:00:10. > :00:20.serious problem. A leading think tank says net
:00:20. > :00:27.
:00:27. > :00:33.migration to the UK will continue Hello and welcome to the weather
:00:33. > :00:38.Show. Coming up - we look back at the weather in the past 12 months.
:00:38. > :00:43.A good year for some but not so good for many others. How the
:00:43. > :00:47.weather affects animal migration and out shortages of forcing
:00:47. > :00:52.governments to improve their water distribution. Close your questions
:00:52. > :00:58.and some fantastic pictures. But first the weather from a round the-
:00:58. > :01:07.world. Nick Miller takes a look at what 2011 threw at us. 2011's world
:01:08. > :01:11.of whether was marked by El Nino in the Pacific. It had affects on the
:01:12. > :01:16.weather right across the world. The year started with some serious
:01:16. > :01:20.flooding as warmer than usual water in the western Pacific that greater
:01:20. > :01:25.amounts of moisture into the rain clouds and then they moved around
:01:25. > :01:34.and drop their contents. In January Sri Lankan the Philippines were
:01:34. > :01:39.deluged with water as well as Queensland. Over in Sri Lanka or
:01:39. > :01:42.the strong easterly trade wind created by only meal stops the
:01:42. > :01:48.north east monsoon from clearing the way so it kept it in place and
:01:48. > :01:52.as a result yet more rain was dumped on the country. In America
:01:52. > :01:58.that a fault was a record-breaking month for traders. An estimated 600
:01:58. > :02:07.struck that months, beating the previous record. And beating the
:02:07. > :02:12.previous all-time monthly record of 542. Between April 25th and the
:02:12. > :02:15.28th there were an estimated 305 tornadoes across 14 states. The
:02:15. > :02:19.largest single outbreak of the largest single outbreak of the
:02:19. > :02:23.tornadoes in history. So why it's where they are so many tornadoes?
:02:23. > :02:27.High pressure in the Artic pushed cold air further south than usual
:02:27. > :02:32.and that was met by exceptionally warm air flowing up from the Gulf
:02:32. > :02:37.of Mexico where temperatures were at their third highest on record in
:02:37. > :02:41.April. When the warm air meets the cold air it rises sharply then
:02:41. > :02:45.reads the jet stream higher in the atmosphere and that causes the air
:02:45. > :02:49.to spin, of producing tornadoes. The jet stream runs along the
:02:49. > :02:54.border between the warm and the cold air and thanks to a menial it
:02:54. > :03:01.was displaced unusually further east. Some states were getting
:03:01. > :03:06.pounded by Tony Gale's and others got virtually none. 2011 has been a
:03:06. > :03:09.hot and dry year in taxes. It produce the worst drought for a
:03:09. > :03:14.century. Many temperature records were smashed including the number
:03:14. > :03:18.of consecutive days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Across America
:03:18. > :03:22.is not the only place suffering from drought. In East Africa many
:03:22. > :03:28.thousands are dying as one of the worst droughts for 60 years has led
:03:28. > :03:33.to severe famine. The reasons for the trout are complicated both
:03:33. > :03:37.politically and in wider terms. But one contributing factor is El Nino.
:03:37. > :03:42.It produces higher than usual pressure up in the eastern Pacific
:03:42. > :03:46.but relatively low pressure over Australia. The emeralds from high
:03:46. > :03:50.towards low pressure towards Australia. But the low pressure
:03:50. > :03:55.over Australia means that the air flows towards it from East Africa
:03:55. > :03:59.across the Indian Ocean. Normally you have easterly winds bringing
:03:59. > :04:03.moister and rain towards East Africa from the sea. But because of
:04:04. > :04:11.El Nino, since the middle of last year, this situation has been
:04:11. > :04:16.reversed. This episode ended in May but a new one of formed in October.
:04:16. > :04:21.Between July and December Thailand was inundated with gigantic floods.
