The Climate Question

As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, the developing world says urgent action is needed to avert catastrophe. Some in the developing world say that as richer countries caused the bulk of global emissions, they should compensate them for the losses and damages caused by the climate crisis. But will delegates, negotiators and politicians gathering at the international climate c...

Another chance to listen to an episode that asks whether we can change our ways. Drastic change is needed to limit the increase in global temperature caused by climate change. More than two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide result from how we live our lives. But the behaviours that drive these emissions tend to be deeply habitual and hard to shift - the way we heat our homes, what we ea...

A diplomatic deadline looms as new science urges faster action. Can nations respond? So far, the answer has been ‘no.’ Three decades of international talks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has left them higher than ever and set to rise further. We provide a brief history of climate talks, with an eye on what can be learned ahead of the next round, called COP26, in Glasgow. Contributors: Mark Mas...

Hydrogen gas has long been recognised as a potentially valuable tool for tackling climate change. The most abundant element in the universe, it is also a clean-burning gas and – in theory – could be used to power almost anything, from our cars and homes, to planes and ships, to agriculture and heavy industry. We already produce millions of tons of hydrogen each year for use in the chemicals indust...

Climate change is going to shape young people’s lives, and yet many students feel their schools are not equipping them with the knowledge and skills to face this future. Teachers aren’t always confident broaching climate change in the classroom. And governments have been slow to get comprehensive and compulsory climate change education onto national curriculums. But how do you teach young children...

It's estimated that 9 out of 10 items sold in our shops are shipped halfway around the world on ships. The resulting emissions amount to around 3% of the global total, more than many countries, but we rarely hear about the role shipping plays in the climate crisis. Partly this is because most of shipping's pollution occurs far out at sea, out of the sights and minds of many consumers - and largely...

The heatwave that hit parts of the west coast of North America shattered records by several degrees. It affected parts of the United States and Canada that were unused to extreme heat. Hundreds of people died and emergency teams were pushed to their limits. In Lytton, Canada, temperatures reached 49.6 degrees celsius. Days later, the entire village burnt down. Scientists say that climate change ha...

You don’t often hear climate change and football mentioned in the same sentence, but rising temperatures are set to disrupt every area of our lives, the ‘beautiful game’ included. Heat and other extreme weather have already been affecting training and matches, which experts say we can expect a lot more of in coming years. But not only is the sport at risk from the climate crisis, it’s also a signi...

Freshwater sources around the world are becoming more irregular, and disputes between countries are common, with fears that access to water could eventually lead to conflict. There’s a high-profile case going on right now in northeast Africa, where talks about a huge new dam on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia have stalled. Ethiopia says it needs the hydroelectric dam to help solve some of its power supp...

Australia is one of the world's biggest per-capita greenhouse gas emitters, and a Climate Question listener wants to know why the world isn't demanding her country do more. Jodie lives in tropical Queensland, which she says is 'paradise', but it's also a place affected by bushfires, drought, and cyclones. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says 'Australia can always be relied upon' to deliver action on...

The Brazilian legislature is currently considering a bill that would legalise the private occupation of some public land in the Amazon region - a move that would most likely lead to further deforestation. But could renewed international pressure from foreign governments and corporations demanding protection of the Amazon convince the Brazilian government to rethink its policies, or will they simpl...

It’s likely that there will be no successful green transition without an element of carbon capture, storage and re-use. The oil industry has been burying CO2 underground since the 1970s, so the infrastructure and technology is already available, but removing CO2 from the air at scale is new, and the companies doing it are small. We head to an experimental ‘direct air capture’ plant in Canada to he...

Cities emit around three-quarters of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations, and over half of the world’s population now live in one. Many have set ambitious targets to slash and offset their emissions, in the hope of neutralising their impact on the environment and slowing climate change. Some are aiming to do this very soon. Copenhagen’s goal is 2025. More than 700...

Scientists agree that cutting carbon emissions as soon as possible is key to tackling global warming. But as emissions continue to rise, some are now calling for more research into measures that could be used alongside decarbonisation, including – controversially – what’s known as ‘solar geoengineering’ technologies. One idea being considered is spraying light-reflecting particles into the atmosph...

More than two thirds of our planet is covered by the oceans, but there’s still much to be uncovered about the role that these watery worlds play in climate change. But recent scientific research claims that bottom trawling, a method of fishing that involves dragging heavy nets across the seafloor, emits about the same amount of carbon annually as aviation. Seabed sediments, which act as huge carbo...

South Korea’s economic development has been the envy of many nations: from war, famine and poverty to one of the richest countries on Earth, all within just a couple of generations. In 1955, gross domestic product was just $64 per capita. Last year, it was $31,000. But this growth was turbocharged by fossil fuels, and has come at a high environmental price. Seventy percent of the power generated i...

Indigenous people represent only about six percent of the world’s population, but they inhabit around a quarter of the world’s land surface. And they share these regions with a hugely disproportionate array of plant and animal life. According to the UN and the World Bank, about 80 percent of our planet’s biodiversity is on land where indigenous people live. Global climate policy has however been s...

From fruit rotting in fields, to retailers turning down funny shaped vegetables, and consumers scraping leftovers into the bin, food waste is everywhere. It’s estimated that around a third of all our food ends up not being eaten. If we could sort this, total greenhouse gas emissions would reduce by around eight percent. To put that in context, the only countries that are responsible for emissions...

More companies are rolling out carbon dioxide emission labels on products to help us make greener choices. Unilever, the global consumer goods giant, recently announced it is committing to put carbon footprint information on 70,000 products, while multi-national companies Oatly and Quorn have already started adding labels like this to their packaging. But this is not the first time companies have...

President Biden has invited the world’s major polluters to a summit on Earth Day (April 22nd). It may be the biggest climate summit ever organised by an American leader. On the campaign trail last year, Mr Biden said climate change was his “number one issue.” Now, the pressure is on for him to make a big announcement. But while the US has rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, it has no official pl...

Cities, money, roads, beef burgers and telephones, in fact pretty much all of human civilisation as we know it, would probably not exist were it not for one simple invention. The plough. This humble yet revolutionary tool enabled us to cultivate vastly greater amounts of food than our hunter gatherer forefathers giving rise to villages, cities and empires. But it has come at a cost. Nearly 10,000...

For centuries, we’ve been reading, watching and listening to science fiction. And all too often, it’s pretty pessimistic about our future, especially when it touches on the topic of climate change. This is leading some to ask whether these doom and gloom stories are doing the climate fight more harm than good - causing us to feel so anxious and powerless that we don’t take action. So for this week...

Bangladesh is a country that is exceptionally vulnerable to climate change. With a low elevation and high population density, as well as poor infrastructure and an economic reliance on farming, it is naturally susceptible to extreme weather. The intensification of conditions due to climate change means more people are being driven from their homes and land by sea level rises, storms, cyclones, dro...

A Peruvian farmer is suing a German fossil fuel company, the city of Baltimore has filed a lawsuit against 26 oil and gas firms, and a Polish coal mining company was taken to court by its own shareholders. Activists, investors and everyday people are increasingly pursuing climate litigation as a means to exert pressure on companies and shift our societies onto a more sustainable trajectory. But su...

As the world becomes more populous, experts say we’re likely to use 25 percent more concrete in the next decade. But concrete is also responsible for eight percent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions. There are concerns that the industry isn’t taking its carbon footprint seriously enough. So our climate question this week is: Must our future be cast in concrete? Guests: Arpad Horvath, profess...