# Scientists Mapped Earth's Vast Fungal Network - And It's Critical For The Climate

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-world-the-universe-and-us-601524/scientists-mapped-earth-s-vast-fungal-network-and-it-s-critical-for-the-climate
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-world-the-universe-and-us-601524/scientists-mapped-earth-s-vast-fungal-network-and-it-s-critical-for-the-climate.md
Podcast: [The World, the Universe and Us](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-world-the-universe-and-us-601524)
Published: 2026-06-12T13:54:00+00:00
Episode link: https://tracking.swap.fm/track/YfZO4tERxneauNcW9Fgn/mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML2859272913.mp3
Audio file: https://tracking.swap.fm/track/YfZO4tERxneauNcW9Fgn/mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML2859272913.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-world-the-universe-and-us-601524/episodes/scientists-mapped-earth-s-vast-fungal-network-and-it-s-critical-for-the-climate
Duration seconds: 1576

## Resource

Episode 376 For the first time, scientists have mapped Earth’s vast underground fungal network - and it’s bigger than anyone imagined. Beneath our feet, plants and fungi have a hidden symbiotic relationship, sharing nutrients through fine fungal threads called hyphae. With these new global maps, we’re now starting to understand just how important the mycorrhizal network is in keeping the Earth’s climate stable - including the extent of the carbon it draws down. But the ecosystems where these networks exist are being stripped back for agriculture and damaged by fungicides - so how can we protect them? To explore this topic, Rowan Hooper is joined by some of the researchers behind the project - Toby Kiers, Tom Shimizu and Merlin Sheldrake. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Find out more about SPUN, the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks: https://www.spun.earth/ See the Mycorrhizal Infrastructure Map: https://a-hidden-infrastructure.spun.earth Read Rowan’s symbiosis book ‘Togetherness’: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/459006/togetherness-by-hooper-rowan/9781911717140 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-world-the-universe-and-us-601524/episodes/scientists-mapped-earth-s-vast-fungal-network-and-it-s-critical-for-the-climate/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-world-the-universe-and-us-601524/scientists-mapped-earth-s-vast-fungal-network-and-it-s-critical-for-the-climate.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.