

Polar Extremes
Renowned paleontologist Kirk Johnson takes us on an epic adventure through time at the polar extremes of our planet. Following a trail of strange fossils found in all the wrong places—beech trees in Antarctica, hippo-like mammals in the Arctic—Johnson uncovers the bizarre history of the poles, from miles-high ice sheets to warm polar forests teeming with life. What caused such dramatic changes at the ends of the Earth? And what can the past reveal about our planet’s climate today—and in the future?
Cast

Kirk Johnson
Self - Host
Videos
Storyline
Renowned paleontologist Kirk Johnson takes us on an epic adventure through time at the polar extremes of our planet. Following a trail of strange fossils found in all the wrong places—beech trees in Antarctica, hippo-like mammals in the Arctic—Johnson uncovers the bizarre history of the poles, from miles-high ice sheets to warm polar forests teeming with life. What caused such dramatic changes at the ends of the Earth? And what can the past reveal about our planet’s climate today—and in the future?
Recommended

One Life
2011

Polar Bear
2022

Earth: One Amazing Day
2017

My Mom Jayne
2025

The Unbelievers
2013

Unknown: Cave of Bones
2023

Encounters at the End of the World
2007

A Plastic Ocean
2016

Looking for Richard
1996

Daft Punk Unchained
2015

Dolphin Reef
2018

Love, Marilyn
2013
More Like This

An Inconvenient Truth
2006

After Man
1989
Whatever Happened to the Dinosaurs?
1992

(IN)ACTION
2025

Ice Age Death Trap
2012

Aftermath: Population Zero
2008

Blue Gold: World Water Wars
2008

Living Proof: A Climate Story
2021

Dinosaurs on Ice
2008

The Concavenator Valley
2023

Vanishing: The extinction crisis is worse than you think
2017

Desert PHOSfate
2024