World Ocean Radio - Climate
Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity's annual demands on Nature exceed the capacity for Earth's ecosystems to regenerate those resources within that year. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we discuss the red alert that is this overshoot day, 2019, showing that we are living beyond nature's means to sustain our growing demands.
"Mother Earth has the following rights: To life, to the diversity of life, to water, to clean air, to equilibrium, to restoration, and to pollution-free living." So states the Law of Mother Earth, a Bolivian law passed in December 2010 as a binding societal duty. Bolivia is the first country on Earth to give comprehensive legal rights to Mother Nature, and in this episode of World Ocean Radio we explore the language contained in the legislation and assert that Bolivia may be inventing a social model that will show how we as a global community might transcend conflict and division toward a harmonious and sustainable future.
This week on World Ocean Radio we're talking about solutions to the climate challenge by highlighting some modern examples of and possibilities for conversion: industries across America shifting from conventional and failing ways of doing business to an embrace of enterprising and inventive opportunities for a sustainable future.
How does the Green New Deal integrate with the best desired practices and changes for the ocean? In this episode of World Ocean Radio we outline a paper published by The Ocean Foundation that addresses three ocean areas that must be considered as part of a vision and strategy for developing a more sustainable economy: shipping, energy production and food security.
World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill recently returned home from a trip to Antarctica aboard MS Island Sky with scientists from Woods Hole and a film crew from BBC-ONE, sharing insights and knowledge with other citizen scientists aboard. In this episode he offers reflections on his experiences in the last wilderness.
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?
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.
Laws protect us from abuse, they preserve the stasis of systems, and they maintain stability and sustainability. We live in a time when the vast majority of the world's wealth is derived from the exploitation of natural resources, and there are laws and legal responses to protect those resources from corruption. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill outlines a series of additional laws that are intended to protect Nature and its resources--water, fresh air, food, and all living organisms--from corrupt values, indifference, and the consequences of exploitation. And he reaffirms the importance of the Public Trust Doctrine which demands that all resources must be sustained for the benefit of ensuing generations. "Nature and the Rule of Law" is part one of a two-part series dedicated to environmental law.
This week on World Ocean Radio: part three of a multi-part series on the Arctic. In this episode, host Peter Neill discusses the melting of sea ice, its causes, the adaptation of native Arctic people, and the potential for future exploitation and passage as sea ice continues to recede.
Natural forces unleashed an epic scale of destruction on Houston and surrounding areas of Texas. Built upon consumption, unmitigated growth, and fossil fuels, critics now point to the consequences of development based on an outdated paradigm. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill asks, “What are the questions we should be asking, and what are the lessons to be learned from this catastrophe?” and he suggests a new, reorganizing principle on which to rebuild, one that redesigns in the face of a changing climate future, and one that manages growth and treats water as an asset, not an enemy.
Summertime along the coast offers us the opportunity to reflect on why the ocean matters, and its importance in our lives. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill shares insights from the great American naturalist and author Rachel Carson, by reading from her seminal book "The Edge of the Sea."
In this episode of World Ocean Radio we discuss some of the 2016 winners of the Movement for Change Initiative's "Lighthouse Activities"--some of most innovative examples of what people around the world are doing to address climate change and to benefit the planet.
Insurance touches every aspect of our lives, protecting us from financial loss. 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.
We continue the Earth Optimism Series this week, a 24-episode project in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution's Ocean Portal, to address ocean solutions and innovative projects in the context of the Earth Optimism Summit, April 2017. In this episode, host Peter Neill sites from a recent article by William McDonough published at Nature.com entitled, “Carbon Is Not the Enemy”, which argues for a new vision for how we view the carbon cycle and for ways to redefine its value and mitigate its negative consequences for a possible new climate future.
This week we continue the Earth Optimism Series, a 24-episode project in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution's Ocean Portal, to address ocean solutions and innovative projects in the context of the Earth Optimism Summit, April 2017. In this edition we discuss some of the winners of the Movement for Change Initiative's "Lighthouse Activities"--some of most innovative examples of what people around the world are doing to address climate change and to benefit the planet.
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, has recently published a new book, “THE ONCE AND FUTURE OCEAN: Notes Toward a New Hydraulic Society” in which he lays forth the proposition that the age of unlimited growth driven by fossil fuels is over. He claims that a new world view is required now, one around which we can organize our values and behaviors based on our relationship with water: our most precious resource. In this episode of World Ocean Radio he asserts that we must define what comes next, we must welcome and encourage change, we must refine and apply a new paradigm for a new hydraulic society, and that the time to act is now.
In October 2015 Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau overwhelmingly won the Canadian election for Prime Minister. In advance of the election, Premier Taptuna of the Arctic territory Nunavut wrote an open letter to the candidates. In it, he asked each to outline their vision for the future of the Arctic. The indigenous people of Canada have long endured unresolved discussions about issues such as environmental sustainability, economic and educational opportunity, access to technology and basic services, and more. Taptuna’s letter may have helped shape an election, further a debate, and generate a response toward a more sustainable Arctic.
What does it mean to be accountable for our actions? Individuals are accountable for personal behaviors, commitments, and relationships with those around us. What about corporations? In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill questions why corporations are not held to the same standards, and outlines ways in which shareholders and the divestment movement have shown how engaged citizens can encourage and force changes in corporate behavior.
As a lead up to the Climate Summit in Paris scheduled for December (COP21), World Ocean Radio will highlight some encouraging signs of climate progress. In this week’s episode, host Peter Neill will focus on the growing movement by corporations, institutions, and individuals to divest their financial holdings from fossil fuels. And he'll introduce the work of The Climate Group, a coalition of environmental and financial groups devoted to creating a “clean revolution” by working to develop climate finance mechanisms, business models which promote innovation, and supportive and sustainable frameworks for the future.
The climate is changing: changing moisture, increased temperature, accelerated growth and distribution of pollen, increased allergic reactions. Scientists agree that climate impacts are the defining issue of our time. Thankfully, many are working to build a framework for climate future planning. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill hails the work of Dr. Paul Mayewski and his team at the Climate Change Institute who are creating a powerful software matrix that will relate changes in the environment to plausible, scaleable scenarios and plans to meet the needs of our climate future.
At a recent conference and planning workshop sponsored by the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, participants took part in a climate risk management exercise to define possible climate change scenarios. They were given lists of risks, impacts, and vulnerabilities as tools to imagine viable responses. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill describes the exercise and explains the scenarios and how they might be transformed and implemented as plans for action. And he argues that the need for risk management is necessary, regardless of the climate change debate.
Who has a right to life? Only one species? Do humans have the right to exterminate any species they wish? In an effort to combat climate change and the exploitation of the planet’s resources, Bolivia is becoming the first country on Earth to give comprehensive legal rights to Mother Nature. In 2010 the National Congress of Bolivia voted to support an act to protect the well-being of its citizens by protecting the natural world, its resources, sustainability, and value as essential to the common good. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill explores the language contained in the legislation and asserts that Bolivia may be inventing a social model that will show how we as a global community might transcend conflict and division toward a harmonious and sustainable future.
