In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear accident devastated the Soviet Union and shocked the world. But, 40 years on, are we now seeing a nuclear renaissance? And what does that mean for the climate?

Climate Question host Jordan Dunbar has just visited the most contaminated place in the world for a BBC World Service documentary. He tells co-host Graihagh Jackson about the ghostly atmosphere in the former Chernobyl control room and the huge dome that now covers the remains of the nuclear reactor that exploded.

Jordan and Graihagh also discuss how the disaster set back the nuclear power industry for decades. Now, however, nuclear is firmly back on the international agenda because of rising power demand and concerns about energy security.

With around 40 countries now aiming to build more nuclear power stations, what will this mean for the climate and the world’s goal of keeping global warming under control?

Got a question or a comment? Email us at [email protected]

Presenters: Jordan Dunbar and Graihagh Jackson Producers: Simon Watts and Diane Richardson Sound Mix: Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

Picture credit: Getty Images

With more and more people moving to cities, informal settlements are expected to grow. When floods hit these unplanned places, it can be disastrous, as we often don’t know much about them. Crucial questions often remain difficult to answer, like how many people live there, what are the buildings made of, and could they withstand a flood?

In the township of Alexandra in Johannesburg, the BBC’s Nomsa Maseko visits a project using drones and artificial intelligence to help authorities prevent the worst impacts of flooding. And in Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil, we hear how an innovative digital map helped the emergency response – and will soon be available to all for free across the world.

This programme was first broadcast in 2024. You can email us at [email protected]

Guests: Rodrigo Rocha, Partner at the Responsive Cities Institute, Porto Alegre Dr Caroline Gevaert, Associate Professor at the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente Nomsa Maseko, the BBC’s South Africa Correspondent

Presenter: Jordan Dunbar Producer: Osman Iqbal Researcher: Octavia Woodward Sound mix: Tom Brignell Editors: Sophie Eastaugh and Simon Watts

Image: Reuters

Earthquakes are caused by a sudden release of stress along faults in the earth's crust, not by climate change, but some new studies suggest that melting glaciers and permafrost may influence when, where and how often seismic activity occurs.

In this episode, hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar chat to seismologist Dr. Verena Simon from the Swiss Seismology Service and Associate Professor of Geosciences at Colorado State University, Sean Gallen.

Got a question or comment? email us at [email protected]

Production team: Diane Richardson, Grace Braddock Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell and Philip Bull Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown. Editor: Simon Watts.

(Photo by Annabelle Chih/Getty Images)

How much does advertising influence what we buy and how we think?

A growing number of cities are restricting adverts for fossil fuel products, from flights and petrol cars to gas heating. From May, Amsterdam is set to become the first capital city to do so. In 2024, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on countries to introduce similar bans worldwide.

In this episode of The Climate Question, Jordan Dunbar asks whether banning fossil fuel adverts is a good idea and whether it makes any difference when it comes to fighting climate change.

He speaks to Marco Silva from BBC Verify about the role advertising plays in shaping public attitudes, and Anna Holligan, the BBC's correspondent in The Hague, explains how the restrictions in The Netherlands actually work.

Guests: Anna Holligan – BBC correspondent in The Hague Marco Silva – Senior journalist, BBC Verify

Got a question or comment? email us at [email protected]

Production team: Grace Braddock, Diane Richardson, Nik Sindle, Melanie Stewart-Smith Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell and James Piper Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Simon Watts

Picture: Getty Images

As climate change makes the world hotter, some cities have appointed so-called Chief Heat Officers to try to improve their response to record-breaking temperatures.

In 2024, Graihagh Jackson spoke to two women who have done the job in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Monterrey, Mexico. What does their role involve? What solutions are out there? And do they get enough funding?

Plus, Umaru Fofana reports from Freetown on what happens when extreme heat grips the city. Umaru talks to locals forced to sleep outside because of the temperature, despite risks to their health and safety. And he also investigates a new piece of building design that might help people living in informal settlements.

Got a question or comment? email us at [email protected]

Presenter: Graihagh Jackson Producer: Osman Iqbal Sound engineer: James Beard and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

Transport is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and in cities around the world it is also one of the biggest daily frustrations. Congestion, pollution and long journeys to work affect millions of people every day.

In this episode of The Climate Question, Jordan Dunbar explores how cities can move large numbers of people more quickly, cheaply and with fewer emissions. With most urban journeys still dominated by private cars, the challenge is how to shift people towards more efficient forms of transport.

He speaks to Dario Hidalgo, a transport expert based in Bogotá, where a system known as Bus Rapid Transit has helped transform how millions of people travel. By giving buses dedicated lanes, larger vehicles and faster boarding systems, cities can move more people using fewer vehicles, cutting both congestion and emissions. Variations of the model are now being used in cities around the world.

Jordan also hears from Sarah Kaufman, Director of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation in New York, about why similar systems can be harder to implement in dense cities, and how measures like congestion charging are helping to reduce traffic and fund improvements to public transport.

While electric cars are often seen as part of the solution, both experts say reducing the number of cars on the road altogether is key. From buses to bikes, they explore how cities might redesign transport systems to be cleaner, faster and more efficient.

Guests: Dario Hidalgo – Professor of Transport and Logistics, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá Sarah Kaufman – Director, NYU Rudin Center for Transportation, New York

Got a question or comment? email us at [email protected]

Production team: Grace Braddock, Diane Richardson, Nik Sindle Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell and Mike Regaard Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Melanie Stewart-Smith

Image: Guillermo Legaria/AFP via Getty Images

The Climate Question panel answer your queries. Do beavers protect the planet? Should we put solar panels in deserts? And why does the world need to upgrade its electricity grids?

Host Graihagh Jackson puts your head-scratchers to Justin Rowlatt, BBC climate editor; Akshat Rathi, senior climate reporter for Bloomberg News and host of Bloomberg's Zero podcast; and Caroline Steel, presenter of BBC CrowdScience.

Got a question for the next listeners' show? You can email us at [email protected] or leave a WhatsApp message at + 44 8000 321 721

Production team: Diane Richardson and Grace Braddock Sound Mix: Tom Brignell and Johnny Hall Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Simon Watts

Picture Credit: A beaver. Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

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 [email protected]

Producers: Diane Richardson, Grace Braddock Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell and Philip Bull Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Simon Watts

Methane is much more powerful than carbon dioxide and emissions are still rising. So what can we do to tackle the human-made sources of this greenhouse gas? And could this buy us time to get to grips with climate change?

It's a topic which many Climate Question listeners have been contacting us about. So in this episode Hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar put some of your questions and comments to Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Sciences at University College London.

What makes methane so powerful? Is meat production to blame? And what about leaks and gas-flaring in the fossil fuel industry?

Got a question or comment, email us at [email protected]

Production team: Simon Watts, Diane Richardson, Grace Braddock Sound Engineers: Tom Brignell and James Piper Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Simon Watts

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: [email protected]

Presenters: 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 Watts

Image: BBC - Solar panels in Yunnan, China

First broadcast in 2024. Graihagh Jackson finds out about the little know pollutant making us sick and driving the climate crisis.

It commonly comes from burning coal, diesel or wood and has a habit of getting stuck in people’s lungs as well as causing glaciers to melt.

In Nepal, home to some of the world’s most beautiful glaciers, we meet journalist Tulsi Rauniyar, who tells us all about the impact black carbon is having on women and children. She meets Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa, a glacier expert who maps the ice losses in the Himalayas.

Zerin Osho from the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development helps us understand why black carbon is so important - but often forgotten - in the fight against climate change, and how we can change that.

NOTE: The figure given in this programme for the exact amount of global warming linked to black carbon is incorrect. The correct figure will be included in this programme description once re-checked.

Got a question you’d like answered? Email: [email protected]

Presenter: Graihagh Jackson Producer: Ben Cooper Researcher: Octavia Woodward Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Simon Watts Sound Designer: Tom Brignell

PHOTO CREDIT: SAIF DAHLAH/AFP via Getty Images