The Climate Question

Latest Episodes:

The Climate Question x Global News Podcast: Listeners Questions Special Nov 11, 2024

Show notes

In a special programme, The Climate Question join forces with The Global News Podcast to tackle listeners' climate questions from around the world. How does war impact climate change? How can we protect small island nations? And what practical actions can we all take as individuals? Plus, what to look out for at COP 29, The UN's annual Climate Change conference, set to open in Azerbaijan. The Climate Question’s Graihagh Jackson, BBC Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt, and Global News Podcast host Nick Miles, provide the answers to a whole range of fascinating questions.

Producers: Anna Murphy and Osman Iqbal Sound Engineers: James Piper and Tom Brignell Editors: Karen Martin and Simon Watts

Tell us what you think of the show or send us your own climate question. Email: TheClimateQuestion@bbc.com or Whatsapp: +44 8000 321 721

Trump wins: What does it mean for the climate? Nov 09, 2024

Show notes

How will the US election result alter climate policy at home and abroad? Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar hear from BBC Environment Correspondent Matt McGrath, US Environment Correspondent Carl Nasman and Zerin Osho, Director of the India Programme at the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development in Washington DC.

Producers: Octavia Woodward and Jordan Dunbar Sound Mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Simon Watts

Tell us what you think of the show or send us your own climate question. Email: TheClimateQuestion@bbc.com or Whatsapp: +44 8000 321 721

How is climate misinformation evolving? Nov 04, 2024

Show notes

Climate science and reporting are vital to understanding how our climate is changing and what we can do about it. But false information about climate change spread online is causing big problems. It’s no longer just about saying that climate change isn't happening; it’s increasingly about spreading uncertainty about its causes, its speed and the solutions. That’s making climate misinformation and disinformation harder to spot - and more divisive.

Host Jordan Dunbar is joined by Jacqui Wakefield, global disinformation reporter with the BBC World Service and guests Marco Silva, climate disinformation journalist at BBC Verify and Prof Michael E Mann, climatologist and director of the Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania.

Researcher: Tsogzolmaa Shofyor Producer: Osman Iqbal Editor: Simon Watts

Tell us what you think of the show or send us your own climate question. Email: TheClimateQuestion@bbc.com or Whatsapp: +44 8000 321 721

Should we put a price on nature? Oct 28, 2024

Show notes

Everyone who steps outside can appreciate the value that the natural world brings to our lives. To some people, the idea of placing a monetary value on trees and mangrove forests is wrong because nature and its gifts are priceless. But others say the love of nature has not stopped it from being polluted or destroyed.

The natural world plays a major role in capturing the carbon from our atmosphere. A marketplace now exists where countries and big businesses can pay others to protect their forests, swamps and bogs in return for offsetting their emissions. But several of these schemes have faced scandal and corruption. Could the world’s largest biodiversity conference in Colombia, COP16, help put a stop to that?

Presenters Kate Lamble and Jordan Dunbar are joined by Kevin Conrad, founder, Coalition for Rainforests; Tina Stege, climate envoy, Marshall Islands; Pavan Sukhdev, chief executive officer, GIST

Tell us what you think of the show or send us your own climate question. Email: TheClimateQuestion@bbc.com or Whatsapp: +44 8000 321 721

Producers: Darin Graham and Graihagh Jackson Researcher: Natasha Fernandez Reporter: Gloria Bivigou Series producers: Alex Lewis and Simon Watts Sound engineers: Graham Puddifoot and Tom Brignell

Your questions answered: The value of trees, "black" oxygen, AI's carbon footprint Oct 21, 2024

Show notes

Climate Question listeners take over the programme again with their head-scratchers. Graihagh Jackson and her panel: Justin Rowlatt, BBC climate editor, Akshat Rathi, senior climate reporter for Bloomberg News and host of Bloomberg's Zero podcast and Caroline Steel, presenter of BBC Crowdscience, ponder the impact of deforestation and marvel at the beauty of sequoia trees, which can live for more than 1000 years.

There are also questions on the carbon cost of generative AI, the discovery of "black" oxygen in our oceans and deep-sea mining.

Plus, which animal has the biggest carbon footprint?

If you've got a query, email us at theclimatequestion@bbc.com or leave a Whatsapp message on +44 8000 321 721

Producer: Osman Iqbal Sound mix: Gareth Jones and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

Is the climate on the ballot at the US election? Oct 14, 2024

Show notes

The southern US state of Georgia has received billions of dollars in investment in clean technology, creating tens of thousands of jobs at solar power factories and electric vehicle factories. It is also on the front-line of extreme weather - facing the threat of hurricanes, heatwaves and drought. So will voters in this swing state be considering climate change when they cast their ballots for the US presidential election in November? And how are politicians in Georgia talking about the issue. Jordan Dunbar takes a road trip across the state to find out.

Got a question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@bbc.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenter: Jordan Dunbar Producer: Beth Timmins Sound engineer: Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

Why don’t we use more geothermal energy? Oct 07, 2024

Show notes

Geothermal energy is renewable, reliable and powerful. So, why is most of it untapped?

That’s what our listener, Anna in the UK, wants to know. Full disclosure, she’s a geologist and is thoroughly perplexed by the lack of uptake. Geothermal is renewable, reliable and abundant and yet, less than 1% of the world’s energy is generated from it.

Host Graihagh Jackson hears about a team in Iceland who hope to "super-charge" geothermal power by drilling directly into volcanic magma. And she travels to Germany to visit Vulcan Energy, a company which is combining geothermal with extracting one of the world's most sought-after metals: Lithium. Plus, our reporter in Indonesia tells Graihagh about local opposition to some geothermal power plants.

Got a question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@bbc.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Host: Graihagh Jackson Reporter in Indonesia: Johanes Hutabarat Producer: Osman Iqbal Sound Mix: James Beard Editor: Simon Watts

What's it like like losing your home to the sea? Sep 30, 2024

Show notes

Experts predict that millions of people around the world will have to migrate by 2050 because of sea level rise linked to climate change. How will they cope? Jordan Dunbar hears stories from Fiji and the UK.

Email us your comments and questions to theclimatequestion@bbc.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenter: Jordan Dunbar Producers: Octavia Woodward and Graihagh Jackson Sound mix: Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

News update: Sea level rise, Mexico's "green" president, Ivory Coast's chocolate crisis Sep 23, 2024

Show notes

The United Nations has just published a worrying new report about the rate of sea level rise in the Pacific. BBC climate reporter Esme Stallard talks us through the details.

Plus, Mexico is preparing for the inauguration of an environmental scientist as its new president. The BBC's Will Grant heads to a bustling market in Mexico City to report on Claudia Sheinbaum's record in her previous job as mayor of one of the world's biggest metropolises.

And we hear how climate change is fuelling a crisis for cocoa growers in Ivory Coast - and sending global prices for chocolate sky high. John Murphy from the BBC's Assignment podcast has that story.

Email us your comments and questions to theclimatequestion@bbc.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenter and Producer: Graihagh Jackson Reporter: Esme Stallard, Will Grant, John Murphy Sound engineer: Morgan Roberts and David Crackles Editor: Simon Watts

Somalia: Where climate change meets conflict Sep 17, 2024

Show notes

BBC Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt travels to Somalia to investigate the links between global warming and the decades-long conflict there. He hears how Somalis are responding by launching businesses and their own renewables industry.

Presenter: Justin Rowlatt Producer in Somalia: Stuart Phillips Producers in London: Miho Tanaka, Sara Hegarty Sound Mix: Tom Brignell and David Crackles Editor: Simon Watts

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