
Living Planet
Looking to reconnect with nature? Want to make better decisions for the health of the planet? Every Friday, Living Planet brings you the stories, facts and debates on the key environmental issues of our time.
Latest episodes

Jun 6, 2025 • 29min
Why are oceans getting darker? (Rebroadcast)
In the past 20 years more than a fifth of our oceans have been growing darker. What is causing this and how worried should we be? In this episode we take you beneath the Baltic Sea to explore how ocean darkening is changing the marine ecosystem, plus the steps we need to take to protect our oceans.

May 30, 2025 • 30min
What do horses know that we don't?
After cancer treatment, Suzanne was persuaded to join an animal-assisted therapy session with horses. She was skeptical at first, but the experience changed her life. This episode explores how equine therapy is helping cancer patients process grief, reconnect with themselves, and find strength in nature. Plus, what researchers are beginning to uncover about animal-assisted therapy.

May 23, 2025 • 29min
Wildfires through the eyes of the toughest firefighters
When Kelly Ramsey joined an elite unit of wildland firefighters called the "hotshots" in Northern California, she thought she knew what she was signing up for. But climate change has flipped a switch, transforming wildfires from a natural occurrence into an unstoppable force. We’ll hear her story and check in with firefighters in Canada and Australia about what it now takes to put out the flames.

May 16, 2025 • 37min
Part 5: What the economy gets wrong about nature
What’s a forest really worth? Or a pollinator, or a reef? In this final episode of The Cost of Climate Change, we travel to Tasmania’s underwater forests to uncover the hidden costs of losing nature and what the economy has been ignoring — from vanishing carbon sinks to collapsing food systems. But there’s another side to this story — what we can save by putting nature first.

May 9, 2025 • 40min
Part 4: Heatstroke economy — the rising cost of extreme heat
Extreme heat is no longer a future threat. It's here, and it’s costing us. From hospitals pushed to the brink, to cities built for a cooler planet, the toll is mounting on our bodies, our livelihoods and the systems meant to keep us safe. In Part 4 of our Cost of Climate Change series, we dig into the true price of rising heat, and what it might take to adapt before the next heatwave hits.

May 2, 2025 • 40min
Part 3: Who should pay for climate action?
What do a German heat pump and a Canadian carbon price have in common? They're both flashpoints in a growing political battle over how to cut emissions and share the costs fairly. In Part 3 of our series on The Cost of Climate Change, we follow the money and ask: Who should foot the bill — consumers, taxpayers, or polluters?

Apr 25, 2025 • 39min
Part 2: Can we afford a transition to clean energy?
Sun, wind, water, and Earth’s heat — they’re abundant, carbon-free, and cheaper to harness than ever. But what’s the true price of overhauling our energy system? Is clean power really the cheaper path? In Part 2 of our series on The Cost of Climate Change, we head to outback Australia to meet an accidental ally in the race to ditch fossil fuels.

Apr 18, 2025 • 43min
Part 1: How much does a hurricane cost?
In the first episode of our series on The Cost of Climate Change, we head to Miami — where vibrant nightlife, sunshine, and storm surges collide. As hurricanes intensify and insurers pull out, the cost of living in paradise is becoming impossible to ignore. Who picks up the tab for extreme weather, and how do we keep from going broke? One new Florida community might hold some of the answers.

Apr 11, 2025 • 15min
Prologue: The true cost of climate change
Ever notice how debates about the cost of climate change tend to focus on how green policies are too expensive — and less about the huge bill we’ll all face the longer we fail to act? That’s exactly what our new five-part series on The Cost of Climate Change will be exploring, starting April 18. Here's a taste of what to expect.

Apr 4, 2025 • 36min
Are PFAS affecting you? What you should know
PFAS, or "forever chemicals," are everywhere – in food packaging, water, and more. But what happens when they enter our bloodstream? One woman's fight to find out.