Summary: Stretching over 4,000 miles across South America, the Amazon River has long defied human efforts to tame it. Not a single bridge crosses it, and not one dam halts its flow. This program visits urban centers on the banks of the Amazon and examines new attempts to harness-or exploit-the river's energy and natural abundance. The journey begins at Iquitos-a Peruvian city blighted by poverty and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Among the most utilized waterways in the world, the Yangtze River is also one of the most volatile. This program sheds light on humanity's battle to tame and profit from the river-specifically, a project initiated by Chiang Kai-shek in the 1930s. The program also studies corresponding ecological problems. Viewers are introduced to the Three Gorges Dam, a concrete mega-structure visible from...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Our most valuable treasure, is how residents of Dakar describe the Bay of Han. But pollution from both residential and industrial sources is destroying the body of water that has long supported fishing families in the Senegalese capital. This program reports on Western-aided efforts to restore the bay's ecological health and its viability as an economic resource. Specific challenges include the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Thirst, starvation, claustrophobia-all three await the whole of humanity, if global population and consumption rates continue unchanged. This program explores the looming crisis in practical terms, measuring as accurately as possible our planet's capacity for human habitation. Host Sir David Attenborough guides viewers through the core problems of water scarcity, shortsighted agricultural...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Among the largest, most pristine areas of tropical woodland on the planet, the Congo Basin forests could easily fall prey to shortsighted and exploitative commercial interests. This program looks at sustainable lumber production initiatives taking root in the region, with a focus on cutting-edge forestry management as well as economic growth through increased cooperation between local...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: The U.S. produces 200 million tons of municipal solid waste per year-and the landfill area used by the nation's ten largest cities alone is larger than the entire state of Indiana. Divided into two episodes, this program draws on the knowledge of William Mollere, of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality; Marty Tittelbaum, of the University of New Orleans; and other experts, first to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Rich in history, the Rhine feeds Europe's collective identity-as well as its divisions. Flowing from Switzerland through Austria, Germany, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, the river intersects a multitude of towns and cities in the process. This program follows the Rhine on its multifaceted journey and examines economic, political, environmental, and historical issues surrounding it....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: What will it take to create an eco-friendly global economy? This program addresses the financial, technological, and organizational obstacles that must be overcome before human society and planet Earth can truly coexist. Drawn from the series Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy and futurist Hazel Henderson’s book by the same title, the program contains powerful insights from engineers,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Throughout her career, Denise Chamberlain has advised business, government, and community representatives on site remediation and redevelopment. In this program, Ms. Chamberlain focuses on brownfields liability reform and the Phoenix Awards. Charles Bartsch, Ira Whitman, and Cherokee Investments' Thomas Darden offer insights into liability issues as well. Additional interviews with EPA, HUD,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this program, Katherine Heller, of RTI International; Jane Mergler, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Norman Camp III, co-chairman of Partners for Environmental Justice; and other experts drive home the importance of community involvement in brownfields reclamation. Renewal projects in Baltimore, Trenton, Phoenix, Denver, and elsewhere illustrate how sustainable redevelopment depends...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program takes a hard look at the mounting challenge of providing millions of people in urban areas with potable water and adequate disposal of waste water. To highlight the difficulties, segments focus on the water problems of the megalopolis, cities with populations of over ten million people, such as Lagos, Jakarta, and Mexico City. The massive logistics that enable Las Vegas to prosper...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Due to global warming, Earth is hovering at the climatic tipping point. After summarizing the state of greenhouse gas emissions and predicting future weather changes with climate modeling, this program presented by Sir David Attenborough circles the globe to create a composite picture of burgeoning eco-disaster: extended droughts, devastating flash floods, stronger hurricanes, unpredictable...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Environmental protection laws have spawned a whole new form of business: firms that specialize in handling ecological regulatory issues for industry. To what extent are environmental standards achieving the goal of purifying America's air, land, and water? And to what extent are those selfsame standards contributing to the growth of a market geared toward simply meeting the legal minimums in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: How serious is the "greenhouse effect" on global climate and the environment? Very, says Dr. Jessica Tuchman Mathews, a Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics. We are now facing the specter of the "greenhouse effect," the prospect of overloading the earth's atmosphere with gases released when industrial nations burn fossil fuels like coal and oil, and the Third World strips its forests to farm...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: For centuries, people have counted on science to provide them with objective answers to questions about the world of nature. But on pressing environmental issues such as global warming and ozone depletion, some special interest groups are striving to bend science to their agendas. Spinning data into webs of rhetoric, such groups run the risk of creating more confusion than clarity, fostering a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Karuk, Yurok, and Hoopa peoples live along northern California's Klamath River, and each tribe's ancient culture revolves around the majestic Pacific salmon. Today, four large hydroelectric dams have made salmon extinction a real and frightening possibility. This case study follows tribal members as they confront the owners of the dams-specifically, a global energy giant in Scotland which...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: To at least one resident of the fictional city of Metropolis, a new outer suburb being planned for some pristine farmland sounds like the American Dream come true. His brother, also a Metropolite but an advocate of smart growth, sees it as a nightmare. Moderated by Harvard Law School's Arthur Miller, this Fred Friendly Seminar seeks to understand the housing situation facing the U.S.-a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: In a dramatic reversal of policy since apartheid, South Africa has become a model of water fulfillment. Despite being one of the driest regions on Earth, India's Rajasthan is an oasis due to the revival of a system of ancient rain basins. This program looks at these encouraging examples to show how sustainable solutions to long-term water management can be achieved, while a visit to Sertao in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Its name conjures images of America's mythical past, encoded in the stories and novels of Mark Twain. But today's Mississippi River is rife with challenges no 19th-century storyteller could have imagined. From issues of basic survival to triumphs of creativity and profit, this program follows the day-to-day lives of those who dwell on the Mississippi. Starting in the town of Cairo,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Household waste can cause pollution of all kinds, but more and more of these wastes can be recycled effectively and economically. The result is reduced pollution and a useful new source of raw materials and energy. Hospital waste disposal presents the additional problems of contaminated waste, which is a series of problems depending on the nature of the waste: contaminated blood waste, for...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Having overtaken the U.S. as the world's biggest polluter, China is now responsible for 11 percent of all greenhouse gas production. Can the country reduce its carbon footprint without slowing its unprecedented economic growth? This program shows how that question is playing out in the Chinese construction industry, highlighting the creation and practical application of new homebuilding...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: America hasn’t built a nuclear power plant in thirty years. Is that due to a right-headed concern over health and environmental dangers, or an unfounded timidity that puts us behind the rest of the world? This CNBC Original documentary explores the issue, which, despite rising support for nuclear energy, remains divisive. Guiding viewers through the basic workings of a nuclear facility, the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: While the debate over genetically modified foods is far from settled, a growing number of food producers are taking a GM-friendly approach. This program presents arguments in favor of GM technology and suggests ways in which it can boost crop yields and reduce global hunger. Presented by Jim Doherty, a long-time advocate for sustainable agriculture in the U.K., the program travels to Bavaria,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: With more than half of America's landfills already closed, it is predicted that 22 states will soon run out of landfill capacity. Episode one of this program presents regionalization, the pooling of municipal resources across political boundaries, as a partial solution. Environmental project specialist Elizabeth Tarver, representatives of BFI and Waste Management, and others address topics such...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008