Silencing with Noise

05/05/20 • 27 min

Sound is what the world does. From the tiniest bugs to the largest whales, animals use sound to communicate, for example, they sing to attract a mate and establish a territory. But this is all happening against a background of man-made noise that was, until the last few weeks, increasing in volume all the time. So what happens if you can’t hear or make yourself heard or you are too stressed or distracted to behave normally? Andy Radford, Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the University of Bristol explores the impact of this global pollutant and the mitigation measures that could help.

Producer: Sarah Blunt

Producer: Sarah Blunt

Previous Episode

Zero Carbon Britain

In June last year the UK government committed us all to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. To reach that ambitious target we're going to have to change the way we travel, heat our homes and farm our food. Tom Heap is joined by an expert panel to measure our progress and gauge our chances of reaching net zero.

Tom's joined by physicist Helen Czerski of University College London, James Murray, editor of Business Green and the author of Our Final Warning, Mark Lynas.

Producer: Alasdair Cross

Next Episode

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A decade ago, many people saw carbon offsetting as an excuse for carrying on bad behaviour. Need to fly? I can still fly ... look at me - I'm not so bad after all. And the critics lined up to shoot it down. So what has changed, asks Tom Heap, and is it something we should all be doing? With contributions from Juliet Davenport of Good Energy, Charlotte Ashton in Zimbabwe, Tim Brown of Tradewater, Mike Childs from Friends of the Earth and Professor Julia Jones who tells us about her experience of conservation projects in Madagascar.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde