Planet Earth (1986)

Planet Earth is a seven-part PBS television documentary series produced by WQED Pittsburgh in association with the National Academy of Sciences, with funding from the Annenberg/CPB Project and IBM. It aired weekly on PBS from 22 January to 5 March 1986, narrated by Richard Kiley.

The series explores geoscience and the revolutions in scientific understanding of the Earth that were taking place in the early 1980s: plate tectonics, ocean chemistry, climate change, comparative planetology, and the long-term pressures humanity’s growing population places on natural systems. It was produced as the centrepiece of a college-credit telecourse and is accompanied by a companion study guide and book by Jonathan Weiner.

Planet Earth was co-winner of the 1985–1986 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series or Special. The series should not be confused with the BBC’s unrelated 2006 nature documentary of the same name.

Watch

Video source: Internet Archive — planet.earth · Select an episode from the panel to begin.

Episodes

Select an episode from the player above. Episodes are listed in broadcast order.

1. The Living Machine — Plate tectonics and geologic time: how the discovery of continental drift transformed our understanding of the Earth’s structure, drawing on the work of James Hutton, Alfred Wegener, and Harry Hess.
2. The Blue Planet — The world’s oceans — their chemistry, currents, and role in regulating climate — and the astonishing diversity of life they support, from microscopic plankton to the great whales.
3. The Climate Puzzle — How Earth’s climate system works, what drives ice ages, and early scientific warnings about the potential for human-caused changes to global temperature and weather patterns.
4. Tales from Other Worlds — Comparative planetology: what Venus, Mars, and the other planets in our solar system reveal about the forces that have shaped — and continue to shape — the Earth.
5. Gifts from the Earth — The geological origins of fossil fuels, minerals, and other natural resources, and the pressures their extraction places on the planet’s ecosystems and long-term stability.
6. The Solar Sea — The Sun’s influence on Earth: solar energy, the atmosphere, the ozone layer, and the delicate balance of conditions that make life on our planet possible.
7. The Fate of the Earth — The final episode confronts the dual threats of nuclear war and environmental destruction, and asks what responsibility humanity bears for the future of the only living world we know.

Copyright status

The episodes of Planet Earth (1986) on this page are hosted by the Internet Archive. They are presented here for educational purposes. The original series was produced by WQED Pittsburgh for PBS in 1986 with funding from the Annenberg/CPB Project and IBM.

References

1. Weiner, Jonathan (1986). Planet Earth. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-34322-2.
2. Margulies, Lee (January 1986). “Review: Planet Earth”. Los Angeles Times.
3. National Academy of Sciences (1986). Planet Earth Study Guide. Annenberg/CPB Project.