This week on World Ocean Radio we're discussing the importance of ocean literacy and ocean education to transform our understanding of the ocean's contributions to human health and survival. We highlight the seven principles of Ocean Literacy and some perspectives that we can use to expand them into a set of curricular approaches that pertain to science, climate impacts and solutions for our future.

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed worldwide by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing an emerging new phenomenon called the Global Deep Ocean Water Market and the food industry companies that are extracting salt water from the ocean depths, desalinating, trading as deep ocean water futures, and packaging for distribution and sale. 

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have long been the cogs turning the wheel of global economics, driving infrastructure growth and economic development while often supporting the exploitation of natural resources and ignoring the social consequences of poverty, displacement, and disruption. Some have argued that the World Bank and the IMF have outlived their purpose, no longer effective as tools for the future. This week we're discussing the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a little known agency that finances large international projects with demonstrated financial outcomes that are progressive and sustainable.

This week on World Ocean Radio: reflections on the morality of nature and the ocean. How do we change the consequences of our actions, and take responsibility for what we have done to create the world we find ourselves in? Is it time for a bit of moral neutrality to return to a more accommodating, natural state?

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

This week on World Ocean Radio we're introducing listeners to the Water Ethics Charter-- recommendations from a global Water Ethics Steering Committee with draft principles for water sustainability based on five themes: environmental, economic, social, cultural, and governance. 

World Ocean Radio provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

This week on World Ocean Radio: five suggested strategies as laid out by Karl Burkart (Managing Director of One Earth and formerly the Director of Science & Technology at the DiCaprio Foundation) by which to create the funds required to meet the urgent global climate crisis.

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

This week we're discussing the consequence of consumption. We point to a recent exhibit entitled "Waste Age: What Can Design Do?" that highlights the fusion of nature and culture and the ways that we have produced a culture of waste. How might we transform our waste into materials that can be recycled, repurposed, and reprogrammed by design? What if we choose to create a culture designed to retain and maximize the built environment rather than destroy it? How do we transform waste into something lasting and sustainable? 

This week on World Ocean Radio we're discussing recent reporting on the impact of deteriorated plastic waste and the ways that it has invaded our waterways, our oceans and our bodies. If we never made another piece of plastic again, are we able to ever be free of the damage plastic has already done worldwide? Can it be reversed? Are we even trying? 

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

This week on World Ocean Radio we discuss the Sargasso Sea--a verdant, vital ecosystem that supports a great diversity of life, provides shelter for marine mammals, and serves as a repository for much of the spoils of human endeavor: shipping, fishing, harvesting, and pollution. And we discuss conservation efforts including the Hamilton Declaration and the formation of the Sargasso Sea Commission, protection measures working toward the establishment of an International Marine Protected Area. 

Our annual gift to World Ocean Radio listeners. In this episode, host Peter Neill reads "At the Fishhouses" by Elizabeth Bishop, a poem from 1955 that distills Bishop's seaside meditations and evokes the clarity of meaning contained in personal encounters with the ocean. A favorite of ours, with profound relevance for the New Year. Please enjoy.

This week on World Ocean Radio we introduce listeners to a word many may have never heard before: xenobiotic--defined as a chemical substance found within an organism that is not naturally produced or expected to be present--often referred to as a pollutant. Dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, carcinogens, drugs, food additives, hydrocarbons, plastics, pesticides--all manner of human-driven interventions from our interactions here on earth. Are we turning the world into a xenobiotic dump? Is there another way? 

Visit https://worldoceanobservatory.org/wor/xenobiotic for the original episode.

Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

This week on World Ocean Radio, we're discussing the final declaration of the climate pact post-COP26, in which the ocean was finally acknowledged as the intangible link between climate and biodiversity, and recognition of the need for integration of ocean-based actions into mandates and work plans. For the first time, the ocean is finally included in discussions about our climate future. While this is a start, it's too little. We argue that we must dare to envision a dramatic restructuring of law and focus that envisions the ocean as the blueprint for all further action. 

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

Available for podcast download wherever you listen to your favorites.

This week on World Ocean Radio: new systems thinking offers alternatives to failing structures and behaviors. As food, energy and water are the three aspects most relevant to future survival, we argue that we must examine the innovations that pertain to each: aquaculture, renewable energy and desalination--to create an integrated, self-supporting new system is key to a sustainable future.

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

How do we govern and manage the ocean inside and outside of national jurisdiction in order to use it responsibly and assure its long-term potential? How do we collectively affirm the transformational change required to meet the conditions and challenges we face worldwide? In this week's episode of World Ocean Radio we seek answers in a recent article published in "Proceedings of the US National Academy of Science" that suggest principles for change and action required to sustain the value of the ocean now and for the future. 

World Ocean Radio provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

This week on World Ocean Radio we're discussing energy present and energy future, and the ways that alternative energy technologies are changing the landscape as our energy needs grow. We offer examples of proven alternative fuels such as wind, solar, wave and tidal energy and share some lesser-known technologies such as salinity gradient power and geo-thermal energy that could use the power of the ocean to meet global electrical demand.

This week on World Ocean Radio we're defining "backwash" as the movement of water for filtration, for desalination, and for clearing of debris and toxins, and we're discussing methods that clean and protect Nature, using the strategies of bio-remediation to detoxify and cleanse against the human-caused destruction of natural systems.

Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

In this episode of World Ocean Radio we take listeners to the shore, to be reminded of the importance of silence, solitude and renewal in our lives, and of the healing power of the ocean--or water in any form--that is there for us, if and when we choose to stop and listen. 


About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

In this brief series we have explored technologies, initiatives and other advancements for aquaculture with the power to improve efficiency and safety as a positive contribution to our future food supply and global health. This week represents the fourth and final installment of the series, focusing on the broader view of the word "aquaculture"—Water plus Culture—the universal source and guiding influence for our lives that will nurture and sustain us into the future if we can recognize and protect its significance for every aspect of our being.

In this brief series we're exploring disruptive technologies for aquaculture, specific initiatives and other advancements to improve efficiency and safety as a positive contribution to out future food supply and global health. This week we are discussing the challenges to aquaculture, the perils of some new unmanned technologies on the horizon, the pros and cons of offshore systems, and the spectrum of alternative projects that could alleviate the typical pitfalls of offshore aquaculture. 

• In this brief series we're exploring disruptive technologies for aquaculture, specific initiatives and other advancements to improve efficiency and safety as a positive contribution to out future food supply and global health. This week we are acknowledging some of the improvements made by the aquaculture industry in terms of feed, antibiotics, waste, disease, off-shore structures, water treatment, quality control, and other factors that have in the past turned public interest and support for aquaculture toward misunderstanding and opposition.

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

Available for podcast download wherever you listen to your favorites.

Without mitigation of consumption and illegal fishing, we face a global crisis of protein supply to feed a growing world population. Over the next few editions of World Ocean Radio we will explore disruptive technologies for aquaculture, specific initiatives and novel technologies and other advancements to improve efficiency and safety of aquaculture as a positive contribution to out future food supply and global health. 

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

World Ocean Radio is produced in association with WERU-FM in Blue Hill, Maine and is distributed by the Public Radio Exchange and the Pacifica Network.

Sea level rise and coastal inundation are changing the agricultural landscape around the world. Fortunately, saltwater irrigation has been studied for decades, and experiments have succeeded while research and experiments have grown and demonstrated the viability of some plants such as halophytes that have the potential to change our conventional food landscape. In this episode we explore questions related to saltwater irrigation such as: what type of new crops can be developed for sustainable harvest, and what techniques can be invented to succeed without additional environmental damage?

According to the US Geological Survey, 70% of the available freshwater worldwide is used for irrigation. Industrial agriculture and modern irrigation practices have today brought us to a global water crisis. This week we're discussing what has been called the “irrigation efficiency paradox,” when farmers use more water, even as they are becoming more efficient in their irrigation practices. What will happen when the water cycle fails because we won’t change our water wasting ways? 

Intense weather events are calling attention to not just local but worldwide water crises caused by climate. Coastal inundation, community disruption, dislocation and recovery are problems that we seem increasingly unable to withstand. This week on World Ocean Radio: the Danish Hydraulic Institute and their experiments with the concept of "sponge cities", a revolutionary planning tool to integrate urban design with water management strategies such as ground conditions, road and construction patterns and more, to create responses to rapidly changing coastal conditions.

Visualization is a powerful tool for understanding beyond data, opening our minds and enabling transformative change through a new way of seeing. This week we're discussing the Spilhaus World Ocean Map, a projection of earth centered on Antarctica that makes the ocean the focus of an astonishing worldview, pushing the land to the outer edges of the square and re-organizing our global geography around the true natural systems of the world ocean.

This week on World Ocean Radio we are discussing hydrology, the "hydrospatial" perspective, and the importance of multi-dimensional analyses and visualizations for planning and decision-making that break down the artificial disciplinary boundaries of science to allow for comprehensive inclusion of multiple perspectives and better understanding of complex ocean systems for international goals and objectives. 

This week on World Ocean Radio we're looking to the night sky, to ponder the wonder contained therein, and to explore the danger of polluting it forever in the name of modern navigation and instant communications worldwide.

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

• This week on World Ocean Radio we reflect on "blue" and the profound stages of meaning beyond the color of the sea and sky to encompass depth, stability, wisdom, faith, truth, redemption, and the natural world. 

About World Ocean Radio
Peter Neill, Director of the World Ocean Observatory and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects. World Ocean Radio, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, is a weekly series of five-minute audio essays available for syndicated use at no cost by college and community radio stations worldwide.

Four Essential Steps toward a Responsible U.S. Ocean Policy 

International agreements are essential if we are to sustain natural resources as natural capital for our future. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we outline four major environmental treaties the United States never ratified—but should.

This week on World Ocean Radio: an idea to confront the big polluters of the fossil fuel industry for their indifference to redress, by attaching reparations for the exploitation of natural resources over time, thereby providing incentives for new, non-polluting technologies of energy generation, storage and distribution toward a more sustainable future for our climate and ourselves.