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Earthly explains emerging issues in agriculture, horticulture, natural resources, wildlife, science, and design through experts in those fields. It is produced by Clemson University, and is part of the University's land-grant mission to impart unbiased research-based information beyond the boundaries of the academy.
Earthly adjective
Definition of earthly
1 a: characteristic of or belonging to this earth
b: relating to the human race's actual life on this earth
17 Episodes
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According to recent reports, South Carolina is home to seven of the top twenty most hurricane-vulnerable counties. In order of vulnerability, they include Charleston, Horry, Beaufort, Berkeley and Dorchester counties, with Charleston and Horry counties ranking third and fourth nationally, respectively. There are many factors that go into hurricane frequency and strength. They include ocean temperature, atmospheric temperature, air moisture, and wind speed and direction. Other factors are the ...
There's an old campfire song where a bear goes over the mountain to see what he could see. Well, lately, there are a lot of media reports about a lot of bears going over a lot of mountains, and what they're seeing is tract houses, hot tubs and minivans. Today on Earthly, I talk with Clemson associate professor Shari Rodriguez about why these bears are moving into the suburbs. Here's a hint: It's not to join the homeowners association. Rodriguez researches the human dimensions of wildlife cons...
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced new drinking water limits on a category of chemicals called polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. These chemicals are found in thousands of products that we use every day, such as plastics, Teflon, water proofing, fire retardant and others. But they are also known as “forever chemicals” because they accumulate rather than breakdown in the environment and human body, and can cause health problems such as cancer, liver damage, low birth we...
Since the days of George Washington, the United States has been surveying farmers about their farm operations to monitor the health of the nation’s agricultural industry and the security of the food supply. The effort started in 1791, when Washington wrote to farmers requesting information on land values, crop acreages, crop yields, livestock values and taxes. Washington’s survey extended 250 miles north and south, and 100 miles east and west of his home in Mount Vernon, which today would en...
The world's population has quadrupled in the last century and is expected to surpass 8 billion by 2050. This means that in the next 25 years or so, the world will need to produce about 60% more food to feed its estimated population. Furthermore, we’ll need to produce that food sustainably in unseasonable temperatures, drought and flood conditions, all while fighting disease and pests, and on less land. Jonathan talks to Clemson plant geneticist Rick Boyles on this episode of Earthly. Boyles...
Humans have forever turned to nature for artistic inspiration. The earliest cave paintings are at least 64,000 years old and depict images of wild animals, landscapes, and even the heavens. More recently, photographer Ansel Adams, poet Wendell Berry, sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, and movie director Werner Herzog have all produced great art by musing on the material world. Jonathan's guest on Earthly, continues in that tradition. Todd Anderson collaborates with scientists and travels to some of ...
Every 13 years in the Southeast and parts of the Midwest, countless cicadas rise out of the ground and breed. The spring and summer of 2024 marks the thirteenth year since the cicada brood known as brood XIX’s last emergence, which means in a few months they’ll be everywhere. Jonathan talks with Clemson University entomologist Eric Benson about the fascinating lifecycle of what are called “periodical cicadas.” Benson is going to tell us what we learned about brood XIX when it emerged in 201...
Retirees and warm-weather seekers aren’t the only ones clamoring to move to the state of South Carolina. The Palmetto State is also under extreme pressure from invasive insects and plants that could devastate its agriculture industry and forests. In fact, a recent global report estimates that invasive species cause countries $423 billion a year in damage to crops, water, forests, wildlife, and more. In this episode of Earthly, Jonathan talks to Steven Long about South Carolina’s fight against...
When Bob Wells and Mel Tormé penned “The Christmas Song” in 1945 and the Nat King Cole Trio recorded it in 1946, “Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire/Jack Frost nipping at your nose,” became a Christmas tradition. Now as our attention turns to the holidays, it's worth remembering that the American Chestnut tree that once dominated Southern Appalachian forests is gone. One recent article said that it numbered in the billions throughout its range. The tree was both ecologically and economically ...
The Eastern Hellbender is a mysterious creature. It has a scary name, slimy texture, lives a solitary life under rocks in remote Appalachian Mountain streams, and is mostly nocturnal. Yet it’s also increasingly threatened and important to maintaining stream health. On this episode of Earthly, Jonathan talks to Clemson associate professor Cathy Jachowski. Jachowski studies stream ecology, and she’s going to tell us everything we ever wanted to know about the eastern hellbender — including the...
Clemson faculty member Kimberly Metris is not just an academic but also a licensed commercial pilot. One day while piloting skydivers to their jump altitude, Metris could see the Saharan dust plume over Upstate South Carolina and had a research epiphany to see what genetic matter was flying around in the sky. In this episode of Earthly, I talk to Metris about that epiphany, her work monitoring the skies for genetic matter, how she designed and constructed her own instrumentation, and wh...
Referred to in some scientific literature as "ecological zombies," feral hogs cost millions of dollars of damage to farms, fields and forests, and they are breeding and spreading at a rate that outpaces the efforts of wildlife professionals to control them. In this Halloween edition of Earthly, Jonathan talks to Greg Yarrow and Andrew Jamison about the feral hog problem in South Carolina and the Southeast. Yarrow is interim dean of Clemson's College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Science a...
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control has produced a map showing that radon levels in upstate South Carolina homes are higher than other parts of the state. Nicole Martinez is an expert in radiological health sciences, and Lindsey Shuller-Nichols is a material scientist — both in Clemson's Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. They're going to help us understand what causes radon, why it's higher in the upstate, its potential healt...
There has been a flurry of geological activity in South Carolina lately, particularly around the Midlands and Upstate. In fact, the most recent was a 1.6 magnitude earthquake recorded April 4 near the town of Cross Anchor in Spartanburg County. In this episode of Earthly, Jonathan talks to Clemson assistant professor Brady Flinchum about South Carolina earthquakes and if all the little quakes we’ve been having mean there’s a big one headed our way. Flinchum compares earthquake magnitude...
Honeybees are a crucial part of the food system. In fact, they pollinate more than 100 of the food crops we eat. But a survey by Auburn University and the University of Maryland found that 48% of honeybee colonies were lost last year. Today on Earthly I talk to two experts in the protection and cultivation of honeybees. Brad Cavin leads a program that regulates the beekeeping industry in South Carolina, and Ben Powell runs Clemson Extension’s beekeeping and pollinator program. They’re going t...
South Carolina lawmakers recently named the Venus Flytrap the state’s official carnivorous plant. The law places the plant in a category that includes the state bird (the Carolina Wren), state flower (the yellow jasmine), state fruit (the peach), state tree (the palmetto), and even the state snack (the boiled peanut). Trent Miller is plant collection manager at the South Carolina Botanical Garden. He’s going to talk about the flytrap and why it grows natively in only one small sliver of the C...
South Carolina conservationists and lawmakers are pushing to have the Venus Flytrap named the state’s official carnivorous plant. The law would place the plant in a category that includes the state bird (the Carolina Wren), state flower (the yellow jasmine), state fruit (the peach), state tree (the palmetto), and even the state snack (the boiled peanut).On this episode of Earthly, Jonathan talks to Trent Miller, plant collection manager at the South Carolina Botanical Garden. Trent talks about the flytrap and why it grows natively in only one small sliver of the Carolinas. He also talks about other plants that are unique to the Palmetto State.
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