0 00:00:09,989 --> 00:00:12,628 Our planet has immense power... 1 00:00:15,189 --> 00:00:20,138 ...and yet that's rarely mentioned in our history books. 2 00:00:22,429 --> 00:00:24,784 I'm here to change that. 3 00:00:28,669 --> 00:00:33,424 I'm looking at four ways the power of the planet has shaped our history. 4 00:00:39,869 --> 00:00:47,264 The deep Earth that provided the raw materials for our conquest of the planet. 5 00:00:49,389 --> 00:00:54,543 Wind...that has influenced the rise and fall of empires. 6 00:00:56,549 --> 00:00:58,824 Water. 7 00:00:58,869 --> 00:01:00,188 Look at that! 8 00:01:00,229 --> 00:01:05,861 Our struggle to control it has defined the character of civilisations. 9 00:01:07,949 --> 00:01:11,464 But this week I'm looking at fire. 10 00:01:11,509 --> 00:01:13,579 It's deadly, 11 00:01:13,629 --> 00:01:18,419 yet it's also the driving force behind human progress. 12 00:01:22,069 --> 00:01:26,062 But our dependence on fire has meant that events deep in the Earth's past 13 00:01:26,109 --> 00:01:29,658 have changed the course of history. 14 00:01:57,829 --> 00:01:59,865 The vibrate is a low-air alarm. 15 00:01:59,909 --> 00:02:03,026 It'll let you know when you've got a quarter of a tank of oxygen. 16 00:02:03,069 --> 00:02:06,539 - When you hear that, you need to get out. - Get out. OK. 17 00:02:06,589 --> 00:02:09,945 I'm preparing to undergo an experience that, 18 00:02:09,989 --> 00:02:12,822 on the face of it, is absolutely terrifying. 19 00:02:12,869 --> 00:02:14,587 (AIR HISSES) 20 00:02:14,629 --> 00:02:18,417 These stickers are to measure the temperature it reaches inside the suit. 21 00:02:18,469 --> 00:02:21,620 These will tell you how hot you're actually getting inside the suit. 22 00:02:21,669 --> 00:02:24,786 - So how hot does it go up to? - 1 3O degrees Fahrenheit. 23 00:02:26,109 --> 00:02:28,748 - That goes over your head. - Mm-hm. 24 00:02:31,149 --> 00:02:32,946 OK. I'm fine. 25 00:02:35,629 --> 00:02:38,826 My suit is eight layers thick, 26 00:02:38,869 --> 00:02:42,782 its visor specially tempered, gold-plated glass. 27 00:02:45,509 --> 00:02:47,898 And I've got my own air supply. 28 00:02:49,669 --> 00:02:53,025 This is what it takes to survive just a few seconds... 29 00:02:53,069 --> 00:02:55,264 (HISSING) 30 00:02:55,309 --> 00:02:57,777 ...inside the heart of a fire. 31 00:02:59,069 --> 00:03:01,025 (FLAMES ROAR AND CRACKLE) 32 00:03:20,709 --> 00:03:26,659 The temperature around me is 1,6oo degrees Celsius. 33 00:03:38,389 --> 00:03:41,859 For all its danger, fire is compelling - 34 00:03:41,909 --> 00:03:43,706 almost hypnotic. 35 00:03:56,349 --> 00:03:57,748 Oh, my gosh! 36 00:03:57,789 --> 00:04:01,668 (HIS BREATHING HISSES) Argh! Argh! 37 00:04:03,949 --> 00:04:06,383 MAN: Get his gloves. Get his gloves off. 38 00:04:06,429 --> 00:04:11,025 - MAN: Come on out. Go on! Go on! - Argh! Oh! 39 00:04:19,429 --> 00:04:21,738 That was scary, right at the end. 40 00:04:21,789 --> 00:04:23,905 - That was scary. - (INAUDIBLE QUESTION) 41 00:04:23,949 --> 00:04:26,941 No, no, no. I feel my arms burning, though. Ha-hargh! 42 00:04:26,989 --> 00:04:28,945 I'll move them around. 43 00:04:28,989 --> 00:04:31,059 Ah! That... 44 00:04:32,069 --> 00:04:34,583 ...that is not a place where humans should be. 45 00:04:34,629 --> 00:04:39,749 But when you're going through and you see the flames licking up in front of you, 46 00:04:39,789 --> 00:04:42,986 just the raw energy of it is absolutely entrancing. 47 00:04:43,029 --> 00:04:44,382 But I'm burning. 48 00:04:44,429 --> 00:04:48,024 I mean, actually, my elbow, my hand... Argh-ha-ha! 49 00:04:48,069 --> 00:04:49,422 ...is burning. 50 00:04:49,469 --> 00:04:51,539 I think I should get this off, actually. 51 00:04:57,109 --> 00:05:00,306 The paradox of fire is that it's lethal, 52 00:05:00,349 --> 00:05:04,103 and yet we depend on it completely. 53 00:05:05,869 --> 00:05:08,099 Fire generates our electricity. 54 00:05:13,189 --> 00:05:15,384 It drives our machines. 55 00:05:17,189 --> 00:05:19,180 We use it every day. 56 00:05:25,149 --> 00:05:28,107 But the history of our relationship with fire 57 00:05:28,149 --> 00:05:31,585 reveals how the Earth has exerted enormous power 58 00:05:31,629 --> 00:05:34,302 over the fate of peoples and nations. 59 00:05:45,709 --> 00:05:50,737 It's strange to think that for 9o% of Earth's history, 60 00:05:50,789 --> 00:05:52,620 there simply was no fire. 61 00:05:55,389 --> 00:05:59,621 Ours was a barren planet of dust and rock. 62 00:05:59,669 --> 00:06:02,388 There was nothing to burn. 63 00:06:02,429 --> 00:06:04,897 Not until relatively recently, 64 00:06:04,949 --> 00:06:07,702 about 4oo million years ago, 65 00:06:07,749 --> 00:06:10,661 did fire first appear. 66 00:06:15,349 --> 00:06:17,146 The key to this transformation... 67 00:06:18,349 --> 00:06:19,668 ...vegetation. 68 00:06:21,229 --> 00:06:24,301 The first land plants had just appeared... 69 00:06:28,589 --> 00:06:31,387 ...and they provided fuel for fire. 70 00:06:34,029 --> 00:06:36,384 But plants did something else as well. 71 00:06:36,429 --> 00:06:38,897 Every kid likes to climb trees, 72 00:06:38,949 --> 00:06:41,543 and the great thing about being grown up is the trees... 73 00:06:41,589 --> 00:06:45,343 they just get bigger, and the ways to get up them just get fancier. 74 00:06:48,789 --> 00:06:53,658 Vegetation supplied a second crucial ingredient for fire. 75 00:06:53,709 --> 00:06:55,301 (GRUNTS) 76 00:06:55,349 --> 00:06:58,580 You can see how up here in the forest canopy. 77 00:07:02,149 --> 00:07:07,143 Going on all around me is a chemical reaction - photosynthesis. 78 00:07:07,189 --> 00:07:09,749 It's happening in here, in the leaves. 79 00:07:09,789 --> 00:07:13,418 And what the photosynthesis is producing as a waste product 80 00:07:13,469 --> 00:07:16,142 is an essential ingredient for fire... 81 00:07:16,189 --> 00:07:17,542 oxygen. 82 00:07:21,389 --> 00:07:27,146 Flames cannot burn unless at least 1 3% of the atmosphere is oxygen. 83 00:07:28,149 --> 00:07:31,983 But the Earth's early atmosphere had almost none. 84 00:07:39,309 --> 00:07:44,667 Photosynthesising plants used sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into energy... 85 00:07:47,269 --> 00:07:50,341 ...and in the process released oxygen. 86 00:07:52,629 --> 00:07:55,382 By around 4oo million years ago, 87 00:07:55,429 --> 00:07:59,263 this process had raised the level of oxygen in the atmosphere 88 00:07:59,309 --> 00:08:01,743 to that critical 1 3%. 