Tag: Susan Moran

Climate Science, Human Lives at Risk

Waleed Abdalati
photo credit: CIRES

Standing Up for Science (start time: 6:39)  Since President Trump began his second term in January, his administration has been on a rapid-fire campaign to slash federal funding for scientific research, particularly in the fields of climate and earth systems science. Colorado is feeling the pain.  President Trump’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 includes steep cuts in funding to NOAA, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which funds and manages research on wildfires, extreme heat waves, floods, and much more. NOAA contributes a huge amount to Colorado’s economy, and its research helps saves lives. The proposed budget cuts would likely result in the shuttering of two cooperative institutes in Colorado that are affiliated with and largely funded by NOAA. Those are  the Cooperative Institute for Research on Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU Boulder, and the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University. In today’s show, host Susan Moran talks with Dr. Waleed Abdalati, director of CIRES and a professor of geography at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Show contributor: Juanita Huérfano
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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Climate Science, Cutbacks, Litigation

At a protest outside NOAA in Boulder. Credit: Susan Moran

Tackling Climate Change and Science Cutbacks (start time: 7:03) In this week’s show we discuss the ongoing barrage of executive orders by the Trump administration; and the impacts of defunding of federal agencies, scientific research and scientists focusing on climate change and the environment. We also explore how the legal and political landscape, including pushback against the administration’s actions, are shifting. How On Earth host Susan Moran interviews Marc Alessi, a climate scientist at the nonprofit organization Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS); and Delta Merner, a geographer and associate director of the Climate Accountability Campaign at UCS. Dr. Alessi was an  organizer of a 5-day event in May with climate scientists and meteorologists in May, called 100 Hours to Save America’s Forecasts. And Dr. Merner is an organizer of a public virtual event on Wednesday, July 16, called “Meeting the Moment Through Climate Litigation” (2:00-3:00 p.m. MDT).
Also on this week’s science calendar, check out this FDA expert panel on menopause and hormone treatment, available livestreamed on the FDA’s YouTube channel. It’ll be held on Thursday, July 17, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm. MDT.

Host/Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Evan Perkins
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Headline Contributor: Shelley Schlender

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Saving Weather Forecasting, Climate Science

Scientists speak out for science (start time: 1:00) The Trump administration has been on a dizzying streak of slashing federal funding for scientific research, and firing thousands of federal scientists. Among the casualties is the National Weather Service, which supplies critical data from air balloons and climate models to develop weather forecasts. Many cities and agencies use these data to warn the public when extreme weather, such as a hurricane, is approaching. This crisis has prompted some climate scientists and meteorologists to organize a marathon five-day event, starting May 28, to educate the public about how vital their work is to society, and to mobilize people to take action. Host Susan Moran interviews two climate scientists who are on the organizing team of 100 Hours to Save America’s Forecasts. Margaret Duffy is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Berkeley, and Marc Alessi works with the Union of Concerned Scientists. (Click here to see the schedule.)

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer/ Executive Producer: Joel Parker

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Birds at Risk

Arvind Panjabi releasing a banded grasshopper sparrow in Chihuahua state, Mexico. Photo credit: Sujata Gupta

Birds: Risk and Resilience (start time: 5:55)  What speaks of Spring more than the songs of American robins, yellow warblers, spotted towhees and other birds in the early morning? As we relish in these avians choruses, it’s also an important time to examine why bird populations in North America have, by and large, been plummeting in recent decades, due to multiple stressors, including climate change and habitat destruction. At the same time, some  conservation efforts (including bipartisan legislation) on the federal, state and local levels, are bearing some fruit. And everyone can help give these winged creatures a hand, starting with their own gardens, and by getting involved in citizen science projects, such a bird-banding and bird-counting. In this week’s show, host Susan Moran interviews Arvind Panjabi, a senior research scientist at Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, a nonprofit organization devoted to the conservation of birds and their habitats. (Listen to Shelley Schlender’s sound portrait of five migratory birds that are visiting Colorado now (start time: 2:58).

Host/Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Headline Contributors: Joel Parker, Shelley Schlender

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Mutualism in Nature

Sweet in Tooth and Claw (start time: 0:59)  Since the 1800s, science has been obsessed with the notion, stemming from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution through natural selection, that only the “fittest” can survive and pass on their strong genes. As in, it’s a ruthless, violent world. And today, we humans find ourselves mired in a hyper-polarized society fixated on competition, disruption, and “If you win, I lose” thinking. A good time to take a look at a different way of living together–how a “kinder, gentler” approach also helps species evolve.  In this week’s show, Susan Moran interviews journalist/author Kristin Ohlson, whose most recent book, Sweet in Tooth and Claw: Stories of Generosity and Cooperation in the Natural World, was recently released in paperback by Patagonia Works.

Host/Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer: Joel Parker

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NEPA, Wildlife, Lands Under Threat

oil and gas rig Image courtesy of USGS

NEPA rollbacks, environmental impacts (start time: 6:25) Amidst a flurry of moves by the Trump administration to roll back environmental regulations, last month a White House agency proposed a rule to rescind a landmark law meant to protect wildlife, their habitat, and human  communities from unchecked development, and to ensure that the public has a say in projects ranging from oil and gas drilling to wind and solar farms.  The rule, if it goes into effect, would mean that the White House Council on Environmental Quality would no longer enforce how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is carried out. As a result, many infrastructure projects would not be subject to environmental review. A public comment period regarding this proposed rule ends on Friday, March 27. (Click here to submit any comments.) How On Earth host Susan Moran interviews Jim McElfish, a senior advisor at the Environmental Law Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit center working to strengthening environmental protection by improving law and governance.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Headline contributors: Beth Bennett, Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Tackling Landfill Methane Emissions

Landfill photo credit: iStock

Tackling CH4 emissions from landfills (start time: 5:59) Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, and its emissions have been rising recently in the U.S.  The largest source of methane emissions is oil and gas production, followed by livestock farming. The third largest source of methane emissions is landfills.  Food scraps, yard debris, paper and cardboard products and other carbon-based detritus that pile up in landfills release methane and other chemicals as they decompose in the soil. As part of the state’s goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is developing new, and stricter, rules  that will require landfill operators to do more to monitor and capture methane emissions. KGNU host Susan Moran interviews Clay Clarke, director of the Climate Change Program at CDPHE; and Madison Hall, an associate with the Rocky Mountain Institute‘s US Program. For info on the Feb. 26 final public hearing on the  methane rule, click here.

Show Host/Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Headline Contributors: Beth Bennett, Joel Parker

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Decarbonizing Cement Production

Concrete mixer truck

Tackling Cement’s Huge Carbon Footprint (start time: 0:58)  It’s hard to imagine modern society without a key material that so many structures depend on–cement. Think of our houses, apartment and office buildings, hospitals, parking lots, bridges, and, increasingly,  massive data centers of big-tech companies. But that societal glue of sorts comes with a big climate price tag.  Cement production accounts for more than 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s way less than the amount from coal and oil & gas production, but  roughly double the emissions  from aviation. So, finding ways to reduce the carbon footprint of cement could go a long way toward curbing the momentum of climate change and its impacts. But some players in the industry, as well as in state and federal governments, are making strides to clean up the cement industry’s act.  In this week’s How On Earth, host Susan Moran interviews  Anish Tilak, a civil and environmental engineer who is a  a manager of the Carbon-Free Buildings program at RMI (founded as Rocky Mountain Institute); and Cory Waltrip, a senior manager at the startup Sublime Systems, in Somerville, Mass.

Host / Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Tackling PFAS, From Wastewater to Tap Water

Credit: USEPA

Tackling “forever chemicals” in tap water (start time: 6:11): In this week’s science show we discuss the scientific findings and societal implications of a new study showing of dangerous PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in treated wastewater that ends up in the drinking water of more than 20 million Americans. We also explore the public health risks of these  cancer-causing and otherwise toxic compounds–found in so many consumer products, including water-resistant clothing–and what’s being done on the national, state and local fronts to protect source water and our health. Listen to host Susan Moran’s interview with Kate Dunlap, the drinking water quality manager for the City of Boulder; and Bridger Ruyle, a research assistant professor of environmental engineering at New York University and lead author of the new PFAS study.

Show Producer/Host: Susan Moran
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Headline contributors: Beth Bennett, Joel Parker

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Plastic Pollution: Sources, Impacts, Solutions

Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium

Tackling Plastic Pollution (start time: 3:50) In this week’s show, host Susan Moran interviews science journalists Fionna Samuels, an assistant editor at Chemical & Engineering News, a publication  of the American Chemical Society; and Priyanka Runwal, an associate editor at C&EN. Along with  other colleagues, they wrote cover articles in the November 28th issue of C&EN on the sources and impacts of plastic pollution. Indeed, plastics, mostly made from fossil fuels, are wreaking havoc on our environment and potentially our bodies. Although it’s still unclear precisely how much our bodies are accumulating tiny plastic particles, and to what effect, scientists are warning that nanoplastics could be altering our brains, our reproductive system, and our metabolism. Recently, representatives from many nations, including the United States, met to reach a first-of-its-kind United Nations global treaty to tackle plastic pollution. They failed. But outside the realm of treaties, a lot is being done, and far more can be done, to reduce the production, use, and waste of plastic.

Show Host/Producer: Susan Moran
Cohost/Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Shelley Schlender

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