Peter Dykstra and Host Steve Curwood discuss why climate change may be linked to tsunamis, and they also look at the “research whaling” claims that allow the commercial killing of whales in Japan. The two then recount some of the deadliest hurricanes in modern US history.

A new law puts California on a path to carbon-free electricity generation by 2045. And leaders from around the world recently convened in San Francisco at the Global Climate Action Summit organized by the state’s Governor, Jerry Brown. Host Steve Curwood and Jared Blumenfeld, former EPA Regional Chief, discuss the state’s swift progress towards decarbonizing its growing economy and why some citizen activists say even stronger action is needed.

When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017, the direct hit turned a green island brown. Vast areas of forest were defoliated, or stripped of their leaves and branches. From mangroves to cloud forests, every ecosystem on the island was devastated by the massive storm, but as Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb reports, forests that evolved in the hurricane belt have ways to cope and are coming back.

As ocean levels rise, coastal communities contend with higher floods, stronger hurricanes, and saltwater intrusion. Some are even being forced to retreat to higher ground. From Louisiana to Staten Island to Pensacola, writer Elizabeth Rush set out to document the stories of people caught in these rising tides. Rush speaks with Host Steve Curwood about her new book, Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore.