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Earth the Biography »

Posted by: Eagle_Eye 1 month, 3 weeks ago

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A new series by National Geographic begins airing this evening exploring the biography of the earth. The first part of the series discusses Volcanoes, one of nature's most awesome and destructive forces, but they are also the life force and architect of our planet.

Read Full Story at channel.nationalgeographic.com

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Comments So Far: 52

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Eagle_Eye1 month, 3 weeks ago

I thought it would be of value to my friends to let you now of this new series from National Geographic.
The first program airing tonight is on volcanoes then following it is the second one on ice.
Hope you enjoy these fascinating programs on our wonderful world!
Peace, EE
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  mntnman4441 month, 3 weeks ago
  
  Thanks EE!....nice to see you!
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    Eagle_Eye1 month, 3 weeks ago
    
    Hi mm, nice to see you to!!
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      mntnman4441 month, 3 weeks ago
      
      I'd like to stay around but Propeller is SO screwed up today it is unusable!Have a great day and thanks for the post.
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        Eagle_Eye1 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        It is my frustration also mm!!
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        capecoralM1 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        It was sad to see NG stoop so low and put out such a shody piece. In the first segment of the propaganda piece stated that Volcanic activity saved the earth from the Ice ages and was the main climate influence and "thermostat". Then in the second piece it stated that Ice was the main influence on the climate. Then finally after stating that for millions of years the earth was in ice ages, heated up, back to ice ages, made the statement that today we are back to normal. WTF what is normal? The climate is in constant flux. No one knows what caused the ice ages or what caused them to end. It is ALL Total speculation.
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        RickyDawkins1 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        I enjoyed also :)
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        antibrainwasher1 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        Noone can prove 100% tobacco causes lung cancer. Noone can prove 100% that increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere causes average global warming, and noone can prove 100% that your a republican shill anti-science apologist for Exon, but you don't need 100% proof.
        You need a preponderance of evidence backed by a preponderance of professionals devoting their lives to studing the evidence.
        No one can prove 100% the earth isn't flat. But, that's what your believe.
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        newbie04201 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        LOL
        So has this guy devoted his life to studying the evidence enough for you:
        http://www.wecnmagazine.com/2007issues/may/may0...
        Some people are lucky enough to enjoy their work, some are lucky enough to love it, and then there's Reid Bryson. At age 86, he's still hard at it every day, delving into the science some say he invented.
        Reid A. Bryson holds the 30th PhD in Meteorology granted in the history of American education. Emeritus Professor and founding chairman of the University of Wisconsin Department of Meteorologyâ;;now the Department of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciencesâ;;in the 1970s he became the first director of what's now the UW's Gaylord Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies. He's a member of the United Nations Global 500 Roll of Honorâ;;created, the U.N. says, to recognize "outstanding achievements in the protection and improvement of the environment."
        (cont)
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        newbie04201 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        He has authored five books and more than 230 other publications and was identified by the British Institute of Geographers as the most frequently cited climatologist in the world.
        Long ago in the Army Air Corps, Bryson and a colleague prepared the aviation weather forecast that predicted discovery of the jet stream by a group of B-29s flying to and from Tokyo. Their warning to expect westerly winds at 168 knots earned Bryson and his friend a chewing out from a generalâ;;and the general's apology the next day when he learned they were right. Bryson flew into a couple of typhoons in 1944, three years before the Weather Service officially did such things, and he prepared the forecast for the homeward flight of the Enola Gay. Back in Wisconsin, he built a program at the UW that's trained some of the nation's leading climatologists."
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        newbie04201 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        Bryson is a believer in climate change, in that he's as quick as anyone to acknowledge that Earth's climate has done nothing but change throughout the planet's existence. In fact, he took that knowledge a big step further, earlier than probably anyone else. Almost 40 years ago, Bryson stood before the American Association for the Advancement of Science and presented a paper saying human activity could alter climate.
        "I was laughed off the platform for saying that," he told Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News.
        In the 1960s, Bryson's idea was widely considered a radical proposition. But nowadays things have turned almost in the opposite direction: Hardly a day passes without some authority figure claiming that whatever the climate happens to be doing, human activity must be part of the explanation. And once again, Bryson is challenging the conventional wisdom.
        
