The Climate Question

Do climate protests ever work?

Climate activists have blocked highways, scaled oil rigs and even thrown soup at master artworks. But have protests ever made a difference? The modern green movement started in the 1970s when Greenpeace sailed a fishing boat towards a nuclear test site in Alaska. It now encompasses everything from bake-ins and marches to Radiohead concerts. A small minority of activists even favour breaking the law to raise awareness about climate change. Some of them have superglued themselves to railings and blocked bridges. BBC Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt has made a new podcast series about the green movement – and the heated splits among activists about tactics. He talks to Climate Question hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar about the past - and future - of climate protest. You can hear Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002ybblGot a question for The Climate Question? Email us: theclimatequestion@bbc.comProducers: Simon Watts, Diane Richardson and Ellie House Sound Mix: Mike Regaard Editor: SImon Watts

Could climate change fuel an epidemic?

Scientists are warning that climate change and deforestation increase the risk of outbreaks of deadly diseases. How big is the danger? And what action can we take? Dr Neil Vora is a so-called “disease doctor” - an epidemiologist who has travelled the world to help trace the sources of outbreaks of Ebola, cow pox and rabies. Dr Vora tells The Climate Question hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar about his specialism in zoonotic diseases, which are caused by infections passing from animals to humans. He is worried that the combination of climate change and cutting down forests will lead to more human-animal contact, and that the higher stress levels experienced by animals such as bats and monkeys will make them more likely to pass on deadly pathogens. Dr Vora says we need to act now to protect forests and avoid the possibility of epidemics or even a pandemic. Neil Vora started his career at the US Centres For Diseases Control and Prevention. He is now Executive Director at the Preventing Pandemics at the Source Coalition. Got a question for The Climate Question? Email us: theclimatequestion@bbc.comProducers: Diane Richardson, Jordan Dunbar and Melanie Stewart-Smith Sound Mix: Dafydd Evans and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

Can science fiction help us fight climate change?

The acclaimed US sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson is also a star in the world of climate activism because his work often features climate change - on Earth and beyond. Robinson has been a guest speaker at the COP climate summit, and novels such as The Ministry For The Future and The Mars Trilogy are admired by everyone from Barack Obama to former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres. Robinson's books are not just imaginative but scientifically accurate, and some of their ideas have even inspired new thinking about climate-proofing technology. Kim Stanley Robinson spoke to the Climate Question team in 2024.Presenters: Jordan Dunbar and Graihagh Jackson Producer: Ben Cooper Editor: Simon Watts Sound Mix: Tom BrignellGot a question for The Climate Question? Email us: theclimatequestion@bbc.com

How to build a climate friendly city

More than seven billion of us are expected to be living in urban areas by 2050. So what are the world’s great cities doing about climate change? Humans are now city creatures – with more than half the world’s population already living in urban environments, and huge growth expected in cities in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa during the rest of the 21st century. So mayors are on the front line of dealing with climate change – whether it’s keeping people cool during heatwaves or redesigning cities to cope with floods. In this edition of The Climate Question, Host Jordan Dunbar hears about inspiring solutions from cable cars in Colombia to water parks in the Netherlands and city gardens in the Philippines. His guests are Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, the mayor of Freetown in Sierra Leone and Co-Chair of the C40 Cities Coalition, and Rogier van den Berg, an architect and urban planner who’s Global Director at the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. Jordan, Yvonne and Rogier also discuss the crucial role that cities need to play in reducing carbon emissions by making buildings more energy-efficient and rethinking transport. Got a question or comment? You can email the team: theclimatequestion@bbc.comProducers: Jordan Dunbar, Diane Richardson, Melanie Stewart-Smith Sound Mix: Dave O'Neill and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

"Super" El Niños and climate change

Scientists say the El Niño weather pattern has started and this one is potentially so strong that it could have devastating effects in many parts of the world. So how does El Niño work exactly? And what’s the connection with climate change? El Niño starts when water temperatures rise near the Pacific coast of South America, but the impact on weather is felt around the globe. Some regions are more likely to experience severe droughts or more powerful storms; others could face the threat of severe flooding. This “Super” El Niño is likely to add 0.2 or 0.3 degrees to the global temperature. When added to the impact of climate change, scientists say the world could be headed for a new heat record in 2027. In this edition of The Climate Question, hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar chat to Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science at University College, London, about what might happen and how the world can prepare.Got a question or comment? You can email the team: theclimatequestion@bbc.comProducer: Grace Braddock Sound Mix: Mike Regaard and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon WattsPicture Credit: Reuters