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MAN 1 [ON RADIO]: Well; 1 6;
the launch team wishes you. . .
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. . .good luck and Godspeed.
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MAN 2 [ON RADIO]: We appreciate that;
and we can't do without you.
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MAN 1 :
Launch commit and liftoff.
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MAN 3: We have a launch commit;
and we have a liftoff.
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The swing arm is moving back.
We've cleared the tower.
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MAN 2:
Roger; cleared the tower.
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MAN 4:
Houston is now controlling.
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NARRATOR: Not so long ago,
we left our Earth for the firSt time. . .
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...to explore a neighboring world
in the solar system.
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MAN 2:
Well; Houston; Sweet 1 6 has arrived.
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MAN 4:
Roger; 1 6; copy you loud and clear.
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NARRATOR:
We found a fascinating place. . .
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. . .but barren and lifeless.
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ASTRONAUT 1 : We've stopped;
and let's take a gander around. . .
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. . .and see which way we ought to head.
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ASTRONAUT 2: Dave; if we could make it
out that far; directly ahead of us.
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Look at those large blocks.
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ASTRONAUT 1 : You mean as we come
down the slope; yeah; at 1 2 o'clock.
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NARRATOR:
One sight stood out from all the others.
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When we looked back
across the moon's horizon. . .
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...we saw the Earth, our home...
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...a tiny oasis...
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. . .beckoning across
all those miles of empty space.
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ASTRONAUT 1 :
I'll tell you; it looks beautiful going away. . .
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. . .and it'll look even better coming back.
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NARRATOR:
To look at our Earth from the outside. . .
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. . .is to discover an entirely new planet.
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We can see familiar landforms. . .
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. . .like Florida and the Bahamas.
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But what's most striking from space. . .
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...is that our world...
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. . .unlike any other we know of. . .
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. . .is a world of water.
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Two-thirds of it is covered by ocean...
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...glistening in layers of blue
and turquoise...
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. . .through a delicate filigree of cloud.
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All of it is wrapped in a thin layer of air. . .
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. . .shielding its surface
from the harSh radiation. . .
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. . .and cold vacuum of space.
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lf it weren't for this fragile cocoon. . .
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...our beautiful planet
would be as dry and lifeless...
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...as our nearest neighbors
in the solar system.
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Mars has only a feeble atmosphere.
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lt's locked in a permanent ice age.
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Venus, under a very dense atmosphere. . .
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. . .is hotter than an oven.
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Nothing could live here.
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As far as we know. . .
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...only the Earth can support life.
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To learn more
about the unique environment...
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...which makes life possible here on Earth...
53
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...we're now returning to space,
in a variety of craft.
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We call this: "Mission to Planet Earth."
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[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
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[RUMBLING]
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Shannon; come on up!
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This is great.
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NARRATOR: Only a few hundred people
have actually seen the Earth from space.
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Look at that.
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NARRATOR:
Here, we can see it as a whole.
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Floating beneath us. . .
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...Sri Lanka and lndia.
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But now we also see a planet. . .
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...bathed in the light of a nearby star:
the Sun.
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Ours is a world of constant change. . .
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. . .shaped and reshaped
by nature's powerful forces.
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lts blueness came out of the Earth itself.
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00:05:27,201 --> 00:05:30,871
The ancient oceans
were steamed out of the interior. . .
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...by erupting volcanoes.
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We know this one
as the Big lsland of Hawaii.
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Now whole continents appear.
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Europe is on the left.
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Stretching beyond Gibraltar
to the horizon. . .
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...the Mediterranean Sea.
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On the right: Africa.
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Deep in the heart of Africa. . .
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...we come upon a land of forests,
lakes, and rivers.
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We're crossing over Lake Victoria...
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. . .and the broad plain of the Serengeti.
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Here, beneath us...
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. . .our planet's systems of water,
earth and air. . .
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. . .interact to sustain life.
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To observe this complex environment
more closely. . .
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. . .we'll drop down to the surface
of the strange red lake below.
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This is Lake Natron.
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lt's hard to believe
any life could exist here.
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But, in fact, the lurid color is the life itself.
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The water is teeming with red algae
that feed on white soda. . .
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...from nearby volcanoes.
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Ash, spewing from these volcanoes
for millions of years...
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...nourished the great grasslands
of the Serengeti...
