| Summary: | The last five years have seen rapid developments in camera technology. The result is a wealth of new footage capturing incredible natural phenomena, up close and in stunning detail. This rich seam of filmed material has become an invaluable resource for scientists, pushing their research into uncharted territory. Dangerous Earth delves into this fantastic bank of footage to uncover the latest scientific advances, with each episode focusing on a different subject – volcanoes, auroras, avalanches, icebergs, hurricanes and lightning. Back in the studio, some of the world's top scientists conduct intriguing experiments and unpack the findings from this spectacular visual database, bringing the science to life in an entertaining and accessible way. Dr Helen Czerski examines the hottest natural phenomenon on the planet - lightning. Bolts of lightning five times hotter than the surface of the sun strike our planet over three million times every day - and yet we still know little about this deadly force of nature. Now, specialist photography is revealing how lightning travels through the air, high-speed cameras are unlocking the secrets of upward lightning that's triggered by our urban landscapes, and scientific expeditions are capturing rare images of intense electrical discharges over 80 kilometres wide.
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