Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, 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 time ever announced a specific target for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, by 7 to 10 percent by 2035. Hosts Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering talk about the diverging rhetoric and action on climate.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed ending the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which requires the biggest industrial facilities and power plants in the country to report their global warming emissions. David Cash, former EPA Administrator for Region One – New England, joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to discuss the potential consequences of this Trump Administration decision.

Deep-diving whales use echolocation to hunt in the pitch black of the deep ocean. Research shows that plastic debris in the ocean “looks” very similar to common whale prey, like squid, when hit with these sound waves. Living on Earth’s Don Lyman reports that whales may be mistaking this plastic debris for their food.

The four-lane Great Highway used to run along the Pacific Ocean on the west side of San Francisco, where it was at risk of flooding from sea level rise. Now it’s been transformed into a park where visitors can bike, walk, skate, and play next to the water. Zach Lipton, a volunteer with the nonprofit Friends of Sunset Dunes, speaks with Host Jenni Doering about this highway’s transformation.

The new Vera C. Rubin observatory telescope in Chile features the largest camera ever built, at about the size of a small car, and will soon begin photographing the entire southern sky repeatedly for a full decade. Clare Higgs, an astronomer on the Rubin Education and Public Outreach team, joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share how this new telescope can help advance our understanding of dark matter, reveal hard-to find interstellar objects, and much more.