2021 ARCHIVES
most RECENT PROGRAMS FIRST

BI0CHAR
ECO 593                                     24 FEBRUARY 2021

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We had two guests on this program.  Josie Strong is a farmer (principally walnuts) in East Biggs, California, and Richard Roth is a sustainable agriculture practitioner from Chapmantown, Chico, CA. They told us about the value of biochar--a kind of charcoal produced under low oxygen, smouldering, so to speak--and how it can sequester carbon, improve soil moisture content, and generally reduce C02 pollution. Each has experimented with ways in which the backyard gardener and the farmer can produce biochar from "homemade" furnaces and even trenches in the ground. They suggested that the uses and benefits of biochar are just beginning to be explored and encouraged listeners to join the biochar revolution.
Listen to or download the program: Click here.

the URBAN FOREST
ECO 591                                        9 FEBRUARY 2021

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We talked about trees this week, specifically about Chico’s Urban Forest and more generally about the value of trees in the worlds of the environment and poetry. First we spoke with Gianna Anselmo, Urban Forest Coordinator for the Butte Environmental Council. She told us about BEC’s plan to plant 700 trees in Chico’s neighborhoods, working with volunteers and homeowners to plant trees well adapted to our environment. You can learn more at becnet.org. We also rounded out the program with some fun facts and poetry about trees. Didja know that some trees have been to the moon?
Listen to or download the program: Click here.

FUNGI RULE THE WORLD
ECO 590                                              2 February 2021

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Our guest was Cheetah Tchudi--yes, our son--who is a farmer, rancher, and mycologist working out of TurkeyTail Farm in Yankee Hill. He spoke with us about the role fungi play in the world, the varieties around the world, how to avoid poison mushrooms, some fun facts, and his mushroom bioremediation projects cleaning up after the 2018 Camp Fire.]
Learn more about his work at butteremediation.com
Listen to or download the show: Click here.

CLIMATE GIRLS CHANGING OUR WORLD
ECO 587                                                               19 JANUARY 2021

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KZFR programmer and polymath Gayle Kimball, author of over twenty books, spoke with us about her newest book, Climate Girls Changing Our World. She interviewed 54 young women in seven continents and found a vigorous, inspired, inspiring and dedicated climate activists. We asked her about how climate change issues vary in such areas as Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America and how these young people are acting on them.  She also shared her view of what these climate activists have in common, including family birth order, motivation, commitment, and career ambitions. Listen to or download this interview: Click here.

                                                                LET IT SNOW!
                                 ec0 586                                        12 january 2021

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This program focused on the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which supplies about one-third of California’s water and serves as a vast winter reservoir. We spoke with Sean de Gusman of the Department of Water Resources. He is chief of DWR’s Snow Supply and Water Forecasting Section and is responsible for measuring the Sierra snowpack and figuring out how much water it contains. We asked him how he measures the snowpack. He told us about the extraordinarily complex process that involves physical, on-the-scene measurements at Phillips Station in the Sierra, 120 electronic sensing sites, airplane and satellite determinations, and more. At the close of the program, we read excerpts from a Wikipedia article on the great flood of 1862, when above average snowpack coupled with spring rains turned the Sacramento valley into a vast lake. Read the press release that sparked this interview: https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2020/Dec-20/December-2020-Snow-Survey    See the actual data at cdec.water.ca.gov. Listen to or download the interview: Click here.

 GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS FROM 2020 FOR 2021
ECO 585                                                5 JANUARY 2021

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Often on this program we bring you some discouraging words about the environment, though generally with some concrete solutions. Although 2020 was a pretty terrible year on many fronts, there was, in fact, some positive news on the environmental front and in this program, we offered good news from around the world. We don’t want to minimize the crisis. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, “Humanity has wiped out 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970, leading the world’s foremost experts to warn that the annihilation of wildlife is now an emergency that threatens civilization.” While that statistic is chilling and heartbreaking, there are some good news stories, and we provided some from here in the US, from Canada, from around the world on topics ranging from preserving Marmots and Tasmanian Devils to solar cars and how reading labels can save the earth.
Click here to download or listen to the program