With flood and storm damage frequently hitting the headlines, climate change is a hot topic. This week, two BBC Wales-produced programmes on S4C discuss this burning issue, with BBC Radio Cymru also joining in the discussion.
It appears that fierce storms are becoming more common and that sea levels are rising. In O Flaen Dy Lygaid: Dyfroedd Dyfnion, BBC Wales’ Rural Affairs and Sustainability Correspondent, Iolo ap Dafydd, takes a look at what this means for Wales and those living in areas which could be affected by adverse weather conditions. Viewers will hear from experts and people who are planning now for the situation in years to come.
"It’s a sobering thought that climate change is not a problem which will affect us a hundred or two hundred years down the line," says Iolo ap Dafydd. "It’s much more imminent and much more wide-ranging than we appreciate. Making this programme has been an eye-opener for me - and frightening too – both as a father to two girls and as a journalist. It makes me ask why we aren’t doing more now?"
Iolo and the team followed scientists from Wales to Scotland and Greenland.
"I think that flying over the Greenland ice sheet, which stretches hundreds of miles over the land, shook me the most," says Iolo, "both because of its size and because there is so much water on the surface of the ice. For me, the fact that the melting process is happening so quickly is direct evidence that the temperature is rising in this part of the world. The midday sun is very warm - even this far north."
On Thursday, 4 December, S4C broadcasts a special edition of BBC Wales’ debate programme Pawb a’i Farn, live from the National Botanic Gardens in Llanarthne, where climate change will again be the discussion topic. For the first time in the programme’s history, it will join forces with BBC Radio Cymru, joining the Welsh-language radio station live during a special late broadcast of discussion show, Taro’r Post, on the youth service, C2.
Dewi Llwyd will chair the discussion in the Botanic Gardens with the audience including environmental experts. On the panel will be naturalist and TV presenter Iolo Williams, Anglesey MP Albert Owen (Labour), Llywelyn Rhys from the British Wind Energy Association and Dr Einir Young, Head of Sustainable Development, University of Wales, Bangor.
On BBC Radio Cymru, Taro’r Post presenter Dylan Jones will follow the discussion and encourage listeners to phone in with their response and contribute to the TV broadcast. "The environment is a topic of concern for everyone, with the younger generation often leading the way," says Geraint Lewis Jones, Editor of Welsh-language Current Affairs at BBC Wales. "That’s why it makes perfect sense to ask younger listeners of Radio Cymru’s evening slot, C2, to join in the Pawb a’i Farn discussion."
These broadcasts are part of a year of Green programming on S4C, dealing with environmental issues.
© 2008 S4C
O Gymru / Made in Wales