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  2009-2010 Baltimore Speaker Series Presented by Stevenson University and Sponsored by WYPR and St. John Properties |
The Environment in Focus with Tom Pelton
The women of the island town of Tylerton in the Chesapeake Bay sing gospel hymns as they pick the crabs caught by their husbands and sons. Their music sounds timeless, and visitors might imagine pickers in the fishing community singing work songs like this since the English landed here in 1638. But actually, the tradition of the island women getting together every evening at 5 p.m. to pick and sing only dates back 14 years to -- of all things -- a government sting operation. After Maryland health officials cracked down on a lack of licenses among pickers, the women of Tylerton teamed up to form the Smith Island Crabmeat Co-Op. It is now a successful business that sells crab meat to mainland stores. The workers sing to ease the monotony of the repetitive labor and raise their spirits.  July 8: Vibrio Bacteria in the Chesapeake Bay Mark Allen, a fourth generation waterman from Hague, Virginia, was nearly killed when a salt-water bacteria called Vibrio seeped into a cut on his leg and then entered his bloodstream. The number of reported infections from this potentially deadly disease have more than doubled in Virginia and Maryland over the last decade. And a leading scientist, Dr. Rita Colwell, believes the rise in Vibrio illnesses in the Chesapeake Bay region is being caused by a combination of global warming and nutrient pollution. June 24: Zebra Mussels
Zebra mussels, an invasive species of shellfish native to Russia, recently began appearing in Maryland for the first time. Some scientists worry that these fingernail sized bivalves could spread from the Conowingo Dam area on the Susquehanna River across the state and the entire South. In the Midwest, zebra mussels have caused an estimated $5 billion in damage to water treatement plants and utilities. But, their impact is not all negative -- they seem to improve water clarity, even while causing algae blooms and other ecological imbalances. Three biologists set out on the Choptank River on Maryland's Eastern Shore with high-tech electric shock equipment to find and catch an increasingly rare fish: American shad. These migratory fish rebounded in 1990s after nearly being wiped out in the 19th century -- but now their numbers are dropping again. Some scientists believe this protected species is disappearing into the nets of large ocean trawlers in the Atlantic.
May 13: Mollusk Math
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted a roughly five year, $15 million study that concluded that allowing farmers to grow chemically-altered Asian oysters in the Chesapeake Bay would present little risk. But a little-known oyster gardener and math whiz named Jay Rodgers read through the 1,400 page draft report -- and discovered it was a million times wrong. Literally. After the scientists corrected major math errors in the study discovered by Rodgers, the Army Corps decided not to allow the Asian oysters. April 29: The Bubble City Scientist Pat Megonigal has been growing marsh grasses inside a small city of plastic bubbles in a wetlands south of Annapolis. He pumps in twice the normal amount of carbon dioxide to simulate what the Earth's atmosphere will be like in the year 2100. And what he's found is that plants will grow about a third faster with all that greenhouse gas pollution. Paradoxically, the carbon dioxide could help protect the marsh from another effect of climate change: rising sea levels. April 15: Salamander Spring
Amphibians such as spotted salamanders are in decline around the world. But they're multiplying in unprecedented numbers this spring in a pond in a wooded corner of a Baltimore County park. Dr. Joel Snodgrass, a herpetologist at Towson University, reveals the amazing proliferation of amphibian life in an unlikely-looking place: in a mud puddle atop a natural gas pipeline in Oregon Ridge Park. Last year in Maryland, the United Steelworkers Union played a leading role in defeating an ambitious bill aimed at cutting global warming pollution from the state by 90 percent by 2050. This year, the blue collars formed an alliance with green collars in the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and other environmental groups. And together they won approval of a more moderate measure aimed at reducing greenhouse gases by 25 percent by 2020, although the manufacturing sector is exempt. Envirnomentalists see the passage of the law as a good step forward, and a team-building opportunity for the more important battle in Congress for federal climate change legislation. March 18: The Concrete Jungle and Smart Growth In the sprawling southern Maryland community of Waldorf, there are no sidewalks and few homes or trees near all the strip malls. But instead of concentrating future home construction next to this retail, Charles County is building a highway to help developers build more than 1,100 homes in a wooded area more than three miles away. All the construction threatens to pollute a fragile stream called Mattawoman Creek, one of the most fertile fish breeding grounds in the Chesapeake Bay region. Destructive development patterns like this inspired Maryland lawmakers to propose bills that would strengthen a toothless state law passed in 1997 to curb suburban sprawl, called the Smart Growth act. March 4: Deadly Gift of the Fishing Bird Segment originally aired Osprey populations recovered after the federal government banned the pesticide DDT. But now fish hawks are facing a new threat in their perverse habit of giving gifts of fishing line, balloon ribbons and junk to their offspring instead of food.
Feb. 19: The Great Vanishing
Few people know it, but five years ago almost 80 percent of all the razor clams in Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay disappeared all at once. That followed a die-off of the other large clam species in the northern section of the Bay, shoftshell clams. One person who did notice was clam dredger Andrew Wright of Kent Island, who suddenly lost his livelihood and had to sell his house. Scientists are investigating, and believe that a disease, called DN Disease, and a parasite, Perkinsus, are to blame -- but they don't know where they came from, or what causes DN Disease. The results for the Bay are obvious. Fewer clams means fewer filter-feeders cleaning the estaury's waters, and fewer blue crabs, tundra swans and fish like black drum that eat mollusks. One bright note is that in the salty southern Bay, a third species of clam -- hard clams -- appears to be resistant to these diseases, and is being successfully farmed by watermen.
Feb. 4: The Fading Call of the Tundra Swan
Every winter for thousands of years, dazzlingly white tundra swans have migrated thousands of miles south from Alaska to winter in the relative warmth of the Chesapeake Bay. But the number of these majestic birds visiting the Land of Pleasant Living has fallen by a third over the last 35 years, as pollution and disease have killed the underwater grasses and soft clams they eat. Because of suburban sprawl and runoff pollution, more and more swans are bypassing the Chesapeake region and wintering instead in North Carolina -- depriving Maryland's Eastern Shore of some of its most distinctive winter sights and sounds.
Jan. 21: Budget Cuts and the Environment The recession has hit Maryland hard, and Governor Martin O'Malley is considering layoffs to hundreds of state workers. As he considers ways to close the nearly $2 billion budget shortfall, O'Malley has pledged not to take money from a state program that buys up and preserves open space for parks, playgrounds and wilderness areas. But another environmental program, to reduce runoff pollution into the Chesapeake Bay, is more vulnerable to cuts -- which could lead to worse water quality in the nation's largest estuary.
Jan. 7: Algae Farming Some people see algae as, well, pond scum. But researchers Walter Adey of the Smithsonian Institution and Pat Kangas of the University of Maryland see something very attractive in slime. They are growing an algae farm on the banks of the Susquehanna River in southern Pennsylvania. The brown hair-like plants they cultivate in long troughs of water absorb nutrient pollution from the river. And colleagues of Adey and Kangas distill the algae into butanol, a form of fuel that can be burned in cars. Adey sees the future in this simple plant, which made life on Earth possible in the first place. He envisions vast algae plantations beside many of the world's large rivers, absorbing pollution and acting like giant clean water factories. Dec. 24: The Great Owl Mystery Segment originally aired Sept. 3 Barred owls, known for inhabiting large trees in remote old-growth forests, have made their presence known in the city of Baltimore recently. Their odd monkey-like barking and screaming in the Evergreen neighborhood suggested a mystery: What are these creatures doing here? And what are they saying to each other with those bizarre calls? 
Dec. 10: Are Christmas Trees Green? As the Holidays approach, some people wonder whether it is better for the environment to re-use artificial Christmas trees or cut down natural trees. Tom ponders this question at a Toys R Us, where many customers prefer artificial trees. And he visits a local Christmas tree farm, Friendship Trees in Anne Arundel County, which encourages customers to buy not only natural trees but living pines that people can plant in their yards after the holiday. He concludes that natural trees are better because tree farms help local air and water quality, and keep land out of the hands of real-estate developers. Nov. 26: The Green Bishop
The right Rev. Eugene Sutton is the first African American bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. But he wants to be known not as the black bishop, but as the "green bishop," because he wants his followers to conserve energy and reduce their carbon footprints. His advocacy is part of a trend of more religious leaders becoming involved in environmental issues in recent years -- as growing evidence of global warming has made it clear that "loving thy neighbor" requires regulating pollution. Nov. 12: Journey Across a Sinking Land Nowhere in the Mid-Atlantic is flooding from sea level rise more dramatic than at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on Maryland's eastern shore. Tom takes a three-day kayak trip across the maze-like, 27,000 acre wilderness to see sunken forests, flooded farmland, lakes swallowing marsh grass, and an invasion of salt water into the freshwater system of the Blackwater River. The salt disrupts the spawning of fish like bass that need freshwater to reproduce. And it kills plants like wild rice that are an important food for migrating geese, ducks and tundra swans.
Oct. 29: Plowing the Waves
Wild Chesapeake Bay oysters have nearly been wiped out by disease and overharvesting. But a growing number of oyster farmers -- including Doug McMinn of the Chesapeake Oyster Company -- are trying to bring back the region's seafood industry by raising a version of the native Chesapeake oyster with chromosomes that have been manipulated by scientists. These "triploid" oysters grow extra fast and plump and are resistant to disease. McMinn raises millions of them in cages in the Rappahannock River. And he thinks aquaculture of native oysters like this is better than an alternative being studied by Maryland and Virginia: introducing an Asian species of oyster.
Oct. 15: Crab Blues Because of falling blue crab populations, the Chesapeake Bay states are banning the catching of females later this month. Virginia for the first time will prohibit dredging for crabs over the winter, and this will put watermen like Dennis Dalheim out of work. Scientists, however, say the actions are necessary because populations of breeding-age females have plummeted. But the new restrictions don't address the more basic pollution problems that are hurting the Bay's ability to support crabs.
Oct. 1: The Pelican's Strange Journey How global warming cleared an island in the Chesapeake Bay of humans -- and allowed a Florida fishing bird to move in. Sept. 17: Reading The Stream
Environmental education programs like the Carroll County Outdoor School in Maryland started up across the nation in the 1970's. But over the last seven years, many have been eliminated or cut back because of the time demands of standardized testing required by the 2001 federal No Child Left Behind Act. Now a new bill, called the No Child Left Inside Act, aims to restore and expand ecology classes. We visit Carroll County's educational program, and explore how it expands the horizons of one child who watches six hours of television a day -- and has never set foot in a stream. Barred owls, known for inhabiting large trees in remote old-growth forests, have made their presence known in the city of Baltimore recently. Their odd monkey-like barking and screaming in the Evergreen neighborhood suggested a mystery: What are these creatures doing here? And what are they saying to each other with those bizarre calls? Osprey populations recovered after the federal government banned the pesticide DDT. But now fish hawks are facing a new threat in their perverse habit of giving gifts of fishing line, balloon ribbons and junk to their offspring instead of food. August 6th: SUV's in Paradise
At least 5,000 SUV and pickup truck drivers go off-roading down the beaches at Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland every year. The practice is increasingly criticized by environmentalists as harmful to crabs, birds and rare plants. But sportsmens' groups are lobbying the National Park Service to boost the number of vehicles allowed on the beach. They argue the public deserves more access to public lands. The bigger question is: Do Americans need machines to enjoy nature? Every aspect of the world's farming system is dependent on oil, from petroleum based fertilizers to diesel trucks and tractors. A growing number of scholars warn that the world oil production is now at or past its peak and will soon start falling. This could trigger a global food crisis that could cause the starvation of millions of people. July 9th: Ship Graveyard
Story originally aired March 19th, 2008 In the murky waters of Curtis Bay and the Patapsco River in far south Baltimore, a watery graveyard holds the remains of ships and wartime scrap - some of which dates back to Civil War times. Tom shares an audio diary of his last trip to Baltimore's ship graveyard, and how civilization is beginning to reclaim parts of this decaying landscape. June 25th: The Rebirth of a Stream Stony Creek in Baltimore used to be an ordinary, lifeless urban stream until a $5 million revitalization effort produced an unexpected explosion in wildlife. The construction of dams and pools in the creek was part of an expensive and controversial national trend toward rebuilding streams in an effort to cope with runoff from parking lost and streets. June 11th: A Billion Pounds of Manure Industrial-style poultry production is one of the biggest businesses on Maryland's Eastern Shore, but it also produces about billion pounds of manure a year. Runoff from this waste is one of the biggest sources of fish-killing pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. The state's environmental agency recently proposed the first regulations for this industry, but critics say the rules are full of holes and too weak to protect either the bay or public health. May 28th - The Rise and Fall of the American Shad American Shad -- a migratory fish so vital as a food in the American colonies that it was called "the founding fish" -- were almost wiped out in the early 20th century, in part by the construction of dams across rivers. But then fish lifts were installed along the Susquehanna River and elsewhere to help shad get over dams so they can swim upstream to their spawning grounds. Shad numbers rebounded impressively during the 1990's. But now some biologists say shad populations are falling again for an ironic reason. Another once-rare fish, striped bass, are now so populous they're eating up the shad. May 14th - Wetlands and Global Warming Maryland is studying the possibility of building vast new wetlands on the Eastern Shore as a way to fight global warming. Marshes absorb carbon dioxide, but new research shows they can also release methylmercury, a toxic pollutant that contaminates fish. April 30th, 2008 - Song of the American Eel Chesapeake Bay watermen such as Irving Chappelear have noticed dwindling numbers of American eels in their traps. Biologists say the disappearance of Anguilla rostrata could be related to global warming, which may be disrupting the ocean currents that eels rely on to carry them from their breeding grounds in the Sargasso Sea to the coast. April 16, 2008 - The Highway In Southern Maryland, Charles County is planning to build a four-lane highway over one of the most fertile fish breeding grounds in the Chesapeake Bay region, Mattawoman Creek. The cross-county connector would serve more than 8,000 new homes planned in the largely forested area. The county hopes the road will bring in money and jobs. But biologists predict the construction will also increase polluted runoff into the stream, killing the fish. And this would change the lives of longtime residents like Lavinia Rollins who have come to depend, both physically and emotionally, on the spring spawning runs. April 2, 2008 - Recession and Rollbacks of Environmental Protections A sluggish economy and rising energy prices have led Maryland lawmakers to tighten the belt on environmental conservation funding and weaken anti-pollution bills. Tom takes a look at some of the green legislation that's getting rolled back by the General Assembly. March 19, 2008 - Ship Graveyard In the murky waters of Curtis Bay and the Patapsco River in far south Baltimore, a watery graveyard holds the remains of ships and wartime scrap - some of which dates back to Civil War times. Tom shares an audio diary of his last trip to Baltimore's ship graveyard, and how civilization is beginning to reclaim parts of this decaying landscape. March 3, 2008 - The End of Fossil Fuels What would a 90% reduction in carbon emissions mean for the state's economy? For its industries? For its citizens? Tom explores a recent debate over the Global Warming Solutions Act, which would decrease the state's carbon emissions by 90 percent over four decades. February 20th, 2008 - The Wide Ride Even during times of record-breaking gas prices, Americans love big cars. This week, Tom takes a look at how federal standards and incentives keep fueling the thirst for bigger machines on the road. February 6th, 2008 - Oyster Wars
About Tom Pelton
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