BBC News: Rare lenticular clouds over West Yorkshire (Photo Gallery)

Lenticular clouds form when a moist air mass moves downwind of a mountain range where it reaches the dew point, causing quick condensation. This is why they are so often seen capping a mountain peak. Their odd shape and apparently low altitude account for their common identification as space ships.

This page on WeatherVortex.com has a very good picture gallery of some amazing lenticular effects from all over the world.

(Google Images)

A Blink in Time

The earliest recorded studies of snowflakes date back to China in the first century BCE. Later, rudimentary sketches of crystal structures first appeared around the time that early microscopes made close observation possible for European scientists. But it was the camera that really gave the humble snowflake its well-deserved place in the spotlight. One of the pioneers of this field was Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley (1865-1931) who made thousands of unique photomicrographs on black velvet (his photos were widely used by the scientific community and today are in the public domain). An 1885 photograph by Bentley is believed to be the first time a snowflake was captured by camera. So passionate was Bentley in the pursuit of the snowflake’s elusive beauty, the elderly photographer died of pneumonia after tramping through a blizzard for six hours with his camera.

Blueprint of a snowflake

A snowflake is essentially a molecule of water vapor crystallized by freezing temperatures. The more molecules accreted together, the more complex the form. Snowflakes most often develop six-sided figures because the layout of a water molecule and its ratio of oxygen and hydrogen atoms affects the way the molecules bond with each other in a crystal lattice. Snowflakes form in a cloud when the H20 is supercooled (around 14 F) and water condenses into droplets. The remaining vapor molecules cling to the water droplets and to each other as they begin to crystallize. In essence it’s more accurate to say that snowflakes are pieces of cloud, rather than mere frozen raindrops – which of course would be sleet.

This diagram illustrates how temperature and moisture affect the formation of snow (courtesy of Caltech’s Snowflake Study page):

Sorting infinity

As you might imagine, snowflakes come in so many forms that classifying them is no easy task. Many come in unfamiliar shapes with no resemblance to the famous “dendrite” types with their intricate fractal branches.

There are a number of basic snowflake forms: simple polygons; needles and rods; capped columns that look like spools of thread; clustered bullet-shaped snowflakes; and lumpy, irregular flakes of frozen water droplets. Some flakes form in a three-dimensional shape like a Christmas tree star.

Everyone knows the saying that “No two snowflakes are alike” – just like human fingerprints. But snowflake experts say that this very well may be a myth. It’s not as though there is a world database of “flake prints” to prove it; after all, if there were lots of identical crystal patterns hanging around out there, could we really expect to know about it?

Since nature favors diversity – and since there is a nearly infinite combination of variables affecting temperature, humidity, and other atmospheric conditions – it’s more likely that any two snowflakes will share only a passing similarity. There are more than enough crystal patterns to go around!

Psychological snow?

Finally, there is some research done by Mr. Masaru Emoto, who claims that snowflake formation is determined not only by temperature and air movement, but by mood. He has theorized that water responds to music, speech, and even human emotion, to create crystals that are correspondingly more or less aesthetically pleasing. Most serious academics ridicule this hypothesis, since the studies are based chiefly on the subjective taste of the researcher, perhaps blurring the line between control and variable – and because the results cannot be successfully reproduced in experiments.

If Mr. Emoto’s research has proved one thing, it seems to be that humans are at least as open to the power of suggestion as snowflakes are. Maybe it’s just pleasing to think that snowflakes could be as much a marvel to themselves are they are to us.

The next time you have the chance to see a cascade of the fluffy white stuff, I can be pretty sure you won’t be giving much thought to molecular geometry. You could always put on some of your favorite music and enjoy the show – maybe you won’t end up with happier snowflakes, but a moment to savor some of nature’s simple wonders is always a good call.

