| Title | Topic / Subtopic | Level | Presenter | Date Recorded | Duration (Min) | Feedback |
''The Great British Refurb'': Housing for a low carbon energy futureSynopsis:
Almost half of the UK 's energy is used in buildings to provide a safe, healthy, comfortable, productive and fun environment. Most future low carbon scenarios assume significant reductions in carbon emissions associated with the built environment over the next thirty years. | Environmental Science / Energy | High - ages 14-19 | Oreszczyn, Tadj | Jun 09, 2009 | 68 | Feedback |
Ancient tsunamisSynopsis:
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was not the first of its kind, according to research in Nature. Two groups of scientists have found sedimentary evidence for possible predecessors to the 2004 event in... | Environmental Science / Climate | High - ages 14-19 | McAdoo, Brian | Jan 06, 2009 | 10 | Feedback |
Climate change - from Vega.org.ukSynopsis:
Thhis presentation gives Rowland`s current (2006) opinion/impression of Global Warming. He says that the first legislated discussion that he remembers in the US senate on the Global Warming was in 1986 and the looming problem and whether governments should be active in this area was discussed. The IPPC (International Panel on Climate Change) in 1990 had the view that Global Warming was a problem that we would certainly encounter in the future. In 1995 he said it looked like we could see a signal showing Global Warming, in 2001 the signal was more intense and in 2006 the IPPC said that Global Warming is not a problem for the future it was already happening in the Polar North, where as predicted by modeling in around 1990 there could be a feedback problem. Rowland explains that sun light should be reflected by large amounts of ice without having an effect on the atmosphere but if the ice melts the radiation is absorbed instead of being reflected giving positive feedback and this increases the temperature of the earth by the absorption heat. Rowland says that we are now seeing this happen. | Environmental Science / Chemistry | High - ages 14-19 | Rowland, Sherwood | Mar 20, 2006 | 42 | Feedback |
Climate change and extinctionSynopsis:
Today countless protected areas for biodiversity are maintained at huge public and private expense. The question we must consider is whether our protection strategies actually protect when the real threats are related to the current climate change. Mounting evidence suggests mass extinctions may be the consequence. | Environmental Science / Climate | High - ages 14-19 | Leakey, Richard | Apr 27, 2009 | 67 | Feedback |
Climate change on the living EarthSynopsis:
Observations from around the Earth suggest that even the gloomiest predictions of climate change from the 2007 IPCC report may underestimate the seriousness of the changes due this century. In this lecture, Professor James Lovelock discusses the consequences, particularly for the UK and Europe. | Environmental Science / Climate | Undergraduate - ages 18 - 22 | Lovelock, James | Oct 29, 2007 | 65 | Feedback |
Climate change: BhutanSynopsis:
Nature reporter Anjali Nayar hiked for 21 days in Northern Bhutan to find out how this tiny Himalayan nation is dealing with rapidly melting glaciers. | Environmental Science / Climate | High - ages 14-19 | Nayar, Anjali | Oct 22, 2009 | 4 | Feedback |
Climate Change: MadagascarSynopsis:
Anjali Nayar visited a pioneering project in Madagascar that's aiming to protect one of the country's few remaining forests. It's hoped that projects like this will help curb global warming. But first, these projects must overcome the poverty and political upheaval common to most developing countries. | Environmental Science / Biology | Middle - ages 11 - 14 | Nayar, Anjali | Nov 04, 2009 | 4 | Feedback |
Climate change: The two-degree targetSynopsis:
In December 2009, policy makers meet in Copenhagen, Denmark to thrash out a new global deal on climate change. The aim is to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. We sent three young climate researchers along with Nature's Olive Heffernan to find out just how much of a challenge this ambitious target will be. Join them as they seek advice from climate experts including the IPCC's Rajendra Pachauri, challenge the sceptical views of political scientist Bjørn Lomborg, and learn lessons from the Nobel Laureates who showed that CFCs were destroying the ozone layer. | Environmental Science / Climate | High - ages 14-19 | Hefferman, Olive | Oct 14, 2009 | 22 | Feedback |
