Cork duo front TV show, 10 Things to Know About - which returns to our screens this week

CAN planting trees help us reach our climate targets? Does where we live impact on our health? How do we harness the power of the immune system, and what are some of the secrets to ageing well?

These questions and more will be answered when science series 10 Things To Know About returns for a new run on RTÉ1 on Monday, November 13, at 8.30pm.

Cork duo Kathriona Devereux - columnist with The Echo - and Fergus McAuliffe are back alongside Jonathan McCrea to explore all things science.

In the first episode, Kathriona tackles the issue of trees. They have long had an important, almost mythical status in Ireland and the first written Irish alphabet called Ogham was said to be inspired by trees.

Kathriona meets Stephen O’Neill, Associate Professor in English at Maynooth University, at a forest in Wicklow to discuss his ‘Literature and Ireland’s Trees’ project, which aims to highlight the importance of trees in Irish writing and culture and reinvigorate our connection to nature.

Can something as simple as planting a tree really help something as complex as climate change?

Kathriona meets David Styles, Associate Professor in Agri-Sustainability at University of Galway, whose research into carbon sequestration reveals that Ireland needs to plant more than 16,500 Croke Park’s worth of trees every year to help reach our climate targets.

Ireland’s native trees can play a significant role in that, and Jonathan McCrea meets Teagasc’s Oliver Sheridan to find out about work to produce better quality birch and alder trees and maximise their potential.

And with ash dieback, a fungal disease which is expected to devastate up to 90% of the State’s ash trees, recently reported to have infected trees in the grounds of Leinster House, Jonathan discusses research into breeding more climate resilient and disease-resistant trees.

Also on the subject of climate change, new series Tomorrow Tonight begins on RTÉ1 on Wednesday, November 15, at RTÉ1 at 9.35pm - a fictitious current affairs programme set in the future.

It’s 2050 and at the United Nations in New York, the leaders of the world gather for a make-or-break climate summit. 

A raft of unprecedented binding measures to precipitate greater climate action globally are under discussion and the world is waiting for the outcome.

This docu-drama set 27 years in the future is presented by Mark Little and Carla O’Brien, who guide viewers through the ‘breaking news’.