The Sweaty Penguin

In recent years, millennials and Gen-Zers have increasingly raised concerns over the environmental impact of disposable tampons and pads, and brands have stepped up with a variety of reusable alternatives. But running parallel to this issue is a very concerning combination of period poverty, stigma around menstruation, and health and human rights issues, and different communities see these problem...

World leaders are currently gathered in Montreal for the fifteenth UN Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, working toward a global treaty to help stave off mass extinctions, mitigate climate change, and conserve economically important natural resources for decades to come. But there’s one notable absence from this effort: the United States. Though not invisible at COP15, the U.S. is the only country...

Though not endangered, many of the world’s muskoxen populations are facing threats, ranging from hunting to disease to climate change to animals literally head butting each other and causing brain trauma. And with muskoxen being an extremely valuable source of food and wool, humans have a strong vested interest in protecting them. Today, we explore why muskoxen matter, what issues they face, and h...

And now for the good news from the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27: the creation of a loss and damage fund to support developing countries recover from the unavoidable impacts of climate change. Many proponents of the fund have treated it as a purely moral issue, but there’s actually a lot more to it. Ethan breaks down why, purely from an American perspective, the loss and...

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, wrapped up in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on Sunday, and the outcome contained good news and bad news. To start, we look at the bad news: India’s proposal to include a phase down of fossil fuels in the final agreement, which was backed by much of the world including the EU, UK, and US, ultimately failed to make the final agreement. This resul...

A few months ago, The Guardian did a five-month investigation into  “carbon bombs,”  or fossil fuel projects that would, over the course of their life, emit over one billion tons of carbon. They found that there are 195 planned oil and gas carbon bombs around the world, and if they proceed as planned, these projects alone would blow past internationally agreed upon climate targets. For o...

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, kicked off on Sunday in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, bringing 198 countries together to negotiate the next batch of global climate agreements. And in setting the stage for the conference, one word has stood out among the rest: implementation. Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Convention Simon Stiell opened the conference saying, “Today a...

Plastic bags have been a surprisingly hot topic in the environmental world, with eight states having gone so far as to enact single-use plastic bag bans. Plastic bags do present issues across their supply chain from climate, health, and justice concerns in the manufacturing process to pollution and biodiversity concerns after their disposal. But are bans or paper bags or tote bags actually viable...

There have been a string of stunts recently with climate activists targeting artwork, from Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting to Monet’s “Grainstacks” painting to Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” painting last week. These protests have reinvigorated conversations about the “3.5% rule,” which suggests a movement needs only 3.5% of the population involved to be successful. Or, at least that’s wha...

Soy is in most of the processed foods we eat, fed to the animals we eat, and has become a staple in vegan diets. But unfortunately, intensive agricultural practices such as monocropping, monoculture, pesticide use, and deforestation have created a number of environmental issues around the crop. As the world’s leading soy producer, Brazil in particular has been the topic of global dialogue around a...

Last Wednesday, nineteen states announced that they had subpoenaed JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, asking for documents relating to the companies’ involvement with the UN Net-Zero Banking Alliance. These states felt it was against their best interests for these banks to blackball the fossil fuel industry, going so far as to call the banks...

A few months ago, The Guardian did a five-month investigation into “carbon bombs,” or fossil fuel projects that would, over the course of their life, emit over one billion tons of carbon. They found that there are 195 planned oil and gas carbon bombs around the world, and if they proceed as planned, these projects alone would blow past internationally agreed upon climate targets. For our fifth dee...

The latest natural disasters in an unrelenting few months of climate catastrophes include Hurricane Julia in Central and South America and deadly floods in Nigeria and Australia. After all this damage, it’s challenging to envision how climate change gets any worse from here. But scientists have started imagining worst case scenarios, and in September, published a study on climate “tipping points”...

Phytoplankton are microscopic plants floating around in marine and aquatic ecosystems that produce 50-80% of the world’s oxygen, provide food for countless other organisms, and are so effective at absorbing carbon dioxide that some have suggested growing phytoplankton as a solution to climate change. But sometimes, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Agricultural runoff containing fertili...

Next Tuesday, October 18th marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. What’s its anniversary present? A 15 year long legal battle that is now being decided in the Supreme Court. The case in question is called Sackett v. EPA, and it concerns whether or not Chantell and Michael Sackett were allowed to build a home on a wetland in Idaho, or if they first needed a permit under the Clean Water...

The state tree of Pennsylvania, the Eastern Hemlock is a majestic, ancient tree species found across the Eastern United States and Canada that offers shelter, food, and protection for over 120 vertebrates. It also has special characteristics that make it much more effective at storing carbon than most other tree species. But unfortunately, an invasive insect called the hemlock woolly adelgid has b...

Hurricane Ian proved to be a catastrophe, causing several dozen casualties, millions of power outages, and billions of dollars in damage. Based on wind speed, it was one of the five most powerful hurricanes in recorded history to hit the United States. And though there seemed to be some confusion on this point stemming from a viral CNN clip from September 27th, climate change did play a role. Etha...

A few months ago, The Guardian did a five-month investigation into  “carbon bombs,”  or fossil fuel projects that would, over the course of their life, emit over one billion tons of carbon. They found that there are 195 planned oil and gas carbon bombs around the world, and if they proceed as planned, these projects alone would blow past internationally agreed upon climate targets. For o...

September has seen a long list of historic extreme weather events, from a record-breaking heat wave in the American west to a storm surge in coastal Alaska to Hurricane Fiona in the Caribbean. While each of these events was a different weather phenomenon affecting different regions, they did share some things in common, chiefly a strain on power grids and an overall lack of preparedness. Ethan bre...

“Hazard NJ” is another environmental podcast from The WNET Group covering Superfund sites in New Jersey. They will be releasing four new episodes this fall to take fresh looks at the relationship between these Superfund sites and climate change, starting on September 28th. We hope you enjoy this episode, and encourage you to subscribe to “Hazard NJ” wherever you get your podcasts. Our regularly sc...

LIVE from Third Wheel Hollywood, Ethan reflects on the first 100 episodes of the podcast. He discusses some of the biggest takeaways, what struck him so deeply about the recent carbon bomb story, and why he remains so motivated and optimistic about the future given today’s climate crisis. Support the show and unlock exclusive merch, bonus content, and more for as little as $5/month at  patreo...

We at The Sweaty Penguin may be biased, but penguins are a really cool animal. They play important roles in their ecosystems, they drive tourism revenue for many communities, and they themselves are fascinating for a number of their special traits and rituals. But unfortunately, 11 out of 18 penguin species are globally threatened, with climate change, pollution, and commercial fishing all playing...

On August 25, Pakistan declared a state of emergency after a summer that has brought the worst flooding in the country’s history. The floods have affected 33 million people, killed over 1,300 people including 416 children, created an economic loss of 10 billion dollars, and as of August 29, around one third of the country was underwater. Ethan breaks down how climate change made these floods more...

Avocados are rising in popularity fast. Over the past two decades, consumption of avocados in the United States tripled to more than eight pounds per person per year. Unfortunately, the avocado industry is up against several challenges, from high water demand to deforestation to extortion and violence at the hands of Mexican drug cartels. Today, we explore what issues avocados face, how climate ch...

Nicknamed “forever chemicals,” PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have spread all throughout our environment, and have been linked to a long list of health problems including cancer. But according to a new paper in Science, an industrial solvent called dimethyl sulfoxide can actually break down a subset of PFAS chemicals. Ethan breaks down how this solvent works, how much this solution cou...