WATERTOWN, NY (April 18, 2022) –
Since 1970, Earth Day – April 22nd – and (more recently) Earth Week have been an opportunity to reflect on and renew our collective commitment to a healthy planet. The theme of Earth Day 2022 is #InvestInOurPlanet and WPBS is pleased to present special Earth Week programming including:
Our Changing Planet (Wednesday, April 20th, 8:00 pm)
Join conservation scientist Dr. M. Sanjayan for a global environmental health check of seven of Earth’s bellwether biomes. From the Arctic to the Amazon, these vulnerable habitats are changing, revealing surprising animal behaviors as species adapt.
Forever Wild (Wednesday, April 20th, 10:00 pm)
FOREVER WILD chronicles an environmental and democratic triumph in the historic town of Telluride, Colorado. A billionaire developer plotted to turn 600 acres of pristine valley floor into a mammoth lake and golf resort by manipulating the politicians and press. Nothing stood in his way until a small group of citizens united the residents, rallied the community, and fought for the land.
Can We Cool The Planet (Wednesday, April 27th, 9:00 pm)
The world’s average temperature has increased 1°C in just the past 100 years. Extreme weather and rising seas are already causing global unrest, and many scientists believe that if we cannot curb planetary warming, it could pose an existential threat to human civilization as we know it. As time is running out for conventional solutions to global warming, a growing collective of scientists and engineers are developing technologies to hack Earth’s operating system—from manipulating our atmosphere to reflect sunlight, to sucking carbon dioxide right out of the air, to enlisting plants to do the job for us. This is the controversial landscape of geoengineering, the effort to build controls for Earth’s thermostat. NOVA joins scientists and skeptics alike to examine technologies that could help us combat a looming threat.
Climate Change: The Facts (Wednesday, April 27th, 10:00 pm)
After one of the hottest years on record, Sir David Attenborough looks at the science of climate change and potential solutions to this global threat. Interviews with some of the world’s leading climate scientists explore recent extreme weather conditions such as unprecedented storms and catastrophic wildfires. They also reveal what dangerous levels of climate change could mean for both human populations and the natural world in the future.
The Trick (Friday, April 22nd, 10:00 pm) a brand new drama based on real-life events. This conspiracy thriller and cautionary tale tells the story of the 2009 Climategate scandal, when a media storm undermined confidence in the science of climate change. Professor Phil Jones and his team at the University of East Anglia find themselves in the middle of a major investigation with their 30 years of research work being questioned in the first ‘fake news’ attack.
As the organizers of Earth Day put it: “Every one of us needs a healthy Earth to support our jobs, livelihoods, health & survival, and happiness. A healthy planet is not an option — it is a necessity.”
About WPBS
WPBS is a PBS station serving approximately 650,000 households throughout Northern New York and Eastern Ontario via cable, satellite, Internet and over-the-air distribution. WPBS is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate, inform, and engage its two-nation region with exceptional and trusted content across multiple platforms. Its vision is to be the premier provider of extraordinary public media that instills wonder and curiosity across generations and borders.
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