After a powerful heatwave swept across the northeast last week, Possibly turned to its archive, looking for lessons about how to better prepare for extreme heat. We travel to Ahmedabad, India to learn more.

This episode is a rerun. It first aired on Sep 7, 2021

Megan Hall: Possibly’s Isha Chawla and Fatima Husain looked into this question. Isha, can you tell us how folks deal with extreme heat in India, where you live?

Isha Chawla: Megan, you might be surprised to learn this, but India started taking extreme heat seriously only about a decade ago. And it all started in Ahmedabad, a city known for its high temperatures.

Dileep Mavalankar: There was a major heatwave in Ahmedabad city and the region in 2012, the temperature went to something like 116 degrees Fahrenheit.

Gulrez Azhar: I mean, one feels completely restless, sweating, it’s like being slow-cooked in, like living in an oven.

Fatima Husain: After that heatwave, Mavalankar and Azhar worked together to create Ahmedabad preparedness plan for extreme heat events. Their plan was actually the first of its kind in South Asia.

Megan Hall: Why did a place that was used to hot weather need a plan like this?

Isha Chawla: Well, when Gulrez and Dileep took a close look at the data from 2012, they realized that even in India, heat waves could cause spikes in deaths.

Dileep Mavalankar: When you read that one person died in the newspaper, heatstroke, that means there are many more people who are not reported but may have been affected.

Fatima Husain: We usually think about the direct effects of heat waves: People get dehydrated and can’t cool down after being in the sun for too long.

Isha Chawla: But Dileep says very few people die this way. The majority of deaths during a heat wave happen when those hot temperatures make it harder for the body to function.

Fatima Husain: This is more likely to happen to people with pre-existing conditions or weak immune systems, like children and seniors.

Megan Hall: Ok, so what did they do?

Fatima Husain: First, they created a system to predict extreme heat before it happened, and used color codes to show if the forecast included dangerous heat levels.

Isha Chawla: They also teamed up with the local government to create a plan to prepare for days with really hot weather.

Megan Hall: What was in the plan?

Isha Chawla: Everything from keeping parks open in the afternoon and giving out cold drinking water to training health professionals and building cool roofs that reflect more sunlight.

Megan Hall: That doesn’t sound too different from what we do on hot days.

Fatima Husain: That’s true. But Gulrez says it’s not just about the things you do during a heat wave. Building awareness beforehand is just as important. He says they found out that people were…

Gulrez Azhar: four times less likely to fall sick of heat if they knew heat could be bad for their health.

Isha Chawla: To create awareness, they worked with the city government to publicize the best ways to stay safe in the heat.

Megan Hall: The plan is almost 10 years old. Has it been successful?

Fatima Husain: Yes. Dileep says although there have been some major heat waves in the region, deaths during those times have decreased by as much as 40%.

Megan Hall: That’s pretty impressive. What can the US learn from their experience?

Isha Chawla: Well, as you said before, the US has a lot of great technologies for predicting hot weather, and you do have things like cooling stations.

Fatima Husain: But Gulrez says making sure people know that these temperatures are dangerous, and giving them tips to stay safe, can make a big impact.

Isha Chawla: For all of our focus on preventing more climate change, we also have to start working hard to adapt to the changes that are too late to stop. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the reality.

Megan Hall: That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the ways your choices affect our planet, at ask possibly dot org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on social media at “ask possibly”

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, Ocean State Media, and WBRU.

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With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this year, fireworks will soon light up American skies. Do these tiny explosions have an impact on our environment or our health?

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

Since July 4th is just around the corner, today we thought we’d take a look at fireworks. Sure, they’re beautiful when they explode, but what do they do to our air quality?

We had Sarah Kramer and Shane Toomey from our Possibly Team look into this.

Sarah Kramer: Hi, Megan!

Shane Toomey: Hello!

Megan Hall: So should I be worried about the impacts of all of the fireworks displays this year?

Sarah Kramer: Let’s take a step back first…. a lot of what makes some people worry about the effects of fireworks is actually what makes them so beautiful.

Shane Toomey: It’s true! Within every firework, there are these little balls of chemicals, mostly made of metals. When these metals are ignited, they explode in bright colors and even cause special effects like sizzling or strobing!

Sarah Kramer: To explode a firework, you light a small fuse, which sets off a chain reaction that shoots the firework up into the air.

Shane Toomey: Once the firework reaches its peak height, another fuse sets off the small balls of chemicals within the center, and, BOOM!

[Firework noise]

Sarah Kramer: You get a dazzling firework explosion!

Megan Hall: Wow, that sounds awesome! But, what happens after the firework show?

Shane Toomey: After a firework explodes, the metals that were inside shoot all around in little pieces called particulate matter. That’s the black smoke you see after a firework explodes.

Sarah Kramer: These particulates travel with wind and rain until they eventually fall back to the ground.

Megan Hall: Are these little particles dangerous?

Sarah Kramer: We spoke to Professor Meredith Hastings to find out! She’s a professor at the Brown Institute for Environment and Society.

Meredith Hastings: and I lead a project called Breathe Providence that’s dedicated to understanding air quality across the city.

Shane Toomey: Meredith says, particulate matter doesn’t just come from fireworks. It comes from any time something combusts.

Meredith Hastings: So, that includes vehicles, that includes power plants, any transportation sources that use oil or gas, coal combustion is a really big source of particulate matter in our country.

Shane Toomey: And these tiny particles CAN have significant impacts on our health.

Meredith Hastings: Because those particles can actually end up in our lungs, and tiny, tiny particles can end up in our bloodstream. And those directly affect both respiratory and cardiovascular health.

Sarah Kramer: But particulate matter also makes a big impact while it’s still up in the atmosphere. They can block sunlight from reaching the ground– creating haze. This makes it harder to see, and once it settles onto plants’ leaves, it can make it harder for plants to absorb the sunlight they need to grow.

Megan Hall: How does the effect of firework shows compare to these other sources of particulate matter?

Sarah Kramer: Meredith has actually looked into that!

Meredith Hastings: So just to give you a feeling for and to put some actual numbers on your question…

Sarah Kramer: In 2023, her team compared the particulate matter in the air on a typical day in Providence to firework days and found that the particulate matter just about tripled on nights with fireworks.

Megan Hall: Triple! That sounds pretty bad.

Shane Toomey: You would think so, but they also looked at particulate matter from the wildfires that happened that summer.

Sarah Kramer: Meredith says for the brief amount of time the fireworks explode, they load more particulates in the air than wildfires….

Meredith Hastings: But they don’t last very long, and so they’re much more of like a specific almost like plume event, you know, compared to wildfires or transportation or sources like that that are continuously going for longer than fireworks.

Megan Hall: Wow! So, does that mean we don’t need to worry too much about the effects of fireworks shows?

Shane Toomey: Yes and no….

Sarah Kramer: In communities where haze is already a big issue, drone shows might be a good alternative. And if you have respiratory issues, maybe watch these shows from a distance. Otherwise, it’s not a big deal.

Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Sarah and Shane!

That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the ways your choices affect our planet, at ask possibly dot org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on social media at “ask possibly”

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, Ocean State Media, and WBRU.

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Rodenticides, used by farmers to keep rodent populations down and protect their crops, can cause all sorts of harm to wildlife, especially birds. But this week on Possibly we’re talking to some farmers who are turning to a more natural pest control solution.

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet. And use science to find everyday solutions. I’m Megan Hall.

If you’ve ever had rats in your house or gofers in your yard, you know they’re hard to get rid of. Farmers, trying to protect their crops, often have to resort to using poison.

But, some are turning to a more natural solution—owls. Jack Mershon and Louisa McLaughlin from our Possibly team are here to explain.

Jack Mershon: Hey Megan!

Louisa McLaughlin: Hi!

Megan Hall: Before we talk about owls, will you explain the problems with using chemicals to get rid of rodents? I know I’ve used them in my house before.

Jack Mershon: Sure. For many – these chemicals, called rodenticides, are the most effective way to get rid of rodents.

Louisa McLaughlin: But rodenticides poison more than just rats and gophers: they seep into the water and land we use.

Jack Mershon: And when a poisoned rodent gets eaten by a predator, usually a bird of prey, it can end up killing that bird too. Take all these risks together, and many states are restricting or outright banning the use of rodenticides.

Megan Hall: So how are owls a solution?

Jack Mershon: Barn Owls in particular, have a diet that can be pretty useful to Farmers. These owls eat about 1,500 rodents per year

Megan Hall: So, barn owls eat rodents, but haven’t they always? How do we get them to help farmers use less chemicals?

Louisa McLaughlin: By making homes for the owls! For more information, we turned to The Barn Owl Box Company, which aims to help farmers forced to use rodenticides

Mark Browning: We went ahead and developed a plastic box, and that’s how the company was founded, hoping that the plastic box could further barn owl conservation.

