Polar Pod

Buckle up for a trip back in time to the last ice age. We touch down in the mammoth steppe, and discover that this was a surprisingly productive ecosystem--it supported a high density and diversity of animals, including mammoths and other big hairy herbivores. So productive, it has been called the 'Serengeti of the North'.  And it turns out that the very nature of this ecosystem--the int...

After listening to the Herders under pressure episode, Roberta sat Sam down to dive into some questions she had. For instance: to what extent can recycling help supply critical materials for the energy transition (like lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite)? Join us as we consider this, reflect on the core justice issues for Sámi reindeer herders and consider what different pathways to net zero mig...

Oula-Antti Labba spent much of his childhood in Finnish Sámiland helping his family with the traditional reindeer herding work. But this traditional livelihood is under dual threat: from climate change and industrialisation of Sámi lands. After experiencing "the lack of respecting indigenous rights" that accompanied permits for mining being granted without the consent of local communitie...

Recorded during the UK's July heatwave, Sam and Roberta turn their thoughts north to cooler regions... We tend to think of Arctic regions as harsh, frozen, crisp, cold. But professor Marc Macias Fauria invites us to consider parts of the Arctic landscape differently. In summer, he suggests, it is like a landscape of butter. In this dynamic environment, the carbon locked up in frozen ground, o...

In this episode, we take a close look at permafrost and how it is responding to climate change. This matters because the permafrost is acting as a giant freezer for vast quantities of carbon-rich organic matter--if the freezer thaws, microbial decomposition can lead to this carbon ending up in the atmosphere, causing further warming. So, how resilient is permafrost to change?  We also discover how...

Carbon-rich organic matter is just like spaghetti bolognese: a tangle of carbon chains that's vulnerable to being eaten. In order to keep your spag bol safe, special conditions are required (tupperware, fridge), and it's just the same for organic matter in the ground. Why does this matter? As the climate warms, so does the very ground beneath our feet. And where that ground is frozen (la...