ClimateCast with Tom Heap

Sky News’ Yalda Hakim and NBC’s Richard Engel have covered world events for years. Now, they team up for a new podcast to share their experiences from the frontline.     They debrief from global flashpoints and discuss their encounters with the biggest decision makers. They’ll also be joined by some of those key players to help make sense of world events.   From conflict in the Middle East, to the...

We've seen a trend over recent decades of wetter winters - and this year was no exception.       This winter was in the top 10 wettest for the UK, with the south of England experiencing its wettest February since records began in 1836. Scientists expect this trend to continue as the climate changes.      Farmers are particularly vulnerable to increased rainfall which either prevents them from sowi...

Sports Utility Vehicles, the big cars blamed for causing huge damage to the planet, now make up two-thirds of all new car sales.    More commonly known as SUVs, many people are choosing them for their increased comfort and a feeling of safety.    They were originally designed for off-roading in the countryside, but now they are often more of a status symbol.     Their larger size and weight mean t...

Climate change has led to storms becoming more extreme and rising sea levels, threatening the future of coastal communities around the UK. The British Geological Survey suggests up to 1.35 million homes could be at risk by the end of the century without further sea defences. On this week's ClimateCast with Tom Heap, the team are on the Isle of Wight and in north Norfolk hearing from people who are...

The North East of England is famous for its history of coal mining – entire livelihoods were built on powering the country on coal before they were closed at the end of the last century. But now, the disused coal mines could play a role in powering the future, while doing no harm to the climate. On this week’s ClimateCast Tom Heap is in Gateshead where they’re using mining infrastructure to heat u...

Today, something different – we're bringing you the trailer of an exciting new podcast from Sky called Electoral Dysfunction. Beth Rigby. Jess Philips. Ruth Davidson. With polls suggesting trust in politicians is low, three political powerhouses unite to unravel the spin and explain what’s really going on in Westminster and beyond. Every week, they will examine our political leaders and their poli...

Hydrogen sulphide is the smell that comes from a rotten egg. Imagine that seeping out from a mound of rubbish the size of a small hill. You don't have to imagine it if you go to the Staffordshire town of Silverdale, population 5,700. It's an ever-present threat and a frequent reality. On this week's ClimateCast, Tom Heap visits Silverdale to speak to residents campaigning to shut down a landfill t...

Solar farms in the UK only account for 0.1% of land – that's less than that of golf courses. But, as the government aims to meet its clean energy targets, more agricultural land is being lost to solar panels. On this episode of ClimateCast, Tom Heap visits farmer Andrew Dakin, whose family have farmed the same land for 94 years, but now, his landlord is selling up to make room for a solar farm. To...

Multi-millionaire musician Taylor Swift had two private jets - until she sold one of them just a week before her lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to the creator of social media accounts that log take-offs and landings of planes and helicopters owned by public figures. So, on this episode of ClimateCast, Tom Heap visits a private jet investors conference in London to find out just how climate...

On this episode of ClimateCast, Tom Heap visits the home of afternoon tea, Fortnum and Mason, but there's something different about the menu. Its scotch egg is made from cultivated meat – that's meat grown in a lab. He speaks to the scientists behind the product to find out how it was made and explores if this could be a solution to our polluting meat and dairy industry - which accounts for 14% of...

The government's plan to grant new oil and gas licences every year has passed its latest hurdle in parliament. The bill's supporters say it will improve energy security, as the UK still relies heavily on fossil fuels. Critics, however, argue it will not cut energy bills and instead will break the UK's promise to phase out fossil fuels. One of those critics is Chris Skidmore who recently resigned a...

Heating accounts for a third of emissions in the UK, meaning we have to ditch our favourite fuel, gas. The Government's alternative? The heat pump. But despite installations being on the rise, the UK is much behind it's European neighbours on the number of heat pumps being installed each year. So why are we so slow? Is it the price, reluctance to change - or do heat pumps have a bad name? On this...

More than 1,000m underground is one of Britain's deepest mines. But it's not coal they're mining in North Yorkshire. It's a mineral that could help fight climate change. On this week's ClimateCast, Tom Heap explores the tunnels way beneath the North Sea bed to find out if what lies under the ground can help protect the atmosphere above. He discovers how miners are extracting polyhalite, a fertilis...

On this special Christmas episode of ClimateCast Tom Heap is joined by climate and energy analyst, Sepi Golzari-Munro. They’re joined by a panel of special guests look back over a remarkable year in climate science and politics, as well as look ahead to some reasons to be cheerful in the world of climate going into 2024. Special guests Dr Ella Gilbert, Antarctic climate scientist Dr Friederike Ott...

This week COP28 reached a "historic" and "unprecedented" conclusion to "move away from fossil fuels". While leaders are hailing the agreement a breakthrough, campaigners argue it doesn't go far enough and it should phase out fossil fuels entirely, but how realistic is that ambition? On this week's ClimateCast Tom Heap is joined by Sky's economics editor Ed Conway who explains why the answer to our...

Shipping our heavy goods around the world is a huge carbon emitter. In the UK, we transport a vast amount via roads which has the same carbon footprint as air travel, buses and domestic shipping combined. So could we be shipping in a more environmentally friendly way? On this week’s ClimateCast, Tom Heap boards a freight train to find out how rail freight fits into our net-zero future. He finds ou...

The King has urged world leaders assembled in Dubai to make the COP28 climate summit a "critical turning point" in the fight to tackle global warming. And there has already been a breakthrough with wealthy nations contributing nearly $300m to a 'loss and damage' fund compensating poorer countries for the effects of climate change. It has taken 32 years to agree so while it is an achievement, the r...

Climate change has long been a divisive topic that is often forced to the bottom of the news agenda, even as the threat of a warming world grows. Ahead of COP28, the annual UN climate negotiations, Tom Heap is joined by a panel of guests to discuss the challenges of covering climate change. Political scientist, Sir John Curtice, former Times journalist, Liz Gerard, and video journalist, Zoe Brough...

Shipping, in the form of cruises, ferries and even the navy, accounts for around 2% of our emissions that contribute to global warming - just a little less than aviation. The diesel powered vessels also worsens air pollution, the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK. At Portsmouth Harbour, they're on a mission to tackle both of those things. On this week's ClimateCast Tom Heap visits P...

Building new homes often comes at the expense of living space for wildlife. But from 2024, a new law in England means developers will have to make sure their projects deliver 10% more nature. It's called biodiversity net gain. Conservation groups are "cautiously optimistic", but do local authorities have the resources to maintain, measure and police the uptick in nature? On ClimateCast, Tom Heap v...

This week Wales has joined England and Scotland on waving goodbye to single-use plastics. The decision lends its hand to the 'booming' compostable packaging industry. But could a packaging that reverts to nature be too good to be true? One UCL study has found that 60% of products advertised as home compostable didn't fully decompose within 12 months - and a lot of consumers don't know which bin th...

Just a few years ago, a small village in North Yorkshire became a magnet for protesters who were opposing hydraulic fracturing for gas - also known as fracking. Now, the organiser of those protests works for the same company he opposed, but it has tapped into a greener energy source. On this episode of ClimateCast, Tom Heap heads to North Yorkshire to meet workers at the firm which has swapped fra...

Carbon dioxide is the big villain of global warming - the "most wanted" for crimes against the climate that we'd love to lock up. In Merseyside and North Wales, they're putting a posse together. It's called HyNet and it's a group of around 40 carbon-intensive industries brought together as a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) cluster. On this episode, Tom Heap hears how polluting industries plan to...

Half of energy is used as heat and, both across the world and here in the UK, most of that comes from fossil fuels. But a small business in Hampshire thinks that have the solution to store and decarbonise heat - a heat battery. If successful, the breakthrough could eliminate 4% of global carbon emissions. On this week's ClimateCast Tom Heap visits the factory producing heat batteries for industry...

On this week's ClimateCast Tom Heap is in west London to talk about the quality of the UK's waterways, something that's causing a public and political outcry across the country. With his waders on, he meets the brains behind water quality monitors handmade by local residents which are helping to monitor pollution in the River Brent, including founder of Clean up the River Brent, Ben Morris. Plus,...