Birth of a Continent • 2019 • episode "S1E1" • Expedition Europe

53:16

NOVA follows a team of volcano sleuths as they embark on a worldwide hunt for an elusive volcanic mega-eruption that plunged the medieval earth into a deep freeze. The mystery begins when archaeologists find a hastily dug mass grave of 4,000 men, women, and children in London. At first they assume it's a plague pit from the Black Death, but when they date the bones, they're a century too early. So what killed off these families? The chronicles of that time describe a run of wild weather that devastated crops and spread famine across Europe. NOVA's expert team looks for the signature of a volcanic eruption big enough to have blasted a huge cloud of ash and sulfuric acid into the atmosphere, which chilled the entire planet. From Greenland to Antarctica, the team finds telltale "fingerprints" in ice and soil layers until, finally, they narrow down the culprit to a smoldering crater on a remote Indonesian island. Nearly 750 years ago, this volcano's colossal explosion shot a million tons of rock and ash into the atmosphere. Across the globe, it turned summer into winter. What would happen if another such cataclysm struck again today?

NOVA PBS • 2017 • Environment

59:12

Volcanoes have a fearsome reputation. In reality, they are the most important force in the creation of the planet as we know it today. Iain abseils into a lava lake and cave dives in a cenote to show how the heat that fuels volcanoes also drives some of the most fundamental processes on the planet.

S1E1 • Earth: The Power of the Planet • Environment

32:38

At Göbekli Tepe, the oldest known megalith in the world, Graham questions if simple hunter-gatherers alone could have built such an advanced structure.

S1E5 • Ancient Apocalypse • 2022 • Environment

51:45

The cloud forests in the Andes of Ecuador are among the most species-diverse landscapes on Earth. These beautiful forests are under threat. They have to give way to fields and cow pastures. But there are conservationists who want to stop the clearing of the cloud forests.

S1E2 • Paradise Preserved • 2019 • Environment

105:41

This feature documentary tells the story of the story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern green movement. In 1971 a brave group of young activists set sail from Vancouver in an old fishing boat. Their mission: to stop Nixon's atomic bomb tests in Amchitka, a tiny island off the west coast of Alaska. It was from these humble but courageous beginnings that the global organisation that we now know as Greenpeace was born. Chronicling the fascinating untold story behind the modern environmental movement and with access to dramatic footage that has not been seen for over 40 years, this gripping new film tells the story of eco-hero Robert Hunter and how he, alongside a group of like-minded and idealistic young friends in the '70s, would be instrumental in altering the way we now look at the world and our place within it. These campaigning pioneers captured their daring and sometimes jaw-dropping actions on a range of film cameras and Greenpeace granted acclaimed director Jerry Rothwell access to this vivid archive to make his thrilling, sometimes terrifying film. Greenpeace was born in 1971 when a ragtag group of journalists, hippies, and scientists living in Vancouver tried to stop a US atomic test. Fortunately, they were media savvy from the beginning, capturing their seat-of-their pants activist adventures on film. The youthful energy is palpable in action-packed scenes, including one in which activists confront a Russian whaling ship in a tiny Zodiac dingy. Soon, though, idealism comes up against reality, compromise, human nature, and the complexities of managing a growing organization. This insightful film is also a vibrant, moving reflection about the ongoing struggle to balance the political and the personal.

2015 • Environment

59:02

A look at how the eternal quest for water brings huge challenges and ingenious solutions.

S1E2 • Human Planet • Environment