World Ocean Radio - Pod.casts

Regulation

April 19, 2024 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.55 MB

This week on World Ocean Radio we're discussing a recent trip to Lisbon, Portugal to attend the Economist Ocean Summit. One such conversation we participated in was on the topic of regulation--those systems and structures that frame best practices and are designed to control abuse. Regulation is conflicting and contradictory, especially when most regulatory decisions are followed by time-extending litigation. What if we could redefine regulation as an incentive to succeed? What if regulation...

Distillation

April 09, 2024 16:00 - 4 minutes - 3.37 MB

What are the five areas of our collective existence on earth where the ocean matters most? If we are looking for a context to drive motivation and action, we have in our view the necessary clear focus through these absolutes--water, energy, food, health, and exchange--that can guide us toward a sustainable future, with the ocean at our center. A weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide, providing cov...

Nocturn

April 09, 2024 16:00 - 5 minutes - 3.65 MB

A nocturne is a short musical composition: dreamy, romantic, suggestive of the night, a passage from one place to the next. This week we're asking: What comes next for our collective energy and focus? What it is that will get us safely from this place of climate crisis and uncertainty to another place of reinvention, newly-conceived solutions, and sustainability? We are committed to talking about it, and we urge you to join us as we dream of a new way forward. About World Ocean Radio A wee...

Nature's Balance Sheet

March 20, 2024 15:00 - 5 minutes - 3.6 MB

In business, as in life, there is a balance sheet, a statement of assets, profit and loss, income and expense, showing whether our accounts are in balance, or not. In a consumption and production driven society, we must understand the asset value, balance and imbalance of our planet's natural resources: coal, oil, gas, minerals, water, and food: the wealth of our world. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at...

What About the Land?

March 13, 2024 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.58 MB

40% of the planet is used for farming and livestock, often degraded by unsustainable or destructive practices. Coupled with coastal, wetland and reclaimed land development in the name of urban expansion, we are fast-approaching a tipping point wherein infrastructure exceeds demand. What to do? Are we destined to repeat the mistakes of the past? Or do we possess the collective will to develop creative solutions for repair, redesign and reconstruction for our 21st century transportation, suppl...

Aqua-Cultural Thoughts

March 07, 2024 19:00 - 5 minutes - 3.72 MB

Seafood is a world staple, under siege by increased consumption and over-fishing. Aquaculture is the necessary alternative, yet is a polarizing issue in coastal communities. What are we to do? This week we explore two Maine-based successes in aquaculture that are building local supply chains, increasing resilience in rural communities, promoting environmentally responsible solutions, and integrating indigenous and cultural knowledge and skills for an emerging industry. World Ocean Radio is...

Ecological Overshoot, part two

February 22, 2024 21:00 - 5 minutes - 3.66 MB

"We are not blind to the overall problem, and if we were in doubt, recent climate-explained events, near and far, should open our eyes more widely. With climate conditions constantly in the news, public awareness must follow," says Peter Neill, director of the World Ocean Observatory. This week on World Ocean Radio we wrap up a two-part series with a message of hope. > Ecological Overshoot, part one About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays ...

Ecological Overshoot, part one

February 14, 2024 20:00 - 4 minutes - 3.42 MB

In this episode and the next, World Ocean Radio reports on the status quo, business-as-usual, tunnel vision conclusions at COP28 in Dubai, hosted by the United Arab Emirates, December 2023. While many millions of dollars and intentions were pledged toward solutions, the focus and associated response was too narrow and inadequate to address the deficit consumption of our world's natural and ecological resources. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute aud...

Global Climate Events

January 24, 2024 18:00 - 5 minutes - 3.8 MB

Devastating weather and water events abound worldwide. Rain, flooding, strong winds, extreme high tides, coastal erosion and inundation have caused havoc in ports and on waterfronts. These events are neither new nor are they going away any time soon. While we will continue to rebuild and revive, the time is now to plan a response as complicated as the issues we face, to admit to mistakes made, and to welcome new policies and initiatives that build a future that works, even in the face of inc...

700 Episodes of World Ocean Radio: Thanks for Listening!

January 10, 2024 18:00 - 4 minutes - 3.34 MB

This week we are celebrating our 700th episode of World Ocean Radio--5-minute reflections featured as podcast and interstitial radio syndicate for 14 years. From these ongoing observations have come four books and continuous contribution toward a strategy to communicate the importance of healthy climate and ocean, a succession of examples, emphasis, and explanation of how Nature and ocean are all-encompassing and connects us all. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio provides coverage o...

An End-of-Year Reading of "At the Fishhouses"

December 27, 2023 19:00 - 4 minutes - 3.25 MB

At each year's end, World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill reads "At The Fishhouses" by Elizabeth Bishop. This poem, a perennial favorite, was chosen not only for its relevance for the New Year, but also because it distills years of Bishop's seaside meditations and evokes the clarity of meaning contained in personal encounters with the world ocean. 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 com...

Christmas At Sea

December 20, 2023 19:00 - 4 minutes - 2.87 MB

This holiday season on World Ocean Radio we return with a special reading of "Christmas at Sea", an evocative poem by Robert Louis Stevenson written in 1883. Stevenson, the son of a lighthouse engineer, had intimate knowledge of nor'westers... Merry Christmas to all from the World Ocean Observatory. Christmas at Sea A poem by Robert Louis Stevenson Christmas at Sea is an evocative seasonal poem published in 1888, five years after Robert Louis Stevenson’s beloved novel, Treasure Island, wa...

Marine Biomimetics, part three

December 15, 2023 02:00 - 5 minutes - 3.68 MB

In part three of this 3-part series, we continue to explore the recent publication related to marine biomimetics and the deep sea, identifying the seven broad categories of biomimetic design, discussing each with examples of application, technological invention, and as effective solution models for response to negative human intervention and climate change, and for ocean protection and conservation. World Ocean Radio provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and edu...

Marine Biomimetics, part two

December 08, 2023 14:00 - 5 minutes - 3.59 MB

In these three episodes of World Ocean Radio we are exploring a recent publication entitled “A Forgotten Element in the Blue Economy: Marine Biomimetics and Inspiration from the Deep Sea,” authored by Robert Blasiak from the Stockholm Resilience Center in Sweden. The article identifies seven broad categories of biomimetic design: adhesion, anti-fouling, armor, buoyancy, movement, sensory, and stealth. In this 3-part series we'll discuss each with examples of application, technological invent...

Marine Biomimetics, part one

November 08, 2023 16:00 - 5 minutes - 3.57 MB

Over the next few editions of World Ocean Radio we will be discussing a recent publication entitled “A Forgotten Element in the Blue Economy: Marine Biomimetics and Inspiration from the Deep Sea,” authored by Robert Blasiak from the Stockholm Resilience Center in Sweden. The article identifies seven broad categories of biomimetic design: adhesion, anti-fouling, armor, buoyancy, movement, sensory, and stealth. In this 3-part series we'll discuss each with examples of application, technologica...

Two Steps Forward in a Changing Climate

November 02, 2023 15:00 - 5 minutes - 3.73 MB

This week on World Ocean Radio are two forward-looking government-proposed initiatives that offer opportunities for progress in climate policy, investment, resiliency and sustainability. The first is Bridgetown 2.0, proposed by the Prime Minister of Barbados, to urge UN member states to consider an ambitious finance-driven program of climate-change response and implementation; the second is an ambitious climate commitment by the State of California to reach 100% carbon-free by 2045, as part ...

Insurance in a New Climate Era

October 18, 2023 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.7 MB

We are aware of the key role played by insurance, more so as we face increasing events of extreme weather destruction. Government agencies are signaling policy and coverage shifts, and there is a growing realization that existing policies and programs are not adequate to the new realities. Insurance is fundamental yet largely invisible until it is not there, and may be the driving force toward necessary change for the future. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean...

Megaphonics: Ocean Communication Heroes

October 12, 2023 16:00 - 5 minutes - 3.68 MB

This week on World Ocean Radio we're talking about the megaphonics of ocean communications. How do we as communicators break through? How do we create messaging that resonates and reaches the millions of citizens whose lives are so dependent on the ocean’s bounty? We highlight two ocean heroes, Dr. Sylvia Earle and Sir David Attenborough, whose quiet successes have combined to reach millions worldwide. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of...