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        newbie04201 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        "Climate's always been changing and it's been changing rapidly at various times, and so something was making it change in the past," he told us in an interview this past winter. "Before there were enough people to make any difference at all, two million years ago, nobody was changing the climate, yet the climate was changing, okay?"
        "All this argument is the temperature going up or not, it's absurd," Bryson continues. "Of course it's going up. It has gone up since the early 1800s, before the Industrial Revolution, because we're coming out of the Little Ice Age, not because we're putting more carbon dioxide into the air."
        We ask about that evidence, but Bryson says it's second-tier stuff. "Don't talk about proxies," he says. "We have written evidence, eyeball evidence. When Eric the Red went to Greenland, how did he get there? It's all written down."
        
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        newbie04201 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        Bryson describes the navigational instructions provided for Norse mariners making their way from Europe to their settlements in Greenland. The place was named for a reason: The Norse farmed there from the 10th century to the 13th, a somewhat longer period than the United States has existed. But around 1200 the mariners' instructions changed in a big way. Ice became a major navigational reference. Today, old Viking farmsteads are covered by glaciers.
        Bryson mentions the retreat of Alpine glaciers, common grist for current headlines. "What do they find when the ice sheets retreat, in the Alps?"
        We recall the two-year-old report saying a mature forest and agricultural water-management structures had been discovered emerging from the ice, seeing sunlight for the first time in thousands of years. "A silver mine! The guys had stacked up their tools because they were going to be back the next spring to mine more silver, only the snow never went," he says.
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        newbie04201 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        But let me guess, he's a "republican shill anti-science apologist for Exon" right...?
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        capecoralM1 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        Of course he is!!!He is a Blasphemer against the Church of Man made CO2 Global Warming! Blaspheme I say, Blaspheme! We cannot prove 100% that the earth is not flat yet I bet you believe it is you Republican shill!!!!
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        capecoralM1 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        "No one can prove 100% the earth isn't flat. But, that's what your believe." What???
        
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        memestryker1 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        It was quite informative (not at all shoddy)--I just watched both. They indicated these were strong contributors, but did not state that anything presented was the main influence. They did, in fact, suggest that much of their conclusions are conjecture (informed speculation).
        I also have digital cable and the sound was fine. I rather liked the voice, too. It was nice to listen to a Scot for a change. I hear plenty of American "Disney" voices.
        My only complaint was that, for me, there were times when it was slow. I'll bet I'd enjoy it a lot more on a big screen (which I don't have).
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Spadecaller1 month, 3 weeks ago

Volcano; the architect without clients and who does not use blueprints.
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  Eagle_Eye1 month, 3 weeks ago
  
  Kind of "free flowing" architecture, lol
  Some times I think it is awesome how the lava flows creating unique forms. I like the ones under water also.
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Spadecaller1 month, 3 weeks ago

great source for hot water too.
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Formidable1 month, 3 weeks ago

Thanks EE. I will turn on my "LAVA Lamp" and enjoy!
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y_soitenly1 month, 3 weeks ago

Thanks Eagle Eye, I'm looking forward to watching this program.
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ranchhandComment removed: User banned.
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RickyDawkins1 month, 3 weeks ago

And all in Seven Days!
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  Teech1 month, 3 weeks ago
  
  Hmmmmmm. I thought it was all done in only six days, with the seventh being a day of rest. But, I'm certainly no expert in that department.
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    Eagle_Eye1 month, 3 weeks ago
    
    Your right Teech, God rested on the seventh day since it was so hard to do all that in six days.
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      RickyDawkins1 month, 3 weeks ago
      
      If He so desperately needed a day of Rest, then INDEED it took 7 days.
      What don't you understand? Its in the Bible, so it must be True...
      WACKY BELIEFS ALERT!!
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        newbie04201 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        IGNORANT ATHEIST ALERT!!
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        memestryker1 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        It's a union gig--they require breaks.
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  memestryker1 month, 3 weeks ago
  
  It's like "dog" years, Ricky!
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    puffin1 month, 3 weeks ago
    
    Yeah, not surprisingly, this wasn't bein' broadcasted in my area at the same time. It was twelve hours of The Dog Whisperer reruns.
    I'll definitely keep an eye out for it when it airs.
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      Eagle_Eye1 month, 3 weeks ago
      
      I'm sorry puffin, I thought that the NG network was pretty much standard showing the same thing as their web site promotes.
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        puffin1 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        Oh no problem, hon. There must be different broadcasting schedules for Canada. Remember it was the same for Planet Earth?
        You pick the best shows so I'll just keep lookin' for it.
        ; )
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      memestryker1 month, 3 weeks ago
      