Snowflake photos from Wilson Bentley’s Official Site (Public Domain)

SnowCrystals.com – the definitive site for snowflake studies (Caltech’s project page)

Newscientist.com: Snowflakes as you’ve never seen them before with photography by Kenneth Libbrecht of Caltech

Snowflake “Bentley” Official Site

Wikipedia: Snowflake

EarthSky.org: How to take photos of snowflakes

Web Design Depot – a collection of more modern (but equally beautiful) snowflake macro shots

This is really extraordinary aerial footage of a gray wolf pack hunting a herd of bison. It’s intense, and maybe grisly to some – but in my mind it’s good to see that there are still places in the world where these fascinating animals can still carry out these ageless rites.

BBC Frozen Planet: Wolf hunt footage

I’ve just uploaded a new set of photos to my Flickr photostream. I’ve been remiss in posting them; as a matter of fact I still have a few sets from this summer that I haven’t added yet.

If fall is your favorite season (as it is mine) then I hope you will enjoy browsing through them as much as I enjoyed taking them. As always, if you see any of them that you like, feel free to download/use them online or in your next project, no permission required – just pass along the favor.

Visit my photostream:

According to the National Weather Service,

“…The most popular belief of Indian Summer is as follows…It is an abnormally warm and dry weather period, varying in length, that comes in the autumn time of the year, usually in October or November, and only after the first killing frost/freeze. There may be several occurrences of Indian Summer in a fall season or none at all…”

The article goes on to describe many popular and scientific theories about the origin of the expression:

“One explanation of the term “Indian Summer” might be that the early native Indians chose that time of year as their hunting season. This seems reasonable seeing the fall months are still considered the main hunting season for several animals. Also, the mild and hazy weather encourages the animals out, and the haziness of the air gives the hunter the advantage to sneak up on its prey without being detected. Taking this idea one step further, Indians at that time were known to have set fires to prairie grass, underbrush and woods to accentuate the hazy, smokey conditions. But Albert Matthews pointed out that the Indians also did this at other times of the year.

Other possibilities include; the Indians made use of the dry, hazy weather to attack the whites before the hard winter set in; that this was the season of the Indian harvest; or, that the predominant southwest winds that accompanied the Indian Summer period were regarded by the Indians as a favor or “blessing” from a “god” in the desert Southwest. Another idea, of a more prejudicial origin, was that possibly the earliest English immigrants equated Indian Summer to “fools” Summer, given the reliability of the resulting weather. Finally, another hypothesis, not at all in the American Indian “camp” of theories, was put forward by an author by the name of H. E. Ware, who noted that ships at that time traversing the Indian Ocean loaded up their cargo the most during the “Indian Summer”, or fair weather season. Several ships actually had an “I.S.” on their hull at the load level thought safe during the Indian Summer.”

(From JUST WHAT IS INDIAN SUMMER AND DID INDIANS REALLY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT? by William R. Deedler)

But there’s another side to this coin: if there was such a thing as an “Indian summer” among Indians, that begs the question – what do they have to say about its origins?

The following article was first published in the Denver Post, 2001 (thanks to NativeVillage.com for the text.)

Celebrating an Indian Summer
(Richard B Williams, President, American Indian College Fund)

“Lately we have heard the phrase “Indian summer” used frequently to describe our stretch of good weather. Most of us are taking advantage of the warm weather rather than contemplating the etymology of the term “Indian summer.” However, a study of the phrase is an eye-opening look into our nation’s history. After years of asking elders and prominent Indian historians, I stumbled across an article written by a leading American Indian author from an Eastern tribe who explained the origins of “Indian summer.”

Early settlers who coined the term would see Indian farmers celebrating the blessing of being able to add a second and sometimes third harvest to their winter store following the first frost. The author described how the Indian farmers would give thanks to the creator for the warm days. As we celebrate our own recent warm weather, we must also recognize the contributions that these Indian farmers made to our overall well-being. American Indians were not only the first landowners in North America – they were also accomplished farmers whose agricultural aptitude would eventually transform the world.