Ocean Storytelling

October 05, 2023 16:00 - 5 minutes - 3.75 MB

This week on World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill talks about the power of storytelling and the vast catalog of tales of adventure, sailors, song, battle, Captain's logs, letters home, and more that tell the stories of our ocean culture and civilization. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radi...

Change Is In the Details

September 27, 2023 19:00 - 5 minutes - 3.73 MB

This week on World Ocean Radio we're discussing a topic close to our home waters in Maine: the dispute between the lobster fishery and environmentalists over gear modification and the entanglement of migrating right whales. And we highlight the Maine Coast Fisherman's Association who recently addressed the US House of Representatives to discuss amendment to the Farm Bill that would extend those bill's advantages and opportunities to fisheries and marine coastal development. About World Oce...

Rescue, part 33: A Personal Call to Action

September 20, 2023 19:00 - 5 minutes - 3.73 MB

This week on World Ocean Radio we wrap up the 33-part RESCUE series with a a checklist of steps and questions for a practical, personal plan and strategy to embrace the transformational change required to sustain the deteriorating world ocean. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a proj...

Rescue, part 32: World Ocean Ethos

September 13, 2023 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.67 MB

This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing the means to accelerate the urgent response required to visualize, plan, and implement for a new ocean future. ETHOS is defined as the spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations." About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects....

World Ocean Culture

August 31, 2023 22:00 - 5 minutes - 3.65 MB

This week on the RESCUE series we're continuing our discussion of the water cycle and the ways it defines our cultural identity from global to local. We are surrounded by evidence of our cultural ocean: we see it at all shores both fresh and salt, we see it the location of our settlements, in our bridges and dams, in fishing vessels and practices, in ports, and so much more. In this episode we'll explore these myriad connections in depth. World Ocean Radio offers five-minute weekly insights...

Rescue, part 30: Water and World Ocean Health

August 23, 2023 16:00 - 4 minutes - 3.48 MB

We are nearing the end of the RESCUE series. This week, in its 30th edition, we're talking about water: the well-spring of world ocean health and the essential natural system that sustains us all, thus its protection and sustainability are the key strategy for RESCUE. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects....

RESCUE, part 29: Trans-Generational Urgency

August 16, 2023 20:00 - 5 minutes - 3.67 MB

We are nearing the end of the 33-part RESCUE series. This week we turn our attention to the young people around the world that are approaching outdated conventions with resilience and resolve. Thousands upon thousands of youth activists are having their voices heard and their calls to action heeded. We must reinforce their resolve, their commitment and their acceptance of RESCUE: R for renewal; E for environment; S for society; C for collaboration; U for understanding; and E for engagement. ...

RESCUE, part 28: A Transformational Tool for Ocean Literacy

August 09, 2023 16:00 - 5 minutes - 3.63 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a highlight of the World Ocean Explorer virtual aquarium project of the W2O, an innovative tool by which to present responsible science, innovative education, and a unique virtual experience freely accessible to all. For further information, to promote and support, please visit worldoceanexplorer.org. Dive deep, share with your children and grandchildren, and spread the word. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and ...

RESCUE, part 27: How to Advance Ocean Literacy

August 02, 2023 21:00 - 5 minutes - 3.58 MB

This week on World Ocean Radio we continue the RESCUE series with recommendations to further protect the ocean--by building ocean literacy into every level of education and action around the world. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a week...

RESCUE, part 26: The Missing Links--Education and Communication

July 19, 2023 20:00 - 5 minutes - 3.68 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a shift from suggestions for change to analysis and observation of those things that are missing from the equation--namely ocean education and communication. And we assert that the need for ocean literacy has never been more important, and that we must consider ocean understanding as the key factor that enables communication and informs responsible decisions regarding the sustainable use of ocean systems and resources. RESCUE as an acro...

A Night Sky

July 13, 2023 16:00 - 5 minutes - 3.61 MB

This week on World Ocean Radio we are re-broadcasting an episode in which we look to the night sky, to ponder the wonder contained therein, and to explore the danger of polluting it forever in the name of modern navigation and instant communications worldwide. About World Ocean Radio Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Oc...

