Supersized Earth • 0 • 1 episodes •
A Place to Live
This documentary explores how we've conquered the skies as we build astonishing places to live.
This documentary explores how we've conquered the skies as we build astonishing places to live.
This documentary explores how we've conquered the skies as we build astonishing places to live.
In 1998, wildlife enthusiast and photographer Chris Packham had a remarkable encounter with the Orang Rimba, a tribe of hunter gatherers in the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia. It was the first time he had ever seen people living in perfect harmony with their environment. One photograph in particular that Chris took, a picture of a young tribal girl, has since become immensely important to him as a barometer of how we are treating our planet. In this real-life detective story, with no clues as to her identity or whereabouts other than his original photograph, Chris sets off to Sumatra 20 years on to try to find her; the girl in the picture. Chris's search is further complicated because her tribe is nomadic and often cover vast distances on foot, and since he was last there, millions of hectares of her rainforest habitat has been destroyed. Piecing together the clues, Chris discovers to his horror that the girl's close-knit group of Orang Rimba was attacked not long after he met them, and a number of them killed. But was the girl among them? Chris travels into the heart of Sumatra and tries to discover the girl's fate by meeting the men who pulled the murdered tribespeople's bodies out of the river. On his way, he discovers just how much of Sumatra's once pristine rainforests have been replaced by palm oil plantations, palm oil which is in around 50% of the products we buy in our supermarkets. Chris learns some uncomfortable truths about how we are all in some way connected to deforestation.
2018 • Environment
The city is built to keep untamed nature out, but nature cannot be pushed away.
Scientists are just now unlocking the amazing secrets of how rain is made; some raindrops form around micrometeorites from outer space, others are created by bacteria that float into the upper atmosphere.
2013 • Secrets of the Earth • Environment
90 million miles away from us is the power that shapes our world - the sun. We see it shine in the sky above us, but beyond our sight something dramatic is happening - the sun is going into overdrive.
From the global perspective of space, this 2-hour special reveals the breathtaking extent of our influence, revealing how we’ve transformed our planet and produced an interconnected world of extraordinary complexity. A journey through 12,000 years, Humanity from Space shows how seemingly small flashes of innovation have changed the course of civilization; innovations that touch all of us today in ways unimaginable to our ancestors. And we’ll gaze into the future at the new challenges we’ll face in order to survive as our global population soars because of our success. In every case we’ll look at our progression in a unique and surprising way, revealing unforgettable facts and "who knew?" connections. To visualize these stories cutting-edge technology is used to turn raw data into authentic moving images, building on expertise from a previous (and highly-praised) project; "Earth From Space." Using this technique, we can map humanity’s behavior in stunning, never seen before detail, revealing how our civilization grew, how it works today and what the future might hold.
2015 • Environment
Explore what drives the strange science behind places like Canada's Bay of Fundy-where water levels rise as much as 50 feet during high tide, and Alaska's Turnagain Arm, where 10-foot tall "bore waves" routinely wash in from the sea.
2013 • Secrets of the Earth • Environment
