What to do About CO2? (1984)

The term ‘greenhouse effect’ is becoming commonplace – part of our catalogue of doomsday catchcries. It concerns the global problem of increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. This increase, it’s predicted, will produce a warming of the earth’s atmosphere – the ‘greenhouse effect’. In addition, altered rainfall patterns could profoundly affect the world’s agriculture, and the global warming could even cause a partial melting of the polar ice, raising the level of the sea by several metres.

This program, presented by Jeffrey Watson, explores all the main aspects of the question: What is CO2? Why is it increasing? What effects will this have and what are the options for dealing with it? It looks at a diversity of fascinating research projects, from experiments with plants growing in artificially-increased CO2 atmosphere to studies of ‘ancient air’ trapped in Antarctic ice. It also presents the views of some of the most eminent scientists in the field, both from Australia and overseas.