Episode 3: Human
Explore the intimate connections between the landscape, the colonizing of the continent, and the emergence of our industrial world.
From prehistoric stone toolmakers to the gold rush and today’s oil and gas boom, North America’s hidden riches have always held the key to our prosperity. As a result, human activity has transformed the continent on a scale that rivals the geological forces that gave birth to it billions of years before. Yet, scientists warn of sleeping giants like the Cascadia fault, and the earthquake/tsunami one-two punch it could unleash on the Pacific Northwest.
Even as we re-mold the continent to suit our needs, geologic processes inexorably continue, and they raise potential risks of catastrophe to our human civilization.