Air Gets Worse, NOAA Climate Science Cuts, Parrot Brains and Our Own and more.

The latest “State of the Air” report by the American Lung Association finds that nearly half of people living in the U.S. breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution. Soot and smog are on the rise in part because climate change is bringing more wildfires and ozone-forming conditions. Also, a key climate modeling program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA is slated for near-elimination, according to a draft White House memo. That could have consequences for weather forecasting, disaster preparedness, agriculture, military operations and more. Plus - parakeets have astounding vocal abilities and are able to mimic as many as 1700 human words. And their brains may provide insight into how we humans talk. In a recent study, researchers found human-like neural activity during vocalization. They hope this research may help shed light on communication disorders in humans such as autism. ***Join us on Zoom Thursday, May 8 at 8 p.m. Eastern for the next Living on Earth Book Club event! Catherine Coleman Flowers, author of Holy Ground, will talk with Host Steve Curwood about activism, environmental justice, and finding hope. Learn more and register at loe.org/events.***