89 00:08:08,269 --> 00:08:12,387 Now there was only one more thing needed for fire to start. 90 00:08:15,589 --> 00:08:17,341 (THUNDER CRASHES) 91 00:08:17,389 --> 00:08:18,617 A spark. 92 00:08:22,869 --> 00:08:26,145 Starting fire was actually the easy bit. 93 00:08:26,189 --> 00:08:28,703 Lightning storms have raged on Earth 94 00:08:28,749 --> 00:08:30,899 for almost its entire history. 95 00:08:32,309 --> 00:08:36,302 3o,ooo bolts of lightning hit the ground every hour. 96 00:08:38,109 --> 00:08:41,419 (THUNDER RUMBLES AND CRASHES) 97 00:08:45,189 --> 00:08:47,862 (CRACKLING AND ROARING) 98 00:08:59,469 --> 00:09:01,744 For hundreds of millions of years, 99 00:09:01,789 --> 00:09:05,907 wildfires were controlled only by the forces of nature. 100 00:09:07,629 --> 00:09:09,347 They started spontaneously, 101 00:09:09,389 --> 00:09:11,266 spread freely... 102 00:09:19,229 --> 00:09:23,063 ...and only stopped when they ran out of fuel 103 00:09:23,109 --> 00:09:24,781 or the rains came. 104 00:09:32,749 --> 00:09:35,138 But then something changed. 105 00:09:39,709 --> 00:09:41,506 We came along. 106 00:09:44,549 --> 00:09:47,063 Around 1.5 million years ago, 107 00:09:47,109 --> 00:09:50,499 early humans learnt how to control fire. 108 00:09:56,869 --> 00:09:59,463 Our distant ancestors probably first captured fire 109 00:09:59,509 --> 00:10:04,503 by grabbing a burning stick from a wildfire and keeping it nourished, 110 00:10:04,549 --> 00:10:06,585 fanning the flames to keep it alight. 111 00:10:12,069 --> 00:10:16,460 It was the beginning of a relationship that would transform the planet... 112 00:10:16,509 --> 00:10:17,988 and us. 113 00:10:26,069 --> 00:10:30,904 In that sense, fire is the human signature. 114 00:10:33,869 --> 00:10:37,020 It gave us immense power over our world. 115 00:10:47,229 --> 00:10:51,507 Cooking greatly expanded the range of foods available to us. 116 00:10:54,829 --> 00:10:57,263 It gave us warmth and light... 117 00:10:59,149 --> 00:11:01,788 ...and protection against hungry predators. 118 00:11:03,429 --> 00:11:06,819 It allowed us to quickly clear large areas of land. 119 00:11:12,989 --> 00:11:17,107 Fire was the weapon that began our conquest of the planet. 120 00:11:32,229 --> 00:11:34,743 Fire was so central to our survival, 121 00:11:34,789 --> 00:11:38,907 perhaps it's no surprise that it was worshipped by some early civilisations. 122 00:11:42,829 --> 00:11:47,698 In the Middle East, one of the oldest religions in the world, Zoroastrianism, 123 00:11:47,749 --> 00:11:50,024 grew up around the worship of fire. 124 00:11:53,469 --> 00:11:57,178 For the Zoroastrians, the flame itself was sacred. 125 00:11:59,469 --> 00:12:02,427 Humans have always been drawn to fire. 126 00:12:02,469 --> 00:12:07,259 Flames have long been a symbol of a spirit far greater than ourselves - 127 00:12:07,309 --> 00:12:09,743 almost a divine presence. 128 00:12:14,029 --> 00:12:17,863 To this day, the eternal flame is still a potent symbol 129 00:12:17,909 --> 00:12:20,104 for the world's great religions. 130 00:12:31,909 --> 00:12:37,188 But the greatest landmark in our use of fire came about 6,ooo years ago. 131 00:12:41,429 --> 00:12:45,866 The breakthrough centred on an extraordinary element - carbon. 132 00:12:49,949 --> 00:12:52,747 This is carbon in its purest form... 133 00:12:54,829 --> 00:12:56,342 ...diamond. 134 00:13:01,229 --> 00:13:04,027 This particular stone is 25 carats 135 00:13:04,069 --> 00:13:09,621 and apparently it's worth £3.3 million. 136 00:13:09,669 --> 00:13:12,627 It's absolutely beautiful. 137 00:13:16,269 --> 00:13:19,579 Diamonds are made under extreme pressures and temperatures 138 00:13:19,629 --> 00:13:20,823 deep in the Earth. 139 00:13:25,989 --> 00:13:29,425 I've always loved the idea that the ultimate in glitz 140 00:13:29,469 --> 00:13:34,065 was to adorn ourselves in tiny pieces of the Earth's interior. 141 00:13:34,109 --> 00:13:36,498 Geological bling. 142 00:13:40,389 --> 00:13:45,019 But there are other forms of carbon that are far more valuable to us than this... 143 00:13:47,829 --> 00:13:52,141 ...because carbon is the basis for all life on Earth. 144 00:13:58,269 --> 00:14:01,420 And it's the key ingredient in fire. 145 00:14:07,869 --> 00:14:11,305 And once again, it depends on photosynthesis. 146 00:14:13,269 --> 00:14:15,066 Plants use the sun's energy 147 00:14:15,109 --> 00:14:17,828 to extract carbon from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, 148 00:14:17,869 --> 00:14:20,906 and use it to create their living tissue. 149 00:14:22,069 --> 00:14:24,867 It is this carbon that burns in a fire, 150 00:14:24,909 --> 00:14:29,585 releasing the energy that originally came from the sun as heat. 151 00:14:33,349 --> 00:14:37,422 The more carbon-rich a fuel is, the more heat it produces. 152 00:14:42,869 --> 00:14:47,863 Normal wood fires burn at about 7oo degrees Celsius. 153 00:14:47,909 --> 00:14:53,142 But 6,ooo years ago, our ancestors discovered the trick of burning wood 154 00:14:53,189 --> 00:14:55,498 in a low-oxygen environment. 155 00:14:56,989 --> 00:14:58,945 It only partially burns, 156 00:14:58,989 --> 00:15:03,619 but in doing so it creates a much purer, carbon-rich fuel... 157 00:15:05,269 --> 00:15:06,827 ...charcoal. 158 00:15:10,389 --> 00:15:15,224 And that can burn at 1, 1 oo degrees Celsius... 159 00:15:19,029 --> 00:15:22,988 ...hot enough to melt metal out of rock. 160 00:15:24,789 --> 00:15:29,180 The invention of metal smelting, culminating in the use of iron, 161 00:15:29,229 --> 00:15:33,666 was one of the most critical turning points in human history. 162 00:15:33,709 --> 00:15:36,587 The age of metals had begun. 163 00:15:36,629 --> 00:15:40,065 (HISSING) 164 00:15:42,709 --> 00:15:44,142 (CLANG!) 165 00:15:46,349 --> 00:15:48,340 Our mastery of metal gave us tools... 166 00:15:52,469 --> 00:15:54,585 ...money 167 00:15:54,629 --> 00:15:56,108 and weapons. 168 00:15:59,789 --> 00:16:03,623 It was the foundation on which human progress was built. 169 00:16:09,509 --> 00:16:12,467 So much so that by the Middle Ages, 170 00:16:12,509 --> 00:16:16,821 the production of charcoal for iron smelting was a major industry. 171 00:16:21,149 --> 00:16:23,379 But there was an inevitable problem. 