The thousands of homes that burned in Los Angeles this January included the home of Marketplace Morning Report Host David Brancaccio. He shares what he’s learning about the challenges of rebuilding with a limited supply and huge demand for contractors. David says there’s an opportunity to rebuild a more wildfire-resistant Altadena, and to heal the community itself.
Also, sea otters were hunted out from Oregon and Northern California more than a century ago amid the fur trade, but the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians and conservation partners are now working to bring them back. How reintroducing sea otters can help revive the kelp ecosystem and restore a vital cultural connection for Native people.
And major fossil fuel projects like LNG terminals could become harder to oppose on environmental grounds because of a Trump executive order that tries to weaken agency compliance with NEPA, the National Environmental Policy Act. Environmental concerns may take a backseat under the new project review process.

David Brancaccio on Fire Recovery, Bringing Sea Otters Back, Trump to Limit Env Reviews and more.

To help cover the rising costs of climate impacts like extreme floods and sea level rise, New York State has enacted a climate superfund law that asks major fossil fuel companies to pay up, based on their historic sales of coal, gas and oil. We discuss how the revenues would fund climate adaptation and resilience. 
Also, the Trump Administration barred government scientists from attending a key UN climate science meeting in February 2025. What’s more, it seems the customary US task force including officials from the State, Energy, Commerce and Transportation departments has not attended any meetings for the underlying UN climate treaty since the beginning of the Trump Administration. 
And a new study shows that crevasses or cracks on the Greenland Ice Sheet are widening more rapidly than expected due to climate change, which may accelerate ice loss and global sea level rise. 


NY Climate Superfund, US Ducks Intl Climate Meetings, Gaps in Greenland Ice Sheet, and more

President Trump has issued an executive order that directs the U.S. attorney general to identify and block state laws that deal with climate change, environmental justice, and carbon emissions. 
A study from Johns Hopkins researchers found that residents near or on the fence line of polluting enterprises are at higher risk for multiple health problems because of the toxic mix of air they breathe. The lead researcher explains the study. 
In terms of physics, global warming comes down to an energy imbalance as Earth is taking in more energy than it is releasing. An atmospheric scientist explains how a shrinking cloud cover is contributing to climate change.


Trump Attacks State Climate Laws, Eco Rollbacks Under Trump, Air Pollution Mixes and Public Health, Shrinking Clouds and more

Living on Earth is celebrating 55 years of Earth Day with a solution-based broadcast. Grammy nominated singer and Earth Day ambassador Antonique Smith uses the art of storytelling and music to promote environmental justice and climate action in communities of faith and color. 
Nalleli Cobo is a young activist who was awarded the 2022 Goldman Prize for North America after fighting an oil company whose wells were making her community sick.
Also, how shallow geothermal energy networks are presenting signs of hope for the climate crisis. 


Celebrating Earth Day, The Health Toll of L.A. Oil Wells , Fighting Climate Change with Geothermal and more

The 2025 hurricane season is underway, and the U.S. is likely to see higher than average activity. The past couple of years, extremely warm water in the Gulf of Mexico helped storms rapidly intensify to major hurricanes. But cuts to federal weather monitoring and hurricane modeling could leave the U.S. underprepared for strengthening storms.
Also, record-breaking heat in the oceans has led to the most widespread coral bleaching event ever documented, ongoing since January 2023. Bleaching weakens the corals and many end up dying, but others can recover and researchers are finding ways to help corals survive and thrive. 
And poor air quality from wildfire smoke and other pollutants can harm cardiovascular health and also make farmworkers more prone to work injuries, according to researchers. But in California, requirements for employers to hand out face masks are often too late to prevent farmworkers from experiencing impacts. We talk about proposals to better protect the people who grow our food from air pollution.	


Hurricane Forecasting in 2025, Saving Corals Amid Record Bleaching, Protecting Farmworkers from Wildfire Smoke and more.

