Untold Earth

From Aristotle to Darwin, Humankind’s effort to understand bioluminescence spans thousands of years. Even though it’s one of the oldest fields of scientific study, answers remain elusive. In this episode of Untold Earth we get in the water with the bioluminescent algae of the Salish Sea, experiencing and asking: what is it about this inscrutable mystery that inspires such obsession?

Many of the big saline lakes of the Americas are on the brink of collapse due to climate change and water diversions. Mono lake’s survival is due to the scientists, activists, and locals who have fought for decades to preserve it. Home to a unique ecosystem of brine shrimp, alkali flies, and migratory birds, Mono Lake’s desiccation would be detrimental to the wildlife and humans who call it home.

Mosses were among the first land plants to evolve out of the ocean roughly 450 million years ago. They grow everywhere, from the world’s harshest landscapes to cracks in the sidewalk. This episode of Untold Earth gets up close and personal with the mosses of the Hoh Rainforest to understand their vital role in this ecosystem and potential to offer a glimpse into our planet’s future.

Icebergs are often found in the world’s most remote, coldest and dangerous seas. But each spring, a unique geological phenomenon brings hundreds of Icebergs into the communities along Newfoundland’s Northeast coast, where they have become a staple of everyday life. What are these icebergs doing here? And why is it imperative that we keep our eyes on them?

Beyond its iconic height, the Redwood Forest is sacred to the Yurok Tribe and a scientific frontier for the study of vast biodiversity that exists nowhere else on Earth. This episode of Untold Earth explores the varied relationship between The Redwoods, their forest ecosystems, and the humans who live and work among them. Asking, at every turn, what makes these trees epically singular in nature?