Film-maker Chloe Sarosh on how extraordinary new BBC1 documentary Earth from Space will give us an incredible astronaut’s-eye view of Earth
Film-maker Chloe Sarosh on how extraordinary new BBC1 documentary Earth from Space will give us an incredible astronaut’s-eye view of Earth
Modern satellites can now capture images of our planet that are so detailed we can even see individual animals roaming the Earth, which helps scientists track individual species and understand strange natural phenomena.
And there are plenty of extraordinary pictures of elephants, seal colonies and grey whales in the first episode of the visually stunning four-part series Earth from Space.
We also get to spot the world’s largest beaver dam, in Alberta, Canada, and follow miles of hippo tracks in Botswana, as well as a plume of orange dust as it reaches 3,000km from the Sahara to the Amazon.
These stunning images are also helping scientists track endangered species and, recently, 26 previously unknown colonies of emperor penguin have been located.
‘It’s like having a cameraman 650km above the Earth’s surface!’ says series producer Chloe Sarosh.
‘Some natural events are only visible when you step right back, like the swirl of a gigantic phytoplankton bloom or the movement of Saharan sand across continents.
‘These images are a reminder of just how beautiful our home is, but perhaps the most important revelation is just how fast and dramatically the planet is changing.’
Here, Chloe talks TV Times through some of the amazing images from the series…
Earth by night
‘Never is the human domination of the planet more obvious than at night.
‘Almost every part of the globe is lit up by our towns and cities.’
Crop circles, USA
‘From space, we can see how America’s Midwest is covered in a giant patchwork of crop circles.
‘But no matter how tightly farmers pack the circles together, there will always be spaces left between them.'
Amazon River, Peru
‘From space, we can watch as the mighty Amazon River snakes its way across South America.
‘As it twists and turns, the bends in the river become cut off, forming lakes.’
Showing in Scotland at 11.05pm
TV Times rating: *****