      It's running starting tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern in the U.S. on Comcast cable. I'll finally get to see it!
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    Eagle_Eye1 month, 3 weeks ago
    
    "It's like "dog" years, Ricky!"
    LOL, that's right, one of God's days is millions of our years. Only man has time concept, not God.
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      RickyDawkins1 month, 3 weeks ago
      
      You meant to say "billions".
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        memestryker1 month, 3 weeks ago
        
        "You meant to say 'billions'."
        Yes, it's estimated that the Big Bang (the beginning of our universe) occurred approximately 13.73 billion years ago, and Earth itself is approximately 4.54 billion years old.
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2sidestoeverything1 month, 3 weeks ago

EE nice to see you! thanks for the heads up!! :~)
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icono11 month, 3 weeks ago

Thanks for the heads up EE. NatGeo always does an excellent job.
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DarkWizard1 month, 3 weeks ago

Thank you for the invite EE! Another fascinating topic!

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Eagle_Eye1 month, 3 weeks ago

It is my pleasure friends!!
Has any one noticed that the latest round of environmental programs are coming from the United Kingdom and not the USA?
The "Planet Earth" series and it's spin offs are all done by foreign media. I guess that tells us a lot about the American Media and it's concern/interest regarding environmental education.
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  sumptuousdigs1 month, 3 weeks ago
  
  Education?!...We don need no steenking education...lol!
  Thanks for the 'eds up on the program, will watch it on the teli.
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splitrch1 month, 3 weeks ago

Great Show EE - thanks for the heads up!
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shahmir1 month, 3 weeks ago

National Geographic always my favorite programmed. Thanks for updates.
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1-2-Oscar1 month, 3 weeks ago

The program was interesting, and gave a fairly good compact overview of how natural forces have shaped our world. The narration and sound, however, were uneven and sometimes irritating. Iain thinks that the way to achieve dramatic emphasis is to lower his voice to a sort of stage whisper, which made some of his narration almost inaudible. They needed to have a narrator who actually uses his vocal cords, instead of trying to talk with just his lips like Barbara Walters. The sound tech did nothing to help overcome the narrator's deficiencies. In fact, it sometimes made them worse, as they shifted from loud on site narration to background. The sound problems were inexcusable for a program where this much money was spent.
National Geographic needs to get their old friend Peter Coyote to overdub the whole thing.
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  Eagle_Eye1 month, 3 weeks ago
  
  "They needed to have a narrator who actually uses his vocal cords"
  I agree 1-2-O, I do prefer a more firm narrator like Peter Coyote or the other man that did the NG programs over the person on this series.
  But, over all, the 2 programs were well done and very enlightening.
  Tonight the one on Atmosphere followed by one on Oceans are premiering.
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  Bruedaddy1 month, 3 weeks ago
  
  I on the other hand find the Scotish accent soothing and refreshing!
  Usually enjoyed with a fine single malt, 12 14,15,16,21 or 25 year old.....
  I watched some of it but maybe I ws too tired to notice any sound problems....when I watch it again I'll take note to see.....what I hear...so to speak.
  GREAT footage though!
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    1-2-Oscar1 month, 3 weeks ago
    
    As descendant of MacLeod of MacLeod, and as one who has actually touched the Faerie Flag, I have no problem with the accent. That is why I addressed specifically the problem that I DID experience--sound quality. I finally turned the damned set all the way up. The louder parts were then far too loud, but at least I could make out the rest of it.
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      Eagle_Eye1 month, 3 weeks ago
      
      As a descendant of the clan "Stewart", I enjoy the Scottish accent also, but this guy was not that articulate in his narration. I think I am just to use to the good old NG narrators that added feeling and emotion to the words.
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Bkumm1 month, 3 weeks ago

Good stuff, EE. I'll check it out fully.
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SamsungHDTV1 month, 3 weeks ago

I think there are a lot of Volcano that waiting for explode time. Be careful.
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Versarvitor1 month, 2 weeks ago

The narrator's accent is an unmitigated disaster. Otherwise, this undertaking would have been GOLD. I regret being unable to use this work for teaching purposes; the narrator is simply too hard to understand. He must have an ego the size of planet earth.
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