Nell Larson

On this episode of This Green Earth Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center joins the show. He talks with Chris and Nell about the record amount of sea ice that has melted this past summer up in the Arctic Ocean, how close open water is to the North Pole and, the role climate change is playing in that annual event.     

On this episode of This Green Earth Chris Haramoto joins the show to talk about about East Canyon State Park's award of the International Dark Sky Park designation. This classification means that East Canyon State Park has beautifully dark night skies that allow visitors to clearly view the Milky Way and other celestial objects.In order to be designated a Dark Sky Park, Haramoto and park staff, interns, and volunteers, had to meet the stringent programming, monitoring and infrastructure requirements set forth by the

On this episode of This Green Earth, Amanda Barth with the Utah Department of Natural Resources talks about "Utah Pollinator Pursuit" a program that allows citizens to monitor, track and upload data on the Monarch's habitat, populations and where abouts. The monarch butterfly is an iconic species in North America and its annual migration cycle is one of the most remarkable in the world.

On this episode of This Green Earth acclaimed nature writer David Gessner talks about his new book:  Leave It as It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt's American Wilderness.   The book is an honest account of Roosevelt's - at times - flawed and inconsistent relationship with nature, wildlife and, Native Americans.  But Roosevelt also believed in what Gessner calls "muscular environmentalism"; Nature and public lands as a source of

Dr. Keith Roper, a professor and Department Head of Biological Engineering at Utah State University joins Chris and Nell on This Green Earth. Dr.

Chris and Nell provide an update on wildfires occurring around the state; where, how large and percent containment.  They also talk about the inspections of watercraft being performed by state wildlife resource officials to control the spread of quagga mussels.

This week on This Green Earth, senior scientist Walt Meier from the National Snow and Ice Data Center talks about how near record air and sea temperatures are driving the loss of summer sea ice up in the Arctic Ocean which is approaching an all-time minimum low recorded back in 2012.   Shipping lanes are open weeks ahead of normal and the Arctic may be clear of summer sea ice by the end of this decade.  Find out more in this interview with Walt Meier.  

Jeff Bousson is a program manager with Utah Clean Energy.  He is also helping to head up a Community Advisory Committee which is exploring strategies to reduce Park City and Summit County's commercial and residential building carbon footprint.  The committee has met a couple of times but there's still time for citizens, HOA's and property managers to join in.  

NOAA calculations released last week project that the year 2020 is currently on pace to be the second-hottest year on the planet since formal record keeping was established in 1880.  In addition, NOAA states that there is a 35% chance that 2020 will surpass the hottest year on record, which was 2016.  Sean Sublette, a meteorologist with Climate Central out of Princeton, New Jersey joins Chris and Nell this week on This Green Earth.

Utah is nearing the peak of wildfire season and with no rain in the forecast for the next 10 days, the risk of wildfire generation increases each day.   Kait Webb joins Chris and Nell on this weeks This Green Earth. Webb is the Statewide Prevention and Fire Communications Coordinator with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. She provides an update on where current wildfires are burning within the state, their size, containment and the fact that 80% of them are human-caused.  

Founded in 2006, the Utah Valley Earth Forum is a citizen based environmental organization working for good stewardship and a healthy environment.  Dr. James Westwater and Dr. John Bennion From the UVEF join Chris and Nell this week on This Green Earth. They talk about the mission of the UVEF and a livestream event on Wednesday, July 22nd titled:  The Pandemic and the Climate Crisis:  Innovating Solutions. 

Quagga mussels are invasive shellfish that arrived in Utah in the boats of privately-owned watercraft trailered here from the Great Lakes.  When left unchecked, they clog pipes and inlets to boats, pipelines and other lake infrastructure.  They also cause great damage to native aquatic ecosystems.  Sgt. Krystal Tucker with the Dept.

We've all become familiar with the reality of micro-plastics and micro-fibers showing up more and more in our air, land and water, and even within the stomachs of birds, fish and deer.   Dr. Janice Brahney, an assistant professor of Watershed Sciences at Utah State University joins Chris and Nell on This Green Earth this week.

This morning on This Green Earth, Dr.Enric Sala, a National Geographic Explorer-In-Residence and author of the forthcoming book 

A major study published in the online medical journal:  "JAMA Open Network" has confirmed that an increased risk of premature births and low birth weights is significantly associated with exposure to air pollution and excessive heat during pregnancy.  Low income communities and Black women specifically were among the most vulnerable group. The peer-reviewed study was based on a review of more than 32 million U.S.