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...where a wondrous array
of species evolved.
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Each depends in some way
upon the others.
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[SNORTS]
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[SNORTING]
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NARRATOR:
Every link between animals and plants. . .
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. . .is a strand
in the rich fabric of life on Earth.
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[GROWLING]
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NARRATOR: Of all the creatures
that evolved in Africa. . .
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. . .only one stood upright.
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Only one developed tools and language.
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For about a million years. . .
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. . .humans were hunters and gatherers.
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Then we discovered farming.
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Now the same land could support
many more people.
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But without the Earth's
life-support system of water and air...
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...not a living thing could exist.
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[BREATHING]
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NARRATOR:
Two hundred miles above the Earth. . .
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. . .there is no air.
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This astronaut must wear a space suit.
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lt supplies the oxygen he needs. . .
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...and insulates his body
from extreme heat and cold.
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lnside, the orbiter functions
somewhat like a miniature Earth.
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The environment is carefully balanced
to keep the astronauts comfortable.
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One system controls the temperature.
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Another supplies oxygen.
119
00:09:43,165 --> 00:09:44,205
On Earth...
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. . .the forests and oceans
absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale.
121
00:09:50,006 --> 00:09:54,176
ln space, the crew uses special canisters
to clean the air.
122
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For a short time, this artificial system
supplies to the astronauts. . .
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. . .what the Earth has
always provided for us.
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lts natural systems
slowly recycle the air...
125
00:10:08,357 --> 00:10:10,727
...the water, and even the rock.
126
00:10:13,362 --> 00:10:14,742
ln one cycle...
127
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...heat from the sun evaporates water
from the ocean to form clouds.
128
00:10:21,078 --> 00:10:23,498
Winds drive the clouds over land.
129
00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:28,540
Rain from the clouds
falls back to the Earth. . .
130
00:10:28,794 --> 00:10:31,004
. . .and then runs down to the sea. . .
131
00:10:31,172 --> 00:10:33,552
...where the cycle begins once more.
132
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Heat stored in the clouds
can drive them upwards...
133
00:10:42,183 --> 00:10:44,853
. . .into towering thunderheads.
134
00:10:45,019 --> 00:10:48,559
lnside them,
powerful electric charges are building.
135
00:10:49,607 --> 00:10:51,607
[THUNDER CRASHING]
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NARRATOR:
You can see lightning on Earth from space.
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Astronaut Charlie Bolden:
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00:11:39,990 --> 00:11:42,950
BOLDEN: Probably my favorite
spectacular view is nighttime. . .
139
00:11:43,285 --> 00:11:45,405
. . .watching lightning all over the Earth. . .
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00:11:45,579 --> 00:11:48,079
. . .as it goes from cloud top to cloud top. . .
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. . .over hundreds of miles.
142
00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,960
Almost as if somebody
is conducting an orchestra; you know. . .
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. . .and the light is flashing
in response to the music and everything.
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You float up in the window
and look for long periods of time. . .
145
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. . . in amazement
at what's going on down there.
146
00:12:08,519 --> 00:12:11,309
NARRATOR:
ln places where there is a lot of rainfall...
147
00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,020
. . .an abundance of life springs forth.
148
00:12:16,026 --> 00:12:20,316
The plants produce oxygen
which we and the other animals breathe.
149
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Life on Earth is easy to see from space.
150
00:12:28,456 --> 00:12:31,166
Costa Rica and Panama are green with it.
151
00:12:40,134 --> 00:12:43,514
But other places in the world
get almost no rain.
152
00:12:45,181 --> 00:12:49,231
ln the Namib Desert,
only wind has shaped the surface...
153
00:12:49,810 --> 00:12:54,190
. . .sweeping the parched sand
into dunes nearly 1 000 feet high.
154
00:12:59,779 --> 00:13:02,069
ln some of the driest deserts. . .
155
00:13:02,239 --> 00:13:06,659
. . .people have drilled for water
trapped in the rocks deep below the sand.
156
00:13:09,455 --> 00:13:13,115
Each one of these tiny circles
is an irrigated field. . .
157
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. . .half a mile in diameter.
158
00:13:18,214 --> 00:13:20,424
But this is a short-term gain.
159
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lt will take only 50 years
to use up all the water. . .
160
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. . .but more than 1 0,000 years to replace it.
