Concerned viewers, on today's episode of Planet Earth: Our
Loving Home we'll examine natural catastrophes that affected
humanity and our planet in 2010. Our Earth is suffering from a
severe fever due to anthropogenic global warming. In 2010, the
average global temperature tied with the years 1998 and 2005 for
the warmest on record. Extreme natural events such as
earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, landslides, heat waves,
droughts, and severe cold spells are becoming more frequent and
intense. In 2010, a total of 950 natural disasters occurred,
many of which left devastating casualties. According to Munich
Re, one of the world's largest insurers, 2010's natural
disasters took approximately 295,000 lives and incurred damage
of over US$130 billion. These figures are markedly higher than
2009's 11,000 fatalities and US$60 billion in damage and the
30-year average of 66,000 deaths and US$95 billion in damage.
HOST: With the heating of the planet, ice sheets are retreating
worldwide at a frightening pace. Patrick Wu a