Forces of Nature Deadly Pole to Pole

My name's Steve Backshall.

And this is Deadly Pole To Pole.

Oh!

From the top of the world to the bottom.

Whoa!

Deadly places.

Deadly adventures.

And deadly animals.

And you're coming with me, every step of the way!

Arghhhh!

This time on Pole To Pole -

we're on a mission to explore

our planet's lethal forces of nature.

Oh, wow!

The elemental furies of fire,

ice, water

and wind.

These are the most dangerous things we've ever featured

on Deadly.

With the power to change the face of the earth for ever.

I'll be venturing

into freezing depths where no-one's been before.

If I tried to head down there,

I think it'd just be too dangerous. I wouldn't make it.

Then encountering some epic winds that truly blow me away.

Argh! This is absolutely nuts.

But first, we're off to experience

a fiery force that can scorch everything in its path.

Every year, Australia has around 50,000 wildfires

that can rage through millions of acres of land.

Unbelievable!

Wow, look at this going up.

Look at that!

That is full-on.

One of the most lethal forces in nature is fire.

Here in the Northern Territories where the ground is so dry

and all the trees are so dry, a wildfire can sweep through an area

and kill just about everything in its path.

Fire is one of the most destructive forces on earth.

Burning huge tracts of land and lasting for months

at a time, wildfires can be truly catastrophic.

They ravage landscapes and rip right through forests.

Wiping out most life in their path.

But there is a far more formidable fiery force,

one that's hot enough to melt rock itself,

the volcano.

Volcanoes are violent forces where molten rock explodes

from the depths of the earth,

scalding,

scorching,

burning and vaporising.

The best place to get close to one of these violent volcanoes

is Hawaii,

home to one of the largest volcanoes on earth.

And we're here to witness the spectacular sight

where hot lava meets the ocean.

Ah! Oh, wow!

That is unreal.

Wow, wow!

There are very few places on the planet where you can see

something like this.

Lava pouring... molten rock directly into the sea.

I mean, can you imagine how hot it has to be to melt rock?

To turn rock into liquid, so it's like treacle.

As soon as this melted rock hits the ocean,

the water instantly boils and sends up plumes of superheated steam.

I've been working with deadly animals for most of my life,

and they don't really frighten me,

but there's something about this that really puts the hackles up

on the back of my neck.

It is a true inferno.

It's one of the most exciting, but possibly the most chilling

and overpowering things I think I've ever seen.

Having seen this sea-based spectacle,

I now want to get to the source of this lava, where it first emerges

from the earth.

Several miles inland is the erupting volcanic caldera,

but the only way to approach is by air.

As we make our way to the caldera,

the lava's destructive force is overwhelming.

The blackness, the devastation just goes on

for miles, as far as the eye can see.

But here beneath me, everything's been destroyed

by this unstoppable river of lava.

But it's not just the lava that makes volcanoes lethal.

Eruptions are often accompanied by clouds of mega hot toxic gas

and burning dust, which strips the land.

At the source we can see where all this force is unleashed.

Ooh!

You can see where all of the molten rock is coming to the surface.

Can you get a shot of that, Luke?

You see the perfect round crater, and I can feel the heat - even with

the rotors above us blowing it away,

it's still coming up like a furnace towards us.

It's a magnificent sight but really, actually quite frightening.

OK, the next thing we want to do is to land on some of this black

pavement. I want to really feel it beneath my toes.

Our plan is to find an area of liquid lava to measure

how hot it really is.

It's kind of a strange sensation,

walking along with the rock underneath your foot crackling

and popping - it's almost like walking on Rice Krispies.

'Below my feet is cooled lava, which has created new rock.

'Hard, dark, moulded like cast iron.

'But what we really want is some fresh, still liquid lava.'

All of a sudden, I've just been hit by a wall of heat...

and there is our first explosion of lava.

Look at that.

Flooding out. So this is a unique opportunity to actually measure

how hot this rock really is.

I've got here what is essentially a very, very expensive,

very, very tough thermometer.

So I'll go in, whack a hole in this hot lava here and just

place the thermometer inside, and Simon the sound recordist here

is going to be standing back at a safe distance

to record how hot it is.

The only safety equipment I've really got is a pair

of oven gloves, and I have to be honest - at the moment,

it really doesn't feel like enough.

Oh!

Ha! OK. Right, that's really, really hot.

Right, come on, Backshall.

Argh!

Argh!

You got a reading?

-29.

-Whoa. 106.

Argh!

Did you see how hot that went?

Yeah, just... I mean, it's like 29 and it jumped up to over 1,000.

'Reaching a temperature of 1,136 degrees.

'That's hot enough to melt gold.

'You can imagine the potential.'

But having felt the heat of Hawaii's volcanoes,

I want to go one step further and show you a place where volcanoes

turn supersized.

Yellowstone, in the northwest United States.

Yellowstone sits in the 50-mile-wide crater of a super volcano.

When this volcano erupts, it could be the largest natural disaster

in the history of humankind

and change the face of the planet for ever.

Its eruption will have a force

thousands of times greater than a normal volcano.

It would blast away entire mountains

and throw hundreds of tonnes of debris

into the atmosphere.

Once this settles,

most of the USA would be covered in a blanket of ash and rock.

Dust and gas clouds would block out the sun for months,

causing global temperatures to plummet, affecting life

all over the planet.

It tends to erupt about every 600,000 years.

The last time it erupted was about 640,000 years ago,

so we're well overdue.

A super volcano that could completely change

the course of life as we know it - that is definitely Deadly.

Reaching temperatures of over 1,000 degrees centigrade.

With clouds of gas and rivers of lava that tear across the landscape.

And the ability to change the face of the planet for ever.

The planet's volcanoes are formidable fiery forces.

Deadly.

From these superheated explosive forces to subzero temperatures

and the power of ice.

When it starts to move, ice can become a force to be reckoned with.

Avalanches pummel the landscape,

bringing down thousands of tonnes of snow,

enveloping everything in their path.

Avalanches can decimate entire mountainsides,

but they're over in minutes.

There's one frozen force though that grinds away

over thousands of years and has the power to sculpt entire landscapes.

The glacier.

Glaciers are massive rivers of compacted ice.

They're constantly moving, carving valleys and ploughing through

everything in their path.

Glaciers are such a mighty force

of nature that their impact is felt globally.

Calved icebergs help regulate global water temperatures

and shape landscapes across the planet.

And I'm hitting Alaska to go deep inside

a glacier to explore the heart

of this freezing force of nature.

All of the ice on the surface of the glacier is constantly heated

by the sun and forms little streams like this,

which eventually run into big rivers.

Now, these rivers create an enormous amount of water,

and that water has to go somewhere.

Eventually, it finds a weak point in the glacier

and it burrows down into a whirlpool

called a moulin.

This is the gateway

to the guts of the glacier.

It's an incredibly frightening place,

and believe it or not, that's where we're going.

The team and I get to work

setting up a rope system to climb down into the moulin.

Whilst they are very dangerous places,

moulins are incredibly exciting,

and you can say with confidence

that no-one has ever been down this before,

because the place itself is always changing.

It's never been like it is right now,

and that, to me,

is the most exciting thing about this environment.

Moulins are formed when a waterfall cuts its way into the glacier.

The ice has been compacted for hundreds of years.

In the heart of the moulin, temperatures drop

well below freezing, and the caves shimmer a beautiful deep blue.

But this beauty belies the danger of a moulin.

Glaciers are constantly moving. I could get squashed like a gnat.

'Kitted up and with all the ropes in place,

'it's time for me to descend into the abyss.'

OK, I'm all prepared for my trip into the underworld.

I've got my waterproof suit on. I've also got this camera,

which we usually use for filming underwater,

and as soon as I get over the edge

and I'm into the waterfall,

I'll lose contact with the rest of the crew.

This will be seriously cold.

That is the understatement of the century.

The glacial meltwater thunders into the blue depths,

and in a few minutes, it's going to be crashing over me.

I'll get absolutely hammered here.

Whoa.

This looks absolutely brutal.

I've got two separate falls coming in. The big one over there,

I'll be able to stay clear of for most of the way.

That one'll hit me within a few metres,

and the water will numb my brain and my fingers,

and my whole body will start to shut down really quickly.

This would have to be one of the most hostile places

you can ever be in.

This is a place that human beings

are simply not supposed to be.

I'm looking down to the very bottom of a glacier, an enormous,

moving river of ice. If I didn't have my drysuit,

I wouldn't last seconds here.

The water is only just above freezing

and thundering down around my ears.

'Some moulins descend hundreds of metres,

'right to the base of the glacier.

'To be inside this giant force of nature is a real

'assault on the senses.

'After 30 minutes down here with icy water chilling me to the bone,

'my whole body is going numb.

'It's fascinating to be here, but it's just too much.'

It's such an incredibly beautiful place,

but it's almost too frightening

and too overwhelming to appreciate.

I don't think I should go on any further.

I think it'd just be too dangerous,

and look at all that water thundering down below me.

I think, if I tried to head down there,

I wouldn't make it.

OK, I need to start climbing back up now.

One last ledge.

Ah!

Argh! Come on.

That was probably the most hardcore thing I've ever done on Deadly.

It'll be hours before I can feel my fingers again.

I am totally smashed...

But...there's no doubt that

places like moulins are a lethal environment,

definitely Deadly.

Crevasses and moulins are gateways to the abyss.

A glacier is an unstoppable force that can shift

and collapse without warning.

They carve mountainsides and everything in their path.

Glaciers are a phenomenally destructive rivers of ice.

'Deadly!'

From ice giants to the power of water...

Our next force of nature is the ocean.

And to see why, we're heading back to Hawaii.

Here in Hawaii, where the waves have had

thousands of miles of open ocean to build up some steam,

they can become a truly deadly force of nature.

The attrition and force of big waves can be catastrophic to coastlines...

..smashing cliffs...

..undercutting rocks....

..and pounding into sand.

These mighty breakers can create epic amounts of erosion.

The biggest waves are often caused by violent weather systems

which form over the oceans across the Tropics.

Super-storms can become hurricanes and typhoons,

stretching over 1,000 miles wide,

they could easily engulf the whole of the United Kingdom.

When these raging seas collide with land,

they can cause storm surges that wreak havoc.

The largest storm surges can rage up to ten miles inland,

bringing flooding and devastation that can take years to recover from.

These giant waves inundate miles of coastline...

..causing massive amounts of erosion...

..flooding homes....

..and wiping out vegetation for miles.

These storm-surge waves are watery destroyers.

As well as creating devastating waves,

hurricanes also bring storm-force winds.

These winds are the final force of nature I want to experience,

by creating my own tornado-strength winds.

While hurricanes form over the ocean,

tornados are normally created over land

and have winds that tear through everything in their path.

Ripping up trees, hurling vehicles hundreds of metres into the air

and reducing houses to splinters,

nothing can rival their earth-shattering power.

The aftermath of storm-force winds

can leave communities devastated for years.

To experience the real destructive force of these winds,

we're heading to Texas, in Tornado Alley.

The hot spot of these catastrophic twisters.

Well, this really puts it into perspective.

It's torn apart this house,

almost like it was a doll's house,

and tossed cars around

and caused absolute devastation.

This here is a testament

to what a deadly force of nature tornadoes can be.

It's too dangerous

to experience a real tornado like this first-hand, so...

Instead of doing that, we decided to create our own, using this...

This is an Albatros fighter jet,

and it's a seriously mean machine.

Powered by an immense jet engine,

it can fly at over 450mph.

But we don't need to leave the ground to feel its force.

The bit we're interested in is this - the exhaust.

When this jet fires up,

wind is going to come out of the back of here

of well over 100mph, possibly considerably more,

and I'm going to try and walk up the back

and experience how it feels to be in a tornado.

I'm no stranger to danger on Deadly.

But staring down the barrel of a jet engine is a real step up.

All right, Dan, fire her up.

Here goes nothing.

Coming up.

'The engines are on low thrust,

'roughly equivalent to a force 1 tornado, the least severe.

'With winds speeds reaching over 80mph,

'it's already almost impossible to stand up.'

-(SHOUTING):

-When you're in winds like this,

the first thing that happens

is that you start to get rain and water.

Argh!

'At this speed, the water slams into me, stinging my face.

'Just imagine what it would be like

'being hit by hail and ice in an actual twister.'

Argh! There goes my... Ear-defenders have gone.

It's all right, it'll be OK.

'Next up, this bag of flour is going to simulate dust

'sucking into our tornado.'

Argh. Ah, this is absolutely nuts!

'In a real tornado, dust and earth travelling over 300mph

'can strip the bark off trees and blast the paint off cars.'

'The pilot is increasing the thrust.'

Do you want more power? I still got more.

Come on, send them at me, I can take it!

'With wind speeds over 150mph,

'I'm now in a category 3 tornado.'

'Tornadoes go up to a level 5,

'but I've been floored by a 3.'

Oh, my goodness.

I've just been pretty much blown into the next county.

That was incredible!

It was a horrifying sensation

of what it must feel like to be inside the eye of a tornado.

Erm, I don't really know quite what to say.

It's completely taken my senses away.

But although this has been rather dramatic, rather exciting,

obviously there's a very, very serious side

to what a force of nature like a tornado can do in real life.

There are far more dangerous objects than dust and water

that get pulled into a tornado.

These twisters mash up and spew out everything in their path.

Like natural wrecking balls filled with lethal projectiles,

they blaze a trail of devastation.

It's too dangerous to put me in the line of fire,

so we're towing in a car to use as a target.

Winds produced by our jet aren't strong enough to blow the car away,

but we can show you what everyday objects will do

when caught in these winds.

-ENGINE WHOOSHES (SHOUTING)

-Right, the power

is starting to build.

'Fence posts and timbers ripped off roofs

'turn into jagged javelins.'

'And garden ornaments become potential destroyers.'

'The flowerpot explodes on impact,

'showering serrated pieces in every direction.

'Each one becomes its own piece of shrapnel.'

OK, let's see what utter devastation we've wrought on our car.

Now, this is actually pretty frightening.

That massive dent there

from the base of a humble flowerpot.

Just imagine what would be caused by something heavier.

You have to say, looking at this,

that there is no doubt that tornadoes,

this remarkable force of nature,

have the power to make us feel incredibly fragile and vulnerable,

and, for that reason, they are without doubt, deadly.

With winds that can reach around 300mph...

..tearing through landscapes...

..and wrecking lives...

..tornadoes have little competition when it comes to destruction.

This journey through the mighty elements

of ice, wind, water and fire

has shown us just how deadly

the planet's forces of nature can become.

They've shaped our planet,

and their destructive power reminds us

of how vulnerable we humans can be.

Ah, this is absolutely nuts!

'Join me next time on Deadly Pole To Pole.'