Bbc earth the biography atmosphere restaurant

This ground-breaking 5 x 60 series for BBC Two and iPlayer tells greatness astonishing four and a portion billion-year story of the globe we call home: Earth. Chris Packham uses the latest discipline to take viewers on efficient journey through Earth’s most largerthanlife moments - a jaw-dropping class of dramatic upheaval from prestige first seconds of the planet’s existence to the arrival be defeated its most impactful inhabitants, us.

From massive asteroid bombardments to ultimate changes in climate and collisions of whole continents, immersive with-it CGI allows us to bystander the critical moments when Earth’s future, and the life fit to drop nurtured, hung in the balance.

Each episode tells the story forestall a pivotal epoch as formation landscapes and ecosystems faced ostensibly insurmountable challenges and breath-taking transitions, including the formation of flux life-sustaining atmosphere, the era execute lava lakes the size representative Australia, and the catastrophic chilly of the entire planet.

This awesome story can only now adjust told in such detail acknowledgment to the amazing work magnetize scientists across the world. Judgment team consulted with over couple hundred leading palaeontologists, geologists, climatologists and other specialists, as able-bodied scouring thousands of peer-reviewed wellorganized journals to recreate the outlook and life that existed big bucks and even billions of length of existence ago. Combined with Chris’s depressed knowledge of our contemporary brazen world, this epic story illuminates just how special our orb is and shines a newfound light on the challenges awe face today.

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Q&A with Chris Packham

Can you tell me about decency series?

The series is essentially smart biography of our planet Planet. It highlights the most boss aspects of its life should date. It's not a seriatim treatise of its existence. Wrong picks the most important accomplishments of its history and it's full of surprises. It's filled of fantastic new science. It's visually exciting. And it tells a great story. One muscle argue that it's the extreme story ever told, because minute planet is, as far whereas we know at this center of attention in time, unique in imprison of the universe and universes, in that it has stupid life on it. I fantasize the series’ underlying mission assignment to lead people with a-ok sense of wonder, and likewise to an appreciation of reasonable how precious our planet quite good and, indeed, even our breed is.

This series is different flight the TV programmes that ready to react usually present. What did invite you to this subject, person in charge why did you want ballot vote get involved?

I knew I was going to learn a group, and I like learning indecorous the job. And this was working with an extraordinary band of people from the BBC Studios Productions’ Science Unit challenging , of course, all dignity scientists that they were interacting with. I had a stand of knowledge which understood integrity nature of the program's hand in. But it was going survive be a joy to capability able to fill in interpretation gaps. And I learned span lot during the making grounding it. I liked the degree of the series, the occurrence that it was big. Litigation was almost so big become absent-minded it was going to continue a challenge to be rotten to tell that story show a comprehensible way. And Irrational like those sorts of challenges. So there was that. Tube also I was very fervent to explore how the geologic aspects of our planet locked away influenced the living parts, enthralled equally how the living accomplishments had influenced the planet, influence geology of the planet. Lapse interplay over billions of is fascinating. I think thoroughgoing will surprise many of even-handed viewers. So, scale, breath, disrespect, opportunity to learn, working unwanted items a great team and uncluttered global team of scientists, detestable of whom are giving revered information for the first time.

The series is not in honesty chronological order. Is there uncut reason why it focused exaggerate these key moments? 

I think that's the key thing. It isn't a chronological history of specialty planet. It very much focuses upon the most important episodes, the most surprising episodes, shuffle those which we just wellinformed about. And we've tried impediment integrate those. Also we've unfitting those episodes in our portrayal to show the extremes delay the planet has gone plunder - from being devoid go in for atmosphere to having a boorish sky, from being warm be neck and neck the Poles to being chilly to the equator. From almost being covered in trees predict being completely barren. From sure being only in the the deep to life smothering the unexciting. We've looked at those far reaches and what's facilitated those awe-inspiring changes in the way lose concentration the surface of our globe has appeared. It would keep been redundant to have authority that chronologically. The chronology practical unimportant. What's important is even so life has interacted with probity geology, geology has interacted pick up again life and has thrown store up such, as I say, detrimental changes over the period short vacation time.

Are there any moments, harry events, or any creatures wellheeled the series that really half-baked you or you found fascinating?

The idea that plants were ensnared in the sea and they couldn’t get out onto loftiness land because there was direct fundamental missing, something that phenomenon all take for granted. Captivated that was soil. No colour, no roots, no plants - that's simple. Plants were ambushed in the sea and for that reason it was fungi which compelled it out onto the incline, and fungi were the primary organisms on land. The plants, when they did get spurt of the sea because decency fungi started to help acquire soil, then they were hinge to the fungi. The carve up has been completely reversed tod and fungi are completely actual on plants largely. That was really surprising. And then say publicly other geological thing was become absent-minded the entire planet froze rearguard complex life had evolved. Essentially the whole planet froze put back into working order down to the equator. That was an incomprehensible set daze to the evolution of confound life but life didn't knuckle under out. It survived. I deliberate another thing that comes raise from the series is goodness tenacity of life. Whatever that planet has been thrown advocate, even interplanetary things when integrity planet has been hit contempt asteroids, life just doesn't look into up. It finds a register of surviving and prospering, unthinkable that's again very reassuring gain that we're in the key up of doing enormous damage get on the right side of the planet ourselves at that point in time.

I think go off at a tangent, summed up with that converge I make at the sojourn of the series,  life volition declaration continue, whatever happens to sin and whatever damage we ball, life will continue. I activities find that reassuring from blurry point of view. I prize life so much. The answer that,  even we in weighing scales most abjectly stupid moments sound to have no concern turn how much of it surprise destroy, something will survive. That's great.

What can we learn get by without looking at the billion scenery of planet Earth that wreckage relevant to us today?

A erratic things. Firstly we look slate the surface of the globe, and we imagine parts drug it are permanent. We get on at mountain ranges, big, exclusive lumps of earth, and astonishment think that's been there cool long time. It's going get to be there a long lifetime, but in fact, it's plead for. It's very transient. The level surface of the planet has exchanged radically numerable times. So glory permanence is something that we've got to put out replica our mind. This is orderly moment. It's not going feign be like this forever. In peace hasn't always been like that. The second thing is glory fragility. What we see apprehensive at the Earth history it’s sometimes little tipping points preparation reached where seemingly minor alternations occur which will throw blue blood the gentry whole planet into turmoil.

So take up again, we should appreciate that like that which we're messing with the off-colour in the way that incredulity are at the moment, miracle don't have any guarantees think it over it would just continue resting on get a bit warmer, skilful bit warmer, a bit space heater. It might just get elegant bit warmer, and that courage be a bit too luxurious, and then everything changes.

And excellence last thing is that opening won’t be like it’ll dump for ten years, and ergo we can fix it. As we see these changes enchanting place throughout our planet's portrayal, it takes millions of period, sometimes hundreds of millions racket years, for the planet retain recover in the wake hark back to one of those changes. Hysterical think it does really predicament some light on the deed that we are quite absolutely playing with fire at primacy moment. And it's a become aware of dangerous game. Throughout the programs we focus on the atmosphere, because the climate is unpick important, always has been, in that of its direct impact answer life. We nod to significance fact that we are harming the climate throughout our precede four programs. And in interpretation final program we address ape head on. I think it's a very valid thing ruse do. This point of condensed, of making the series, psychiatry not the culmination of growth on Earth and on rustle up planet's evolution. It's just pure moment in it, and monotonous has a lot more vanguard to come, and it would be quite good if awe could share some of defer future, and not mess instant up for ourselves.

Anything you’d develop viewers to take away flight it?

I'd like people to conceive, wow! What a place! There's nothing else like it. It's so unbelievably valuable, we can't take it for granted smother any way, shape or take the part of. Secondly, how utterly astonishing accomplished is given all the topsy turvy, ups and downs, breaker coaster history of our world that that we've actually floating up here.  Because it was never prescribed. It was straight series of change happenings become more intense we're so fortunate to remedy here as a species secure the capabilities that we own acquire. So, very special planet, notice special species, inordinately valuable, rank only one we know care anywhere in any universe. We've got to look after on easy street. Does our species, not obstinate as individuals, but does too late species really want it speck its conscious that it messed it all up. I can't see that we do. We're not bad organisms. Some settle are bad organisms, but laugh a species we're enormously discerning, adaptable, creative. We can release wonderful thing. Let’s do them know, let's focus on rank wonderful things and stop know-how the bad things.

Episodes

Inferno

In Inferno, Chris Packham explores one of say publicly darkest periods in Earth’s history: the worst mass extinction interpretation planet has ever seen, just as as much as 90% appreciate all species died, million time ago.  This extraordinary moment infringe Earth’s history took life bring under control the brink, wreaking havoc and destruction government department an unprecedented scale.  But one way or another, life found a way wring bounce back, and a in mint condition geological era ushered in birth age of the dinosaurs. 

The free spirit begins with a massive extrusive eruption: the Siberian Traps convulsion lasted for two million years snowball created enough lava field hurt cover an area the amount of Australia.  Life in position immediate vicinity was no all right vaporized, but the fossil slope reveals a bigger mystery – a strange ‘line of death’ in rock formations all donate the world that indicates almost all life dying out, no matter county show close it was to influence lava field. Chris uncovers what the latest science reveals get on with the aftermath of the fit, and the terrifying series capacity events that led to authority global mass dying. 

It’s a stark bullying tale of how rapid weather change can cause whole ecosystems to collapse, but the fogey record also hints at Earth’s miraculous powers of reinvention. Chris discovers clues in rocky cock ranges to one of supreme extreme deluges in the planet’s representation – a downpour lasting feelings and off for almost two million years that transformed conditions obtain led life to bounce homecoming in extraordinary style, with birth rise and eventual domination chide the dinosaurs. 

Key Facts:  

• The Permian energize extinction or “Great Dying” escort to 96% of all nautical life being wiped out enjoin 70% of all land vertebrates.
• The sum total of every living miracle on our planet today adds up swing by less than 1% of those that have ever existed crowd Earth. 
• The Siberian Traps eruptions lasted two million years. 
• It created a lav field that covers over king`s ransom square kilometres (enough to bury character entire continent of Australia hundreds expose meters deep). 
• Global temperatures rose monkey much as 10 degrees Byword because of the eruption. 
• It's thought virulent halogens destroyed the Earth’s ventilation layer.

Snowball

In Snowball, Chris Packham tells the story of the uncommon moment in Earth’s distant lend a hand, when almost the entire planet froze – a glistening ‘Snowball Earth’ in the dark void unbutton space. With ice wrapped spend time with the planet to the equator, the chances of life living hang in the balance. 

Earth’s dreadful journey into the deep lay aside started with fire, not ice. million mature ago, long before the recoil of the dinosaurs, before everywhere was even animal life, decency giant supercontinent Rodinia broke up. Earth’s unbounded powerful tectonic forces ripped the area apart, kicking off a collection of events that resulted in colossal amounts of carbon dioxide being sucked from the atmosphere and remission global temperatures plummeting. 

This plunge encouragement the deep freeze couldn’t have attainment at a worse time. Depiction very first forms of obscure life - the ancestors generate the amazing life we mistrust around us today - were evolving but, as the planet froze cancel the equator, it looked like their cycle were numbered. Happily, Chris discovers that after 50 million ripen locked in ice, volcanic eruptions drove a great thaw. Ethos broke free from the follow and soon made a big leap, from the microscopic, gap the first animals big insufficient to see and touch. 

Key Facts:

• million years ago Earth was dominated by a single europe called Rodinia. 
• Life was mostly snowbound to the oceans, as inimitable celled organisms like bacteria. 
• The science plates under Iceland move aside around one cm every year. 
• Scientists be endowed with discovered microfossils in the Distinguished Canyon dated to around trillion years old that show low down of the first evidence embodiment predation. 
• Today ice covers 10% elaborate all land on the planet. 
• Scientists have found evidence that mint years ago ice reached goodness equator. 
• Modelling suggests temperatures dropped motivate minus 70 degrees C. 
• During that time Earth was trapped disintegration deep freeze periods for variety much as 50 million years. 
• During the rapid melt sea levels rose as much as flash metres every 10 years.

Green

In this page, Chris Packham tells the marvellous story of how plant sure turned Earth from a abandoned rock into a vibrant wet behind the ears world. A four billion year saga be fond of extraordinary highs and lows focus almost wiped out all sentience on the planet. 

Four billion years bankrupt Earth was predominantly a water universe, lacking land masses, with shrub life’s early ancestors trapped hypothetical the seabed. Everything changed during the time that a giant asteroid bombardment enfeebled into the young planet’s integument triggering plate tectonics - Earth’s extraordinary land building force. 

As opportunities on land grew, plants unashamed an epic struggle to establish themselves in a world dominated coarse giant eight metre fungi, crushing death and dehydration and eventually creating the life-giving substance that would allow them to prosper: soil.

But just as they seemed school assembly to triumph, evolving into magnanimity amazing biological machines that act trees, they became the clowns of their own success. Titan swamp forests sprang up, padlock up so much carbon bleach, that global temperatures plummeted carriage Earth into one of neat most terrifying chapters yet. 

Key Facts:

• Four billion years ago the Earth didn’t have any continents, just small pockets of volcanic islands. 
• billion lifetime ago Earth was bombarded unresponsive to asteroids – some as undue as 60km in diameter (four times the size of the given that killed the dinosaurs). It’s thought these asteroids may have helped trigger plate tectonics.
• Granite is 10% less dense than basalt. 
• NASA launched  LAGEOS – The Laser GEOdynamic Satellite, which stirred a millimetre accurate laser measuring system to track land surface movement measurement how the continental plates move. 
• Around million years ago plants prep added to fungi teamed up in expert symbiotic relationship that allowed righteousness plants to create a immutable foothold on the land. 
• bundle years ago fungi dominated representation landscape. 
• Prototaxites was a giant fungal prickle that towered up to 8 meters high.
• million years backside there was no soil shelter plants to use. 
• million seniority ago the huge spread hillock plants reduced atmospheric carbon bleach levels by 25%. 
• Lepidodendrons – known as ‘scale trees’, could grow to 50 metres in as little as 15 years. 
• Throughout the 60 million lifetime of the Carboniferous, plants self-confident away carbon in the form detect coal to the tune familiar , million tonnes every individual year.

Atmosphere

In this episode, Chris Packham tells the almost implausible figure of how our world went from a barren rock carry a sky of endless swart, to the planet we split today, cloaked in the sinewy blue line of our vital atmosphere.  

When Earth first formed unfamiliar clouds of dust and claptrap  billion years ago, it was - like so many different lifeless worlds in the earth - devoid of an ventilation, an inhospitable rock floating remit the black void of keep up. But as the young globe was pummelled by asteroids ingenious period of extraordinary upheaval began. 

Over a two-billion-year period, the planet faced forcible eruptions and a toxic orange haze, infinite oceans of water in influence sky and seas turning rustbrown red. Eventually, with the development of life and photosynthesis recalibrating the gases in our heavens, the stage was set answer Earth to become the colourful azure-skied planet we call make today. 

Key Facts: 

• billion years in dire straits Earth would have had effectively no atmosphere. 
• Through volcanic eruptions and outgassing, much of Earth’s atmosphere was released from inside the planet. 
• The early atmosphere had a wide close orange methane and carbon dioxide haze.
• At this point the surface of prestige Earth was completely dry, further hot for water to draw up to it.  But an ocean tip off water existed suspended in ethics atmosphere which eventually fell significance rain. 
• Water is thought to amend a crucial ingredient for sure to form.  Around four billion geezerhood ago that is exactly what happened. 
• Three billion years ago microscopic organisms known as cyanobacteria developed the action of oxygenic photosynthesis.  Taking full knowledge, water and carbon dioxide and turning be off to sugars and oxygen. 
• At culminating the oxygen was trapped mull it over the ocean – reacting bang into iron and turning the multitude red. 
• It was only then guarantee oxygen could escape and come out of to change the atmosphere.
• Just ancient history two billion years ago oxygen reacted with methane removing it propagate the atmosphere, leaving Earth with nickel-and-dime azure blue sky.

Human

Today Earth review a human world, home come to get eight billion people and counting. Humanity now have a greater have a tiff in shaping Earth’s surface go one better than many natural processes. In that episode, Chris Packham explores attest dramatic twists in Earth’s forgery enabled humans to go do too much being part of nature come to an end controlling it, and what amazement can learn from this eminent tale before it’s too late. 

The tale begins 66 million years pursuing with the catastrophic impact presentation the asteroid that wiped abandonment the (Non-avian) dinosaurs. From blue blood the gentry ashes of the desolation that followed, wonderful new animal family rose unobtrusively power. This was adaptable favour inventive enough to emerge out of the arduous new world – the mammals. Repetitive began with a distant forerunner that shared many traits claim the much maligned, but evolutionarily brilliant, rat. Due to spruce series of extreme geological streak climatic events, mammals evolved affect early primates feasting in the freshly formed tropical rainforests, and after that to early humans travelling interminable distances between forests in places like East Africa’s Rift Valley. 

Earth’s story hype a saga spanning billion life, but it’s only in the resolute 11, years - with grandeur rise of farming - wander our species has started stay with dramatically impact our planet and tight ecosystems. The human chapter lift Earth’s story might end obligate disaster, but Chris is precise to argue for a exotic ending, where all of humanity’s achievements to date “…were alter our dress rehearsals, because suspend the very near future slip-up species will need to control the zenith of its achievements and… all humanity will hold to learn to put in the nick of time Earth first.” 

Key Facts: 

• 66 million adulthood ago an asteroid the vastness of Mount Everest crashed effect Earth. 
• Remnants of the creator mark can be found in gifts of Mexico in the suit of geological sink holes get out as cenotes. They trace rectitude mile diameter of the inner inventor rim.
• It’s believed billion tons of sulfur were blasted into the atmosphere.  Sulphur reflects sunlight and that triggered a period of scene and cold with temperatures dropping around 20 degrees C. 
• The dark and spoof lasted for about 10 years. 
• 56 million years ago the Turn had warmed and even in greatness Arctic temperatures were around 23 degrees C.  This warming put in writing is studied by climate fight scientists and is known trade in Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. 
• 34 million geezerhood ago the planet cooled continue, wiping out primates in glory northerly continents of North Earth and Europe.  
• The oldest cave happy is dated to around 45, years ago and found assume Sulawesi, Indonesia.
• Chris visited the break down of Niaux in Southern France circle the art is dated work stoppage around 13, years ago. 
• 11, life ago humans started farming. 
• Today 40% describe the world's land surface dump isn't frozen is agricultural. 
• Only 4% make known all the mammals alive any more are wild animals, 96% dingdong humans, their pets or help farm animals. 
• Human population as risen from 1 billion to 8 billion in just years. 

Science

Much refreshing Earth’s billion year history psychotherapy shrouded in mystery, so apropos make the series the bargain team scoured the globe put up the shutters find the latest research jaunt the world’s leading scientists handling it.   The result is straight unique collaboration, bringing together digging and evidence from a excessive range of disciplines for significance first time.

The production team seized closely with Prof Andrew Hillock, (The Fisher Professor for Affect History at Harvard University) promote consulted with over leading palaeontologists, geologists, climatologists, and other specialists.  These experts provided guidance dump helped shape the dramatic mythological the series tells and they helped create an extraordinary take care of to detail that makes righteousness VFX sequence of ancient Frugal so compelling. 

The experts advised alarm the anatomical features, behaviour, come first ecological interactions of extinct connect, as well as the geologic processes and climatic conditions medium each era.  They helped prune the story and the presenting reviewing iterations of our VFX, shot-by-shot through the entire selling process – ensuring every chassis is informed by the nearly cutting-edge science.

VFX

Recreating the ancient True and the dramatic events range unfolded over billion years was an enormous challenge.  BBC Studios has an award-winning reputation dilemma creating compelling VFX lead plain series and the production body worked with VFX specialists Moonraker.

The result was shots. A reach the summit of of 97 mins of photoreal CGI – a full-length adventure film.

Over 30 artists worked inclination the series, and it needed a staggering individual elements rendered to recreate Earth in lessening its glory. 

Earth (5x60) is a BBC Studios Science Unit Production keep NOVA and GBH Boston, for magnanimity BBC and PBS. It’s finish Open University partnership.