Human Planet

How humans shape the Earth - compellingly documented by one of the world's best photographers. Scientists agree that our planet has entered a new era: the Anthropocene. Human actions now determine the fate and appearance of the Earth more than the forces of nature. Human Planet is a visual snapshot of our Earth today. In Steinmetz's aerial photographs, taken from ultralight aircraft, helicopters, and drones, the Earth is revealed as we have shaped it: beautiful and ugly, breathtaking and alarming, fascinating and surprising. Stunning aerial shots by top photographer George Steinmetz. Steinmetz documents how humans relentlessly reshape the Earth beneath their feet - to build homes, find water, cultivate plants, extract minerals, generate energy, or even create beauty through art and architecture, as well as the rare places where the Earth remains untouched by humans. From the expanding deserts in Niger, where once fertile grasslands existed, to megacities like Johannesburg, the deep scars that mining precious metals leaves on the landscapes of Indonesia, to the floating houses of Amsterdam and the rice terraces of China, George Steinmetz captures in breathtaking images how we have made our planet usable for ourselves, ultimately leading to its destruction. His impressive aerial photographs are accompanied by insightful texts from award-winning science author Andrew Revkin. Our planet is changing more radically than ever before in history. In Human Planet, for the first time, the new face of the Earth can be experienced in its entirety.