About this episode
Hannah and Dara explore the implications of Earth having no axial tilt and its effects on climate and life.
Could you survive an eternal winter? Or is endless summer sun a more appealing prospect? Lots of us are grateful for the seasonal changes that shape the world around us, but this week Hannah and Dara are asking what life would look like without the axial tilt that brings each hemisphere closer and further away from the sun as the seasons change each year. Listener Andrew from Melbourne wants to know what would happen if the planet stood perfectly upright, no lean, no tilt, no seasons. But what else could happen? Is Earth’s 23-degree slant the cosmic fluke that made life possible? To find out, Hannah and explore how losing the tilt reshapes climate, ecosystems, evolution and maybe even the fate of the dinosaurs. You can send your everyday mysteries for the team to investigate to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk Contributors Dr Robin Smith - Climate modelling researcher at the University of Reading Professor Rebecca Kilner - Evolutionary Biologist and Head of the Department of Zoology at Cambridge Professor Amaury Triaud - Professor of Exoplanetology at the University of Birmingham Aidan McGivern - Meteorologist and Senior weather presenter at the MET Office Producer: Emily Bird Executive…
People in this episode
Hosts: Hannah, Dara
Guests: Dr Robin Smith, Professor Rebecca Kilner, Professor Amaury Triaud, Aidan McGivern
Topics covered
- climate change
- ecosystems
- evolution
- seasons
- planetary science
Keywords
- axial tilt
- eternal winter
- endless summer
- climate modeling
- evolutionary biology
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Reading, Department of Zoology at Cambridge, University of Birmingham, MET Office, BBC Studios, BBC Radio 4
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