Most Americans today do not know that American Indians owned the land upon which they farmed largely because the land-tenure system to the American Indian was vastly different than what the European colonists knew and would later institute in North America. The Indian farmer owned the land as long as it was occupied. When land was abandoned, anyone could claim the land as long as the new owner farmed it.

Because the farmed land did not look like the parceled-out sections of Europe when settlers arrived, they mistook the symbiotic, ecologically friendly farming style used by Indians as meaning the land was not owned.

According to Jack Weatherford’s book titled “Indian Givers; How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World,” American Indians cultivated more than 300 food crops with dozens of variations that improved the world’s diet both in quantity and quality of foods.

As testimony to the skill and knowledge of Native farmers, three-fifths of the world’s crops in cultivation today originated from the ingenious farmers who were successfully growing crops in varied soils and climates throughout the Americas.

The Native farmers’ agricultural proficiency and understanding of the need to farm in harmony with the land is reflected in “Three Sisters,” a traditional horticultural technique of planting corn, squash and beans together.

The Three Sisters are inseparable because each crop benefits the growth of the other two crops in a limited space. The growing corn provides a pole for the bean plant to climb and needed shade for the squash that covers the ground to provide even moisture and reduce weed growth.

Through agricultural experimentation, Native farmers employed highly developed agricultural methods and introduced nutritious crops to the world that included corn, new grains, wild rice, tomatoes, chilies, sunflowers, numerous bean and pepper varieties and potatoes.

Ironically, the introduction of high-yield crops such as the potato and a more nutritious diet helped spawn a population explosion in Europe that heralded the colonization of the Americas. The eventual displacement of Indian people from their traditional farming lands would encourage the eradication of Indian civilizations.

Some 7,000 years before the first Thanksgiving, farming was an integral part of the culture and economy of indigenous people in the Americas. By introducing new agricultural principles, foods and improved cultivation techniques, the American Indian farmer made an immeasurable contribution to the world. This is indeed a blessing we should all celebrate during this Indian summer.”

See also: Food for Thought: Little-Known Facts About American Indian Innovations

Photo courtesy of SpaceWeather.com reader gallery.

With any luck, we southerners will have another chance to see the phenomenon again tonight, as solar storm conditions persist. But at the given rate of solar activity, it’s likely that such “special effects” won’t be such a stranger to us in the future.

Discovery News: Epic Aurora Caught Across Country

Causes of Color Web Exhibit – The Aurora

National Geographic – Gallery

It’s not just for folks in the UK. The BBC’s Nature & Wildlife department has a big website comparable to National Geographic’s – it’s chock full with oodles of photos, videos, and fact files (and of course news) making it a nature lover’s paradise.

Some of the video content may not be available to visitors outside the UK, but there’s still enough great material to make it worth the visit. I could spend hours merely looking through the gorgeous photography. Professor Iain Stewart, whom I have blogged about before, is one of the main contributors for the science section. Browse by region, species, and topic – it’s superbly well-organized, and a particularly useful research tool for students.

Put this site in your Bookmarks!

More screenshots:

September 4, 1893: Birth of fictional character “Peter Rabbit”

Since his conception in a letter to a little boy in Victorian England, Peter Rabbit has become the signature creation of English artist and naturalist Beatrix Potter. He became the first patented character after Potter licensed the production of a trademarked plush toy in 1903.

When Peter Rabbit was first published in 1902 by Frederick Warne & Co., Potter designed every aspect of the book, from the illustrations to the covers and bindings. In the 1930′s her stories were re-issued using this first publication as a template. The Warne centenary edition in 2002 took this effort up a notch by completely restoring and remastering the copy film to reflect the original format, resulting in the most authentic rendition to date.

Right: The original “Peter Rabbit” letter written to Noel Moore dated September 3, 1893 (Image: The World of Beatrix Potter)

About Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter was born in 1866 to a well-off English family. From a young age she had an exceptionally agile mind which the conventions of Victorian culture were slow to accommodate. Though shy and reserved, her girlhood journals show her to have been an imaginative and talented budding artist and a shrewd social critic.

