World Ocean Radio

If war was once driven by oil, it has now become a function of electricity as its foundational resource, enabled by a grid which is currently unable to meet today’s ever-increasing demand. Where is all that new energy to come from?  WORLD OCEAN RADIO A weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college, community and public radio stations worldwide, provid...

John Walter recently shared an "inventory of possibilities" to Substack describing conditions, in five regions of the United States, where vulnerabilities and a convergence of failures might trigger a cascade of disaster in which existing conditions could be forced beyond their limits. The susceptible regions and concerns discussed are: Northeastern density, California's agriculture, Florida's sea...

This week on World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill is discussing solar energy, in his opinion, a pure opportunity at every level of scale and application. He shares examples of floating solar projects around the world--arrays placed on the surface of reservoirs, abandoned sandpits, and other passive bodies of water--that are providing substantial contributions and annual outputs in places like India...

This week, inspired by a recent post by journalist Andrew Lewin for The Daily Ocean Brief, we are discussing the "greenwashing phenomenon” and the investigation and prosecution of more than 400 companies worldwide that have been found fraudulent in their product claims, deliberate and disingenuous compromise of the Environmental Sustainability Standards (ESGs) intended to protect consumers. And we...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE This week on World Ocean Radio we are reading from a Scotland Nature Agency presentation that describes the benefits from Nature, defined by four actions: provisioning, regulating, supporting, and acculturating; and the benefits from the sea, actions defined similarly as provisioning, maintaining, and supporting.   WORLD OCEAN RADIO World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-m...

This week on World Ocean Radio we are revisiting the Global Footprint Network and the concept of "overshoot", the number of days by which citizens and corporations of any nation consume the natural resources that are sustainably available for that year. And we're describing numbers as measured through a series of graphs that visualize trends by category, up or down, of human enterprise worldwide. ...

Eustacy is a word used to describe worldwide changes of sea level. This is a new word for us: even though it seems we live in a eustatic world. We're using this newly-discovered word to distill the five areas of our existence where the ocean matters most: fresh water, the ocean-fresh water continuum, energy, food, health, and exchange.   About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series...

Some of the world’s greatest innovations were born from unexpected conversations rather than scheduled meetings. Ideas often emerge not during presentations but in hallways, kitchens, cafés, and shared lunch tables. This week we're discussing Thor Sigfusson's new book "The Incredible Coffee Machine, Where Mission, Space and Innovation Meet" and the ways informal encounters can reshape entire indus...

This week marks the 800th edition of World Ocean Radio. We began broadcasting in 2009 on Community Radio, WERU 89.9 FM in Blue Hill, Maine, USA. We thank the WERU management and trustees for their initial confidence in this project, and to all listeners and Citizens of the Ocean around the world, for tuning in and responding so positively. Adora Maris translates from the Latin as “worship of the s...

This week we are looking at an organization in Kenya that is addressing the ocean climate challenge. Power Shift Africa is providing cutting-edge analysis and solutions-focused policy ideas as a means to mobilize climate action in Africa and to leverage their voice internationally.  About World Ocean Radio A weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by colle...

Apprenticing has long been thought of as a term to describe someone working beside a master craftsperson to learn a trade and to refine a professional skill: whether it be pottery or electrical, cabinetry or plumbing. As an educational model it has long been mostly lost or forgotten, except in a place in midcoast Maine: The Apprenticeshop, where apprentices are learning the craft of building and r...

This week on World Ocean Radio we are paying tribute to Mario Soares, one-time president of Portugal and founder of the Independent Commission of the Future of the Oceans. We propose Soares must be remembered for his global vision and international actions to address the ocean/water continuum: the single, most important challenge to community survival, peace, and justice in our time.  About World...

Philanthropy is more than giving—it’s the art and act of improving the world with purpose. It is the thoughtful use of one’s resources to strengthen communities, support shared values, solve problems, and build a legacy. How to date has ocean science and policy been funded?  About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no...

We think we have a comprehensive understanding of the plastic crisis. But what of the plastic we cannot see? To solve a problem, we need first to understand its dimension, the circumference of the circumstance, the urgency of the experience and the structures for correction. Is it insurmountable? What will it take?  About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio...

How old is water? Where on earth is water found? This week we're discussing how water is circulated, cycled, and recycled, and where it's distributed on the planet (down to the fraction of a percentage.) Knowing that water is finite in volume, what happens when we pollute it and when there is no more?  About World Ocean Radio World Ocean Radio is a weekly series of five-minute audio essa...

This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing an ocean-centric view of the world, one that incorporates reality-based actions and approaches centered on a vision of Hydraulic Society, Nature's protection, its sustainability, its true asset value, and recognition of the ocean's essential contributions to global health, welfare, and support. World Ocean Radio: 5-minute weekly insights i...

Each year on June 8th we celebrate World Ocean Day, a day set aside to recognize our relationships with the ocean through global connection. What is Ocean Day meant to do? Is it working? Are the voices and the will of the people translating into a voice for change toward a healthy ocean and a sustainable future? What will you do to commit to the ocean this year? About World Ocean Radio World Ocean...

As we'll demonstrate this week, climate denial is a foolish mistake. We'll show the ways that denial of climate change allows us to ignore prospects of sea level rise, extreme weather, floods and coastal inundations, access and supply chain disruptions, hampered training and preparedness to meet conditions, denials that lead us into wars and conflicts to which we may be strategically unp...

How do we value nature? How do we price it and define its asset value? This week we're looking to a recent report issued by the UK Office of National Statistics to provide illustration of four ocean functions that underlie our capacity to sustain life on Earth. The ocean’s contribution to the past, present, and future of the world economy and civilization is the core principle for real calcul...

Science is one of the best tools available to humanity for understanding the complexities of the unknown and of life on earth. NOAA (the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States) is arguably the most advanced utility for the investigation of natural systems, yet a new 2026 budget has been presented with cuts to NOAA exceeding 1.6 billion US dollars: an administrat...

Regulate is a verb with many nuanced meanings: to standardize, to classify, to monitor, to supervise, to coordinate, to administer, to rectify. Government and the courts are designed as the tools of regulation, created to sustain, preserve, and protect us. Has this changed? How is regulation working to sustain the world ocean, to protect its vitality, and its essential contribution to our survival...

The World Economic Forum recently published a Global Risks Perception Survey which lists both long-term and short-term risks, their impacts, and a severity index by category: environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological. The report analyses global risks through three timeframes to support decision-makers in balancing current crises and longer-term priorities; this latest report seems t...

The Ocean Foundation is calling for a National Commission on the Regenerative Ocean that will be charged with addressing six outcomes over two years as summarized in this episode. A new Ocean Commission would join a host of other initiatives in US history that have driven policy, research and programs to focus on the ocean as an integral resource upon which we all depend. About World Ocean Radio W...

This episode will summarize two recent Maine-based conferences dedicated to ocean issues: the first focused on the blue economy--particularly the emerging aquaculture opportunities along the Atlantic coast, and the second an annual gathering of local industry representatives of the lobster industry in Maine. Many forces are affecting the future of both: where is the comprehensive plan for success?...

As we address the social and environmental challenges of the day, we are prone to double down on past ideas and approaches. This week on World Ocean Radio we'll argue for invention as a primary way forward: to embrace change in technology, financial valuation, political cooperation, and affirmation of the social contract as a way toward new, inventive, and innovative ways of thinking.  About...