logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2021
23m 43s

A Geochemical History of Life on Earth: ...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Justin looks at the period since the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs, which had seen a steadily cooling climate - until we humans turned up. What can the last 66 million years teach us about the likely consequences of climate change? And can our species make the next big evolutionary leap needed to tackle it? Adrian Lister of the Natural History Museum gives Justin a fossilised tour of how the Earth's fauna adapted to this changing climate.

Up next
Today
Ark of the dry lands
Researchers in Morocco are developing dry-land agriculture at ICARDA (the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas). It is home to a gene bank, in which around 150,000 different seed-types are kept in perfectly calibrated cold vaults, and duplicated to prot ... Show More
26m 29s
Yesterday
Bonus. World of Secrets: The Killing Call
Sidhu Moose Wala explodes onto the Canadian music scene. His sound is a fusion of two worlds - hip-hop with the poetic language of rural Punjab, where he is from. After years of struggle he is making it. But with the spotlight comes a dark side. As his fame grows, so do the threa ... Show More
35m 54s
Jul 8
Re-homing France’s immigrant workers
France’s last foyers – housing for immigrant workers – are set for demolition. But some current residents are worried about what they’ll lose. Hundreds of “foyers” - housing units especially for immigrant workers – were built after World War II. The economy was booming and France ... Show More
27m 11s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2022
World’s largest Jurassic pterosaur found on Skye
In a week of exciting fossils finds we get up close to a 170 million year old pterosaur, found on the Isle of Skye. And over in the States, some fossilised fish hold the clue to what time of year the dinosaurs, along with three quarters of life on Earth, met their end. We hear fr ... Show More
28m 56s
Dec 2020
Space Rocks, Aquatic Dinosaurs and Global Temperatures; 2020 science reviewed
Nobody could have failed to notice the one story dominating the science news this year - but what about the discoveries that have been overshadowed in 2020? This week, Dr Adam Rutherford eschews all mentions of the pandemic as he invites dinosaur researcher Dr Susie Maidment, cli ... Show More
32m 12s
Sep 2022
Can animals evolve to deal with climate change?
As climate change brings rising temperatures and shifting patterns of rainfall, animals are adapting to keep pace. Bird’s bodies are growing smaller, their wingspan longer, lizards are growing larger thumb pads to help them grip more tightly in hurricane strength winds, beak size ... Show More
27m 27s
Oct 2020
10 years to transform the future of humanity -- or destabilize the planet | Johan Rockström
"For the first time, we are forced to consider the real risk of destabilizing the entire planet," says climate impact scholar Johan Rockström. In a talk backed by vivid animations of the climate crisis, he shows how nine out of the 15 big biophysical systems that regulate the cli ... Show More
8m 18s
May 2020
Climat, migration et géopolitique - François Gemenne
François Gemenne est un chercheur en sciences politiques, rattaché à l’université de Liège. Il enseigne à Sciences Po Paris et à l’Université Libre de Bruxelles. Ses recherches sont essentiellement consacrées aux conséquences politique et sociales liés aux changements climatiques ... Show More
53m 17s
Mar 2022
La sixième extinction de masse a démarré
"Vivre et laisser vivre" : il semblerait bien que ce principe écologique soit de moins en moins respecté....À en croire certains spécialistes, nous serions effectivement entrés dans la sixième extinction de masse des espèces vivantes ! Le cycle de la vie Nous avons tendance à l'o ... Show More
2m 5s
Oct 2020
10 years to transform the future of humanity -- or destabilize the planet | Johan Rockström
“For the first time, we are forced to consider the real risk of destabilizing the entire planet,” says climate impact scholar Johan Rockström. In a talk backed by vivid animations of the climate crisis, he shows how nine out of 15 big biophysical systems that regulate the climate ... Show More
8m 18s
May 2022
Declining Data, Climate Deadlines and the Day the Dinosaurs Died
Covid-19 infections in the UK are at an all-time high. But most people in England can no longer access free Covid-19 tests, and the REACT-1 study, which has been testing more than 100,000 individuals since the pandemic began, ended last week after its funding stopped. Martin Mcke ... Show More
36m 14s
Mar 2022
The Life Scientific: Steve Brusatte on the fall of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals
Steve Brusatte analyses the pace of evolutionary change and tries to answer big questions. Why did the dinosaurs die out and the mammals survive? How did dinosaurs evolve into birds? If you met a Velociraptor today you’d probably mistake it for a large flightless bird, says Steve ... Show More
27m 24s
Jun 2024
Quel animal serait le dernier à survivre en cas de fin du monde ?
La Terre a déjà connu des épisodes tragiques, au cours desquels la vie a paru menacée. On se souvient ainsi de l'extinction des dinosaures, survenue voilà 65 millions d'années. Mais la crise du Permien-Trias, il y a environ 252 millions d'années, fut encore plus grave. Provoquée ... Show More
2m 4s