Will the Hole in the Ozone Layer Close?

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

40 years ago scientists in Antarctica discovered a hole in the Ozone layer. The world acted quickly, phasing out harmful CFCs or chlorofluorocarbons. Evidence suggests the hole has been getting smaller. But in 2025, there are new pollutants threatening to slow progress. Eloise Marais is Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Air Quality at University College London and tells Victoria Gill about her work monitoring the impact of space travel on the Ozone layer.

It's the first day of the traditional ‘bathing season’ when wild swim spots are regularly tested throughout the UK summer. Victoria asks Professor of Environmental Microbiology and Health at Lancaster University, Roger Pickup to break down the science behind our water quality classifications. And May also means wildflowers. Dr Sarah Scott is pollinator ecologist and toxicologist at Cambridge university. She has a warning that planted in the wrong place, wildflowers could be harming bumble bees.

Gareth Mitchell, broadcaster and lecturer in science communication at Imperial College London is in the Inside Science studio to bring Victoria new scientific findings which will shape our future.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Clare Salisbury, Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Transcript

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0:00.0	Why do some big successful brands go bust?
0:05.0	Toast is back for a new series, taking a look at the decisions that often left investors burnt.
0:11.0	I'm Sean Farrington, a BBC business journalist. I'll be hearing about the hype.
0:15.0	They're going to do the deal that makes them the most money at that point of time.
0:19.0	And I'm picking what went wrong, talking to
0:22.1	owners and employees to ask what can we learn. It was being undercut by similar rivals. It just
0:28.9	couldn't survive. Toast. Listen first on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, Radio, podcasts.
0:39.0	Hello, lovely curious-minded people.
0:41.2	Welcome to the podcast of BBC Inside Science.
0:44.1	First broadcast on the 15th of May 2025.
0:47.0	I'm Victoria Gill.
0:48.5	Water, air and earth are all coming under the Inside Science microscope today.
0:52.7	Because towels at the ready water
0:54.6	lovers, it's the start of bathing season, which sounds wonderfully Victorian, but what is the
0:59.6	science behind working out where it is safe to swim? And we'll be finding out why some flowers
1:04.4	might actually harm our urban bees. We also have Science and Technology broadcaster and loyal friend
1:10.5	of Inside Science,
1:11.6	Gareth Mitchell, in the studio to take us through some of the scientific news shaping our world
1:15.4	this week. What do you have for us, Gareth? Oh, it's lovely to be back. I like the loyal friend
1:18.8	bit as well. Thank you. It's made my day. So, yeah, we're looking at why chimps language,
1:23.5	like chimpanzee's language, is more sophisticated than we previously thought. We're looking under the bonnet of these AI chatbots,
1:30.3	like your chat G-PT or Google Gemini and so on,
	...

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