Our Broken Planet

Surveys show that most of us are really worried about climate change and we want something to be done. But what?

This series, we've explored many ways in which nature is changing in response to human activity and the dangers posed to people and planet as a result. In this final episode, Tori and Khalil explore how people are taking action in the face of the planetary emergency. Along the way, you'll find out:

• When has activism been effective?
• How do scientists feel about climate change?
• One thing everyone can do to start making a positive change

Contributors:

• Dr Erica McAlister - Senior Curator for Diptera and Siphonaptera (flies and fleas) at the Natural History Museum
• Professor Tristram Wyatt - Senior research fellow in the Department of Biology at the University of Oxford and Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research at UCL
• The Tyre Extinguishers - A nameless group who deflate the tyres of SUVs in criminal acts of protest
• Alessandra Korap Munduruku - Member of the Munduruku group of Sawré Muybu, an indigenous territory in northern Brazil, and President of the Pariri Indigenous Association
• Dr Rim Saab - Social psychology lecturer at the University of Sussex, who specialises in the psychology of political action

Have your say:

Join the conversation on social media using #OurBrokenPlanet and tag us:

Instagram: @natural_history_museum
Twitter: @NHM_London
TikTok: @its_NHM

Learn more about how you can take action for nature and find additional resources at www.nhm.ac.uk/podcast

A more sustainable future lies within reach. One where human societies are powered by wind and solar energy, leaving behind dirty, climate-changing fossil fuels in the past. Sounds good right?  

But with many tonnes of rare earth metals needed to manufacture just one wind turbine, switching to this greener way of life likely means more mining – and lots of it – at least in the short term. But where and how could we get these metals while causing the least possible harm to people and planet? 

Khalil meets scientists and campaigners to find out: 

• Why are some people so interested in mining the deep sea?  
• What lives on the ocean floor and what would happen to it if mining got the green light? 
• How can science help reverse the long-term damage caused by mining? 

Contributors: 

• Richard Herrington, research lead for resourcing the green economy at the Natural History Museum 
• Adrian Glover, Natural History Museum Merit Researcher specialising in deep-sea biodiversity 
• Louisa Casson, Global Project Leader for Greenpeace's Stop Deep Sea Mining campaign 

Have your say: 

Join the conversation on social media using #OurBrokenPlanet and tag us: 

Instagram: @natural_history_museum 

Twitter: @NHM_London 

TikTok: @its_NHM 

Learn more about how you can take action for nature and find additional resources at www.nhm.ac.uk/podcast

Nigeria has some of the highest levels of unhealthy air across the African continent – a leading cause of inflammatory illness and premature death. Could its huge and growing cohort of young people have the solution?

Tori & Khalil head to the “Giant of Africa” to find out how one of the world’s fastest growing nations – by economy and population – is dealing with rapidly accelerating energy demand and what might happen next.

Join us and find out

• What’s the cause of Nigeria’s dangerous air pollution – and what can be done about it?
• How can African countries avoid some of the environmental mis-steps made by more industrialised nations? 
• What can Lagos teach us about building greener, more liveable megacities of the future?

Contributors

• Dr Rose Alani, head of the Air Quality Monitoring Research Group at the University of Lagos
• Oludayo Yusuf, Consulting Embryologist at Origene Health Services in Lagos
• Joshua Gabriel Oluwaseyi, environmental activist and founder of LearnBlue
• Dr Mofoluso Fagbeja, air quality specialist and co-author of the World Bank-funded report Development of an Air Quality Management Plan for Lagos
• Desmond Appiah, country lead for The Clean Air Fund in Ghana

Have your say:

Join the conversation on social media using #OurBrokenPlanet and tag us:

Instagram: @natural_history_museum

Twitter: @NHM_London

TikTok: @its_NHM

Learn more about how you can take action for nature and find additional resources at www.nhm.ac.uk/podcast

As modern human societies have tried to dominate and organise nature, we have been interacting with other species in some dangerous ways. From encroaching on the territory of wild creatures, to industrially farming other species in unnaturally cramped conditions, human actions are increasing the likelihood of animal nasties jumping the species barrier to infect us.

