Home Planet - 08/12/2009

When sea level rises are discussed the focus is, unsurprisingly, on the shrinking land mass. We are, after all, terrestrial creatures. But what about the vast numbers of creatures that live in the seas and oceans? Listeners ask if more water will provide them with more opportunity, and if so could we exploit their gain, replacing farm land with fisheries? Creative thinking is required to solve many of the world's problems so could a need for fresh water in arid countries, a surfeit at the poles and a glut of unused oil tankers be combined in an elegant solution to water shortages? Also, could the move towards burning biomass for energy be boosting an undesirable global trade, just how efficient is evolution and the seaweed invasion that never was. On the panel are sustainable development expert Dr Ros Taylor of Kingston University, marine biologist Professor Graham Underwood of the University of Essex and Professor Philip Stott, an environmental scientist from the University of London. If you have any comments on the topics discussed or any questions you might want to put to future programmes, please do let us know.