Photo: Children’s Classics.com.au – Biography of Beatrix Potter

Her passion for wildlife was evident early in life, from the small animals she and her brother kept (later to become models for some of her characters) to her growing interest in the natural sciences and conservation.

Her Tale of Peter Rabbit – written, like Lewis Carroll’sAlice in Wonderland, for the entertainment of a small child – spawned a series of watercolor-illustrated animal tales that quickly became established children’s classics. By the end of the first year’s publication alone, 28,000 copies were in circulation.

The stellar success of her illustrated books offered Potter some independence in the face of social restriction and family expectations. It enabled her to buy property in England’s beautiful Lake District, where her ‘Hill Top Farm’ became a thriving operation and is today a national historic site. She became one of the country’s most respected figures in sheep-raising and land management and conservation.

Her life was recently the subject of the 2006 film Miss Potter, earning actress Renee Zellweger a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of the artist.

Links

The World of Beatrix Potter – The ‘official’ website of Peter Rabbit & friends; plus detailed material on Potter’s work and legacy

The Beatrix Potter Society of the UK

More than just Bunnies: The Legacy of Beatrix Potter

Wikipedia: Peter Rabbit

Wikipedia: Beatrix Potter

He has informed me that prints of this piece are available on Photoviva along with some of his other pieces.

His own fine art photography website is a must see – the nature shots are incredibly lush and dramatic.

Jason Wickens Photography: Inspirational Photo Art

Shapotou, on the banks of the Yellow River in northern China’s Ningxia Province, is home to one of the world’s desert wonders. The “Musical Sands” of the desolate Tengger Desert, thanks to the properties of acoustic resonance, produce an orchestra of other-worldly sounds that have spawned centuries of legends and enthralled Western tourists.

Some of the planet’s tallest dunes reside in this brutally arid region on the skirts of the Gobi Desert. But it is also home to one of the most ambitious incentives aimed at reclaiming land that has become desertified as a result of human activity.

The recent stories of China’s war with its encroaching northern deserts, and the palpable effects on its cities further south, call to mind America’s own Dust Bowl experience in the not-so-distant past. Generations’ worth of aggressive agricultural expansion depleted the soil, leading to mass erosion, and subsistence farmers graze livestock in a climate where resources are increasingly scarce. Combined with severe drought, these forces have exhausted the landscape and created an avalanche of problems that threaten far more than the area’s natural productivity.

Tiananmen Square, Beijing, 2010.
Image: BBC News: “China sandstorm leaves Beijing shrouded in orange dust”

National Geographic: China’s Dust Storms Raise Fears of Impending Catastrophe

Wikipedia: 2010 China drought and dust storms

To counteract this dilemma, Chinese researchers in the 1950′s formed the Shapotou Desert Experimental Research Station to focus on rebuilding a stable eco-system that could slow the desertification process and serve as a buffer for the country’s temperate zones. They started from the ground up – literally.

The Shapotou sands of the 1950′s were essentially lifeless – the dry, pulverized, loess was devoid not only of vegetation to anchor the soil, but of the microbiological life that forms the building blocks of virtually all living systems.

The Shapotou dunes in the 1960s.
Image: Long Term Ecological Research Network

By laying out grids of microbe-inoculated straw, the scientists hoped to create a protective mulch that would help prevent the mass erosion of the sands and reintroduce microbial and fungal life fundamental to healthy soil.

This “microbe mesh” made growth possible for marginal desert plants, which further enriched the grid as each successive layer contributed to the life cycle through decomposition. The mulched land began to support larger plant and shrub growth, gradually reducing the amount of soil loss through wind, and critically, forming a self-sustaining green buffer around the desert zones.

Deutsche Welle: Grid of straw squares turns Chinese sand to soil

Image: Visit Our China

The verdict

Results released by the Chinese State Forestry Administration claim that in ten years the program has reduced the desertification rate by nearly half. Today, nearly half a century later, the greening of Shapotou has turned a wasteland into a thriving belt of orchards and vineyards.

(See some recent photos of Shapotou’s gardens on Flickr)

The Chinese government has since launched an intensive forest-building effort and is taking steps to protect existing forest areas. The trees serve as windbreaks and soil anchors, and their deep root systems access precious water reservoirs beneath the deserts.

Where the Yellow River meets the Tengger. Image: West-Saga.com

Their hope is to expand the green corridor throughout the Yellow River basin, and between the Tengger Desert and the Badain Jaran of the Mongolian border – two deserts threatening to merge into a “super dune” that would quickly encroach south, engulfing large swaths of northern China and endangering the densely populated cities of lower China.

In the 50 years since the start of this initiative, the bush zone between these deserts has shrunk in half, but now Chinese scientists and officials hope to reverse this. Their experience in Shapotou has provided them with a solution.

China Daily: China plants green belt to stop deserts merging

So is it too early to declare this initiative a success? There are mixed opinions. The cost in terms of money and effort is steep, and strict conservation policies put a strain on the region’s subsistence farmers – hundreds, even thousands of whom will be displaced from land being converted into the green zone.

But without drastic steps being taken to reverse the combined effects of climate change and intensive human use, that land won’t be there in the future for the farmers or anyone else to use. The short-term costs may be high, but the risk of doing nothing is much more pressing.

Humans dealing with the direct and indirect effects of their actions on Nature is not a new problem; but our precarious position in relation to the natural world is now more tangible than ever. Desertification is one of the biggest issues facing the 21st century environment. The Shapotou research program’s promising results so far are a profound example of what a very basic solution can do to answer a very complex problem.

This one is from a series documenting an expedition to Africa’s Nyiragonga Crater, the site of the world’s largest lava lake.

Nyiragongo Crater: Journey to the Center of the World

Speaking of volcanoes, another story covers the recent Chile volcano which produced the international sensation of an electric storm in the eruption column.

Volcano Erupts in Chile

Lots more where this came from. The pages take a bit to load but are definitely worth seeing.

Across the world, another Icelandic volcano is making noise (not to mention great pictures). While not the same as the country’s Eyjafjalljokull volcano that caused shut down of European airspace last winter, it was a larger eruption in geologic terms.

Another Icelandic Eruption: Grimsvotn Volcano

Is it just me or are there a lot more volcanoes making the news these days? It is saddening of course to hear of the human costs but as these pictures illustrate there are few occasions we have to see nature in such powerful extremes. Kudos to the photographers who make the effort to share these glimpses with the rest of the world.

By the way, it’s not only earth that’s having headline eruptions. For the record, the recent solar storm on the sun’s surface was the largest man has ever witnessed since the technology was developed to view the sun up close. You can bet this will mean lots of photos of the aurora.

Space.com also has footage of the actual event.

National Geographic: Solar Flare Sparks Biggest Eruption Ever Seen on Sun

April 29 is Arbor Day – and in addition, 2011 is the International Year of Forests. In commemoration of both, I thought it would be fitting to put together a list (in no particular order) of things we most appreciate – or should appreciate – about our planet’s long-legged leafy inhabitants.

1. Upwards, not outwards

In comparison to, say, human civilization, which tends to spread out and take up a lot of ground space, trees grow vertically, spreading out overhead and underground. You’ve got to love such a space-efficient design.

2. Ultimate green machines

In similar fashion, trees are entirely solar-powered – a bower of photosynthesizing leaves is like nature’s equivalent of a canopy of photovoltaic cells. And instead of consuming valuable fresh groundwater resources, they quench their thirst with water beneath the soil and deep underground.


3. Erosion prevention

Trees have extensive root systems that permeate varying levels of the ground in their search for water and nutrients, holding together the soil and preventing erosion in the process. At the same time they facilitate ground hydration, while the canopy prevents weathering of the soil surface.

4. Beneficial habitat

Trees are like habitat supercities. A single tree can furnish an entire eco-system, providing nutrients and shelter for a spectrum of living things from microbes and fungi to insects, birds, and small animals. Forest life is among the most diverse in the world.

5. Hydrological cycle

Next to the ocean, perhaps, the world’s trees play the largest role in its planet’s water cycle. The root systems filter the water as it makes its way to the underground reservoirs. Forests are central to the process of evapotranspiration, helping to regulate the amount of moisture in the atmosphere and thereby its temperature.

6. Aeration

As we all know, trees pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and replace it with oxygen. In past geologic epochs, when forests covered most of the earth’s landmass, the super-oxygenated atmosphere gave living things like early mammals a jump start.

7. Shade, shelter, and windbreak

Who doesn’t appreciate the cool relief offered by a tree on a hot summer day? In many arid regions, where vegetation is sparse, trees in their hardiest forms stand alone to provide shelter, shade, and sustenance. En masse, trees shape the landscape in which they grow, providing natural buffer zones against wind and sun and influencing the region’s climate and topography.


8. Life cycle enrichment

The leaves shed by deciduous trees continuously return nutrients to the soil where they grow. All trees keep on giving to their environment long after they stop growing. As the process of decay progresses, they become havens for completely new tiers of animal and microbial life.

9. Nature’s supermarket

Trees produce a huge diversity of fruits, nuts, and other edibles. The leaves, twigs, and bark are important sources of medicinal compounds that have been used by man for thousands of years. Since the dawn of time, people have relied on trees to provide valuable raw materials for every imaginable purpose from building supplies to fuel.

10. Elegant architecture and stunning diversity

Their huge variety of shapes, textures, and colors beautify the world’s landscapes – from the brilliant hues of a northern autumn, to the awesome grandeur of towering redwood forest, to the gnarled form of the lone ancient oak – they have long stirred man’s imagination and inspired his reverence.

Trees figure largely in many of the world’s creation stories; many mythologies – from Norse to Maya to Mongol to Iroquois – describe the universe as an enormous “world tree” whose branches contain all the various strata of life. Numerous references to trees in religion demonstrate their power of metaphor. They are universally seen to confer life, knowledge, and inspiration.

Besides all things, trees are also contenders for the titles of both the largest living and the oldest living non-clonal organism.

Forests once covered a much larger portion of the earth’s land surface – in fact it was these trees that were largely responsible for the conditions that helped life to thrive here.

Of Forests and Men: Official Film for the International Year of the Forest

More:

10 Most Magnificent Trees in the World (from Neat-o-rama)

Mother Nature Network: target=”_blank”>The World’s 7 Most Amazing Trees and The World’s 10 Oldest Living Trees

Note: The pictures in this post are all public domain. See more of them on my photo blog or visit my profile on Flickr.

That question is redundant, I know. If you’re like me you can never get enough. So here is yet another batch of excellent snapshots – some carefully staked out and others captured more serendipitously – from the 2010 BWPA’s.

Above: “Dark-Eyed Deer,” by Damian Waters.

Results from the National Wildlife Federation’s 2010 photo contest (I love them all!)

Be sure to check out the slideshow of honorable mention placeholders. Be sure to note, here “honorable mention” doesn’t mean they weren’t as good as the winners – just that there aren’t enough wining places! You don’t want to miss these.

Slideshow: 2010 Winners

Slideshow: Runners Up

I’ve already posted plenty of photos of the hardwoods in my local environs at summertime, in full green splendor. And they’re certainly at their best in their jewel-toned autumn regalia. But even in winter their impressive architectural forms are a thing to behold. The delicate branching structures are exquisitely intricate and often take on a fractal appearance.

Here are a few shots I took the other day of some of my favorite trees silhouetted against the midwinter sky. Click to enlarge.

