ClimateCast with Tom Heap

It's been a week of wild weather around the world, with extreme heat in North America, China and in Southern Europe. Some parts of the US and China have exceeded 50C - while parts of Southern Europe face temperatures in the mid-40s.

Temperatures like these are expected to become common during summer months due to our warming climate - but what does 50C heat do to the human body? And can we adapt?

On this week's ClimateCast Tom Heap speaks to science correspondent Thomas Moore who has spent time as a 'guinea pig' in a 50C heat chamber to measure how his body reacted. They're joined by Dr Anna Moore who specialises in how heat impacts the human body and explains why the climate crisis is also a health crisis.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editor: Paul Stanworth

For people living in Lawrence Weston near Bristol, having England's tallest onshore wind turbine on their doorstep isn't just about the environment.

They believe it will bring more than £100,000 a year back into the community and help fight poverty and climate change together. But can community energy bring Britain to net zero?

On this week's ClimateCast, host Tom Heap speaks to people in Lawrence Weston about their energy project, including Mark Pepper, community manager at 'Ambition Lawrence Weston', who talks about the funding behind the turbine and how any money made will be invested into regenerating the local area.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Promotions producer: David Chipakupaku
Editor: Paul Stanworth

The biggest fleet of Hydrogen buses in Europe have hit the roads in Crawley as operators bet big on Hydrogen fuel, rather than electric batteries.

They're more expensive to produce than electric vehicles and refuelling stations are few and far between, but can Hydrogen transport help us on the road to net zero?

On this week's ClimateCast Tom Heap boards a Hydrogen bus to explore how it's improving air quality in Surrey, and he explores if Hydrogen can be used to decarbonise other heavy road transport with David Cebon, director of the Centre for Sustainable Freight at Cambridge University and Helena Bennett from climate policy thinktank Green Alliance.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editor: Paul Stanworth

On this week's ClimateCast, Tom Heap sets off on a voyage to find out how artificial intelligence might offer invaluable insights into the lives of vulnerable seabirds, in particular, puffins.

He travels to the Isle of May off the coast of Scotland, which is home to 46,000 breeding pairs of puffins, plenty of other sea birds, four human researchers and now two surveillance cameras backed by AI.

There he speaks to Musidora Jorgensen, chief sustainability officer at Microsoft UK, and Martin O'Neil, project manager at SSE, who developed the system which is learning to identify individual birds using facial recognition.

Plus, James Clifton, the co-founder of Cultivo, sheds light on how AI is being used more widely for environmental regeneration.

Producers: Emma Rae Woodhouse and Rosie Gillot
Editor: Luke Denne

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BONUS INTERVIEW

But there's more climate news this week...

Back in Westminster, environment minister Zac Goldsmith has resigned, accusing Rishi Sunak of being "uninterested" in climate change - which the prime minister denies.

Tom Heap unpicks his stinging resignation letter and speaks to Chris Stark, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, about if the UK has regressed on climate commitments.

Sales of electric vehicles more than doubled worldwide in 2022 and there are now more than 750,000 electric cars on the UK’s roads. But plenty of people still have concerns about making the switch.


ClimateCast host Tom Heap has had his electric car for more than a year and wants to know why more people who can afford them, aren’t buying them.


He talks to car enthusiast Jason Bird about his reasons for not giving up his gas guzzler for an electric version. Plus, Erin Baker, editorial director for Auto Trader on the wider issues.

Annie Joyce – senior podcast producer
Luke Denne – editor

Campaigners opposed to oil and gas exploration sites in Surrey have taken their fight to court - but what happens next could have much wider impacts on the oil and gas industry.

On this week's ClimateCast, host Tom Heap speaks to Sarah Godwin, from Protect Dunsfold, and Lisa Scott-Conte, who lives near a site in Horse Hill.

This case is due before Supreme Court judges next week who will decide if greenhouse gas emissions should be considered before planning applications are approved by authorities.

Tom also speaks to Charles McAllister from UK Onshore Oil and Gas - the industry’s trade association – and MP Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for energy security and net zero.

Senior producer: Annie Joyce
Editor: Paul Stanworth

Ffos-y-Fran in the Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfil has been extracting coal for more than 15 years, but it isn’t supposed to be operating now.

Its permission to mine ran out last September. So, ClimateCast host Tom Heap and the team travelled there to find out why it’s still in action, what’s happening to the coal, and when operations will stop.

On this episode Tom speaks to Chris and Alyson Austin, who live near the coal mine, steam train enthusiast Steve Oates, who is chief executive of the Heritage Railway Association, and Delyth Jewell, a Plaid Cymru Senedd member for South Wales East and the party’s climate spokesperson.

Annie Joyce – senior podcast producer
Amy Lakin – junior podcast producer
Philly Beaumont - editor

Once in a state of seemingly terminal decline after the explosion of budget flights, Europe’s night trains are having a moment.

Fuelled by a demand for greener travel options, new routes are now once again snaking across the continent – including the sleeper from Brussels to Berlin that Sky News ClimateCast presenter Tom Heap finds himself on.

In this episode, Tom speaks to Adalbert Jahnz, the European Commission’s transport spokesperson, about how sleeper trains fit with the EU’s green ambitions, and to a man invested in the success of this mode of transport - Chris Engelsman, co-founder of European Sleeper.

Producer: Soila Apparicio
Editor: Paul Stanworth

To mark World Bee Day - Tom Heap puts on his beesuit to visit some of London’s beekeepers.

There are more than 250 species of bees in the UK which are crucial to our wildlife, biodiversity and food production.

But warnings they might be in peril has triggered a 21st century boom in beekeeping - which now could be causing wild species to decline.

On this week’s episode Tom speaks to keepers reducing their hive numbers to protect wild pollinators and researchers at Kew Garden about why bees are so crucial to our climate and what we can do to protect them.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editor: Paul Stanworth

On this episode of ClimateCast Tom Heap is in Cambridgeshire to visit a village that's become an unexpected frontrunner in a new solution for heating homes.

Fifteen homes in the village, soon to be 300, have switched from oil heating to a climate friendly district heating network. There, Tom sees the new £12 million energy centre in action. But what is district heating and how much of a role does it play in the UK's low carbon heating mix?

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editors: Paul Stanworth and Philly Beaumont