Hawaii's Erupting Volcano

Hawaii's Erupting Volcano

Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Radio Archive, Episode 818 , Segment 1

Episode: Hawaii's Erupting Volcano, Motherhood and Politics, Carbon Neutrality

  • May 23, 2018 11:00 pm
  • 12:18 mins

Guest: Estelle Chaussard, PhD, Professor of Geology and Geophysics, State University of New York at Buffalo Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano continues to erupt. Its eruptions and lava flows have destroyed dozens of homes, released lethal gases and set forests ablaze. As the lava reaches the Pacific Ocean it’s releasing caustic plumes of acid haze. And now, officials say lava is encroaching on a geothermal plant that’s a major source of power on the island, as well as a potential source for toxic gas leaks if breached.

Other Segments

Are Forests a Renewable Source of Energy?

19 MINS

Guest: William Moomaw, PhD, Professor Emeritus of International Environmental Policy and Founding Director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University and Member of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007 Trees absorb carbon dioxide and make oxygen for us to breathe. Burning wood releases the carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. So if we cut down trees to burn for electricity and plant new ones in their place, is the process carbon neutral – basically cancelling out the CO2 effect on the atmosphere? The EPA recently announced a plan to treat the burning of wood harvested from managed forests as renewable energy – similar to solar and wind power. That decision hinges on this question of carbon neutrality.

Guest: William Moomaw, PhD, Professor Emeritus of International Environmental Policy and Founding Director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University and Member of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007 Trees absorb carbon dioxide and make oxygen for us to breathe. Burning wood releases the carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. So if we cut down trees to burn for electricity and plant new ones in their place, is the process carbon neutral – basically cancelling out the CO2 effect on the atmosphere? The EPA recently announced a plan to treat the burning of wood harvested from managed forests as renewable energy – similar to solar and wind power. That decision hinges on this question of carbon neutrality.