Climate Change

Have you had any unexpected bird sightings this winter? Maybe you saw birds in unexpected places or times. Or maybe birds you expected never showed up. You're not alone. Bird researchers – and an observant listener – have noticed, too. That listener wants to know: What do we know about how climate change is impacting birds, both in and out of Montana?

In the last episode of Grounding season two, Host Sarah Aronson and MTPR Host and Producer Lauren Korn talk about the homesickness they feel for places they love that have changed. And, they put a word to that feeling—solastalgia. Lauren interviews writer and editor Paul Bogard, who created an anthology sourced from people coming to terms with the word and the feeling of solastalgia.

Grounding episode five takes a stab at an age-old question: what is a human’s place within nature? Host Sarah Aronson speaks to two environmental philosophers—Soazig Le Bihan and Christopher J. Preston—about that divide, and tugs at the dissonance that exists when we’re trying to understand our place in the world relative to other creatures. Are we supposed to go forth and conquer, or should we be ashamed of the impact we’ve had on different species?

In episode four of Grounding, Sarah Aronson talks to a pharmacist, Dr. Hayley Blackburn, who shares some environmental facts about the industry—one being that pharmaceuticals have been found in water bodies on every single continent. Aronson talks to Blackburn about Prozac fish and drug waste and how Blackburn navigates her moral injury working in an industry that doesn't always align with her values.

A coalition of historical groups, parks advocacy organizations and scientists are suing the National Park Service for removing signs about climate change, Indigenous history, slavery and other historical topics. The litigants say the removals erase history and undermine science.

Federal environmental regulators Thursday repealed the bedrock finding that climate change endangers human health. It authorized the EPA to regulate planet-warming emissions as part of the Clean Air Act and to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Experts say the repeal will worsen climate change and have a negative impact on industries across the state.

Montana’s largest utility is planning how it’s going to generate power and meet rising demand in the era of data centers. The company is now soliciting public feedback on that draft plan. MTPR’s Ellis Juhlin attended a recent meeting in Missoula and reports.

In this episode of “Grounding” season two, Sarah Aronson talks to Hannah Dusek and Jonathan Marquis, two artists who turned to their respective media—dancing and drawing—to help them make meaning during the climate crisis. Aronson’s been searching for names for our feelings, like “dissonance” and “the myth of apathy.” It turns out that a lot of people have experienced these sensations but just haven't been able to name them. Sometimes, when words aren’t enough, Aronson, too, turns to art to face the dissonance that comes with watching a world she loves change—complex feelings that are intensified as animals, plants and glaciers disappear.

In this episode of “Grounding,” season two, Sarah Aronson talks to Renee Lertzman and Panu Pihkala, two experts in the field of climate emotions, who offer models for processing our feelings as well as understanding why we assume people don’t care about the environment when they actually might. Aronson explores how language can be helpful in identifying what we’re feeling.

In this episode of “Grounding,” season two, host Sarah Aronson talks to Peter McDonough—director of the Climate Change Studies Program at the University of Montana—his students, and another educator at the intersection of climate change and mental health at UM, Jen Robohm, about the dissonance of climate change. Aronson explores this friction in order to better understand the times we’re living in, and how to live well in spite of compounding stressors. Though there might end up being more questions than answers this season, it’s clear that the answer to the central question, “Are we alone?” is unequivocally, “no.”