Climate Radio is back in 2013 with a new monthly programme. The first two shows are available now to listen online, download or subscribe to in iTunes. You can also check out the programmes on the New Internationalist website.
Starting the series in our traditional way with a look at the science, we speak to Professors Tim Lenton and Peter Wadhams about the surprising rate of change we are now seeing in the Arctic’s natural systems.
“In the absence of urgent action on climate change, there may be a number of tipping points in climate-driven systems in the Arctic, which threaten to rapidly escalate the danger for the whole planet. A collapse of summer sea-ice, increased methane emissions from thawing permafrost, runaway melting of the Greenland ice-sheet, and a collapse of the thermo-haline circulation, may all be approaching in the Arctic and will have disastrous consequences for global climate and sea levels. These together comprise a wake-up call to reinvigorate efforts to tackle climate change. A lack of consensus on precisely how fast any tipping points are approaching in the Arctic should not be used as an argument for inaction.” (Environment Audit Committee, Protecting The Arctic, September 2012, p.21).
Where scientists see warning signs, oil companies and their friends in government see only economic opportunity. Last September a cross-party parliamentary committee of MPs in the UK called for a moratorium on drilling in the Arctic – concerned about the potential impact on climate change and about the lax safety regime surrounding this high-risk activity. In January this year, the UK government rejected the committee’s key recommendations using old science to suggest that Arctic drilling could be compatible with avoiding dangerous climate change. At the same time a Freedom of Information Act request discovered the government had been lobbying against EU legislation designed to make Arctic drilling safer.
Over the course of 2012 Shell’s claims that they were “Arctic Ready” collapsed after a succession of calamities while investors and other oil companies started getting cold feet. We look at how Shell’s Arctic drilling plans pose a risk to your pension and what you can do about it. Featuring Joan Walley MP (Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee), Charlie Kronick (Greenpeace), Louise Rouse (Fair Pensions) and James Marriott (Platform).
Full descriptions of the programmes can be found at: http://climateradio.org/
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Many thanks to Artists Project Earth for their support for these programmes
