Oceans • episode "S1E4" • Earth: The Power of the Planet

53:14

Since 1976, the Dead Sea's level has dropped more than 100 feet, leaving its coastline pockmarked with thousands of sinkholes. NOVA follows the unprecedented endeavor to connect the Red Sea to the Dead Sea by way of a massive desalination plant - perhaps the world's largest water chemistry experiment - as scientists race to save the Dead Sea and bring water to one of the driest regions on Earth.

NOVA PBS • 2019 • Environment

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

48:03

As part of the connecting landmass between North and South America, Mexico has long been at the center of a tectonic tug of war spanning millennia. The result is two of the world's largest, most active volcanoes--the rumbling Popocatepetl and the menacing Volcano De Colima--whose vengeful displays of wrath are increasing in frequency. Could a cataclysmic eruption be just around the corner?

S2E2 • Volcanic Odysseys • 2016 • Environment

2:14

How can global warming of less than 1 degree Celsius drive extreme weather? You might need to look beneath the surface (of the ocean) for the answer.

MinuteEarth • 2015 • 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

15:49

Never before in human history have we been richer, more advanced or powerful. And yet we feel overwhelmed in the face of rapid climate change. It seems simple on the surface. Greenhouse gases trap energy from the Sun and transfer it to our atmosphere. This leads to warmer winters, harsher summers. Dry places become drier and wet places wetter. Countless ecosystems will die while the rising oceans swallow coasts and the cities we build on them.

In a Nutshell • 2021 • Environment