According to recent reports, South Carolina is home to seven of the top twenty most hurricane-vulnerable counties. In order of vulnerability, they include Charleston, Horry, Beaufort, Berkeley and Dorchester counties, with Charleston and Horry counties ranking third and fourth nationally, respectively.

There are many factors that go into hurricane frequency and strength. They include ocean temperature, atmospheric temperature, air moisture, and wind speed and direction. Other factors are the El Nino Southern Oscillation, known as ENSO, and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, known as AMO.

Today on Earthly, Jonathan interviews Prakash Khedun. Khedun is a Clemson University climate resilience specialist.

He is going to prime us for hurricane season by helping us better understand some of the weather elements that influence the frequency and power of these storms.

Show Notes

ENSO Resources
AMO Explaination
SC Water Resources Center

For show notes and additonal resources, visit https://blogs.clemson.edu/earthly/.

Earthly is hosted and produced by Clemson University.

There's an old campfire song where a bear goes over the mountain to see what he could see. Well, lately, there are a lot of media reports about a lot of bears going over a lot of mountains, and what they're seeing is tract houses, hot tubs and minivans. Today on Earthly, I talk with Clemson associate professor Shari Rodriguez about why these bears are moving into the suburbs. Here's a hint: It's not to join the homeowners association.

Rodriguez researches the human dimensions of wildlife conservation and management, and that includes human wildlife interactions and conflicts. She's also going to help us think through the human attitudes towards our encounters with animals that can kill us. And we're going to spend some time trying to understand the trend of humans risking life and limb to get close to dangerous animals in national parks. What seems like pure lunacy might be something more.

Show Notes

South Carolina State Wildlife Action Plan
All About E.O. Wilson
SCDNR Bear website
Bear sightings rise in Greenville

For show notes and additonal resources, visit https://blogs.clemson.edu/earthly/.

Earthly is hosted and produced by Clemson University.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced new drinking water limits on a category of chemicals called polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

These chemicals are found in thousands of products that we use every day, such as plastics, Teflon, water proofing, fire retardant and others.

But they are also known as “forever chemicals” because they accumulate rather than breakdown in the environment and human body, and can cause health problems such as cancer, liver damage, low birth weight and birth defects.

A recent report by USA Today showed that 608 water systems across the country have detected PFAS, including some in South Carolina. Another report in the Charleston Post & Courier said freshwater fishermen are being warned to reduce their fish consumption because of PFAS.

In this episode of Earthly, Jonathan talks with Clemson environmental engineering associate professor Ezra Cates about PFAS and their impacts. Cates will also tell us about some innovative techniques and technologies his lab is developing to treat drinking water tainted with PFAS.

Show Notes

The Cates Lab
Hundreds of water systems exceed PFAS limits
New advances at Clemson University could help degrade chemicals in water
Clemson researchers: forever chemicals could be making you fat

For show notes and additonal resources, visit https://blogs.clemson.edu/earthly/.

Earthly is hosted and produced by Clemson University.