Jack Mershon: That’s Mark Browning, founder of the Barn Owl Box Company. He’s researched barn owl behavior, and eventually started designing barn owl boxes that are lightweight,ventilated and offer the owls more.. lounge space

Mark Browning: There’s a number of boxes out there being made by people that are pretty small. I’ve seen them as small as 16 by 16 by 16. A very comfortable range is around 24 inches long and about 16 to 8 inches wide

Jack Mershon: Larger owl boxes accommodate for the owl and its chicks. Because of this, Mark says barn owls are more likely to stay and make the box their home

Louisa McLaughlin: And good homes matter, because owl boxes are becoming popular for more farmers. It’s part of a method of pest control called Integrated Pest Management, basically using things like natural predators, and other less disruptive measures to tackle pests.

Jack Mershon: Greg Pennyroyal, who is the vineyard manager at Wilson Creek Winery in California, uses owl boxes from Mark’s company.

Greg Pennyroyal: I’ve got nine boxes currently in and I know of four that have owls

Jack Mershon: Greg’s largest rodent problem was with gophers. They were digging up the soil and damaging vines on his property. So he hired a team to trap the gophers, but it took a lot of work

Greg Pennyroyal: When I first got here, we had a crew of two guys that probably spent 500 to 800 hours a year trapping gophers.

Megan Hall: That’s a lot of time!

Jack Mershon: And money! Greg says using owls to catch the gophers is much cheaper.

Greg Pennyroyal: If I looked at the hours saved per owl box, my net return on each box is somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,200 to $1,500.

Megan Hall: Have the owl boxes also reduced the amount of chemicals he has to use?

Louisa McLaughlin: They have. Greg says…

Greg Pennyroyal: When we were using rodenticides as part of our program, we went from using approximately 90 pounds annually to with the introduction of owl boxes, we are currently using zero.

Megan Hall: Zero? Absolutely none?

Louisa McLaughlin: That’s right, and this was on 62 acres around the winery where Greg is most involved.

Jack Mershon: Now, some academic research has suggested that while owls are effective, they aren’t always enough to eliminate rodents on their own.

Megan Hall: So, what’s the take-away here?

Jack Mershon: Owls work. They save time, money and the chemicals needed for farmers. Less chemical use contributes to healthier wildlife, soil, and water. Also, owl boxes can go on yards, not just farms

Megan Hall: Wow, can I buy an owl box for my own yard?

Jack Mershon: You can! It could help you and your neighbors from using chemicals

Megan Hall: Great! Thanks Jack and Louisa.

That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the ways your choices affect our planet, at ask possibly dot org.

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, Ocean State Media, and WBRU.

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Advocates are calling for an unorthodox method to fight invasive species like the European green crab: just cook them up and eat them!

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

On our show we’ve talked a lot about invasive species, how they can reshape the environment around them, but also how nuanced this issue is. You might have heard of people removing, burning, or trapping invasive species… But what about eating them?

Alice Xie and Ava Gell from our Possibly Team have more on this culinary solution.

Alice Xie: Hi, Megan!

Ava Gell: Hey!

Megan Hall: So, what kind of invasive species are we talking about eating?

Alice Xie: There’s lots of different options. People have made cookbooks with recipes for everything from garlic mustard herbs, to pigeons. But today we’re focusing on green crabs.

Megan Hall: Why are some people worried about green crabs?

Ava Gell: To learn more, we talked to Mary Parks, Executive Director of GreenCrab.org, a nonprofit dedicated to spreading awareness about the impact of green crabs.

Mary Parks: Green crabs are one of the most destructive invasive species that were introduced to New England about 200 years ago.

Ava Gell: She says they came here from Europe when they hitched a ride on a merchant ship.

Megan Hall: Two hundred years is a long time— they’ve been creating problems ever since?

Alice Xie: Not exactly. In the past, cold winters would kill off enough green crabs that they wouldn’t overwhelm all of the other creatures in the area. But then…

Mary Parks: Around the end of the 20th century, green crab populations really started to take off. and researchers believe that that is partially because of climate change.

Megan Hall: Because it’s gotten so warm in the water, more of them survive through the winter?

Alice Xie: Exactly.

Megan Hall: So, why are too many green crabs a problem?

Ava Gell: Well, green crabs don’t have a lot of predators in New England, and they eat anything in their way, including other crabs and wildlife.

Alice Xie: Green crabs also destroy the homes of other species by eating seagrass. Which means native species run out of resources.

Megan Hall: And so people are looking for ways to reduce the green crab population?

Ava Gell: Well, one way is to eat them.

Mary Parks: Looking at the reality that green crabs are likely here to stay, that is part of the reason that we embrace them as a seafood.

Megan Hall: Do they taste good?

Alice Xie: Mary says, yes.

Mary Parks: They’re sweet, they’re rich, they’re fatty, they’re flavorful.

Ava Gell: And they’re already used in dishes all over the world.

