Home Planet - 29/09/2009

Sea levels are rising; it is a slow rise on a human scale, but inexorable. Within a few decades we are likely to see significant amounts of coastal land disappear. But just what will this mean for the ecology of the Earth? Will a more watery world have a radically different climate? Will it become a soggier place to live overall? A wetter world might make it harder to get around but until that happens, one Home Planet listener wants to put trucks and lorries under curfew to reduce the congestion on our busy roads. Is this a good idea and will it really make it easier to travel? We return to the thorny issue of disposing of unwanted wood. Isn't it, asks one listener, a good idea to bury it in landfill and lock the carbon it contains safely away from the atmosphere? And we look again at hemp. It seems that much has happened in the few short weeks since we last discussed the potential of this plant. On the panel are planning expert Professor Yvonne Rydin, sustainable development specialist Dr Ros Taylor and Professor 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.