Nature Breaking

Three-quarters of the infrastructure expected to exist by 2050 hasn't even been built yet. That means that the way we build infrastructure – where it goes, what it's made of, and which energy sources it facilitates – will have a huge impact on the world's ability to meet global climate and biodiversity goals. In this episode, Kate Newman, WWF's vice president for sustainable infrastructure, breaks...

Last October, Alaskan officials canceled the snow crab harvest for the first time in history, after the population dropped nearly 90% between 2018 and 2021. In this episode, Steve MacLean from WWF's US Arctic Program explains how warmer ocean conditions likely contributed to the disappearance of these crabs (2:40), and what a changing climate might mean for future crab harvests (6:20). Steve also...

Whether it's wild elephants consuming a village's crops, or a racoon getting into a household's trash, human-wildlife conflict is present everywhere and can lead to significant challenges. In this episode, Nilanga Jayasinghe talks about the different kinds of human-wildlife conflict that impact different regions (4:45), and explains how climate change can make those conflicts more frequent (13:44)...

As 2022 draws to a close, this episode features four voices from WWF's Media & External Affairs team sharing some of their favorite environmental news stories and initiatives from 2022. You'll hear from Sarah Fogel about efforts to save black-footed ferrets in Montana (1:13), Lorin Hancock about a new way to address both food waste and food scarcity by connecting consumers directly with farmers (7...

Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, this episode features a conversation with Alex Nichols-Vinueza, WWF's program manager for food loss and waste. Alex explains how our food system ends up wasting an estimated 40% of food produced globally (1:20). He then talks about how this problem manifests on Thanksgiving (8:07), and shares some simple steps that people can take to prevent food from going to wa...

In this wake of this week's US election, this episode features a conversation with Will Gartshore, WWF's senior director for policy and government affairs. Will reflects on the progress made on environmental policy over the last two years (2:00), from re-joining the Paris Agreement to the passage of historic new investments to address the climate crisis. Will then outlines what's left on the to-do...

COP27, the UN's annual climate summit, begins on November 6 in Egypt. This two-part episode explains everything you need to know before the summit kicks off. In Part 1, Stephanie Roe, WWF's global climate and energy lead scientist, provides an overview of the latest climate science (1:54) and explains how three recent reports could influence negotiations at COP27 (14:49). Then, Marcene Mitchell, W...

BONUS EPISODE: Every two years WWF releases its flagship Living Planet Report, which monitors populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around the world. The latest version of this report was released last week, and found an average decline of 69% in species populations since 1970. To help explain this finding and dive deeper into the report, we're joined this week by Rebecca S...

This year marks the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Lunar calendar. To mark this occasion, Ginette Hemley, WWF's senior vice president for wildlife conservation, joins the show to talk about the global effort to protect wild tigers. Ginette touches on the current state of wild tiger populations (1:55), why protecting tigers matters to nature writ-large (4:52), what we've learned from a 12-year gl...

This year has brought another set of reminders about the risks of flooding in a warming world. Communities from Wyoming to Kentucky to Pakistan have faced the terrible consequences that floods can bring. In this episode, Jeff Opperman, WWF's global lead scientist for freshwater, breaks down the science behind what's driving more frequent and severe floods (2:32), explains how floodplains can play...

This week, Erin Simon, WWF's head of plastic waste and business, explains the scale of the plastic pollution crisis and why it matters for both people and nature (1:54). She dives into the factors driving this crisis (4:35) and discusses how companies and individuals can help address it (8:05). And lastly, Erin breaks down efforts by the United Nations to create a new treaty to address the plastic...

This week, Anita van Breda, WWF's senior director of environment and disaster management, joins the podcast to talk about how the impacts of climate change are driving more intense and destructive hurricanes (1:48). She shares insights about how communities can reduce risk to hurricanes and other disasters (3:41) and what factors they should consider when building back after extreme weather events...

In this episode, Craig Beatty, WWF's manager of forest strategy and research, talks about how forests can help deliver health benefits to people by limiting the spread of diseases (3:50), regulating heat (7:40), and more. He also shares some steps governments and other actors can take to help keep forests intact (13:30). LINKS: Vitality of Forests Report: https://www.worldwildlife.org/publications...

Hear a preview of what's to come in this new bi-weekly podcast focused on the news and trends affecting our natural world. Nature: Breaking will help listeners make sense of today's environmental headlines by showcasing the incredible array of experts at WWF. You'll hear from scientists focused on climate change, oceans, rivers, and wildlife, as well as engineers, technical advisers, and field con...