david shukman in glasgow, thank you.n the bbc news website and app at bbc.co.uk. and app at bbc.co.uk/news. prince harry has carried out his first royal engagement since he and his wife meghan announced last week that they would be "stepping back" from their roles as senior royals. prince harry hosted the draw for next year's rugby league world cup at buckingham palace. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has more. was this harry's way of saying farewell? the music the stone roses and a song that includes the lyrics, i would like to leave the country for a month of sundays. he was at buckingham palace. in the palace gardens, he has been in his element, talking to young people about sport, by, talking to young people about sport, rugby, to be precise. and those who we re rugby, to be precise. and those who were with harry said he was relaxed, authentic and engaged. but you didn't need to be told that, you could see it in his face and actions. reporters tried to ask questions about his future. unsurprisingly, they we

david shukman, bbc news. vid talked there about the wildfires that have devastated parts of australia. hundreds are still burning, mainly across the south—east of the country, where the authorities are desperately trying to prevent them from spreading further. there are at least eight weeks of the bushfire season still ahead. clive myrie joined weeks of the bushfire season still ahead. clive myriejoined one fire crew in new south wales. the fires eating this land have burnt from the mountains to the sea. in between, eucalyptus, bottlebrush and pine. it's hard, but save the forest and you save australia. man is having a terrible time trying to stop what mother nature is doing to us. but this is definitely the worst fire season that i've seen and most of my colleagues will have ever seen. you see how the wind really influences what the fire's doing. zeb is charged with protecting 2.5 million acres of forest in the state of new south wales. several villages and towns are just a few miles away, right in the path o

david shukman, bbc news.elays and poor performance from some train operators, millions of commuters in england and wales will have to pay an average of 2.7% more for their tickets from today. it means some passengers face a rise of more than £100 for their annual passes. prices in scotland are also going up. the rail delivery group, which represents the train companies, claims average fare increases have been kept to below inflation for the third year in a row. emma simpson reports. back to work today and not much to smile about. as usual, train fares are going up, and it's become a january ritual. my travel in particular is affected every day because i have late trains every day and they literally crawl into london waterloo, so it makes it very difficult for me to plan, so it makes it harderfor me to understand the justification of an increase in price, when i do not see any improvements. we have had a year of bad service, but i have just come to expect now. ijust get on with it. the service has not been par

david shukman, bbc news. david talked there about the wildfires that have devastated parts of australia. hundreds are still burning, mainly across the south east of the country, where the authorities are desperately trying to prevent them from spreading further. there are at least 8 weeks of the bushfire season still ahead. clive myrie joined one fire crew in new south wales. the fires eating this land have burnt from the mountains to the sea. in between, eucalyptus, bottlebrush and pine. it's hard, but save the forest and you save australia. man is having a terrible time trying to stop what mother nature is doing to us. but this is definitely the worst fire season that i've seen and most of my colleagues will have ever seen. you see how the wind really influences what the fire's doing. zeb is charged with protecting 2.5 million acres of forest in the state of new south wales. several villages and towns are just a few miles away, right in the path of oncoming flames. it wouldn't be that active if it wasn't so

david shukman, bbc news, in glasgow.t has promised to remove from the environment all of the carbon it's created since it started in 1975. to do so, the company will have to absorb more carbon than it emits. it aims to achieve that within three decades. here's chris fox. please welcome satya nadela... microsoft's chief executive takes to the stage, not to introduce new products but an ambitious plan to tackle carbon emissions. we need to raise the ambition on ourselves, so we thought it was appropriate to start the year, this new decade, by committing ourselves to achieve two goals that i don't think any other company has yet embraced. when a company has yet embraced. when a company says it is carbon neutral, it effectively aims to add no further carbon to the atmosphere, and it can do that by balancing emissions, by removing carbon from the atmosphere, or it can avoid making emissions in the first place, perhaps by switching to renewable energy. mostly, companies focus on offsetting their emissions by investing in green

