Earth

---

Of all the planets in our universe,

we know of only one

that can support life.

Just the right distance from the sun,

it has a perfect climate.

Earth rests at an angle

of exactly 23 and a half degrees

to the sun.

Without that crucial tilt,

everything as we know it

would be different.

For by it, the seasons are created,

the extremes of climate, hot and cold,

and landscapes of spectacular beauty.

We spend a year with our fellow creatures

as they struggle to raise their young

in a world that is ever-changing.

January.

It's the dead of winter in the high Arctic,

and there has been no sun

for over a month.

A father, alone in an icy wilderness.

He scavenges for food

in the permanent darkness.

But there is little to eat.

Every living thing is waiting.

At long last,

the sun makes its first appearance

over the horizon.

And something else makes

an appearance for the first time too.

A mother polar bear has been

underground in her den the whole winter.

It's fresh-powder conditions up here,

and, after being cooped up

under the snow for so long,

she can't help but enjoy the slopes.

But she's not alone.

They're 2 months old now,

and this is the very first time

they've seen the light of day.

It's breakfast time for the little ones.

Mom uses the promise of food

to coax them across the slopes.

But it's not the easiest place

to take your first steps.

Milk is the breakfast of choice here.

In fact, it's the only choice here.

It's all the cubs have known since birth.

Mom hasn't eaten for five months,

and she's lost half her body weight.

But still, she'll stay at home

on these slopes

and nurse the cubs

until they find their footing.

Which, as you can see,

might take a little while.

Every year at this time,

they need food desperately.

They'll have to get down

and join Dad on the ice

before it starts to melt

in the warming sunlight.

The sea ice is the only place

the bears can hunt for seals.

If they don't make it in time,

they'll lose their hunting platform,

and the family could starve.

So far, the ice is strong enough

to support their dad.

But he won't be much help

to Mom and the kids.

Instinct leads him to hunt for himself.

This race to reach the sea ice

is more urgent than ever.

Our planet is warming,

and the ice is melting earlier every year.

It's ten days later

and time for Mom to lead

the growing cubs down to the sea ice.

They've found their feet now,

but they seem to be taking them

in the wrong direction.

Unlike humans, polar-bear cubs

don't always listen to their moms.

Finally, everybody is pointed

in the right direction,

and the journey to the ice begins.

Just a few miles from the coast,

the ice is already breaking up.

Mom leads her cubs to start their life

at the edge

of this increasingly dangerous new world.

What they don't know

is the harsh reality of life in the Arctic.

It's unlikely that both cubs

will survive their first year.

A thousand miles south of the bears,

stunted conifers are still locked in ice.

They mark the tree line of our planet

and the start of the boreal forest.

This vast belt of trees

forms an almost unbroken circle

around the north of the globe.

These conifers

have needle-shaped leaves,

virtually inedible,

so the forest supports

very little animal life.

In this silent world,

footprints rarely mark the snow.

And those who do live here

are so hard to glimpse,

they're like spirits.

The lynx roams hundreds of miles

in search of prey.

It may never visit

the same patch of forest twice.

This creature

is the very essence of wilderness.

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