World Ocean Radio

This week Peter Neill, founder of W2O and host of World Ocean Radio, argues that wars, particularly those in the Middle East, are all about the water: rivers, access to the sea: water is the source of life, and of conflict. We all need it in equal measure every day to survive, to thrive, to sustain our nations, cities, agriculture, and ourselves. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college a...

The most substantial by-product of human consumption is waste, thus far omitted on balance sheets and in calculation of individual and gross national product. Waste comes in many forms: polluted water, poisoned land, energy lost, habitat destroyed, industrial waste, food discarded, planned obsolescence, even recycling. What remains? The ocean. While under stress by the same forces, it contains the necessary supply of source and resource if we have the courage to sustain it. About World Ocean ...

This week on World Ocean Radio, our host Peter Neill is thinking about the word "solastalgia", described as a deep grief over changing landscapes that were once familiar; feeling ‘homesick’ while still being at home, due to rapid alterations to the environment; the stress from experiencing change and loss in the face of rapid, disruptive change. Peter suggests that solastalgia may offer the opposite effects of hopelessness, melancholy, and despair, providing the conditions for commitment, eng...

This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing the September 2025 news that Morocco has become the 60th nation to ratify the High Seas Treaty, a two-decades long process to establish and protect a vast complex of biodiversity in international waters. This is a major milestone and a huge step forward, uniting many rules promoted by many UN agencies under a single rubric and framework for coherent protection. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute a...

Nature is a significant factor on the global balance sheet, and the cost of nature loss affects many key economic sectors. Denial or exclusion of nature's true value is flawed economics on the profit and loss of earth's natural resources and systems. This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing a Ceres publication entitled, "Nature's Price Tag: The Economic Cost of Nature Lost" that explores the decline in ecosystem services used by five nature loss drivers. And we argue that the larger e...

“Climate change has been one the greatest failures of risk management in modern history.” So states the Back to Blue Initiative, an Economist and Nippon Foundation project. A recent article entitled "Calculating Ocean Risk," additionally states: “The scientific evidence had been clear for decades, but decision-makers have failed to act in a manner consistent with the scale of the risk.” This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing the calculation of risk to the ocean, and its impact on al...

Water scarcity is among the foremost challenges to national and regional financial security and public health in India. This week on World Ocean Radio we outline a sampling of water tech innovations that are demonstrating the ingenuity and extent of invention in response to the water crisis. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of...

This week on World Ocean Radio we're discussing a news story provided by Inside Climate News that highlights Corpus Christi, Texas and the intensively water-dependent industrial projects there that, by special commitments and permits, are consuming the necessary water supply at a rate of 30 million gallons per day, drawn from an already-stressed groundwater supply, now further exacerbated by droughts and population consumption. World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights in ocean science, adv...

This week on World Ocean Radio Peter Neill shares thoughts and readings from Joseph Conrad and from UK writer Adrian Morgan's recent article entitled, “How Many Ways Has Joseph Conrad Described the Wind?" About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad...

Peatlands, bogs, swamps, and wetlands are uniquely biodiverse natural spaces: soft coastal barriers that make immeasurable contributions to the health and sustainability of human endeavor. Left unprotected, their consumption contributes to a growing worldwide problem; conserved, they sequester carbon, enable wildlife, filter water, and protect us from coastal inundation. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated us...

This week on World Ocean Radio we're discussing the "Mind Map of Blue Ocean Leadership,” a chart developed by a global constituency of business experts, graphed to show existing leadership design while suggesting changes that are different from conventional approaches, charted as a “mind map” intended to fix, clarify, and establish an effective process to get the job done. If the world response to the challenge of climate change is characterized as “too little, too late,” it would seem clear ...

This week Peter Neill is reading from an article written by representatives of the UN IOC and the Natural Science Foundation of China, based on the concept of ocean as peacebuilder and amplifier of ocean sustainability. The authors argue that the ocean’s peace-building potential is inseparable from the objective and cooperative nature of ocean science. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college a...

From an island perch in Maine, host of World Ocean Radio Peter Neill recently witnessed a full moon rising over the Atlantic Ocean. The silent, majestic way that it rose in the night sky got him ruminating about water, tide, sun, sea currents, power, light, nature, human emotion, and the often under-appreciated, surreal force of the moon. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community r...

This week: Is there no time left to explore other ways of seeing, being, solving, and surviving? Where can we place our energy and imagination to serve as functions of invention? What if there are new ways of thinking about what and how we invest for the future? About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observa...

On June 8th, World Ocean Day, the new film OCEAN, presented by Sir David Attenborough, debuted in theatres and maritime museums around the world, a celebration of the ocean’s beauty and distress, and a passionate call for urgent protection. Who cares about the ocean? What will it take to reverse perspective and increase engagement? How do we best connect with those whose basic needs are greatest, and that rely on a healthy ocean most acutely? Tune in this week: we'll discuss this and more. Ab...

This week, host Peter Neill reads verbatim an AI response to an action posed. He asked Chat GPT to write 750 words in the style of Peter Neill on World Ocean Radio, taking on the topic of artificial intelligence and the ocean. The response was quite shocking. Tune in to this special 6-minute episode to hear the entire assignment. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radi...

Why is there so much war? So much strife in the Middle East: what are we fighting for? This week Peter Neill,founder of W2O and host of World Ocean Radio, argues that it's all about the water. It's always been about the water: rivers, access to the sea...water is the source of life--and of conflict. Water, necessary to sustain our cities, our agriculture, our selves: we all need it in equal measure each day to endure. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five...

This week we're discussing the circulation of water worldwide, and the importance of our waterways--canals in particular--as the great highways and distribution centers of our busy lives, now storing and transferring water and energy, and revitalized for recreational use and enjoyment of natural spaces. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide. Peter...

This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing the Ocean Literacy movement and the need for more ocean science and fresh water understanding in the classroom. Ocean Literacy is comprised of seven basic principles, and host Peter Neill provides further perspective to include the global fresh water cycle by which to expand the principles into a set of curricular approaches that pertain to science, climate impacts, solutions, and a new paradigm for a future built on this knowledge. About...

Apprenticing has long been thought of as a term to describe someone working beside a master craftsperson to learn a trade and to refine a professional skill: whether it be pottery or electrical, cabinetry or plumbing. As an educational model it has long been mostly lost or forgotten, except in a place in midcoast Maine: The Apprenticeshop, where apprentices are learning the craft of building and restoring small traditional wooden boats and associated seamanship, in what can be argued as a mos...