conference in glasgow in here is science editor david shukman. david: a stunning ilew of our frplanet. the place of light -- blaze of light idence of the many impacts we are hing on the globe. whole restin madagascar are in germany, huge mines couching out coal for power stations. all of this on a scale so rge it is even changing the climate. and the world now faces crucial decisions. sir david:s the moment of cri has come. david: sir david and baroque tells me-- aenborough tellme time is running appeared south---running out. sir david: south yes australia is on fire. why? temperatures are increasing. that is a major intronational catae. to say it has nothing to do with the climate is probably nonsense-- palpably nonsense. who has been affecting the climate? we have. vid: the biggest cause of rising temperatures is well-known, burning fuels like al gives off gases that heats the planet, and more of this keeps happing. d are all involved in this. nearly every home in the uk's unit by a gas boiler -- is give off carbon dioxide. the results in a warm

david shukman has been looking into it. david: day after day, fire crews brave the front lines in ati crisis that isll escalating many of the blazes are out of control and beyond anyone's experience them in 21 years this is the worst i' seen. rd makes it very o especially when you have got family and cmitments and all the rest of it. david: in a town in victoria, a ghostly scene. cars burned and gray with ash record he has made fires more severe than usual, something that had been predicted. >> climate scientists knew this was going to happen at some point, whether it was now ir 10 years from now. we were going to get this perfect storm and it was going to be pretty horrible. a we dodgellet a couple years ago. but it was eventually going to vid: thiseems to be part of a pattern. a n study of wildfires around the world from the amazon rainforesto california says human activity is raising temperatures and having to the threat, includg ine eurd many other regions. this was spain last year. the scientistse involved in research s

david shukman, bbc news.airlines in europe, in order to keep the company operating. ministers say they will review air passenger duty, and the news was welcomed by staff. children abused by grooming gangs were failed by manchester police and local authorities, according to an official report. greater manchester police says it has now reopened cases of historical child sex abuse. britain, france and germany have triggered a dispute mechanism over iran‘s breaches of key parts of the 2015 nuclear deal. talks are continuing over the future of the duke and duchess of sussex after the queen agreed to a period of transition for the couple to agree new roles. the queen announced yesterday that she would prefer harry and meghan to remain as full—time working royals, but she understood their desire to share their time between north america and the uk. during the day, the mail on sunday published its legal defence as part of the ongoing case brought by harry and meghan after the paper published parts of a private letter

taylor and also science editor david shukman. ——joining me, our weather correspondence. the headlines on bbc news: psychiatrists and campaigners have called for social media companies to be forced to hand over data to universities for research into the potential harms of using the technology. iran's supreme leader — ayatollah ali khamenei — has led friday prayers in the capital tehran — for the first time in eight years. china's economy recorded its slowest annual growth for almost three decades in 2019 — as it faces up to weak domestic demand and the impact of the bitter trade war with the us. also coming up — rebecca long—bailey and emily thornberry will set out their visions for the labour party today, as they launch their rival bids to succeed jeremy corbyn as leader. in sport, ben stokes reaches yet another 50 as england look to post a sizeable total on day two of the first test against south africa in port elizabeth. saracens are told they will be relegated from rugby union's premiership unless they can prove they are compl

david shukman, bbc news.ate scientist at canberra's australian national university, and explains the risks facing the asia—pacific region. so what we're seeing now is that climate change is really here with us. so we're seeing that in australia these fires, which scientists have been predicting for more than 30 years that, as the climate warmed, that we would see the fires in australia becoming more intense, the fire season becoming longer, and having these types of fires that are just very difficult to fight and to put out once they stop. so that's what we're seeing playing out in australia. but of course, climate change has a whole range of impacts across the world, and there are parts of the asia region in particular that are likely to be very hard—hit by some of the other aspects of climate change, including sea level rise. yes, sea level rise is interesting, threatening lots of people and lots of areas in the region. how do you assess the performance of the governments of countries in the region? how wel

