Extreme Environments

Looks at the oceans of the world and the marine life that inhabits them. The Great Barrier Reef, marine scientific research, Whale Sharks, The Mexican Turtle Centre, Albatross, Seals, mini submarines and big wave tow-in surfers are all reliant on conditions only made possible in great bodies of water.

Deserts cover one third of the world’s land mass, and are growing at an alarming rate. Camels, Flamingoes, endangered species and specific flora can be found in arid areas. Encroaching deserts are estimated to affect 250 million people, however for those who have always lived in some of the driest locations on earth, there are a range of skills and traditions designed to help cope with the ‘arid’ life.

The bulk of the earth’s fresh water is locked away in polar ice caps, and 90 per cent of the world’s ice can be found in Antarctica. Icedwelling animals such as the Polar Bear are being affected by dwindling ice supplies around the planet. Glaciologists and research teams are working to better understand the effect CO2 emissions are having on the planet’s decreasing ice supplies.

Although we can’t see it, air is vital to our existence. It serves as a blanket that retains warmth from the sun, supports all life on earth, and holds clouds and water vapor that produce rain. More than 40,000 thunderstorms occur around the world each day. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program has equipment in three locations of vastly different climates around the world

Volcanic eruptions are devastating, often killing thousands and displacing many more, yet people continue to reside near active volcanoes as the ash and lava enrich the soil. Some volcanoes lay dormant for centuries, even millennia at a stretch, creating catastrophic consequences when they finally erupt. Mt. Vesuvius, Popacatapetal, Merapit, St. Helen’s, Fuji & St. Turin covered here.

With average temperatures rising globally, floods are becoming more frequent, and more prolonged, causing devastation to people, houses, agriculture and production. Flood Irrigation Planning and Flood Management Strategies are under review and water born diseases such as Cholera are increasing. Reviews the effects of floods, and measures being taken to prevent or combat these effects in Venice, Argentina, Bangladesh and The Netherlands.

The Sun provides light and warmth that makes our Earth inhabitable. A yellow dwarf star that fuses hydrogen atoms into helium and releases huge amounts of energy in the process, the Sun is serves many functions. Used as an accurate basis for calendars, worshipped as a God and celebrated at Stonehenge, the Pyramid of the Sun, Inti Raimi and Olympia, the sun is crucial to our existence. Scientists are using technological advancements such as the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) to better understand the Sun.

The tropics of the world feature the broadest range of plant and animal life, and tropical forests use intense sunlight to replenish the atmosphere with oxygen and water vapor. The Amazon is referred to as the ‘Lungs of the World’; however increases in logging and the population is posing threat to this. Eco-tourism initiatives are being embraced in order to preserve our environment. This episode looks at various tropical rainforests, reefs and deserts around the world.

Forests currently account for around 10 per cent of the Earth’s surface; however forests around the world are dwindling due to the demands of an increasing population and industry. Forests are important to the planet’s biosphere as they retain water, preserve soil quality and provide habitat for many species of plant and animal life. We look at initiatives being embraced on every level around the world to combat the negative effects of our quickly reducing forests.

Cities were created as a result of trade developments. Housing, clean water, sanitization and transportation are all crucial to a functional city. Nowadays, the advantages of urban living are offset by high numbers of people living in a relatively small area. Pollution and poor sanitization are just two areas of concern. We review the effects of pollution on some of the world’s most recognizable landmarks as well as the efforts undertaken by Government (such as ‘congestion tax’ in London) to combat urban living issues.

Global warming has resulted in the worlds glaciers breaking away and melting at a rate that cannot be replenished. We travel France, Greenland, Bolivia and Argentina with glaciologists and students, taking core samples and establishing what needs to be done to minimize the devastating effects of glacial melting. This episode also follows four extreme kayakers as they take on some of the most daunting waterfalls possible.

Coral reefs are the rainforests of the ocean as they are incredibly bio-diverse areas formed in water with little or no nutrients. Over millions of years the cumulative work of tiny coral polyps has built vast formations that support coral, plants and other species. This episode reviews some of the most remarkable coral reefs on the planet, as well as examining the negative effects human activity such as tourism and fishing is having on the delicate eco-system of coral reefs.

When prolonged droughts occur, the consequences (particularly for those who work and live off the land) are extreme. Typically drought affected areas such as the Horn of Africa are suffering severe drought bought on by seasonal changes, climate change, political troubles and population increases. Those worst affected by droughts are reduced to eating boiled flowers and the negative effects of severe droughts are felt for generations.

Storms can be manifested as Hurricanes, Cyclones, Sandstorms, Sea Storms and Tornadoes. Different geographic locations are more susceptible to cyclogenisis (the development or strengthening of cyclonic circulation in the atmosphere), and the resulting devastation. Sailors participating in the Sydney to Hobart Race are often at the mercy of severe storm conditions, and parts of America and India have been seriously affected by Hurricanes in the last 10 years. Surfers see the biggest swell in stormy conditions.

Forests, wildlife, property and often human life is endangered when fires break out. Fires strike when the air is hot and the land is dry – and spread when high winds fan the flames. Lightening is the major source of naturally occurring fires. This episode looks at the California fires of 2007, the Los Alamos Research Laboratory super computer called ‘Blue Mountain’ that simulated unfolding weather patterns, as well as the Fire Camera system in NSW, Australia, and the fire festival in Spain.

Of all the Planets, Mars has an environment most like Earth. For decades we have been sending probes to Mars in the search for water – the essential ingredient necessary for sustaining human life on this Planet. We look at the multiple missions to Mars, and the technology employed by NASA in its probes to assist with the search for water and life on Mars. Success has been a long time coming; however Scientists were able to determine that water exists on Mars, as it was found in a soil sample.

The world’s lakes and flowing rivers constitute only one percent of the Earth’s water. However the fresh water in rivers is vital to all landbased life. Population pressures are putting all major waterways under stress. Rivers provide drinking water, and water for agricultural purposes. Since the beginning of civilization, they have also been used for transport, and cities have grown on their banks. An example, the river Nile is the longest in the world, providing animals and the people of Africa – in particular, Egypt - with their principle water source.

Areas of wilderness are parts of the world that have been left untouched by modern man. Some places have survived because they are too harsh to be inhabited by civilization. Others have survived because people have worked hard to preserve their natural beauty. High in the Himalayas, Indian’s Valley of Flowers National Park is one of those protected as a World Heritage site. Known for its meadows of Alpine flowers, it represents a transition between forest and mountainside. The last great wilderness is Antarctica, which belongs to no country and is protected from exploitation by its subzero climate.

Earthquakes are sudden, unpredictable movements of the Earth’s crust, which can result in widespread loss of life, as well as extensive damage to buildings, and infrastructure. Certain parts of the world are more susceptible to these types of catastrophic events, such as Japan, which suffered a quake rating 6.8 on the Richter scale in 2004, killing 51 people and injuring thousands. Vulnerable countries are working towards developing reliable early warning systems so that they can better prepare their people and cities for impending disaster.

Islands provide unique environments isolated from the major land masses. The animals and people that live on islands are faced with different problems of survival, in which the ocean, with it’s vast array of potential food, plays an important part. We look at some of the most isolated and beautiful islands on the planet, including Easter Island with its stone sculptures, the treeless expanses of the Shetland Islands off Scotland, and the Pharaoh Islands, initially settled by Irish monks and Vikings.

Lakes are bodies of water not connected to the ocean. Most contain fresh water, which makes them a focus for life, as all land-based animals require water to survive. Just three percent of the world’s water is fresh, with two thirds being locked away in polar or glacial ice. Russia’s Lake by Chao and the Great Lake System of North America make up as much as half of what’s left over. We look at the way Russians make use of their lake during the winter when it freezes over, and the effect on Global Warming when the Lake starts to thaw, releasing methane and carbon dioxide from the thawing process.

Our planet’s untouched natural environments are shrinking, due to pressure from human populations. As these areas decline, the creatures adapted to live in them face a decline in numbers, and sometimes even extinction altogether. Many biologists believe that if we don’t act quickly, half the world’s species will be gone in 100 years. A report called the Living Planet Index reveals that from 1970 to 2000, populations of terrestrial and marine species dropped by 30 percent, while freshwater populations went down by a massive fifty percent.

Roughly one quarter of the Earth’s surface is covered by mountains. More than half of the world’s population depends on the rivers that are fed by the ice and snow that form in mountain ranges. Some mountains are formed by volcanic action, but mountain ranges result from the compression of the Earth’s Tectonic Plates. The Himalayas, which lie between India and Tibet, are the highest mountain systems, and the “youngest”.

Across the void of space, the other planets in our solar system all have environments that are hostile to life as we know it. Our nearest neighbor, Venus, has been visited by probes to gather information about its surface – as has Mars – but humans have yet to discover ways to send astronauts to these planets, as the journeys themselves would be just as dangerous as the final destination. This fact hasn’t stopped engineers from both the American and Russian space programs from trying, though!

Across the world, a series of extreme weather events are affecting local conditions in a variety of ways. Some areas are getting drier, and hotter, while others are getting wetter, as floods are becoming more frequent, and more extreme. Formal weather records go back 150 years. While these records indicate wildly varying climates, conditions have never changed as rapidly as they are changing now. The most notably changes due to Global Warming are occurring at the poles, with polar icecaps melting at an almost frightening rate.

The Earth is roughly four and a half billion years old, and life started to emerge shortly after the first billion. Our planet’s atmosphere is made up of one of the world’s most reactive elements – oxygen. It is the product of green plants and is essential for the survival of all animal life. Tropical forests help replenish oxygen in our atmosphere, taking the carbon dioxide from the air and converting it to oxygen with the help of the sun, and water.