About this episode
The episode discusses the upcoming El Niño phenomenon and its potential impacts, alongside insights into ancient marine life and current environmental issues.
With 2023’s El Niño – a recurring pattern of extreme weather across the pacific basin - still leaving a bad taste in people's mouth, 2026 sees an El Niño stirring in the Pacific Ocean and there are warnings that this will be one of the strongest yet. Roland Pease speaks with Amanda Maycock, a climatologist from Leeds University, to discuss what this climate phenomenon is and how it will impact the world from October to early next year. He also hears from Scott Evans from the American Museum of Natural History, who has been exploring the Mackenzie mountains of Canada’s Northwest Territory to better understand the biology and ecology of life on earth before anything we might recognize - from the Ediacara era. This was before the explosion of different animal types with hard shells and bones in the later, Cambrian, time. In certain places around the world, much older rocks from the ancient ocean floor reveal an ecosystem abounding with soft, squidgy animal wierdness. In Canada Scott has found a new trove of these fossils, but from far deeper below the surface of those ancient seas. Did animal life begin deep in the darkest depths rather than paddling in pools nearer the land? Today…
People in this episode
Host: Roland Pease
Guests: Amanda Maycock, Scott Evans
Topics covered
- El Niño
- climate change
- paleontology
- fossils
- marine biology
- environmental impact
Keywords
- El Niño
- climatology
- fossils
- marine ecosystems
- environmental destruction
- paleobiology
- Cambrian explosion
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Leeds University, American Museum of Natural History, Institute for the
Places: Mackenzie mountains, Canada, Northwest Territory
More episodes of BBC Inside Science
- How do you build an unbuildable tower? · June 11, 2026 · 26 min
- How is AI going to change science? · June 4, 2026 · 26 min
- Plankton's untapped potential · May 28, 2026 · 26 min
- The science behind hantavirus · May 14, 2026 · 26 min
- Should Pluto become a planet again? · May 7, 2026 · 26 min
- Why is Europe the fastest-warming continent? · April 30, 2026 · 26 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the BBC Inside Science podcast page.