Global Forecast: Stormy Weather

The news about climate change comes rather like snowflakes in a blizzard—from all directions at once, and accumulating in such overwhelming amounts and impact that it can be hard to know where to start digging out [...]

Iceberg breaks off in Greenland

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A massive iceberg broke off Greenland this week. It’s the largest break in Greenland in 50 years, setting off alarm bells among climate watchers. Anchor Jeb Sharp speaks with Dr. Robert Bindschadler, one of NASA’s leading climate scientists, about the break. Download MP3

• Satellite images of glacier before and after
• BBC coverage
• Environment coverage on The World

Many Muscovites are getting out of town

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Global climate change is partly to blame for the abnormally hot and dry weather in Moscow, cloaked in a haze of smoke from wildfires, say researchers. The fires continue to burn in central and western Russia and the smoke and pollution has become unbearable for many in Moscow, and as Jessica Golloher reports, many are gettin’ out of town. (Flickr image: RiMarkin) Download MP3

• Video: BBC coverage
• Slideshow: See pictures posted by BBC users
• Extreme weather in Asia and Europe
• Russia battles devastating fires

Lizard extinction and oil in the deep ocean

In the science podcast we’re looking at a new study suggesting the world’s lizards are increasingly threatened by climate change. And a scientist on board a research vessel tells us what he’s seeing around the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Download our science podcast
• Science Magazine: erosion of lizard diversity
• World Science

Lizards in peril

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In recent decades, scientists have documented serious threats to frog species across the globe. Frogs and other amphibians have vanished from many areas. The exact cause is in question. It might be an infectious disease, or pollution, or habitat destruction. A study published by the journal Science suggests the world’s lizards are also in peril. And what’s threatening lizards is climate change. The World’s science correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee has the story. Download MP3

• Science Magazine homepage
• World Science
• Download our science podcast

Tech Podcast: Sats and nukes, CO2 turned to fuel, and Tweetspeare

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In this episode of The World’s Technology Podcast, we talk about the role of satellites in monitoring known, and supposed, nuclear sites worldwide. We also have an in-depth look at online extremism. And what are we going to do with all that CO2? Some British scientists want to find a way to turn it back into fuel. We’ll also revisit the Apollo 13 mission 40 years ago, and hear about an updated version of Romeo and Juliet that’s being performed…on Twitter. (GeoEye Satellite Image)

• Download this episode (33:53)
• Get the Tech podcast via email
• Subscribe to the Tech Podcast via iTunes
• Read more about this episode

UN chief establishes climate panel review

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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

Storing CO2 underground

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
There are two ways to reduce carbon dioxide. Emit less or remove it from the atmosphere by sequestering it below the earth’s surface. As Ashley Ahearn reports, some of the most promising research in this field is happening in Iceland.