Original subtitles

Satellite cameras can now look down on every part of our planet...

..revolutionising the view of our home.

By combining images taken over days...

..weeks...

..and years...

..we can see Planet Earth change.

From space, we can watch cities grow...

..Earth's natural resources shrink...

..and the weather become more extreme.

As we alter the surface of the planet

faster than at any time in human history...

..this new perspective allows us to track the speed of this change...

..to see the impact of our actions...

..and inspire us to look after our fragile home.

Humans now inhabit every landmass on the planet.

And the extent of our colonisation is most obvious at night.

Scientists have combined images to reveal a detailed view

of the entire globe at night.

Our cities and towns...

..reaching out across its surface.

Using images taken over years,

we can see just how fast these cities are growing.

In the last 40 years,

Las Vegas has tripled in size...

..its suburbs sprawling into the Nevada desert.

Tokyo is now home to 38 million.

More people than any other city on Earth.

And, in just 35 years...

..the small fishing village of Shenzhen in China...

..has grown to a modern city...

..of ten million.

It has joined with nine neighbouring cities,

creating one giant megatropolis...

..home to more than 60 million people...

..across more than 50,000 square kilometres.

As new land is claimed each day...

..nature is being pushed out.

From above...

..India's streets are a densely packed maze

of grey concrete.

But zoom in over Chennai,

one of India's largest cities...

..and we can see a flash of bright green.

Wild parakeets.

In this ever-sprawling city, one man

has made room for wildlife.

15 years ago, Joseph Sekar saw a pair of parakeets

struggling to find food in the city streets.

He put out rice for the birds.

Others came,

so each day he put out even more.

Every day, he and his granddaughters

turn his rooftop into a giant bird table...

..awaiting the arrival...

..of 4,000 birds.

Joseph spends nearly 50% of his income on feeding the parakeets.

They come twice a day, without fail.

Joseph has not only given a lifeline to these birds

when they needed it most...

..he has brought a little bit of nature back into the city streets.

In a world where nature is being pushed out...

..Joseph is supporting a whole population of animals...

..showing that one person in five million

can make a huge difference.

As the planet's urban landscapes grow by the day...

..its most important wild spaces are shrinking.

In South America, trees are cleared for farming.

In the Amazon, small patches of green, protected by local tribes...

..are all that remain of a once-great forest.

And on the island of Madagascar,

images taken over 30 years...

...show it has lost almost 80% of its original forest.

With so few trees left to hold the soil in place,

the red earth now runs into the rivers and out into the ocean.

It looks like Madagascar is bleeding.

The islands of Indonesia.

An area of thick rainforest...

..home to thousands of plant and animal species.

But the view from space shows it disappear.

All over Indonesia, swathes of forest are vanishing.

And it's having a devastating impact on one species in particular.

ORANGUTAN HOOTS

This young Sumatran orangutan

lives with her mother in the forest canopy.

At nearly three years old,

she's still learning what's safe to eat and what isn't.

There are over 300 different types of edible plants in the forest...

..but each fruit at different times.

Finding food here isn't easy.

She must rely on her mother's expert knowledge.

The pair can travel for up to 3km a day foraging for food.

Her mother knows the location of each and every tree

in her territory.

Durian fruit, full of fats and vitamins, are a favourite.

Their smell tells her if they're ready to eat.

Every day is a lesson.

It will be three more years

before this young female has learned enough to go it alone.

But with orangutan habitat under threat,

finding enough food is becoming more difficult.

She may not survive that long.

This forest is home to the highest concentration

of orangutans on the planet.

But as the satellite moves across the landscape...

..the forest disappears.

The last patches of the orangutans' habitat...

..are surrounded by ordered fields.

Row after row...

..of palm oil trees.

Nuts from the trees are made into oil

that's found in about half of all the products

on our supermarket shelves.

From toothpaste to biscuits...

..lipstick to soap.

In the last 20 years,

orangutans have lost 80% of their forest home.

The scale and speed of deforestation here

makes it almost impossible to control.

But now satellites can help.

They can monitor tree loss in real time...

..revolutionising the fight against illegal activity...

..allowing authorities to keep watch on remote forests...

...and respond to protect them faster.

It's not only forests the humans are exploiting.

We've found ways to use natural resources across the planet.

A mine fans out in Germany...

..producing 30 million tonnes of brown coal a year

to fuel electric power stations.

In Chile, islands of blue

appear in a vast salt flat.

These evaporation ponds concentrate lithium

to be made into batteries for our mobile phones.

In the deserts of Saudi Arabia,

circles appear in the sand.

Water pumped from 1km below the Earth's surface

is used to feed crops.

And as we use Earth's natural resources to fuel our industries...

..we leave our rubbish behind.

Thousands of old aircraft litter the Arizona desert.

Hundreds of ships line the coast of Bangladesh...

..waiting to be dismantled.

And in Kuwait, a black patchwork in the sand.

Millions of used car tyres left discarded.

The waste products of almost everything we make...

..are gases.

They rise into the atmosphere,

where they become trapped,

and absorb heat from the Earth below,

making the planet hotter.

In the last hundred years,

our planet has warmed by almost one degree Celsius...

..enough to dramatically affect

some of our greatest natural landscapes.

Glaciers.

Huge bodies of ice.

In Alaska, Bear Glacier runs for 20km down the valley...

..before it breaks up where it meets the water.

In real time, glaciers can move so slowly

they almost appear static.

But by combining satellite images taken over years,

we can see the ice retreating.

Over 30 years...

..12 miles of ice is lost from Alaska's Columbia Glacier.

Mountain glaciers are also under threat.

In the centre of Ecuador, South America, lies Chimborazo.

At more than 6,000 metres, it is the country's highest mountain.

For millennia, its peak has been covered in snow and ice.

But in the past three decades,

the view from space has started to change.

Chimborazo is losing its ice.

One man living in its foothills knows this only too well.

Balthazar is an ice harvester.

For generations, his family have collected glacial ice

from the mountain to sell to the towns and villages below.

He used to be one of 40 working here.

Now he's the very last one.

As the glacier melts,

he's had to climb higher and higher to find the ice.

On the top of the mountain,

scientists use drones to monitor the change in the depth of ice

to calculate just how fast Chimborazo's glaciers

are retreating.

But a drone can only go so high.

Combining these images with satellite data...

..reveals the whole picture.

Since 1976,

21% of Chimborazo's surface ice has gone.

Glaciers act as the world's water towers...

..feeding the streams and rivers which we rely on.

If they dry up,

the effect could be severe.

For Balthazar,

this could be the end of the only way of life he's ever known.

In the old days,

he delivered ice to towns all over the region.

But now he supplies just a handful of local cafes...

THEY EXCHANGE GREETINGS

..who, like him, believe that his ice is the best money can buy.

As the Earth's climate changes,

our weather becomes more unpredictable.

Extremes of hot and cold

are contributing to dramatic weather events.

In Africa...

..snow falls...

..in the Sahara Desert.

In 2018, an unusually hot summer...

..turned the UK brown.

While in Bolivia, Lake Poopo has all but disappeared,

partly due to severe drought.

As global temperatures rise,

water on the Earth's surface evaporates faster...

..creating more clouds...

..and more storms.

Look down over the ocean...

..and the clouds shift into shape.

THUNDER RUMBLES

They begin to spiral...

..and race...

..picking up energy as they spin across the ocean.

Hurricanes.

On average,

one hurricane hits the Gulf Coast of the United States every year.

But beach-side property is still highly sought after.

And not just by holiday-makers.

These dunes have been hit by four hurricanes in the last 25 years.

Just a few miles down the coast,

an entire beach mouse population was wiped out...

..and had to be reintroduced.

At three weeks old, every young mouse must leave the family nest...

..and establish their own territory.

Starting with a burrow.

There's little vegetation,

barely any cover.

A bolthole is essential.

MOUSE SQUEAKS

Like all real estate on this coastline,

burrows are hot property.

It might take several days to find a place of his own.

Every moment spent out here alone,

he's vulnerable.

And not just to predators.

Over the dunes, the skies are getting darker.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Clouds are building.

While cameras on the dunes follow the weather as it changes...

..at the same time

a satellite positioned out over the Gulf...

..allows us to see what a mouse can't.

800km away from the dunes,

a hurricane has formed.

Like all major storms, it's given a name.

Harvey.

300km across...

..and with winds of over 100mph,

it's predicted that Harvey will make land in just eight hours.

To tell where it will hit,

we can track its movement from satellite.

As it reaches the coast, it spins away from the dunes.

The beach mice are safe.

But where Harvey makes landfall...

..images reveal the aftermath of devastating flooding...

..caused by over 120 centimetres of rain.

Harvey was the most powerful storm to hit the US in 12 years.

And the wettest in American history.

But Harvey was just the beginning.

Next came Irma,

Jose

and Katia...

..in one of the worst hurricane seasons on record.

It's predicted that an ever-warming planet

will produce more powerful storms.

But with satellites mapping the path of hurricanes,

they can help us to prepare for when they hit.

It's not only hurricanes that are increasing.

Another weather event leaves indelible marks on our planet.

California, 2018.

A huge burn mark covering more than 1,400 square kilometres.

These scars are found across America every summer.

And the view from space

gives us a brand-new perspective on one of their causes.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Look down on the planet at night...

..and the globe crackles and sparks...

..each bright spot a strike of lightning.

Our world is struck up to 50 times every second.

As the energy of each strike hits the Earth's surface...

..they create deadly sparks.

THUNDER CRASHING

In North America, more than 10,000 wildfires a year

are caused by lightning.

SIRENS BLARE

This number is increasing as the climate changes,

so these fires must be monitored.

HE BREATHES HEAVILY

Usually, I get up at about six o'clock in the morning.

I get up, have a cup of coffee...

..and then I'm ready to go.