172 00:16:26,589 --> 00:16:29,149 People began to run out of wood. 173 00:16:30,229 --> 00:16:34,461 (CRACKING, SPLINTERING AND RUSTLING) 174 00:16:35,669 --> 00:16:37,546 In prehistoric times, 175 00:16:37,589 --> 00:16:42,105 Britain had been almost completely covered in forest, 176 00:16:42,149 --> 00:16:44,982 but by the end of the 1 6th century, 177 00:16:45,029 --> 00:16:48,578 9o% of the ancient woodland had gone. 178 00:16:48,629 --> 00:16:51,268 In London, which was growing fast, 179 00:16:51,309 --> 00:16:56,144 the shortage of accessible wood meant that the price rocketed. 180 00:17:01,949 --> 00:17:04,941 Around the growing cities of Europe and Asia, 181 00:17:04,989 --> 00:17:07,708 similar fuel shortages developed. 182 00:17:07,749 --> 00:17:10,980 In fact, the end of the 1 6th century 183 00:17:11,029 --> 00:17:15,341 was the world's first great energy crisis. 184 00:17:17,949 --> 00:17:20,747 In many societies, the demand for energy 185 00:17:20,789 --> 00:17:24,577 had reached the limits of what photosynthesis could provide. 186 00:17:28,509 --> 00:17:31,262 A new source of carbon was needed. 187 00:17:33,429 --> 00:17:36,466 And the planet had a solution. 188 00:17:43,349 --> 00:17:48,867 The answer to the energy shortage started out in cold, wet places... 189 00:17:51,749 --> 00:17:56,106 ...like here in Oregon, in the western United States. 190 00:17:59,989 --> 00:18:02,059 This looks like a perfectly ordinary - 191 00:18:02,109 --> 00:18:06,068 if very beautiful - lake, but these waters hold a secret. 192 00:18:06,109 --> 00:18:10,785 Because down there is a lost world... and a very cold one. 193 00:18:18,469 --> 00:18:22,303 Melting glaciers keep the water clear. 194 00:18:29,429 --> 00:18:33,581 Ghostly shapes appear in the distance... 195 00:18:34,669 --> 00:18:36,546 ...standing like sentinels. 196 00:18:38,109 --> 00:18:39,940 But this is not their natural home. 197 00:18:43,189 --> 00:18:45,828 These are 3,ooo-year-old tree trunks... 198 00:18:47,749 --> 00:18:49,740 ...the remains of a drowned forest. 199 00:19:01,349 --> 00:19:06,025 They were submerged when lava from a nearby volcano dammed this valley 200 00:19:06,069 --> 00:19:08,788 and created the lake. 201 00:19:09,909 --> 00:19:14,061 These trees are completely waterlogged, but they're actually 202 00:19:14,109 --> 00:19:18,625 the crucial first stage in an extraordinary transformation. 203 00:19:18,669 --> 00:19:20,546 (BREATHING HISSES) 204 00:19:26,869 --> 00:19:32,660 Because the trees are under water, there is no oxygen to help rot them away. 205 00:19:33,829 --> 00:19:37,947 Instead, they're preserved, and eventually buried in mud 206 00:19:37,989 --> 00:19:39,866 at the bottom of the lake... 207 00:19:42,109 --> 00:19:45,738 ...the start of a long transformation which turns wood 208 00:19:45,789 --> 00:19:47,825 into something very different. 209 00:20:01,389 --> 00:20:03,141 Oh! 210 00:20:03,189 --> 00:20:04,941 That was incredible. 211 00:20:04,989 --> 00:20:06,945 It's absolutely freezing, though. (SNIFFS) 212 00:20:06,989 --> 00:20:10,504 The thing is, today, there are precious few places 213 00:20:10,549 --> 00:20:13,939 where whole forests die and get preserved, 214 00:20:13,989 --> 00:20:19,347 but 3OO million years ago, this was happening right across the globe. 215 00:20:20,469 --> 00:20:22,425 It was just a lot warmer then! 216 00:20:31,509 --> 00:20:36,219 3oo million years ago, trees dominated the planet. 217 00:20:36,269 --> 00:20:39,944 Many of these forests were in lowland swamps. 218 00:20:46,509 --> 00:20:50,297 So when the trees died, they fell into the water. 219 00:20:50,349 --> 00:20:54,422 In fact, so many carbon-rich trees were buried 220 00:20:54,469 --> 00:20:56,983 that this period in the Earth's history 221 00:20:57,029 --> 00:21:00,066 is known as the Carboniferous - 222 00:21:00,109 --> 00:21:01,827 the Age of Carbon. 223 00:21:06,149 --> 00:21:09,380 Eventually, these drowned trees would be squeezed and cooked 224 00:21:09,429 --> 00:21:14,059 deep inside the Earth and turned into something new and different. 225 00:21:19,029 --> 00:21:20,178 Coal. 226 00:21:22,989 --> 00:21:27,744 Coal was to change our relationship with fire in a fundamental way. 227 00:21:30,189 --> 00:21:35,263 Instead of burning carbon from the present, coal gave us access 228 00:21:35,309 --> 00:21:40,429 to a huge new source of carbon from the Earth's past. 229 00:21:40,469 --> 00:21:45,463 Coal was, in essence, an immense store of fossilised sunshine. 230 00:21:50,029 --> 00:21:53,544 But coal wasn't evenly distributed across the Earth, 231 00:21:53,589 --> 00:21:57,423 and this meant that from the 1 7th century onwards, 232 00:21:57,469 --> 00:22:03,385 the planet began to play a new and crucial role in human history. 233 00:22:03,429 --> 00:22:08,628 The first place to benefit was a small, north-European island... 234 00:22:08,669 --> 00:22:10,261 Britain. 235 00:22:11,909 --> 00:22:13,547 Britain was lucky. 236 00:22:13,589 --> 00:22:15,545 It had an abundance of coal, 237 00:22:15,589 --> 00:22:18,661 much of which could be easily collected from the surface. 238 00:22:26,709 --> 00:22:29,143 From the beginning of the 1 7th century, 239 00:22:29,189 --> 00:22:33,341 burning coal began to replace wood in homes and workshops. 240 00:22:35,909 --> 00:22:38,469 It was the beginning of a transition 241 00:22:38,509 --> 00:22:42,582 that would end up changing Britain and the world. 242 00:22:44,229 --> 00:22:49,349 To see how, I'm heading to the Forest of Dean, in Gloucestershire. 243 00:22:54,189 --> 00:22:57,784 It didn't take long for all that easy-to-get-at coal to be used up, 244 00:22:57,829 --> 00:23:00,821 so the miners were forced to tunnel into the Earth, 245 00:23:00,869 --> 00:23:03,827 chasing the coal seams underground, 246 00:23:03,869 --> 00:23:06,622 and down there they had a problem. 247 00:23:06,669 --> 00:23:09,502 But it was a problem which, it turned out, 248 00:23:09,549 --> 00:23:12,427 would unleash the Industrial Revolution. 249 00:23:22,069 --> 00:23:25,186 In the process, mining condemned millions 250 00:23:25,229 --> 00:23:28,665 to a dusty, dirty, existence as men and even children 251 00:23:28,709 --> 00:23:30,984 were sent underground. 252 00:23:33,069 --> 00:23:34,707 This mine is the nearest I can get 253 00:23:34,749 --> 00:23:38,867 to experiencing what early coal mining was like. 254 00:23:43,349 --> 00:23:48,025 It's owned by Robin Morgan, who's spent all his life mining. 