HUMAN PLANET
Only one creature has carved a life for itself in every habitat on earth. That creature is us. All over the world, we still use our ingenuity to survive in the wild places, far from the city lights, face to face with raw nature. This is the human planet.
1.OCEANS---INTO THE BLUE
The sea covers 70% of our planet’s surface. It’s home to three-quarters of all life on Earth. All the creatures found here are perfectly adapted to thrive in the ocean, all except one. We are not evolved for a life aquatic and we’re way out of our depth in this dangerous and alien world. But great opportunities await those people, who dare the venture into the water. As we immerse ourselves ever deeper in the big blue, how do we overcome the enormous challenges that confront us?
Through amazing adaptability and endeavor, we’ve pushed our limits of survival into the ocean, and as we’ve immersed ourselves deeper in the sea, it had a profound effect on our lives. But as continue to change, the nature of the greatest environment of our planet, how we’ll adapt in the future remains to be seen.
2. DESERTS---LIFE IN THE FURNACE
Deserts are the hottest and driest places on earth. They cover one third of the land surface. Some never see rain. We can survive two months without food, yet only a few days without water. As babies, we spend nine months surrounded by fluid in our mother’s womb. But birth pushes us out of this luxurious water world. From this point on, life for every child of the desert is defined by the quest for water. Yet, somehow, in this brutal land, an incredible 300 million people survive. These are their remarkable stories.
Deserts are landscapes of brutal simplicity. They provide so little and demand so much. But, with courage, with endurance and intelligence, with devotion and ingenuity, desert people have found ways to conjure life from so little water. Against the odds, they have turned a life of thirst into a thirst for life.
3. ARCTIC---LIFE IN THE DEEP FREEZE
At the top of our planet lies one of he most remote places on Earth, the Arctic. In winter, the region is frozen and dark for months on end. There are no trees and no plants to eat. We human weren’t built to withstand a landscape as hostile as this. And yet, four million people live here. Their survival relies upon an intimate knowledge of this, the most hostile habitat on Earth.
With every new sunrise, the Arctic is warming up. And the seasonal opportunities that made life possible may not be here in years to come. However, the people of the Arctic are born survivors. If there’s anyone who can adapt to the changes on the horizon, surely it’s them.
4. JUNGLES---PEOPLE OF THE TREES
The jungle is nature at its most vigorous, complex and mysterious. It may appear bountiful, but for humans, this is a surprisingly hostile environment. Though, through the history, great civilizations have arisen here, none have stood the test of time. The jungle refuses to be tamed and it punishes those who don’t live by its laws. Yet even today, there are some who guard the secrets of surviving in this wild world. These are the remarkable stories of people who call the rainforest home.
Trough knowledge, skill and ingenuity, rainforest people have mastered their environment. They live in tune with their surroundings and show it a respect that’s being lost elsewhere. Their remarkable lives remind us that we are noting without nature.
5. MOUNTAINS---LIFE IN THIN AIR
Mountains are among the most brutal environments on earth. Weather here can shift from tropical to arctic in just hours. And the higher you climb, the tougher it gets, until even oxygen is stripped away. But millions of people live in the mountains, either seeking refuge from conflict or exploiting resources found nowhere else. And to survive they have had to adapt in the most surprising and ingenious ways. These are their stories.
To survive in the mountains, you have to understand them. Mountain habitats can be brutal, but if you use your ingenuity, determination, resourcefulness and courage, it is possible to make a life here at the roof of the world.