Mary Parks: In Spain, Portugal, France and parts of Scandinavia they’re used in stocks and soups and sauces.

Megan Hall: Are they similar to the kinds of crabs we eat here in the US?

Ava Gell: Green crabs don’t have as much meat as blue crabs or jonah crabs, but flavor wise, they’re pretty similar.

Mary Parks: Whether you’re looking at stocks or sauces or gravies, they have a lot of culinary potential.

Alice Xie: But there’s more to it than just the harvesting and cooking.

Ava Gell: Currently, most of the green crabs sold in the U.S. are used as bait. According to Mary, the movement to eat green crabs helps to,

Mary Parks: Challenge public perceptions, especially because a lot of people still consider green crabs to be a quote, unquote “trash fish.”

Alice Xie: And the green crab market doesn’t just involve consumers and restaurants. Harvesters, wholesalers, and chefs work together to make it easier to eat green crabs.

Ava Gell: Through this collaboration, the green crab market can begin to move away from bait and towards your plate.

Megan Hall: Cool! So, how can I eat a green crab?

Ava Gell: Well, they’re available at many local restaurants, especially during Greencrab.org’s Green Crab week. Also, check out the many green crab cookbooks out there to help guide your eating experience.

Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Alice and Ava!

That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the ways your choices affect our planet, at ask possibly dot org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on social media at “ask possibly”

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Ocean State Media, and WBRU.

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This week on Possibly we explain why the paper that receipts are printed on can add a lot of complications, for recycling, and for your health too.

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

Whenever I go to the pharmacy, I get a stack of receipts—one with a list of the stuff I bought, another with some coupons, and I’m not sure what the other ones are for.

At the grocery store, my receipt is usually more than a foot long! What do we do with all of these slips of paper? It turns out, the answer isn’t as simple as you might think.

Jannah Maguire and Minjun Kim from our Possibly Team have more…

Jannah Maguire: Hey, Megan!

Minjun Kim: Hello!

Megan Hall: So, why are we talking about receipts?

Jannah Maguire: There’s a lot more to them than you might think. Receipts are pretty different from other paper products, and these differences change the way they affect us and the environment.

Minjun Kim: In fact, most receipts actually aren’t even made out of regular paper. They’re printed on something called “thermal paper.”

Jannah Maguire: This thermal paper doesn’t use ink. Instead, it’s coated in chemicals. When those chemicals are exposed to heat, they make the printed text show up.

Megan Hall: Interesting…So receipts aren’t made out of traditional paper…but, what’s the problem with that?

Minjun Kim: The issue lies in those chemicals that coat those receipts. Especially, BPA, which stands for Bisphenol A.

Joseph Braun: and it’s used there as a developer, so that when the ink is developed, the ink doesn’t bleed everywhere.

Jannah Maguire: That’s Joe Braun, a professor of epidemiology in the Brown University School of Public Health and the Director for the Center for Climate, Environment, and Health.

Minjun Kim: He says coming into contact with Bisphenol A can contribute to all sorts of health problems, including increased risk of obesity, diseases like Type Two Diabetes, and issues with brain development

Megan Hall: That sounds pretty bad. Do we have to use BPA for our receipts? Do we have any other, less toxic options?

Jannah Maguire: Well, that’s the thing, after research made it clear the BPA can have all these harmful effects, many manufacturers have switched to a different chemical that does the same thing: bisphenol S or BPS.

Minjun Kim: BPS has been studied way less than BPA and the research that has been done suggests that BPS can have a lot of the same harmful impacts. So the problem hasn’t really gone away.

Jannah Maguire: They’re also used in plastic products, like plastic containers, windows, and even some water bottles.

Minjun Kim: But Joe says receipts are different from these other sources— that’s because they have especially high concentrations of bisphenol, and it’s really easy for them to rub off. Basically BPS isn’t bound to the paper receipts.

Joseph Braun: So it’s very easy for it to leech off, either when people were touching it, or even when it would go, say, to a landfill, and then be subjected to being getting wet and, you know, abraded against other other materials.

Minjun Kim: Some researchers are exploring alternatives, but they’re not very common to find. A survey of chemicals used in receipt paper by major US stores in 2022 found that about 20% had switched to things other than BPA or BPS, but the substitute chemicals also aren’t well researched.

Jannah Maguire: So it’s probably best to pick an electronic receipt and avoid using them altogether.

Megan Hall: What if I can’t avoid getting a receipt? Can I recycle them like regular paper?

Minjun Kim: In general, no. Most facilities can’t even recycle thermal paper because it doesn’t break down the same way typical paper products would.

Jannah Maguire: And more importantly, putting receipts in your recycling bin can contaminate everything else in there with BPA. That could force the plant to throw out an entire load of recycling.

Megan Hall: Wow. I had no idea these tiny receipts could create so many problems!

Minjun Kim: Yeah, we like to think of recycling as a good thing to do, but when it comes to receipts, putting them in the bin does more harm than good.

Megan Hall: So what should I do with them?

Jannah Maguire: The best thing you can do? Just throw them out. Or do your best to sign up for paperless receipts. Especially at places like the pharmacy.

Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, Jannah and MinJun!

That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the ways your choices affect our planet, at ask possibly dot org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on social media at “ask possibly.”

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Ocean State Media, and WBRU.

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These rare mushrooms are famous for their intense flavor, and their expensive price. But climate change may be driving those prices even higher.

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

Today, we’re looking at a luxury ingredient that’s at risk of dropping off the menu: the truffle.

These pungent subterranean mushrooms are famous for their intense flavor, and they’re so rare they can fetch thousands of dollars a pound. But those prices might start getting even higher… because of climate change.

To help us understand more about this mystery mushroom and the dangers they face, we had James Chafouleas and Shane Toomey from our Possibly team look into it…

James Chafouleas: Hi, Megan!

Shane Toomey: Hey, Megan.

Megan Hall: So truffles, they’re the epitome of luxury. Some have sold for over $15,000 a pound. But what is it about that specific scent that makes them so desirable, and so worth protecting?

Rowan Jacobsen:  It really grabs your brain in a way, it’s intense and pungent and garlicy, but also like funky, like an aged prosciutto or something.

James Chafouleas: That’s Rowan Jacobsen. He’s a James Beard award-winning food writer and the author of the book “Truffle Hound.”

Rowan Jacobsen: As soon as somebody holds a truffle up to their nose, their eyes get big every time. It’s like the ‘truffle face.’

Shane Toomey: But Rowan says that this “truffle face” might become a lot harder to find in the future, because these mushrooms are incredibly sensitive to our changing environment.

Rowan Jacobsen: “Drought is a big threat to the truffle business. Just like mushrooms they like water a lot, right? They don’t like soil to be too dry. You have to have summer rains if you’re gonna have those truffles form in the fall.

Shane Toomey: And that’s the problem. Research shows that as the climate changes, summer droughts in the Mediterranean are becoming more frequent and more intense.

Shane Toomey: Scientific studies of decades of harvest data confirm that the truffle harvest is dependent on summer precipitation.

Megan Hall: Can’t we just farm truffles and use irrigation?

James Chafouleas: Rowan says, that depends:

Rowan Jacobsen:  The winter blacks not a problem because they are farmed very successfully, most black truffles today are farmed. But white truffles Appalachians, the Oregon truffles, those are all dependent on wild forests and on, semi-normal conditions. So they all could disappear via climate change.

James Chafouleas: And even the land truffles have is under pressure. In regions like Italy, forests are being cleared to expand vineyards, and that wipes out the truffle habitat entirely.

Rowan Jacobsen:  So there’s this tension in Italy and other wine-growing regions that also have truffles where, the more they clear forests, the fewer truffles they have.

Shane Toomey: This is a huge issue for local communities where truffle hunting defines their cultural identity and drives tourism.

Megan Hall: So what can we do to protect them?

Rowan Jacobsen:  So there definitely is movement across Europe, to recognize the importance of these forests and protect them. Wild travel hunting is great because it gives the forest a value and, a sense of purpose, a sense of meaning to all the people who live there. And it just makes them very appreciative and very protective of those forests.

James Chafouleas: If you’ve had truffle products and don’t get the hype, you may be in for a surprise.

Rowan Jacobsen: If you’ve had truffle popcorn and said I don’t understand that stuff sucks you haven’t had a real truffle yet. It’s often made with fake truffle scent. But most people, that’s the only truffle they’ve ever smelled. So they think that’s what a truffle is.

Shane Toomey: If you want the real truffle smell experience, you have to go to the source.

Rowan Jacobsen:  That smells destroyed by heat and processing. So it’s gotta be fresh. I think it’s really important to go experience a real truffle.

James Chafouleas: And if the conservation movement isn’t successful, the “truffle face” disappears right along with the forests.

Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, James and Shane!

That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, at askpossibly.org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on social media at “ask possibly” Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Ocean State Media, and WBRU.

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“Reducing your footprint” became one of the most familiar ways to talk about climate change, but why did that framing catch on? And what does it leave out?

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

If you pay attention to reporting about climate change, you’ve probably heard this phrase…

News Clips: Carbon footprint. Carbon footprint. Carbon footprint.

