Living Planet

The internet's invisible backbone is becoming impossible to ignore. As data centers multiply, so do questions about the land, power and communities they depend on — and who decides where they go. In part one, we visit a quiet town in Europe's biggest data center hub to explore how the race to build our digital future is playing out on the ground.

Five years after catastrophic floods tore through Germany's Ahr Valley, Living Planet host Neil King reflects on the devastation he witnessed firsthand, while reporter Jonas Mayer returns to see what's changed. Can communities really build back better - or is the next disaster only a matter of time?

The cloud is supposed to be invisible. Limitless. Until it isn't. Coming soon, Living Planet goes in search of the hidden infrastructure being built to power our digital futures.

Dust storms around the world are getting worse and for people like Michelle, living with chronic asthma near a drying lake in California, the results are life-threatening. Elsewhere, seeds of change are being planted in the form of native vegetation. Can eco science help fill a dust bowl like the Coachella Valley with hope for fresh air?

What happens after carbon is captured? In this special collaboration with How We Survive, Living Planet follows CO₂ from a cement factory to its final resting place more than a mile beneath the seabed. We investigate the promise, pitfalls and politics of a technology that could help tackle climate change - or prolong the fossil fuel era.