david shukman, bbc news.olcano in the philippines, which authorities say could erupt at any moment. a cloud of ash and fountains of lava have been produced by taal, which lies in the middle of a lake about 45 miles south of the centre of the capital manila. today, the visible activity has died down, but authorities are warning people not to return to their homes because of fears that another large eruption is imminent. taal, which is one of the world's smallest active volcanoes, began erupting on sunday morning, blanketing surrounding areas in mud and ash. some remarkable timelapsed images were captured of a lightening storm swirling around in the huge cloud surrounding the volcano. but one local couple were determined not to let the events spoil their big day, as they were married against the dramatic backdrop of the volcanic activity, seemingly unaffected by it all. that's it. now on bbc one, time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello i'm 0lly foster, here's what's coming up on sportsday

david shukman, bbc news.srupted by the bushfires burning across new south wales and victoria. the slovenian player dalila jakupovic retired from her qualifying match after a coughing fit, saying she was scared about the quality of the air. residents in melbourne have been told to stay indoors. 0rganisers said the conditions were expected to improve and would be "monitored constantly". at least six people have been killed and more than a dozen injured after a sinkhole swallowed a bus in northwest china, triggering an explosion. several people fell into the sinkhole as it spread, covering an area of 10 metres in diameter. at least four people are still thought to be missing. sinkholes are common in china and are blamed on the country's rapid pace of development. you will no longer be able to place bets using a credit card from the middle of april. the move is to try to curb problem gambling. of the 24 million adults who gamble in britain it is estimated that 800,000 use credit cards to gamble. and gambling comm

david shukman, bbc news. is still causing destruction was strong when sitting part of the uk.section of a roof was blown off a block of flats but nobody was hurt. canada's prime minister is ready to welcome prince harry and his wife meghan to the commonwealth country, butjustin trudeau does want to know who will pay for the couple's security. on monday, the queen signed off on a period of transition for the royals, but questions remain over how that will work. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. a new direction has been agreed. less than 20 months since their wedding, the duke and duchess of sussex, harry and meghan, have been given the go—ahead by the queen to seek a new life, and they're making plans to move out and to base themselves in part in canada. harry has visited the country on a number of occasions. his invictus games was staged in toronto in 2017, and meghan lived there for seven years as an actress. there will be questions about their tax and immigration status, but canada's prime minister appeared to be offering a cautious welcome. i think most can

david shukman, bbc news.o come: more than 130 people across pakistan and afghanistan are killed due to avalanches and floods. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attack since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry and one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. huge parts of kobe were simply demolished, as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she had been given no help and no advice by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws passed by the country's new multiracial government and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of the long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard about her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performan

he's been speaking to our science editor, david shukman.are ferocious, out—of—control, and far worse than usual. they've made headlines around the world, and scientists have warned that climate change has made them more severe. now sir david attenborough agrees with them. as i speak, south—east australia is on fire. why? because the temperatures of the earth are increasing. that is a major national, international catastrophe. and to say, "oh, it's nothing to do with the climate," is palpably nonsense. and because the most recent talks on climate change in madrid last month ended with little agreement, sir david says that key decisions can no longer be delayed. we have been putting things off year after year, we've been raising targets and saying, "oh, well, if we do it within the next 20 years, or if we do it..." the moment of crisis has come. this is notjust having nice little debates and arguments and coming away with a compromise. this is an urgent problem that has to be solved, and what's more, we know how to do it — that's the paradoxi

here's our science editor david shukman. stunning view of our fragile planet, the blaze of lights evidence of the many impacts we're having on the globe. whole forests in madagascar cut down to create farmland. in germany, huge mines gouging out coal for power stations. cities sprawling into natural habitats, and all this a scale so large that it's even changing the climate, and the world now faces crucial decisions. the moment of crisis has come. sir david attenborough tells me time is running out. as i speak, south—east australia is on fire. why? because the temperatures of the earth have been increasing. that is a major international catastrophe, and to say it's nothing to do with the climate is palpably nonsense. and who have been affecting the climate? we have. we know that perfectly well. the biggest cause of rising temperatures is well known. burning fuels like coal gives off gases that heat the planet, and more of this keeps happening. and we're all involved in this. nearly every home in the uk is heated by a gas boi

david shukman, bbc news. and a short while ago david shukman joined us from glasgow.r whole life to conservation, and much of it i imagine with a great sense of optimism, now getting towards the end of his life and looking at this moment as he calls it of crisis — is he feeling despondent, hopeful? how did you find him? well it is an interesting question. i've interviewed him many times over the year, and i've never seen him seem so year, and i've never seen him seem so exasperated and frustrated. he just can't see how you can have stunningly clear scientific conclusions about what needs to be done, a growing clamour from the streets, particularly from young people who will inherit this earth, this increasingly world earth and increasingly hostile conditions that come with it. and at the same time, watching the grindingly slow progress of international negotiations to tackle this problem. a little over a year ago, he addressed the united nations summit in poland in the hopes that that would encourage people. it didn't have a great effect. he's hoping now that his word

david shukman, bbc news, in glasgow.oined now by our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon, and david shukman, our science editor. lorna, first of all, carbon neutral by 2030. how do you do that? lorna, first of all, carbon neutral by 2030. how do you do that7m lorna, first of all, carbon neutral by 2030. how do you do that? it is very challenging, the council says it is extremely challenging and ambitious target reach. there is a lot of blue sky thinking, quite innovative ideas on the table. decisions in some areas but i think we will get the full plan in three oi’ we will get the full plan in three orfour months we will get the full plan in three or four months plan. we will get the full plan in three orfour months plan. we have already seen increased pedestrianisation, cycleways, more unusual ideas are perhaps having a bus company run by the council where perhaps the tickets are free. to try and encourage people onto the buses and from cars. remember this is a city where 70% of people live in flats so another area of t

in an exclusive interview with our science editor david shukman, to mark the start of the bbc‘s ‘our ople and called on governments to do more. and david shukmanjoins me now. i know you have spent a lot of time with david attenborough. what struck me from your interview was he sounded exasperated, is that fair? that is right. we have heard him speak about this subject before and he has made documentaries about it and addressed the united nations on the need for urgency in tackling climate change. but this time i think you hear a different tone of frustration with the fact that the science is becoming clearer about the need for action and what steps should be taken, there is clamour from the streets and particularly young people, louder and louder, demanding action. at the same time, absolutely stultifying lack of progress internationally in negotiations hosted by the un. put that together and you are right, he is exasperated. the answers are clear, the motivation is clear, the a nswer clear, the motivation is clear, the answer is not happening.” clear, the motivation is clear, the ans

david shukman, bbc news. rough was talking there about the devastating wildfires currently sweeping through parts of australia. there trees are being deliberately destroyed in some areas in a bid to save entire forests from the oncoming flames. clive myrie reports from new south wales. the fires eating this land, burn from the mountains to the sea. in between eucalyptus and pine. it is ha rd to between eucalyptus and pine. it is hard to save the forest and to save australia. man is having a terrible time trying to stop what mother nature is doing to us. but this would deftly be the worst fire season would deftly be the worst fire season i've ever seen, and most of my colleagues would have ever seen. you see how the wind really influences what the fire is doing. this man is charged with protecting 2.5 million acres of forest in new south wales. several villages and towns just a few miles away, right in the path of oncoming flames secular it wouldn't be that active if it wasn't so windy. z‘s team has already cle

