Ancient philosophers claimed that the world was founded on four essential elements; ‘Fire, Earth, Air and Water’. Although modern science has taught us that there is much more to the world these four primordial elements still have a lot to do with our daily lives.
Starting this Saturday, we begin a short series of sound stories dedicated to some aspect of each element. It’s in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency.
This Saturday we look at ‘Air’ and in particular ‘Contrails’; those wispy thin cloud-like trails that form behind airplanes. Have you ever wondered what effect those ‘tracks’ in the sky are having on the environment?
The story is a complicated one and one that begins on Sept 11th 2001 when there were no planes in the skies above America for three days. Our journey begins there and we speak to the man whose decision it was to ground all those planes. Ben Sliney was the head of the Federal Aviation Administration. It was also his first day on the job! Many of you will recognise him from his role in the film ‘United 93’ in which he played himself.
Our journey then moves to Ireland where a researcher from UCC is studying Contrails and also what happened when they were no planes in the sky back in 2001. The results are a little worrying
Tune in to Futureproof to hear more from the slightly earlier time of 9am this Saturday.
The four elements is funded by The Environmental Protection Agency’s Research programme, “using knowledge to protect and improve our natural environment and human health”
You can find out more about EPA research below
http://www.epa.ie/researchandeducation/
