Living on Earth

The closely watched race for US Senate in Maine is pitting two environmentally concerned candidates against each other. Not only do Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson both have fairly similar green and climate views, they’re from the same rural county and both have roots in the lumber industry that’s so important to the state. Also, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, public power advocates have battled since 2018 to take electricity non-profit, and hope to win a referendum vote in November. But strong opposition from dividend-paying DTE Energy is being stoked by an alleged misinformation campaign with claims of higher costs of going public from what seems to be at least one citizen group that is in fact funded in part by DTE. And in 2022, President Biden’s signature climate bill appeared doomed in the 50-50 divided Senate when West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a centrist Democrat with close ties to the fossil fuel industry, declined to pledge his critical vote. But negotiations restarted in secret, and the largest climate package in US history became law. Leah Stokes’ 2026 book The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet tells the gripping story of how the Inflation Reduction Act came together and cleared the final hurdles. --- We want to hear from you! What’s motivating you to vote in the November 3rd midterm elections? What questions do you have about how the midterms could shape climate action, species protection, clean air for public health, and more? Write us at [email protected] or send us a voice note (learn how at the end of this episode). And we might play your comment on the air! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the deadly floods in Nepal this August, researchers rapidly assessed the event and concluded that climate change played a “very strong” role in the catastrophic glacial collapse. We discuss the human toll of the floods and the moral duty of the world to slow the climate crisis and help Nepal adapt.   Also, the 2026 United Nations Climate Summit and Climate Week, which just wrapped up in New York City, took place in the wake of a summer marked by deadly extreme heat, the Nepal flood disaster and a UN report on the inevitable “overshoot” of the 1.5 degree C warming goal. We talk about the disjoint between urgent warnings and pleas for help from vulnerable nations, while countries like the US continue boosting fossil fuels -- amid the rapid growth and cost savings of renewable energy. And a recent study in the journal Scientific Data shows that since 1979, around 12.5 trillion tons of ice have melted from glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica -- enough to cover the entire US in 5 feet of ice. And the melting has been speeding up in the last two decades. We discuss the implications for future melting and global sea level rise. Plus: In addition to storing carbon through photosynthesis, trees have another carbon cycle trick up their sleeve, or rather, bark, and it's been hiding in plain sight. Scientists have discovered that tree bark hosts millions of microbes involved in consuming and producing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The devastating August 2026 flash floods in Nepal and Tibet were triggered in part by a glacial collapse, a phenomenon likely to become more frequent as the Earth continues to rapidly warm due to human caused climate change. We discuss why climate change is making mountains and glaciers more unstable, and how early warning systems and less development in floodplains could prevent future loss of life.  Also, as global sea temperatures rise due to climate change, coral reefs around the world are struggling through mass bleaching events. But new research has identified nearly one-third of the world’s coral reefs as climate-resilient “super reefs”, three times more than was previously estimated.  And inspired by the popular Fat Bear Week, researchers with the Marmot Project launched Fat Marmot Week this year to raise awareness of these large ground squirrels, and drum up support for sustaining their decades-long research project. We talk about the winner of Fat Marmot Week, and other creative ways the team is fundraising and spreading a love of yellow-bellied marmots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices