land clearing, the world's agricultural sector is a bigger contributor to global warming than the transportation sector. Economist Sara Scherr, CEO of Ecoagriculture Parters, says it’s time to start looking at farmers as environmental stewards, not just food producers. She speaks with Steve Curwood about techniques that help farmers mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible for policy on everything from food safety to forestry management. President Obama’s pick for the position is Tom Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa. Host Steve Curwood turns to Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, to look at the challenges that lie ahead for Vilsack.

In Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds,” crazed avians attack people in Santa Cruz, California, inciting panic. Now, something similar is happening in real life, and scientists think they may have discovered why. Amy Coombs reports.

Neil deGrasse Tyson didn't mean to get Pluto demoted from planet status; he just wanted people to think about the solar system differently. But changing the number of planets from nine to eight is just what happened when a debate sparked by the astrophysicist’s Hayden Planetarium exhibit - sans Pluto - ended with the re-categorization of the icy rock to "dwarf planet" status. Dr. Tyson tells his story - and the story of Pluto - in his new book "The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet.” He talks with host Steve Curwood.

No matter what we do to limit greenhouse gases now, the climate is going to change. The question is: by how much, and can we adapt ecosystems so they're better able to stand the stresses and strains of climate disruption? Living on Earth’s Bruce Gellerman hiked Massachusetts' Mt. Watatic with four experts working to prepare the forest to weather climate change.