The Climate Question

Soraya Segu, an architect and urban planner who led Monterrey’s heat work, and Eugenia Carbo, Freetown’s Chief Heat Officer who coordinates trees and cooling pilots, join Umaru Fofana, a journalist reporting from Freetown’s informal settlements. They discuss day-to-day heat adaptation, why cities overheat, on-the-ground coping in Krubay, reflective roof pilots, tree counting and barriers like funding and political will.

Sarah Kaufman, director at NYU Rudin Center, studies urban transit policy and bus priority. Dario Hidalgo, Bogotá transport professor, specializes in Bus Rapid Transit and Latin American mobility. They compare New York and Bogotá street realities. They explain BRT design and challenges. They discuss why full BRT is hard in dense cities, congestion charging as a funding tool, and the future of cleaner, faster buses.

Caroline Steele, BBC CrowdScience presenter who explains ecology and tech; Akshat Rathi, Bloomberg Green reporter on climate and energy; Justin Rowlatt, BBC climate editor and analyst. They discuss beavers shaping wetlands and flood/fire risks. They debate Sahara-scale solar vs rooftops, grid and climate effects. They examine long-term nuclear waste storage, recycling and next-gen reactor ideas.

War leaves a visible trail of destruction: lives and families devastated, homes and communities reduced to rubble. But there is also a climate cost of armed conflict, and it’s an issue that Climate Question listeners have been asking about. So in this show, Host Graihagh Jackson chats to two leading experts about the carbon footprint of battle itself - the jets, the bombs, the supply lines - and the impact of maintaining armies and bases during peacetime. They discuss Gaza and Ukraine, as well as the current US-Israel war with Iran.Graihagh also finds out if there any ways for the military to reduce their emissions and whether they see climate change as a strategic threat.GUESTS: Neta Crawford, Professor of International Relations, University of St Andrews. Dr. Benjamin Neimark, Associate Professor at Queen Mary, University of London Got a question or comment? email us at theclimatequestion@bbc.com Producers: Diane Richardson, Grace Braddock Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell and Philip Bull Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Simon Watts

Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science at UCL and author of How to Save Our Planet, breaks down why methane packs a punch for near-term warming. He covers methane’s short atmospheric life, major sources like agriculture, energy and waste. Conversations include ruminant emissions, gas leaks and flaring, landfill fixes, and how dietary and waste changes could free land for nature.

China is installing solar panels and wind turbines so fast that its greenhouse gases emissions may now have peaked. If this trend is confirmed, it would be a major milestone in the fight against climate change because China is the world's largest polluter.The BBC’s Beijing Correspondent Laura Bicker has travelled across China to see the country’s clean energy revolution first hand. She’s visited solar farms in the deserts of Inner Mongolia and in the tea plantations of Yunnan. Laura even discovered a huge lake with panels floating on the surface! But she also saw how China’s addiction to coal is continuing – with new power plants still being built and many poorer Chinese needing to burn coal to get through the winter. In this edition of The Climate Question, Laura chats about her reporting with hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar. They discuss whether the world’s biggest polluter is moving fast enough to meet its green energy targets, and what that means for China and the rest of the world. Got a question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@BBC.comPresenters: Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar Guest: Laura Bicker, BBC China Correspondent Producer in China: Joyce Liu Production Team in London: Simon Watts and Grace Braddock Sound Mix: Philip Bull and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon WattsImage: BBC - Solar panels in Yunnan, China

Tulsi Rauniyar, Nepal field reporter covering glacier and community impacts; Zerin Osho, director focused on short-lived climate pollutants. They unpack where black carbon comes from and how it darkens ice and harms health. They describe on-the-ground solutions like cleaner cookstoves, fuel switching and low-emission technologies. The conversation highlights policy gaps and practical steps for cutting soot.

Winter sport depends on one thing that is becoming less reliable each year: snow. As temperatures rise, glaciers are retreating, seasons are shifting, and lower-elevation resorts are struggling to guarantee consistent conditions.Hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar explore the ways climate change is reshaping winter sport, from elite competition to local economies. Former alpine ski racer and BBC Ski Sunday presenter Chemmy Alcott describes how competitors have to deal with shorter training seasons, cancelled races and increasing injury risks.They also speak to Daniel Scott, a leading researcher on climate change and winter tourism at the University of Waterloo in Canada, about which cities may still be able to host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics by the 2050s. And Professor Scott tells The Climate Question how organisers are adapting through snowmaking, snow storage and changes to competition schedules.Guests: Chemmy Alcott – former British Winter Olympian and BBC Ski Sunday presenter Professor Daniel Scott – University of Waterloo, CanadaIf you have a question for the team, email: theclimatequestion@bbc.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721Presenters: Jordan Dunbar and Graihagh Jackson Production team: Grace Braddock, Diane Richardson, Nik Sindle Sound engineers: Tom Brignell and Philip Bull Editor: Simon WattsImage: Reuters

Fear, anxiety, sadness, anger, dread and powerlessness are some of the many emotions associated with what’s called climate anxiety. A global survey of 10,000 young people aged between 16–25 years, found that 60% were very worried about climate change, and nearly half said that their anxiety negatively effects their daily life. Psychologists say these are rational responses to our changing climate, experienced in many different ways around the world. Graihagh Jackson asks how people can manage these difficult emotions and whether climate anxiety itself can be motivational. Graihagh chats to: Svetlana Chigozie Onye who leads the Eco-anxiety in Africa Project, which looks at the mental health impact of climate change and solutions across Africa. Dr Daniella Watson, Chartered Health Psychologist and a Research Associate at the The Climate Cares Centre, Imperial College London. Got a question you’d like us to answer? Send an email to: TheClimateQuestion@bbc.com or whatsapp us on +44 8000 321 721 Presenter: Graihagh Jackson Production Team: Diane Richardson, Nik Sindle, Maria Ogundele Sound Engineers: Jonny Hall and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts Image Credit: Dried up dam. Mike Hutchings, Reuters.

Kate Marvel, a NASA climate scientist and author who studies climate models and clouds. She explains how models create scenario-based projections. She explores uncertainties from plants, fires and especially clouds. She also connects climate science to emotions, from grief to active hope, and outlines the practical solutions that could limit warming.