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Counting the Earth

Counting the Earth

By: Counting the Earth
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Sue Nelson and Alice Hope explore the numbers behind nature and pick apart the jargon and misinformation surrounding climate, the environment and biodiversity. Each month, they start with a number and investigate what it really means. From net zero to hedgerows, worms to water, Sue and Alice aren’t afraid to get their feet muddy in the quest for facts.
Producer: Rachael Buchanan
A Boffin Media production for the UK Centre for Ecology & HydrologyUK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Natural History Nature & Ecology Science
Episodes
  • 19: Unpacking Oil Palm: 80 million

    19: Unpacking Oil Palm: 80 million
    Mar 31 2026

    From chocolate and shampoo to food, palm oil can be found in a range of packaged goods on the supermarket shelves and is used throughout industry. Its versatility makes it difficult to replace yet its production remains controversial due to high greenhouse gas emissions, the extensive deforestation carried out in Southeast Asia in the 1990s to make way for oil palm plantations, and habitat loss for a range of endangered species. So how can the oil palm industry become more sustainable? In this episode Alice Hope and Sue Nelson visit the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to meet palm house manager Will Spoelstra, who offers insight into the plant.

    UKCEH scientists Dr Julia Drewer and Professor Niall McNamara share insights from their research in Malaysia to improve soil quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Plus Sue and Alice hear from the Malaysian partners in that research – Dr Reza Azmi from the Social Enterprise Wild Asia - about how this trial is helping small-scale producers adopt more sustainable practices to support livelihoods and the environment. Finally the conversation shifts to Africa, where the oil palm originated from, as Dr Nick Cowan explains how lessons learned in Asia are being applied to new regions.

    Hosts: Sue Nelson and Alice Hope

    Producer: Rachael Buchanan

    Counting the Earth is a Boffin Media Production for the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

    Find out more:

    Building a sustainable future for oil palm in West Africa

    Wild Asia


    Innovations in Practice : The Pathway to Nature-Positive, Low-Carbon Palm Oil


    Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil
    WWF Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard
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    48 mins
  • 18: Whiplash weather: 90

    18: Whiplash weather: 90
    Feb 10 2026

    Let’s talk drought. Yes, that’s right, drought! Our weather is experiencing extremes - from flooding to drought - so Alice and Sue delve into this whiplash weather with UKCEH senior hydrologist Lucy Barker. With the latest Hydrological Summary showing that January has been much wetter than average, they explore whether that is enough to replenish water reserves following the extended drought in 2025.

    Alice and Sue also catch up with UKCEH micro-meteorologist Dr Jon Evans at a COSMOS-UK field site at Chimney Meadows Nature Reserve in Oxfordshire, one of 39 sites which make up a national soil moisture monitoring network that’s literally out of this world. Soil moisture is just one measure alongside rainfall, river flows, groundwater data that UKCEH gathers in partnership with others to produce monthly hydrological summaries – an essential tool for environmental regulators, government agencies, water companies, researchers and farmers.

    Hosts: Sue Nelson and Alice Hope

    Producer: Rachael Buchanan

    Counting the Earth is a Boffin Media Production for the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

    Find out more:
    Hydrological Summary
    UK Water Resources Portal brings together all the data from the Hydrological Summaries – including COSMOS-UK – in near real time.
    COSMOS UK
    Floods and Droughts Research Infrastructure (FDRI)
    Water UK’s Waters Worth Saving page.

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    39 mins
  • 17: The Burning Issue: 3.7 million

    17: The Burning Issue: 3.7 million
    Oct 16 2025
    Wildfires are evolving. Around the world they are becoming bigger, burning hotter, and harder to control with devastating impacts on humans, the economy and the environment. In this episode, Alice and Sue talk to UKCEH wildfire scientist Dr Douglas Kelley who outlines the causes of this change, drawing on examples from California and the Pantanal, the worlds’ largest tropical wetland.
    Closer to home, it has been a record year for wildfires in the UK. Alice catches up with Station Commander and Wildfire Tactical Adviser Andy Elliott from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service. They visit Holt Heath National Nature Reserve in Dorset, the site of a fierce large scale blaze in August. Andy reveals that, due to the fire’s intensity, the lowland heath landscape may take up to 30 years to recover.

    Hosts: Sue Nelson and Alice Hope

    Producer: Rachael Buchanan

    Counting the Earth is a Boffin Media Production for the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

    Find out more:

    UKCEH press release on the State of Wildfires report.

    The State of Wildfires project, including the latest report. The State of Wildfires project is co-led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, University of East Anglia, the Met Office and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

    The National Fire Chiefs Council Wildfire Aware campaign.
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    39 mins
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