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17 May, 2012 Thu
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You can't see it, you can't taste it, you can't smell it and you can't touch it, yet without it almost all life on Earth would die instantly. The atmosphere is Earth's protective layer, cloaking it in a warm, wet embrace, warding off damaging cosmic rays and providing the life giving oxygen which we depend on for our very lives.
Iain starts his journey of discovery by taking a flight in a jet fighter that can fly beyond the lower layer of the atmosphere into the stratosphere. He uses this flight to introduce the four key layers in the atmosphere, and the vital roles each layer plays.
He shows that our atmosphere is a fluid, just as surely as the ocean is - in effect we are like lobsters scuttling about at the bottom of an ocean of air. To prove it the world's top sky surfer takes a ride through the air, controlling his board as if he was on a wave.
Air is a fluid which shapes our world, from eroding rocks to building sand dunes. But its importance goes beyond this - it controls the world's weather and climate.
今集的主題是大氣層。節目先帶大家從高空去看看大氣層的結構，之後就飛去阿根廷，觀察當地的風暴是如何在一日內形成。主持人Lain到訪澳洲，研究了當地進化史上最古老的細菌，如何改變大氣層的過程。在美洲安地斯山脈的較高位置，當地人想有下一代並不容易，因為氧氣在大氣層的份量有很重大的影響。 除了氧氣之外，影響�韝j氣層的還有二氧化碳。事實上，適量的二氧化碳有效保持地球溫暖，資料顯示，如何沒有了二氧化碳，地球的溫度就會是零下十度！ |
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生活於地球的我們，對地球的認識有多少?一連五集的天造地設將揭示地球最基本，但人類所知其實不太多的層面，第一集的主題是「火山」，讓大家從難得一見的珍貴鏡頭中窺視我們所在土地的真貎。
Volcanoes have a fearsome reputation. In reality, they are the most important force in the creation of the planet as we know it today. Abseiling into a lava lake and cave-diving in a cenote, this episode shows how the heat that fuels volcanoes also drives some of the most fundamental processes on the planet. |
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