Podcast #47: The Divest movement sweeping the US, Singapore haze + The month's best environmental web picks

This podcast includes the following stories:

1. The Divest Fossil Fuel movement sweeping the US
2. My top environmental web picks
3. Singapore battles the dreaded haze
4. Britain's energy quagmire
5. A farmer responds to the suggestion of feeding his cows insects

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Podcast #45: Is the US oil industry causing quakes? Pope Francis the Green + Teeny weeny froglets

This podcast includes the following stories:

1. Can pumping wastewater from the oil industry underground cause earthquakes?
2. The ExxonMobil pipeline spill in Arkansas
3. Combatting ash dieback by planting more trees
4. Stricter sulphur limits for car fuels in the US
5. Are MSC-labelled fish being mislabelled? (Answer: No)
6. Will Pope Francis be the greenest pontiff yet?
7. Breeding frogs in captivity to save a species 

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Episode #44: The battle to stop ivory poaching, Fish fraud in the US + The electric Grand Prix

This podcast includes the following stories:

1. Efforts to stop the deepening crisis over ivory poaching
2. Fish fraud: A third of US products mislabelled
3. More than 7,500 dead pigs found in Chinese river
4. Keystone XL passes environmental impact report
5. Mars Rover finds evidence that life could have existed
6. 2012 saw second steepest CO2 rise since records began
7. President Obama appoints environment champions
8. Should weather forecasters talk about climate change
9. Formula One to go electric 

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Podcast #43: Europe's horse meat scandal, The sound of glaciers + An Australian species back from the dead?

This podcast includes the following stories:

1. Europe's horse meat scandal
2. EU ministers vote for a phased ban on fish discards
3. EU plans boost to cap and trade scheme by withholding new permits
4. Global Ocean Commission formed to look at threats to the High Seas
5. Chinese businessman offers reward for river dip
6. The sound of glaciers melting
7. Museum find raises hopes for 'extinct' Australian oddity

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Q&A: Beijing Smog

Since the start of the year, China's capital Beijing has been swathed in smog so thick that it is causing health concerns as well as inconvenience. Here's the story unpacked:

Why is this newsworthy?
Apart from anything else, the photos are pretty remarkable. Where there were skylines, there are now shadows in a soupy grey haze. And as pictures from NASA's Terra satellite show, the air pollution appears to have wiped the city clean off the Earth. It is also a big deal because air measurements show that levels of certain substances are way above what is considered safe for humans.


Aerial view of Beijing on January 3


Aerial view of Beijing on January 14

Podcast #42: President Obama's climate pledge, Beijing air pollution + Why mackerel is off the menu

This podcast includes the following stories:

1. President Obama's inaugural address
2. Why mackerel could be off the menu in Europe
3. NASA prepares to launch latest Earth-monitoring satellite
4. A global treaty to phase out mercury
5. BP to pay penalties totalling $4bn
6. Shell not responsible for oil leaks in Niger Delta
7. McDonald's to use sustainable fish
8. Beijing's air pollution goes off the scale 

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