Daily: SAVING A PLANET ON FIRE – Climate change’s secret history

As the heatwave in the Pacific North West puts climate change into even sharper focus, it’s easy to feel powerless before the enormity of global warming. But should we? Do ordinary people have the tools to fix this? Climate campaigner Dr Alice Bell is the author of Our Biggest Experiment: A History of the Climate Crisis. She talks to Justin Quirk about the hidden story of climate science, how we’ve been ignoring climate warnings since the 1850s… and why you need to know about heat pumps, electric ships and electric planes.  “We’ve been left an almighty climate mess by our ancestors. But it doesn’t mean it’s a disaster and there’s nothing we can do.” “Renewable energy has outperformed even the most optimistic predictions – and that’s heartening.” “Frightening people doesn’t work. We have to think hard about when we use fear and when we use hope.” “All the big discoveries about climate science were already known in the 1970s. That’s when we knew we should be worried.”  Presented by Justin Quirk. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices