![Cycles and connections, from the mountaintop to the abyssal plain Fresh Water](https://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/files/imagecache/exhibit_grid_image/category_pictures/FRESH-WATER-mid-size.jpg)
In 1998, a private commission was assembled to create a framework for worldwide understanding of fresh water as an inalienable human right. In this first of a two-part series on the Global Water Contract, World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill will begin to outline the basic premises and arguments laid out in the contract, a foundation on which to share the committee’s recommendations, which will appear in next week’s episode.
On September 21st, 2014, nearly 400,000 people gathered to march through the streets of New York City to express growing concern over the impacts of climate change. World Ocean Observatory's Peter Neill was there, and in this episode of World Ocean Radio he shares the exhilaration and exuberance of the march and discusses the UN Climate Summit and General Assembly which took place in the days following the People's Climate March.
Clean air is as valuable as clean water: both are essential requirements for human health and survival. Statistics and data on emissions from burning fossil fuels is not new news, and solutions thus far have not been very successful. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill will suggest that air is in danger of becoming a commodified natural resource, an asset to be traded and controlled. He will argue that air, like water, must be free and available for everyone in the name of world health and security.
In 1996, the high level intergovernmental Arctic Council was formed to promote cooperation and interaction among the Arctic states. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill will outline the Council’s areas of interest and will argue that The Arctic Council could, over time, serve as a progressive model by which to develop policies and management, sustainable development, and protections for other ecosystems and their inhabitants.
In November of this year Peter Neill, World Ocean Observatory director and host of World Ocean Radio, will attend the IOC Ocean Research Summit in Barcelona, Spain during which he will moderate a session entitled, “Biodiversity, conservation, and the interface with human need and greed.” In this episode of World Ocean Radio, he will describe the overall focus of the conference and will devote time to the word “greed” as it pertains to issues of ocean and climate. And he will address an often-asked question of ocean and climate conferences and summits: “How do we transform research and policy into innovation and action?”
The water cycle is a complex system of evaporation, weather, wind, deluge, and run off, with the ocean at center and as source of supply. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill will discuss the various cycles and circles on the planet that orchestrate every aspect of our lives here on Earth. And he will compare the cycles and circles of history and human kind, the rise and fall of civilizations, and the ways in which circumstances force turns and change—sometimes gradually evolving over time and others suddenly, without warning.
In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill uses lyrics composed by a 20th century musical legend to reflect upon the challenges we face in response to a planet succumbing to exhausted land, poisoned air, and polluted sea.
Mailboxes fill each day with messages from advocacy organizations with petitions promoting a variety of important causes and ideas. Certain campaigns are hugely successful thanks to the power of social media and the speed with which information travels around the globe. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill will discuss the evolution of the petition concept and outline some of the most successful international campaigns that have and are making a global difference for climate and the ocean.
Fresh water shortages are making headlines everywhere. Issues large and small are adding up to a global water crisis which threatens all of us, rich and poor, no matter where we live in the world. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill will argue that the time has come for us to rethink how we manage the efficiency of our water use at all levels of society—not only by individual conservation practices but by corporate accountability, government action, and regulation.
This week marks two major milestones for World Ocean Radio. First, this episode is the 300th audio broadcast since World Ocean Radio first aired in 2009. And second, this week is the launch of an expansion of World Ocean Radio into four additional languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Swahili. In this episode host Peter Neill will provide six approaches that our listeners might attempt in order to help us reach a larger global audience.
In this fourth and final episode of a multi-part series on the final report released by the Global Ocean Commission, From Decline to Recovery, A Rescue Package for the Global Ocean, World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill addresses the report's concluding recommendations: Proposal 7, Global Ocean Accountability Board: Monitoring Progress toward a Healthy Ocean; and Proposal 8, Creating a High Seas Regeneration Zone.
Arctic opportunities and territorial claims are on the rise as temperatures change and the ice melts. Once impassable, the Arctic is now increasingly accessible to drilling, shipping traffic, and other global enterprise. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill describes what a transformed Arctic might look like, and suggests that we should be encouraging, subsidizing, and investing in alternative technologies so that we may leave the pristine North alone.
What do we see in a single drop of ocean water? An image captured by David Liittschwager for National Geographic, then magnified 25 times, reveals an impressive abundance of many types of microscopic organisms. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill will describe some of the creatures discovered therein, and will discuss the larger systems at work in the vast cosmos of a single drop of water.