Just as the enslavement of people was driven by commercial interests, today the enslavement of nature for profit violates a morality that sees value in all living things, according to the Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, pastor of New Roots AME Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts and former Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Spaces for the City of Boston. She joins us to reflect on how overcoming slavery, which is celebrated on Juneteenth, can inspire us to find ways to depend on each other so we can thrive in a world of ecological justice. 

Juneteenth and Striving for Ecological Justice

As the climate crisis brings ever more devastating floods, storms, heat waves and fires, the Republican-led Congress and President Trump have slashed around half a trillion dollars in clean energy tax credits that would have reduced climate pollution and helped America to better adapt to climate change. 
Also, catastrophic floods like the one that claimed at least 100 lives in Texas this July are becoming more likely because of climate disruption. A meteorologist joins us to talk about the atmospheric and climate conditions that contribute to flood disasters, and the growing need to be weather aware.
Plus, about a quarter of US homes use private septic systems, which can run you thousands of dollars. And more than a million people in America today are living without indoor plumbing, too often in appalling, unhealthy conditions. Catherine Coleman Flowers is working to change that, and she talks about her work to help rural families across America lead healthier and wealthier lives by improving sanitation. 

Congress Busts Carbon Budget, Climate Disruption Worsens Flood Risks, and America’s Rural Sanitation Crisis.

Weather forecasting, climate research and climate resilience are being hit with major budget and staffing cuts by the Trump administration, impacting emergency preparedness for floods such as the one that devastated the Texas hill country. 
Also, research has long shown that the top two coffee species, Arabica and Robusta, are vulnerable to climate impacts like increased drought and heat. And by 2050 as much as half of coffee producing land could no longer be suitable for these top species. But excitement is brewing over a climate resilient bean called excelsa. 
And residents of Reserve, Louisiana in “Cancer Alley” recently received stunning news that Denka Performance Elastomer, which has for years emitted high levels of cancer-causing air pollutants, would indefinitely suspend its operations. Tish Taylor of Concerned Citizens of St. John speaks about illnesses her family has endured, her community’s cautious celebration of the decision and cleaner air, and how her fight against environmental racism continues.

Weaker Disaster Prep, Climate-Resilient Coffee, Clearing Air in Cancer Alley, and more.

Eels play an important ecological role in many rivers and streams, but they’re so eel-usive that even eel scientists have been challenged to observe them mating in the wild. Ellen Ruppel Shell is author of the 2024 book Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History, with Eels, and she sheds light on the eel’s murky ecology and path through the seafood industry.

And the relentless heating of the Earth is prompting people to move after climate-related catastrophes and amid more gradual changes. Journalist Abrahm Lustgarten is the author of On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America, about the northward migration he anticipates as Americans seek to escape punishing heat, fire, and drought.

Also stargazing has profoundly shaped who we are as human beings, and gave rise to science, religion, and origin stories from diverse traditions. Roberto Trotta, the author of the new book Starborn: How the Stars Made Us (And Who We Would Be Without Them) joins us to discuss how studying the night sky shaped science and why satellites now threaten our connection to the stars.


Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History, with Eels, Uprooted By Climate, Starborn: How the Stars Made Us and more.

Sounds like the overlapping songs of birds can speak volumes about the biodiversity in an ecosystem, and now scientists are looking to use the tiny sounds made by earthworms, ants, and voles to study the health of soils. 
Also, "depaving parties" of volunteers with sledgehammers are turning paved yards into pollinator havens and green space. That can help reduce climate impacts from extreme heat and flooding.
Plus -- a scientist who rappels down cliffs to hand-pollinate endangered plants. A vine that mimics the leaves of nearby species. Rice that crowds out strangers but leaves room for the roots of relatives. The book “The Light Eaters” tackles big questions of plant intelligence, consciousness, and communication. 
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Know someone who might be interested in a Living on Earth internship this fall? Visit loe.org/about/jobs to learn more. Apply by August 22nd.  


Zouk love dj pam and pierre antoine

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