Tragedy of the Commons or The Problem with Open Access • 2015 • This Place

58:44

Adventurer and journalist Simon Reeve heads to one of the most spectacular countries in the world - Colombia. For 50 years, Colombia has been in the grip of a brutal civil war that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced seven million. But in late 2016, a peace deal was signed promising to end the conflict and finally bring peace to the country. In this hour-long documentary for the award-winning This World strand, Simon explores Colombia at a pivotal point in its history. He travels into the jungle and comes face to face with the guerrilla army FARC, which is now promising to lay down arms. In the Pacific coast city of Buenaventura, Simon finds out more about the fearsome right-wing paramilitary gangs who now dominate the cocaine trade. As the FARC abandon the countryside, there is a fear that these groups will only grow in power. Travelling in the countryside, Simon meets the coca farmers who are demanding government support to stop growing coca and stop the flow of money to criminal gangs. With land ownership, poverty and drugs at the heart of Colombia's problems, it is in the countryside that the country's precarious future will be decided.

This World • 2017 • Environment

46:59

In Antarctica both humans and animals do what it takes to adapt to and survive the harshest climate on earth. Our scientists focus their research in the icy waters to determine how climate change and human interaction have affected the marine ecosystem. Human life in the Antarctic can be put in danger when the technology it relies on fails.

4/6 • Continent 7: Antarctica • 2017 • Environment

44:54

The geological history of New York City is as superlative as it's current economic impact including; a titanic mountain rage, massive volcanic eruptions, immense glaciers and an enormous flash flood.

S1E5 • How the Earth Was Made • 2009 • Environment

59:45

Dr Helen Czerski reveals how shifting ocean water distributes heat and nutrients around the Earth. This process is linked to almost every aspect of human existence, and the lecture explores how dependent we are on the ocean for weather, food supply and connection between land masses - as well as exploring what needs to be done by humans to maintain this vital element of the Earth's ecosystem.

2/3 • BBC Royal Institution Christmas Lectures - Planet Earth: A User's Guide • 2020 • Environment

4:00

Few places on Earth remain largely untouched and uninhabited by humans, but such spots exist in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Welcome to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a vast chain of volcanic mountains that have surfaced as tiny, isolated islands thousands of miles from any mainland. These worlds serve as both playgrounds and sanctuaries, where some species struggle and others thrive. Discover the secrets of these little-known oases as we explore eight islands, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

2016 • Environment

58:59

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