david shukman, bbc news. apologies, that was a report by david shukman, not emma simpson.mergency has been declared in the australian state of new south wales, the area worst affected by bushfires. many thousands are being evacuated from their homes. the trump administration recently created a task force to address violence against american indian and alaska native women. but some native women say the president has tasked the very agencies whose negligence helped facilitate the violence to investigate their own shortcomings. sophie long went to alaska to speak to some of the women and families affected. here's her report. the words they sing and the drums they beat honour the women and girls lost from their community — the murdered and lost indigenous women of alaska. this woman was 32 when she was last seen in october 2012. laurie wilson went missing in 2016. tracy day was 43 when her daughter last saw her in february last year. they're just a few of the thousands of native women who have gone missing across the united states and have never been found. ashleyjohnson—barr

david shukman, bbc news. laura: in australia, temperatures have been rising, and now the wildfires have blazed in parts of the country for months, leaving firefighters to make tough decisions. so much for says been devastated. now firefighters are reluctantly having to cut down more trees as they try to take away fuel for the blazes. clive myrie1 crew in new south wales. --joined one crew in new south wales. clive: the fires have burned from the mountains to the sea. in between, eucalyptus bottlebrush and it is hard, but save the forest and you save australia. >> man is having a terrible time stop what mothe nature is doing to us, but this is the worst fireve season i ha seen and most of myul colleagues d say the same. you see how the wind infences ivthe fire. cl he is charged with protecting 2.5 million acres of forest for the state of new south wales. several villages and towns are miles away, in the path of oncoming flames. >> it wouldn't be that active if it wasn't so windy. clive: h team is already clear

david shukman, bbc news. find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 11:30pm this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are madeline grant, the deputy comment editor of the telegraph, and the financial times political correspondent laura hughes. despite delays and poor performance from some train operators, millions of commuters in england and wales will have to pay an average of 2.7% more for their tickets from today. it means some passengers face a rise of more than £100 for their annual passes. prices in scotland are also going up. the rail delivery group, which represents the train companies, claims average fare increases have been kept to below inflation for the third year in a row. emma simpson reports. back to work today and not much to smile about. as usual, train fares are going up, and it has become a january ritual. my travel in particular is affected every day because i have late trains every day and they literally crawl into london waterloo, so i

david shukman, bbc news.to two of the company's pension schemes. bhs collapsed in 2016 with a pension deficit of more than half a billion pounds, a year after mr chappell bought the chain from sir philip green. borisjohnson has refused to grant powers for a second referendum on scottish independence, insisting that another vote would continue what he called "the political stagnation" in scotland. in a letter to the first minister, nicola sturgeon, he also said scotland's leaders had promised that the referendum in 2014 would be a "once in a generation" event. ms sturgeon has accused the conservatives of attempting to "deny democracy" and said scotland would have its say. councillors have approved plans to build a mcdonald's drive—thru in rutland, meaning it will lose its status as the last english county without a branch of the fast food chain. more than fifty people had lodged objections to the planning application, claiming that house prices would fall and the development would undermine what they describes

the fires have made the problem of the rapid deforestation much worse, as my colleague david shukmanted when he travelled there. it's hard to believe, but an area the size of a football pitch is being cleared every single minute. what that means is that forest that could cover more than 2,000 pitches is just vanishing every day. and all the signs are that this rate of devastation will accelerate. air travel has one of the most damaging impacts on the climate, and so there were calls for us to reduce the number of flights we take. among the protesters was greta thunberg, who, to make the point, travelled to climate conferences by boat. she departed from plymouth on a racing yacht built for speed, as justin rowlatt discovered. the malizia is all about speed. look at her! she's just a giant sail attached to a super light carbon fibre hull. she basically bounces through the waves, sometimes dives right through them. it is...whoa! it is a very rough ride. it's a very wet ride. and to be honest, i'm not sure... whoa! ..that i could take two weeks of this. look, if we're honest, one person

