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Things that are important to us, like cars and computers, come with manuals. So why not a manual for the most complex operating system of all—the Earth. Is the planet due for an oil change? What do we need to do to keep Earth operating at peak performance? These are some of the questions addressed in Earth: The Operators' Manual, a one-hour special on climate change and sustainable energy, premiering at 10pm on Sunday April 10th during Earth Month 2011.
Host Richard Alley takes viewers to locations around our planet to see the evidence for themselves. For proof of climate change, we explore massive glaciers in New Zealand whose advances and retreats during the Ice Ages are tied to changing levels of carbon dioxide. We go to the National Ice Core Lab in Denver, Colorado, where records of past temperatures and atmospheric composition are unlocked from 400,000 year old ice. To put numbers on sustainable energy options, locations include the sunniest place in the world, the dunes near Yuma, AZ where solar power could offer 80% of Earth's current use, and the hot springs and geysers of New Zealand, sacred to the native Maori but which now power geothermal generating stations. "Of course, we share the best climate science, but we know today's audiences want to see solutions, not just restatements of the problems..." says writer/director Geoff Haines-Stiles (Carl Sagan's Emmy-winning COSMOS series, Creation of the Universe.)
Producer Erna Akuginow (CHILDHOOD and the Passport to Knowledge series) adds, "We were awed by the raw power of the Earth and by human ingenuity. And it was great to spend time with some of those with the most ambitious plans for clean, low-carbon options." These include the US military working to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels; the gas-guzzling city of Houston now supporting e-vehicles and LEED-certified buildings; China, the world's largest energy consumer, but also aggressively promoting alternative sources; and Brazil, land of cars running on flex fuels using sugar-cane ethanol.
Program host Richard Alley once worked for an oil company, is a contributor to the UN panel on climate change (the IPCC), has testified to Congress about climate change and been a "tour guide" for Senators visiting the glaciers of Greenland. Alley concludes the program, high on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, with this win-win-win suggestion: "If we approach Earth as if we have an Operators' Manual, we can avoid climate catastrophes, improve energy security, and make millions of good jobs."
Earth: The Operators' Manual isn't politics, polemics or punditry, but an accurate assessment of both the problems and possibilities that should leave the viewer informed, energized and—because of the beauty and bounty of our planet—profoundly optimistic.
Also appearing...
Rear Admiral David Titley, Oceanographer of the Navy, and a contributor to the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review which in 2010, for the first time, cited climate change as a "threat multiplier"; Annise Parker, Mayor of Houston, Texas, whose city is—perhaps surprisingly—the #1 municipal purchaser of renewable energy in the United States; rancher Steve Oatman, who may be uncertain about climate change but knows America needs clean energy, and Peggy Liu, chairperson of JUCCCE, the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy.
Check out the annotated, illustrated script, including links to background information on both climate change and sustainable energy, interview transcripts, web-exclusive videos, resources for educators, behind-the-scenes image gallery, and much more at http://earththeoperatorsmanual.com/.
