Is there a crisis?: biodiversity in decline
The most striking feature of life on Earth is its richness and variety. But research shows that the planet's biodiversity is seriously threatened with destruction by human activities. From the depths of the oceans to the tops of rainforest canopies,...
Brownfield basics
After addressing terms and concepts essential to an understanding of brownfields, this program turns to author Storm Cunningham and Robert Colangelo, executive director of the National Brownfields Association, for historical background on the proble...
Going green: real-world solutions for the environment
It's easy to talk about environmental stewardship, but quite another matter to practice it. This compilation of 12 ABC News stories shows how governments, businesses, and individuals around the world are taking concrete, eco-friendly action. Each en...
The future of life: searching for solutions
At the current rate of resource depletion, humankind stands to lose fully half of Earth's remaining species over the next 100 years. At this crucial point in world history, a choice must be made: will coming generations inhabit a healthy planet or, ...
The impact of global warming
Earth's temperature is on the rise - and so are incidents of severe weather and heat-related health problems. This program travels the world to observe how global warming, accelerated and exacerbated by air pollution, is affecting society. Coastal e...
Why is there a crisis?: environmental exploitation
Extinction is a natural process, and five times in the dim reaches of Earth's long history it has happened on a huge scale. Now, due to human activities, another mass extinction has been set in motion - and it is unfolding at an unprecedented speed....
Aliens from planet earth: the problem of invasive species
After direct habitat destruction, nonnative species introduced by humans to new areas pose the largest threat to global biodiversity. This program looks at how scientists and conservationists are coping with a number of these critical situations, su...
Global resources: management and competition
What is the relationship between a country's natural assets and its economic power? Does wealth in raw materials alone lead to monetary wealth? What are the dangers of relying on finite supplies? This program explores economic questions surrounding ...
Airborne: life takes to the sky
This program analyzes how flight evolved not once but four times, in very different ways. Presenting a number of theories, the program examines how insects, pterosaurs, birds, and bats each took to the sky. Bug wings that may have evolved from larva...
Desert biomes
Whether it's a stretch of sand dunes in equatorial Africa or a cactus-covered plain in California, any place that receives less than ten inches of rain per year is considered a desert. By comparing and contrasting arid and semi-arid regions, this pr...