04: Fire | How Earth Made Us

Duration: 59'03''

Synopsis

Professor Iain Stewart explores man's relationship with fire. Along the way he dives in a mysterious lake in Oregon, climbs a glacier of salt and takes a bath in crude oil.

Further Information

More clips from How Earth Made Us

01: Deep Earth | How Earth Made Us

01: Deep Earth | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 59'24''

Series telling the story of how the development of civilisation was influenced by planetary forces. Professor Iain Stewart explores the ro...

02: Water | How Earth Made Us

02: Water | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 58'58''

Professor Iain Stewart continues his epic exploration of how the planet has shaped human history. He investigates how water has influenced the ...

03: Wind | How Earth Made Us

03: Wind | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 58'52''

Professor Iain Stewart sets sail on one of the fastest racing boats ever built to explore the story of our turbulent relationship with the wind.

05: Human Planet | How Earth Made Us

05: Human Planet | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 58'16''

Series in which Professor Iain Stewart looks at how geology has shaped human history. He explores the newest force, humans, whose impact...

Disruption to the ice age cycle | How Earth Made Us

Disruption to the ice age cycle | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 4'36''

Professor Iain Stewart explains how humans prevented the next stage of the ice age cycle.

Groundwater | How Earth Made Us

Groundwater | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 4'37''

Iain Stewart explores the natural phenomenon of groundwater.

Human interventions in the water cycle | How Earth Made Us

Human interventions in the water cycle | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 2'32''

Professor Iain Stewart investigates the ways that humans have intervened in the water cycle.

Ice | How Earth Made Us

Ice | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 1'50''

12,000 years ago, much of the northern hemisphere was covered in ice.

Monsoon | How Earth Made Us

Monsoon | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 1'15''

Iain Stewart investigates what causes monsoons.

Mud volcano, Indonesia | How Earth Made Us

Mud volcano, Indonesia | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 4'38''

Professor Iain Stewart investigates a mud volcano in Indonesia that was caused by human interactions with the earth.

Sediment and plastic | How Earth Made Us

Sediment and plastic | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 3'37''

Professor Iain Stewart explains how sediment becomes rock and thus how plastic waste will impact future rock.

Tar sands | How Earth Made Us

Tar sands | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 3'40''

Professor Iain Stewart discusses tar sands, one of the more complicated ways of extracting oil.

The River Nile and early agriculture | How Earth Made Us

The River Nile and early agriculture | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 5'15''

Iain Stewart explains the important role that the Nile played in early Egyptian agriculture.

The water cycle | How Earth Made Us

The water cycle | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 3'10''

Dr Iain Stewart explains the different stages of the water cycle.

More resources about Resources and Energy

Fashion's Dirty Secrets | Stacey Dooley

Fashion's Dirty Secrets | Stacey Dooley

BBC Three | 2018 | 57'57''

Stacey Dooley uncovers the shocking environmental impact caused by an insatiable appetite for cheap clothing.

03: Food, Fire and Water | Supersized Earth

03: Food, Fire and Water | Supersized Earth

BBC One | 2012 | 59'13''

Dallas Campbell examines what it takes to keep seven billion humans alive with food, energy and water.

Amazon deforestation | Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?

Amazon deforestation | Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?

BBC One | 2019 | 4'21''

Liz Bonnin witnesses the devastation of the Amazon rainforest from the sky.

Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?

Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?

BBC One | 2019 | 57'43''

From colossal farms in America to the destruction of the Amazon, Liz Bonnin investigates how our hunger for meat is killing our planet.

Episode 1 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World

Episode 1 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World

BBC Four | 2017 | 59'16''

From the moment we first drilled for oil, we opened a Pandora's box that changed the world forever. It transfor...

Energy | Bang Goes The Theory

Energy | Bang Goes The Theory

BBC One | 2014 | 28'58''

Jem Stansfield, Liz Bonnin and Maggie Philbin investigate how close Britain might get to running out of electricity.

Episode 2 | War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita

Episode 2 | War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita

BBC One | 2019 | 58'06''

Hugh and Anita's attempts to solve our plastic problems continue. Anita tackles bathroom plastics whilst Hugh learns that micr...

Episode 2 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World

Episode 2 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World

BBC Two | 2015 | 59'02''

Professor Iain Stewart looks back at the 1950s, a time when the oil and gas fields of the Middle East became a ...

Fruit and Veg | What Britain Buys and Sells in a Day

Fruit and Veg | What Britain Buys and Sells in a Day

BBC Two | 2019 | 59'03''

Ed Balls, Ade Adepitan and Cherry Healey delve into the hectic world of Britain's imports and exports. Ed is at London G...

Episode 1 | Hugh's War on Waste

Episode 1 | Hugh's War on Waste

BBC One | 2015 | 58'04''

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall wants to find out why the UK wastes so much food. He challenges supermarkets to drastically reduce the amount of ...

Fracking: The New Energy Rush | Horizon

Fracking: The New Energy Rush | Horizon

BBC Two | 2013 | 57'58''

Iain Stewart investigates a controversial energy rush for the natural gas found deep underground, sometimes right under the places pe...

03: Laying the Foundations | Building the Olympic Dream

03: Laying the Foundations | Building the Olympic Dream

BBC Two | 2009 | 58'23''

With nine billion pounds to spend on creating an Olympic Park, London 2012's bosses face some big challenges.

04: Wind | Powering Britain

04: Wind | Powering Britain

BBC One | 2020 | 28'55''

Keeley Donovan heads 75 miles off the Yorkshire coast to see the building of Hornsea One, which is currently the world's biggest offshore windfarm.

Episode 1 | Thames Water: Inside the Crisis

Episode 1 | Thames Water: Inside the Crisis

BBC Two | 2025 | 59'19''

With exclusive access inside Thames Water, this is the story of Britain’s most beleaguered water company as it battles for surviv...

Svalbard | Scandinavia with Simon Reeve

Svalbard | Scandinavia with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2025 | 14'26''

Simon Reeve explores Svalbard and its mineral resources and how this causes diplomatic tension for the primed real estate.

Feast to Save the Planet | Horizon

Feast to Save the Planet | Horizon

BBC Two | 2021 | 58'55''

Gregg Wallace and mathematician Hannah Fry invite five special guests to a unique dinner party where they are scored on the environmental ...

The Coffee Trail with Simon Reeve | This World

The Coffee Trail with Simon Reeve | This World

BBC Two | 2014 | 58'45''

Simon Reeve heads to Vietnam to uncover the stories behind the morning pick-me-up. He travels to the central highlands, where ...

Episode 1 | Future of Food

Episode 1 | Future of Food

BBC Two | 2009 | 58'58''

George Alagiah travels the world to reveal a growing global food crisis. He investigates population growth, climate change, water shortages and wh...

Episode 2 | Future of Food

Episode 2 | Future of Food

BBC Two | 2009 | 59'08''

George Alagiah travels the world to reveal a growing global food crisis. He discovers how a changing diet in the developing world is putting press...

Greenhouse effect | Making Scotland's Landscape

Greenhouse effect | Making Scotland's Landscape

BBC One | 2010 | 1'52''

An experiment that demonstrates the greenhouse effect.

More from Iain Stewart

01: Deep Earth | How Earth Made Us

01: Deep Earth | How Earth Made Us

BBC Two | 2010 | 59'24''

Series telling the story of how the development of civilisation was influenced by planetary forces. Professor Iain Stewart explores the ro...

05: Rare Earth | Earth: The Power of the Planet

05: Rare Earth | Earth: The Power of the Planet

BBC Two | 2007 | 58'54''

Life on Earth prospers because it enjoys the right amount of heat from the sun, and the atmosphere prevents meteorite bombard...

Episode 1 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World

Episode 1 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World

BBC Four | 2017 | 59'16''

From the moment we first drilled for oil, we opened a Pandora's box that changed the world forever. It transfor...

04: Eurasia | Rise of the Continents

04: Eurasia | Rise of the Continents

BBC Two | 2013 | 59'04''

Professor Iain Stewart shows that where the south of Eurasia is today there was once an ocean and how, in 250 million years, all of the ...

Iceland Erupts: A Volcano Live Special | Volcano Live

Iceland Erupts: A Volcano Live Special | Volcano Live

BBC Two | 2012 | 59'03''

Kate Humble heads to Iceland and meets the scientists monitoring the country's most dangerous volcanoes. She also inves...

02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet

02: The Power Of Flowers | How To Grow A Planet

BBC One | 2012 | 59'05''

In the second episode, Iain discovers how flowers have transformed our planet. He journeys to the remote islands of the South...

01: Scotland's Trees | Making Scotland's Landscape

01: Scotland's Trees | Making Scotland's Landscape

BBC One | 2010 | 59'30''

Professor Iain Stewart reveals how Scotland's unique landscape was shaped. Here, he uncovers the devastating impact of man...

01: Deep Time | Men of Rock

01: Deep Time | Men of Rock

BBC Two | 2010 | 59'05''

Iain Stewart tells the story of James Hutton, the founding father of geology. This Scottish thinker overturned ancient beliefs about how and when...

The Worst Avalanche In History | 10 Things You Didn't Know About...

The Worst Avalanche In History | 10 Things You Didn't Know About...

BBC Four | 2008 | 3'19''

The worst avalanche in history occurred in 1970 in Peru, when an underwater earthquake triggered a glacia...

The effects of eruptions from Mount Sakurajima and the management strategies in place | Journeys into the Ring of Fire

The effects of eruptions from Mount Sakurajima and the management strategies in place | Journeys into the Ring of Fire

BBC Four | 2006 | 4'56''

Iain Stewart investigates how people living in the sha...