A plucky weather balloon is about to be hurled into a supercell, a rare and destructive type of thunderstorm that often spawns potent tornadoes. The meteorologists facing down this tempest in Kansas are probing complex weather systems.
Conservationist Chris Packham co-authored a new book called “Earth: Over 4 billion years in the making” with Andrew Cohen, head of the Science Unit at BBC Studios. The book is a counterpart to the five-part documentary series entitled “Earth” that brings the deep past to life through cutting-edge research and vivid CGI.
While our world is still peppered with active volcanoes, Earth’s early days were rocked by a glut of them, roiling with lava and spewing gases. Yet some of today’s successful organisms emerged from planet-altering eruptions relatively unchanged.
For example, cyanobacteria took root 3.5 billion years ago. Organisms like this are part of the “microbial mats” that create vibrant colors in the thermal waters of Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park. Heat-loving bacteria are extremophiles, organisms that can survive in environments once thought to rule out life.
The book “Earth: Over 4 billion years in the making” is now available, and the TV series can be watched on BBC iPlayer.
