Home Planet - 08/09/2009

Our planet is peppered with great valleys and depressions, many of which are both arid and below sea level. We are concerned that rising sea levels will threaten coastal populations, so could we not kill two birds with one stone by pumping sea water into, say, the Great African Rift Valley? It could also generate power by running the water through hydro-electric turbines. Once done, the once-arid areas would be overflowing with sea water, good for algae but not for the majority of land grown crops. So could genetic engineering step in to produce salt tolerant plants able to feast on this bounty/ Plus a discussion of the world's distribution of oxygen, tackling invasive plants by targeting their friendly funghi and how much we can allow scepticism to stifle action on climate change. On the panel are Prof Sue Buckingham, Director of Centre for Human Geography at Brunel University, planet geneticist Prof Denis Murphy of the University of Glamorgan, and Prof Philip Stott, an environmental scientist from the University of London. As always we want to hear listeners' comments on the topics discussed and any questions to put to future programmes. Don't forget we want to hear your observations of House Martins; have they returned this year and when, and have they bred successfully?