161
00:13:33,062 --> 00:13:35,732
ln some regions, like the Sahara. . .
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...the amount of rainfall can change
drastically within a single generation.
163
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When we started looking at Lake Chad
from space...
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...we saw that it was shrinking.
165
00:13:48,744 --> 00:13:50,414
Soon a wave of droughts. . .
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...brought starvation
to the people living here.
167
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We don't know why
these local changes occur. . .
168
00:13:59,839 --> 00:14:02,589
...but we do know that the Earth's climate,
as a whole. . .
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. . .has changed over much longer periods.
170
00:14:09,014 --> 00:14:11,314
During the last million years...
171
00:14:11,475 --> 00:14:15,515
. . .great sheets of ice
advanced and retreated several times. . .
172
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...burying Northern Europe
and much of North America.
173
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This is the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska.
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[RUMBLING]
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NARRATOR:
Trapped deep inside these frozen walls. . .
176
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...is a record of climate change...
177
00:14:48,888 --> 00:14:51,258
...going back thousands of years.
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00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,320
By analyzing samples of the ancient ice. . .
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...we may learn to predict
our future climate.
180
00:15:11,201 --> 00:15:13,161
Ten thousand years from now. . .
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...perhaps the sites of Montreal,
Detroit, and Copenhagen...
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...will again lie buried beneath a mile of ice.
183
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MAN:
And it's moving. Looks good.
184
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NARRATOR: To observe
large-scale changes on the Earth. . .
185
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. . .we use satellites.
186
00:15:34,224 --> 00:15:37,024
The TDR satellite will act as a relay. . .
187
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...linking scientists
with dozens of spacecraft...
188
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. . .watching different parts of the globe.
189
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MAN: Kathy; it looked like we had
a good deploy on time.
190
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Everything looks good.
191
00:15:46,737 --> 00:15:48,737
NARRATOR:
Some study ocean currents.
192
00:15:49,657 --> 00:15:51,947
Others monitor the health of crops.
193
00:15:52,952 --> 00:15:55,582
They also warn us when storms develop.
194
00:16:01,794 --> 00:16:03,174
Of all the storms...
195
00:16:03,337 --> 00:16:06,877
...the most dangerous and unpredictable
are hurricanes.
196
00:16:08,425 --> 00:16:10,385
Without help from satellites...
197
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...we could not prepare ourselves
for the onslaught.
198
00:16:26,402 --> 00:16:28,782
MAN [OVER PA]:
We are under a hurricane warning.
199
00:16:29,071 --> 00:16:33,661
Officials of Civil Defense
are advising voluntary evacuation. . .
200
00:16:33,951 --> 00:16:35,991
. . .of the Berry Islands.
201
00:16:40,582 --> 00:16:41,922
[GLASS SHATTERS]
202
00:16:50,259 --> 00:16:52,299
[ALARM WAILING]
203
00:17:03,814 --> 00:17:05,364
[CAR ALARM BEEPING]
204
00:17:21,123 --> 00:17:24,713
NARRATOR: Hurricane Hugo,
after ravaging Puerto Rico...
205
00:17:25,252 --> 00:17:27,342
. . .tore into South Carolina.
206
00:17:28,589 --> 00:17:33,299
What was once a national forest
is now a heap of kindling.
207
00:17:36,972 --> 00:17:41,272
Where once there was a house,
only the front steps remain.
208
00:17:51,987 --> 00:17:53,357
[SIRENS WAILING]
209
00:17:53,530 --> 00:17:54,820
NARRATOR:
Overnight. . .
210
00:17:54,990 --> 00:17:58,830
...nature's fury
has devastated entire communities.
211
00:18:04,833 --> 00:18:07,253
But then, as quickly as it struck...
212
00:18:07,419 --> 00:18:08,749
. . .the storm vanishes. . .
213
00:18:08,921 --> 00:18:11,671
. . .and the Eastern seaboard
is calm once more.
214
00:18:12,716 --> 00:18:16,676
There are, however, other catastrophic
events affecting our planet.
215
00:18:18,722 --> 00:18:21,522
They are far more violent than any storm.
216
00:18:27,523 --> 00:18:32,193
The Earth is continually pelted
by a hail of objects from space.
217
00:18:32,820 --> 00:18:35,740
Most are tiny
and burn up in the atmosphere.
