Dealing with drought

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2022

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As parts of England enter drought conditions we ask what are the drivers for drought and what can we do about it? With Dr Jess Neumann, Hydrologist at Reading University, Aidan McGivern meteorologist at the Met Office and Professor Richard Betts, Chair in Climate Impacts at University of Exeter. What influence do Scientific Advisors really have on government? We explore the tricky issue with science writer Philip Ball. Are there just too many satellites now orbiting the earth? Astronomers are increasingly finding their presence is interfering with astronomical observations. Jane Chambers reports from Chile. And what is mucus actually for and how did it evolve? Omer Gokcumen, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Stefan Ruhl, Professor of Oral Biology at the University at Buffalo reveal its origins in our aquatic ancestors and its vital role in mouth hygiene. Presented by Alex Lathbridge Produced by Julian Siddle Assistant Producer Emily Bird

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ever wondered what the world's wealthiest people did to get so ridiculously rich?
0:05.5	Our podcast Good Bad Billionaire takes one billionaire at a time and explains exactly how they made their money.
0:11.9	And then we decide if they are actually good, bad or just plain wealthy.
0:15.5	So if you want to know if Rihanna is as much of a bad guy as she claims,
0:19.2	or what Jeff Bezos really did to become the first person in history to pocket a hundred billion dollars,
0:24.6	listen to Good Bad Billionaire with me, Simon Jack, and me, Zingsing.
0:28.5	Listen, on BBC Sounds.
0:31.0	Hello lovely people, this is the podcast edition of BBC Inside Science.
0:35.7	Originally broadcast on the 1st of September 2022, I'm Alex Lathbridge.
0:41.0	Now this week we're scanning the skies to find out how satellite could be a multi-million dollar problem for astronomers.
0:48.3	We'll be unpicking the sometimes tricky relationship between the government and scientific advisors.
0:54.2	Plus, we'll be sliding into the latest research into the evolution of mucus.
0:59.8	But first, this week the government formally declared that all of the southwest of England is now in drought.
1:06.7	It might not come as a surprise,
1:08.5	considering the exceptionally hot summer we've had, the driest for 90 years.
1:14.0	And with further drought predicted due climate change,
1:17.2	what does it mean for us all personally and what should we be doing about it?
1:21.4	To answer this and more, I'm joined by Met Office Meteorologist and Weather Presenter, Aiden McGiven,
1:27.9	and Professor Richard Betts, the head of climate impact at the Met Office,
1:31.8	as well as hydrologist Dr Jessica Neumann from the University of Reading.
1:36.3	The drought is one of those terms that we don't have a sort of hard and fast definition for,
1:41.7	and it can change from place to place.
	...

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