THIS week a new podcast launched in Edinburgh, highlighting the work of Scotland’s scientists and researchers.
The SAGES (Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society) Climate Science Podcast consists of 11 episodes and addresses environmental issues facing Scotland, such as blue carbon, peatlands, flooding, technology, and environmental justice.
The podcast is hosted by an award-winning climate activist and environmental scientist Laura Young and aims to address climate change and what is done in Scotland for it.
During the launch, four scientists, who spoke in the episodes, explained their contribution to the podcast and their research from glaciologists to climate experts.
One interconnected planet
ONE of them was Dr TJ Young, who explores the role of frozen environments like Greenland’s glaciers and Antarctica’s "Doomsday Glacier" shedding light on their significance for the global climate, in episode three.
“Right now, we don’t have snow and ice all year round but if we think about what happened in Scotland in the past hundred of thousands of years, Scotland used to be covered in hundreds of meters of ice… that shaped the beauty of Scotland,” he said.
He explained that past events can be used to understand what is happening in the present crisis as ice sheets and glaciers are melting all over the world.
These glaciers melting will cause the sea level to rise in Scotland, he said.
She shared her experience of visiting Antarctica for research, where she witnessed firsthand some of the changes linked with climate change.
According to Wade, these "iconic landscapes" are interconnected with the planet, meaning what happens in Scotland can directly affect Antarctica and other parts of the world.
For instance, carbon emissions released in Scotland could contribute to the melting of ice in Antarctica.
“One of the things we talked about in episode two, was the fact that we got these global processes that whether we like it or not, we are experiencing them every day in our neighbourhoods or when we walk outside,” said Wade.
“The actions that we take here in Scotland, even if we don’t feel like we are feeling climate change, are having an impact on Antarctica and other side of the planet. It is a connected planet.
“Our global processes are interconnected,” she explained
“What happens in Antarctica, does not stay in Antarctica. What happens in Scotland impacts Antarctica.
“Every single one of us has a role to play however large or small in terms of trying to take action for the health of the planet because the real takeaway is if we look after the planet it will look after us and it is our only home.”
The podcast also delves deeper into the impacts of climate change, with Professor Sue Dawson discussing coastal erosion, storms, and nature-based solutions for adapting to these changing environments in an episode that spans from Montrose to Orkney.
Young hopes the podcast will inspire people to take action, whether that means having a conversation with others, engaging with their community, or reflecting on how they can become more climate-resilient by examining their lifestyles and the areas they live in.
“[I hope] it will pick people's interest to explore what climate means for Scotland weather that’s with soil, peat, coast or flooding."
“There are a lot of themes we did not speak about,” said Young, but she mentioned that they focused on some of the most pressing issues, such as the impacts of Storm Babet in Scotland, including flooding, and other concerns such as crumbled coastlines, glaciers, and ice, “even though we don’t have them in Scotland”.
The Podcast was created by the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES) and funded by the Scottish Government’s Climate Engagement Fund 2024/2025.
