Planet Policy Pals Podcast

In this episode we are going to talk about what happens when the polar ice caps melt, with a focus on effects seen in the earth’s crust and permafrost loss. Ongoing ice loss in West Antarctica has increased over the past few decades. Measurements since the 1950s indicate that the amount of sea ice in the Arctic has been declining. Permafrost in the Arctic alone is estimated to hold nearly twice as much carbon as exists in the atmosphere now, as well as a sizable amount of methane, and losing it turns what is one of the greatest carbon sinks on earth to a major emissions source. Since the retreat of a glacier can reduce stress loads on Earth’s crust underneath, impacting the movement of subsurface magma, this can lead to volcanic activity and other surface implications. Follow the link for show notes and references.  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O630cQPc-aUAWj3hRbufoK0aX4uP7xyzfAQpkoWbO84/edit?usp=sharing  Captions of transcript available on our Youtube Page

WE'RE BACK! Series 4 is coming and we are tackling some more big picture environmental dilemmas based on feedback from our loyal listeners. In this mini episode, we catch up with you all and discuss what we are looking forward to this year personally and for the planet policy pals podcast. Captions of transcript available on our Youtube Page

We have had an amazing year and series sharing stories with our policy pals and now in this last episode of the year, we would like to share two more oil spill stories that reflect what this series was about- how human negligence and rash actions can be detrimental to our continued existence.  The Exxon valdez oil spill was the largest oil spill in the US until Deepwater Horizon and was caused by one man's irresponsibility. The Gulf war oil spill is our pettiest disaster on this list and took decades to recover from. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/environmental-effects-of/  https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/exxon-valdez-oil-spill http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2018/ph240/barber1/ http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/7427/

About 17 percent of the U.S.’s total crude oil production comes from offshore projects in the Gulf today and the region provides more than a fifth of U.S. oil and gas production. The BP Deepwater Horizon rig capsized 36 hours after an explosion, on the morning of April 22, which is coincidentally Earth Day, a globally recognized day promoting environmental protection. As the rig sank, it damaged the pipe leading down to the well. Oil began spilling from the well and did not stop for 87 days, with eleven people and thousands of animals lost to this tragedy. It turns out many mistakes were made prior to this accident. Join us as we discuss how cutting corners and ignoring warnings lead to the worst oil spill in US history.  Follow the link for show notes and references https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VsVgcn_AXhiM8jP-v_UB2RkMb7xX5mi4j7BwqejBajg/edit?usp=sharing  Captions of transcript available on our Youtube Page

In August, an alarming UN report blamed human activity for “unprecedented” changes to the climate. Scientists from across the globe said humanity will experience more extreme weather in the coming years and will suffer the consequences of rising sea levels and melting Arctic ice. Our hope is that highlighting this will further drive home the importance of climate change mitigation because it’s important. Please donate your time and effort to communities still recovering from the tragedies earlier this year however you can.

An unforeseeable accident on July 10, 1976, in northern Italy, led to an environmental contamination with caustic reaction products and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Original contamination of vegetation was in the order of O.5 ppm TCDD. The tragedy in Seveso led to changes in hazardous waste policy that reached from Europe to the rest of the world. Join us as we discuss one of the major reasons most of the world no longer produces dioxins. Follow the link for show notes and references https://docs.google.com/document/d/15KB0gAlLXUtBpFD-VHB9ww8yrvVWHbSJfgFbW-UU67I/edit?usp=sharing 

Smog had become a frequent part of London life, but nothing quite compared to the smoke-laden fog that shrouded the capital from Friday 5 December to Tuesday 9 December 1952. The Met Office says though that “While it heavily affected the population of London, causing a huge death toll and inconveniencing millions of people, the people it affected were also partly to blame for the smog.” The crazy thing is the effects of this smog were not realized until 3 weeks after the event. It was a bizarre and hard time in London’s history, so settle in and join us as we discuss the story that changed air quality regulation forever. Follow the link for show notes and references https://docs.google.com/document/d/1df_IWEezl7ySqUtU0_SO-6c4ZBHBRXcwXmfbUPs_1tw/edit?usp=sharing  Captions of transcript available on our Youtube Page

The coastal ecosystems of mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrass meadows contain large stores of carbon deposited by vegetation and various natural processes over centuries. These ecosystems sequester and store more carbon – often referred to as ‘blue carbon’ – per unit area than terrestrial forests. The ability of these vegetated ecosystems to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere makes them significant net carbon sinks, and they are now being recognized for their role in mitigating climate change. These ecosystems are important and are being damaged by human activity, which is why policies to protect these systems are important now more than ever. Join us as we explore some innovative solutions in policy for using this resource to mitigate climate change. Follow the link for show notes and references https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tsseN5pXIjd8t3TtfyHTR-wuz9uSUXK7Qf6uw1XTiTI/edit?usp=drivesdk  Captions of transcript available on our Youtube Page

Oil was first found in Nigeria in 1956, then a British protectorate, by a joint operation between Royal Dutch Shell and British Petroleum. A major 1970 oil spill in Ogoniland in the south-east of Nigeria led to thousands of gallons being spilt on farmland and rivers, ultimately leading to a £26m fine for Shell in Nigerian courts 30 years later. With thousands of oil spills and multiple law suits, the situation has continued to worsen and we discuss this example of how reckless exploration can cost human lives.

The IPCC is now in its sixth assessment cycle, in which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is producing the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) with contributions by its three Working Groups and a Synthesis Report, three Special Reports, and a refinement to its latest Methodology Report. The Synthesis Report will be the last of the AR6 products, currently due for release in 2022. We briefly discuss just a few of the hard warnings issued by this report and why governments and corporations cannot continue to take a half baked approach to tackling the problem of climate change. Captions of transcript available on our Youtube Page