UN chief establishes climate panel review

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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed an independent panel to review the operations of the IPCC, the UN’s climate science panel. The organization won the Nobel Peace Prize for its work, but critics have identified a number of small errors in its reports. The World’s Katy Clark reports. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Environment stories on The World
• IPCC

Raising Bangladesh

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Some of the countries most at risk from climate change are low-lying nations. And chief among them is the South Asian country of Bangladesh. Rising seas threaten to inundate this already disaster-prone land. But Bangladesh is experimenting with new ways to protect itself. One possible solution uses floods to prevent floods. Reporter Daniel Grossman has our story. Download MP3 (Photo: Dan Grossman)

• Illustrated transcript

Climate change meeting

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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for urgent action on climate change, saying negotiations on reducing emissions were proceeding too slowly. He said failure to reach agreement at December’s climate talks in Copenhagen would be “morally inexcusable”. Alex Gallafent reports. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Summit on Climate Change

Dealing with CO2 emissions

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Human beings emit over 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. It’s a global problem, connected with sea level rise and changing global temperatures. There have been many calls for reductions in CO2 emissions, but others look to technology to sequester or trap CO2 below the earth’s surface. Ashley Ahearn reports how some of the most promising research in this field is happening in Iceland. Download MP3

• CO2 fixation in basaltic rock in Iceland
• Fighting Global Warming by Turning CO2 into Stone
• BBC animated guide to climate change

Global climate change confirmed

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Arctic temperatures in the 1990s reached their warmest level of any decade in at least 2,000 years. That despite a gradual cooling trend over that time as the Earth cycled further away from the sun. A new study to be published in Science Magazine concludes that that cooling was reversed because of increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other green house gases. The World’s Katy Clark reports. Download MP3

• BBC animated guide to climate change
• Science Magazine
• 2000 Years of Climate Variablity from Arctic Lakes