emissions, and planting enough trees to absorb the carbon in any remaining fumes. 0ur science editor david shukmanet matters series. from a proud history as an industrial powerhouse, glasgow now wants a future that is carbon neutral. no easy task in a city that depends on fossilfuel. its motorways encourage commuters to use their cars. the council's first move is with its gritting lorries. they run on diesel and are now being adapted to use cleaner hydrogen as well. they are as clean as possible... just one step, says the councillor in charge, anna richardson, of many needed in the next ten years. we need to work as quickly as we can to decarbonise this city, as do all cities across the world. a 2030 target is hugely challenging, certainly. and it is going to mean everybody has to work hard to achieve that. in your heart of hearts, do you think you could ever make it? i think we need to give it our absolute best shot. the biggest challenge in glasgow is that most people live in flats, many of them badly insulated, and nearly all heated by gas. in this social housing scheme, an old heating system i

emissions — and planting enough trees to absorb the carbon in any remaining fumes. 0ur science editor david shukmaneries. from a proud history as an industrial powerhouse, glasgow now wants a future that is carbon neutral. no easy task in a city that depends on fossilfuels. its motorways encourage commuters to use their cars. the council's first move is with its gritting lorries. they run on diesel and are now being adapted to use cleaner hydrogen as well. they are as clean as possible... just one step, says the councillor in charge, anna richardson, of many needed in the next ten years. we need to work as quickly as we can to decarbonise this city, as do all cities across the world. a 2030 target is hugely challenging, certainly. and it is going to mean everybody has to work hard to achieve that. but in your heart of hearts, do you think you could ever make it? i think we need to give it our absolute best shot. the biggest challenge in glasgow is that most people live in flats, many of them badly insulated, and nearly all heated by gas. in this social housing scheme, an old heating system is being

as our science editor david shukman reports. 0na on a terrifying scale and burning into many differente causing a massive shock. even in a country thatis massive shock. even in a country that is used to fire. usually, the blazes strike scrubland. these are instead tearing into the forests which means the fires are hotter and taller and harder to tackle. for a sense of their size on a map of the uk here is that the vast area in australia that's burned so far. the impact has been devastating. with lives lost amongst firefighters and residents, more than 1000 homes destroyed and an estimated death toll among animals of 500 million. so, what's behind these fires? well, 2019 was the country's hottest year on record and the higher the temperature is the greater the risk because fires start more easily and pla nts because fires start more easily and plants and soils dry out. so, no surprise that australia has just come through its driest spring on record, leaving a lot of vegetation ready to burn. and this was partly caused by the waters of the indian 0cean being relatively warm in the west a

the comments were made in an exclusive interview with science editor david shukman, which launches arage on climate change on the bbc. the fires in australia are ferocious, out—of—control and far worse than usual. they've made headlines around the world. and scientists have warned that climate change has made them more severe. now, sir david attenborough believes agrees with them. as i speak, south—east australia is on fire. why? because the temperatures of the earth have been increasing. that is a major, international catastrophe and to say, "oh, something of the climate". is probably nonsense. and because of the most recent talks on climate change in madrid last month ended with little agreement so david says that key decisions can no longer be delayed. we have been putting things off a year after year. we have been raising targets and saying, oh well, if we do it within the next 20 years or if we do it... the moment of crisis has come. is new research says the melting of theice is new research says the melting of the ice sheets is accelerating and extremes the ice sheets is accele

david shukman, bbc news.l be stepping back from their roles as senior royals. the duke of sussex will conduct the draw for the 2021 rugby league world cup and, in his role as patron of the sport, will launch a new mental fitness charter to run alongside the competition. jon donnison has more. prince harry, seen here at the challenge cup final last summer, is patron of the rugby football league. today his first public appearance since he and his wife announced they want to step back from their roles as senior royals will be to host the draws for the rugby league world cup, to be held in england in 2021. rugby league isn'tjust a sport, it's a community. in the run—up to the tournament, harry is launching a charter to look at mental health within the sport. something like a mentalfitness charter will help us make real progress in getting rid of the stigma associated with mental illness, and remind people that it is notjust about being physically fit but, more importantly, mentally strong. so prince harry is not

