Living on Earth

The annual negotiations of the UN climate treaty or COP31 are now in full swing in the coastal city of Antalya, Türkiye, with some one hundred thousand attendees. Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran and Sophia Pandelidis are there, and Paloma shares some of the voices they have gathered from around the world: from Australia to Vanuatu to Inuit territory and beyond.   Also, although climate did not play a direct role in the “blue tsunami” of the midterm elections, voters’ concerns over high energy costs bring it back into play. Gina McCarthy, former EPA Administrator and President Biden’s national climate advisor, talks about the opportunities and challenges ahead for climate policy as Democrats prepare to take charge of the US House and Senate.   And a House Committee to watch as Democrats take control in January will be Science, Space, and Technology, which oversees federal grants and research at the National Laboratories and agencies like NASA, NOAA and EPA. In line to become its Chair is Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California. She discusses some of her priorities, including investigations of canceled grants and withheld research funds, as well as the possibility of bipartisan legislation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Though climate was not directly on the ballot in the midterm elections, high fuel prices and concerns about data centers boosted Democrats to a “blue tsunami.” And the new Democratic majority in both houses of Congress means Republican anti-environment measures like fossil fuel expansion and public land exploitation may be slowed down or even halted. Colleagues from our media partner Inside Climate News talk us through the results and the opportunity for a Democratic-led Congress to now focus on clean energy to reduce energy costs. Also, congressional committees originate legislation and oversight investigations, and as Democrats take control their senior members will presumably become chairs with broad subpoena powers. Congressman Jared Huffman, who has represented northern California since 2013 is in line to chair the House Natural Resources Committee, and he joins us to share his priorities for the committee in the new Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plastics have been widely adopted in all sorts of products from food packaging to toys to medical devices, in part because they don’t tend to chemically react. But new research challenges that notion when it comes to microplastics, finding that contact by tiny chips of plastic with water releases unstable molecules which in the human body are linked to inflammation.   Also, as greenhouse gases from fossil fuels continue to spike our planet’s average temperature, it’s pushing into more dangerous territory for humans. This summer, heat-related deaths in European urban areas scorched by heat waves totaled 50,000, according to a new study which also concludes that human-induced climate change was a significant contributor to the high mortality rate.   And the Wētāpunga is the heaviest known insect on the planet, weighing as much as a mouse. They’re found only in New Zealand and were recently endangered, but thanks to an innovative breeding program, they’re making a comeback. We talk about the conservation effort and why these giant cricket-like insects deserve our respect and care. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the states where data centers to power AI are growing is Pennsylvania, which also has a large supply of natural gas. In Upper Burrell, a town just east of Pittsburgh, a data center expansion could be fed by fracking rigs already pumping gas out of the ground. The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports the town is trying to keep pace with these two big industries in its backyard.   Also, thirty years of UN climate sessions and the persistent wide gap between discussion and action to slow the climate crisis have left some countries and NGOs frustrated as they face a dire future. So even as COP31 begins in November in Turkey, an alternate path already began in April in Colombia when roughly 60 countries met for the first Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, with a treaty in the works.   And in 2024, Hurricane Helene ripped through the mountain communities of western North Carolina, leaving them stranded and unable to communicate with the outside world for days. A new graphic novel, Islands in the Sky: A People’s History of Hurricane Helene, pairs up survivors with artists to help them tell their stories of resourcefulness and resilience in their own words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boosted by climate change, this year’s El Niño has intensified into a “Super El Niño,” meaning sea surface temperatures in parts of the Pacific are over 2 degrees Celsius hotter than average. How this has brought one strong storm after another churning across the Pacific Ocean while shutting down most Atlantic storms, and what this super El Niño may bring in the months ahead.   Also, Atrazine is the second most widely used weed killer in the U.S. after glyphosate, which you might know from RoundUp. Much like glyphosate, atrazine can disrupt hormones and has been linked to serious health impacts, including cancer. Atrazine is also wreaking havoc on aquatic ecosystems, and a recent report from the Center for Biological Diversity finds nearly a quarter of all river miles in the US contain harmful levels.   And in her award-winning novel A Guardian and a Thief, Megha Majumdar places her characters in the near future in a climate-changed Kolkata, India, where she grew up. She discusses how the climate crisis may present the kinds of difficult moral choices her characters grapple with.   ---   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