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Living on Earth

Keep your finger on the pulse of the issues affecting the planet we call home. Hosted by Steve Curwood, Living on Earth examines all sides of today's most important environmental concerns. Environmental experts and leading environmental journalists join the discussion each week with compelling features and commentary on how culture, economics, and technology shape the world around us. As the population and consumption continue to rise, Living on Earth continues to deliver the award-winning news on the subjects that affect the earth's inhabitants. Produced by World Media Foundation Inc.

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Steve CurwoodSCSteve Curwood
Old growth Douglas fir trees stand along the Salmon river Trail on the Mt. Hood National Forest
Environment
1 in 6 trees in the US threatened with extinction
City view at McCulloh apartments at Druid Hill Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland, June 2019.
Climate Change
Rental housing stock in the US faces huge challenges adapting to climate change
The trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange
Business, Economics and Jobs
Proposed SEC rule would require companies to disclose risks from climate change
A natural gas power plant of RWE AG in Lingen, Germany
Ukraine
Can heat pumps help bring peace to Ukraine?
An aerial view of Fairbourne village in Gwynedd in Wales, Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021.
Refugees
Climate change may be the leading driver of tomorrow’s refugee crisis
The Castillo de San Marcos, one of the major heritage sites in St. Augustine, Florida,
Climate Change
Rising sea levels along Florida’s coast threaten to damage valuable archeological sites
The Thwaites Glacier is one of the hardest places in Antarctica to access, and scientists have only recently been able to go there to study it.
Climate Change
The melting and collapse of Thwaites Glacier could affect sea levels for years to come
Jennifer Lawrence attends the world premiere of "Don't Look Up" at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021, in New York.
Climate Change
‘Don’t Look Up’ exposes the absurdity — and consequences — of climate change denial
A boy plays in a fountain to cool off as temperatures approach 100 degrees Fahrenheit, July 18, 2019, in Kansas City, Missouri. 
Health & Medicine
A warming climate leads to more pediatric ER visits, study shows
Plumes of smoke rise in the vicinity of Lake Steffen caused by a wildfire, near Rio Villegas, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021.
Climate Change
Fire and climate change are altering Patagonia’s ecosystems
The Shell Norco refinery in Norco, Louisiana, Thursday, March 8, 2018.
Health & Medicine
A new interactive map can help assess carcinogenic emissions risk
Workers prepare to replace older water pipes with a new copper one in Newark, New Jersey, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021.
Health & Medicine
Scientists link childhood lead exposure to adult mental health problems
Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, center, arrives for a great chanting ceremony at Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on March 16, 2007.
Lifestyle & Belief
‘Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet’
A fire still burns in a home destroyed by the Marshall Wildfire in Louisville, Colorado, Friday, Dec. 31, 2021.
Environment
Colorado’s catastrophic winter firestorm may be a sign of more to come
E.O. Wilson in his office at Harvard University
Environment
Remembering naturalist E.O. Wilson
Ecologist Tom Lovejoy is being remembered for his decades of research and bringing people together to protect the Amazon rainforest and other ecosystems on the planet.
Environment
Remembering Tom Lovejoy, champion of biodiversity and the Amazon
A marine iguana crawls along the beach on Rabida Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Environment
‘Magical’ animal encounters on the Galapagos Islands
Fruits and vegetables are often wrapped in plastics containing chemicals harmful to human health
Health & Medicine
A new study highlights the urgent need to regulate phthalates in plastic
In this Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 file photo, a man guides a raft through a polluted canal littered with plastic bags and other garbage in Mumbai, India.
Environment
YouTube influencers work to stem the flow of trash to the seas
Smoke rises from a processing mill at a palm oil plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia
Climate Change
The world’s tropical forests can help us limit climate change — if we let them
A coal-fired power station in Witbank, South Africa
Climate Change
World leaders agree to help South Africa phase out coal
Cattle graze on land recently burned and deforested by cattle farmers near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil.
Climate Change
World leaders pledged to end forest loss. What will it take?
Climate activist Vanessa Nakate, of Uganda, delivers her speech during a Fridays for Future demonstration in Milan, Italy, Friday, Oct. 1, 2021.
Climate Change
Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate: ‘We want climate action and our voices will not be silenced’
A female North Atlantic Right whale entangled in fishing gear
Environment
North Atlantic right whales are shrinking in size as they struggle to survive environmental havoc
A Tesoro Corp. refinery, including a gas flare flame that is part of normal plant operations, in Anacortes, Washington.
Climate Change
Are carbon offsets really as effective as advocates claim?
Nancy Sharabarin hands money to a customer buying strawberries at the Saturday farmers market as business opens up with a successful vaccination campaign in Portland, Oregon, Saturday, June 5, 2021.
Food
There’s still time for canning, preserving and freezing excess fruits and veggies
Maasai giraffes walk in Serengeti National Park, west of Arusha, northern Tanzania.
Environment
In Kenya, trees and giraffes hold an agreement: ‘Do not harm me’
Air pollution in Tehran on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012.