:04:21. > :04:25.It is thought El Nino enhanced the usual monsoon rains through the
:04:25. > :04:30.warmer than usual quarters on the western side of the Pacific, adding
:04:30. > :04:39.to the rain clouds and even heavier rain. On to the Atlantic hurricane
:04:39. > :04:45.season which was relatively busy. There were 19 storms due in part to
:04:45. > :04:49.El Nino. That displaced the US jet stream away from developing
:04:49. > :04:54.hurricanes in the Atlantic. And without those a strong winds and,
:04:54. > :04:59.of more of them were free to go on and mature into tropical storms.
:04:59. > :05:03.After passing through the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean
:05:03. > :05:08.hurricane Irene became the first to make landfall along the east coast
:05:09. > :05:16.of America since 2008. The current annual it -- coming year is
:05:16. > :05:21.expected to last until the beginning of 2012.
:05:21. > :05:27.Some interesting whether there. And here is the proof with the
:05:28. > :05:37.selection of some appear fantastic pictures from around the world. --
:05:38. > :05:38.
:05:38. > :06:31.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 53 seconds
:06:31. > :06:36.Lovely pictures. Keep them coming in. Now this interesting where
:06:36. > :06:40.there is not always good for plants and animals. Went diseases arrive
:06:40. > :06:44.earlier or later than usual, wildlife needs to cope with the
:06:44. > :06:52.changes. And sometimes they do not always manage as Peter Gibbs found
:06:52. > :06:56.out. Most of us cope with the onset of
:06:56. > :07:00.winter by granting up the heating and tucking into comfort food. But
:07:00. > :07:05.wildlife does not have the option of popping in to the nearest fast
:07:05. > :07:09.food joint or turning up the thermostat. To get around it some
:07:09. > :07:13.birds have evolved a strategy of seasonal migration. They do not
:07:13. > :07:17.just fly off for the warm weather but also to give the extra food and
:07:17. > :07:21.shelter that provides. Birds do not get weather forecasts of course so
:07:21. > :07:26.they need some other clues to know when it is time to leave on their
:07:26. > :07:32.global migration. If the weather changes and they lead to early or
:07:32. > :07:36.too late, it may be that the place they are heading to mind not be
:07:36. > :07:40.ready for their arrival. The British Trust for Ornithology is
:07:40. > :07:47.one of the world's leading research groups studying how the climate
:07:47. > :07:51.affects wildlife. At the reserve I met with the head of porn
:07:51. > :07:55.photography to discuss how climate change is affecting migrating birds.
:07:56. > :08:01.I asked how they go about gathering their data. We have a lot of
:08:01. > :08:05.volunteers out there who put metal rings on birds. So if someone finds
:08:05. > :08:10.that bird we know how long it has lived and where it has moved. Last
:08:10. > :08:13.winter was a bad one for the bar and I'll. More than twice as many
:08:13. > :08:23.as usual were found dead because we had snow cover and they could not
:08:23. > :08:24.
:08:24. > :08:28.get to their food. Then in the summer of the barn owl were able to
:08:28. > :08:32.raise bigger groups because they had plenty of food because they had
:08:32. > :08:38.not eaten the bowls in the winter. What else can affect the migration
:08:38. > :08:43.of birds? Wind direction can be important. If they're flying into a
:08:43. > :08:46.high wind they could use too much energy. So they may have to stop
:08:47. > :08:54.and feed again before they can move on. So they could actually run out
:08:54. > :08:58.of fuel's effectively, yes. They have to decide then that they have
:08:58. > :09:03.to go down and get more fuel to complete their journey. Any other
:09:03. > :09:07.impacts as a result of the changing climate? One thing we are seeing is
:09:07. > :09:11.problems during the breeding season. As the climate gets warmer we have
:09:11. > :09:15.the trees producing their leaves early and so the caterpillars
:09:15. > :09:18.feeding upon them by their earlier. The birds which feed their young on
:09:18. > :09:22.the caterpillars are having problems because when they are
:09:22. > :09:28.young in the nest it needs to be the time when the most caterpillars
:09:28. > :09:32.are there so they can grow quickly. It is the problem for the birds
:09:32. > :09:36.resident here and also from those coming from a great distance
:09:36. > :09:40.because they have to time their migration to try to arrive year
:09:40. > :09:44.earlier. What we are seen is the birds which are able to arrive
:09:44. > :09:49.earlier, their populations are doing well. Those that have not
:09:49. > :09:56.been able to change their arrival date as much are not doing so well.
:09:56. > :10:00.Simply to survive drugs and ice ages, wildlife has also always had
:10:00. > :10:04.to adapt to the changing climate. But today it has been fascinating
:10:04. > :10:08.to see some of the details of how that process works. We have also
:10:08. > :10:14.seen that for some birds the changing climate can be just too
:10:14. > :10:17.vast and they are the ones who could be left behind.
:10:17. > :10:22.While we saw how wildlife is putting up with the infusion
:10:22. > :10:27.climate. What better time to look at the mother of all confusing
:10:27. > :10:32.climates as we look at the UK weather in 2011.
:10:32. > :10:36.2011 was the year of topsy-turvy seasons. Some very warm, as some
:10:36. > :10:40.disappointment cold. But there was one consistent message and that was
:10:40. > :10:45.rainfall. Towards the north-west of the UK for much of the year it was
:10:45. > :10:48.wetter than average but for the south and east rainfall amounts
:10:48. > :10:52.Whinnerah the average. That was because for much of the year we had
:10:52. > :10:55.high pressure close to the south- east, blocking the rain bearing
:10:55. > :11:00.weather systems from getting towards the south-east and pushing
:11:00. > :11:04.the reign of towards Scotland and Northern Ireland. This has led to
:11:04. > :11:08.drought conditions in some areas. Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, parts
:11:08. > :11:14.of Northamptonshire and West Norfolk are still in drought as the
:11:14. > :11:18.dry weather continues. Water levels remain low. After a snowy December,
:11:18. > :11:23.January and February were less eventful but overall it was a cold
:11:23. > :11:27.winter with the average temperature at 1.3 degrees below the average.
:11:27. > :11:32.Spring on the other hand was exceptionally warm and sunny. That
:11:32. > :11:36.was the warmest spring on record and able was especially sunny.
:11:36. > :11:44.Thousands flocked to the beaches on the warmest ever Easter weekend.
:11:44. > :11:49.The temperature reached a sizzling 27.8 degrees. The 23rd was the
:11:49. > :11:54.warmest April days since 1949. By contrast the summer was
:11:54. > :11:59.disappointed me cold. The go there since 1993. At the lights were
:11:59. > :12:09.especially in chilly. In Scotland the temperature dropped to minus
:12:09. > :12:11.
:12:11. > :12:17.not 0.8 degrees. The warm spring followed by that cool summer led to
:12:17. > :12:21.many autumn crops like apples and blackberries appearing early. Just
:12:21. > :12:25.to confuse matters even further, after that cold summer, in order
:12:26. > :12:32.made warmed up again. It was our second warmest autumn on record
:12:32. > :12:36.with a maximum temperature of 14.2 degrees. And the 1st October saw
:12:36. > :12:40.the UK's hottest October day on record. The end of autumn saw the
:12:40. > :12:43.end of the blocking weather pattern which had been with us for so much
:12:43. > :12:49.of the year and we finally opened the door to Atlantic weather
:12:49. > :12:57.systems to bring the wind and rain to our shores. And in December we
:12:57. > :13:05.saw several of these storms coming Scotland was hit by strong winds. A
:13:05. > :13:10.gust of 165 mph was reported, not far off the UK's record. After all
:13:10. > :13:20.of this topsy-turvy weather in 2011, what will 2012 bring? You will have
:13:20. > :13:21.
:13:21. > :14:23.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 53 seconds
:14:23. > :14:26.to stay tuned to the forecast to As always, you have inundated as
:14:26. > :14:36.with your questions, and we have the people with the answers. Here
:14:36. > :14:36.
:14:36. > :14:41.they are. Clouds are vital to life on Earth.