Tori & Khalil ask whether our extractive relationship with nature could be making us sick and what we can do about it. Along the way, you’ll find out:

• Why are bats so full of viruses?
•   Could the next pandemic start on a factory farm?
• Which single behaviour has an outsized impact on helping keep nature healthy?

Contributors:

·       Dr Emilia Skirmuntt, Evolutionary virologist with the Oxford Vaccine Group, Oxford University. 

·       Dr Rajib Ausraful Islam, Veterinary researcher with the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh 

·       Pak Warman, fisherman and local bat protector with the Alliance for Tompotika Conservation, based in Sulawesi, Indonesia

·       Dr David Redding, Biodiversity and health research lead at the Natural History Museum

·       Ed Winters (AKA Earthling Ed), vegan educator and co-founder of Surge Activism

Have your say:

Join the conversation on social media using #OurBrokenPlanet and tag us:
Instagram: @natural_history_museum
Twitter: @NHM_London
TikTok: @its_NHM

Learn more about how you can take action for nature and find additional resources at www.nhm.ac.uk/podcast

What’s brainless, heartless, eyeless and thrives in a warming ocean? Hint: it’s wobbly and it could be coming to a dinner plate near you.

Tori & Khalil investigate the effects of rising sea temperatures, from changing food sources to the perilous state of coral reefs – home to one quarter of all marine species. They’re joined by scientists and campaigners to help explain the changes we’re seeing and how we can help nature and humanity adjust. Join us and find out:

• What happens to animals living in a more acidic sea?
• How do you regrow a coral reef?
• Will we all be eating jellyfish soon?

Contributors

Sanne Tuijten, marine biologist with the Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire

Dr Sebastian Hennige from the University of Edinburgh

Dr Lucas Brotz, from the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia

John Hourston, founder of the Blue Planet Society

Megan Randles, global political lead for Greenpeace’s Protect the Oceans campaign

Have your say

Join the conversation on social media using #OurBrokenPlanet and tag us:
Instagram: @natural_history_museum
Twitter: @NHM_London
TikTok: @its_NHM

Learn more about how you can take action for nature and find additional resources at www.nhm.ac.uk/podcast

Breathe in. Breathe out. The oxygen flowing through your body is the result of photosynthesis: the natural process through which living things convert sunlight into energy. About 30% of land-based photosynthesis happens in tropical rainforests: the lungs of the earth. Rainforests are also great at sucking up excess carbon from the atmosphere- something we know we’ve got to do more of.

But in recent years, these lungs have been getting constricted: shrinking in size and choked up with smoke. So grab your mosquito net and join Tori & Khalil on a trip through the tropics to find out what's going on - and how we can help rainforests breathe deeply again.

Contributors:
Mardi Minangsari - Campaigner with Indonesian conservation group Kaoem Telapak
Dr Helena Varkey - Professor of Environmental Politics, Universiti Malaya
Dr Thomas Smith - Geographer and environmental scientist, London School of Economics
Dr Michael Pashkevich, Marshall Sherfield Fellow, University of Cambridge
Dr Rico Fischer, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ Leipzig

Have your say:
Join the conversation on social media using #OurBrokenPlanet and tag us:
Instagram: @natural_history_museum
Twitter: @NHM_London
TikTok: @its_NHM

Learn more about how you can take action for nature and find additional resources at www.nhm.ac.uk/podcast

We all know that plastic isn't great for our planet. But how much do scientists really know about how it's affecting nature - including our own species?

Tori and Khalil try to get their noodles around 'nurdles', the tiny plastic pellets that are used to manufacture all manner of everyday objects, discovering that millions are ending up in our oceans, with unknown long-term consequences. Plus, join Natural History Museum researcher Alex Bond on Lord Howe Island, a remote paradise in the Tasman sea and mecca for nesting seabirds, where chicks are falling prey to an ominous new disease: plasticosis.

You'll find out:

-What caused Sri Lanka's worst maritime disaster?
-How much do we know about how microplastics affect human health?
-Can we get to a global agreement on ending plastic pollution?

