EDWARD CANFOR-DUMAS travelled to America in 2005 to research Superstorm, BBC One's new three-part drama which he had been commissioned to write, as a sceptic on climate change. He returned to his home in Bushey as a convert to its real and current dangers.

Rather than being a "Direct Debit environmentalist", Edward decided to take some action. He arranged an environmental audit on his house which led to better insulation being installed, he changed his lifestyle making sure he used his car less and his bike more, and he joined the Green Party, leaving his first meeting as party agent for Hertsmere as prospective candidate for Bushey St James ward.

In the US, Edward, 49, who began his writing career in comedy before moving on to script episodes of The Bill and Kavanagh QC, met some of the world's leading experts on hurricanes and climate change.

Superstorm is set in the near future, in which global warming has led to ever-more ferocious hurricanes. The drama follows a team of scientists who have been asked to control the weather and harness the power of hurricanes, developing techniques to alter their course and intensity before they threaten America's East Coast.

Edward said the best thing about writing Superstorm was the initial research he carried out.

"For me, the research and the first draft are the best bits," he said.

"When I watched Superstorm it reminded me that this is an extremely important subject.

"2005 was a record-breaking year for hurricanes. 2006 was an unusually quiet year. But you suspect that we are going to witness more and more catastrophic hurricane events."

Edward keeps office hours at home, where he does all his writing, and is currently working on two scripts - one about the private security companies operating in Iraq, and the other about a world which has run out of oil and relies on natural gas.

"These subjects interest me because of their inherent drama," said Edward, who read English Literature at Oxford.

"I'm a layman who asks intelligent layman's questions. If I can understand science and turn it into a story, anyone can do it.

"Is global warming a reality? Is it man-made? There are not many people who have the privilege of being able to ask those questions to the guys who really matter who have the time for you.

"But the BBC is like an open sesame. Everyone is very aware of what television can do."

n The last episode of Superstorm is on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday. If you have missed any episodes, you can watch them again via BBC On Demand.