:14:41. > :14:45.There is plenty of water on Earth, but most of it is in the seas and
:14:45. > :14:50.oceans, and most of us live on land. In order to get the water on to
:14:50. > :14:54.land, the sun shines on the surface of the ocean, which heats up the
:14:54. > :15:00.surface and causes evaporation. Water lifts into the form of clouds,
:15:00. > :15:04.and then those can get carried across land to give us rain fall to
:15:04. > :15:14.enable us to sustain life on Earth. Enough rain runs off into rivers
:15:14. > :15:18.and streams, which then flow back into the oceans and seas.
:15:18. > :15:21.The Brockham spectre is a ghostly apparition that came about its name
:15:21. > :15:25.because it is commonly observed around the broken peak of the
:15:25. > :15:29.heart's mountains in Germany. It was observed by climbers and hill-
:15:29. > :15:33.walkers as they climbed above mist and low cloud at the base of the
:15:33. > :15:37.mountain. When they looked back down they saw what appeared to be a
:15:37. > :15:41.ghostly dark figure moving. What they've actually looking at was the
:15:41. > :15:45.shadow of themselves with the sun behind them casting a shadow on to
:15:45. > :15:49.the face of the mist or cloud. It is magnified by a trick of the
:15:49. > :15:53.light, and also the fact that it seems to move is because the cloud
:15:53. > :15:59.and mist is rolling underneath them. Ghostly apparition was nothing more
:15:59. > :16:06.than just a shadow. Send your questions to the weather
:16:06. > :16:10.Show. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was prepared, and we got to see how
:16:10. > :16:15.seriously or not World governments and took climate change. In South
:16:15. > :16:23.Africa at the end of 2011, a new agreement was prepared. Richard
:16:23. > :16:27.Black looks at the results. It was a busy end of the year for
:16:27. > :16:30.anyone connected with climate change. Scientists from the
:16:30. > :16:35.climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia found
:16:35. > :16:38.themselves under fire once again. Two years ago, a batch of hacked e-
:16:38. > :16:43.mails released on the internet had raised questions about their
:16:43. > :16:46.integrity. They had been largely cleared by three inquiries. In
:16:46. > :16:51.November, more e-mails from the same hat were released, prompting
:16:51. > :16:55.some of the same questions. Examination of the latest batch
:16:55. > :16:58.found little of note, certainly nothing to cast doubt on the
:16:58. > :17:05.scientists main conclusion, that the Earth has warmed markedly over
:17:05. > :17:09.the last century or so. The deal also saw a major new piece of
:17:09. > :17:12.evidence on climate change. A group of American researchers, some of
:17:12. > :17:15.whom had been sceptical about global warming, a release their own
:17:15. > :17:20.analysis of data from weather stations across the world. It
:17:20. > :17:25.differed very little from existing analyses, confirming that the Earth
:17:25. > :17:30.really is warming and the warming has not stopped. December saw
:17:30. > :17:35.politicians trying once again to respond to the science. The annual
:17:35. > :17:40.UN climate summit convened in Durban, South Africa. It saw a
:17:40. > :17:44.major redrawing of the political map. Scores of small developing
:17:44. > :17:48.countries from Gambia to ERM er joined forces with the European
:17:48. > :17:53.Union to press for a road map leading to a new deal that will, in
:17:53. > :17:56.time, restrict every country's greenhouse gas emissions. The fact
:17:56. > :18:01.that we are able to show today that there are so many countries that
:18:01. > :18:06.are back in this road map, that want clear results when it comes to
:18:06. > :18:11.climate change, we have calculated more than 120 of the 193 countries
:18:11. > :18:16.represented here want what we are standing up for today. Those
:18:16. > :18:21.opposed to moving quickly on the road map included Canada, Japan,
:18:21. > :18:29.India and, perhaps inevitably, that the United States. It is completely
:18:29. > :18:34.off base to suggest that the US is proposing that week delay action
:18:34. > :18:38.until 2020. Campaigners pushed for progress,
:18:38. > :18:43.with school children even coming together on a Durban beach are too
:18:43. > :18:51.raw for a deal. Eventually, a day 1/2 p on the scheduled closing time,
:18:51. > :18:54.they got one. In seeing no object and, it is so decided.