Every day of each summer,

85-year-old Billy Ellis climbs the 143 steps to his office.

I get to the radio about 9.25.

Hello, Dispatch, this is Devil's Head Tower, in service.

MUFFLED REPLY

I'm a fire lookout, and I've been doing it now for 33 summers.

After a long, hot summer, the forest is tinder dry.

Perfect conditions for a fire.

I look about every 15 minutes, I take a look around.

You can look for days and never see anything.

Then, all of a sudden, there it is.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Hello, Dispatch, this is Devil's Head Tower. We have a smoke.

Within minutes, a smoke plume can stretch across the horizon.

Now the most effective way to track it...

..is from space.

Cameras can follow a fire's path in almost real time...

..observing the smoke to predict its direction, size and speed...

..guiding those fighting it to the heart of the blaze.

ROLL CALL

Using satellite positioning,

smoke jumpers can be on the ground within seven minutes of a call.

Wildfire can burn at 1,200 degrees Celsius.

To stop it, they create breaks in the forest...

..taking away its fuel.

As human actions continue to warm the planet...

..more wildfires tear across the Earth's surface.

In 2018, California had one of the worst wildfire seasons in history.

Satellites followed as more than 5,000 fires

raged across the state...

..including the Mendocino Complex Fire...

..one of California's largest-ever wildfires.

But even in the most devastated landscapes...

..lies opportunity.

Billy isn't the only lookout in the forest.

This wood-boring beetle is also searching for smoke.

Special sensors in his body detect it from many kilometres away.

This blackened branch is weaker -

easier to bore into and feed on.

And where insects go...

..birds follow.

A black-backed woodpecker.

Perfectly camouflaged in burned forests.

Beetle grubs are full of fat.

CHIRPING

Food for hungry chicks.

Within six months of the fire,

the woodpecker holes have new residents.

And new trees take root.

Infrared satellite images of this forest show it turn from brown...

..to green...

..in just three years.

Wildfire is essential for healthy forest habitat.

It has regenerated the trees

and supported the species that live in them for millennia.

But as we continue to warm our planet,

increasing the size and severity of these fires,

it becomes our responsibility to keep them under control.

Cameras in space are a powerful tool with which to monitor our planet...

..revealing landscapes under threat.

But satellites also capture images

in parts of the world where we are trying to restore the balance.

Just off the east coast of England...

..white dots appear in the sea.

One of the world's largest offshore wind-farms,

generating enough power a year for half a million homes.

In China...

..two giant pandas.

Solar panels creating electricity

as a greener alternative to burning coal.

And in Tanzania, Africa...

..this land was cleared for farming.

But now the view has changed.

Completely.

Forest has regrown...

..a transformation helping one of our most iconic species.

Gombe Stream National Park.

This is Salama...

..and her mother, Schweini.

They're members of the Kasakela community -

a troop of over 90 chimpanzees...

..first studied by primatologist Jane Goodall back in 1960.

The family have been followed almost every single day for 58 years.

CHIMPANZEES CALL

It's the longest-running study of any animal on Earth.

Their protected forest is near the village of Kigalye.

Here, local people cut down trees to make space for farmland.

But without the trees holding the earth together,

there were landslides...

..and flash floods...

..threatening the village and their neighbours.

CHIMPANZEES CALL

To survive, female chimpanzees

need to mix with other troops,

moving territory to find a mate.

But deforestation isolated the community.

Their forest had become an island.

With both people and chimps suffering,

the Jane Goodall Institute began to work with the village

to replant the trees...

..and provide the locals with sustainable ways to use the land.

Emmanuel Mtiti and Lilian Pintea

have been working on the project for 18 years.

And they've had a little help...

..from satellites.

This is a recent image of the area.

Even the finest details are visible.

So let's go back to this.

By comparing satellite images,

the villagers can see what a difference they've made.

The forests have been regenerated.

Land that was infertile has been brought back to life.

The landslides have stopped...

..and flash floods are no longer a problem.

And it's not just the people who have benefitted.

CHIMPANZEES CALL

For the first time in decades...

..new chimpanzees have been seen using the surrounding forests...

..to travel into the reserve.

Potential new mates...

..and a bright future for this iconic species.

Here in this small corner of the planet...

..conservationists and local people

have shown just what a difference can be made

when we work together.

A change so important and so dramatic...

..that it can be seen from space.

This perspective allows us to see our home in a whole new way.

Satellite cameras now help us to health-check our planet...

..see where it is thriving...

..but, crucially, where we are upsetting its fragile balance.

We can find and follow our most vulnerable species...

ELEPHANTS TRUMPET

..and make new discoveries...

..in extraordinary landscapes...

..transforming our understanding of the way Earth works...

..and our place within it.

RHYTHMIC SHOUTING

This powerful new tool

helps us protect our unique

and fragile planet.

The Open University has produced a poster exploring Earth From Space.

To order your free copy, call 0300 303 3821

or go to bbc.co.uk/earthfromspace

and follow the links to The Open University.