218
00:18:37,032 --> 00:18:40,032
But, every now and then,
a big one gets through.
219
00:18:41,703 --> 00:18:45,503
Some 30,000 years ago,
a piece of an asteroid...
220
00:18:45,666 --> 00:18:48,496
...weighing perhaps 300,000 tons...
221
00:18:48,669 --> 00:18:50,419
. . .slammed into Arizona.
222
00:18:51,547 --> 00:18:55,337
lt blasted out a crater
almost 600 feet deep.
223
00:18:56,552 --> 00:18:59,352
As collisions go, it was a small one.
224
00:19:13,527 --> 00:19:18,027
From space, we can see the scars
from much bigger impacts on Earth.
225
00:19:18,574 --> 00:19:21,414
This one in Canada is 60 miles across.
226
00:19:24,246 --> 00:19:28,416
The effects of a similar collision
may have wiped out the dinosaurs.
227
00:19:32,504 --> 00:19:36,424
The young Earth was once
completely covered by impact craters.
228
00:19:36,842 --> 00:19:38,762
But most of them have been erased. . .
229
00:19:38,927 --> 00:19:42,967
. . .by the powerful forces which
keep changing the face of our planet.
230
00:19:43,515 --> 00:19:45,515
[CAMERA CLICKING]
231
00:19:46,018 --> 00:19:47,768
NARRATOR:
From orbit, we see evidence...
232
00:19:47,936 --> 00:19:51,606
...for the most astonishing
geological discovery of our time.
233
00:19:52,274 --> 00:19:56,784
The Earth's crust is broken
into about a dozen moving plates.
234
00:19:59,031 --> 00:20:02,031
Here, a giant crack extends out
to the right. . .
235
00:20:02,201 --> 00:20:05,121
...from the Sinai Peninsula
through the Dead Sea.
236
00:20:08,624 --> 00:20:10,124
ln a closer view. . .
237
00:20:10,292 --> 00:20:13,542
...you can see how the Sinai,
shaped like a triangle...
238
00:20:13,837 --> 00:20:17,217
. . .has wrenched away from Saudi Arabia,
on the far right.
239
00:20:20,677 --> 00:20:24,807
The rift that opened between them
lies under the Gulf of Aqaba.
240
00:20:30,979 --> 00:20:33,649
Most of the rifts are on the sea floor.
241
00:20:35,567 --> 00:20:37,567
[MEN SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
242
00:20:42,658 --> 00:20:46,368
NARRATOR: To search for them,
we need vehicles similar to spaceships.
243
00:20:53,335 --> 00:20:56,165
We are on a journey, 2 miles down. . .
244
00:20:56,338 --> 00:20:58,708
...to the very bottom of the ocean.
245
00:21:01,385 --> 00:21:05,175
We will enter a world
that has never seen sunlight.
246
00:21:07,641 --> 00:21:11,811
And yet, the ocean floor is alive
with exotic creatures.
247
00:21:21,571 --> 00:21:23,951
They thrive on nutrients in the water...
248
00:21:24,116 --> 00:21:27,656
. . .which is heated
by the Earth's great furnace beneath.
249
00:21:33,292 --> 00:21:36,842
Here in mid-ocean,
at the boundary between two plates. . .
250
00:21:37,254 --> 00:21:40,174
. . .molten rock pushes up from the interior.
251
00:21:41,967 --> 00:21:45,337
These lava chimneys
are actually miniature volcanoes.
252
00:21:49,266 --> 00:21:52,556
Just as one of the Earth's systems
recycles water. . .
253
00:21:53,228 --> 00:21:55,308
. . .another recycles rock.
254
00:21:56,815 --> 00:21:59,775
As new crust
is added to the Earth's surface here. . .
255
00:21:59,943 --> 00:22:03,903
. . .the other edge of the plate,
perhaps thousands of miles away. . .
256
00:22:04,323 --> 00:22:06,993
. . .sinks back into the Earth's interior.
257
00:22:07,743 --> 00:22:08,953
As it melts. . .
258
00:22:09,870 --> 00:22:11,870
...volcanoes erupt.
259
00:22:19,421 --> 00:22:22,761
This is Sakura-jima Volcano in Japan.
260
00:22:24,051 --> 00:22:27,301
You can see its smoke
all the way from space.
