Earth from Space (2019) s01e03 Episode Script

1
From the blackness of space
our home is a blue planet.
But now satellite cameras
capture a kaleidoscope
..of extraordinary colours
..surprising
..and constantly changing
..created by natural phenomena
..by animals
..and by people.
These colours are revealing
new insight into the health
of our fragile planet
CLICKS AND CHIRPS
..transforming our understanding
of our colourful home.
The aurora
..our planet's greatest
natural spectacle.
Energy from the sun
interacts with our atmosphere
..creating colourful light.
In the Arctic,
ribbons of green flicker overhead.
But from space,
the aurora is even more spectacular.
It was only by looking down on the
aurora
that we discovered it forms rings
around the Earth's poles.
The gentle ribbons become
towering vertical streaks
hundreds of kilometres high.
And scientists observed
a surprising colour.
300km up in the atmosphere
..clearly visible from orbit
..the lights turn from green
..to red
..as solar particles react with
oxygen.
The view from space
reveals the sheer scale
and power of this interaction
between our planet and the sun.
Satellite cameras are giving us
a brand-new perspective
on many of the Earth's most
extraordinary natural spectacles.
It's spring and, off the coast of
Alaska,
the ocean has been transformed.
Vast swirls of green and
turquoise
..hundreds of kilometres across.
A plankton bloom,
shaped by ocean currents.
Despite their size,
these blooms are created
by some of the tiniest life forms
on our planet.
Microscopic plant-like organisms
have survived through the winter.
And now they use the warming waters
and spring sunshine to multiply
..in their millions
..transforming the ocean on a scale
that can only be seen
..from space.
Many different animals are dependent
on these blooms for their survival.
This sea lion mother has given
birth.
Her pup is just hours old.
Spring means a baby boom
..coinciding with
the plankton blooms offshore.
Plankton feed
shoals of millions of herring.
A feast for mothers with hungry
pups.
But these blooms form off the
coast
..and crossing open water is risky.
The sea lions stay in close
formation, each keeping a lookout.
Swimming away from the group
is dangerous.
Killer whales.
This pod are sea lion hunters
and time their arrival with the
bloom.
Sea lions have a powerful bite
..but the killer whales' surprise
attacks aim to disable it
so it cannot fight back.
Stunned and immobilised,
there is no chance of escape.
Fishing in these seas is dangerous.
But it's worth the risk.
The bloom will provide these mothers
with enough fish to support
their hungry pups.
All across the world's oceans,
plankton blooms attract animals
in huge numbers.
In the Aleutian Islands,
thousands of shearwaters
launch a surface attack
on vast shoals of fish
..while below, humpback whales
gorge on up to one and a half tonnes
a day.
And in the shallow seas of South
Africa
..plankton feed millions of
sardines
..attracting one of the largest
gathering of predators
CLICKS AND CHIRPS
..anywhere on Planet Earth.
But these blooms don't just support
ocean food chains.
The tiny plant-like organisms
also produce oxygen.
By studying the scale of these
blooms
..scientists now calculate
they create up to 50%
of the planet's oxygen.
And so it's not just forests
but these oceanic swirls of colour
that are the lungs of our world.
From space, we can monitor
the surface of our planet
and see where life thrives.
But these cameras
also reveal worrying signs
that the natural world is under
threat.
In Greenland, the white of the
icecap is spotted with blue.
The ice is melting.
Temperatures are rising
due to climate change.
Rivers of turquoise meltwater
are crisscrossing further
..and further over the ice.
These rivers flow into
depressions on the icecap
..each one up to seven square
kilometres of sapphire blue.
Scientists have combined
satellite images of these lakes
taken over the summer months.
They fill and empty again and again.
Every year, billion of tonnes of
water
drain off the icecap and into the
sea.
The Greenland ice sheet may soon
become
the largest contributor
to rising sea levels.
260 billion tonnes of ice
are lost every year.
Hundreds of blue lakes
that tell us the icecap
..is shrinking faster
than we've ever known before.
Satellite cameras
are revolutionising the way
scientists study the natural world.
The tiniest splash of colour
..can reveal animals
in Earth's most remote landscapes.
In Antarctica
..a speck of red.
Blood on the ice
..where a Weddell seal
has just given birth.
The South Atlantic seas
surrounding Bird Island
are so treacherous that satellites
are the safest way to study them.
Scientists are looking
for these tiny white spots
BUBBLING BIRD CALLS
..each a vulnerable, wandering
albatross.
And on the Antarctic Danger
Islands
..patches of pink rock
have led to the discovery
of one of the largest
penguin colonies on Earth.
The activity of millions
of Adelie penguins
has worn away the vegetation
completely.
Scientists now use colour
to estimate just how many penguins
live on these remote islands
without ever having to set foot
there.
In June, the lakeshores of
East Africa are flecked with pink.
Flocks of thousands
of lesser flamingos.
They gather here to find a mate
..which is a flamboyant affair.
The flamingos perform elaborate
dances
..which help each bird
to decide on a partner
..although it's still not fully
understood how they make their
choice.
It's not easy to find
your one in a million.
But trying to stand out from the
crowd
..isn't the answer.
Flamingos are not born pink.
Their feathers are dyed by a red
chemical found in the algae that
they eat
..holding their breath as they
reach for food in the deeper water.
Throughout the year, these
flamboyant flocks move from remote
lake to lake
in search of food.
Tracking them from the ground
is very difficult.
But, from space, scientists can now
spot the pink as they arrive on
lakeshores
..monitoring their movements
and their numbers.
But not all the colours
we can see from space are natural.
Human activity can be
just as eye-catching.
In Massachusetts,
millions of cranberries
are harvested from flooded ponds.
In the deserts of Utah,
bright blue mineral pools
..full of potash,
used to make fertiliser.
In the Gobi Desert,
millions of red-hot chillies
dry in the sun.
The Bay Area of San Francisco
is like a rainbow.
Water in evaporation ponds -
each colour a different stage
in the production of salt.
In spring, the fields of Holland
are painted with barcode stripes.
Millions of tulips.
60% of all the world's tulips
are harvested from these fields.
Within a few weeks, all the flowers
and their colours are gone.
And every spring in south-west
China
..a vast area becomes bright
yellow
..as millions of rapeseed flowers
..bloom.
These flowers will eventually
produce almost 20%
of all the world's rapeseed oil.
A colour transformation
on such a grand scale
that the only way to capture it
in its entirety
..is from space.
Mr Dai and his son are nomads.
They've travelled across China
just in time for the bloom.
But they're not here for the oil.
They've come to make honey.
But the weather is not on their
side.
The view from space
is almost completely white.
Thick cloud is blocking the sun.
THUNDER RUMBLES
It's just too cold for the bees to
fly.
With a chill in the air
..these bees aren't going anywhere.
And time is running out.
In two weeks, the rapeseed farmers
will spray pesticides over the
fields
..making it a dangerous place
for the bees.
They must move on
before the spraying starts.
All they can do is
sit and wait for the sun.
After three grey days,
the clouds finally part
..and one and a half million bees
head out to work.
HE LAUGHS
They must visit two million flowers
to make just one jar of honey.
The bees drink the sugary nectar
from the flowers they visit
..and transfer it to the hive,
where it becomes honey.
Food for the long winter months.
But bees are more than
just honey makers.
They are one of the world's
most important crop pollinators
..helping plants produce
fruits, seeds and vegetables.
But now pesticides are contributing
to a worldwide decline
in the number of honeybees,
and their future is under threat.
Mr Dai's window of opportunity
is short
..but the bees have been hard at
work.
He has plenty of honey.
HE LAUGHS
And not a moment too soon.
The fields will be sprayed in two
days.
It's time to move on.
The effect of the passing seasons
can be seen right across
the Earth's surface.
Rain transforms a Californian
desert.
In New England, autumn changes
the landscape from green to russet
red.
And heavy snowfall
covers all of the British Isles.
In some places, these seasonal
changes are so dramatic
..that surviving them is a
challenge.
Each winter, these Japanese islands
turn from green
..to bright white.
Some of the deepest snowfall
anywhere on Earth.
It takes powerful machines
to clear the mountain passes
..creating walls of snow
up to 20 metres high.
For one forest species
..such a complete change
in the landscape
requires an equally radical
survival strategy.
A solitary squirrel.
At just half the size
of a grey squirrel
..this female is small enough
to fit in the palm of a hand.
She spends most of the year
alone in the treetops.
Being light allows her
to reach nutritious buds
at the very tips of the branches.
But at this time of year,
there's very little to eat.
And the deep snow
makes it hard to get around.
But she has a strategy.
Flight.
Siberian flying squirrels can glide
up to 50 metres from tree to tree
in search of food.
But even with this useful
adaptation,
it's a struggle to consume
enough calories to keep warm.
For many years, scientists wondered
how this tiny animal copes
in the harsh winter months
..until they discovered
that this squirrel
..changes its behaviour.
Throughout much of the year,
Siberian flying squirrels
are solitary animals.
But now she needs extra body heat.
And another female in her
territory
..is her chance.
The new female is welcomed into her
den.
They will spend the winter together,
sharing body heat to survive the
cold
..parting ways when the island
once again transforms.
The passing seasons
have been changing the colours
of our planet for millennia.
But off the coast of Australia
..satellites are monitoring
a more sudden and alarming change.
The Great Barrier Reef.
At over 2,000 kilometres long,
the sheer scale of this habitat
makes satellites the best way
to appreciate it.
It's thought that the reef has
hugged the coastline of east
Australia
for thousands of years.
But now it's changing.
This is an image of the reef in
A year later, its colour is gone.
Earth's changing climate
is warming the waters,
affecting the reef
..and bleaching its colour.
Healthy reef coral is made up
of three different elements.
A hard limestone skeleton
..soft coral polyps
that live inside the skeleton
..and microscopic algae
that gives the coral its beautiful
colour.
But the waters surrounding the reef
are now getting warmer.
And this can cause the tiny,
colourful algae in the coral
..to become toxic.
The corals become stressed
by these toxins
..swelling up to three times
their normal size
..before ejecting a cloud
of the tiny, coloured algae
out of their bodies.
In just two years,
these beautiful coral gardens
..lost their colour.
The coral becomes overgrown by
algae.
..and then crumbles.
On the northern reefs,
more than 80% of the coral
has bleached due to warming waters.
This has tragic consequences
for the thousands of animals
that make the reef their home
..including one
that's only just been discovered.
Every winter, visitors emerge
from the deep blue.
CLICKS AND CHIRPS
Dwarf minke whales
..first discovered here in the
1980s.
Each whale has its own unique
markings
HIGH, EXTENDED CALL
..and a very distinct and unusual
song.
REPEATED CHIRP
It's this calf's first visit
to the reef
..brought here by her mother.
At eight metres,
the adult whales are one of
the largest animals on the reef.
But, despite their size, we still
know very little about them.
It seems they come to the reef
to socialise.
And scientists are now using
satellite tagging technology
..to follow the whales' movements.
They slowly head south
..before disappearing
into deeper waters.
But if the reef changes,
we may lose our chance to learn more
about these mysterious animals.
In 2017, two thirds of the reef
suffered bleaching.
That's more than 1,500km
of coral.
If the oceans continue to warm
at this rate,
then the coral will struggle to
recover,
and one of the world's most
important and colourful habitats
..will be lost.
Human activity is changing our
planet.
This is never more apparent
than at night.
Now even the darkest nights glow
with the light of our cities and
towns.
The Thames snakes black
through the centre of London.
Lights hug the bay of Tokyo
..while China's largest city,
Shanghai, glows bright.
In some places, even the darkest
oceans are lit by mysterious
colours.
Blue lights in the straits of
Taiwan
..a huge trail of green
in the waters off Japan
..and off the coast of South
America, a strange, glowing shape
..hundreds of bright spots
lined up along the very edge
of Argentina's waters.
The lights from a fleet
of squid fishing boats
..gathered here for an ocean
bonanza.
Every night across the world's
oceans,
millions of squid rise from the deep
to feed near the surface
..navigating upwards from the
dark
..toward the light of the moon.
Here in Argentina,
fishermen take advantage by flooding
the ocean with powerful electric
light
..mimicking the moon
and drawing the squid to their
boats.
Fishing this way is permitted
in international waters.
But overfishing is leading to
many species becoming endangered.
The Argentine coastguard
police these waters.
Practising nightly drills means they
are always ready to intercept
illegal boats.
It's a huge challenge
for Captain Carlos Apablaza.
There can be as many as 400 boats
here, across a vast area of ocean.
They are all required
to carry a satellite beacon
so the captain can keep track of
them.
A new satellite update comes in.
A rogue fishing boat
has turned off its satellite beacon
in an attempt to go off-grid.
It was last seen heading towards
Argentinian waters.
ALARM BELL RINGS
Captain Apablaza sets a course
to intercept the rogue vessel.
But it looks as if the boat has also
turned off its fishing lights
..attempting to sneak over the
border unseen, where the squid are
plentiful.
In the night,
there's a real risk of collision.
HORN BLARES
But it looks like the fishing boat
has escaped them.
Suddenly, their luck changes.
A newly updated satellite picture
has relocated the rogue vessel.
By analysing photographs
taken from space
..it's now possible to spot the
lights of a single boat away from
the fleet.
Captain Apablaza orders his crew
to issue a warning.
This is Argentine coastguard ship
Prefecto Derbes calling you. Over.
MESSAGE OVER RADIO
Senor capitan, informo se avista
This is often enough
to persuade rogue vessels
to change course away from
Argentinian waters and back to the
fleet.
Satellite technology
is more important than ever
to help combat illegal fishing
..and protect our oceans.
The view from space has forever
changed the way we see our planet.
Satellites give us a new perspective
on its greatest
..and most beautiful spectacles
..allowing us to make new
discoveries.
We can watch landscapes
change through the seasons
..and marvel in the scale
of their transformations.
Now satellites are a powerful tool
with which to monitor
the health of our planet
..see where life is thriving
..but, crucially,
where it is under threat.
And as we have a greater impact,
never has it been more important
to protect our colourful home.
Next time
We are changing our planet.
As cities grow
..natural resources shrink
..and Earth's surface changes
faster than ever in human history
..only from space
can we fully appreciate
the impact we're having
..on our fragile home.
The Open University has produced a
poster, exploring Earth from Space.
To order your free copy, call
Or go to
..and follow the links to
the Open University.