This week on World Ocean Radio we provide our annual observations on the Arctic Circle Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland. This year's report highlights not only a seemingly insurgent presence by the Chinese but also a diminished presence by the United States, whose typically consequential interest in the Arctic was lacking. Also noticeably absent from the conversation: a perceived decline of representation by the Arctic's indigenous peoples. We'll discuss these things and more in this week's episode.
The first Arctic highway was the sea: a moving, shifting, frozen system that allowed its inhabitants to be sustained for generations. Since 1974, two more roads have been carved from the Arctic landscape: the first to connect oil fields in the north to consumers in the south and the second, opened this year, to connect Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. This second project, more of a local endeavor, links the land's indigenous peoples to economic opportunity and affordable goods and resources. This week on World Ocean Radio we talk about these three roads and their impacts on the Arctic, for better and for worse.
Ships have long been used for exploration and trade, as well as for colonial expansion and conflicts at sea. We are using technological achievement to advance global influence, and the rules of engagement are ever-changing. In this week's episode of World Ocean Radio we share new technologies that accelerate sub-sea activities, some of the new technological achievements now being deployed, and the ways that the underwater zone is being used for offensive and defensive strategies in the modern age.
2018 was a summer of extremes: hurricanes, wildfires, drought, floods, heat, earthquakes, tsunami. It's increasingly evident that human intervention is largely responsible for these natural disasters and their outcomes. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we talk about the distribution of loss, recognizing the poorest among us to be the least resilient in the face of such disasters, and most likely to be affected by them. We discuss the growing likelihood that climate change will cause increased displacement around the planet and will make refugees out of many of us. Where will we go? What will we do when we get there? How will we survive?
For the past eight weeks we have been discussing the concepts of ocean literacy, a framework for formal and informal education to help us better understand the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean. World Ocean Radio's Ocean Literacy series wraps up this week by challenging the existing methods for teaching and learning about the ocean, suggesting that traditional curricula could be re-examined and multi-disciplinary approaches explored so that we all may begin to understand the ocean as the defining feature of our planet and the influence it has on all things living on earth.
"The ocean is largely unexplored." So states the seventh and final Ocean Literacy principle, a series of fundamental concepts to help us better understand the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean. World Ocean Radio's Ocean Literacy series continues this week with a discussion about how little we know about the ocean, and the need to designate vast marine protected areas around the world in order to protect the planet's natural biodiversity (known and unknown) from further destruction. This episode is part eight of a nine-part series on Ocean Literacy, an anthology of reflections, examples and illustrations that represent responses to the ocean and the environmental challenges we face.
"The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected." So states the sixth Ocean Literacy principle, a series of fundamental concepts to help us better understand the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean. World Ocean Radio's Ocean Literacy series continues this week with examples of the many ways that we are connected to the sea, from trade and transportation to the exchange of ideas and culture, to our connection through the global water cycle. This episode is part seven of a nine-part series on Ocean Literacy, an anthology of reflections, examples and illustrations that represent responses to the ocean and the environmental challenges we face.
"The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems." So states the fifth Ocean Literacy principle, a series of fundamental concepts to help us better understand the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean. World Ocean Radio's Ocean Literacy series continues this week with a discussion about the complex diversity contained in the world ocean and the ways that such systems, relationships and processes might be observed and understood for scientific gain. This episode is part six of an eight-part series on Ocean Literacy, an anthology of reflections, examples and illustrations that represent responses to the ocean and the environmental challenges we face.
"The ocean makes Earth habitable." So states the fourth Ocean Literacy principle, a series of fundamental concepts to help us better understand the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean. World Ocean Radio's Ocean Literacy series continues this week with a discussion about the complex diversity contained in the world's ocean and the importance of a healthy ocean as the universal operating system that provides fresh air, water, food, and every nurturing condition upon which all life depends. This episode is part five of an eight-part series on Ocean Literacy, an anthology of reflections, examples and illustrations that represent responses to the ocean and the environmental challenges we face.
"The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate." So states the third Ocean Literacy principle, a series of fundamental concepts to help us better understand the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean. World Ocean Radio's Ocean Literacy series continues this week with an overview of the various ways that the ocean influences all weather and climate on the earth. In this episode we examine the various ways that humans must change the behaviors that are most adversely affecting ocean chemistry: a delicate balance upon which all life depends. This episode is part four of an eight-part series on Ocean Literacy, an anthology of reflections, examples and illustrations that represent responses to the ocean and the environmental challenges we face.
"The ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of Earth." So states the second principle of the ocean literacy curriculum, a series of fundamental concepts to help us better understand the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean. World Ocean Radio's Ocean Literacy series continues this week with an overview of the various ways that the one oceanic system shapes the terrestrial landscape, the environment, the watersheds, plant life, and human existence. This episode is part three of an eight-part series on Ocean Literacy, an anthology of reflections, examples and illustrations that represent responses to the ocean and the environmental challenges we face.