261
00:22:53,955 --> 00:22:57,785
Here, two great plates
are slowly crushing together. . .
262
00:22:58,126 --> 00:23:00,246
. . .pushing up the Himalayas. . .
263
00:23:00,629 --> 00:23:03,209
. . .the highest mountain range on Earth.
264
00:23:05,926 --> 00:23:08,886
From just beneath us,
the snow-capped peaks. . .
265
00:23:09,054 --> 00:23:13,144
. . .stretch over 1 000 miles
towards the horizon on the left.
266
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,410
Almost all of North America,
here on the right...
267
00:23:31,660 --> 00:23:33,830
...lies upon a single plate.
268
00:23:34,996 --> 00:23:38,826
On the left, the Pacific plate
is sliding northward past it. . .
269
00:23:39,626 --> 00:23:42,796
. . .at the stately pace
of a half-inch per year.
270
00:23:44,214 --> 00:23:46,924
The Gulf of California, in the center...
271
00:23:47,092 --> 00:23:49,802
. . .marks the boundary
between the two plates.
272
00:23:50,512 --> 00:23:52,182
Along this boundary. . .
273
00:23:52,472 --> 00:23:55,642
. . .the infamous San Andreas Fault
runs northward.
274
00:23:57,018 --> 00:23:58,978
Using satellite pictures. . .
275
00:23:59,146 --> 00:24:03,516
. . .a computer can take us on
an imaginary flight along the San Andreas.
276
00:24:05,235 --> 00:24:08,355
The actual height of the terrain
has been exaggerated. . .
277
00:24:08,530 --> 00:24:12,780
. . .to accent the network of valleys
formed by the fault's many traces.
278
00:24:45,066 --> 00:24:47,736
As the two plates slide past one another. . .
279
00:24:47,903 --> 00:24:50,203
...they lock together in some places.
280
00:24:51,281 --> 00:24:53,161
The strain builds.
281
00:25:07,756 --> 00:25:11,546
Near San Francisco,
the strain reaches the breaking point.
282
00:25:12,761 --> 00:25:14,601
Something has to give. . .
283
00:25:15,180 --> 00:25:18,850
...and when it does,
we are rocked by an earthquake.
284
00:25:22,145 --> 00:25:24,055
Magnified by the computer. . .
285
00:25:24,231 --> 00:25:27,941
...first a sharp wave,
traveling at 1 0,000 miles an hour...
286
00:25:28,109 --> 00:25:30,069
. . .moves out from the epicenter.
287
00:25:31,029 --> 00:25:33,779
Then comes a series of rolling waves.
288
00:25:34,115 --> 00:25:36,615
These inflict most of the damage.
289
00:25:45,544 --> 00:25:49,634
MAN: It is impossible to know yet
how many more fatalities there are. . .
290
00:25:50,048 --> 00:25:54,218
. . .following this earthquake; which hit at
5:04 yesterday; in the middle of rush hour.
291
00:25:54,386 --> 00:25:58,506
The earliest efforts to rescue
came last night from all sorts of people:
292
00:25:59,015 --> 00:26:01,975
Cops; firemen; people right here
in the neighborhood. . .
293
00:26:02,143 --> 00:26:05,103
. . .who risked their lives to rescue strangers.
294
00:26:12,112 --> 00:26:14,072
CHILD:
Everything started shaking.
295
00:26:14,239 --> 00:26:16,819
I started running.
I didn't know where to run. . .
296
00:26:16,992 --> 00:26:18,992
. . . because I was getting too scared.
297
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,830
And my mom couldn't get me
because the floor was moving too hard.
298
00:26:24,624 --> 00:26:28,344
NARRATOR: Some buildings,
though still standing, had to be demolished.
299
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,270
ln time, the houses and highways
are rebuilt. . .
300
00:26:49,691 --> 00:26:53,031
. . .better designed to withstand
the next earthquake.
301
00:26:54,529 --> 00:26:58,529
People will always be subject
to nature's powerful whims.
302
00:27:03,872 --> 00:27:06,502
ln Japan, another fault zone. . .
303
00:27:06,875 --> 00:27:09,625
...millions live with the same uncertainty.
304
00:27:18,386 --> 00:27:20,966
One day, almost certainly...
305
00:27:21,556 --> 00:27:23,846
. . .we'll learn to predict earthquakes.
306
00:27:26,811 --> 00:27:29,861
But in the meantime,
we try to live in harmony. . .
307
00:27:30,023 --> 00:27:32,523
...with our sometimes turbulent planet.
308
00:27:33,818 --> 00:27:38,108
After each assault,
we pick up the pieces and carry on.
309
00:27:38,281 --> 00:27:40,281
[SPEAKING IN FRENCH]
310
00:27:44,454 --> 00:27:48,424
NARRATOR: And sometimes, we wonder
if there could be any other place. . .
311
00:27:48,583 --> 00:27:51,093
. . .as wonderful in all the univerSe.
312
00:28:00,428 --> 00:28:02,428
[ORGAN PLAYING]
313
00:28:04,599 --> 00:28:06,599
[CROWD CHEERING]
314
00:28:15,110 --> 00:28:17,150
NARRATOR:
But now, a new force...
315
00:28:17,570 --> 00:28:20,110
. . .as threatening as any in nature. . .
316
00:28:20,323 --> 00:28:22,913
. . .has begun to change the Earth.
317
00:28:23,743 --> 00:28:25,993
We are that force.
318
00:28:28,456 --> 00:28:31,626
To our ancestors,
only a few centuries ago...
319
00:28:32,252 --> 00:28:34,962
...the forests, oceans, and skies...
320
00:28:35,130 --> 00:28:37,800
. . .seemed vast and almost limitless.
321
00:28:38,633 --> 00:28:40,633
But all that has changed.
322
00:28:42,095 --> 00:28:44,845
lt is only now that we can see it
from space. . .
323
00:28:45,014 --> 00:28:49,184
. . .that we realize the magnitude
of what we are doing to the Earth.
324
00:28:54,607 --> 00:28:59,277
As settlers cleared land to create the great
farms of the American Midwest. . .
325
00:29:00,155 --> 00:29:04,315
...more and more valuable topsoil
eroded into the Mississippi.
326
00:29:06,494 --> 00:29:09,334
Flowing southward down this great river...
327
00:29:09,622 --> 00:29:12,122
. . .the silt is carrying pesticides.
328
00:29:12,834 --> 00:29:15,674
They are pouring into the Gulf of Mexico.
329
00:29:18,548 --> 00:29:20,468
The Yangtze River in China. . .
330
00:29:20,633 --> 00:29:24,473
. . .is a natural conveyor belt for soil
from the plateau above it.
331
00:29:25,555 --> 00:29:29,675
Now it doubles as a dump
for sewage and industrial wastes.
332
00:29:32,145 --> 00:29:36,685
But an island far away has become
the most eroded place on Earth.
333
00:29:39,194 --> 00:29:43,034
Madagascar was once cloaked
in lush forest.
334
00:29:44,073 --> 00:29:47,333
Now loggers and farmers
have cut most of it down.
335
00:29:48,912 --> 00:29:51,872
With nothing to cling to, the thin red soil. . .
336
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,750
. . .has washed down the mountain slopes
into the Betsiboka River. . .
337
00:29:56,002 --> 00:29:58,212
. . .choking its mouth completely.
338
00:30:03,051 --> 00:30:05,301
Off the coast of South America...
339
00:30:05,470 --> 00:30:08,470
. . .the Atlantic is awash
with brown sediment. . .
340
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:11,520
. . .pouring out from the Orinoco
and the Amazon.
341
00:30:13,770 --> 00:30:18,690
Upriver, lies the largest continuous
rainforest in the world.
342
00:30:28,910 --> 00:30:33,460
This is home to nearly
half of all the species found on Earth.
343
00:30:34,958 --> 00:30:37,288
They are sheltered from sun and wind. . .
344
00:30:37,460 --> 00:30:39,670
. . .by its great moist canopy.
345
00:30:41,464 --> 00:30:44,424
People depend upon the rainforest
for food. . .
346
00:30:44,676 --> 00:30:47,586
...and the rare medicines its plants produce.
347
00:31:02,110 --> 00:31:05,280
Like those who settled Europe
and North America. . .
348
00:31:05,613 --> 00:31:09,953
. . .people in search of a better life
are clearing the land for farming.
349
00:31:11,286 --> 00:31:14,866
The cut trees are left to dry, then burned.
350
00:31:43,651 --> 00:31:46,901
Almost one acre of tropical rainforest. . .
