Sea Change

What does it take to stay rooted on the Gulf Coast, even as the land and weather change around us? We meet individuals, from a poet to a minister to a computer programmer, each finding their own creative ways to adapt and fight for the future of their communities. From amphibious homes to inland retreats to processing our changing environment through poetry, we hear how people's ingenuity is helpi...

There was a time back in the 1980s when overfishing had decimated popular fish like red snapper and grouper in the Gulf. But then, there was a dramatic turning point, when both fish and fishermen in the Gulf were kind of saved. Today, we hear the remarkable success story of how unlikely partners joined forces to save an industry and an ecosystem. In this episode, Environmental Defense Fund's Execu...

Today, we’re bringing you a wild story. It’s about a covert ocean adventure from back in the Cold War days that inadvertently set off a brand new industry. And it’s an industry that’s been in the news a lot lately: deep-sea mining.  Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order to try to fast-track deep-sea mining, while many countries are calling for more research before any mining...

Today, we bring you three stories exploring what it really takes to be ready for the next big storm. But at their core, these stories are about something deeper: the determination to keep living here on the Gulf Coast, and about the choices we’re making that will decide whether that’s possible. Thanks for listening to Sea Change. This episode was hosted by Carlyle Calhoun, Eva Tesfaye, and Michael...

For the first time since Hurricane Katrina made landfall 20 years ago, you can take a train ride across the Gulf Coast, from Mobile to New Orleans. And all these years later, the cities along that route are still living with the storm's aftermath. In this episode, we hop aboard the train and make four Gulf Coast stops along the way to share that story. About what happened during Katrina. How some...

Two decades after Hurricane Katrina and its devastating aftermath reshaped New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, we gathered to remember all that was lost, reflect on the lessons learned, and pay tribute to all the good that has been done in the two decades since. And, we look to the future: where do we go from here, and how can this region not just survive but thrive? Renowned jazz musician Dr. Michael...

This August marks twenty years since Hurricane Katrina. Today, we are bringing you a story we first aired in 2023. It’s about a word heard everywhere after Hurricane Katrina. And people across the Gulf Coast have strong and complicated feelings about it.  The word is resilient.  A special thanks to Rob Verchick, author of The Octopus in the Parking Garage: A Call for Climate Resilience . And, to e...

El Bosque, Mexico, a tiny fishing village on Mexico’s Gulf Coast, is quickly vanishing into the sea.  In this episode, we journey to El Bosque to meet the town’s unlikely hero—one woman determined to fight for a future for her community as her neighbors flee the encroaching waves. This episode was reported by Alvaro Céspedes. It was hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Alvaro. Editing by Johanna Zorn, Ca...

Climate change is bad news for almost everyone. Emphasis on almost , because believe it or not, one marine species is absolutely thriving as the Gulf warms: Bull sharks!  Get ready for some shark science as we learn why bull sharks are increasing in numbers across the Gulf and getting hungrier.  This episode was hosted by Carlyle Calhoun and Katelyn Harrop. Katelyn conducted the interview. Our the...

Climate change is altering the land we live on, and Indigenous communities are on the frontline. In this episode, we bring you to Alaska, where rapid permafrost thaw is threatening the Native village of Nunapitchuk. Then, we head to Louisiana, where the Pointe-Au-Chien Indian Tribe is watching their land disappear underwater due to sea level rise. These threats are forcing these tribes to make the...

If you’ve ever dreamed of what it would be like to be a marine biologist or marine ecologist, days spent scuba diving and swimming alongside sea turtles, all to better understand and protect our ocean, well then, you’re about to meet one of your heroes.  Today, we are bringing you an episode of the podcast Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant . It’s an award-winning show from our friends at Nature o...

The chemical industry is big business in Louisiana. Companies here manufacture plastics, fuels, pesticides, and cleaning products. But one part of the chemical industry that’s often overlooked is the fertilizer business.  Today, you’re going to hear the story of modern fertilizer, and how this powerful concoction of chemicals has radically reshaped how we farm and what we eat. In this episode, we...

Last week, we hosted a Sea Change live event at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. We wanted to talk about the science behind the massive land loss crisis we are experiencing, what it means to live in a vanishing landscape, and importantly, what we can do about it. But this is New Orleans, so we also wanted to celebrate! Celebrate the culture and joy of living in this special place.  And while we can’t...

We are all affected by ocean conditions, and we're talking about huge things like global food security and human health, to fisheries we depend on, to the transport of a whopping 90% of the world's goods. So it's vitally important to understand ocean conditions.  What can the fascinating field of ocean forecasting tell us about the future for us on land and for life under the sea? Want to learn ev...

Like much of coastal Louisiana, Isle de Jean Charles is rapidly disappearing into the Gulf because of coastal erosion and sea level rise. Scientists predict the island will be completely underwater by 2050. Almost a decade ago, the federal government awarded the state of Louisiana $48 million dollar to resettle members of the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation from Isle de Jean Charles. This was the firs...

Last time, we learned about the nearly century-old bond between the oil and gas industry and one university — LSU. In the second and final episode of our series, "Fueling Knowledge," we look at how much money is flowing into universities and what the industry may hope to get in return. This relationship comes with big benefits: student mentors, scholarships, research funding, and new buildings, am...

Universities have grown increasingly close with the fossil fuel industry. Oil and gas money is flowing into universities around the world, shaping everything from students’ careers to climate research that can influence global energy policy.   Some professors and students are sounding the alarm. They worry this influx of fossil fuel money could compromise the credibility of research institutions,...

There’s this conversation from one of our early Sea Change episodes, and it's about our relationship with the ocean--with water. How being in or near water changes us for the better. The marine biologist Wallace J Nichols has said: “It is true that oceans give us life, but our planet’s wild places also make life worth living and help heal us when we are broken.” He said it's not going to be fear a...

In February 2021, power went out for 4.5 million households across Texas. The blackout killed hundreds. And people wondered: “How could this happen in the energy capital of the U.S.?”  Today, we bring you part of that fascinating backstory, and it starts with an East Texas con artist who inadvertently kicked off the biggest oil boom in US history. Reporters Mose Buchele and Audrey McGlinchy of KUT...

More and more Americans face the threat of flooding. And as a country, we are woefully unprepared. Cities like Charleston and Miami already see routine coastal flooding. Hurricane Helene recently hammered many inland communities with flooding. And the risk is only rising.  FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) sells about 90% of the nation's flood insurance policies, but only a small perc...

Flooding is the most common natural disaster — by far. As more and more towns are devastated by floods, people are facing the tough question of how to rebuild — or even if they can. In this episode, we travel to two towns to discover how one obscure federal policy designed to stop the cycle of flood damage is leading to opposite destinies.  Thanks for listening to Sea Change. This episode was repo...

As 2024 comes to a close, we are taking this time to focus on hope. While this year has been rough for the climate and the environment in many ways, there is also so much good happening out there. There are wins to celebrate and reasons for optimism.  Today, Sea Change sits down with an expert on hope, and learn why evidence-based hope is essential in our fight against climate change.  To learn mo...

We kicked off this season of Sea Change with a globetrotting journey. A quest to understand a booming new industry on the Gulf Coast: liquified natural gas, or LNG. In a historic move, the Biden Administration froze any decisions on new gas export projects…until it could study how shipping so much American gas overseas could affect the economy, health, and the climate. Well, that long-awaited stud...

There’s a lot going on in the world of liquified natural gas, or LNG. And we are here to tell you about it! The Department of Energy just released its big report on whether exporting more LNG is in the public interest…spoiler alert: it’s not. One of the largest LNG facilities in the world, located just south of New Orleans, recently began production. And there are a slew of other export terminals...

The Lemon Tree Mound is a sacred place for the Atakapa/Ishak-Chawasha tribe. And it's disappearing under the rising waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In this episode, we travel out into the bayous of South Louisiana to understand what this one small sacred place means for the Land Back Movement and climate justice, and why efforts to save our coast matter, even if they really mean only buying time.  C...