David Bellamy was one of the great science communicators of my youth. I think he started as a TV expert on gardens but eventually branched out into more general science. I enjoyed his series, “Bellamy Rides Again” from the early 1990s and I used to show this episode, on sulphur, to the boys at Ludgrove. I have a worksheet somewhere that goes with it. If I find it I might use it again.
Like carbon and nitrogen, sulphur is an important element in biology. It is recycled in nature so that it is always available for organisms to use. Since the industrial revolution, excessive burning of fossil fuels has overloaded the atmosphere with sulphur dioxide leading to ‘super acid rain‘ that damages forests and poisons waterways.
Here is David Bellamy explaining the pros and cons of sulphur in his own unique way. (ps It is quite a long video so don’t feel you have to watch it all in one sitting.)
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There are other videos about the element sulphur on the blog here.
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