it is hosting a major un summit on climate change in november. 0ur science editor david shukman has beenasgow's effort to go green. the morning rush hour in glasgow. commuters pouring to scotland's biggest city. nearly all motorways run straight through glasgow. for decades, the car has been king, but now there's a radical plan to go carbon neutral. new charging points for electric vehicles are being installed. the aim is to make the city green in ten years. and the council's greeting lorries are going to be at adapted to run on clean hydrogen as well as diesel —— gritting. but this is only one a very small —— one very small part of a very long list of what needs to be done. how big challenges it? getting to carbon neutral by 2030 is a big challenge. it is certainly one we are taking very seriously, and it's not enough for a few people in the council to be working on that. it's a challenge that everybody has to ta ke a challenge that everybody has to take part in, that we need to get everybody across the city engaged with, and that we need to be working on now. already, more and more of

many years, but the ferocity and intensity have not been on this scale before. 0ur science editor david shukmaning how the fires reached this level of destructive power. on a terrifying scale, and burning in too many different areas to be stopped, the flames are causing a massive shock — even in a country that's used to fire. usually, the blazes strike scrubland. these are instead tearing into the forests, which means the fires are hotter and taller, and harder to tackle. for a sense of their size, on a map of the uk, here's the vast area in australia that has burned so far. the impact has been devastating, with lives lost among firefighters and residents, more than 1,000 homes destroyed and an estimated death toll among animals of 500 million. so, what's behind these fires? well, 2019 was the country's hottest year on record. and the higher the temperature is, the greater the risks, because fires start more easily as plants and soils dry out. so, no surprise that australia has just come through its driest spring on record, leaving a lot of vegetation ready to burn. and this was partly caused b

with me are weather presenter and meteorologist matt taylor and also our science editor david shukmanhere in glasgow. before we get into those questions, briefly matt, what is the difference between climate and weather because thatis between climate and weather because that is simply delete look back at some time confusion? they're both intrinsically linked. whether we are talking about the highly variability of situation weather—wise from one hour to the next, one day to be next, it is basically the weather we are having and what is happening there. climate is taking that longer look at what we expect to happen and how that changes over time and of course we still have that bit of variability that you are looking at the climate, the longer picture, you can the climate, the longer picture, you ca n start the climate, the longer picture, you can start to identify trends and it is those trends which are starting to cause more and more alarm with each passing year. well, david, the first question is from christopher who asks, how exactly does carbon dioxide which is a clear and chemicall

david shukman, bbc news, in glasgow.ed by we are joined by our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon. uk target is 2050 but scotland is 2045, glasgow at 2030 is the most ambitious, but what details has the city authorities actually set out about how they propose to do this? there are other cities in the uk who are also aiming for 2030, to be carbon neutral, and they have a set of recommendations and at the moment they are looking at 61 in total and we hope a decision will be forthcoming in the next few months in which ideas they will take forward when it comes to glasgow. some of the ideas are quite obvious, like more pedestrianisation, more cycle routes, to encourage people out of their cars, others are slightly more ambitious, if you like. like the council setting up its own bus company and may be the bus company will offer free travel to people living here to encourage them out of their cars, but there are challenges to ideas like that. there is the greater glasgow area as well, so other councils will have to buy into

david shukman there.ata to help give us a guide to the global picture — here's their latest update. welcome to climate check from bbc weather. every month, we will be using the latest data from experts around the world to give you a picture of the states of our changing climate. so, as we begin the 2020s, what do we know? well, 2019 was the second warmest year on record. according to copernicus, that is the eu's climate monitoring service, continuing what has been an accelerating trend of rising temperatures in recent years. the average global temperature was 1.2 degrees above pre—industrial levels. close to 400 separate temperature records were broken in the northern hemisphere summer alone, including in the uk, where temperatures reached 38.7 degrees in july, which was also the hottest month ever globally. and temperatures haven't just been rising over land, a new study suggests sea temperatures reached a new record high and that is important. the oceans cover most of the earth's surface and scientists

