Living on Earth

The US Senate recently voted to reverse a moratorium on mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, a million acres on the US-Canada border that’s teeming with wildlife and crystal-clear waters. The region is also rich in valuable copper, nickel, and cobalt, but Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) says mining in the same watershed as the Boundary Waters poses unacceptable risks.   Also, while electrifying transportation is essential to addressing the climate crisis, the mining of nickel, copper, and lithium required to build out these green technologies brings its own environmental and social costs. To understand these impacts, author and political scientist Thea Riofrancos traveled to the Atacama Desert in Chile, home to one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. She discusses her book, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism.   And Nigerian conservation ecologist Iroro Tanshi rediscovered the short-tailed roundleaf bat in 2016, after decades when it was believed extinct in the region. The species is still critically endangered, with habitat loss from wildfires as one of its top threats. So Iroro joined with local groups to start a community-led program to develop safer field burning practices and wildfire fighting strategies, and she is the recipient of the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa.   ---   Did you miss our online event with Dr. Hannah Ritchie and Host Steve Curwood discussing Clearing the Air? You can watch the full recording on our website at loe.org/events! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first Earth Day in 1970, when some 20 million people peacefully demonstrated, arrived amid Vietnam War protests and other social unrest. And it came not long after the Apollo 8 astronauts snapped the iconic “Earthrise” photo that showed all of us were on a single, fragile planet amid the blackness of space. In this moment when humans have finally returned to the Moon after decades, we reflect on the movement that led to that first Earth Day and how the world has changed.   Also, the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission that safely splashed down on April 10 made new scientific observations that are helping to expand our knowledge of the Moon, as well as the Earth itself. Artemis II Lunar Science Lead Kelsey Young joins us to talk about the scientific goals and accomplishments of the mission and the unforgettable moments the crew shared with people back on Earth.   And climate solutions like renewable energy tech that requires intensive mining can run into skepticism from people across the political spectrum. But according to data scientist Hannah Ritchie, many of the concerns are based on partial- and misinformation, and the outlook for addressing the climate emergency isn’t as grim as some people may think. Ritchie is the author of Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change in 50 Questions and Answers. --- Did you miss our online event with Dr. Hannah Ritchie and Host Steve Curwood discussing Clearing the Air? You can watch the full recording on our website at loe.org/events! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About two thirds of the US-Mexico border is along the Rio Grande, and the Trump Administration is working to install hundreds of miles of buoy barriers in the river. Now residents of border towns are raising the alarm over how these buoys could impact wildlife, restrict access to the river and sever cultural ties.   Also, news media outlets are retreating from covering climate change, according to the Media and Climate Change Observatory at the University of Colorado Boulder, which has been tracking this trend for decades. They report that since a peak in 2021, climate news stories across the globe have dropped nearly 40 percent.   And the poems in Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s new book Night Owl offer a window into the magic of nature at night and a light in the darkness. She shares selected poems from the collection and talks about how poetry can help us grapple with ecological loss and celebrate natural wonders alike.   ---   Interested in gaining hands-on experience with producing a radio show and podcast? Apply to be a Living on Earth intern this summer! We’re now accepting applications and to learn more, go to loe.org/about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The astronauts of the Artemis II mission are prospecting for a planned base on the moon, the first lunar expedition since 1972. The crew includes the first woman, the first person of color, and first Canadian to travel to the Moon. Danny Olivas, an engineer and retired NASA astronaut, talks about the mission objectives and challenges, why it faced delays and what sets the Artemis program apart from the Apollo visits to the moon of more than 50 years ago.   Also, a panel known as the “God Squad”, consisting mostly of Trump cabinet members, recently voted to exempt the oil and gas industry operating in the Gulf of Mexico from the Endangered Species Act. If courts do not intervene, this decision would waive the standard ESA requirements to protect endangered species including the Rice’s whale, of which there are only a few dozen left.   And the City Nature Challenge is an international contest known as a bioblitz: a brief, intensive survey of biological diversity over a set area and time. A few years back we met up with the Boston BioBlitz Initiative for Girls during a trip to Thompson Island in Boston Harbor, where a group of teens practiced their observational skills for the competition. And you can participate in this year’s bioblitz.   ---   Interested in in gaining hands-on experience with producing a radio show and podcast? Apply to be a Living on Earth intern this summer! We’re now accepting applications and to learn more, go to loe.org/about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A federal judge recently issued an enforcement order mandating the release of funds from FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities or BRIC program, which the Trump administration had stalled. Why money spent to protect critical infrastructure from disasters like storms, floods and wildfires pays for itself many times over.   Also, over billions of years of its history, the planet has frozen over almost completely and then lost all its ice as crocodiles basked in a balmy Arctic. Carbon-based life arose and adapted to all this change. And at the center of it all is the notorious greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, the focus of the book The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything: How Carbon Dioxide Made Our World.   And a recent discovery is giving us insights into the last days of the woolly rhinoceros in Siberia before it went extinct some 14,000 years ago. Researchers studied the DNA of a well-preserved piece of woolly rhino meat that was the last meal of a wolf pup. --- Interested in in gaining hands-on experience with producing a radio show and podcast? Apply to be a Living on Earth intern this summer! We’re now accepting applications and to learn more, go to loe.org/about. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices