A new force threatens our perfect planet. In the past, five mass extinction events were caused by cataclysmic volcanic eruptions. It was not the lava or ash that wiped out life, but an invisible gas released by volcanoes: carbon dioxide. Almost every part of modern life depends on energy created by burning fossil fuels, and this produces CO2 in huge amounts. Humans are changing our planet so rapidly, it’s affecting earth’s life support systems: our weather, our oceans and the living world. The greatest change to be made is in how we create energy, and the planet is brimming with natural power that can help us do just that. It’s these forces of nature - the wind, the sun, waves and geothermal energy - that hold the key to our future. Through compelling animal-led stories and expert interviews, we discover how CO2 is destabilising our planet. We meet rescued orphaned elephants in Kenya, victims of ever worsening droughts, and join ocean patrols off the coast of Gabon fighting to save endangered sharks. In the Amazon, we witness wildlife teams saving animals in the shrinking forests, and in San Diego we enter a cryogenic zoo preserving the DNA of endangered species before they become extinct.
Travel to the far corners of the planet and discover the secrets of Earth’s few remaining untouched lands, all brimming with life. Isolated from the rest of the world, these places have been protected from the most damaging effects of human interference. In these lands, life exists as nature intended. Delicately balanced, species-rich, unique ecosystems. This series embarks on a breath-taking journey to Earth’s last Edens. Borneo is the richest rainforest island of all; home to 40,000 species of plants and animals. 6,000 of them are unique -- and more are discovered almost daily.
At the far tip of South America, lies a magical realm that seems frozen in time. Known as 'the end of the world', this is Patagonia. Vast glaciers shaped it into an Eden like no other. Adaptable and resilient creatures evolved unique survival strategies to flourish across its remarkable habitats. From precipitous mountain citadels and icy desert plateaus windswept steppe uplands through remote, primal forests to a mosaic of glacial valleys. To thrive here is to be as extreme as the land itself.
In Southeast Alaska, there's an ice-bound Eden that harbors possibly the richest temperate rainforests of all. Where the coastal mountains meet the Pacific, lays the Alexander Archipelago, a remote island chain running for almost 300 miles along the Alaskan Panhandle. This frozen frontier is one of the last great wildernesses of North America. And a stronghold for the country's highest diversity of megafauna, feasting on the abundance of fleeting summers to make it through relentless winters.
(Click CC for Subtitles) Deep in the forests of Northern Italy resides the prized white Alba truffle. Desired by the wealthiest patrons in the world, it remains a pungent but rarified mystery. It cannot be cultivated or found: the only souls on Earth who know how to dig it up are a tiny circle of canines and their silver-haired human companions-Italian elders with walking sticks and devilish senses of humor-who only scour for the truffle at night so as not to leave any clues for others. Still, this small enclave of hunters induces a feverish buying market that spans the globe. With unprecedented access to the elusive truffle hunters, filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw follow this maddening cycle from the forest floor to the pristine restaurant plate. With a wily and absurdist flare, The Truffle Hunters captures a precarious ritual constantly threatened by greed and outside influences but still somehow protected by those clever, tight-lipped few who know how to unearth the magic within nature.
This revealing film examines how human activity is setting off dangerous warming loops that are pushing the climate to a point of no return - and what we need to do to stop them. With captivating illustrations, stunning footage and interviews with leading climate scientists as well as support from Greta Thunberg and the Dalai Lama, 'Earth Emergency' adds the missing piece of the climate puzzle. Narrated by Richard Gere, the film examines four of the major warming feedback loops threatening our planet: Forests, Permafrost, Albedo and Atmosphere.
Through compelling animal-led stories and expert interviews, we discover how CO2 is destabilising our planet. We meet rescued orphaned elephants in Kenya, victims of ever worsening droughts, and join ocean patrols off the coast of Gabon fighting to save endangered sharks. In the Amazon, we witness wildlife teams saving animals in the shrinking forests, and in San Diego we enter a cryogenic zoo preserving the DNA of endangered species before they become extinct.