Living on Earth: October 25th, 2013
Air Date: October 25, 2013
It’s been a year since Hurricane Sandy brought devastating floods to the east coast and destroyed many homes and businesses. Urban Planning Professor Elliott Sclar joins host Steve Curwood to discuss what lessons were learned from Hurricane Sandy about how to protect our coasts and cities in a warming world.
BirdNote® Acorn Woodpecker
2 min read · 2 min listen
True to their name, Acorn Woodpeckers collect hundreds of acorns over the course of a year and hide them away in holes in trees. Michael Stein reports for BirdNote.
Climate and the Bottom Line
6 min read · 8 min listen
The Securities and Exchange Commission requires that publicly traded companies file annual reports that disclose potential risks to the company’s bottom line. Yet more than 70% of businesses fail to mention the possible effects of climate change. Lawrence Taylor, a citizen researcher who compiled the data, lays out the details to host Steve Curwood.
Congress Takes Little-Noticed Climate Action
8 min read · 10 min listen
ProPublica reporter Theo Meyer recently discovered something remarkable. Last year Congress passed a transportation bill with a clause that directed FEMA to take climate change into account for flood insurance. But Meyer tells host Steve Curwood that so far FEMA hasn’t made much progress.
Powershift - New Bedford Goes Solar
8 min read · 11 min listen
Partnerships between the public and private sectors are turning a brownfield into a solar field and making one city a model for renewable energy development. Living on Earth's Naomi Arenberg returns to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where she reported last year on the start of green initiatives, and now charts the city's increasing success with solar power.
Science Note: Palm Oil
2 min read · 2 min listen
A group of geneticists have found a gene responsible for palm oil yield, which could help make palm oil farming much more efficient in the tropics. Poncie Rutsch reports.
The Lessons of Superstorm Sandy
7 min read · 9 min listen
It’s been a year since Hurricane Sandy brought devastating floods to the east coast and destroyed many homes and businesses. Urban Planning Professor Elliott Sclar joins host Steve Curwood to discuss what lessons were learned from Hurricane Sandy about how to protect our coasts and cities in a warming world.
Vines on the March in Tropical Forests
7 min read · 10 min listen
Carbon dioxide acts as a fertilizer for most plants and new research shows that woody vines, or lianas, are thrive particularly well in a more carbon rich environment. Oliver Phillips, geography professor from the University of Leeds, UK tells host Steve Curwood that’s not good news for tropical trees.
Wild Exeter
3 min read · 4 min listen
Even in the heart of a bustling city, wildlife can find a home and help urban folks to appreciate nature, as Ari Daniel reports from Exeter in the UK.