255 00:23:51,549 --> 00:23:53,141 IAIN: Is it falling down? 256 00:23:53,189 --> 00:23:56,545 No, I'm just putting this one back up. This is a new one I'm putting in here. 257 00:23:56,589 --> 00:23:58,181 So there we go. 258 00:23:58,229 --> 00:24:02,347 That's right - drop him down there in that hole, like that. 259 00:24:02,389 --> 00:24:04,664 The first mine I ever went down, 260 00:24:04,709 --> 00:24:06,904 - I was only 1 3 years of age. - Oh! 261 00:24:06,949 --> 00:24:08,860 My two brothers had their own mine. 262 00:24:08,909 --> 00:24:11,582 They used to drop me down a shaft 1 OO foot deep 263 00:24:11,629 --> 00:24:14,905 in a 4O-gallon drum with two hooks in the side 264 00:24:14,949 --> 00:24:16,223 on a hand winch. 265 00:24:16,269 --> 00:24:19,386 So where's the coal? That's what I'm looking forward to seeing. 266 00:24:19,429 --> 00:24:21,545 Well, the coal seam is actually on in there. 267 00:24:21,589 --> 00:24:23,386 - I can take you on into the seam. - Yeah, please. 268 00:24:25,149 --> 00:24:28,141 - Keep your head down here. - Yeah, OK. 269 00:24:33,829 --> 00:24:37,788 Just like the early miners, Robin hacks out the coal by hand. 270 00:24:43,789 --> 00:24:45,745 Robin, do you think I could have a go? 271 00:24:45,789 --> 00:24:48,508 You can have a go, by all means, Iain. But there's not much room up here. 272 00:24:48,549 --> 00:24:49,698 All right. 273 00:25:00,749 --> 00:25:02,467 (PANTS WITH EFFORT) 274 00:25:02,509 --> 00:25:04,022 Ah, dear, dear! 275 00:25:05,029 --> 00:25:06,826 I thought coal was supposed to be soft! 276 00:25:06,869 --> 00:25:08,666 Swing the pick instead of just tapping it. 277 00:25:08,709 --> 00:25:10,506 You've got to pull the pick right back 278 00:25:10,549 --> 00:25:14,986 and swing it right into those two-inch layers, and they will prise off there. 279 00:25:15,029 --> 00:25:16,860 Oh! 280 00:25:16,909 --> 00:25:19,218 My arms hurt. How do you do it, Robin? 281 00:25:19,269 --> 00:25:21,385 You get used to it over the years, you know. 282 00:25:21,429 --> 00:25:24,227 I mean to say, you've only been up there five minutes. 283 00:25:24,269 --> 00:25:26,942 (LAUGHING) I know! I have! 284 00:25:26,989 --> 00:25:30,220 - You will gradually get used to it. - And you've been... (SPITS) 285 00:25:30,269 --> 00:25:33,386 I like rocks all right, but... 286 00:25:33,429 --> 00:25:37,661 spending 1 2 hours a day smashing lumps out of them... 287 00:25:37,709 --> 00:25:40,781 - Well, that coal isn't as hard as rocks. - No. 288 00:25:43,229 --> 00:25:46,141 As you are performing at the moment, I definitely wouldn't give you a job, 289 00:25:46,189 --> 00:25:49,420 because the rate you're getting that off, you would not survive. 290 00:25:53,789 --> 00:25:55,905 But in the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries, 291 00:25:55,949 --> 00:25:58,747 the problem for Britain's miners 292 00:25:58,789 --> 00:26:02,099 was more fundamental than a lack of muscle power. 293 00:26:03,949 --> 00:26:06,702 The trouble was, the deeper they tunnelled, 294 00:26:06,749 --> 00:26:10,662 the more likely they were to encounter a major obstacle. 295 00:26:13,989 --> 00:26:16,981 Water, and plenty of it. 296 00:26:17,029 --> 00:26:21,500 3OO years ago, when miners first followed the coal seams underground, 297 00:26:21,549 --> 00:26:23,983 this was a problem they faced, 298 00:26:24,029 --> 00:26:28,739 and solving this problem was the key to our industrial transformation. 299 00:26:35,829 --> 00:26:40,584 Once the miners got down to the water table, their tunnels flooded 300 00:26:40,629 --> 00:26:43,143 and the coal became inaccessible. 301 00:26:43,189 --> 00:26:47,421 It was impossible to pump the water out by hand. 302 00:26:47,469 --> 00:26:50,541 A technological solution was desperately needed... 303 00:26:53,309 --> 00:26:58,622 ...and in the early 1 8th century, engineers came up with one. 304 00:26:59,629 --> 00:27:02,097 The steam engine. 305 00:27:02,149 --> 00:27:07,098 It was designed specifically to pump water out of mines, 306 00:27:07,149 --> 00:27:10,300 but it soon found other uses. 307 00:27:13,149 --> 00:27:17,939 Within decades, the combined power of steam and coal became the force 308 00:27:17,989 --> 00:27:21,379 behind an extraordinary, integrated economy. 309 00:27:21,429 --> 00:27:23,579 (WHISTLE HOOTS) 310 00:27:25,269 --> 00:27:28,739 Coal fuelled the blast furnaces which smelted steel. 311 00:27:31,909 --> 00:27:34,821 The steel was turned into trains and ships, 312 00:27:34,869 --> 00:27:39,989 powered by steam engines of course, which in turn burnt more coal. 313 00:27:44,669 --> 00:27:48,139 Today, we know this transformation in our use of fire 314 00:27:48,189 --> 00:27:51,022 as the Industrial Revolution. 315 00:27:59,509 --> 00:28:01,977 You know, being down here really focuses your mind. 316 00:28:02,029 --> 00:28:05,066 Britain owes a tremendous amount 317 00:28:05,109 --> 00:28:10,342 to that distant geological age when trees ruled the world. 318 00:28:10,389 --> 00:28:12,698 Think of the Industrial Revolution 319 00:28:12,749 --> 00:28:16,185 as the rise of carboniferous capitalism. 320 00:28:22,069 --> 00:28:25,345 But the planet was fickle with its favours. 321 00:28:27,349 --> 00:28:30,341 Britain was given huge reserves of coal 322 00:28:30,389 --> 00:28:33,267 and the geography to exploit it. 323 00:28:33,309 --> 00:28:36,107 Not everywhere was so lucky. 324 00:28:43,229 --> 00:28:44,901 There was another country 325 00:28:44,949 --> 00:28:47,941 blessed by the planet with huge reserves of coal. 326 00:28:49,229 --> 00:28:50,821 In the 1 7th century, 327 00:28:50,869 --> 00:28:55,226 it too was poised on the edge of an industrial revolution, 328 00:28:55,269 --> 00:28:58,705 but its story played out rather differently. 329 00:29:01,749 --> 00:29:03,228 That country 330 00:29:03,269 --> 00:29:04,941 was China. 331 00:29:07,389 --> 00:29:12,019 By this time, China had been moulded into a vast empire. 332 00:29:12,069 --> 00:29:15,220 It was rich and technologically advanced. 333 00:29:18,149 --> 00:29:22,620 China seemed perfectly positioned to exploit its coal reserves. 334 00:29:27,229 --> 00:29:28,947 There was one problem. 335 00:29:30,509 --> 00:29:33,228 China's coal reserves may have been massive, 336 00:29:33,269 --> 00:29:36,625 but they were a long way from the country's cities on the coast. 337 00:29:38,549 --> 00:29:41,905 However, running straight from the coalfields to the sea 338 00:29:41,949 --> 00:29:44,258 was the mighty Yellow River. 339 00:29:47,109 --> 00:29:48,747 So, in theory, 340 00:29:48,789 --> 00:29:53,465 transporting the coal to the market should have been possible. 341 00:29:59,549 --> 00:30:03,064 This is Qikou, a beautiful old town on the Yellow River. 342 00:30:04,869 --> 00:30:08,748 It's right in the heart of coal country. 