:18:54. > :18:58.Sir David Attenborough has been showing audiences at the marvels of
:18:58. > :19:02.the natural world for half a century. But, in the last edition
:19:02. > :19:08.of his most recent series, Frozen Planet, he expressed concerns that
:19:08. > :19:15.some of those marvels might not survive the rising temperatures.
:19:15. > :19:23.This penguin is the most southerly nesting of all penguins. Like a
:19:23. > :19:28.polar bear, up and the North, their lives are dependent on the sea ice.
:19:28. > :19:33.The fact is that we know these changes are happening. The evidence
:19:33. > :19:36.is incontrovertible. As far as we can see ahead, if they go on they
:19:36. > :19:41.will have catastrophic effects on the human race.
:19:41. > :19:45.The message coming from Sir Dave it, the scientists at the University of
:19:45. > :19:49.East Anglia, and many of the politicians in Durban, is that the
:19:49. > :19:53.climate is changing because of humanity's greenhouse gas emissions.
:19:53. > :19:58.The question, as it was at the beginning of the deer, is whether
:19:58. > :20:03.humanity is going to do anything about it. -- beginning of the year.
:20:03. > :20:07.A lot of us take our water supply for granted, but a lot can't.
:20:07. > :20:15.According to UN figures, the US uses 4,000 litres of water per day
:20:15. > :20:22.per person. The UK is 500 metres, and Singapore, 250. We look at how
:20:22. > :20:26.a small island is solving its own water shortage problem.
:20:26. > :20:31.Despite its covering 70% of the planet, getting hold of clean water
:20:31. > :20:37.is still a problem for a lot of people. As the needs of
:20:37. > :20:41.manufacturing and populations grow, demand is outstripping supply. If
:20:41. > :20:45.your corn of the world has plenty of rain or rivers, this natural
:20:45. > :20:49.water is all you need. But sometimes you have to make usable
:20:49. > :20:53.water out of waste or sea water, and this side of water technology
:20:53. > :20:59.is developing fast, solving a shortage problem faced by many
:20:59. > :21:03.cities. Right now it is more than 50% of the population that live
:21:03. > :21:09.like this, and it is increasing, with about 70 million people each
:21:09. > :21:14.year. 800 million of those live in slum areas. We know that in cities
:21:14. > :21:19.in general about 25% do not have access to sanitation. So, we know
:21:19. > :21:23.that this has affect when it comes to the health of people living in
:21:23. > :21:30.areas like this because disease is spreading. It is a challenge for
:21:30. > :21:33.cities to keep up with investments, building infrastructure. We know
:21:33. > :21:39.that re-used water is more in expensive to produce than a new
:21:39. > :21:45.water from any other source. There is a large potential in that.
:21:45. > :21:50.It is water recycling that Singapore has focused on. This is a
:21:50. > :21:55.densely populated island. 5 million people are sharing just over 700
:21:55. > :21:58.square kilometres, with very little natural water. While we have a lot
:21:58. > :22:05.natural water. While we have a lot of rain fall - about 2,400 mm of
:22:05. > :22:11.rain every year, being so small, we do not have enough land area to
:22:11. > :22:17.capture every drop that falls. So, what we have done is look at
:22:17. > :22:21.alternative sources of water. Right now we have built up what we call
:22:21. > :22:26.for a national tax strategy. We have water from four different
:22:26. > :22:36.sources. We have water from our local water catchments, we also
:22:36. > :22:39.import water. We have decelerated water, and finally, here we have
:22:40. > :22:46.high-grade recycled water, something we turn new water. New
:22:46. > :22:50.water is one of the pillars of our water supply strategy.
:22:50. > :22:56.Singapore uses about 380 million gallons a day, and that is expected
:22:56. > :23:00.to double by 2016. To sell the idea of conservation
:23:00. > :23:03.and the positive aspects of recycled water to the public, the
:23:03. > :23:09.Government has built this visitors' centre with lots of interactive
:23:10. > :23:13.exhibits and games. But ultimately, demand will always increase.
:23:13. > :23:18.Although, here in Singapore, they are proving that technology, at
:23:18. > :23:22.least for the time being, has the answer.
:23:22. > :23:29.Well, that's it for this time. If you want to see the show again, and