But what does our carbon footprint really mean? And where did this idea come from?

We had Leena Mudawi and Alina Ikram from our Possibly team look into it.

Leena Mudawi: Hi Megan.

Alina Ikram: Hey Megan.

Megan Hall: So, I know we talk about our carbon footprint all the time, but what does that phrase really mean?

Leena Mudawi: Basically, it’s a way to figure out how much carbon pollution each person creates—and it’s based on everything we do—like how we travel, what we buy, and how much energy we use.

Megan Hall: So, our “footprint” is like our impact on climate change?

Alina Ikram: Exactly. The idea is, if we’re more aware of how much carbon pollution we create, we’re more likely to change our habits and reduce our carbon footprint. But…

Kim Cobb: I think when people hear that phrase, they mostly feel guilty immediately, right?

Leena Mudawi: That’s Kim Cobb, Director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, and she says this concept isn’t always that useful.

Kim Cobb: Because carbon is everywhere in our life, just because energy is everywhere in our life, and many times we don’t really have choices about how we use it every day.

Alina Ikram: And that feeling of guilt is actually by design.

Megan Hall: What do you mean?

Alina Ikram: Back in the early 2000s, as people started becoming more aware of climate change, a company called BP, short for British Petroleum, helped to push the idea of the carbon footprint.

Megan Hall: Wait, an oil company told people to track their own emissions?

Leena Mudawi: Yeah! BP is one of the world’s biggest oil & gas companies, both of which are fossil fuels: the main things driving global warming…

Kim Cobb: Which of course, is a way to shift awareness away from the role of oil majors and other fossil fuel companies in perpetuating the status quo in our over-reliance on fossil fuels.

Megan Hall: Let me get this right—one of the companies that’s responsible for pumping extreme amounts of carbon pollution into the air popularized the carbon footprint so all of us would feel bad about the choices we make?

Alina Ikram: They didn’t come out and say that was the reason, but… it makes sense.

Leena Mudawi: The carbon footprint idea gave people a way to think about how their own choices affect climate change.

Alina Ikram: Which made it easier to forget how much power companies and governments have over the bigger picture.

Megan Hall: We talk about how our choices affect the planet on this show. That’s actually a main focus of Possibly. Are these kinds of questions just a distraction from what big corporations are doing?

Alina Ikram: Not entirely—Kim says, don’t give up on thinking about your own climate impact…

Kim Cobb: Those two things can be true at the same time. Our individual choices do matter every day. But it’s also true that we need to come together in large numbers and elect leaders that will enact policies to make it a lot easier to do the right thing.

Leena Mudawi: She says climate responsibility lives in both everyday life, and in collective action. So, if you care about this issue, take a moment and ask yourself,

Kim Cobb: What are the levers for change that you are reaching for as an individual?

Leena Mudawi: This is more useful than just “How bad is my footprint?” Because it’s easy to get stuck feeling guilty, or fixating on things that are hard to change.

Alina Ikram: Instead, Kim says it’s more effective to think about what you can actually do.

Kim Cobb: We want to think about our universities, our places of worship, our kids’ schools, our places of work. All those are organizations where individuals come together in fairly large numbers, and they form a collective.

Leena Mudawi: For years, we’ve been taught to see climate change through the lens of our own habits and our own guilt, but the reality is, there’s so much more we can do together—especially when we demand action from the people and companies with the most power over this crisis. So climate change doesn’t need to feel so personal.

Megan Hall: Great, thanks Leena and Alina.

That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the ways your choices affect our planet, at ask possibly dot org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on social media at “ask possibly”

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, Ocean State Media, and WBRU.

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As we head into a new year, the Possibly team decided to think about all of our episodes, and how they might inspire our resolutions for 2026. Here’s what some of us had to say.

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

If you listen carefully to our credits, you might know that our show is connected to Brown University. But, you might not know that all of our reporters are Brown University students.

I went to Brown– twice! And I teach a class here. Our managing producer just graduated from Brown a few years ago, and our founder is a Brown professor. So we were all shattered by the mass shooting that happened on our campus. All of us are physically ok, but we are sad. We are shocked. We are still figuring out how to cope.

Every year at this time, we create an episode with our resolutions for 2026. We recorded the messages for this show just two days before the shootings. Now that everything has changed, we weren’t sure if we should air this episode. But then we thought, maybe it would be nice to hear how we sounded before all of this happened– hopeful, optimistic, and excited to go home for winter break.

So, here they are- some of our resolutions for 2026.

