The Trump Administration recently announced plans to withdraw the United States from dozens of United Nations treaties and organizations including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty that was ratified by the US Senate in 1992 and is the key international forum for addressing the climate crisis. Marianne Lavelle, the Washington Bureau Chief for Inside Climate News, speaks with Host Jenni Doering about what this decision could mean for global climate progress.

The Colorado River provides water to seven western states, and there is not enough to go around. Recently the federal government ordered the states to agree on a plan on how to share what's left amid a worsening drought. Luke Runyon co-directs The Water Desk at the University of Colorado-Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism. He joins Host Paloma Beltran to discuss the challenges of allocating water resources when demand continues to outstrip supply.

The nonviolent resistance preached by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was far from passive. It required peaceful confrontation and fierce courage to protect Black Americans from the constant threat of racist violence. Living on Earth’s Explorer-in-Residence, Mark Seth Lender sent us this essay about an encounter in Yellowstone National Park years back that reminded him of a story he heard from one of Dr. King’s defenders.

Mycorrhizal fungi form intricate and vital partnerships with plants through enormous underground networks that could help ecosystems and agriculture withstand climate impacts. But these fungi are threatened by habitat loss, nitrogen pollution and more. 2025 MacArthur Fellow Toby Kiers is leading fungi research and conservation efforts. She shares with Host Jenni Doering the wonders of fungi and why they’re worth protecting.