"The Earth Has One Big Ocean With Many Features." So states the first principle of the ocean literacy curriculum, a series of fundamental concepts to help us better understand the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean. World Ocean Radio's Ocean Literacy series continues this week with an overview of the various ways that the one oceanic system connects us all, with examples of the connections that occur worldwide: shipping, trade, circulation of water, watershed connections, weather, climate, food, coastal settlement, social connections, and much more. "One Big Ocean" is episode two of an eight-part series on Ocean Literacy, an anthology of reflections, examples and illustrations that represent responses to the ocean and the environmental challenges we face.
This week's episode of World Ocean Radio kicks off a multi-part series on the Ocean Literacy Principles. The next eight episodes will provide an anthology of reflections, examples and illustrations that represent responses to the ocean and the environmental challenges we face. We will focus not only on ocean science and the ways that the Ocean Literacy curriculum aligns with the current educational system in the United States, but also on the ways that ocean relates to climate, fresh water, food, energy, health, work, trade, transportation and much more.
As climate change is continually felt everywhere on the planet, how might we protect against the impacts of extreme weather, sea level rise, and more? In this episode of World Ocean Radio we outline the role of insurance companies and the ways in which insurance must adapt as a risk management tool for the world's most vulnerable.
In this episode, part two of a 2-part series on deep sea mining, we pick up where we left off by taking on the question of "what's next?" in the wake of the failures of the Nautilus deep sea mining venture in Papua New Guinea. We discuss the challenges for future exploration and extraction of rare earth minerals used in alternative energy production and question how we can justify taking these resources in our quest to develop new and innovative technologies for the 21st century and beyond.
There has long been public opposition to deep sea mining, a technology that extracts resources from the ocean floor. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill discusses the Solwara 1 deep sea mining experiment in Papua New Guinea and poses questions about the meaning of the project and its impacts on the environment and both local and national economies. And he highlights some of the various groups mounting opposition and legal action against the principle Nautilus Minerals and the various holding and investment companies involved with the project.
As fisheries worldwide are being depleted by over-fishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU), interest in an ever-expanding Arctic is growing exponentially. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill outlines a 2015 meeting of five Arctic nations during which catch limits were imposed; and a follow-up meeting in 2017 in which delegates from five additional countries took the agreement a step forward toward legally binding, an effort that would prevent commercial fishing in parts of the Central Arctic Ocean until science-based fisheries management measures could be put in place.
In this week's episode of World Ocean Radio we discuss publications, reports, and projects that are integral to the evolution of ocean policy and science, including the Atlas of Ocean Wealth, published in 2016 by the Nature Conservancy.
Carbon offsets offer ways for retailers and consumers to help meet the challenge of climate impacts and environmental consequences, and can be an effective means of contributing to conservation. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill introduces a new W2O carbon offset initiative in partnership with South Pole and UCapture that supports progressive action toward a carbon-diminished future.
In mid-June the World Ocean Observatory co-hosted the Arctic Summer Institute in Portland, Maine in partnership with the University of Maine School of Law and the Climate Change Institute. The purpose of the week-long conference was to advance the conversation of Arctic issues and events related to climate change. In this week's episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill outlines the long-standing agenda of traditional Arctic meetings and the ways that new investigations, conversations, and constructive exercises such as those carried out during the Arctic Summer Institute have the potential to further facilitate outcomes born of unexpected ideas and imaginative exploration among young thinkers and Arctic experts.
The sea has long been a source of storytelling and of real-time adventure tales. The great futuristic tale of our time is "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne. It is a story of the submarine vessel Nautilus and her captain, Nemo. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill discusses this and other tales, as well as the evolution of submarine technology and the advent of modern day underwater tools and devices for global ocean research in unexpected places.
We live in a time when environmental regulations are being rolled back in the United States and beyond. As such, many environmental groups are turning to the law to enforce and uphold protections against industrial pollutants and fossil fuel activities such as hydrofracking that are harmful to the environment. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we share certain cases and suits brought against polluters by groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity, Our Children's Trust, and most recently by the Permanent People's Tribunal On Human Rights as a means to advocate for the natural world and the benefits to all mankind.
On June 8th we celebrate World Oceans Day, an annual day set aside to recognize our relationship with the ocean through global connection. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we ask what Oceans Day is meant to do and question what it will take for the will of the people to translate into a voice for change toward a healthy ocean and a sustainable future.
Humankind has for centuries been connected to the cycles of the year for sustenance from land and sea. We have built our communities and our spiritual and social celebrations around the observations of the seasons and the changing light. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill discusses this rich history and today's troubling impacts of scale, global food production, climate change, and the resultant consequences of our consumption. And he praises the recent trends pointing toward a revival of local fishing and agriculture and the ways that we can benefit from investing in the health of our communities.
On June 9th, 2018, a March For The Ocean (M4O) will take place in Washington, D.C. and in cities around the world. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we encourage listeners to gather in the nation's capital, to find a march in a city nearby, to organize, and to volunteer. We argue that we must declare, loudly and publicly, that the ocean will prevail and will continue to support us for generations to come if only we have the courage and the will to sustain it.
