The Planet Today

The Planet Today

por Matt Norden and Nick Gennusa

Noticias Naturaleza

Glacial melt on Mount Everest, methane being spotted from space, gas-free homes in the Netherlands, & more!

Matt and Nick talk about Scotland’s plans to protect their wild salmon (Scotland hopes to save wild salmon by planting millions of trees next to rivers | Fishing | The Guardian), Glacial melt on Mount Everest (Mount Everest: Mountain's highest glacier melting rapidly, new study shows - BBC News), Another look at the link between fossil fuels and plastics (How the fossil fuel industry is pushing plastics on the world (cnbc.com)), Methane emissions being spotted from satellites in space (Satellites have located the world's methane ‘ultra-emitters’ | Science News), And almost every new home in The Netherlands being gas-free (Around 90% of newly built homes erected last year in the Netherlands are gas-free – pv magazine International (pv-magazine.com))!

Documentary Review: National Geographic's The Last Ice (Disney+)

Matt and Nick review National Geographic’s 2020 documentary The Last Ice on Disney+. The documentary’s description says “As climate change rapidly melts Arctic sea ice between Canada and Greenland, the entire Inuit way of life is at stake.” Matt and Nick read a summary of the documentary before discussing the environmental impacts of sea ice melting, what they learned about Inuit culture, and how sea ice melting will impact the Inuit people.

Moose vs. a parasite, a Latin American Marine reserve, & more!

Matt and Nick break down California returning guardianship of hundreds of acres of redwood forestland to a group of Native American tribes (California redwood forest returned to Native American tribes : NPR), A big blow to 80 million acres worth of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico (A federal judge canceled major oil and gas leases over climate change : NPR), Moose populations in Minnesota struggling against threats from a parasite (Brain worms, ticks, and the mysterious deaths of Minnesota moose - Vox) And a Marine reserve from Ecuador to Costa Rica providing hope for several marine species (Marine reserve in Latin America brings hope but conservation challenges remain (unep.org))!

Heat, emissions, ice, and oceans: The 2021 Climate Recap

Matt, Nick, and Giselle recap 2021’s climate status! They talk about how hot it was globally and the temperature records set in the United States. They also bring up the rebound of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and how that compares to 2020’s decrease in emissions. Finally, they discuss the state of global ocean warming, what that means for climate change, glaciers melting, and what’s going on with permafrost. Some of the source material for this episode can be found at the links below: The heat stays on: Earth hits 6th warmest year on record | AP News A Vivid View of Extreme Weather: Temperature Records in the U.S. in 2021 - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Climate change: For 25th year in a row, Greenland ice sheet shrinks | | UN News Current State of Sea Ice Cover | Earth (nasa.gov) U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Bounced Back Sharply in 2021 - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Ocean warmth hits record high | TheHill There Could Be 2 Billion Climate Change Refugees by 2100 (globalcitizen.org)

Biodiversity and pandemics, Japan's monkey queen smashing the patriarchy, & more!

Matt, Nick and Giselle talk about how biodiversity impacts the development of pandemics (Opinion: Why protecting the planet is essential to preventing future pandemics - CNN), Countries moving cities in response to climate change (Indonesia Sets 2024 Deadline to Move Its New Capital to Borneo - Bloomberg News) Chemicals, plastics, pesticides, and other pollution impacting global ecosystems (Chemical pollution has passed safe limit for humanity, say scientists | Pollution | The Guardian), Air pollution’s impact on the ability of butterflies and bees to smell crops and wildflowers (Scientists find there are 70% fewer pollinators, due to air pollution (openaccessgovernment.org)), And the patriarchy-smashing Japanese macaque’s love triangle presenting a threat to her alpha status Japan’s Monkey Queen Faces Challenge to Her Reign: Mating Season - The New York Times (nytimes.com)!

Guest interview: Ryan Godolphin

Matt talks with Ryan Godolphin, an industrial designer based out of London. They discuss product design and smart grid technology before getting into plastics - why plastic is so widely used, what's good about plastic, and what's so bad about plastic?

A volcanic eruption in Tonga, the largest fish breeding area in the world, Big Business’ deforestation issue, and more!

Matt and Nick’s Quick Hits of the week cover a heatwave in Argentina’s impact on the grid (Power grid fails as Argentina hit by record-breaking heatwave | The Independent), The deforestation issue with Big Business (A third of commodity-hungry firms have no deforestation policy - report | Reuters), Climate inequity (World’s poorest bear brunt of climate crisis: 10 underreported emergencies | Global development | The Guardian), The volcanic eruption in Tonga (Pacific volcano: Ash-covered Tonga is like a moonscape say residents - BBC News), And the world’s largest fish breeding area (World's largest fish breeding area discovered | EurekAlert!). The fashion scorecard Nick references in this episode can be found here: StandEarth-FilthyFashionScorecard.pdf. If you’d like to donate to Pita Taufatofua’s GoFundMe to help the people of Tonga, click the link below: Fundraiser by Pita Taufatofua : Tonga Tsunami relief by Pita Taufatofua (gofundme.com)

The International Energy Agency's Renewables 2021 Report

Matt and Nick discuss The International Energy Agency’s 2021 Renewables report, including how 2021 looked for the renewable energy sector, projections up to 2026, and more! If you’d like to check out the report, you can find the executive summary here: Executive summary – Renewables 2021 – Analysis - IEA. The full 175-page report is also available here: Renewables 2021 - Analysis and forecast to 2026 (windows.net).

Climate change and food prices, pine trees in Patagonia, the DiCaprio Tree, & more!

Matt and Nick’s Quick Hits of the week include how climate change is impacting food prices (Food prices remain high into 2022 on shortages due to extreme weather | Financial Times (ft.com)), The UK’s government protecting fossil fuel interests (invites fossil fuel companies to help write rulebook on climate-busting new oil drilling | The Independent), Rilu the Snow Leopard’s death (Snow leopard dies after contracting Covid-19 at Illinois zoo - CNN), Pine trees and climate change in Patagonia (An imported tree fuels Patagonia’s terrifying summer fires (nationalgeographic.com)), And the DiCaprio Tree discovered in Cameroon (Kew scientists name new tree after Leonardo DiCaprio - BBC News). The boys also joked about refinancing student loans, so here’s Matt’s referral code if you want to do that: https://refer.splashfinancial.com/l/1MATTHEWNOR03/

A plan to reduce livestock in the Netherlands, New York City's ban on gas in new buildings, & more!

Matt and Nick break down some of the stories from the end of 2021, including reducing livestock in the Netherlands (Netherlands announces €25bn plan to radically reduce livestock numbers | Netherlands | The Guardian), Fact checking Senator Joe Manchin’s opposition to climate measures (Manchin's take on climate measures are misleading : NPR), The relationship between Texas Climate Deniers, New England Fishermen, and the first major offshore wind farm in the US (Vineyard Wind Challenged by Mass. Fishermen, Texas Climate Deniers (gizmodo.com)), And New York City banning gas in new buildings (New York City Banned Gas in New Buildings. Here’s What You Need to Know - THE CITY).

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