Contributors:

Instagram: @natural_history_museum
Twitter: @NHM_London
TikTok: @its_NHM 

Learn more about how you can take action for nature and find additional resources at www.nhm.ac.uk/podcast

Resources for this episode: 

The chicks choking on a toxic diet of ocean plastic https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/the-chicks-choking-on-a-toxic-diet-of-ocean-plastic.html

Plastic diet could be causing seabird chicks to shrink https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/march/plastic-diet-could-be-causing-seabird-chicks-to-shrink.html

Plasticosis: a new disease caused by plastic that is affecting seabirds https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/march/plasticosis-new-disease-caused-by-plastic-affecting-seabirds.html

Ocean plastic is changing the blood chemistry of seabirds https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2019/july/ocean-plastic-is-changing-the-blood-chemistry-of-seabirds.html

What is a glacier? And what happens when they melt?

Glacier ice is the world’s largest freshwater reservoir. About 1 in 5 people depend on them as their main source of drinking water, as do countless animals and plants. As they melt, it's a boom time for nature, with plenty of water to go around. But what happens if glaciers disappear completely and the water stops flowing ?

To investigate the past and present impact of glaciers, and what they mean for the nature, culture and communities that depend on them, Tori and Khalil meet with trusted scientists, artists and activists, from Austria to Pakistan.

Along the way, we'll find out:
-How did a glacier carve Britain into an island?
-What's a GLOF and why are they so dangerous?
-How did one man stop a glacier being levelled for a ski resort?

Contributors:

• Bethan Davies - Glaciologist from Newcastle University

• Duncan Quincey - Professor of Glaciology

• Gabriel Wolken - Cryosphere researcher

• Saba Khan - Pakistani artist

• Matteo Spagnolo - Professor of geography, University of Aberdeen

• Gerd Estermann - Retired teacher-turned-activist from Austria

Wildlife crime affects us all. Illegal trade happens in every corner of the planet, and its effects can be catastrophic for some animals and plants. But the tragedy goes beyond the loss of single species. It's clear our relationship with nature needs to change.

Learn more about what you can do to protect nature at nhm.ac.uk/wildcrimes.

In the aftermath of wildlife crime, victims can pile up quickly. In this episode of Wild Crimes, we examine the fallout of southern white rhino poaching.

One of the victims is clear - the white rhino - but others can go unremarked on. However, dung beetles and tiny rhino botflies are suffering too. Rhinos are considered a keystone species, because their existence helps sculpt and shape landscapes and ecosystems.

When they are killed by poachers, all sorts of knock-on effects are triggered. Why is the protection of creatures like the rhino so important? How does the loss of keystone species affect an ecosystem, and why are we humans often overlooking the repercussions?

Join the discussion with Rebecca Drury, Head of Wildlife Trade for Flora and Fauna International and the Natural History Museum’s Dr Erica McAlister and Max Barclay.

To learn more about the hidden victims of wildlife crime and support the Natural History Museum’s work, visit nhm.ac.uk/wildcrimes

Bushmeat, meat from wild animals, is an important source of protein for communities across the world.

But in some parts of the globe it has become an illegal or luxury item - and that's posing a problem, threatening ecosystems and human health simultaneously.

Five million tonnes of wild meat is extracted annually from the Congo basin, including critically endangered primates. Demand for meat from this part of the world is becoming unsustainable, with protected species often caught between hunters and their prey.

In this episode of Wild Crimes, join us for a in-depth discussion on how our food systems affect human health. With thanks to Prof Ben Garrod, the Museum's Dr Natalie Cooper, Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) in Uganda and researcher Sandrella Morrison-Lanjouw.

The UK's birds of prey regularly fall victim to criminal behaviour, with dozens found poisoned, trapped and shot every single year.

There are 15 raptor species native to the UK, with varying conservation statuses. Some of them are severely threatened, so every lost bird becomes a threat to the survival of the species. That means raptor persecution is a big problem.

Killing protected birds is a crime, but it goes on across the entirety of the UK. In this episode of Wild Crimes, we're finding out why are people risking jail time to kill raptors. How can we protect our birds of prey? And why is this issue so divisive?

