Rare Earth2 Aug 2024

How to Floodproof A City

Tom Heap and Helen Czerski meet the people with fresh ideas to combat rising sea levels, from Enfield to Indonesia.

Average sea levels across the world are rising fast. That puts 570 cities with a combined population of 800 million people at significant threat of inundation. Add in the impact of extreme rainfall events and you have a huge slice of our urban planet that needs protection from flooding. Tom and Helen are joined by Professor Richard Dawson of Newcastle University who considers the engineering solutions available, from huge chunks of concrete and steel to the clever use of parks and gardens that can slow down the flow of water into the streets.

Emma Howard Boyd, former chair of the Environment Agency, tells them about her London Climate Resilience Review which shines a light on the urgent need to raise the city's embankments and suggests some quirkier options. Could the 160,000 large holes that are dug ever year in London be repurposed as emergency water buffers?

Helen visits New Orleans, 19 years after one of the world's most disastrous urban floods, to meet Dana Eness who leads the Front Yard Initiative which helps city residents floodproof their homes with native flower gardens and rainwater butts. And journalist, Peter Hadfield, discusses his visit to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia that's sinking fast. There are ambitious plans for new sea defences linked by artificial Dubai-style luxury islands, but the national government has decided to abandon the city in favour of a new capital over 1000km away.

Producer: Alasdair Cross

Assistant Producer: Toby Field

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(66)

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's the person quietly sketchin...

14 Aug 52min

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, rivers and streams, this is ...

27 Juni 52min

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 spent the last few years trav...

19 Juni 53min

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 temperatures on the planet.David Shukman...

12 Juni 52min

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 panel of amphibi-fans to celebrat...

5 Juni 52min

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 panel of experts: Josh Gabbatiss f...

30 Maj 52min

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 pollinators, and dig into how po...

22 Maj 52min

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 whole living world of its own. A...

3 Apr 52min