The author dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors he feels are responsible for history's broadest patterns.

"In an era of cell phone addiction and ever-expanding cities, many of us fear we've lost our connection to nature--but Peter Wohlleben is convinced that age-old ties linking humans to the forest remain alive and intact. Whether we observe it or not, our blood pressure stabilizes near trees, the color green calms us, and the forest sharpens our senses. Drawing on new scientific discoveries, The Heartbeat of Trees reveals the profound interactions humans...

"In an alternate past--or possible future--a mighty tree stands on the banks of a winding river, bearing silent witness to the flow of time and change. A family farms the fertile valley. Soon, a village sprouts, and not long after, a town. Residents learn to harness the water, the wind, and the animals in order to survive and thrive. The growing population becomes ever more industrious and clever, bending nature itself to their will and their ambition:...

" How we come to feel at home in our towns and cities is what Warnick sets out to discover in This Is Where You Belong. She dives into the body of research around place attachment--the deep sense of connection that binds some of us to our cities and increases our physical and emotional well-being--then travels to towns across America to see it in action. Inspired by a growing movement of placemaking, she examines what its practitioners are doing to...

The next time you see a bee buzzing around, you might pause to think that around a third of the food we eat is thanks to their efficient and crucial act of pollination. Bees transfer pollen between plants to allow fertilization. Through interviews with beekeepers in Vietnam and London, this video explores solutions to challenges posed by climate change.

Steve Backshall looks at the Scottish Highlands, home to some of the most iconic wildlife in the British Isles. The two contrasting landscapes of open moor and Caledonian forest are both crucially important to their wild inhabitants and yet the history of the Highlands shows that they shouldn't exist side by side. Steve guides us through the landscape and reveals the surprising part that humans have to play in allowing both habitats to thrive, thereby...

Disrupting the natural equilibrium of this paradise, successive waves of settlers and visitors used the islands for cattle farming, a vacation destination for the Hollywood elite, and, during World War II, a military base. Pristine nature was turned into a vast wasteland.

Steve Backshall goes beneath the surface of Australia's Great Barrier Reef to discover the crucial conditions that allowed a tiny coral building block to create the largest living structure on the planet. He unravels the complex mosaic of reef environments to reveal the key to the micro-world's success, but discovers that life on this coast is not always easy. Nutrient-poor water, enormous storms and rising seas should make it impossible for such...

Robert Redford narrates this episode of New Environmentalists, which profiles six activists fighting to protect the natural resources of their communities in Kenya, Russia, China, Argentina, the Philippines and the Arctic Circle.

Will world population outrun food resources? The "Green Revolution" of the 20th century multiplied crop yields, in part through increasing inputs of pesticides and fertilizers. How can farmers reduce their use of agricultural chemicals and still produce enough food?