343 00:30:11,629 --> 00:30:15,224 If coal was to be carried downstream to the coast, 344 00:30:15,269 --> 00:30:17,544 it would have to pass through here. 345 00:30:26,389 --> 00:30:29,461 Hello. How are you? 346 00:30:29,509 --> 00:30:35,857 Mr Li is 76 years old, and he's been navigating these waters since he was 1 1. 347 00:30:35,909 --> 00:30:38,901 His son runs a local ferry service. 348 00:30:41,909 --> 00:30:44,104 The water looks very calm. 349 00:30:44,149 --> 00:30:45,821 Very still - the water. 350 00:30:48,229 --> 00:30:49,787 Cos I get seasick. 351 00:30:49,829 --> 00:30:51,899 Can I get on? OK. 352 00:30:54,509 --> 00:30:57,581 The Li family are going to take me down the river 353 00:30:57,629 --> 00:31:02,908 in a traditional, flat-bottomed boat - a design used for generations. 354 00:31:05,629 --> 00:31:07,301 This is the route 355 00:31:07,349 --> 00:31:10,705 that coal from China's coalfields would have had to travel. 356 00:31:13,589 --> 00:31:17,628 It's like a nice, relaxing row down the Thames. 357 00:31:23,829 --> 00:31:27,344 But just downstream from Qikou is an obstacle. 358 00:31:34,869 --> 00:31:39,784 Mr Li and his friends, who boast an average age of 75, 359 00:31:39,829 --> 00:31:42,582 are the last people who know how to ride these rapids. 360 00:31:48,189 --> 00:31:49,622 (SCRAPING) 361 00:31:51,109 --> 00:31:54,897 These rapids are only here because the channel of the Yellow River 362 00:31:54,949 --> 00:31:59,340 gets constricted between these boulders over here and this hard rock here. 363 00:31:59,389 --> 00:32:02,540 It's literally caught between a rock and a hard place. 364 00:32:02,589 --> 00:32:04,944 It means it's really choppy. 365 00:32:10,789 --> 00:32:14,498 And it would be even harder to get through if we were laden down with coal. 366 00:32:22,429 --> 00:32:24,147 (MAN SHOUTS) 367 00:32:27,629 --> 00:32:31,622 Well, we made it! Just a couple of hairy moments, but... 368 00:32:31,669 --> 00:32:34,229 Mind you, it wasn't the worst set of rapids in the world, 369 00:32:34,269 --> 00:32:39,627 but it makes you realise that if you're taking a bulky cargo like coal down here, 370 00:32:39,669 --> 00:32:44,060 then either it or us are going to end up in the drink, at the bottom of the river. 371 00:32:46,949 --> 00:32:48,621 This is only the start. 372 00:32:48,669 --> 00:32:51,661 Downstream, there are many more rapids. 373 00:32:52,789 --> 00:32:55,019 (MAN SHOUTS) 374 00:32:56,789 --> 00:33:00,782 And just to add to the difficulties, the only way to get the boat 375 00:33:00,829 --> 00:33:04,026 back upriver is sheer manpower. 376 00:33:06,789 --> 00:33:08,347 What these rapids meant was 377 00:33:08,389 --> 00:33:11,699 that you could transport goods downstream as far as Qikou over there, 378 00:33:11,749 --> 00:33:14,138 but it was impossible to take it further. 379 00:33:14,189 --> 00:33:18,341 For cargo boats, these rapids were the end of the line. 380 00:33:22,709 --> 00:33:27,225 So the only way to get the coal to market was to carry it overland to the coast... 381 00:33:28,829 --> 00:33:31,138 ... 1,ooo kilometres away. 382 00:33:32,589 --> 00:33:37,060 But its price doubled every 4o kilometres. 383 00:33:39,229 --> 00:33:41,379 The geography of the Yellow River ensured 384 00:33:41,429 --> 00:33:47,186 that coal could never be shipped directly to the big coastal markets, 385 00:33:47,229 --> 00:33:50,301 and that meant that the empire was effectively cut off 386 00:33:50,349 --> 00:33:54,183 from the vast reserves that could have completely transformed it. 387 00:33:59,189 --> 00:34:02,147 The British invented the steam engine to overcome 388 00:34:02,189 --> 00:34:04,828 the barrier posed by flooded mines. 389 00:34:06,389 --> 00:34:10,302 But the Chinese failed to find a similar solution 390 00:34:10,349 --> 00:34:12,499 to their geographical problems. 391 00:34:12,549 --> 00:34:14,779 It was one of those moments 392 00:34:14,829 --> 00:34:16,660 when human factors interacted 393 00:34:16,709 --> 00:34:19,701 with the opportunities the planet had to offer. 394 00:34:23,149 --> 00:34:26,505 While Britain was forging an industrial revolution, 395 00:34:26,549 --> 00:34:32,146 the Chinese were building these enormous gardens at Chengde. 396 00:34:33,149 --> 00:34:37,904 They were designed to celebrate the size and diversity of the empire. 397 00:34:40,869 --> 00:34:43,781 There was a miniature replica of the Yellow River... 398 00:34:45,309 --> 00:34:48,858 ...a smaller version of the Great Wall... 399 00:34:48,909 --> 00:34:53,619 and even a copy of the Dalai Lama's palace in Tibet. 400 00:34:53,669 --> 00:34:57,378 These gardens symbolised China's preoccupation 401 00:34:57,429 --> 00:34:59,863 with managing its vast territory. 402 00:35:02,309 --> 00:35:04,584 It was such a high priority 403 00:35:04,629 --> 00:35:08,781 that rather than focusing on technological innovation, 404 00:35:08,829 --> 00:35:13,220 the brightest minds were sucked into running the empire. 405 00:35:18,989 --> 00:35:21,787 Not until the middle of the 2Oth century 406 00:35:21,829 --> 00:35:26,857 did China build extensive road and rail systems into its heartland 407 00:35:26,909 --> 00:35:29,787 and start its own industrial revolution. 408 00:35:31,669 --> 00:35:37,539 Ironically, China is now the biggest user and producer of coal in the world. 409 00:35:48,629 --> 00:35:51,143 China's rulers might not have found a way 410 00:35:51,189 --> 00:35:56,741 to solve their fuel crisis 3oo years ago, but its people had a go. 411 00:35:56,789 --> 00:36:03,228 They came up with a brilliant invention, which today is known across the world. 412 00:36:03,269 --> 00:36:07,103 Until the 1 6th century, Chinese cuisine was renowned 413 00:36:07,149 --> 00:36:11,904 for its delicious stews, which took loads of time and loads of wood to cook. 414 00:36:11,949 --> 00:36:14,383 So in an era of growing wood shortage, 415 00:36:14,429 --> 00:36:17,626 a radical new approach was needed, and this was it - 416 00:36:17,669 --> 00:36:19,261 the wok. 417 00:36:20,149 --> 00:36:23,425 It's funny to think that a crippling wood famine gave us 418 00:36:23,469 --> 00:36:28,145 one of the most famous cuisines in the world - the Chinese stir-fry. 419 00:36:39,869 --> 00:36:42,258 The story of coal shows how the planet 420 00:36:42,309 --> 00:36:45,540 played a crucial role in transforming the fate of nations 421 00:36:45,589 --> 00:36:48,342 at the time of the Industrial Revolution. 