“Leaves are green to begin with because they make chlorophyll, and what chlorophyll does is it turns CO2 into the oxygen that we love and the sugar that they need to survive. Once the days start getting shorter and the temperatures start to cool down, they stop that chlorophyll production. And what happens is then that green pigment breaks down, and the oranges and yellows that have been there the whole time – we can actually see them.” - Stephanie Spera
This week on Living Lab Radio:
- Geographer Stephanie Spera of University of Richmond explains how your old leaf-peeping photos could help her piece together the economic impacts of climate change in New England. And, by old, we’re talking pre-2000. She’ll take your selfie from last year, but she’d love a copy of your grandparents’ photos.
- Climate Central’s CEO Ben Strauss deconstructs a new estimate of how many people live in areas that could be submerged by rising sea level in coming decades. Changing the way ground level was calculated tripled that number.
- Science and nature photographer Chris Linder has documented the sometimes dramatic – and sometimes invisible – ways that climate change is altering the Arctic, as well as the college students taking up the mantle of climate science.
- Danielle Wood of MIT combines her passions for rocket science and economic development, and says space technology could boost sustainability and justice here on Earth.
