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How to Save a Planet

Are The Coral Reefs Really Doomed?

How to Save a Planet

Gimlet

Science, News, Society & Culture

4.81.6K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2022

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You’ve probably heard of coral bleaching; if you live near a coral reef, maybe you’ve even seen the impacts of climate change on that reef up close. But what — if anything — can we do to keep coral alive? This week, we talk to Julia Baum, a marine ecologist who’s made the unlikely journey from climate despair to climate optimism… and ask her what finally changed her mind about the future of coral reefs. Also: we're planning a special Earth Day episode, and we'd love to hear about the actions YOU'VE taken in response to climate change. Did you plant a tree? Call your representative? Investigate the refrigerants used at a grocery store near you? We want to hear about it! Fill out this form and send us a voice memo about what you did... you might hear your own voice featured on the show! Guests: Dr. Julia Baum, Dr. Dave Vaughan Dr. Dave Vaughan’s book, Active Coral Restoration: Techniques for a Changing Planet Dr. Julia Baum’s study about how she saw corals survive the massive marine heat wave on Christmas How to Save a Planet is a Spotify original podcast and Gimlet production hosted by Alex Blumberg. This episode was produced and co-hosted by Hannah Chinn. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz, Anna Ladd, and Daniel Ackerman. Our supervising producer is Katelyn Bogucki. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Our intern is Nicole Welch. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard, with original music by Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, Catherine Anderson, Bobby Lord, and Marcus Bagala. Our fact checker for this episode is James Gaines. Special thanks to Kelson Poepoe and Julia’s team at the University of Victoria. And of course, thanks to all of you for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to How To Save a Planet.

0:04.1

I'm Alex Bloomberg, and this is the show where we talk about what we need to do to address

0:07.4

climate change and how to make those things happen.

0:09.7

Hey everyone, so today on the show, I'm really excited to bring you this episode.

0:28.9

We're talking to a scientist named Julia Baum, and we're talking to her for several reasons,

0:33.1

but first and foremost, because she's gone through a pretty interesting climate evolution,

0:40.0

an evolution that has taken her to a somewhat unexpected place, especially when you consider

0:45.0

where she started.

0:46.8

Her story is one of pain, hope, and coral sex, because coral is what Julia studies.

0:52.8

So today on the episode, we're talking to her about coral, about her personal story,

0:58.7

and of course, about climate change.

1:01.7

And I'm joined on today's episode by How To Save a Planet producer, Hannah Chinn.

1:06.1

Hannah.

1:07.1

Hi, Alex.

1:08.1

Hannah, you and I talked to Julia together.

1:10.3

Right.

1:11.3

She's a professor of marine ecology at the University of Victoria in Canada.

1:16.4

And because she studies coral, her office is one of the most pristine coral reefs in

1:22.0

the world.

1:23.0

I work on Christmas Island, which is smack dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

1:30.6

The beauty of Christmas is that it's this huge atoll, and all of the people who live on

1:36.1

it live in this very concentrated pocket on the northwest coast.

...

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