Hamid Torabzadeh: Hi, my name is Hamid Torabzadeh. I am a reporter for Possibly, and my New Year’s resolution for 2026 is to wash all my clothes using cold water. My dorm at Brown has already instituted a mandatory cold water policy on the washing machines because there’s no other free setting, but cold water. And so I want to continue to do that when I’m off Brown’s campus.

Emma Mejia: Hi, my name is Emma Mejia and I’m a reporter for Possibly. This year my New Year’s resolution is to think twice before I buy a new article of clothing because I feel like I just have so much clothing that doesn’t get worn, that I didn’t have to buy in the first place. So now I am going to kind of try to buy my clothing more intentionally, for quality so that I can keep wearing it for longer and more sustainability.

Andrea Li: Hi, my name is Andrea Li. I’m a reporter for Possibly. My New Year’s resolution this year is to either take public transit more or walk around everywhere. At Brown, it’s a lot easier to do that ’cause we have public buses like RIPTA. But back home where I’m from, the suburbs are very car reliant, so my resolution is just to tough it up and walk wherever I can. Over the summer I walked two miles to the library in the scorching heat, and if I can do it then I can do it in December. So that’s what I hope to do.

Nat Hardy: Hi, my name’s Nat Hardy. I’m the managing producer for Possibly. Last year my resolution was to convince my roommates to start composting and I failed. It did not work. This year I have some new roommates and I’m re-upping the goal, and I’m gonna try to get us composting this year.

Christine Peng: Hi, my name’s Christine Peng. I’m a reporter for possibly, and for 2026, I am going to remember to bring my reusable grocery bags to the store. And so I won’t keep buying new ones because our family has a bad habit of doing that and it would be better just to use the ones we already have.

Megan Hall: Hello, my name is Megan Hall. I’m the host of Possibly, and last year I said I would get heat pumps and the year before that I said I would get heat pumps and I still do not have heat pumps in my house. I did get an estimate this year, so I think that’s progress. Next year’s gonna be the year, I promise, So wish me luck in 2026.

Megan Hall: And may I add one more resolution— for a safer 2026 for everyone.

Megan Hall: That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, at ask possibly dot org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on social media at “ask possibly”

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and Ocean State Media.

Megan Hall: All done. Awesome. All right. Thanks everybody. Wonderful. Yay.

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The Seine River in Paris has been closed to public swimming for more than 100 years, but it reopened to swimmers this summer. We talked to two people who took a dip.

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

This summer, people in Paris got to do something that was illegal for more than 100 years: swim in the Seine.

The river was closed to public swimming in 1923 because of pollution and boat traffic. But now, after a massive clean-up effort, Paris officials say it’s safe to go back in. So, we decided to talk to some people who gave it a try.

Daniel: I’m Daniel

Megan Hall: That’s the nephew of our founder.

Nienke: And,my name is Nienke.

Megan Hall: That’s Daniel’s partner. They were working remotely in Paris this summer.

Daniel: We were just kind of, living our life, but in Paris.

Megan Hall: They just happened to be there when the city reopened the Seine for swimming. So they decided to check it out.

Daniel: We went to the area near the Eiffel Tower that was open for swimming.

Nienke: Eventually we waited maybe a half hour. Do you think that’s fair? Yeah.

Megan Hall: As they waited, they saw a man updating a sign with details about weather, wind speeds, and pollution in the river.

Daniel: He was this very sort of stern old man, not smiling, just writing numbers, and then

Nienke: He wrote, uh, in French, like happy swimming.

Daniel: Happy swimming.

Megan Hall: This happy swimming was made possible thanks to a push to clean up the river in time for the Paris Summer Olympics.

To do that, the city built large storage tanks for raw sewage. Before, when big storms happened, the sewers were overwhelmed and released everything straight into the river. They also worked hard to stop houseboats from dumping their waste into the water.

The end result for swimmers like Nienke and Daniel?

Daniel: Yeah, so the water, um, itself, um, was surprisingly clean.

Nienke: It was. Kind of chilly, but very, refreshing. The water looked almost a little bit blue. You could see some fish.

Megan Hall: Other Paris residents aren’t so sure about swimming in the Seine. They question whether the water is really clean enough.

Nienke: I certainly wondered, I hope this is as clean as they say, because I have no way of knowing if,  if there is something strange in here. But I think each of us also accidentally had a little taste of the water, and it seemed absolutely fine.

Daniel: It tasted delicious.

Megan Hall: Daniel says he hopes the Seine clean-up encourages other cities to make their rivers safe enough for swimming.

Daniel:  I grew up in New York and I always thought it would be cool to go swimming in the Hudson River and was always told, no, it’s too dirty. And I thought that was very strange, because I have access to parks, to the streets, and it’s just sort of another natural environment that’s accessible as something you can enjoy.

Nienke: I agree. I think it changes your relationship to the city. I think both Dan and I have been in, in cities abroad where if there’s a river we’re, we start asking people, oh, where can I go and swim? And then when the answer is like, you absolutely can’t, that would be dangerous, that’s a very depressing and strange realization, that there’s parts of the city that are so prominent, like the Seine, it’s right there, you see it all the time, I think being able to access it makes you more connected to the city and its resources.

Megan Hall: So far, the swimming program at the Seine has been a success, so much so that the mayor extended the season to the middle of September.

But if you can’t make it to Paris, there are cities in the US that have made these transformations too. Similar efforts to store sewage have made Narragansett Bay here in our home state of Rhode Island much cleaner. In fact, everywhere these kinds of improvements are made, it’s transformed water that was once filthy and dangerous.

That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, at askpossibly.org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Bluesky at  “askpossibly”

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and The Public’s Radio.

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If you’ve been outside on a smoggy day, you’ve probably noticed that your body reacts poorly to bad air quality. Maybe you coughed, or got a headache. But what actually happens to your body when you breathe in polluted air?

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

If you’ve been outside on a smoggy day, you’ve probably noticed that your body reacts poorly to bad air quality. Maybe you start coughing, or your head starts hurting. But what’s actually happening to your body as you breathe in that polluted air?

We had Andrea Li and Rachel Chae from our Possibly Team look into this.

Andrea Li: Hi!

Rachel Chae: Hey Megan!

Megan Hall: Before we talk about how air pollution affects our bodies, let’s take a step back. What do we really mean by polluted air?

Andrea Li: So there are six main types of air pollution which can be harmful to public health and the environment. Some you’re probably heard of, like lead and carbon monoxide.

Rachel Chae: But today we’re going to talk about a sort of catch-all air pollutant on the list: particulate matter.

Andrea Li: As the name sort of implies, particulate matter, is not a single type of chemical, but rather pollution made up of a whole host of things floating in the air as tiny particles.

Rachel Chae: If your throat has ever felt scratchy when there’s a wildfire nearby, you’ve probably inhaled these particles. But these particles can also come from lots of other sources. They’re…

Allan Just: released from exhaust from traffic… Emissions from large industrial sources, like coal fire power plants… It’s a mixture that comes from many different sources. 2:51

Rachel Chae: That’s Professor Allan Just. He’s an associate professor of epidemiology and Environment and Society at Brown University.

Megan Hall: Got it. So how does this type of air pollution affect us?

Andrea Li: Even though this air pollution is made up of tiny particles, it actually has a big impact on our health. Because the particles are so tiny, they…

Allan Just: get deep, deep into the lungs and get transmitted into the bloodstream and impact lots of different health endpoints in the human body. It has a long established negative impact on human health.

Andrea Li: For instance, it can worsen conditions like asthma.

Rachel Chae: Yup. It can also cause strokes and heart attacks. For example, high levels of air pollution in Mexico City have been linked to deaths from strokes. But did you know that air pollution can also alter how our brains function?

Allan Just: Our ability to perform work with our brain is negatively affected both by long term exposure to air pollution and even short term.

Rachel Chae: A recent study found that chess players performed better when they were breathing cleaner air.

Andrea Li: Another study found that people did better on standardized tests when they breathed in clean air instead of air with particulate matter.

Megan Hall: Ok. Let me get this straight. When we breathe in air pollutants, they can go into our bloodstream. Once they’re in our blood, they can hurt our heart health and even our brains.

Andrea Li: That’s right.

Megan Hall: Wow. What can we do to protect ourselves?

Rachel Chae: According to Just:

Allan Just: It’s hard for individuals to do as much about emissions, but they can try to avoid adding additional air pollution in their homes, particularly when there’s poor air quality outside.

Andrea Li: For instance, burning candles inside can create particulate matter, although the research is still out about how much of an impact they might have on your health. HEPA air filters are also another way to improve indoor air quality.

Rachel Chae: We can also check weather apps that show the air quality index in our area to stay informed.

Andrea Li: And mask up or stay indoors if those levels are unhealthy. Ultimately, though, it’s up to the government to regulate air pollution from large sources like the coal industry or even wildfires.

Rachel Chae: The good news is— that  it’s very doable to reduce particulate matter. Laws like the Clean Air Act in the US have dramatically improved air quality.

Andrea Li: Plus, cities that are reducing fossil fuel use and opting for clean energy are already seeing big improvements.

Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, Andrea and Rachel!

That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, at askpossibly.org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or Bluesky at  “askpossibly”

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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