Human Planet

The final episode of Human Planet looks at the environment which has been made by humans for humans. Cities are our greatest success story and now over half the world's population lives in the urban jungle. They are built to keep untamed nature out, but nature cannot be pushed away. From bed bugs sucking our blood at night, to rats in our restaurants, gangs of monkey muggers and rutting elks in downtown USA, many animals have adapted to living in a world of bricks and steel.

The majority of the world's population live alongside rivers. For these peoples, the waters bring times of plenty and times of great danger and so these communities have to adapt to the ebb and flow of their environment.

Some people understand the seas in a way modern science cannot comprehend. Yet this understanding has stemmed from extreme isolation and the ability of communities to exist on even the smallest land masses and to harvest bounty that can be seen below the waves or beyond the horizon.