Ice recedes, Ice grows

This week, we are looking at a world of stark contradictions. We begin in the Arctic, where a record-breaking year of heat is forcing scientists to ask if “winter” as we know it is disappearing forever. Yet, thousands of miles away in the Pamir Mountains, a mysterious anomaly offers a strange glimmer of hope: glaciers that are refusing to melt - and are actually growing. We then travel to South Africa, where the quest for clean energy is clashing with conservation, as a proposed nuclear site threatens one of the last strongholds of the African Penguin. But it’s not all grim news. We explore how Artificial Intelligence is shedding its bad reputation in the environmental sector by saving elephants from train collisions and mitigating human-wildlife conflict in India. Finally, we ask a difficult question about our role as “guardians” of nature: Why do we spend millions flying tiny snails on commercial planes to save them from extinction, while simultaneously releasing armies of crayfish and weevils to wage war on invasive plants? From pink platypuses to plants that can “count,” join us as we navigate the messy, beautiful, and complex efforts to keep our planet wild.