The Climate Question BBC World Service
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- Science
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A global programme that reflects the variety of takes on climate change, how best to understand it and the world’s attempts to avert it, temper it or adapt to it.
It is not about questioning whether climate change is happening, it’s about finding the best ways to respond to it.
This is sharp-edged, analytical inquiry. Hard scrutiny, touched with a sense of adventure and discovery, and where we can find it, hope.
It includes stories from across the world on why we find it so hard to save our own planet, and how we might change that.
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How does extreme heat affect pregnant women?
The BBC’s Global Health Correspondent Tulip Mazumdar investigates how extreme heat fuelled by climate change is affecting pregnant women in India. New research shared with the BBC suggests that pregnant informal workers in Tamil Nadu who were exposed to high temperatures saw double the risk of stillbirth, premature birth, low birth weight and miscarriage.
Discussing her reporting from India with The Climate Question host and fellow mum Graihagh Jackson, Tulip hears the heart-breaking stories of women affected and explores simple solutions that would make their work in scorching agricultural fields safer.
Email us at theclimatequestion@bbc.com
Produced by Sophie Eastaugh, Graihagh Jackson and Camilla Horrox
Editor: Sophie Eastaugh
Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell
Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown -
Your questions answered: reversing climate change, eating avocados, electric vehicles and more
You asked, we answered. This week our expert panel dive into your questions. Can climate change cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions? How bad are avocados for the environment? Is climate change reversible?
Send your questions to: theclimatequestion@bbc.com
Plus, a look at biofuels and vertical farming, China’s electric vehicle boom, and the apparent contradiction between more renewable energy and the continuing rise in planet-warming gases
Join Graihagh Jackson and our expert panel:
- Dr Akshat Rathi, Senior Reporter for Climate, Bloomberg
- Justin Rowlatt, Climate Editor, BBC News
- Prof. Tamsin Edwards, Climate scientist, Kings College London -
What's it like living a "sustainable" life?
As governments and industry find ways of reducing emissions to keep climate change under control, some people are taking responsibility for their own carbon footprints.
In this episode, Graihagh Jackson explores some different ways of living a green life – from setting up an eco-friendly commune in Denmark, to making small adjustments to our lifestyles in cities such as London. Graihagh also talks to one of the UN's top experts on the social aspects of fighting climate change: what's the right balance between action by individuals and action by governments?
Presenter: Graihagh Jackson
Producers: Ben Cooper and Sophie Eastaugh
Researcher: Octavia Woodward
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Editor: Simon Watts
Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell
Got a climate question you’d like answered? E-mail the team: theclimatequestion@bbc.com -
What's it like being a 'Chief Heat Officer'?
As climate change makes the world hotter, some cities have appointed "Chief Heat Officers" to try to improve their response to record-breaking temperatures. Graihagh Jackson speaks to two women who have done the job in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Monterrey, Mexico. What does their role involve? What solutions are out there? And do they get enough funding?
Plus, Umaru Fofana reports from Freetown on the extreme heat gripping the city. Umaru talks to locals forced to sleep outside because of the temperature, despite risks to their health and safety. And he also investigates a new piece of building design that might help people living in informal settlements.
Presenter: Graihagh Jackson
Reporter in Sierra Leone: Umaru Fofana
Producer: Osman Iqbal
Researcher: Octavia Woodward
Editor: Simon Watts
Sound Engineers: James Beard and Tom Brignell -
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 is gaining real life traction. Some advocates have claimed it could supply all the world’s energy needs by 2050.
But how would these solar farms be assembled, how much fuel and money would it take to blast them into space in the first place, and how would we safely beam their energy back to Earth?
In 2023, Sophie Eastaugh and Luke Jones spoke to Sanjay Vijendran, in charge of space-based solar at the European Space Agency, learn about the history of the idea from Rick Tumlinson, founder of SpaceFund, and hear words of caution from Dr Jovana Radulovic, head of mechanical and design engineering at Portsmouth University in the UK. Plus, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet describes life on the International Space Station and how it’s powered.
Thanks to the Space Studies Institute for extracts of their interview with Gerard O’Neill.
Let us know what you think about the show – email theclimatequestion@bbc.com
Producer: Simon Tulett
Researchers: Matt Toulson and Graihagh Jackson
Series Producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: China Collins
Sound engineer: Tom Brignell
Production Coordinator - Siobhan Reed -
Do we need a 'Category 6' for hurricanes?
Graihagh chats to the BBC World Service's Global Story podcast about a plan for a super-category for storms. Is climate change making them so powerful that we need a new grade?