Shows / The Climate Question
The Climate Question
Why we find it so hard to save our own planet, and how we might change that.
Episodes
- The Climate Question
Can we have a climate-friendly death?
Funeral rites are steeped in culture, tradition and faith, with most of the world opting for cremation or burial. However, with new research now revealing the…
- The Climate Question
How are Afghans fighting climate change?
Climate change has been tightening its grip on the people of Afghanistan, with flood after flood and drought after drought. It’s considered to be one of the…
- The Climate Question
Climate Change and El Nino: Can we handle both?
Scientists say an El Nino weather event has started. Its effects will be felt everywhere in the form of heavier rainfall in some parts of the world and deeper…
- The Climate Question
What's the cost of fashion to the climate?
The journey from catwalk, to wardrobe, to landfill is getting shorter and shorter. Our demands for fast fashion mean around 100 billion garments are produced…
- The Climate Question
Mia Mottley: helping poorer nations fight climate change
Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, is on a mission to fight climate change through a radical scheme to reform the international financial system. Called…
- The Climate Question
Does climate change mean a future without coffee?
The world loves coffee. We drink two billion cups each day! But it’s very vulnerable to climate change, and millions of coffee farmers are struggling. Rising…
- The Climate Question
How does war affect the climate?
With the Ukrainian counter-offensive underway, Sophie Eastaugh looks at the climate damage caused by the conflict there and by the recent civil war in Tigray…
- The Climate Question
What can I do to help climate change?
This week, we’re off to Costa Rica, an eco-tourism hotspot in collaboration with BBC’s The Travel Show.The Climate Question gets lots of emails from listeners…
- The Climate Question
Is climate change ruining your relationship?
How can you have a successful relationship with someone if you believe passionately in climate action, but they don’t? The fate of our planet can be a…
- The Climate Question
Why are women more affected by climate change?
The impacts of climate change are already being felt around the world. Research shows that some groups are disproportionately affected. Women already face many…
- The Climate Question
Is lab-grown meat better for the planet?
Billions of dollars have been pumped into the promise of a climate-friendly way of producing meat, but is growing a steak in a lab any better for the planet…
- The Climate Question
Can we trust Google’s carbon footprint calculations?
If you are planning a trip, but you want to check the climate impact before choosing how to get there, then beware. Google has been seriously underestimating…
- The Climate Question
Why are 15-minute cities so unpopular?
The idea of cities where everything you need on a daily basis can be reached within a quarter of an hour by foot or bike has grown in popularity in recent…
- The Climate Question
Is there a greener way to rank successful economies?
Many blame our obsession with economic growth as being one of the biggest drivers of climate change. The United Nations is currently looking at options for…
- The Climate Question
How renewable are renewables?
Wind and solar power will play a crucial role in curbing climate change, but what happens to all the worn-out turbines and photovoltaic panels once they are…
- The Climate Question
Could solar farms in space power Earth?
It may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but the idea of assembling giant solar farms in space and then beaming the renewable energy back down to Earth…
- The Climate Question
How did we discover climate change?
In 1856, an American woman called Eunice Newton Foote discovered that higher levels of carbon dioxide would warm the planet. But credit for discovering climate…
- The Climate Question
Can green start-ups lead the way in Africa?
With rolling blackouts and huge waste disposal issues a regular occurrence in large parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, we look at how green tech start-ups offer…
- The Climate Question
Are South Africa’s blackouts a green turning point?
Worsening energy blackouts are crippling South Africa. They’re being caused in part by an over-reliance on ageing coal-fired power stations which can’t produce…
- The Climate Question
Can artificial intelligence help farmers adapt to the effects of climate change?
The effects of climate change on weather patterns around the world, including seasonal temperatures and rainfalls, are being felt keenly in agriculture – with…
- The Climate Question
Can investors change an oil company from within?
Some oil and gas giants are being pushed by shareholders to adopt more climate friendly strategies. An environmental law charity is suing the directors of a…
- The Climate Question
How can we prevent the spread of disease in a warming world?
Our warming world is changing the geographical distribution of several animal species. Mosquitoes have been able to colonise new regions, places where they…
- The Climate Question
Can the ski industry survive climate change?
Record-breaking temperatures in the Alps in Europe have led to a disappointing ski season so far. Some slopes have been more brown than white, while others…
- The Climate Question
Can natural gas ever be green?
Natural gas is often seen as an environmentally friendly alternative to coal, yet it’s a fossil fuel and gives off climate warming emissions when burned. On…
- The Climate Question
How can oceans help us capture carbon?
The ocean covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface and can hold more than 150 times the amount of carbon dioxide as air. Around a quarter of CO2 emissions…
- The Climate Question
How is India doing in the fight against climate change?
India has made a lot of climate pledges in the last couple of years. They’ve had mixed reviews. Some have applauded the country’s ambition – including…
- The Climate Question
Why are we still subsidising fossil fuels?
In 2009, the G20 countries pledged to phase out 'inefficient' fossil fuel subsidies, which have long been seen as an obstacle to fighting climate change. But…
- The Climate Question
Why isn’t the world heating equally?
The Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average temperature. Ice caps are melting, forcing the indigenous Inuit community living around the…
- The Climate Question
How do we stay cool in a warming world?
Heatwaves are already the most deadly of climate risks. If we don’t keep climate change in check, we’ll experience more of them, reaching even higher…
- The Climate Question
Can renewables be used for heating?
Half of all the energy we use globally goes on heating and cooling. We need heating for all sorts of things; from keeping our homes warm to industry which…
- The Climate Question
Can we reduce lives lost from extreme weather?
Extreme weather is becoming even more extreme thanks to climate change. Countless lives are claimed by heatwaves, cold snaps, cyclones, droughts and torrential…
- The Climate Question
How to speak to a climate denier
From climate sceptic to climate campaigner, Sarah Ott grew up in the US surrounded by doubters, listening to out-right deniers. This is the story of what…
- The Climate Question
Was the 2022 World Cup as green as it seemed?
Back in 2010, FIFA announced that the tiny country of Qatar would host the 2022 World Cup. It would be the first Middle Eastern country to do so. The…
- The Climate Question
How much does biodiversity matter to climate change?
The ecosystems of the land and ocean absorb around half our planet warming emissions. But these are being destroyed by human activity. At the same time…
- The Climate Question
Are meat substitutes as green as we think?
What we eat has a massive impact on global warming. Meat and dairy are among the biggest drivers of the climate crisis - creating more planet-warming emissions…
- The Climate Question
Did ‘Africa’s COP’ deliver for Africa?
At the start of COP 27 Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi told the world that it was vital that African countries receive "appropriate support and funding…
- The Climate Question
What does climate change mean for Egypt?
The world has been in Egypt for COP27, the UN’s big climate talks. It’s a country that’s already feeling the acute effects of climate change – temperatures…
- The Climate Question
COP27: Are countries keeping to their climate pledges?
Last year at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, countries made big promises to tackle climate change – by curbing their greenhouse gas emissions and…
- The Climate Question
What role is overpopulation playing in the climate crisis?
If there were fewer of us, would the amount of greenhouse gasses we emit reduce? It’s a question that often creeps up in discussions about climate change…
- The Climate Question
How green is green finance?
We’ve been told that big finance is crucial to the transition to net zero, and billions of dollars are invested in so-called sustainable finance every year…
- The Climate Question
What should Africa do with its fossil fuel reserves?
Africa accounts for around 10 per cent of the world's known fossil-fuel reserves. But plans to build an oil pipeline through East Africa to transport hundreds…
- The Climate Question
Are prizes the best solution for climate change?
We know many of the obstacles in the way of a creating a cleaner planet - making cement green, decarbonising electricity or creating affordable clean…
- The Climate Question
Can climate protests make a difference?
From being glued to diggers to bunking off school, what happens when the public takes climate action into their own hands? Mass protests and demonstrations can…
- The Climate Question
What can we do with nuclear waste?
The race to reduce emissions has more and more nations reaching for the nuclear option. Nuclear power plants are being built around the world, generating…
- The Climate Question
How much can flooding in Pakistan be blamed on climate change?
Floods in Pakistan have destroyed or damaged millions of homes, schools and businesses. So far nearly 1500 people have died and 33 million have been affected…
- The Climate Question
Can animals evolve to deal with climate change?
As climate change brings rising temperatures and shifting patterns of rainfall, animals are adapting to keep pace. Bird’s bodies are growing smaller, their…
- The Climate Question
Does climate change have an ‘image problem’?
Images are a key part of communicating climate change, and shape how we understand the crisis unfolding around us. But while lots of research has been done…
- The Climate Question
What can we learn from fixing the ozone hole?
In 1985 British scientist Jonathan Shanklin and colleagues published a study that shocked the world. The study revealed a hole in the Earth’s atmosphere right…
- The Climate Question
Can we engineer rain to help solve climate change?
From the Aztecs to the Zoroastrians, humans have always prayed for rain. We’ve tried dances, ritual sacrifices and even blowing up the sky to boost rainfall…
- The Climate Question
Why can’t we build more wind farms?
In rural North East Spain, proposals to build hundreds of new wind turbines have sparked opposition and divided communities. And it isn’t only Spain. There has…
- The Climate Question
What do warmer waters mean for life below the waves?
The Ocean, it covers more than 70% of the surface if our planet, it provides us with food, medicine and even influences the weather. For years its also helped…
- The Climate Question
Is Influencer culture bad for the planet?
Shopping online is nothing new but with the rise of influencer culture, livestreaming, and social commerce buying stuff has never been easier. Research…
- The Climate Question
Are there any 'easy fixes' to climate change?
We know from The Climate Question back catalogue, solving climate change is a knotty problem which does not lend itself to quick fixes. But in this programme a…
- The Climate Question
Can flying ever be climate friendly?
Since the 1990s, air flight has made the world a smaller place. In one 24-hour period you can fly to the other end of the globe. In an hour you might be able…
- The Climate Question
Can we feed the world without using chemical fertilisers?
The development of agriculture some 12,000 years ago changed the way humans live. As technologies have developed we’ve become more and more efficient at…
- The Climate Question
How can we get more people on their bikes?
Cycling is healthy, cheap - and as modes of transport go, they don’t come much greener. Worldwide, transport is responsible for nearly a quarter of all carbon…
- The Climate Question
Where have all the mangroves gone?
Along almost every tropical coastline you can find the tangled roots of mangrove trees, a natural barrier against extreme weather. They are also one of the…
- The Climate Question
How can we save the world’s tropical peatland?
Scientists estimate that peatlands around the world hold about 350 billion tonnes of carbon. The tropical peatland of the Congo Basin – known as Cuvette…
- The Climate Question
Does recycling help fight climate change?
Reduce, reuse, recycle is a familiar mantra the world over. Recycling has been described as ‘one of the easier climate-friendly acts” that individuals can do…
- The Climate Question
How is climate change affecting our mental health?
We often talk about the physical costs of climate change; the economic fallout, the effect on livelihoods and damage to the earth. But all of the changes to…