422 00:36:52,909 --> 00:36:56,868 It turned fire into the energy that fuelled human progress. 423 00:36:58,669 --> 00:37:01,229 And yet that was only the beginning. 424 00:37:02,829 --> 00:37:05,024 Today, the planet's stores of ancient carbon 425 00:37:05,069 --> 00:37:07,742 have an even greater impact on our world. 426 00:37:12,069 --> 00:37:16,585 That impact hinges on another type of buried carbon. 427 00:37:20,469 --> 00:37:22,380 To see how it's formed, 428 00:37:22,429 --> 00:37:26,138 I've come to an amazing cave on an island off southern Iran. 429 00:37:29,109 --> 00:37:32,146 (BANGING AND MUFFLED SPEECH) 430 00:37:33,829 --> 00:37:36,263 - MAN: Do this one up nice and tight. - IAIN: Cheers. 431 00:37:38,189 --> 00:37:39,907 - Is it straight down? - Yeah. 432 00:37:39,949 --> 00:37:42,417 There's a little bit of a lip and then it goes straight down, 433 00:37:42,469 --> 00:37:45,142 and then it opens out wide and you just drop into space. 434 00:37:45,189 --> 00:37:48,306 The last drop, 1 O-1 5 metres, you're in space. 435 00:37:50,109 --> 00:37:53,226 I just looked. Oh, my God! 436 00:37:55,389 --> 00:38:00,463 I have to abseil 5o metres to enter the cave system. 437 00:38:00,509 --> 00:38:03,262 Inside is evidence that reveals 438 00:38:03,309 --> 00:38:07,268 where this other store of ancient carbon comes from and how it's made. 439 00:38:19,349 --> 00:38:21,419 That is just plain weird. 440 00:38:21,469 --> 00:38:22,948 Look at those colours! 441 00:38:28,549 --> 00:38:32,781 I'm heading for some caverns that are even deeper underground. 442 00:38:37,269 --> 00:38:39,908 (PANTING) 443 00:38:41,229 --> 00:38:42,947 Phew! 444 00:38:42,989 --> 00:38:44,581 (GRUNTS) 445 00:38:52,149 --> 00:38:53,548 Oh! 446 00:38:53,589 --> 00:38:56,467 This...has got to be the toughest 447 00:38:56,509 --> 00:38:59,626 and scariest cave climb I've ever done. 448 00:38:59,669 --> 00:39:03,059 There's 1 OO metres of solid rock above me, 449 00:39:03,109 --> 00:39:05,259 but it's going to be worth it, 450 00:39:05,309 --> 00:39:10,702 because ahead is one of the most unusual cave systems in the world. 451 00:39:14,029 --> 00:39:16,702 Most caves are made from solid rock. 452 00:39:18,029 --> 00:39:20,862 This cavern is different. 453 00:39:26,709 --> 00:39:28,620 Oh, wow, look at these! 454 00:39:28,669 --> 00:39:31,024 These are stalactites. 455 00:39:32,069 --> 00:39:34,788 They're the weirdest ones I've ever seen. 456 00:39:34,829 --> 00:39:37,024 Normally, stalactites are made of limestone 457 00:39:37,069 --> 00:39:40,345 and they drip vertically down, but these, 458 00:39:40,389 --> 00:39:42,539 if you look at them closely, 459 00:39:42,589 --> 00:39:45,422 they're made of small crystals that twist and turn. 460 00:39:48,069 --> 00:39:51,698 You can check what they're made of really easily. You just need to lick them. 461 00:39:53,989 --> 00:39:55,866 Wow! Yeah...salt. 462 00:40:18,989 --> 00:40:23,346 Written in the roof is a clue to where the salt came from. 463 00:40:26,029 --> 00:40:29,260 This magnificent, striped banding is a real giveaway clue. 464 00:40:29,309 --> 00:40:34,463 The layers are formed when seawater evaporates away, 465 00:40:34,509 --> 00:40:37,387 leaving behind a thin residue of salt crystal. 466 00:40:37,429 --> 00:40:39,659 This is all evidence that the salt rock 467 00:40:39,709 --> 00:40:43,418 was originally laid down in an ocean that dried up. 468 00:40:58,349 --> 00:41:03,264 To create so much salt, you need to evaporate an awful lot of seawater. 469 00:41:04,829 --> 00:41:08,219 Usually, this happens in shallow seas 470 00:41:08,269 --> 00:41:11,181 which get cut off from the rest of an ocean. 471 00:41:11,229 --> 00:41:16,349 Seawater then evaporates, leaving behind a thick layer of salt. 472 00:41:18,949 --> 00:41:21,941 But it's not only salt that gets left behind 473 00:41:21,989 --> 00:41:23,945 when an ocean evaporates. 474 00:41:27,069 --> 00:41:31,699 Shallow seas are the most biologically productive part of the ocean. 475 00:41:31,749 --> 00:41:33,626 They're teeming with life... 476 00:41:34,829 --> 00:41:36,945 ...all made from carbon. 477 00:41:44,389 --> 00:41:49,179 When marine creatures die, their skeletons build up on the sea floor. 478 00:41:50,749 --> 00:41:53,468 Over millions of years, these skeletons are transformed 479 00:41:53,509 --> 00:42:00,028 into a sludge of carbon and buried under sediment and layers of salt. 480 00:42:03,029 --> 00:42:07,102 One of the best places to see what that sludge ends up looking like... 481 00:42:08,949 --> 00:42:12,259 ...is in the republic of Azerbaijan. 482 00:42:19,269 --> 00:42:21,419 Here they call it naftalan. 483 00:42:26,549 --> 00:42:29,985 It's been used as a health treatment for thousands of years, 484 00:42:30,029 --> 00:42:34,500 hailed as a cure for everything from rheumatism to baldness. 485 00:42:47,029 --> 00:42:48,621 Look at that! 486 00:42:48,669 --> 00:42:50,500 That looks disgusting! 487 00:42:51,909 --> 00:42:54,025 (GURGLING) 488 00:42:54,069 --> 00:42:56,708 It's said that 4,ooo years ago, 489 00:42:56,749 --> 00:43:00,947 the Babylonians mixed this stuff with beer and drank it as a medicine. 490 00:43:02,749 --> 00:43:07,061 But there is another way to enjoy its healing properties. 491 00:43:14,029 --> 00:43:15,667 Ah... 492 00:43:15,709 --> 00:43:19,145 Ugh! It's so weird! 493 00:43:20,429 --> 00:43:21,908 Ah... 494 00:43:21,949 --> 00:43:23,621 Ugh! 495 00:43:23,669 --> 00:43:25,500 It's so clingy. 496 00:43:25,549 --> 00:43:27,380 Oh, my God! 497 00:43:32,869 --> 00:43:34,188 Oh... 498 00:43:34,229 --> 00:43:36,299 Ah... 499 00:43:41,949 --> 00:43:43,905 People have been doing what I'm doing 500 00:43:43,949 --> 00:43:47,862 way back to the time of the ancient Persians, although Lord knows 501 00:43:47,909 --> 00:43:51,299 what made them get their kit off and start to bathe in this stuff. 502 00:43:53,109 --> 00:43:57,660 I must admit, when I first saw it, it looked absolutely disgusting. 503 00:43:57,709 --> 00:44:02,146 The feeling of it being warm and clingy was horrible. 504 00:44:02,189 --> 00:44:05,420 But now, after five minutes, 505 00:44:05,469 --> 00:44:08,063 it still feels absolutely disgusting. 506 00:44:12,749 --> 00:44:15,422 Just as well this isn't its only use. 507 00:44:19,749 --> 00:44:23,059 You known, I think I can smell someone smoking, 508 00:44:23,109 --> 00:44:25,862 which is making me a bit jittery, because... 509 00:44:25,909 --> 00:44:28,377 well, because this is oil. 510 00:44:28,429 --> 00:44:31,978 I'm lying in a bath of petroleum. 