Living Planet: Environment Matters Around the Globe

Play Now -->

DATE : Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:30:00 GMT
Entered in Database : 2009-10-15 16:30:00
length : 14577150
Link to the Show / Show Notes

Swiss tackle threat posed by glacial lakes, unlocking the wonders of the African miracle tree, hormone-free beef in Europe and climate campaigners go to camp.

You can download the show or subscribe to Living Planet as a podcast. Click on the links below for the individual reports.

As climate change causes glaciers around the world to melt, a new threat to those living in their shadows has emerged. Unstable glacial lakes are forming high in the mountains, potentially putting those who live in the valleys below in grave danger.

All over the world glaciers are melting as a result of climate change. This is bad on many levels, but the most pressing comes in the form of glacial lakes that build up behind thin walls of ice. Switzerland has begun to fight back against these potentially catastrophic side affects of glacial melt by developing some very impressive management systems.

One of the best examples of this can be seen at the Grindelwald Glacier, one of the fastest melting glaciers in the Alps. The Swiss are hoping that with a bit of money and some scientific knowhow, they will be able to get ahead of these catastrophes and stop them before they happen.

Report: Claudia Witte/Eva Wutke

Plants are pretty predictable. They grow when there is water and they lie dormant when there isn't. But there is a tree that defies this cycle and the benefits it provides because of this could have a magical effect on arid landscapes the world over.

Since 1970 the number of people on the African continent has doubled. At the same time, the quality of the soil has continued to decline, the deserts have spread further and further, and the meager revenue from the fields is often no longer enough to support the families who care for them. It sounds hopeless, but nature has an answer. A tree that costs almost nothing, enriches the ground with free fertilizer, and provides much needed shade and feed for cattle during the dry season.

Report: Helle Jeppesen/Ellice Mol

Europeans are particularly proud of their cuisine, and for many of them the source of that pride begins on the farm.

The United States and the European Union have recently settled one of their longest running trade disputes over US, hormone-treated beef. After two decades, the EU is still refusing to import hormone-treated American beef, but it has agreed to quadruple its import quotas for non-treated US beef. So just why won’t Europeans eat beef treated with hormones?

Report: Eleanor Beardsley

Living Planet visits a camp where the focus is on climate change and carbon emissions instead of sing-alongs and campfires

There are less than two months to go before the Copenhagen Climate Summit, where leaders from all over the world will come together to hammer out an agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol. There has been a lot of talk about what industries and governments need to do to cut CO2 emissions and make the climate better, but what about individuals? Where can the average person learn about what it takes to be a climate campaigner?

Report: Andy Valvur

Play in your Iphone