RESCUE, part 25: How to Transform the Ocean Apparat

July 05, 2023 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.63 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a proposed solution to advance successful connection and communication within and with those who fund and communicate ocean programs and projects. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. About World Ocean Radio 5-minute weekly insights dive into ocean science, advocacy and education hosted by Peter Neill, lifelong ocea...

RESCUE, part 24: Ocean Finance Reform: Step by Step

June 28, 2023 19:00 - 5 minutes - 3.67 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series by listing some of the most critical changes and improvements required to create a new, sustainable ocean economy--in essence a checklist for step-by-step actions toward future governance, regulation and investment in the world ocean. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. World Ocean Radio offers five-minute weekly insigh...

RESCUE, part 23: Financial Instruments for a New Ocean Ethos

June 21, 2023 20:00 - 5 minutes - 3.67 MB

This week on World Ocean Radio as part of the multi-part RESCUE series we revisit the concept of ecosystem services accounting and propose that, in order to create a culture of investment for our future, we must apply energy, imagination and innovation to enable transition and success. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio offers ...

RESCUE, part 22: What is Net Zero?

June 14, 2023 18:00 - 5 minutes - 3.62 MB

The multi-part RESCUE series continues this week with a discussion of the reality of carbon offsets, corporate accounting, and the concept of net zero. In this episode we lay out three paths forward toward a sustainable future: 1. remove subsidies 2. embrace renewable alternatives and 3. shift funds and banks to these options. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. About Wo...

Ecosystem Services Accounting: An Example

May 31, 2023 19:00 - 5 minutes - 3.63 MB

This week the multi-part RESCUE series continues with a hypothetical tale of investment, manufacture and accounting, and the financial analyses of both sides of the balance sheet: the initial investments and benefits to investors and the long-term debits of extraction, public health, emissions, downstream effect, and what is left behind. What would project proposal budgets look like if all near and long-term costs were included? Would projects be viable and approvable? How would investments,...

RESCUE, part 20: How to Account for an Ocean Economy

May 24, 2023 15:00 - 5 minutes - 3.71 MB

This week the multi-part RESCUE series continues with a breakdown of a 2020 Report by the World Resource Institute High Level Panel for Sustainable Ocean Economy that offered some revised definitions and pathways toward a more sustainable future, including three fundamental questions as a framework for change: 1. How will a decision change the wealth on an ocean balance sheet, including all produced assets? 2. How will a decision change net national income or welfare, and how will those chan...

RESCUE, part 19: Valuing Ecosystem Services

May 17, 2023 19:00 - 5 minutes - 3.55 MB

This week the multi-part RESCUE series continues with a call for a new valuation of ecosystem services and natural resources that reflects the true costs of goods, services and ecosystem functions inclusive to habitat, food, water, regulation and recycling that serve human populations now and in the future. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. About World Ocean Radio 5-...

RESCUE, part 18: Opportunity for Ocean Finance

May 10, 2023 13:00 - 5 minutes - 3.54 MB

This week the multi-part RESCUE series continues with a turn toward the topic of finance. This episode lays out a plan for future editions that focuses on examples that calculate the value of the ocean including ecosystems services, accounting and practices that calculate the value of goods and services, accounting of measured growth, and public acceptance of some the changes required to transform the world we live in. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public partic...

RESCUE, part 17: Technology and the Ocean Pharmacopeia

May 03, 2023 20:00 - 5 minutes - 3.56 MB

This week the multi-part RESCUE series continues with an examination of familiar products derived from the ocean that we use to support our ways of life, our well-being and our health: from vitamins and supplements to pain and cancer treatments. And we discuss the future of exploration and exploitation of resources as the bio-prospecting rush heats up. How are we regulating extraction from the ocean and seafloor? Who owns the proprietary rights to marine resources, and what criteria are appl...

RESCUE, part 16: Technology and Ocean Farming

April 26, 2023 18:00 - 5 minutes - 3.64 MB

This week the multi-part RESCUE series continues with an advancement of the sub-theme of technology. We're talking about the pitfalls of modern agriculture, examples of sustainable fisheries, and the innovative ways that we might farm the marine environment that positively impact human health and have a regenerative, sustainable response to our harvest and use. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Under...