511 00:44:32,029 --> 00:44:33,508 Ugh! 512 00:44:39,349 --> 00:44:41,817 (ROARING) 513 00:44:43,669 --> 00:44:46,979 Today, we've thought of a few more ways of using oil. 514 00:44:47,029 --> 00:44:51,022 It's the ultimate source of concentrated carbon energy. 515 00:44:52,189 --> 00:44:56,182 It's more energy-rich than coal, easier to transport, 516 00:44:56,229 --> 00:44:59,938 and it's got a million different uses. 517 00:45:08,629 --> 00:45:12,827 The use of oil is the pinnacle of our mastery of fire. 518 00:45:17,109 --> 00:45:21,500 Fittingly, the first country to benefit from the exploitation of oil 519 00:45:21,549 --> 00:45:23,346 was the home of naftalan... 520 00:45:24,789 --> 00:45:26,507 ...Azerbaijan. 521 00:45:31,029 --> 00:45:34,419 For centuries, this thick, black, oily sludge 522 00:45:34,469 --> 00:45:38,621 was dug out of the ground here by hand, on a small-scale basis. 523 00:45:38,669 --> 00:45:42,787 But in the middle of the 1 9th century, demand for oil really took off, 524 00:45:42,829 --> 00:45:46,299 and what had been a cottage industry turned into this. 525 00:46:07,789 --> 00:46:10,622 Within 2O years, these fields were the site 526 00:46:10,669 --> 00:46:13,058 of the first great global oil boom. 527 00:46:13,109 --> 00:46:14,701 From across the world, 528 00:46:14,749 --> 00:46:18,378 entrepreneurs rushed to Azerbaijan to make their fortunes. 529 00:46:18,429 --> 00:46:22,468 Some succeeded so well that their names are almost legendary. 530 00:46:22,509 --> 00:46:28,220 The Shell oil company started life here, and the Nobel brothers of Nobel prize fame 531 00:46:28,269 --> 00:46:32,182 built their business empire on Azeri oil. 532 00:46:32,229 --> 00:46:35,744 This place oozed money! 533 00:46:44,909 --> 00:46:46,786 By the early 1 9oos, 534 00:46:46,829 --> 00:46:50,105 Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, 535 00:46:50,149 --> 00:46:53,858 boasted more millionaires than anywhere else on Earth. 536 00:47:00,189 --> 00:47:06,583 But Azerbaijan really owed its sudden wealth to a fluke of geology. 537 00:47:16,149 --> 00:47:21,348 In the land of naftalan, oil happens to be exceptionally close to the surface. 538 00:47:25,029 --> 00:47:30,228 You can see how close at an unusual location in the south of the country. 539 00:47:35,509 --> 00:47:39,866 If you want to appreciate why this country was the site of the first great oil boom, 540 00:47:39,909 --> 00:47:43,299 you don't have to look any further than these curious mounds. 541 00:47:43,349 --> 00:47:45,499 It's not so much the mounds that's interesting, 542 00:47:45,549 --> 00:47:47,938 it's what's bubbling out of them - mud. 543 00:47:47,989 --> 00:47:49,786 But not just ordinary mud. 544 00:47:49,829 --> 00:47:51,865 Look what happens when I do this. 545 00:47:59,549 --> 00:48:00,902 D'oh! 546 00:48:03,229 --> 00:48:06,027 (GLOOPING) 547 00:48:08,629 --> 00:48:13,384 The reason it's flammable is that the mud is full of natural gas, 548 00:48:13,429 --> 00:48:15,579 which is formed along with the oil. 549 00:48:18,309 --> 00:48:22,621 You know, these things are like miniature volcanoes, really... 550 00:48:24,189 --> 00:48:28,341 ...except that rather than hot, molten lava spewing out of the top, 551 00:48:28,389 --> 00:48:30,619 it's just mud. 552 00:48:30,669 --> 00:48:35,140 The thing is, you can dig into them, and you can see 553 00:48:35,189 --> 00:48:39,899 what the kind of plumbing is like inside, which is exactly what I'm doing now. 554 00:48:41,029 --> 00:48:42,508 (GRUNTS) 555 00:48:42,549 --> 00:48:44,665 Ah, now, look at this, look at this. 556 00:48:44,709 --> 00:48:47,382 You can see it in here. 557 00:48:47,429 --> 00:48:52,184 Mud is just bubbling up in this cavity, and then there's a little vent pipe 558 00:48:52,229 --> 00:48:55,858 that carries it up to the top, where it spews out. 559 00:48:55,909 --> 00:48:57,740 (BUBBLING) 560 00:48:59,069 --> 00:49:01,060 There were few places on Earth 561 00:49:01,109 --> 00:49:04,181 where it was easier to extract oil and gas than Azerbaijan. 562 00:49:04,229 --> 00:49:06,459 (PLOPPING) 563 00:49:08,429 --> 00:49:12,661 But by the start of the 2Oth century, demand for oil was rocketing, 564 00:49:12,709 --> 00:49:16,179 and new sources had to be found. 565 00:49:19,709 --> 00:49:23,702 Once again, the Earth's distant past would play a decisive role 566 00:49:23,749 --> 00:49:25,626 in meeting our needs. 567 00:49:29,989 --> 00:49:34,983 The big question is why a few lucky places ended up with huge oilfields, 568 00:49:35,029 --> 00:49:36,701 but others didn't. 569 00:49:36,749 --> 00:49:40,708 I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the answer to that puzzle 570 00:49:40,749 --> 00:49:44,822 has shaped the global geopolitics of our age. 571 00:49:44,869 --> 00:49:49,226 It's probably the most powerful way that the Earth has influenced human history. 572 00:49:54,389 --> 00:49:57,461 After Azerbaijan faded from prominence, 573 00:49:57,509 --> 00:50:01,627 the Middle East became the key oil-producing region in the world. 574 00:50:03,269 --> 00:50:08,297 It owes this good fortune to a chain of events that began 575 00:50:08,349 --> 00:50:10,340 almost 3oo million years ago. 576 00:50:14,789 --> 00:50:16,905 Back then, the two areas 577 00:50:16,949 --> 00:50:21,022 that would one day form most of the modern Middle East were separate, 578 00:50:21,069 --> 00:50:22,946 but they were on the move. 579 00:50:25,549 --> 00:50:27,938 Remarkably, as they moved, 580 00:50:27,989 --> 00:50:32,505 both areas spent much of the time submerged by shallow seas. 581 00:50:35,669 --> 00:50:40,789 So layer upon layer of dead sea creatures built up on the ocean floor. 582 00:50:42,349 --> 00:50:45,580 And when, periodically, the seas evaporated, 583 00:50:45,629 --> 00:50:48,621 layers of salt were also deposited. 584 00:50:54,069 --> 00:50:56,378 As the modern Middle East came together, 585 00:50:56,429 --> 00:50:59,421 these layers were buried deep inside the Earth, 586 00:50:59,469 --> 00:51:04,782 where the heat and pressure turned the dead sea creatures into oil. 587 00:51:13,989 --> 00:51:16,583 But the Earth played one final role in turning this area 588 00:51:16,629 --> 00:51:21,908 into the dominant oil-producing region in the world, and to see what it is... 589 00:51:23,629 --> 00:51:27,668 ...I've come to an unusual mountain range in Iran. 590 00:51:32,989 --> 00:51:37,505 The drifting continents helped form the oil, but in most areas 591 00:51:37,549 --> 00:51:39,540 the oil was buried deep in the Earth. 