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Host Intro: Bill McKibben is the author of “The End of Nature,” the prescient 1989 book that warned about the effects of global warming.  Since then, he has written extensively about climate change, and recently published “Eaarth,” what he calls “a guide to living on a fundamentally altered planet.”  He is also the co-founder of HYPERLINK "http://350.org/"350.org, dedicated to reducing carbon dioxide emissions.  He will be speaking tonight at the First Methodist Church at 1421 Spruce Street at 7:30.

Bill joins us now to discuss his new book.

Groups Featured in this report include:

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00[ 1 ]  I’m Leslie Dodson

[DAN ]  And I’m Daniel Glick. This is How On Earth for  [Tuesday April 27th , 2010]

[ LESLIE ]     Coming Up:  [ Author Bill Mc Kibben joins us to talk about his new book “Eaarth”.]
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[DAN ] We begin with a look at some of the recent news in science.  

[Leslie ]  STORY 1:
Our first story looks at a happiness study out of the University of Colorado here in Boulder. …In a nutshell: “Things” not only fail to provide as much enduring happiness as the pursuit of life experiences – but possessions also make you less popular.

C-U Psychology Professor Leaf Van Boven spent a decade studying the social costs and benefits of pursuing happiness thru the acquisition of life experiences – such as traveling or going to concerts – versus the purchase or material possessions like fancy cars or bling.

He found that people who pursue happiness thru material possessions are LIKED LESS by their peers than people who chase happiness thru life experiences.

Not only will investing in material possessions make you less happy – and a good bit poorer… Van Boven says it may also cost you in terms of mental health.  Materialistic people are more prone to depression.

The data was collected from experiments with undergraduate students and thru a national survey. The research was published in the recent edition of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. ##


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[ DAN ] STORY 2:


Forest cover around the world has been declining for years, with much attention focused on deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. 
Recently, however, researchers using an array of satellite images have pieced together a detailed picture of just how fast forests are disappearing worldwide. 
According to a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the planet lost more than 385,000 square miles of forest in the five years between 2000 and 2005. 
That’s more than the area of Texas and Colorado combined. 
While Brazil remains a leader in deforestation, the report’s surprising results showed that North America lost more forest than any of the six continents with trees. 
Canada and the United States both had higher rates of deforestation than Brazil, accounting for nearly one third of the planet’s forest loss. 
That loss occurred primarily in boreal forests, largely due to fires and insect infestations that researchers say are linked to climate change. 
 
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[LESLIE ] STORY 3:

Another team of CU scientists –this one out of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research --  discovered a link between carbon and nitrogen that may help predict when and where nitrate pollution may show up.

Much of the global nitrate problem comes from the use of synthetic fertilizers.  Humans now manufacture more than 400 billion pounds of fertilizer each year - -much of which migrates from cropland into the atmosphere or is washed into waterways and oceans.  – Creating a suite of environmental problems ranging from coastal “dead zones” – toxic algal blooms – to ozone pollution and health problems.

The new study -- published in “Nature”  -- shows that global ratios of nitrogen and carbon in the environment are “inexorably” linked by microbial processes that occur in virtually all ecosystems.  The team developed a new framework to explain how and why carbon and nitrogen appear to be so tightly linked.  And the findings help explain why nitrate can get to be so high in some water bodies – but remain low in others.

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(DAN) STORY 4:

If you’ve spent any time with a scientific publication, you know there’s a jargon problem.

Scientific language is supposed to be concise, precise and authoritative.  
Unfortunately, scientific publications are often so full of sophisticated words and complex grammatical constructions that  -- the non-scientist and even some scientists – find them difficult to read and understand.

Harvard Scientist Catherine Snow looks at how science teachers might help their students penetrate the linguistic puzzles presented by science texts.  Unfortunately, she found that science teachers aren’t all that well-prepared to help students learn academic vocabulary and process academic language.

In the most recent edition of “Science”, Snow describes a middle-school program called “Word Generation” that embeds “all-purpose” academic words in interesting topics --  and provides activities for classes – so kids are taught big fancy science words early on in the science curriculum – so they’re not as overwhelmed when they become consumers of science later on in life. .

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FEATURE #1 – INTROTO MC KIBBEN INTV: )

You’re tuned to How on Earth, the KGNU Science Show.  I’m Dan Glick.  
Bill McKibben is the author of “The End of Nature,” the prescient 1989 book that warned about the effects of global warming.  Since then, he has written extensively about climate change, and recently published “Eaarth,” what he calls “a guide to living on a fundamentally altered planet.”  He is also the co-founder of HYPERLINK "http://350.org/"350.org, dedicated to reducing carbon dioxide emissions.  He will be speaking tonight at the First Methodist Church at 1421 Spruce Street at 7:30. 

Bill joins us now to discuss his new book.

(DAN) OUTRO MCKIBBEN INTERVIEW:

Thank you.  Bill McKibben’s new book is called “Eaarth”.  Bill will be speaking here in Boulder tonight at the First Methodist Church at 7:30.


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[ 1 ] That’s all for this edition of How on Earth.  Tim Morton wrote our theme music.  Tom Wasinger produced it.  Additional Music from . . .

[ 2 ] Our website is H-O-E dot K-G-N-U dot NET. You can also find it through the main
K-G-N-U dot ORG  website.  Questions or comments?  Call the KGNU comment line at (303)-447-9911.  For How on Earth, the KGNU Science show, I’m DANIEL GLICK.

[ 1 ]  And I’m LESLIE DODSON
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