Claim OwnershipWhat On Earth
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The climate is changing. So are we. Explore a world of solutions with host Laura Lynch and our team of journalists. We find inspiration in unexpected places, scrutinize new technologies, hold powerful people accountable and join you on the journey to fix this mess. New episodes every Wednesday and Saturday.
410 Episodes
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Clues to Earth’s climate future lie buried in the ancient ice sheet covering Greenland. Climate scientists have been working for decades to uncover answers that can help us understand what’s coming. But as the U.S. government continues to push for more control over the island, some are worried that a Greenland controlled by Donald Trump would put their access to the ice in jeopardy. Security expert Whitney Lackenbauer tells us why fears about a warming Arctic due to climate change are stoking the current geopolitical tensions, and glaciologist Martin Siegert explains why a politically stable Greenland matters for the whole planet.
Canada recently switched its approach to electric vehicles. But what impact do EVs really have on the world around us? Cleaner air? Less noise? CBC’s Anand Ram walks us through the evidence and explains how satellite data is being used to measure air pollution in Los Angeles neighbourhoods.
Immigration raids and protests have dominated U.S. news lately. And one L.A.-based environmentalist says migration, climate and the federal crackdown are all linked.Many of those targeted come from countries that suffer disproportionately from the impacts of climate change, connecting the movement for migrant justice to movements for climate justice.
Penguins are tougher than you think — and they’re adapting to climate change in ways you may not expect. Researchers are keeping a close eye on Antarctic colonies to see what we humans can learn from the tuxedoed birds, as we learn to cope with the effects of a warming planet.
Nearly 100 per cent of Norway’s new car sales last year were electric. That was achieved without a ban on gas-powered vehicles. As Canada scraps its EV mandate, it may want to bolster incentives and policy to be more like Norway. Plus, Chinese brand EVs are coming to Canada and potentially shifting the market into a different gear.
We hear you. Plastic is “upsetting, confusing, enraging.” But Judith Enck says there’s hope. The Beyond Plastics founder says people and policy makers are finally clueing in to the toxins in these products. We hear about efforts to hammer out an international treaty to curb plastics production and pollution. And, there’s been a key Canadian court ruling on banning single-use plastics.
Mark Carney’s plan to shrink the civil service means slashing more than 800 jobs at Environment and Climate Change Canada. A retired scientist says this includes her colleagues who study the impact of microplastics, toxic chemicals and oil on wildlife. And a union president says the cuts could gut human expertise in weather forecasting, too, leaving Canadians more vulnerable to climate extremes.
Since January 2025, it’s cost about nine bucks USD to drive in downtown New York City during peak times. A year later, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is heralding the policy as a success, with fewer cars downtown, a drop in pollution and even less honking. Alexa Sledge with Transportation Alternatives tells us about the policy’s progress to date. Then – we check in with Mychal Johnson of South Bronx Unite about worries that his community may be facing unintended consequences as a result of the pricing.
Skier Marion Thénault wants Winter Olympic gold. She also wants a cooler planet. That means training hard but doing it in a way that cuts her own emissions. And calling on sports federations to do their part. We discover what else needs to change to ensure the winter games survive in a warming world – including keeping the competition to a select few cities – including Calgary.
As Hurricane Irma approached, doula Esther Louis helped a nine-months-pregnant client flee Florida to find safety in Georgia. At the time, she thought she was just being a “compassionate human being.” But that experience back in 2017 helped her recognize how people in her profession can help expectant families stay safe as the impacts of climate change accelerate. Esther tells us about a new program that’s training other doulas to do just that. Then, we hear how the warming planet is posing a growing danger for newborns worldwide.
Resignations. Calls for a hiatus. The expert group tasked with helping Ottawa cut emissions faces an existential crisis. We hear from Catherine Abreu, who quit the Net Zero Advisory Body, because it wasn’t consulted about the federal government’s pipeline deal with Alberta. Meanwhile Michael Bernstein, one of the few remaining advisors, says the group can balance climate policy with political reality, but it needs a reset first.
Warming temperatures mean more rats. Is rodent birth control part of the solution? Join us on the streets of Manhattan, Chicago and Vancouver as producer Molly Segal meets the people trying to stop rats from overtaking our world.
If you're a frequent flier, you may have noticed flights have been getting bumpier lately. A potential culprit? Climate change. CBC producer Julia Pagel finds out how warming temperatures are making air turbulence worse, and what can be done about it. But first, she takes us back to 2019, when dozens of passengers were injured after an Air Canada flight bound for Australia hit severe turbulence and had to make an emergency landing.
Even as the world warms, oil attracts conflict. Just look to Venezuela and Donald Trump’s moves to control the country’s vast reserves. We delve into the history of "petro-imperialism” and ask whether a planet powered by renewables would be any more peaceful.
From the Best of What On Earth – in remote northern communities, diesel is king. But breakthrough solar energy projects are underway that could begin to reduce fossil fuel reliance. We’re taking you to Nunavut where people are adding solar panels to small off-grid cabins and others are working on community-scale solar projects — so the diesel generators can finally be turned off and communities can hear silence once again, like their ancestors did.
From the Best of What On Earth – Come with us to California where entrepreneurs are sending balloons full of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere. It’s a form of solar geoengineering known as stratospheric aerosol injection, and the company Make Sunsets isn’t waiting for scientific consensus before they launch. We hear about their business model, and then from the researchers who question both the science and ethics of the practice.
From the Best of What On Earth – Better transit service could help lower Canada’s emissions. But can more people get on board with buses, trains and subways? We hear how policy changes and behaviour “nudges” can make it happen.
Power is pricey in the Yukon, and solar panels help some homeowners keep costs down. But two years ago, the government paused a program that allowed people to install solar on their roofs, use the electricity they generate and sell some of it back to the electrical grid. We find out what the roadblocks to renewables are in places like Whitehorse, and what the Yukon’s struggle tells us about the challenges of transitioning to clean energy across the country.
In a year-end interview with the CBC’s Rosemary Barton, the prime minister talks about why his plan for more pipelines will help the climate. He also gives his version of what happened behind the scenes when former minister Steven Guilbeaut quit cabinet over the new energy agreement with Alberta.
Why did Volkswagen employees keep mum about the Dieselgate emissions scandal? That’s one of six crimes author Julia Shaw dives into in her latest book, Green Crime: Inside the minds of the people destroying the planet, and how to stop them. She asks, can environmental laws hold criminals accountable or do we need to get tougher?
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The Quebec maple syrup producers are pirates. They manipulate prices like a monopoly and they bulshit in calling their product uniquely "organic". It is tree sap with the water boiled off of course it is organic. It can't be anything else. Wow, such equine faeces.
Telling the chief that he needs to "make sacrifices" like that really shows some gall. Cringe worthy, really.