Home Planet - 15/09/2009

Wood is, according to many, one of the greenest fuels available. If more trees are planted to replace those burnt for heat then it has a very small carbon footprint. Yet burning wood can also produce large amounts of noxious smoke, some elements of which can cause major health problems. So how can these two observations be reconciled? Are we swapping low carbon for high pollution? And what about aircraft contrails? They are visible from almost all parts of the planet, so are they blocking out sunlight and having an effect on global temperatures? Then there's the story of acid rain: did it really go away? Plus concerns over carbon capture and storage, and what causes the mysterious lights reported during earthquakes? On the panel are Dr Lynn Dicks, Ehsan Masood and Pro Philip Stott, an environmental scientist from the University of London. As always we want to hear your comments on the topics discussed and any questions you might want 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?