The Earth

Earth comes to life with stunning clips from the BBC's television archive. There is a lot to watch: See Mount St Helens erupt, the Earth form, and glaciers shrink.

Atmosphere & climate (4)

• The carbon cycle

  Carbon is a key ingredient of all known life.

• The greenhouse effect

  The greenhouse effect saves Earth from an icy fate

Water & ice (6)

• Ice ages

  We are living during a relatively warm interglacial period.

• Glaciers

  Glaciers scour the land surface and erode solid rock.

Surface & interior (16)

• Plate boundaries

  Earthquakes and volcanoes are common at plate boundaries.

• Supercontinents

  In the past the continents have been joined together.

Earth timeline (10)

• Future Earth

  Billions of years from now it is predicted the Sun will destroy the Earth.

• The Late Heavy Bombardment ends

  Asteroids and comets peppered the Earth.

Natural disasters (10)

• Hurricanes

  The 1970 Bangladesh cyclone is the most deadly in recorded history.

• Forest fires

  Despite the damage they cause, small fires can be good for forests.