Find out with Museum curator Dr Joanne Cooper, RSPB Investigations Liaison Officer Jenny Shelton, Dr Roger Draycott of the GWCT, landowner Dee Ward, author Alan Stewart, and criminology graduate Ellen Burnside.

In 2020, the most expensive dinosaur fossil ever sold was acquired by a private investor for £24.7m. Anybody with money can now get their hands on a T.rex or Stegosaurus - and when big fossils come with million dollar price tags, breaking the law can be lucrative busineess.

In this episode of Wild Crimes, find out why the commercial trade in dinosaur fossils is such a big issue for science.

Join Museum palaeontologists Dr Susie Maidment and Professor Paul Barrett, Professor John Long of Flinders University in South Australia and Dr Bolortsetseg Minjin at the Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs.

Learn more about dinosaurs and support the Natural History Museum's work at nhm.ac.uk/wildcrimes.

Billions of orchids are bought and sold around the world every year. Most of this trade is legal and made up of artificially grown flowers. However, alongside the regulated trade, thousands of orchids are illegally harvested from the wild - and it's causing big problems for some of the most coveted species.

In this episode of Wild Crimes, we'll find out why no other plant has captured our imagination quite like orchids, and learn about how we can better protect them.

Discover more with the Museum's Dr Sandy Knapp, Dr Jacob Phelps of Lancaster University, Dr David Roberts of the University of Kent, Dr Amy Hinsley at the University of Oxford, botanist Dr Tatiana Arias and collector Juan Felipe Posada.

Learn more about the illegal wildlife trade and support the Natural History Museum's work at nhm.ac.uk/wildcrimes.

Elephants are the poster child for the illegal wildlife trade. It is estimated that on average, 55 African elephants per day are killed for their ivory tusks.

Humans have coveted ivory for thousands of years, and demand eventually pushed elephants to the brink. International trade in their tusks is now banned, but a new product on the global market could be fuelling the flames for elephants: mammoth tusks.

In this episode of Wild Crimes, we'll find out how the trade in the tusks of extinct mammoths is influencing demand for elephant ivory. Are mammoths providing their living relatives with a lifeline, or are their tusks doing more harm than good?

Discover more with Museum Research Leader Prof Adrian Lister, Valery Plotnikov from the Academy of Sciences of Yakutia, trade investigator Lucy Vigne and ivory trade research specialist Linda Chou.

Learn more about mammoths, elephants and the illegal wildlife crime and support the Natural History Museum’s work at nhm.ac.uk/wildcrimes.

Europe is at the centre of an illegal wildlife trade operation worth billions of pounds.

Gangs are thought to be smuggling up to 350 million live eels from Europe and shipping them to Asia every single year. Once at their destination, the young eels are farmed to full size and redistributed across the world. But why is the European eel such a valuable commodity? Why has the trade of glass eels been made illegal? And what effect is this having on the species?

Dive in with ZSL’s Dr Matthew Gollock, eel researcher Kenzo Kaifu, wildlife trade analyst Hiromi Shrirashi, counter-trafficking advisor Grant Miller and the Sustainable Eel Group’s Florian Stein.

To support the Natural History Museum’s work, visit nhm.ac.uk/wildcrimes

The global trade in exotic pets sees wild animals illegally caught and distributed around the world. Animals are often forced to trade in their homes in tropical jungles for cramped living quarters in towns and cities.

In this episode of Wild Crimes we explore reptile smuggling in Tanzania, a country with a diverse range of magnificent animals, endemic to only tiny pockets of rainforest. Tanzania has had a blanket ban on all wildlife exports since 2016, but yet a range of reptiles - chameleons, snakes and geckos - have still found their way out of the country smuggled in luggage, wrapped up in socks or shoved inside plastic containers. They are destined for private collections, thousands of miles away from home.

But why are reptiles traders turning to the black market, what pressure is this putting on chameleon species, and is there anything we can do about it? Join us as we chat to co-director of PAMS Michele Menegon, Tanzanian reptile researcher John Lyrukura, YouTuber and chameleon owner Megan Margot and the Natural History Museum’s Dr. Simon Loader.

To learn more about the illegal trade of reptiles and to support the Natural History Museum’s work, visit nhm.ac.uk/wildcrimes