EARTH DAY SPECIAL – Cats for Climate Change, Snake Farms, and Wildfires 

Welcome to Season 2 of Fahrenheit 140! We are kicking off this season with a bang by bringing you with us to celebrate Earth Day 2024! Join us for engaging conversations with a few of our key partners, including BlueTriton Brands and the Texas State University Office of Sustainability alongside our very own Deputy Director of Spring Lake Education, Miranda Wait – all recorded live at the 11th Annual Earth Day San Marcos Festival! Get an inside look at their current and future climate resilience projects and get tips on what daily choices we can all make to bring the spirit of Earth Day to every day.

In this episode, our co-hosts bring you the latest climate news covering several topics:

• Warming temperatures mean a prolonged kitten season – giving you a purr-fect excuse to adopt another cat. (02:05)

• Insurance companies are pulling out of states due to unpredictable and more severe weather – learn how this could affect you in Texas (05:39)

• Learn how Border, a town in Texas, was saved from the recent historic Smokehouse Creek wildfire by fighting fire with fire – how controlled burns may be an important adaptation in the face of severe drought (08:27)

• Snake Farms: Could Burmese pythons be the climate-friendly alternative to cattle ranching? (10:43)

Interviews with our esteemed partners, BlueTriton Brands and the Office of Sustainability, along with the Deputy Director of Spring Lake Education, Miranda Wait unpack:

• From apprehension to excitement, how views on climate education may be shifting with the rise of mindfulness and outdoor recreation (20:32)
• From “drop to drink” the sustainability and stewardship practices of BlueTriton Brands and the “Every Drop Counts” scholarship (26:37)
• How to protect the sensitive areas around Texas State University campus (35:10)

Robert Mace ties it all in a bow by reading Flower Song, a beautiful poem by Francisco X. Alarcón, a Chicano poet and educator. (40:33)

Episode Links and Resources:

• Kitten season is out of control. Are warmer winters to blame? (Grist)
• Climate change is fueling the US insurance problem (BBC)

• Texas Map Shows Where State Will Become Underwater From Sea Level Rise (News Week)
• As climate change intensifies wildfire risk, prescribed burns prove their worth in the heat-stressed Panhandle (Texas Tribune)
• Pythons are eating the Everglades. Could eating them instead help fight climate change? (Miami Herald)

• Our History (EarthDay.org)

• Carl B. Stokes and the 1969 River Fire (National Park Service)

• Flower Song / Flor y Canto / In Xochitl In Cuicatl (poets.org)

Learn more about our partners:

• BlueTriton Brands

• Texas State University Office of Sustainability

Theme song:

Syzygy by Robert E. Mace

Songs Used:

• Snake Farm by Wylie Hubbard

• White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane

We would like to thank pixabay.com for providing our sound effects, and Desiree Jackson for gathering candid interviews with Earth Day enthusiasts.

For more information about the Meadows Center, visit meadowscenter.txst.edu.