351
00:31:47,155 --> 00:31:49,315
...is destroyed every second.
352
00:31:56,748 --> 00:32:01,288
Some 1 00 species,
most of which we've never even seen. . .
353
00:32:01,711 --> 00:32:04,501
. . .are driven to extinction every day. . .
354
00:32:04,672 --> 00:32:06,972
. . .lost to the planet forever.
355
00:32:11,512 --> 00:32:13,262
ln destroying them. . .
356
00:32:13,431 --> 00:32:16,391
. . .we are tampering with the fabric of life. . .
357
00:32:16,851 --> 00:32:20,521
...cutting the very strands
that bind us all together.
358
00:32:27,779 --> 00:32:31,619
Only from space
can you see how much is burning.
359
00:32:33,451 --> 00:32:37,451
The smoke spreads thousands of miles
across to the Andes Mountains.
360
00:32:40,208 --> 00:32:43,458
Soon we will see roads here, then farms.
361
00:32:43,962 --> 00:32:45,882
Towns will expand to cities.
362
00:32:55,223 --> 00:32:58,273
Eight million people live here
in Los Angeles.
363
00:33:01,479 --> 00:33:04,729
Six million vehicles
and thousands of factories. . .
364
00:33:04,899 --> 00:33:06,979
. . .release chemicals into the atmosphere.
365
00:33:07,151 --> 00:33:10,151
RECORDING 1 : This is the West Coast
Air Quality Management District. . .
366
00:33:10,321 --> 00:33:14,241
. . .with an air quality update
for the Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
367
00:33:14,409 --> 00:33:17,909
RECORDING 2: We're suggesting that
persons with heart or respiratory diseases. . .
368
00:33:18,079 --> 00:33:20,409
. . .should reduce physical activity.
369
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,960
NARRATOR:
Smog permeates the air we breathe.
370
00:33:28,214 --> 00:33:31,224
Not only are we polluting our air. . .
371
00:33:31,384 --> 00:33:34,184
...we may also be altering our climate.
372
00:33:40,101 --> 00:33:41,521
Around the globe. . .
373
00:33:41,686 --> 00:33:46,356
...cars and factories belch huge amounts
of carbon dioxide into the air. . .
374
00:33:47,108 --> 00:33:50,898
. . .faster than our oceans
and depleted forests can absorb it.
375
00:34:05,043 --> 00:34:09,303
Our numbers are increasing
by nearly 1 00 million every year.
376
00:34:11,132 --> 00:34:13,132
We consume enough energy...
377
00:34:13,301 --> 00:34:15,721
...to be visible all the way from space.
378
00:34:17,972 --> 00:34:21,812
There are now more than 5 billion of us
spread across the Earth.
379
00:34:22,727 --> 00:34:25,767
ln this satellite view,
you can see the continents...
380
00:34:25,938 --> 00:34:29,318
...outlined by the lights
of the great coastal cities.
381
00:34:30,902 --> 00:34:32,612
ln North America.
382
00:34:37,158 --> 00:34:39,118
ln Europe and in Asia.
383
00:34:41,829 --> 00:34:44,159
But our planet does have limits.
384
00:34:44,832 --> 00:34:48,502
The carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gases we produce. . .
385
00:34:48,669 --> 00:34:50,499
. . .act like a blanket. . .
386
00:34:51,005 --> 00:34:54,005
. . .trapping the sun's heat
inside our atmosphere.
387
00:34:55,968 --> 00:34:59,468
Beneath it,
the Earth's temperature may be rising.
388
00:35:00,848 --> 00:35:02,428
Without intending it. . .
389
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:06,190
...we are now conducting
an uncontrolled experiment...
390
00:35:06,354 --> 00:35:08,814
. . .on the Earth's life-support system. . .
391
00:35:08,981 --> 00:35:11,821
. . .and we cannot predict the consequences.
392
00:35:15,029 --> 00:35:17,239
But already there are clues.
393
00:35:19,534 --> 00:35:22,704
High in the stratosphere,
a thin layer of ozone. . .
394
00:35:22,870 --> 00:35:26,330
. . .shields us
from the sun's deadly ultraviolet rays.
395
00:35:28,042 --> 00:35:30,212
You can't see the ozone. . .
396
00:35:30,378 --> 00:35:32,668
. . .but our satellites
and other instruments. . .
