May 24, 2013
Air Date: May 24, 2013
FULL SHOW
SEGMENTS
Unpredictable Weather and Climate Change
View the page for this story
Producer Guy Hand tells the story of the much-maligned Magpie, the bird everyone loves to hate, and why the critter deserves a break. (06:35)
Greenhouse Gambling
View the page for this story
Cutting emissions might not keep the planet from heating up, but it would increase our odds of seeing less extreme temperature increases by the end of the century. MIT climate change researchers have worked those odds into a roulette wheel. Economist John Reilly let’s host Steve Curwood give it a spin to see what luck-- and different emissions paths-- might mean for our planet and its residents. (06:35)
Science Note: Synthetic Ambergris
/ Mary BatesView the page for this story
Ambergris is a strange substance regurgitated from the stomachs of Sperm whales. It is a key ingredient in some perfumes, and can sell for as much as $10,000 a pound. But natural ambergris may soon be replaced by a synthetic alternative, and that’s a good thing for the whales. (01:34)
DOE Looks for Orphan Wells
/ Kate MalongowskiView the page for this story
The federal government is pushing new efforts to deal with an old problem – abandoned oil and gas wells. In Pennsylvania, there may be as many as 100,000 orphan wells. If the wells were not sealed properly, they could explode. As The Allegheny Front’s Kate Malongowski reports, the government is using high-tech helicopters to find out where these wells are located. (06:20)
The Darien Gap
/ Jennie Erin SmithView the page for this story
The Pan American highway doesn’t go all the way from South America to Canada without interruption. The road breaks in the dense forest between Panama and Columbia known as the Darien Gap. New Yorker correspondent Jennie Erin Smith visited this beautifully inaccessible region and brought back tales of tamarins and paramilitaries. (11:25)
Mad about Magpies
/ Guy HandView the page for this story
Producer Guy Hand tells the story of the much-maligned Magpie, the bird everyone loves to hate, and why the critter deserves a break. (15:34)
Show Credits and Funders
Show Transcript
Unpredictable Weather and Climate Change
Homes flooded in Minot, North Dakota. (photo: NOAA)
Transcript forthcoming.
Related link:
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Greenhouse Gambling
John Reilly and the MIT Greenhouse Gamble. (Photo: Steve Curwood)
Transcript forthcoming.
Related link:
Check out the website from the MIT Joint Program on Science and the Policy of Climate Change
Science Note: Synthetic Ambergris
Ambergris has been a key ingredient in fine perfumes for centuries. (Peter Kaminski)
Transcript forthcoming.
Related link:
Abstract in the Journal of Biological Chemistry
DOE Looks for Orphan Wells
Surveying helicopter
Transcript forthcoming.
Related links:
- PA Dept. of Environmental Protection’s Abandoned & Orphaned Well Program
- PA Geological Survey website
- PA’s Orphan Well Project
- The Allegheny Front, environmental radio for western Pennsylvania
The Darien Gap
Jennie Erin Smith with guide Sergio Tamayo and a U.N. plane that had seen better days in Capurgana (photo: Jennie Erin Smith)
Transcript forthcoming.
Related links:
- Jennie Erin Smith’s New Yorker article
- Jennie Erin Smith’s website
Mad about Magpies
Ornithologist Chuck Trost holds a dead magpie he uses to perform a "magpie funeral." (Credit: Photos © Guy Hand Productions)
Transcript forthcoming.
Related link:
Learn more about the magpie at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website
Living on Earth wants to hear from you!
Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org
Newsletter [Click here]
Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.
NewsletterLiving on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!
Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.
The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.
Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.
Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth
© Copyright World Media Foundation. All Rights Reserved
Home | Contact | RSS | Donate | Newsletter