592 00:51:45,549 --> 00:51:47,619 Too deep to be exploited. 593 00:51:49,509 --> 00:51:52,342 It needed to be brought closer to the surface, 594 00:51:52,389 --> 00:51:56,018 which is where salt returns to the story. 595 00:51:56,069 --> 00:51:58,344 As a geologist, I've been lucky enough 596 00:51:58,389 --> 00:52:01,222 to go to a lot of places and see a lot of rocks, 597 00:52:01,269 --> 00:52:04,545 but nothing really prepares you for what you find here. 598 00:52:04,589 --> 00:52:10,505 Cos here I am, walking in the scorching desert sun, looking down on a glacier. 599 00:52:10,549 --> 00:52:14,383 But that isn't made of ice - it's made of salt. 600 00:52:19,789 --> 00:52:22,986 This whole mountainside is covered in salt 601 00:52:23,029 --> 00:52:26,260 that's oozed upwards from deep inside the Earth... 602 00:52:28,789 --> 00:52:32,145 ...the remains of a long lost ocean. 603 00:52:46,309 --> 00:52:49,904 You know, this is such a surreal landscape. 604 00:52:49,949 --> 00:52:53,908 What's hard to take is that virtually everything under my feet is moving. 605 00:52:53,949 --> 00:52:55,746 You can see that - look at this here. 606 00:52:55,789 --> 00:52:58,701 Look at these cracks that are opening up in the salt 607 00:52:58,749 --> 00:53:01,547 as it opens up and then closes again. 608 00:53:01,589 --> 00:53:04,308 And then also, here and there... Look, there's a bit. 609 00:53:05,269 --> 00:53:11,299 This was carried down the glacier by the salt from somewhere up there. 610 00:53:11,349 --> 00:53:14,068 I mean, this is exactly what ice does. 611 00:53:19,469 --> 00:53:24,099 Salt is similar to ice because it's soft and plastic, which is why it flows. 612 00:53:26,709 --> 00:53:31,419 On the Earth's surface, this means it can slide across the land like a glacier. 613 00:53:37,069 --> 00:53:39,503 But even more spectacular 614 00:53:39,549 --> 00:53:45,260 is the role it played underground in the formation of oil reserves. 615 00:53:50,669 --> 00:53:53,820 As the continents collided to form the Middle East, 616 00:53:53,869 --> 00:53:59,102 layers of salt and oil-rich rock strata began to buckle upwards. 617 00:53:59,149 --> 00:54:04,223 The salt made it much easier for the rock to bend, until eventually... 618 00:54:07,669 --> 00:54:09,500 ...it cracked. 619 00:54:09,549 --> 00:54:14,418 Now the oil could flow upwards until it was trapped in a fold in the rock, 620 00:54:14,469 --> 00:54:17,905 kept in place by an impermeable layer above. 621 00:54:21,669 --> 00:54:24,058 The salt helped the rock slide easily, 622 00:54:24,109 --> 00:54:29,103 acting as a kind of lubricant, creating huge folds called anticlines, 623 00:54:29,149 --> 00:54:31,344 which were perfect for trapping oil. 624 00:54:31,389 --> 00:54:36,065 And where there are oil traps, there are generally oilfields. 625 00:54:37,869 --> 00:54:41,623 If you take a look at a map of the world's buried salt deposits,. 626 00:54:41,669 --> 00:54:44,058 and overlay the major oilfields, 627 00:54:44,109 --> 00:54:48,864 it's easy to see why geologists searching for oil go looking for salt. 628 00:54:53,509 --> 00:54:55,898 It takes millions of years, 629 00:54:55,949 --> 00:54:59,498 and some pretty extraordinary geological events, to create 630 00:54:59,549 --> 00:55:01,699 an oil trap that we can exploit. 631 00:55:01,749 --> 00:55:05,822 So it's not surprising that only a few countries have oil beneath them. 632 00:55:05,869 --> 00:55:11,580 And when they find it, there's almost no limit to what they'll do 633 00:55:11,629 --> 00:55:13,665 to get it out of the ground. 634 00:55:15,229 --> 00:55:19,347 Nowhere symbolises this determination more than this town 635 00:55:19,389 --> 00:55:22,904 in the former Soviet Union. 636 00:55:26,749 --> 00:55:30,298 At first glance, this looks like your typical Eastern European town. 637 00:55:30,349 --> 00:55:32,988 You've got your standard-issue apartment blocks, 638 00:55:33,029 --> 00:55:36,180 and the architecture has got a real industrial feel to it. 639 00:55:42,269 --> 00:55:44,829 It was first started in the 1 94os. 640 00:55:46,909 --> 00:55:48,820 It's got a football team... 641 00:55:51,309 --> 00:55:53,265 ...and even a mosque. 642 00:55:56,149 --> 00:55:59,380 This place is called Oily Rocks, 643 00:55:59,429 --> 00:56:02,421 and over 2,OOO people live and work there. 644 00:56:02,469 --> 00:56:06,781 If ever there was a monument to our obsession for oil, then this is it. 645 00:56:06,829 --> 00:56:10,708 Because what you don't see from the ground is that Oily Rocks 646 00:56:10,749 --> 00:56:13,900 was built in the middle of the Caspian Sea. 647 00:56:26,509 --> 00:56:29,023 It's 5o kilometres from dry land. 648 00:56:30,149 --> 00:56:33,380 Over the years, more than 6oo oil wells 649 00:56:33,429 --> 00:56:36,102 have been drilled from these platforms. 650 00:56:37,589 --> 00:56:43,505 Today, Oily Rocks is still producing oil, but it's past its peak. 651 00:56:46,669 --> 00:56:50,582 And that about sums up our relationship with oil more generally. 652 00:56:55,549 --> 00:56:59,827 Today, we're burning it far faster than the planet can make it. 653 00:56:59,869 --> 00:57:04,989 It would take the Earth three million years to make enough oil 654 00:57:05,029 --> 00:57:07,259 forjust one year of our consumption. 655 00:57:14,829 --> 00:57:18,026 We've reached a turning point in human history. 656 00:57:21,629 --> 00:57:25,941 Every major advance in human civilisation has been made possible 657 00:57:25,989 --> 00:57:28,025 by our ability to raid the Earth 658 00:57:28,069 --> 00:57:31,744 for ever more energy-rich forms of carbon. 659 00:57:33,349 --> 00:57:38,377 But our love affair with burning carbon-based fuel is coming to an end. 660 00:57:41,309 --> 00:57:45,063 Carbon itself has become the problem. 661 00:57:45,109 --> 00:57:49,739 Burning it produces greenhouse gases which are changing our climate. 662 00:57:52,349 --> 00:57:57,025 And that means if human civilisation is to continue to advance, 663 00:57:57,069 --> 00:58:02,507 we will have to break the link between progress and the burning of carbon. 664 00:58:13,269 --> 00:58:17,387 Next time, a very different planetary force... 665 00:58:17,429 --> 00:58:18,657 us. 666 00:58:18,709 --> 00:58:21,667 We are changing the surface of the planet more 667 00:58:21,709 --> 00:58:25,065 than all the forces of nature put together. 668 00:58:26,629 --> 00:58:31,942 But are we threatening the Earth's ability to support human civilisation?