Health & Medicine
New WHO air pollution standards could save millions of lives each year
This Dec. 22, 2018, file photo shows a pump jack over an oil well along Interstate 25 near Dacono, Colorado.
Climate Change
Will big oil finally be held accountable for decades of climate misinformation?
In this April 4, 2013, file photo, a mining dumper truck hauls coal at Cloud Peak Energy's Spring Creek strip mine near Decker, Montana.
Climate Change
‘They Knew’: A new book chronicles 50 years of US govt’s failure to address the climate crisis
Climate change activists show hands in support of climate action during a climate strike rally, as part of a global youth-led day of global action.
Climate Change
Study finds widespread climate anxiety among youth
The Shell Norco oil refinery along the Mississippi River in Norco, LA.
Environment
Hurricane Ida adds misery to ‘Cancer Alley’: Part II
Founder of RISE St. James and 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Sharon Lavigne
Environment
Hurricane Ida adds misery to ‘Cancer Alley’: Part I
Anna's hummingbird
Environment
‘The Hummingbirds’ Gift’ sings the praises of this ‘superlative’ bird
Dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses are spread by the Aedes species of mosquito, like the Aedes albopictus pictured here
Disease
An unlikely hero could help in the fight against deadly mosquito-borne disease
Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve
Energy
Federal judge blocks major Alaskan drilling project
Clear-cut forest near Eugene, Oregon
Environment
‘Finding the Mother Tree’ explores the intricate communication networks within a forest
Buildings burn as the Dixie Fire tears through the Greenville community of Plumas County, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021.
Climate Change
Climate change is driving extreme weather events around the world in 2021
A record number of wolves are roaming the forests and fields of Oregon, 20 years after the species returned to the state.
Arts, Culture & Media
Charlotte McConaghy’s new novel imagines reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands
Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck
Science & Technology
Ford hits a ‘home run’ with its new all-electric F-150 pickup
An adult cicada rests after shedding its nymphal skin, on the bark of an an oak tree early Wednesday, May 5, 2021, on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland.
Food
17-year cicadas — noisy nuisance to some, delicacy to others
Adult cicadas cover a plant, Monday, May 17, 2021, at Woodend Sanctuary and Mansion, in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Environment
Have you seen the Brood X cicadas?
In 2019, the Morgan sisters biked to New York City from Andover with their mom to raise awareness about climate change.
Climate Change
Young activists are making their mark in the climate debate
Humpback whales undergo one of the longest migrations of any mammal on Earth — over 6,000 miles.
Arts, Culture & Media
A NatGeo documentary reveals ‘Secrets of the Whales’
Mossbrae Falls in the Shasta Cascade area in Dunsmuir, California. In many spiritual traditions, like the Lakota in the US, water represents “the living relationship between you and I and all things."
Belief
Spiritual leaders seek to spur an ‘ecological conversion’
The Gaia hypothesis, devised by James Lovelock, posits that Earth is a living, self-regulating organism.
Imagining Gaia, the Earth, as ‘one great, living organism’
President Joe Biden speaks about Russia in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, April 15, 2021, in Washington.
Climate Change
Biden’s Earth Day summit tests US, global commitment to slowing climate change
The Belo Monte hydroelectric dam stands in the Xingu River in Altamira, Para state, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 6, 2019. 
Environment
Plan to divert water to Brazil’s Belo Monte dam threatens Indigenous peoples and wildlife
Image of an illegally deforested area on Pirititi Indigenous lands.
Climate Change
The Amazon rainforest is likely adding to global warming, says a new study
An illustration of blue and black magnetic field lines that Earth generates today.
Science
Scientists link Earth’s magnetic reversals to changes in planet’s life and climate
A selection of silver refrigerators on display at an appliance store.
Environment
A climate reporter walks into an appliance store…
Red and white trucks flank a tall drilling well pictured against the sky
Environment
Trying to measure fracking’s toll on human health
In this July 27, 2018, photo the Dave Johnson coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the morning sun.
Environment
Fossil fuels cause 1 in 5 premature deaths worldwide, study says
National Geographic Explorer and wildlife DJ Ben Mirin.
Music
‘Nature is always singing’: Now you can make your own music from nature’s sounds
A worker arranges yellow ginseng displays behind glass cases
Business, Economics and Jobs
American ginseng farmers battered by trade wars and pandemic
Nuclear reactors of No. 5, center left, and 6 look over tanks storing water that was treated but still radioactive, at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
Energy
Plan to dump Fukushima’s radioactive water into ocean causes outcry
Protesters demand the release of Indian climate activist Disha Ravi
Protest
India cracks down on climate activists supporting farmer protests
Joe Biden climate executive action
Biden administration
Biden vows to take a ‘whole of government’ approach to climate change
Enbridge Energy Line 3 protest
Environment
Native tribes in Minnesota pledge to continue fighting new Line 3 pipeline
An axis deer looks up at a giraffe on Sir Bani Yas Island near Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Friday, June 9, 2017.
Environment
A new book explores culture within the animal kingdom