Geography

Islands of Evolution episode 3 - Madeira

Islands of Evolution episode 3 – Madeira

Islands of Evolution episode 3 – Madeira: In the final episode, Richard Fortey travels to Madeira to examine what happens to a volcanic island as it nears the end of its life cycle and starts sinking back into the sea. Here, in the island’s laurisilva forest, he examines the remains of an ancient forest that once carpeted all of Europe, finds island lizards that live to be four times older than their mainland counterparts, and meets a huge wolf spider. With the help of local divers, he also discovers an unexpectedly rich marine habitat populated by whales, dolphins and unusual […]

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Islands of Evolution episode 2 - Madagascar

Islands of Evolution episode 2 – Madagascar

Islands of Evolution episode 2 – Madagascar: Professor Richard Fortey travels to the rainforests of Madagascar – an ancient island that has spawned some of the most extraordinary groups of plants and animals anywhere in the world. From beautiful Indri lemurs, toxic frogs, and the cat-like giant mongoose called the fossa, to evolutionary oddities like the giraffe-necked weevil and the otherworldly aye-aye, he uncovers the secrets of the evolutionary niche – examining how, given millions of years, animals and plants can adapt to fill almost any opportunity they find.       Three-part series in which Professor Richard Fortey investigates

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Islands of Evolution episode 1 - Hawaii

Islands of Evolution episode 1 – Hawaii

Islands of Evolution episode 1 – Hawaii: Richard Fortey investigates why islands are laboratories of evolution. On Hawaii he finds honeycreeper birds, carnivorous caterpillars and silversword plants. In the first episode, Fortey is on Hawaii to investigate how life colonises a newly born island. According to some estimates, Hawaii has been successfully colonised by only one new species every 35,000 years due to its remote location – yet the Hawaiian Islands teem with a great diversity of life. In search of the evolutionary secrets of how one species becomes many, Fortey encounters beautiful honeycreeper birds whose evolution rivals that of

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Making Scotland's Landscape episode 5

Making Scotland’s Landscape episode 5

Making Scotland’s Landscape episode 5: During the Industrial Revolution, Scottish scientists and engineers helped unwittingly set off a chain of events that today we know as climate change – a process that is transforming our atmosphere and warming our planet. Professor Iain Stewart looks at how Scotland is on the verge of another revolution: the transformation of a carbon economy to a green one.       Professor Iain Stewart presents a landmark five-part series in which he reveals how Scotland’s unique and beautiful landscape has been shaped over the centuries. Professor Iain Stewart reveals how Scotland’s unique landscape was

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Making Scotland's Landscape episode 4

Making Scotland’s Landscape episode 4

Making Scotland’s Landscape episode 4: As ‘natural’ icons, Scotland’s rivers and lochs represent how the nation imagines itself. However as Professor Iain Stewart discovers, the only thing that happens naturally is rain. As soon as it hits the ground, it is ours and we do with it what we will. Today there are scarcely any rivers or natural large bodies of water left untouched by human activity.       This is the story of how Scotland’s waters became some of the most managed on earth. Professor Iain Stewart presents a landmark five-part series in which he reveals how Scotland’s

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Making Scotland's Landscape episode 3

Making Scotland’s Landscape episode 3

Making Scotland’s Landscape episode 3: Professor Stewart reveals how hearts and not heads have ruled the least understood landscape of them all – the sea. The public’s emotions have played a key role in the fate of Scotland’s maritime creatures and the upshot has been a form of lottery. While some species like seals and sea birds have been protected, others – like cod – have been fished nearly out of existence.       Professor Iain Stewart presents a landmark five-part series in which he reveals how Scotland’s unique and beautiful landscape has been shaped over the centuries. Professor

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Making Scotland's Landscape episode 2

Making Scotland’s Landscape episode 2

Making Scotland’s Landscape episode 2: For centuries, the beauty and drama of Scotland’s landscape has been regarded by most visitors as natural. But in 1950, an eminent ecologist concluded the Highlands had been devastated. Once it was rich and diverse he said, but humans had destroyed it and in the process created what he described as a wet desert. Professor Iain Stewart discovers how man made the proverbially beautiful Highlands.       Professor Iain Stewart presents a landmark five-part series in which he reveals how Scotland’s unique and beautiful landscape has been shaped over the centuries. Professor Iain Stewart

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Making Scotland's Landscape episode 1

Making Scotland’s Landscape episode 1

Making Scotland’s Landscape episode 1: Professor Iain Stewart presents a landmark five-part series in which he reveals how Scotland’s unique and beautiful landscape has been shaped over the centuries.       In this first programme, he uncovers how, over thousands of years, the actions of mankind and the climate nearly led to the downfall of Scotland’s trees and forests. It was only in the 18th century that man realised the extent of the damage to timber stocks, and measures were taken to re-populate the landscape. The impact was profound, but not everyone agreed with the results. In a country

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Earth: The Power of the Planet episode 5 - Rare Earth

Earth: The Power of the Planet episode 5 – Rare Earth

Earth: The Power of the Planet episode 5 – Rare Earth: Life on Earth prospers because it enjoys the right amount of heat from the sun, and the atmosphere prevents meteorite bombardment. Geography series with Dr Iain Stewart.     Our planet is unique within the solar system. Four-and-a-half billion years ago it had a twin named Theia which was absorbed into the Earth, increasing its gravity and allowing it to form an atmosphere. Iain travels to Meteor Crater in Arizona to explore the atmosphere’s role in protecting us from bombardment by meteorites. Life on earth only prospers because it

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Earth: The Power of the Planet episode 4 - Oceans

Earth: The Power of the Planet episode 4 – Oceans

Earth: The Power of the Planet episode 4 – Oceans: Iain travels to surfers’ paradise Hawaii to learn more about oceans, explaining the difference between waves, tides and currents. In the Amazon, he rides the world’s longest tidal bore. In the beginning, there were no oceans: they are thought to have gradually formed from volcano steam and melted comet ice.     Change continues today: a new sea is forming in Ethiopia, which will separate East Africa from the mainland, and the Mediterranean is drying up. Documentary series in which Dr Iain Stewart reveals the natural forces that have shaped

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