Rare Earth

Tentacular: The Wonderful World of the Octopus

Cornish fishermen this summer have had their usual catch of lobster and crab replaced by voracious octopus. Restaurant menus have had to be wiped and rewritten across the

All In This Together

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap ask if nature is really red in tooth and claw. Is life all about survival of the fittest or are we all working together on a changing planet?

Andy's Green In-Tray

How will the environment be changed by an Andy Burnham government? As the new parliamentary session opens, Tom Heap and Helen Czerski leaf through the government in-tray

Volcano

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap investigate the environmental impact of volcanoes from prehistory to the present day, and find out about their cultural significance in art and

Drawing Our Future Homes

Who's the hero that will protect us from the impact of extreme heat, rain and whatever else climate change might throw at us in future? Forget someone in a cape, maybe it

The Sound of Water

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap discover how new technology lets us listen in to the extraordinary sounds of the planet's waterways. From the deepest ocean to the tributaries,

Into the Wild

Is there any true wilderness left on our planet? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski consider the fear and fascination of the wild. They're joined by the writer Cal Flyn who has s

Hotter Than Hell

How can Britain- and the world- prepare itself for extreme heat? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski hear from the experts and from the people facing up to the hottest temperature

Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog

Amphibians are the most threatened type of vertebrates on the planet since the dinosaurs- and some of the most fascinating. Tom Heap and Helen Czerski are joined by a pan

Leaving Fossil Fuels Behind

Is the conflict in Iran, with its knock-on effect on oil supplies, accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels? Tom Heap and Helen Czerski debate the issues with a pane

World of Flowers

Tom and Helen explore why the evolution of flowers created the world we know today, uncover some of the fascinating ways flowers use shape, colour and scent to bewitch po

The Joy of Soil

Beneath our feet is a world wide web that keeps us all alive. Estimated to be the origin of about 97% of the calories we eat, soil is fundamental to life. But it's a whol

Hot Sport

The 2026 World Cup is expected to be the most environmentally costly yet. But are there alternative models that provide sporting thrills without the carbon cost? Helen C

America and the Planet

President Trump has been very clear in his views on climate change but how much of his rhetoric will have real impacts on the environment in the US and worldwide? Tom Hea

Lakes, Lochs and Loughs

Plunge into the chilly embrace of the UK's lakes and you enter troubled waters. They're a place for recreation and an inspiration for our greatest poets but they're also

Should we still have zoos?

This year London Zoological Society marks its 200th anniversary. Established in 1826, today it has around 8000 animals and claims to be "the original scientific zoo". In

Ocean Explorers

150 years ago the British research ship Challenger returned from a three and a half year voyage that changed the world. Plucking species from every ocean, at depths never

Love of a Cold Climate

What does the arrival of winter mean for plants and animals? In this programme Tom Heap and Helen Czerski find out how wildlife survives the freezing temperatures and sho

City Transport: Faster, Cheaper, Greener

How we get around town has never been more political, with controversies over low traffic neighbourhoods and 15 minute cities, and rows about congestion charging and publ

Hiding in Plain Sight

We tend to think of wildlife as something which exists in the countryside or in nature reserves, but in fact there are plenty of plants and animals which thrive in an urb