Living on Earth

Though climate was not directly on the ballot in the midterm elections, high fuel prices and concerns about data centers boosted Democrats to a “blue tsunami.” And the new Democratic majority in both houses of Congress means Republican anti-environment measures like fossil fuel expansion and public land exploitation may be slowed down or even halted. Colleagues from our media partner Inside Climate News talk us through the results and the opportunity for a Democratic-led Congress to now focus on clean energy to reduce energy costs. Also, congressional committees originate legislation and oversight investigations, and as Democrats take control their senior members will presumably become chairs with broad subpoena powers. Congressman Jared Huffman, who has represented northern California since 2013 is in line to chair the House Natural Resources Committee, and he joins us to share his priorities for the committee in the new Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plastics have been widely adopted in all sorts of products from food packaging to toys to medical devices, in part because they don’t tend to chemically react. But new research challenges that notion when it comes to microplastics, finding that contact by tiny chips of plastic with water releases unstable molecules which in the human body are linked to inflammation.   Also, as greenhouse gases from fossil fuels continue to spike our planet’s average temperature, it’s pushing into more dangerous territory for humans. This summer, heat-related deaths in European urban areas scorched by heat waves totaled 50,000, according to a new study which also concludes that human-induced climate change was a significant contributor to the high mortality rate.   And the Wētāpunga is the heaviest known insect on the planet, weighing as much as a mouse. They’re found only in New Zealand and were recently endangered, but thanks to an innovative breeding program, they’re making a comeback. We talk about the conservation effort and why these giant cricket-like insects deserve our respect and care. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the states where data centers to power AI are growing is Pennsylvania, which also has a large supply of natural gas. In Upper Burrell, a town just east of Pittsburgh, a data center expansion could be fed by fracking rigs already pumping gas out of the ground. The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports the town is trying to keep pace with these two big industries in its backyard.   Also, thirty years of UN climate sessions and the persistent wide gap between discussion and action to slow the climate crisis have left some countries and NGOs frustrated as they face a dire future. So even as COP31 begins in November in Turkey, an alternate path already began in April in Colombia when roughly 60 countries met for the first Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, with a treaty in the works.   And in 2024, Hurricane Helene ripped through the mountain communities of western North Carolina, leaving them stranded and unable to communicate with the outside world for days. A new graphic novel, Islands in the Sky: A People’s History of Hurricane Helene, pairs up survivors with artists to help them tell their stories of resourcefulness and resilience in their own words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boosted by climate change, this year’s El Niño has intensified into a “Super El Niño,” meaning sea surface temperatures in parts of the Pacific are over 2 degrees Celsius hotter than average. How this has brought one strong storm after another churning across the Pacific Ocean while shutting down most Atlantic storms, and what this super El Niño may bring in the months ahead.   Also, Atrazine is the second most widely used weed killer in the U.S. after glyphosate, which you might know from RoundUp. Much like glyphosate, atrazine can disrupt hormones and has been linked to serious health impacts, including cancer. Atrazine is also wreaking havoc on aquatic ecosystems, and a recent report from the Center for Biological Diversity finds nearly a quarter of all river miles in the US contain harmful levels.   And in her award-winning novel A Guardian and a Thief, Megha Majumdar places her characters in the near future in a climate-changed Kolkata, India, where she grew up. She discusses how the climate crisis may present the kinds of difficult moral choices her characters grapple with.   ---   We want to hear from you! What’s motivating you to vote in the November 3rd midterm elections? What questions do you have about how the midterms could shape climate action, species protection, clean air for public health, and more? Write us at [email protected] or send us a voice note (learn how at the end of this episode). And we might play your comment on the air! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The closely watched race for US Senate in Maine is pitting two environmentally concerned candidates against each other. Not only do Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson both have fairly similar green and climate views, they’re from the same rural county and both have roots in the lumber industry that’s so important to the state. Also, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, public power advocates have battled since 2018 to take electricity non-profit, and hope to win a referendum vote in November. But strong opposition from dividend-paying DTE Energy is being stoked by an alleged misinformation campaign with claims of higher costs of going public from what seems to be at least one citizen group that is in fact funded in part by DTE. And in 2022, President Biden’s signature climate bill appeared doomed in the 50-50 divided Senate when West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a centrist Democrat with close ties to the fossil fuel industry, declined to pledge his critical vote. But negotiations restarted in secret, and the largest climate package in US history became law. Leah Stokes’ 2026 book The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet tells the gripping story of how the Inflation Reduction Act came together and cleared the final hurdles. --- We want to hear from you! What’s motivating you to vote in the November 3rd midterm elections? What questions do you have about how the midterms could shape climate action, species protection, clean air for public health, and more? Write us at [email protected] or send us a voice note (learn how at the end of this episode). And we might play your comment on the air! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the US Supreme Court set Monday, October 5th for oral arguments on an appeal from the Colorado State Supreme Court by Suncor and Exxon, it highlighted what could become a landmark case about damage from climate change and the role of fossil fuels. Why the case could make or break the ability of states and local governments to ‘make polluters pay.’   Also, our brightly lit modern world is increasingly drowning out the stars. To rediscover what we miss when we can’t look up and see the heavens in their full glory, award-winning author Craig Childs embarked on a journey by bike from blindingly bright Las Vegas into the dark skies of the remote Nevada desert. His 2025 book is The Wild Dark: Finding the Night Sky in the Age of Light.   And much is at stake for the climate and environmental protection when it comes to this fall’s Congressional and Senate races, in the middle of the second Trump presidency. But the often-overlooked elections for state legislatures and governors can also go a long way towards shaping the future of these issues, and we discuss a few key states to watch. --- We want to hear from you! What’s motivating you to vote in the November 3rd midterm elections? What questions do you have about how the midterms could shape climate action, species protection, clean air for public health, and more? Write us at [email protected] or send us a voice note (learn how at the end of this episode). And we might play your comment on the air! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the deadly floods in Nepal this August, researchers rapidly assessed the event and concluded that climate change played a “very strong” role in the catastrophic glacial collapse. We discuss the human toll of the floods and the moral duty of the world to slow the climate crisis and help Nepal adapt.   Also, the 2026 United Nations Climate Summit and Climate Week, which just wrapped up in New York City, took place in the wake of a summer marked by deadly extreme heat, the Nepal flood disaster and a UN report on the inevitable “overshoot” of the 1.5 degree C warming goal. We talk about the disjoint between urgent warnings and pleas for help from vulnerable nations, while countries like the US continue boosting fossil fuels -- amid the rapid growth and cost savings of renewable energy. And a recent study in the journal Scientific Data shows that since 1979, around 12.5 trillion tons of ice have melted from glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica -- enough to cover the entire US in 5 feet of ice. And the melting has been speeding up in the last two decades. We discuss the implications for future melting and global sea level rise. Plus: In addition to storing carbon through photosynthesis, trees have another carbon cycle trick up their sleeve, or rather, bark, and it's been hiding in plain sight. Scientists have discovered that tree bark hosts millions of microbes involved in consuming and producing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2026 was recorded as one of the hottest summers globally, with deadly heatwaves in Europe and catastrophic floods in Nepal. We discuss how the United Nations put out a report warning that current climate policies will lead to at least 1.8°C of global temperature increase, well beyond the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement raising the alarm on global temperature rise. Also, California is reducing its natural gas consumption by increasing its solar energy battery energy storage and utility scale solar systems. Compared to the rest of the nation, in 2014 the state was producing 10 percent of the country’s total gas-fired electricity, but by 2025 it was down to just 4 percent. And Trees provide us with shade, food, beauty and of course, oxygen to breathe. They often outlive humans, and can teach us about life, aging, and how to be better stewards of the earth. We talk about Robert Moor’s newest book “In Trees: An Exploration”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The devastating August 2026 flash floods in Nepal and Tibet were triggered in part by a glacial collapse, a phenomenon likely to become more frequent as the Earth continues to rapidly warm due to human caused climate change. We discuss why climate change is making mountains and glaciers more unstable, and how early warning systems and less development in floodplains could prevent future loss of life.  Also, as global sea temperatures rise due to climate change, coral reefs around the world are struggling through mass bleaching events. But new research has identified nearly one-third of the world’s coral reefs as climate-resilient “super reefs”, three times more than was previously estimated.  And inspired by the popular Fat Bear Week, researchers with the Marmot Project launched Fat Marmot Week this year to raise awareness of these large ground squirrels, and drum up support for sustaining their decades-long research project. We talk about the winner of Fat Marmot Week, and other creative ways the team is fundraising and spreading a love of yellow-bellied marmots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Great Britain is Europe’s third largest oil and gas producer, even with a commitment to a net-zero economy by 2050. A small group of climate activists is helping the UK meet that target by winning a Supreme Court decision that’s blocking any new UK oil and gas projects that don’t assess climate impacts. Sarah Finch of Surrey, near London led the fight against proposed oil and gas drilling in the region known as the Weald, and she’s been recognized with the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for Europe.  Also, efforts to bring back bison that once roamed the Great Plains are helping to revive Indigenous culture on lands across the US West, including in the city of Denver. And the Utah desert with its raw beauty has long been a muse for writer Terry Tempest Williams. In her 2026 book, The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary, she explores miraculous moments of grace that call for our attention, even in spaces that may at first seem unremarkable. Terry joined us for an online Living on Earth Book Club event. --  Find photos, transcripts, links to more information about these stories, and much more at the Living on Earth website, loe dot org!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices