The climate cost of war
BBC Inside Science
BBC
4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 19 December 2024
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine continue to dominate the news, many Inside Science listeners have been in touch with the same question:
What is the carbon footprint of war?
How significant is the impact – and is it crass to even talk about it? We’re joined by Benjamin Neimark from Queen Mary University in London.
Also this week, we chat to the incoming DG of Europe’s particle-smashing facility Cern, what have we learnt by defrosting an extinct big cat and, the beetle that could ruin Christmas...
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Florian Bohr, Ella Hubber & Gerry Holt Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
If you want to test your climate change knowledge, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University to take the quiz.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, it's Nicola Cocklin. |
| 0:02.8 | Young people have been making history for years, but we don't often hear about them. |
| 0:06.6 | My brand new series on BBC Sounds sets out to put this right. |
| 0:10.6 | In history's youngest heroes, I'll be revealing the fascinating stories of 12 young people |
| 0:16.0 | who've played a major role in history and who've helped shape our world. |
| 0:19.8 | Like Audrey Hepburn, Nelson Mandela, |
| 0:22.5 | Louis Braille and Lady Jane Grey, history's youngest heroes with me, Nicola Cochlin. Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:30.3 | Hello and welcome to Inside Science. I'm Marnie Chesterton and this show was first broadcast on |
| 0:35.8 | the 21st of November 2024. |
| 0:38.8 | Coming up, the future of the big physics of tiny particles, thawing a saber-toothed tiger and a Christmas menace. |
| 0:47.5 | But this week we're starting the programme on a serious note. |
| 0:51.5 | The current wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have had many immediate effects, millions of people displaced, many others injured and killed, and the destruction of buildings, towns and infrastructure. |
| 1:03.8 | There have also been global effects on the economy and supply chains. |
| 1:08.1 | But what about the cost to our climate? |
| 1:13.1 | Lots of you have been in touch asking about this, and you're right, it's rarely talked about. So we're talking about it now. |
| 1:18.8 | How significant are the climate impacts of conflicts? And given the death and destruction, |
| 1:24.9 | is it crass to even try and measure its carbon footprint? |
| 1:28.8 | Benjamin Nymark, senior lecturer at Queen Mary University in London, |
| 1:32.5 | researches this area and joins me now. Welcome, Ben. |
| 1:35.9 | Thank you so much for having me. |
| 1:37.4 | Given what I've just mentioned, why do we need to research the climate costs of war? |
| 1:43.2 | Yeah, and we've been thinking about this a lot, right? |
... |
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