Untouched by humans for millions of years, the frozen south is now an important outpost for studying human impact on the planet. In the first of a four part series, Terry FitzPatrick reports how greenhouse gases, ozone depletion, and surging tourism are affecting the fragile continent.
At the turn of the century, Canada Geese were extremely rare. But today they’re thriving, to the point of being considered a nuisance. As Living On Earth’s Terry FitzPatrick reports from Seattle, some of the extraordinary steps which officials take to control the birds’ population raise important questions about the value people place on urban […]
Living On Earth’s Terry FitzPatrick travels along the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline to assess safety and environmental controls on one of America’s most important–and remote–energy lifelines. Critics are concerned that years of delayed maintenance and staffing cutbacks on the aging pipeline have increased the chances of a dangerous spill. Pipeline officials admit there have been problems, […]
As oil companies push to expand their frontiers in the Alaskan arctic, Living On Earth’s Terry FitzPatrick travels to the region to examine the environmental impact of North Slope oil production. He reports on recent convictions for illegal dumping of toxic waste, admissions of skewed environmental studies, and promises by the industry that they’ve entered […]
Twenty years after Three Mile Island we look back at the nation’s worst commercial nuclear accident. Using archival materials and interviews with area residents who lived through the accident, Living On Earth’s Terry FitzPatrick reconstructs the days in late March and early April, 1979, that changed the nation’s energy policy. He also looks at whether […]