Living Planet

Where does the cloud actually live? We go behind the high-security fences of a German data center to find out. Inside lies the physical infrastructure that powers our expanding digital universe. And a growing debate about energy, climate and the kind of future we're building.

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.

Every time you drive a car, heat your home or board a plane, carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere. A growing industry says it can pull that CO₂ back out again. Living Planet reporter Sam Baker visited two companies behind direct air capture to see whether this much-hyped technology is on the verge of a breakthrough - or headed for a reality check.

At some point today, you’ve probably used an appliance that relies on HFCs, also known as refrigerants. They're many times more potent than CO2, which is why the EU, US and others are phasing them out. Planet A reporter Tim Schauenberg went undercover to explore the black-market boom in these gases now worth hundreds of millions of euros in Europe alone.

A new generation of chemical recycling plants promises to turn hard-to-recycle plastics back into new packaging and keep waste out of landfills and incinerators. But as Europe pours millions into the technology, critics are questioning whether it can really deliver on those promises. This investigation examines the gap between the industry’s recycling claims and the reality on the ground.

Wind turbines, pig manure, people power – and one radical idea. Feldheim may look like an ordinary farming village, but it’s become world famous for its unique energy system, where residents pay far less for power than most Europeans. So what can the rest of the world learn from the German village that decided to go it alone?