Author Archives: Maria

The loss of West Antarctic Glaciers – Interview with Prof. Eric Rignot

By MariaSeptember 8, 20152015Antarctic, Climate Change

Repeat of June 2014 Broadcast
The world was shocked in May 2014 when NASA announced that parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appear to be in an irreversible decline. That area holds 4 feet of sea level rise. This rebroadcast prepares for an update of the melting – one year later. Eric Rignot is one of the lead scientists in this project. I called him on May 23, 2014 to find out how the teams arrived at these data:
Interview on Remote Sensing Technology with Professor Eric Rignot. He teaches Earth System Science at UC Irvine and is a glaciologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena
A new study by Professor Eric Rignot and researchers at NASA and the University of [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Witness to the Melting of the Greenland Ice – An Inuit Elder Speaks (updated)

By MariaSeptember 1, 20152015

During construction of the ceremonial fire pit for the 2008 second circumpolar meeting, an Inuit elder allowed his one on one conversation to be recorded. This is a moving and wise comment on our common future. In his carefully chosen expression in English lies the urgency in which he attempts to reach out to the Western “Civilizations” – urging us to understand the Inuit plight while at the same time grasping that our own survival is at stake as well. Movingly he also expresses his fears and at times despair to reach us in the West before it is too late for us all.
When I first heard his voice in 2007 I wished I could move radio stations to play [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

The Climate Deception Dossiers – Our Common Future Under Climate Change FOUR

By MariaAugust 26, 20152015

Internal Fossil Fuel Industry Memos Reveal Decades of Corporate Disinformation
In July 2015 the Union of Concerned Scientists published the Climate Deception Dossiers. After years of research, whistle-blowing and Freedom of Information Requests a truly sordid picture emerges of fossil fuel corporations internally admitting that climate change is real while at the same time spending millions of dollars to buy scientists who say climate change is a hoax. These bought-off scientists and politicians make statements such as: the sun makes things warmer, not humans or CO2 – and anyway CO2 is good for you and agriculture.
The Deception Dossiers report the theft of letterheads of reputable organizations such as the NAACP and the American Association of University Women. Forged letters that [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

Hurricane Katrina and the War on the Poor (from Archive)

By MariaAugust 18, 20152015

SF Paramedics Prevented, at Gun Point, from Rescuing Themselves and Others
After being turned away from shelters they and a large group of African Americans try and walk to safety. Gretna Sheriffs block the Greater New Orleans Bridge across the Mississippi and shoot over their heads when they try to leave the flooded city. Later their temporary shelter is destroyed by a helicopter, a police officer, gun drawn, threatens them in a furious rage and takes away their food and water. Just before night he forces the group to flee into the night of a ‘shoot to kill’ curfew in New Orleans.
When they finally get picked up they, and thousands of others, sit in a dirty cage at the New [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

Our Common Future Under Climate Change – Part THREE – Kevin Anderson

By MariaAugust 12, 20152015

From the July 7-10 conference held in Paris
Professor Anderson, Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the University of Manchester, UK, says that we need to immediately begin a drastic scale down of carbon emissions to prevent a collapse of the climate system. The Copenhagen Accord of 2010 stated that the increase in global temperature needs to be held below 2 degrees Celsius in order to avoid dangerous climate change. Anderson says that by postponing carbon reduction we are already on our way to a 4 degree Celsius warming.
In advanced economies, a reduction of emissions of between 80-95% from the 1990 baseline is needed, according to a Tyndall Centre working paper. And as much as half of the world’s [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Our Common Future Under Climate Change – Part TWO – John Schellnhuber

By MariaAugust 5, 20152015

From the July 7-10 conference held in Paris
Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber expressed the urgency and the scale of the problem we have to solve: In order to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius we need to bring about the end of the carbon economy over the next 20 or 30 years. Otherwise we have not the slightest chance of avoiding dangerous climate change.
Schellnhuber says that we live in a deadly economy that destroys the world and are currently making the choice whether to live instead in an economy that is protecting creation. And even if we cannot change the supply side immediately due to the power of corporations we can begin by changing demand through a global social [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

Our Common Future Under Climate Change – Part ONE – Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and Ségolène Royal

By MariaJuly 28, 20152015

From the July 7-10 conference held in Paris
French Ministers Najat Vallaud-Belkacem (Education) and Ségolène Royal (Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy) with a guest appearance of Jon Stewart and climate change deniers on the Daily Show.
TUC Radio is focussing on climate change in preparation of the Climate Summit coming up in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015 (COP 21)
In the early days of July, 2015, over 100 countries sent 2000 delegates to Paris to discuss the physical, economic and social aspects of climate change. The conference hoped to inspire ambition for a global climate treaty later this year in December at the COP 21 Climate Conference, also in Paris.
Some prominent conference speakers stated matter of factly that we need [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Sandor Katz: Wild Fermentation TWO of TWO

By MariaJuly 21, 20152015

Sandor Katz is a much loved fermented food maker, teacher and respected author of two books: Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation. His mission is to rescue this ancient craft from oblivion and to inspire people to practice the arts of fermentation in their kitchens. This is the Question and Answer section after his talk at the second annual Heirloom Seed Expo in Santa Rosa, CA in September 2012. Katz responds to practical DIY questions about yoghurt, Kefir, and Kombucha. He ends with an inspiring linguistic flourish about political ferment and social change.
Recorded September 13, 2012

