Hot Zones

Shows just how closely our own health is dependent on that of the environment. Locations include:

Kenya : Epidemics of malaria and Rift Valley fever have claimed thousands of lives at alarming rates.

Peru : As the forests are cleared and wildlife eradicated, vectors of disease must seek out new hosts on which to feed—namely humans.

Bangladesh : Lacking clean water and adequate sanitation, seasonal outbreaks of cholera make hospitals look like battlefields littered with casualties.

United States : In the Chesapeake Bay, waterman struggled to survive as their harvest of fish and crabs have become increasingly polluted by sewage, pesticides and industrial effluents.

Topics covered: polluted waters, changing climates, uncontrolled development, and cutting edge remote sensing technologies.

Learn more about this episode of Journey to Planet Earth and watch video exerpts on PBS.org/journeytoplanetearth.