By the way, all of the photos in this post are mine and I release them into the public domain – which means they are free for any manner of re-use and no permission is required. If you like them, go ahead and use them however you like.

For the second year in a row, an early winter has slammed into the British Isles (and much of Northern Europe) with a vengeance. It’s an infrastructure nightmare, to be sure, but results in some breathtaking photography.

BBC News has a continuous stream of viewer-submitted photos from all over England, Scotland, and Wales showing the snowy frigid weather at its best (and worst).

I love browsing these slideshows; whether it’s the picturesque image of an old town square blanketed in white, or a great natural shot of the UK’s gorgeous countryside, there’s something about a dusting of snow that adds a sparkling magic to a scene.

Here are a few top gallery picks from the past couple of weeks:

In pictures: Latest snow pictures (Scotland)

In Pictures: Winter Snow 2010 (Yorkshire)

In Pictures: Let it Snow (Scotland)

In pictures: Snow on Snow (Scotland)

Host, Prof. Iain Stewart

Yet again, National Geographic has come out with another winner. I love this series (although of course it doesn’t need my promotion)! I give it five-stars as one of the best all-around documentaries I’ve seen.

Originally released by the BBC, and presented by a very engaging and accomplished host – Scottish scientist Iain Stewart – the series showcases some stunning cinematography from all over the globe (a real plus for nature lovers) and some top-of-the-line CGI graphics.

But what fascinated me the most about this series, and Stewart’s research, is the approach of connecting human history directly with earth science. These days it’s becoming common knowledge to associate modern human activity with climate change; but he presents the geology and pivotal historical events – both globally and regionally – as a deeply intertwined continuum. Watching these episodes makes you wonder, “Why didn’t anybody think of it that way before?”

The series covers a lot of the better-known examples – such as how the over-exploitation of resources contributed to the Mayan collapse, and how the volcanic eruption at Santorini ended the Minoan civilization and ushered in the end of the Bronze Age. But some lesser-known connections are also addressed, and some astounding facts that I’d never heard before. Did you know that so much of the world’s fresh water has been dammed and contained within the industrialized nations in the Northern Hemisphere, that the displaced weight of it has slightly altered the earth’s axis?

The science of the series is concrete enough that he can talk about our climate problems in broad context, without the political overtones. He’s quite clear on the score that humans (notwithstanding our fossil-fuel guzzling and resource polluting) are not about to destroy an earth that’s already been pulverized by space impacts, encased in ice, etc., just because the planet’s temperature rises 5 degrees. It’s not really the earth being threatened, it’s us – because we’ve reached a tipping point in our capacity to influence our environment, beyond what our modern civilization can adapt to.

That’s what makes a careful look at the cause-and-effect relationship between human actions and the natural world so relevant to us today. The issue goes so far beyond the smaller issues like saving individual species, or finding more efficient fuel sources; we have to get a handle on how we fit into the whole “planetary picture,” and how our presence has contributed to ongoing changes within an already dynamic environment.

Above: Still shot from a segment showing renewable infrastructure at its best – a living bridge made from rubber trees in Cherrapunjee, India.

This is the daunting task that the series tackles – but it rises to the challenge brilliantly. It’s a rare thing for a body of research to have such an integrated approach to exploring this interconnectedness on a historical level, not to mention with such an impressive presentation. It’s extremely well-researched without being overly academic. And the top-of-the-line nature photography has it coming out way ahead in terms of entertainment value.

If you like this one, you’d enjoy the earlier release Earth: The Biography which carries the same themes minus the historical bit. It centers on the development of the earth in terms of the whole solar system – more in the category of astronomy and physics.

As an appetizer, check out both companion sites on National Geographic. Thumbs up for wonderful photo galleries and a lot of good reading.

National Geographic: How the Earth Changed History

Earth: The Biography (series)

A similar production by National Geographic, America Before Columbus, contrasts the natural world & human footprints of the Old and New Worlds, with a comprehensive view of the Columbian Exchange.