New Programs for April Include CHANGING PLANET, FRONTLINE’s New Three Part Miniseries “The Power of Big Oil,” and THE TRICK, a Drama Based on the Real-Life 2009 Climategate Scandal
ARLINGTON, VA; (March 24, 2022) – Throughout the year, PBS is committed to airing thought-provoking programs, documentaries, and specials designed to elevate the conversation around climate change and sustainability. Beginning this April, Earth Month, and continuing through the fall, PBS will premiere programs that explore the lasting impacts of climate change on the natural world on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video app.
CHANGING PLANET, premiering Wednesday, April 20, 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) is the first program in an unprecedented seven-year global storytelling effort led by conservationist Dr. M. Sanjayan. Featuring the latest science and emphasizing local voices, the series will monitor climate change in six iconic locations around the world, every year over the next seven years. Each site visited represents one of the Earth’s most vulnerable habitats, each representing a unique biome and bellwether for the health of the planet. Some locations are heavily protected; others will experience pioneering efforts to rebuild the habitats; others could be lost forever. As locations are revisited each Earth Day, and as pressure on the natural world increases, we’ll witness positive changes and reasons for hope. Locations visited are California, The Maldives, Cambodia, Kenya, Iceland, and Brazil.
FRONTLINE will premiere a new three-part documentary series, “The Power of Big Oil,” on the oil industry and its relationship to climate change on Tuesdays, April 19–May 3, 10:00 p.m. ET (check local listings). The series is a deeply researched investigation of what scientists, corporations, politicians, and the public have known about climate change for decades and the many missed opportunities to mitigate the problem. Spanning a half century—and drawing on interviews with world leaders, oil industry scientists, whistle-blowers, lobbyists and executives as well as newly uncovered internal documents—the films explore how industry was researching climate change as early as the 1970s, how it attempted to cast doubt on the science and how it exerted influence over public perception and policy.
THE TRICK, premiering Friday, April 22, 10:00-11:30 pm ET (check local listings), is a conspiracy thriller and cautionary drama based on the real-life 2009 Climategate scandal, when a media storm undermined confidence in the science of climate change. In November 2009, the IT servers at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia were hacked and hundreds of emails were stolen. Days later, the stolen emails were posted online, and an international media storm exploded. Professor Phil Jones (Jason Watkins) and his team found themselves in the middle of a major investigation with their 30 years of research work being questioned in the first ‘fake news’ attack. THE TRICK follows the unjustified persecution of Jones and the ultimate exoneration of both Jones and the science.
“As a trusted voice in the science and natural history space, PBS and its member stations have the unique ability to assist in deepening the dialogue about the future of our planet on air, across our digital platforms and in local communities,” said Bill Gardner, Vice President, Multiplatform Programming and Head of Development, PBS. “What happens in one part of the world is relevant to us all, and PBS is committed to airing programs that inform and empower audiences not just during Earth Month, but all year long.”
Earth Month programming and related titles will be available on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video app, available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO.
Programs for Earth Month and beyond are listed below in premiere order:
NATURE “American Arctic”
Wednesday, April 13, 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. ET
Vast, wild and untouched, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is where some of the world’s greatest wildlife spectacles unfold. Situated in the northeast corner of Alaska, this refuge has long protected survivors of the Ice Age that still roam a frozen wilderness. The porcupine caribou herd traverses all of it on the longest land animal migration on Earth, witnessing extraordinary wildlife moments along the way. But this once remote and frozen fortress is on the brink of change, and for the caribou, musk oxen, polar bears and Arctic foxes, the Ice Age is slipping away.
WEATHERED “Sea Level Rise” (w.t.)
Monday, April 18 on PBS Terra
On average, sea level is currently rising about 1.4 inches per decade. One of the most important tipping points is the leading edge of the Thwaites glacier. It’s a floating shelf, grounded on an island that slows the flow of ice into the water. When that shelf melts enough to collapse, it will act like a dam breaking. Thwaites is called the doomsday glacier because if this glacier completely retreats, the world's oceans go up by 60 centimeters… at least.
FRONTLINE:The Power of Big Oil
Tuesdays, April 19, 10:00 p.m.–11:30 p.m. ET; April 26 - May 3, 10:00 –11:00 p.m. ET
This three-part documentary series is a deeply researched investigation of what scientists, corporations, politicians and the public have known about climate change for decades and the many missed opportunities to mitigate the problem. Spanning a half century—and drawing on interviews with world leaders, oil industry scientists, whistle-blowers, lobbyists and executives as well as newly uncovered internal documents—the films explore how industry was researching climate change as early as the 1970s, how it attempted to cast doubt on the science and how it exerted influence over public perception and policy.
CHANGING PLANET
Wednesday, April 20, 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET
Conservationist Dr. M. Sanjayan launches an unprecedented seven-year global storytelling effort to monitor climate change by highlighting six iconic locations across the planet. Featuring the latest science and emphasizing local voices, the series will monitor climate change in six iconic locations around the world, every year over the next seven years. As locations are revisited each Earth Day, and as pressure on the natural world increases, we’ll meet the winners and losers; witness positive changes and reasons for hope.
REACTIONS: “Wastewater Treatment Plant, Intensive Reclamation” (w.t.)
Wednesday, April 20 on PBS Digital Studios
We all want our water to be clean, but what does “clean water” really mean? In this video, we’ll walk through the ways humans have tried to clean water through history, including new “toilet to tap” programs that mean the water going down your drain might be coming back up again as clean, drinkable water.
THE TRICK
Friday, April 22, 10:00-11:30 pm ET
This conspiracy thriller, a cautionary tale, tells the story of the real-life 2009 Climategate scandal, when a media storm undermined confidence in the science of climate change. In November 2009, the IT servers at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia were hacked and hundreds of emails stolen. Days later the stolen emails were posted online, and an international media storm exploded. Suddenly, Professor Phil Jones and his team found themselves in the middle of a major investigation, with 30 years of research questioned in the first “fake news” attack.
PLANET CALIFORNIA
Wednesdays, June 22 & June 29, 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET
Celebrate California’s wildlife, wild places, and their coexistence with the 40 million people who call it home in this new two-part documentary. Famous for its beaches and Hollywood, California is also a wellspring of biodiversity. Bounded by mountains, deserts and the Pacific Ocean, this film explores iconic wild places like Yosemite and Death Valley, as well as Baja California’s lesser-known wild beauty.
AMERICA OUTDOORS WITH BARATUNDE THURSTON
Tuesdays, July 5–August 9, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET
A new six-part primetime series hosted by New York Times bestselling author (How to Be Black), podcast creator, host (How to Citizen with Baratunde), and outdoor enthusiast Baratunde Thurston. The series follows him on an adventure-filled journey to explore the diverse array of regions across the U.S. and introduces viewers to a vivid cast of characters whose outdoor lives are shaped by where they live to reveal a deeper understanding of our passionate yet complicated relationship with the outdoors.
THE GREEN PLANET
Wednesdays, July 6–August 3, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET
In the new five-part documentary series about Earth’s biodiversity told through the fascinating story of plants, host Sir David Attenborough takes viewers from the deepest jungles to the harshest deserts, revealing the strange and wonderful world of plants as never before. Living secret, unseen lives, plants are often overlooked. Yet they are as aggressive, competitive, and dramatic as animals — locked in life-and-death struggles for food and light, taking part in fierce battles for territory, and desperately trying to reproduce and scatter their young.
RIVERS OF LIFE
Wednesdays, September 28–October 12, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET
The story of how three of Earth’s greatest rivers create opportunities for extraordinary wildlife and people as they flow from source to sea.
THE PRIDE
Wednesday, September 14, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET
Follow Kenya’s March Pride over 30 years in this epic saga of the lion family’s fight for survival. The most documented pride of lions on Earth, they remain a powerful symbol of resilience in a world where lions and humans are increasingly at odds.
Additional streaming titles are below and are available to stream on PBS.org, the PBS Video app, and PBS Passport. For more information about PBS Passport, visit the PBS Passport FAQ website. These programs may also air in select markets, check local listings.
Encore and streaming programs include:
FRONTLINE "Plastic Wars"
Did the plastic industry use recycling to sell more plastic? With the industry expanding like never before and the crisis of ocean pollution growing, FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the fight over the future of plastics.
THE AGE OF NATURE
Explore humanity's relationship with nature and wildlife, as scientists and conservationists from all over the world examine ways we can restore our planet. Narrated by Uma Thurman.
WHEN DISASTER STRIKES
See the mechanics of disaster relief from the heroes responding on the ground. Government leaders, humanitarians, and survivors tell their extraordinary personal stories of determination and hope.
GRETA THUNBERG: A YEAR TO CHANGE THE WORLD
Travel with the world's best-known climate activist as she takes her fight to a global stage. With unique access, the series follows Greta over an extraordinary year as she embarks on a mission to ensure world leaders work to limit global warming.
LIFE AT THE WATERHOLE
Explore the daily drama as African wildlife flock to a man-made waterhole rigged with cameras. Dr. M. Sanjayan and his team uncover the complex dynamic of this bustling oasis where elephants, lions, leopards, and more meet and compete for water.
NOVA "Reef Rescue"
In the last 30 years, the climate crisis has wiped out roughly half of the planet's coral. But new science reveals that some corals — so called "super corals" — are unexpectedly surviving the world's worst bleaching. Weaving together underwater expeditions, a global reef mapping mission, cutting-edge genetic engineering, and evolution research in Australia, Hawaii, Florida, and the South Pacific, this program follows the story of an international team of scientists who are "assisting evolution" to develop corals that can survive in the oceans of our future. But can they unlock the secrets of survival before it's too late?
NOVA "Can We Cool the Planet?"
As global temperatures rise, scientists are exploring solutions from planting trees to sucking carbon out of the air to geoengineering. But will they work? And what are the risks of engineering Earth's climate?
EXTINCTION: THE FACTS
With one million species at threat, Sir David Attenborough explores extinction and how this crisis has consequences for us all — including a greater risk of pandemic diseases.
PBS NEWSHOUR "The Plastic Problem"
With 40 percent of all plastic products used only once, plastic pollution is considered one of the largest environmental threats facing humans and animals globally. This program explores what's being done about our extensive appetite for damaging single-use plastic. Traveling from Boston to Seattle — and reporting from the Pacific shores of Costa Rica to the rocky beaches of Easter Island — PBS NewsHour uncovers not only the extensive environmental damage plastic has already caused, but also innovations and solutions in plastic management.
For images and additional up-to-date information on this and other PBS programs, visit PBS PressRoom at pbs.org/pressroom.
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