Possibly Podcast

On Possibly, we've talked about how we can cut out greenhouse gas emissions from our homes and cars. But we wondered, how are factories and manufacturers working on this problem? The post Why is it so hard for factories to reach net zero emissions? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

Everyone knows that plastic pollutes our environment. But it’s less obvious why plastic would create a lot of emissions. Today, we break down why plastic use is a climate change issue. The post Why is using plastic a climate issue? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

There’s an urgent need to use less fossil fuel, and that includes cutting down on how much gasoline we put in our cars. Does that mean longstanding ideas about what counts as “good gas mileage” are out of date? The post What is good gas mileage anymore? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

Plankton form the basis of the food web in oceans and new research shows that the level of phytoplankton in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay has dropped by half in the past 60 years. We wondered why. The post Where did all the plankton go? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

If you’ve ever spent time in a library or art museum on a hot summer day, you might have felt way colder than you expected. On this episode of Possibly we break down the science of why libraries get so cold in the summer. The post Why is it so cold in libraries? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

This week on Possibly we’re talking about landfills, the methane they create, and why some landfills are capturing it and using it as a source of energy. The post What is landfill gas and should we be using it as an energy source? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

Rhode Island's biggest landfill is expected to fill up by 2043. And there are about 100 inactive landfills across the state. This made us wonder, what can be done with closed landfills? The post What happens to landfills when they close? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

Students at the Lincoln School have a question: should they be using wooden pencils or plastic mechanical ones? This week on Possibly we explain the answer, and how to find it. The post Should I use a wooden pencil or a mechanical one? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

Today we're taking a look at what causes in-flight turbulence and how rising temperatures might be making your flight bumpier. The post Is climate change making turbulence worse? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

It turns out, student engineers, and one major car manufacturer are already trying the idea. But there are limits to how effective these panels can be. The post Could we put solar panels on cars? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

More medical schools are training their students on climate change. This week on Possibly we're taking a look at how your visit to the doctor might be changing. The post How are doctors responding to climate change? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

A new program at the Boston Medical Center says it prescribes solar panels to patients. But we wondered, what does that really mean? The post Can a doctor give you a prescription for solar panels? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

The two sides just reached a settlement that will have a major impact on the state's carbon emissions. The post What happened when young people sued Hawai’i’s Department of Transportation? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

A new technology promises to suck water vapor out of the air and turn it into water that we can drink. How do they work and are these worthy investments? The post Should we use hydropanels to pull clean water out of thin air? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

Brown University's gym recently installed machines that turn kinetic energy into electricity. Could these machines put a dent in our energy needs? The post Could we use gym equipment to make electricity? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

A new book by Possibly’s founder Stephen Porder titled Elemental: How Five Elements Changed Earth’s Past and Will Shape Our Future, explores the rare times in Earth’s past when organisms changed the world. Understanding how they did it might help us build a more sustainable future. The post What can organisms that changed the world teach us about climate change? appeared first on TPR: The Public&#...

Paved surfaces like roads, sidewalks, and driveways send stormwater into our sewers, but engineering solutions that filter water through the ground can help keep our sewers and waterways clean. The post Are sewers the best way to deal with stormwater? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

During heavy rain, Providence's sewers used to get overwhelmed and dump untreated sewage into the Bay. But thanks to a project to increase the capacity of sewers, untreated sewage rarely makes it into our waterways anymore. The post How did the Narragansett Bay get so much cleaner? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

At Possibly we think a lot about how to make complicated climate science and policy easy to understand. And we’re not the only ones! Some comedians are playing an important role in re-thinking how we talk about climate change. The post Is climate change funny? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

Despite what the packaging says, flushable wipes should never be flushed down the toilet! They can cause blockages in the sewer system and create all kinds of problems. Just toss ‘em in the trash instead! The post Despite the name, flushable wipes are not flushable appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

For decades now, people have been installing solar panels, wind turbines and more to transition our energy to renewable sources – but we wondered, how’s it going? We turned to California's electric grid for answers. The post Are we close to 100% renewable energy? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

For decades wilderness areas have provided access and protection to millions of acres of land. Today, climate change is shifting how we think about the importance and management of these places. The post What are wilderness areas and why do they matter? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

Last summer Possibly reporter Charlie Adams spent ten weeks on a conservation crew in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, a slice of northwest Montana spanning over one million acres. This got him wondering, what is “wilderness”? The post What is Wilderness? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

One Possibly listener wondered why she saw so many dead fish in the water last spring. Turns out it’s called a fish kill – which can happen when there isn’t enough oxygen in the water for fish to survive. The post Why did I see a bunch of dead fish in the Providence River? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .

The transportation sector is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gasses in the U.S., and cars make up most of those emissions. So how can public transportation help reduce our emissions? The post How can buses become a climate solution? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio .