Costing the Earth
Summary: Man's effect on the environment, questioning accepted truths, challenging those in charge and reporting on progress towards improving the world. Presenters, Tom Heap and Dr Alice Roberts, travel the UK and the world in search of solutions to the challenges facing the natural world and the people and wildlife that live in it. Broadcast at 21.00 on Mondays, Costing the Earth runs for 27 weeks of the year, split into three series. Podcast episodes are added weekly.
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- Artist: BBC Radio 4
- Copyright: (C) BBC 2014
Podcasts:
Tom Heap hears how plant thieves in the UK and abroad are driving species to extinction. Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock.
Tom Heap meets Darren Reynolds, a health and environment professor, who has developed a mini treatment plant that can turn dirty water into clean drinkable water.
Cleaning the ocean floor, one dive at a time. Miranda Krestovnikoff reports from the sea bed as she joins a new marine clean-up squad. Producer: Martin Pointz-Roberts
Can the islands of the Caribbean survive climate change? Tom Heap reports from Turks and Caicos.
Tom Heap asks if UK fracking has learnt the lessons from over a decade of shale gas extraction in the USA.
Tom Heap discovers how communities, from the smallest village to the largest city, can produce and sell their own electricity.
Weatherman, Peter Gibbs investigates the global impact of the weather phenomenon El Nino. Forecasts predict El Nino will occur at the end of this year and although the severity and likelihood has been revised the prospect of the phenomenon is enough to drive fear into many communities around the world.
Jheni Osman investigates whether the threat of mosquito-borne disease is moving closer to home in the UK.
Four years of harsh drought across Texas has prompted radical measures. Tom Heap hears how farmers, frackers and residents are being affected.
Tom Heap launches his campaign to improve the air we breathe.
Britain's Overseas Territories, from the Caribbean to the Falkland Islands contain a treasure trove of wildlife. Tom Heap asks if we are doing enough to protect it. Produced by Alasdair Cross
Solar and wind energy can often be wasted if it's not needed when it's generated. Tom Heap looks at ideas for storing energy, using the landscape or science, and asks if it's enough. Produced by Anne-Marie Bullock
Where will our food come from in the future? Tom Heap chairs the debate from the Bristol Food Connections Festival. Produced in Bristol by Martin Poyntz-Roberts
With the end of April being the deadline for Syria to sacrifice its entire arsenal of chemical weapons, Tom Heap finds out the nitty-gritty of how they're going to be disposed of.
Scotland is the principal source of Britain's renewable energy as well as its oil and gas. What would independence mean for the UK energy market? Tom Heap reports from Edinburgh.