A startling documentary from the public broadcaster ABC Australia explores dying forests. It is happening around the world, in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and all down the West Coast of North America. Call it bugs, call it fungus, call it drought and record heat. Call it climate change and plain old pollution.

Whether it's satellite photos, or walking through the dying woods, it's heart-breaking. Why are forests dying around the world?

I'm Alex Smith. I've covered climate change in so many Radio Ecoshock programs. Later in this program we'll talk to a key scientist, Lisa Ainsworth, about misplaced expectations that rising carbon dioxide levels will green the planet and feed billions more people.

But first we are going to ground with a citizen activist from New Jersey. Her trees, and all our trees, are weakened and dying from a much simpler cause: plain old pollution. The air looks cleaner, but all that industrial exhaust is still deadly to plants - and our lungs. Once you learn the tell-tale signs, you can see it in UK plants, and across Europe.

The trees are talking to us, but we just aren't listening.

CD Quality Hi-Fi mp3 here:
 http://www.ecoshock.net/eshock12/ES_120516_Show.mp3

Australian Tree Death documentary here:
 http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3488105.htm

Gail Zawacki's "Wit's End" blog here:
 http://witsendnj.blogspot.ca