RESCUE, part 15: Technology Food and Health

April 20, 2023 17:00 - 5 minutes - 3.57 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with the topic of seafood consumption. While more than 3 billion people worldwide rely on wild-caught and farmed seafood as a significant source of animal protein, unsustainable and illegally caught seafood harvest threatens a major health crisis if we do not confront the issue through regulation and enforcement of best practice, change in social behavior and consumption, and new technological innovations toward a sustainable future. About...

RESCUE, part 14: Technology and Climate Action

April 12, 2023 14:00 - 5 minutes - 3.73 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with an outline of the four technological focus areas of the recently announced Ocean Climate Action Plan, the organizing connection of which is technology. Guiding the actions of the plan are a commitment to be responsible stewards of a healthy and sustainable ocean, to advance environmental justice and engage with all communities, and to coordinate action across governments. About World Ocean Radio 5-minute weekly insights dive into oce...

RESCUE, part 13: The Democratization of Technology

April 05, 2023 16:00 - 5 minutes - 3.82 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with defined programs and relationships that apply technologies toward public good, such as a universal grid system, battery generation and storage, desalination, and better understanding of natural systems and our relationship to them. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. About World Ocean Radio 5-minute weekly insight...

RESCUE, part 12: Technological Innovation

April 05, 2023 15:00 - 5 minutes - 3.79 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a discussion of alternative energy solutions, battery technology, geothermal energy production, and the adaptation of existing at-sea platforms and rigs to capture energy from the ocean as a less-polluting, renewed, refit utility, taking an old technology and transforming it into a new solution for our energy future. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collabora...

RESCUE, part 11: Earth Law

March 22, 2023 19:00 - 5 minutes - 3.63 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a discussion of Earth law, a framework built upon the idea that ecosystems have the right to exist and thrive, and that Nature should be able to defend those rights in court. Can we ratify a collective treaty toward the protection of Nature? RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. About World Ocean Radio 5-minute week...

RESCUE, part 10: UNCLOS and Biological Diversity

March 15, 2023 16:00 - 4 minutes - 3.49 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a continuation of UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In early March, the UN finalized a consensus agreement to work toward the conservation and protection of ocean resources and ecosystems. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. About World Ocean Radio 5-minute weekly insights dive into ocea...

RESCUE, part 9: UNCLOS, A Plan in Hand

March 08, 2023 20:00 - 5 minutes - 3.56 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a highlight of UNCLOS, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a major example of a far-reaching universal agreement that was drafted in 1982 and ratified in 1984. At the recent Davos gathering, a call to overhaul the UNCLOS instrument of ocean protection went largely unheeded. Who will be willing to step up and redress priorities to conserve and sustain the ocean? RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and ...

RESCUE, part 8: Policy Applied

February 28, 2023 15:00 - 5 minutes - 3.57 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a highlight of two policies--the Antarctic Treaty and the Hamilton Agreement for the Sargasso Sea--that are working to successfully engage parties and members and maintain oversight for ocean and ecosystem conservation. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. About World Ocean Radio 5-minute weekly insights dive into ...

RESCUE, part 7: Policy That Works

February 22, 2023 15:00 - 5 minutes - 3.55 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series by featuring some successful initiatives and ocean progress, with examples of policies related to Marine Protected Areas that are working and thriving. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. About World Ocean Radio 5-minute weekly insights dive into ocean science, advocacy and education hosted by Peter Neill, lifelong oce...

RESCUE, part 6: The Fallacy of Consensus

February 15, 2023 17:00 - 4 minutes - 3.41 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a conversation about consensus, a policy-making tool that has historically served to progress issues forward. In this episode we argue that, in light of recent conversations and outcomes from COP27 and Davos, consensus may have become diluted, compromised and corrupted. What's next? Might it be time for bottom-up collective action and social invention? RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Rene...

RESCUE, Part 5: Policy

February 08, 2023 15:00 - 5 minutes - 3.7 MB

This week we continue the multi-part RESCUE series with a discussion about ocean policy and the myriad organizations and initiatives around the world developing guidelines that inform decisions, rules and laws for the ocean future. RESCUE as an acronym offers a plan for specific action and public participation: Renewal, Environment, Society, Collaboration, Understanding, and Engagement. About World Ocean Radio 5-minute weekly insights dive into ocean science, advocacy and education hosted...