BBC Inside Science

The 'perfect' depth for a destructive eruption


Listen Later

Why was the blast from the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano so explosive? Where are we on the global climatic thermostat? And how you can get involved in the Big Repair Project.

Gaia Vince speaks with Auckland University volcanologist Prof Shane Cronin, one of the few human beings to have visited the now-disappeared volcanic land bridge that stretched until last week between the islands of Hunga-Tonga and Hunga-Ha'apai. It was destroyed in the disastrous eruption of the volcano beneath it last week that has wrought such devastation to the nation of Tonga, and whose effects were felt in the Americas and detectable all around the world. Why was this submarine eruption quite so explosive, given that the eruption itself was not one of the biggest or longest in living memory?

Previous eruptions - notably Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 - released huge amounts of particles and sulphates into the stratosphere such that they had a cooling effect on the atmosphere globally, lasting 2-3 years. Prof Richard Betts, Head of Climate Impacts at the UKs Met Office tells Gaia how current estimates of the recent eruption's emissions suggest it will not have such an affect, their being around ten times less than the 1991 event.

Richard was one of the contributors to the UK Government’s Climate Risk Assessment 2022 which was published this week. He describes to Gaia some of the modelling that went into it, and the urgency of cutting CO2 and similar emissions it describes.

Last year Prof Mark Miodownik, head of the Institute of Making at UCL made a series for Radio 4 called Dare to Repair, looking at the vanishing art and practice of repairing our old and malfunctioning consumer devices, rather than binning them and buying new ones as most of us do these days.

At the end of 2021 Mark, together with representatives from manufacturers, consumers, and other groups, took part in a round-table meeting to discuss possible challenges and measures to increase the so-called Right to Repair, towards building a circular economy in the UK for recycling plastic and metals. In this week's show he launches a new citizen science project aimed at gathering granular data on UK citizens views and practices when it comes to "disposable" electronic devices. To take part in The Big Repair Project, to record successes and failures, even to share how impossible it can be sometimes to change a battery, follow the link on the BBC Inside Science homepage.

Presenter Gaia Vince

Producer Alex Mansfield
Assistant Producer Emily Bird

Made in Association with The Open University

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

BBC Inside ScienceBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

276 ratings


More shows like BBC Inside Science

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,389 Listeners

From Our Own Correspondent by BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

381 Listeners

The Naked Scientists Podcast by The Naked Scientists

The Naked Scientists Podcast

604 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,886 Listeners

Science Weekly by The Guardian

Science Weekly

398 Listeners

5 Live Science Podcast by BBC Radio 5 Live

5 Live Science Podcast

109 Listeners

Business Daily by BBC World Service

Business Daily

538 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

344 Listeners

Inside Health by BBC Radio 4

Inside Health

85 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

898 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

953 Listeners

World Business Report by BBC World Service

World Business Report

285 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,921 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,080 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

719 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

248 Listeners

Unexpected Elements by BBC World Service

Unexpected Elements

355 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

823 Listeners

CrowdScience by BBC World Service

CrowdScience

480 Listeners

Newscast by BBC News

Newscast

672 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

376 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

2,964 Listeners

The world, the universe and us by New Scientist

The world, the universe and us

113 Listeners

Sport's Strangest Crimes by BBC Radio 5 Live

Sport's Strangest Crimes

70 Listeners

Uncanny by BBC Radio 4

Uncanny

752 Listeners

Dua Lipa: At Your Service by BBC Sounds

Dua Lipa: At Your Service

1,005 Listeners

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley by BBC Radio 4

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

536 Listeners

Powerplay by BBC Radio 5 Live

Powerplay

5 Listeners

Believe in Magic by BBC Sounds

Believe in Magic

604 Listeners

Uncharted with Hannah Fry by BBC Radio 4

Uncharted with Hannah Fry

118 Listeners

The Global Story by BBC World Service

The Global Story

169 Listeners

Miss Me? by BBC Sounds

Miss Me?

276 Listeners

The History Podcast by BBC Radio 4

The History Podcast

26 Listeners