Vanishing insects / Blooming jellyfish

Guests: Scott Black, Juli Berwald

If you’ve noticed that bugs aren’t splattering on your windshield like they used to, you are not imagining things. It’s a symptom of a vanishing insect population, the consequences of which could be dire. SCOTT BLACK, executive director of the Xerces Society joins us to tell us about the decline and how less bugs will affect our environment. Then, if you’ve never been in awe of jellyfish, science writer JULI BERWALD might convert you. These rubbery, slimy, sometimes venomous creatures are beautiful and remarkably complex, despite being 95% water. Berwald writes about the diversity of jellyfish, her adventures with them, and the impact climate change is having on their populations in her new book, Spineless: the Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone.