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Rare Earth: Daily Summaries Delivered
by BBC Radio 4
Environmental journalist Tom Heap and physicist Helen Czerski tackle major stories about our environment and wildlife, celebrate the wonder of nature and meet the people determined to keep it wonderful.
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- Sep 18, 202653 min
Can lawyers save the planet?
What can the legal system do to protect the environment? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski gather together a panel of legal and environmental experts to discuss their battles for the planet. How much protection does nature have in law at the moment, and do legal rights make any real difference in practice? They debate whether nature should be given official legal rights, like human rights.Today's panel: Paul Powlesland - barrister, campaigner, founder of Lawyers for Nature Laura Clarke - CEO of Client Earth Rosa Vásquez Espinoza - biologist, conservationist, founder of Amazon Research InternationalProducer: Emma CampbellAssistant Producer: Toby Field
- Sep 11, 202653 min
Tentacular: The Wonderful World of the Octopus
Cornish fishermen this summer have had their usual catch of lobster and crab replaced by voracious octopus. Restaurant menus have had to be wiped and rewritten across the south-west, but what else has changed? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski ask why octopus have such a hold on our imagination and the science world, why the octopus has moved north and what its journey can tell us about the changing oceans.Joining Tom and Helen are the writer Sy Montgomery, marine biologist Dr Keith Hiscock MBE and octopus neuroscientist Dr Amy Courtney of the Marine Biological Association.Producer: Beth Sagar-FentonAssistant Producer: Toby Field
- Sep 4, 202652 min
All In This Together
Helen Czerski and Tom Heap ask if nature is really red in tooth and claw. Is life all about survival of the fittest or are we all working together on a changing planet? They're joined by Rowan Hooper, author of Togetherness, lichen expert April Windle and Isabel Hardman, assistant editor of the Spectator magazine and author of The Natural Health Service: How Nature Can Mend Your Mind. Together they discuss the plants and insects that rely on deals with other species to keep themselves healthy, from fungus-farming ants to the Wood Wide Web that connects most living plants. April shows Helen the wondrous lichens of Hyde Park and Rowan discovers the orchids studied by Charles Darwin at his home in Kent. Producer: Ed PrendevilleAssistant Producer: Toby FieldSpecial thanks to English Heritage and The Royal Parks
- Aug 28, 202652 min
Andy's Green In-Tray
How will the environment be changed by an Andy Burnham government? As the new parliamentary session opens, Tom Heap and Helen Czerski leaf through the government in-tray to reveal the big decisions that will need to be taken on energy, transport and nature protection.Discussing the issues from Rosebank to wildfires are Sky News Economics Editor, Ed Conway, climate scientist Corrine Le Quéré from the University of East Anglia and Michael Jacobs, former Special Advisor on the environment to Prime Minster Gordon Brown.Producers: Ed Prendeville and Beth Sagar-Fenton
- Aug 21, 202653 min
Volcano
Helen Czerski and Tom Heap investigate the environmental impact of volcanoes from prehistory to the present day, and find out about their cultural significance in art and literature. On today's panel: Dr Will Hutchison, volcanologist at the University of St Andrews; Hólmfríður Sigurðardóttir, who chairs the Surtsey Research Society in Iceland; and Fiona Stafford, Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford University. Producer: Emma CampbellAssistant Producer: Toby Field
- Aug 14, 202652 min
Drawing Our Future Homes
Who's the hero that will protect us from the impact of extreme heat, rain and whatever else climate change might throw at us in future? Forget someone in a cape, maybe it's the person quietly sketching buildings on a bit of paper. Architects shape the buildings we live in and rely on - can they change the way they work to make sure that our homes are smart enough to outpace the challenges of climate change? And can they lead the way in cleaning up the impact of the building industry? Or is the challenge just too great? We find out with the help of: - Isabel Allen, editor of Architecture Today - Barnabas Calder, reader in architecture at the University of Liverpool - Jay Morton, director of Bell Phillips Architects and incoming President Elect of RIBAWith thanks to Jess Hrivnak, and Melissa Mean and Jasmine Tippett from WeCanMake. Presented by Tom Heap and Helen CzerskiProduced by Beth Sagar-Fenton
- Jun 27, 202652 min
The Sound of Water
Helen Czerski and Tom Heap discover how new technology lets us listen in to the extraordinary sounds of the planet's waterways. From the deepest ocean to the tributaries, rivers and streams, this is an exploration of the sound made under water by animals, humans, and yes even plants. From the snapping of shrimp to the bark of a John Dory, Tom and Helen ask how sound travels through water, how important it is and what is known about the purpose of these sounds. They also ask what impact human activity is having on the watery soundscapes and their inhabitants. Joining Tom and Helen are Marine Biologist Steve Simpson, Former Submariner Bob Mansergh, Principle Scientist Rosalyn Seddon and Eco-Acoustician Jack Greenhalgh.Producer: Ellie RicholdAssistant Producer: Toby Field
- Jun 19, 202653 min
Into the Wild
Is there any true wilderness left on our planet? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski consider the fear and fascination of the wild. They're joined by the writer Cal Flyn who has spent the last few years travelling the world in search of wilderness for her new book The Savage Landscape. Also with them are Steve Carver, professor of Rewilding and Wilderness Science at Leeds University and Sophie Grig, Research and Advocacy Director of Survival International. The travel writer and broadcaster Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent escapes the studio to visit the largest rewilding project in Wales. Can the conservationists get local people onside and boost the area's wildlife without provoking a negative reaction from local farmers? Produced by Alasdair Cross and Sarah Swadling
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About Rare Earth
Environmental journalist Tom Heap and physicist Helen Czerski tackle major stories about our environment and wildlife, celebrate the wonder of nature and meet the people determined to keep it wonderful.
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