i've been speaking to our science editor david shukman — he explained how the situation was different year than one might expect. australia had the drier spring on record and that loads the forests, the bush, to become very vulnerable to fires and they have been running since september in parts of australia. so we have not only got this enormous spread of danger and risk, you have got more and more people exposed to danger because, as the population of australia has grown, the towns and cities have expanded into areas that are now in danger. so on top of that you have also got a very unusual factor that typically one thinks of australia as a land of fire and flood. normally those fires happen in what they call the bush, the scrublands, these fires have tended to be in the forest so we have been much harderfor the firefighter to tackle. it is easier for a fire team to try to control a bushfire and it is a forest fire. if you put all that together, record temperatures and exceptional droughts over many many months, and in fact even over a period of three years with below average rainfal

as our science editor david shukman explains, the government in australia says it has to balance theeet climate change targets, while protecting jobs in industries like mining which contribute heavily to greenhouse gas emissions. this government is trying to do a balancing act, of trying to sound like it's taking chuck climate change seriously while at the same time fostering a very important employer, a very important part of economy. australia is one of the largest exporters of coal in the world, most going to china and india. the australian government response to this is to say, under the last climate change treaty, the kyoto protocol, we met our targets. in fact their targets were incredibly generous and even allowed an expansion of greenhouse gases, so it's not totally accurate to say, it is accurate to say they have met their targets but not that they have contributed to a reduction of emissions. at the same time you hear scott morrison saying, we are only a tiny contributor to global warming, a percentage point or so. the answer is that as a developed country, australia like b

david shukman has been looking into it.ines in a crisis that is still excavating. many of the places are out of control and beyond anyone‘s experience. it's worse off saying in 21 years this is the west that seem and i've actually been out, makes it very hard especially when you've got family and commitments. in a town in victoria, a ghostly scene. cars burnt and grey with ash. fires are a natural feature of australia, but to record heat has made them more severe than usual. something that had been predicted. climate scientist is going to happen at some point with a continues from now. they're going to get this perfect storm and it's going to be pretty horrible. we dodged a bullet a couple years ago but it was eventually going to transpire. this seems to be part of a pact, a new study of wildfires around the world from the amazon rain forest to california says human activity is raising temperatures and adding to the threat. including in europe, and many other regions, these lists spain last year. the scientists involved in

he's been speaking to our science editor david shukman. the moment of crisis has come.we have to realise that this is not playing games. this is notjust having nice little debates and arguments and coming away with a compromise. this is an urgent problem that has to be solved. and what is more, we know how to do it. that is the paradoxical thing. we are refusing to take steps that we know have to be taken and, every year that passes makes those steps more difficult to achieve. what is your take on the degree of urgency that needs to be felt now? we have to change and we have to change not by appeals to different kinds of optimism, but to deliberate, compelling, life—or—death decisions. and so where on a bigger scale to these decisions needed to come next? scale to these decisions answer — china. scale to these decisions china is the most populous country in the world and it is also having problems. it is also having problems with its climate. if the chinese come and say not because we are worried about the world, but for our own reasons we are going to take major steps

david shukman is going to be live on twitter taking your questions just after eight o'clock.out a potential conflict of interest involving a senior member of the inquiry. benita mehra willjoin the inquiry for its second phase later this month. but a newspaper has revealed that she used to run a charity with links to the american firm behind the cladding on the tower. 72 people died in 2017 — with the cladding widely blamed for the fire spreading. thousands of children in south west london who receive special educational needs support are to have their cases reviewed after richmond council received stinging criticisim from the local government ombudsman. it found "systemic failures" in richmond's support department. the full—scale audit is highly unusual, but the council does accept the ombudsman's findings. mayor of london, sadiq khan has warned against what he calls a "fashionable anti—london agenda". at the annual mansion house dinner in the city last night, the mayor warned about neglecting london, as the government moves to level—up spending elsewhere in the country. in r