Climate change: what can space teach us about our own planet?Synopsis:
Dr Maggie Aderin develops instruments that monitor climate change. Find out about these and other missions that are making science count in the battle against climate change. With practical experiments to show how climate change works Maggie shows how the planets tell us about the future of Earth. | Environmental Science / Climate | High - ages 14-19 | Aderin, Maggie | Jul 02, 2009 | 47 | Feedback |
Endless Energy - from Vega.org.ukSynopsis:
How green are you prepared to be? Burning fossil fuel is choking our planet with carbon dioxide, but would you stop using petrol or allow wind farms to be built in your back yard? Is it finally time for renewable energy to stop being the alternative and start becoming the mainstream, eventually transforming our lives? What is the next big energy source? | Environmental Science / Energy | High - ages 14-19 | Various, Presenters | | 29 | Feedback |
Environmental Scientist & Space Forester - from Vega.org.ukSynopsis:
Yadvinder works in the Geography department at Oxford University. He looks at how human activity and especially carbon dioxide emissions have changed the ecosystems of tropical rainforests. This work takes him on regular trips to his two research sites in the Amazon basin. Scientists have calculated the amount of carbon that is being produced by man’s activity, but there’s a shortfall in the amount of carbon that can be measured in the air. It must be being absorbed into the land, but where? This is one of the main questions Yadvinder is trying to answer.\nAt his research sites in the Amazon, Yadvinder uses ultrasonic devices which sample air speed and direction twenty times a second. By analysing the composition of the air, he can very accurately model the vertical carbon movement. Old, established forests should absorb and give off equal amounts of Carbon as plants grow and decompose. But Yadvinder has discovered that the rainforests are now absorbing more carbon than they give off. The trees are also starting to grow faster and die younger than they were twenty years ago (10% shift). But is this being caused by man’s activities?\nYadvinder has recently started a UK based research programme to see if the changes in the Amazon are also taking place in Northern Europe. He is looking at an ancient woodland near Oxford called Wytham woods. It`s one of the only untouched ancient woodlands left in the UK.\nYadvinder thinks that global climate change will be the biggest societal challege of the century. He claims that 99% of scientists working in this area agree that global warming is the caused by human activity and is a serious threat to the future of the planet. | Environmental Science / Biology | Middle - ages 11 - 14 | Malhi, Yadvinder | | 14 | Feedback |
Feasibility of Zero-Energy Housing in FloridaSynopsis:
This presentation is a brief overview of the possible ways to achieve a zero net energy consumption for a typical Florida house. Examples include photo-voltaics, wind-turbines. An emphasis on the economical aspects of being \"\"off-the-grid\"\". | Environmental Science / Energy | Undergraduate ages 18-22 | Aughtry, Ryan | Apr 22, 2010 | 10 | Feedback |
Finding out where floods will occurSynopsis:
This research is about developing a computer modelling tool to help manage surface water flooding. \n | Environmental Science / Energy | High - ages 14-19 | Diaz-Nieto, Jacqueline | Jun 15, 2009 | 9 | Feedback |
From sled dogs to rockets: What is everyone doing in the Antarctic and the Arctic?Synopsis:
As part of the celebrations for International Polar Year, Paul Rose takes us on an insightful science journey to the Antarctic and the Arctic. What really are the challenges facing scientists as they work in the remotest field sites on earth? | Environmental Science / Polar | High - ages 14-19 | Rose, Paul | Apr 24, 2007 | 80 | Feedback |
In the Oceans - from Vega.org.ukSynopsis:
Satellite, ship survey and computer modelling studies of the workings of the marine environment are used explore present fish supplies worldwide. The desperate need for global ''farming'' strategies necessary to ensure that the Oceans can continue to provide food are discussed. | Environmental Science / Biology | High - ages 14-19 | McGlade, Jacqui | | 59 | Feedback |
Is There Anybody Out There? - from Vega.org.ukSynopsis:
Is there life out there? Either on other worlds, deep space, or even deep in our oceans that we haven`t encountered yet? Our panel of experts discusses the possibilities, and if there is life, what it may be like. | Environmental Science / Biology | General interest - all ages | Various, Presenters | | 29 | Feedback |
James Lovelock - A Final WarningSynopsis:
James Lovelock is best known as the father of Gaia theory; the idea that all parts of our planet form a complex interacting system, like a single organism. His new book depicts Gaia in trouble. In this interview Lovelock sounds a final warning for planet earth and enthuses about his upcoming space trip. | Environmental Science / Climate | General interest - all ages | Lovelock, James | Apr 22, 2009 | 13 | Feedback |
Music's Energy FootprintSynopsis:
A look at how the UK music industry is working with energy and climate researcher Catherine Bottrill to reduce its carbon footprint.\nIn 2007 a group of influential people from the music industry formed Julie's Bicycle, an organisation dedicated to reducing the industry's greenhouse gas emissions. They brought Catherine on board, who identified three main areas of emissions: live music venues, audience travel and CD manufacturing. | Environmental Science / Climate | Middle - ages 11 - 14 | Bottrill, Catherine | Dec 01, 2009 | 15 | Feedback |
Nature Solves Environmental PollutionSynopsis:
How bacteria can be used to solve a variety of environmental problems. | Environmental Science / Biology | Middle - ages 11 - 14 | Pouran, Hamid | Nov 24, 2008 | 6 | Feedback |
NigeriaSynopsis:
A short presentation discussing the economic disadvantages that Nigerians face and one possible method of attempting to alleviate them. Thomas Rush suggests the use of education to help promote an improved quality of life for the citizens outside of Lagos, Nigeria. | Environmental Science / Biology | General interest - all ages | Rush, Thomas | Apr 25, 2007 | 7 | Feedback |
The Epidemic of Mad Cow Disease (BSE) in the UK - from Vega.org.ukSynopsis:
Roy discusses the disturbing events of the then (1997) recent history of the BSE epidemic and some of the crucial mistakes which contributed to the epidemic are highlighted. | Environmental Science / Biology | High - ages 14-19 | Anderson, Roy | Mar 20, 1997 | 59 | Feedback |
The role of Aerosols in Climate ChangeSynopsis:
Phillip Howard presents on recent discussions regarding the role of aerosols in global climate change.\n | Environmental Science / Climate | High - ages 14-19 | Howard, Phillip | Apr 25, 2009 | 9 | Feedback |
The Science of Green LivingSynopsis:
Sheeva Yazdani presents on the biology of octopuses (octopi?) and recent developments in our understanding.\n | Environmental Science / Energy | High - ages 14-19 | Palmeri, Victoria | Apr 25, 2009 | 7 | Feedback |
Voyage to the Bottom of the Deep - from Vega.org.ukSynopsis:
We are only just developing the technology necessary to probe deep beneath our oceans. Contrary to earlier expectations, we are finding whole new ecosystems of life. Are the ocean depths the next new frontier? Over half the surface of the earth is covered by water more than 3km deep. What exotic creatures might be living there? | Environmental Science / Biology | General interest - all ages | Various, Presenters | | 29 | Feedback |
Wakulla Springs Treatment PlanSynopsis:
Wakulla Springs is dealing high levels of nitrates. These high levels have created a problem foreign local plants and animals. There is also a cosmetic problem due to the over-growth of algae. Smith Sewage Processing Plant, Wastewater Sprayfields, Septic Tanks and Storm Water appear to be the major contributers to the Wakulla Springs issue.\n | Environmental Science / Biology | High - ages 14-19 | Skinner, Lionel | Apr 24, 2007 | 10 | Feedback |
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