Netflix Canada celebrates Earth Day by giving streamers BBC's Planet Earth

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      Netflix has given Canadian account holders a beautiful present for Earth Day.

      As of this morning (April 22), all 11 hours of Planet Earth are online in HD and ready for binge-watching.

      The ground-breaking documentary series covers landscapes and animals right around the globe, from Rocky Mountain peaks in British Columbia to some of the deepest trenches of the Pacific Ocean and every climate in between.

      Though nearly a decade old, the resources BBC put into Planet Earth remain impressive.

      It was BBC’s first documentary filmed entirely in HD and, according to the New York Times, was produced over five years with 70 people traveling to 200 locations on five continents. The cost was astronomical as far as wildlife documentaries go: as much as US$2 million per episode.

      The series also features the voice of Sir David Attenborough, which is intelligent and soothing enough to make the films worth watching even if only for the sound.

      In that New York Times article, the documentary’s producer, Alastair Fothergill, explained his team’s motivations for going to such lengths were directly related to humans’ impact on the planet.

      “When we see the polar bear struggling on the ice, we say that this is something that with global warming may become more of a problem,” he said. “I personally believe that part of the environmental message is raising people’s awareness. A lot of the animals in Planet Earth people have never seen before. How can you expect anybody to care about a snow leopard if they’ve never seen one?”

      You can find Planet Earth on Netflix Canada here. And if you’re looking for something to read for Earth Day, the Georgia Straight has a package of articles that cover such topics as the Anthropocene, Greenpeace, bats, and outdoor learning.

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