In the last episode, despite disturbing revelations of wrongdoing at Three Mile Island before and after the accident, the utility fights to bring the plant back online. Its Unit 1 had its license temporarily suspended following the incident at Unit 2. Although the citizens of the three counties surrounding the site voted by an overwhelming margin to retire Unit 1 permanently in a non-binding resolution in 1982, it was permitted to resume operations in 1985 following a 4–1 vote by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In 2017, it was announced that operations would cease by 2019 due to financial pressure from cheap natural gas, unless lawmakers stepped in to keep it open. Unit 1 shut down on September 20, 2019. Billed as the worst nuclear incident in U.S. history, what’s particularly scary here is how close Three Mile Island incident came to becoming a national disaster. Without giving away the whole story, cost-cutting 'solutions' almost cause a catastrophic disaster.
Can skyscrapers be made safer, more efficient, and livable in our rapidly growing cities? Skyscrapers are gleaming symbols of prestige, and an ingenious way to save space in dense urban areas. But as buildings rise ever higher, what are the risks of these architectural behemoths? Do we truly know how they will hold up in earthquakes, fires and wind? What have--or haven’t—we learned from past tragedies? But even as we devise ways to defend them against potential disasters, can we also make them more livable, interactive, and eco-friendly?
The last chapter explains how the 2010s became another lost decade in the fight against climate change – as the move to natural gas delayed a transition to more renewable sources of energy. Engineer Tony Ingraffea, in the 1980s, helped develop a new technique for extracting gas and oil from shale rock, which ultimately became known as 'Fracking'. It was to unleash vast new reserves of fossil fuels and was promoted as a cleaner energy source. But Ingraffea explains how he later came to regret his work when he realized that gas could be even worse for climate change than coal and oil. Dar-Lon Chang, a former ExxonMobil engineer, speaks for the first time on camera alleging that as the company increased its natural gas operations, it was not sufficiently monitoring methane leaks that were contributing to climate change. Now, after a year of unprecedented wildfires, drought and other climate-related disasters, multiple lawsuits are being brought in US courts in efforts to hold Big Oil legally accountable for the climate crisis.
Earth's history is marked by one cosmic disaster after another, forging the path of human evolution. Asteroid and comet collisions, flares from the Sun, mass extinctions, supernova explosions, cosmic ray bombardment. You name it, we've experienced it. It's kind of a miracle we're here at all. Now, experts explore how the Earth has teetered on the verge of destruction.
A close examination of the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption of 2019, in which 22 lives were lost, the film viscerally recounts a day when ordinary people were called upon to do extraordinary things, placing this tragic event within the larger context of nature's unpredictability and the resilience and power of our shared humanity. The film explores the profound impact on survivors, their unwavering determination to recover and rebuild, and the enduring effects of the eruption. With remarkable personal stories, stunning visuals, and a poignant reflection on the forces of nature, this documentary offers a gripping portrayal of the human spirit and solidarity in the face of adversity. It is a must-watch for those interested in powerful storytelling and the resilience of the human spirit, with a captivating and thought-provoking narrative.
35 years after the Chernobyl disaster, Ben Fogle travels to the most radioactive place on Earth. He spends a week living alone inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, gaining privileged access to the doomed Control Room 4 where the disaster first began to unfold. 'The planet faces unprecedented challenges - many of them, like Chernobyl, of our own making. What I've discovered in Chernobyl is that nature's reclaiming it. This is the greatest, accidental rewilding project of the globe. For me, the really exciting part of the Chernobyl story is the accidental hope that came from it. '
In 2017, it was announced that operations would cease by 2019 due to financial pressure from cheap natural gas, unless lawmakers stepped in to keep it open. Unit 1 shut down on September 20, 2019.
Billed as the worst nuclear incident in U.S. history, what’s particularly scary here is how close Three Mile Island incident came to becoming a national disaster. Without giving away the whole story, cost-cutting 'solutions' almost cause a catastrophic disaster.