In February 2013, a hole opened up beneath a home in Florida, and swallowed a man. Jeff Bush was asleep when a sinkhole opened up beneath his bedroom. Despite the efforts of his brother to rescue him, Jeff was never seen again and his body was never recovered. Professor Iain Stewart travels to Florida to try and understand what killed Jeff, and why the geology of this state makes it the sinkhole capital of the world.
California is on the brink of an apocalypse. The state faces a future of drought that will cost billions in lost farm revenue and thousands of jobs. But the challenges facing the state are not unique: All over the world, governments are struggling with bigger populations and a diminishing supply of freshwater. Innovators across the globe are seeking solutions in emergent technologies to prevent a planet-wide water crisis.
S1E6 • Breakthrough National Geographic • 2015 • Environment
Blizzards; it's one of the Earth's most beautiful secrets until it turns into a storm that can bring entire cities to a grinding halt.
S1E8 • Secrets of the Earth • 2013 • Environment
We are all seeing rather less of the Sun. Scientists looking at five decades of sunlight measurements have reached the disturbing conclusion that the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth's surface has been gradually falling. Paradoxically, the decline in sunlight may mean that global warming is a far greater threat to society than previously thought.
The global water crisis is at an inflection point. How do we price our most valuable resource, while also ensuring access to it as a human right?
S01E19 • Explained • 2018 • Environment
Last century, earthquakes killed over one million, and it is predicted that this century might see ten times as many deaths. Yet when an earthquake strikes, it always takes people by surprise. So why hasn't science worked out how to predict when and where the next big quake is going to happen? This is the story of the men and women who chase earthquakes and try to understand this mysterious force of nature. Journeying to China's Sichuan Province, which still lies devastated by the earthquake that struck in May 2008, as well as the notorious San Andreas Fault in California, Horizon asks why science has so far fallen short of answering this fundamental question.
Horizon • 2009 • Environment
James May asks the big questions about the weather, including what is a cloud?
S1E3 • James May's Things You Need to Know • 2011 • Environment