397
00:35:32,839 --> 00:35:36,049
. . .have detected a hole
bigger than Europe. . .
398
00:35:36,217 --> 00:35:38,547
. . .in the ozone over Antarctica.
399
00:35:41,764 --> 00:35:43,604
We have created the hole. . .
400
00:35:43,766 --> 00:35:46,846
. . .with chemicals we use
in our everyday lives.
401
00:35:50,439 --> 00:35:53,819
Faced with this evidence,
the nations of the world. . .
402
00:35:54,110 --> 00:35:57,650
. . .recently agreed to restrict
and eventually ban. . .
403
00:35:57,822 --> 00:35:59,912
...production of those chemicals.
404
00:36:02,076 --> 00:36:04,156
Looking out past the shuttle's tail. . .
405
00:36:04,328 --> 00:36:06,118
. . .astronaut Jim Buchli:
406
00:36:07,415 --> 00:36:09,745
BUCHLI:
Look at how thin the atmosphere is.
407
00:36:09,917 --> 00:36:12,417
Everything beyond that thin blue line. . .
408
00:36:12,837 --> 00:36:14,747
. . . is the void of space.
409
00:36:15,089 --> 00:36:18,799
And everything below it
is what it takes to sustain life.
410
00:36:20,261 --> 00:36:22,431
And everything that we do. . .
411
00:36:22,889 --> 00:36:24,889
. . .to this environment. . .
412
00:36:25,266 --> 00:36:27,346
. . .and our quality of life. . .
413
00:36:27,935 --> 00:36:30,095
. . . is below that little thin blue line.
414
00:36:30,271 --> 00:36:32,861
That's the only difference between. . .
415
00:36:33,608 --> 00:36:36,568
. . .what we enjoy here on Earth. . .
416
00:36:36,736 --> 00:36:40,026
. . .and the really harsh; uninhabitable. . .
417
00:36:40,781 --> 00:36:42,821
. . . blackness of space.
418
00:36:44,744 --> 00:36:46,834
That's not very wide; is it?
419
00:36:56,297 --> 00:36:58,667
NARRATOR:
Our world is a special place...
420
00:36:58,925 --> 00:37:01,755
. . .where millions of species coexist. . .
421
00:37:02,803 --> 00:37:06,603
. . .each one an integral part
of our planet's fabric.
422
00:37:11,229 --> 00:37:14,559
What we do will determine their fate. . .
423
00:37:15,566 --> 00:37:16,936
. . .and ourS.
424
00:37:18,736 --> 00:37:21,656
we can undo the damage we have caused.
425
00:37:56,107 --> 00:37:59,857
The Earth we inherited
can again be a garden. . .
426
00:38:01,362 --> 00:38:03,532
. . .beautiful and bountiful.
427
00:38:05,157 --> 00:38:08,027
Everything we need for life is here.
428
00:38:10,871 --> 00:38:12,751
Shimmering blue. . .
429
00:38:12,915 --> 00:38:16,495
. . .it is our haven
in a vast black sea of space.
430
00:38:23,509 --> 00:38:25,219
This is our home.
431
00:38:26,887 --> 00:38:29,057
lt will be home to our children. . .
432
00:38:30,141 --> 00:38:32,311
. . .and to their great-grandchildren.
433
00:38:35,354 --> 00:38:38,234
lt is home to all the nations of the world.
434
00:38:43,237 --> 00:38:45,657
lt's home to the people of Mexico.
435
00:38:54,790 --> 00:38:57,540
Home to the people of Greece and Turkey.
436
00:39:10,681 --> 00:39:13,811
lt's home to lsraelis and Arabs.
437
00:39:22,193 --> 00:39:24,443
lt's home to the Vietnamese.
438
00:39:36,749 --> 00:39:39,249
lt's home to the aboriginal people. . .
439
00:39:39,418 --> 00:39:42,298
. . .and the farmerS
of the Australian outback.
440
00:39:50,846 --> 00:39:53,256
lt's home to the people of Japan.
441
00:40:00,314 --> 00:40:03,114
lt's home to the peoples of the Caribbean.
442
00:40:19,750 --> 00:40:21,790
lt's home to all of us.
443
00:40:23,879 --> 00:40:26,089
And it's our only home.
444
00:42:20,955 --> 00:42:22,955
[ENGLISH SDH]
35222
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