“The Earth is warming, the ice sheets are melting, lakes are evaporating. The question is, why? Are human beings responsible? Even if we are, is it a crisis or just hype?” These are among the questions addressed in Planet in Peril, a CNN worldwide investigation. The title of this two-part special says it all; Earth is in danger. Although many are now familiar with the concept of Global Warming and have some understanding of how it is changing our planet, Planet in Peril has footage of specific impacts on different communities across the world. This gives a humanitarian perspective to contrast the data we see on the news everyday.

Anderson Cooper (Anderson Cooper 360), Dr. Sanjay Gupta (CNN’s chief medical correspondent) and Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin set out to four continents to investigate regions where Global Warming is having a strong impact. Planet in Peril does an amazing job of summarizing the cause and effects of over population, deforestation, loss of species, and climate change.

In Southeast Asia, endangered species are traded and killed on the black market. China and its 1.3 billion people are constantly in demanding such resources for traditional medicine. Removing these species from their habitat has a dire effect on the entire ecosystem and it is reflected upon the health and behavior of animals that live within it. For example, polar bears have been sighted drowning and cannibalizing each other, when this would almost never happen if Arctic melting hadn’t forced out food and shelter. Also, the disappearance of water has had a drastic effect on many people and animals. Lake Chad, once the sixth largest lake in the world, has shrunk by 90%. As each year gets warmer, moisture in the atmosphere that used to fall as rain simply evaporates. The decreasing lake cannot support as many fish as it used to, which results in a food shortage for those who rely on it. Pollution of local waters as well as gases emitted into the atmosphere are also becoming dangerous for our health by increasing our chances of diseases.

In 2000, scientists on the U.N. sponsored Inner Governmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that they are 90% certain that man is responsible for the change in climate. So, with the environmental issues previously discussed, how can anyone possibly believe otherwise? Planet in Peril questioned those that believed that Global Warming was a hoax and an excuse for research organizations to receive government funding.

Among the strongest voice of these opposers is U.S. Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, who claims that Global Warming “had nothing to do with real science and everything to do with money.” However, investigation has led CNN to discover that the second biggest contributors to Inhofe’s Senate campaign, are from energy and natural resource companies.

Much of the material presented may be familiar to many; however, Planet in Peril is well worth the few dollars to download.