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Climate Change and Himalayan Stargazing

Geoff Watts reports on new research that suggests that the world鈥檚 current climates may disappear if global warming trends continue, while weather unlike any seen today would be created.

A Whole New Climate
When we talk of global warming, we tend to think of things as they are now, but a bit hotter. However, new research suggests that the world鈥檚 current climates may disappear if global warming trends continue, while weather unlike any seen today would be created. Professor Jack Williams of the University of Wisconsin explains.

A Mammal Family Tree
Kate Jones of the Zoological Society of London describes a new super-tree of mammalian evolution. This family tree throws doubt on the theory that the demise of the dinosaurs paved the way for the rise of mammals, suggesting that they evolved some 15 million years later.

Himalayan Stargazing
The Hanle Observatory is the world鈥檚 highest altitude telescope, four and a half thousand metres above sea level, in the Himalayan desert. Geoff reports from the observatory's control centre, miles away in Bangalore.

New Ideas for New Stars
Professor Gerry Gilmore of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge ponders the frustratingly slow development of our grasp of galactic evolution, while new galaxies are being discovered all the time.

A History of Plate Tectonics
Professor Minik Rosing from the University of Copenhagen explains why he and his colleagues think they can answer the question of when the movement of plate tectonics, which has shaped our continents, began. It's a question which has been fascinating geologists for years.

Available now

30 minutes

Broadcast

  • Thu 29 Mar 2007 21:00