Earthly 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...

Since the days of George Washington, the United States has been surveying farmers about their farm operations to monitor the health of the nation’s agricultural industry and the security of the food supply.The effort started in 1791, when Washington wrote to farmers requesting information on land values, crop acreages, crop yields, livestock values and taxes. Washington’s survey extended 250 miles north and south, and 100 miles east and west of his home in Mount Vernon, which today would enco...

The world's population has quadrupled in the last century and is expected to surpass 8 billion by 2050. This means that in the next 25 years or so, the world will need to produce about 60% more food to feed its estimated population.Furthermore, we’ll need to produce that food sustainably in unseasonable temperatures, drought and flood conditions, all while fighting disease and pests, and on less land.Jonathan talks to Clemson plant geneticist Rick Boyles on this episode of Earthly.Boyles is o...

Humans have forever turned to nature for artistic inspiration. The earliest cave paintings are at least 64,000 years old and depict images of wild animals, landscapes, and even the heavens. More recently, photographer Ansel Adams, poet Wendell Berry, sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, and movie director Werner Herzog have all produced great art by musing on the material world.Jonathan's guest on Earthly, continues in that tradition. Todd Anderson collaborates with scientists and travels to some of th...

Every 13 years in the Southeast and parts of the Midwest, countless cicadas rise out of the ground and breed. The spring and summer of 2024 marks the thirteenth year since the cicada brood known as brood XIX’s last emergence, which means in a few months they’ll be everywhere.Jonathan talks with Clemson University entomologist Eric Benson about the fascinating lifecycle of what are called “periodical cicadas.”Benson is going to tell us what we learned about brood XIX when it emerged in 2011, w...

Retirees and warm-weather seekers aren’t the only ones clamoring to move to the state of South Carolina. The Palmetto State is also under extreme pressure from invasive insects and plants that could devastate its agriculture industry and forests. In fact, a recent global report estimates that invasive species cause countries $423 billion a year in damage to crops, water, forests, wildlife, and more.In this episode of Earthly, Jonathan talks to Steven Long about South Carolina’s fight against ...