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

Sandor Katz: Wild Fermentation (ONE of TWO)

By MariaJuly 14, 20152015

Redemption of the much maligned bacteria that are essential to life.
Rounding out the programs by Paul Stamets and Jack Gilbert, it is my pleasure to repeat a talk by Sandor Katz and his eloquent redemption of the much maligned bacteria and microorganisms without which life would not be possible. The original broadcast was in February 2013.
When he left New York City and joined a rural off the electric grid community in Tennessee over two decades ago he knew very little about growing vegetables and even less about fermenting them. His amazing development as teacher and author of two books: Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation, was fueled by fond memories of pickles he relished as a kid in NYC, [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:02 — 19.9MB)

Bacteria and You: A Love Story (TWO of TWO) Dr. Jack Gilbert

By MariaJuly 7, 20152015

Gilbert teaches at Argonne National Lab. and the University of Chicago
A recent article in Mother Jones described the work of Dr. Gilbert: “Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of years, you’ve probably heard about the human microbiome. Research into the composition, function, and importance of the galaxy of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that, when we’re healthy, live in symbiotic balance in and on us has become one of the fastest moving and most intriguing fields of scientific study.”
Dr. Gilbert wrote: “There are a nonillion bacteria in the world – give or a take a few quadrillion. This almost incomprehensible number is greater than the number of stars in the known universe. Microbes are vital to [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Bacteria and You: A Love Story (ONE of TWO) Dr. Jack Gilbert

By MariaJune 30, 20152015

Gilbert teaches at the Argonne National Lab. and U. Chicago
Dr. Jack Gilbert is on a mission to induce love, understanding and respect for bacteria. He has formidable academic credential with the Argonne National Lab. He is the group leader for Microbial Ecology in the Biosciences Division, and manages the Earth Microbiome Project. That’s an ongoing effort to characterize the microbial diversity of our planet. And he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, and the Associate Director of the Institute for Genomic and Systems Biology.
In this one hour lecture given in June 2015 in Chicago Dr. Jack Gilbert explains that we are unable to survive without the trillions of bacterial cells [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

Paul Stamets: Mushrooms, Bees, and Saving the World (TWO of TWO)

By MariaJune 23, 20152015

This is the conclusion of a one hour speech recorded in May 2015 in Seattle, not far from Stamets’ home near Olympia, WA. Stamets begins with the story of the rarest mushroom in the Pacific Old Growth forest, the Agarikon; and how the Department of Health bio-defense program had to acknowledge the extraordinary healing power of that mushroom. That’s followed by a groundbreaking recently concluded analysis of the deaths of honey bees and what can be done about it.
Paul Stamets has studied mushrooms for over 40 years. He discovered new species of fungi, saved ancient ones from extinction, and pioneered countless techniques of mushroom cultivation. Along the way he found many ways how fungi can be healers of people and [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 19.9MB)

Paul Stamets: Mushrooms, Bees, and Saving the World (ONE of TWO)

By MariaJune 16, 20152015

More than any other scientist practicing today, Paul Stamets has dedicated himself to the life of fungi and that of their underground support system, the mycelium. Stamets says that the mycelia are soil magicians that give rise not just to mushrooms but form an integral part of the forest ecosystem. The mycelia are disassemblers, creating the debris fields that then feed their fungal descendants. They also show purpose in choosing microbial allies, and Stamets believes they are part of the earth’s natural internet that is in constant bio-molecular communication, governing the ecosystem.
Paul Stamets is a frequent guest at the Bioneer conferences and TED talks. But the so-called conventional scientists appreciate his work as well. That includes medical research into [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:59 — 19.9MB)

Don’t Bank on the Bomb – The Nuclear Divestment Movement

By MariaJune 9, 20152015

PAX Christie is the international Catholic Peace Movement based in the Netherlands. Their project, Don’t Bank on the Bomb, identified 411 banks, pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers in 31 countries with substantial investments in corporations that produce nuclear weapons.
Don’t Bank on the Bomb works with ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Together they are organizing appeals to financial institutions to stop investing in the nuclear arms industry, because any use of nuclear weapons violates international law and has catastrophic humanitarian consequences.
Susi Snyder is the nuclear disarmament program manager for PAX and the author of the annual Don’t Bank on the Bomb reports. She spoke at the Symposium on the Dynamics of Possible Nuclear Extinction on March [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)

International Campaigns to Abolish Nuclear Weapons: Ray Acheson and Tim Wright

By MariaJune 2, 20152015

The overwhelming majority of nations on this earth are strongly opposed to nuclear weapons. They know that if those weapons were to be used they would affect everybody on earth. They do not understand that we have successful negotiations to ban chemical weapons, land mines and cluster bombs but have not banned the most dangerous weapons ever.
Even though the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has been in force since 1970 and even though more countries joined than any other disarmament agreement the treaty has failed in many ways. The idea had been that: “the NPT non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons and the NPT nuclear-weapon states in exchange agree … to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of [ . . . ]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:01 — 19.9MB)