Tag: PBS Terra
Why Was Ancient America's Greatest City Abandoned?
Discover Cahokia, the massive pre-Columbian Native American city near St. Louis that once rivaled the great urban centers of the ancient world.
America Made Its Most Toxic Lake. Now We Need What's Inside
America’s most toxic lake may also be one of its most overlooked resources. At the Berkeley Pit Superfund Site, scientists are extracting clean energy materials from a century of mining waste.
The Cascadia Megaquake Is Inevitable. And It Will Reshape America Forever
The Cascadia Subduction Zone represents a profound disaster in the making. Running hundreds of miles along the Pacific Northwest coast, it's overdue for a catastrophic magnitude 9 earthquake. In fact, scientists estimate there's a 37% chance it will strik...
Is This Earth’s Most Treacherous Coastline?
The Outer Banks, known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic," is home to thousands of shipwrecks, including Blackbeard’s infamous Queen Anne’s Revenge. But beyond the maritime history, this fragile coastline is rapidly changing—threatened by shifting sands,...
America's Great Lost Tree Is Finally Returning
We used to have BILLIONS of these extraordinary trees. Thanks to a tragic twist of fate, now… there are only 4.
Why Is The World's Rarest Fish Trapped in Death Valley?
With under 40 pupfish left in the wild, these are possibly the rarest fish on the planet. The Devils Hole pupfish have existed in isolation for thousands of years in an extreme environment where few species could survive. How did they end up in such an in...
The Mysterious Mass Extinction Hidden in LA
Beneath the streets of Los Angeles lies one of the most prolific fossil sites in the world. At the La Brea Tar Pits, millions of fossils including giant sloths, dire wolves, saber-toothed cats, and mammoths have surfaced from ancient asphalt, offering a r...
What Turned These Ancient Trees to Stone?
Locked within the stones and fossils of Petrified Forest National Park lies a record of life, death, and resilience during one of Earth's most extreme periods of environmental change. What secrets do these fossilized ecosystems reveal about the prehistori...
How a Volcano Froze This Tiny Island in Time
In the 1990s, an entire city in the Caribbean vanished under ash. Plymouth, Montserrat, once vibrant, now lies frozen in time—buried by a volcano still simmering beneath the surface. We explore how this community has endured, and how scientists are racing...
Who Killed the Colorado River?
This episode explores the mystery of the vanishing Colorado River Delta. Once a lifeline for the American Southwest, it's now a shadow of its former self. What happened? Outdated water laws? Excessive urban development and agriculture? Is there a possibil...
Can We Save Mexico City’s Famous Axolotls?
In the southern part of Mexico City lies Xochimilco, a maze of canals filled with boats, music, food and tourists. But Xochimilco is more than that. It’s one of the last remnants of the interconnected lakes that once surrounded Tenochtitlan, the ancient c...
Why Crocodiles Are Thriving in the Shadow of A Nuclear Plant
Florida’s native crocodiles have found an unexpected sanctuary in the cooling canals at Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant. This fortunate happenstance, along with tireless conservation efforts, are helping these once endangered predators make a remarkable...
How Scientists Solved the Mystery of a 300-Year-Old Megaquake
The 1700 Cascadia earthquake and tsunami was a massive natural disaster that reshaped the Pacific Northwest. Through tree rings, soil layers, and international collaboration, scientists have pieced together the exact timing of the event. As the region bra...
The Secret Islands of the Everglades
The Everglades is a water world — It’s the widest and slowest river in the United States. But in the heart of this great water body exist secret islands that have outsize importance for the cultural heritage of a people and for the biodiversity of this im...
The Story Behind This Giant Rock in the Middle of a Field
Devil’s Tower, also known as Mato Tipila or Bear’s lodge, was formed over 50 million years ago. Rising dramatically from the Wyoming plains, this spellbinding monolith is a pillar of Lakota Sioux mythology, and an enduring challenge to rock climbers world...