Living on Earth

Forest ecologist Suzanne Simard has shown through her research that the biggest and oldest ‘Mother Trees’ in the forest anchor networks of social connection among the trees, and indeed the whole forest ecosystem. Her latest book is When the Forest Breathes: Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World, and she shares how more sustainable logging practices incorporating Indigenous knowledge can help heal decades of clearcutting harm.   Also, after announcing at the end of May it was dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative, the National Science Foundation faced widespread public criticism and the Senate passed a bipartisan measure to preserve the vital ocean monitoring network. NSF then reversed its decision and says an array that was already being removed will be redeployed. We discuss this reprieve for climate and ocean science.   And our sixth and final installment of interviews with the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize winners features Latin American winner Yuvelis Morales Blanco, honored for fighting against fracking in Colombia and forced to flee after receiving death threats. The recent presidential elections in Colombia put fracking back on the table, after four years of an administration that signaled a desire to transition away from fossil fuels.   --   Sign up for the next virtual Living on Earth Book Club event on July 14 at 5 pm PDT / 8 pm EDT! We’ll talk with Yurok activist and attorney Amy Bowers Cordalis about how multiple generations of her family have advocated for the protection of Northern California’s Klamath River, a crucial habitat for salmon and the lifeblood of the Yurok tribe. Her book is The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family’s Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life. You can sign up for this free event at loe.org/events.   Music from public domain and licensed from Blue Dot Sessions: sessions.blue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lush peonies, delicate hydrangeas, and vibrant roses burst into bloom in early summer, filling gardens and parks with color and fragrance. But flowers are more than their beauty. They’re some of the oldest beings on Earth, and they played a large role in shaping the natural world as we know it. Author and biologist David George Haskell joins us to discuss his 2026 book, How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature’s Revolutionaries.   Also, while honeybees get most of the buzz, most bees don’t produce honey, and most don’t even live in colonies. Instead, they’re solitary bees who build individual nests. A recent study details an astonishing finding of several million solitary bees in a cemetery in Ithaca, New York.   And the 2026 El Niño is now officially underway, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA. Combined with the ongoing rising temperatures from the climate crisis, this possible “super” El Niño could spell major disruption of weather patterns and ocean circulation worldwide.   --   Sign up for the next virtual Living on Earth Book Club event on July 14 at 5 pm PDT / 8 pm EDT! We’ll talk with Yurok activist and attorney Amy Bowers Cordalis about how multiple generations of her family have advocated for the protection of Northern California’s Klamath River, a crucial habitat for salmon and the lifeblood of the Yurok tribe. Her book is The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family’s Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life. You can sign up for this free event at loe.org/events.   Music from public domain and licensed from Blue Dot Sessions: sessions.blue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate Juneteenth we tell the story of plant biologist Beronda Montgomery. When she sat down to write what became a personal memoir mixed with a botanical history of African Americans, she found her research as a PhD lab scientist had brought her squarely into the world of social science as well. From her studies of how plants respond to light during photosynthesis, she started shining a light on the history of extensive plant cultivation by African Americans, including those who endured forced labor. She joins us to discuss her book When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, Historyand America’s Black Botanical Legacy.   Also, George Washington Carver was born into slavery but went on to become a famous agronomist and helped poor people in the South improve their lives and soils by planting peanuts and other legumes. This week, he comes back from the past in the form of actor and playwright Paxton Williams, who joins us as “George Washington Carver” to talk about the future of modern-day agriculture and intersections between racial dynamics and agricultural development. --   Music licensed from Blue Dot Sessions: sessions.blue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Science Foundation has announced it will begin removing most of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a collection of roughly 900 instruments in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans that gathers fixed-point data on temperature, carbon dioxide levels, and more. The move is part of a broader trend within the current administration to shelve climate science research and reporting.   Also, today the Agora and Acropolis of Athens, Delphi on Mount Parnassus, and other Greek archaeological sites preserve not only cultural heritage, but also animal and plant species, including some that were around in ancient times and are described in historical accounts and Greek mythology. And the indigenous residents of Bougainville island in Papua New Guinea say their home used to provide them with everything they needed—shelter, fertile land, and clean water. That is until a copper and gold mine run by British-Australian company Rio Tinto set up shop and operated in the 1970s and 80s. Today, heavy metals like copper sulfate and cadmium still pollute waterways, and Theonila Roka Matbob, the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner for Islands and Island Nations, has been fighting for years to pressure Rio Tinto into taking full responsibility for remediating this damage. --   Save the date and sign up for the next virtual Living on Earth Book Club event on July 14 at 5 pm PDT / 8 pm EDT! We’ll talk with Yurok activist and attorney Amy Bowers Cordalis about how multiple generations of her family have advocated for the protection of Northern California’s Klamath River, a crucial habitat for salmon and the lifeblood of the Yurok tribe. Her book is The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family’s Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life. You can sign up for this free event at loe.org/events.   Music licensed from Blue Dot Sessions: sessions.blue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than two-thirds of U.N. members recently voted in favor of a resolution affirming a landmark ruling by the International Court of Justice that countries have a legal obligation to limit global warming. While this advisory opinion is not enforceable, it will likely be cited in lawsuits and appeals as a fact in the fight against climate disruption.   Also, the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup will mostly take place during the North American summer, and the prospect of extreme heat prompted a group of current and former players to write an open letter to FIFA calling for better protection of players.   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!   Music licensed from Blue Dot Sessions: sessions.blue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices