Vi slösar bort ett av livets viktigaste ämnen.

Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radios app.

Utan fosfor kan vi inte odla mat som räcker till hela världens befolkning – men använder vi för mycket förstör vi våra vattendrag. Hur har fosfor format världen? Hur riskerar vår överanvändning att förstöra den? Och vad händer om detta livsnödvändiga ämne tar slut?

Medverkande

• Genevieve Metson - docent i geografi och miljö vid Western University

• Jack Lohmann - författare till boken ”White Light”

• Faruk Djodjic - docent vid institutionen för vatten och miljö vid SLU

Böcker

• ”White Light: The elemental role of phosphorus - in our cells, in our food and in our world” av Jack Lohmann (2025)

• ”The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a world out of balance” av Dan Egan (2025)

Artiklar och klipp

• Planet Ooze - Jonathan Mingle (NYROB, 2025)

• Where the Power Is - James Vincent (LRB, 2025)

• Humanity Is Flushing Away One of Life’s Essential Elements - Julia Rosen (The Atlantic, 2021)

• Cats, Commerce, and Cemeteries: The Mummified Felines of Beni Hasan - Chris Elliott (The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 2023)

• Widespread global increase in intense lake phytoplankton blooms since the 1980s - Jeff C. Ho, Anna M. Michalak & Nima Pahlevan (Nature, 2019)

• Ancient South American Civilizations Bloomed in the Desert Thanks to Seabird Poop - Brian Handwerk (Smithsonian, 2021)

• Nauru deportation deal set to cost Australia $2.5 billion over 30 years - Maani Truu (ABC, 2025)

• Leaked Nauru Files Show Horrors of Australia’s Refugee Detention System - Michael Garcia Bochenek (HRW, 2016)

• “I have seen so many funerals for such a small island”: The astonishing story of Nauru, the tiny island nation with the world’s highest rates of type 2 diabetes (Diabetes.co.uk)

• ‘It’s getting worse’: US failing to stem tide of harmful farm pollutants -  Keith Schneider (Investigative Midwest, 2024)

• Allvarlig syresituation i Östersjön (SMHI, 2025)

• Phosphorus Depletion Is An Investment Opportunity - Suwanna Gauntlett Upjohn (Forbes, 2025)

• Norge kan bli en global ledare inom fosfatutvinning (RISE, 2025)

• Toledo Water Emergency: City's Water Contaminated By Toxins (ABC News, 2014)

• Hundreds of Thousands Without Water In Toledo, Ohio (ABC News, 2014)

• Harmful Algal Blooms and Health (CDC, 2024)

• Revisiting Stuart How the toxic algae crisis has affected the city (The Everglades Foundation, 2018)

• John's World: Did Norwegians Just Strike Fertilizer Gold? (Farm Journal, 2023)

• Five Rivers Feedyard (2025)

• Red tide levels in Tampa Bay at their worst in decades (10 Tampa Bay, 2021)

• Red tide and algae: How water from Piney Point's phosphate retention pond could impact Tampa Bay (WFLA News Channel 8, 2021)

• Toxic Florida wastewater reservoir on verge of collapse (CNN, 2021)

• Catastrophic failure possible at Piney Point phosphogypsum plant (FOX 13 Tampa Bay, 2021)

Musik

• Matt McGinley - Fool's Paradise

• Cristobal Tapia De Veer - The Public

• Cliff Martinez - The Birds Are Doing That

• Cristobal Tapia De Veer - Estranged

• Cliff Martinez - I Can't Dig Her Out

• Helios - Even Today

• Cristobal Tapia De Veer - Buon Giorno

• Michael Andrews - Peter And Sylvie

• Cliff Martinez - I Got Time

• Matt McGinley - 91 Shadow

• Kim Neundorf - Lacero Espressivo

• Paul Leonard Morgan - Odd

• Allison Leyton Brown - Featherweight

• Marcus Bagala - Frets: Problem After Problem

• Marcus Bagala - Boxes: Autumnal Moping

• Cliff Martinez - Will She Come Back?

• Cliff Martinez - I'm In The Pink

• Colin Stetson - Mothers And Daughters

• Clint Mansell - Finish It (feat: Kronos Quartet)

• Matt McGinley - Fool's Paradise

• Marcus Bagala - Cascading Bells

• Marcus Bagala - Cascading Bells Too

• Marcus Bagala - Wires: Tangerines

• Marcus Bagala - Untitledthingthing

• Podington Bear - Dry Air

• Ben Salisbury - Plainsong

• Michael McCann - Home

• Vince Pope - Who Are You

• Cliff Martinez - Speight Lived Here

• Phillip Glass & Paul Leonard Morgan - Running To The Loop

• Jon Brion - Cubes

• Podington Bear - Vibe Drive

• Cliff Martinez - Not Leaving This Circus

• Matt McGinley - 91 Shadow

• Cliff Martinez - The Birds Are Doing That

• Vince Pope - Starting Over

• Sidney Gish - I Eat Salads Now