Without freshwater there is no life on the land, while the sun dominates the lives of all animals and plants on Earth and defines their habitats, from polar bears in the Artic to elephants in the Kalahari Desert to the ocean's great white sharks.

Welcome to an extreme landscape of rock, ice, and snow. Tour Earth's mightiest mountain ranges, from the heart of a volcano to the summit of Everest. Mountains are home to some of the shyest and most secretive animals on the planet.

Follow the descent of rivers from their mountain sources to the sea. Watch spectacular waterfalls, fly inside the Grand Canyon and explore the wildlife in the world's deepest lake. Planet Earth captures unique and dramatic moments of animal behaviour: a showdown between smooth-coated otters and mugger crocodiles; deep-diving long tailed macaques; massive flocks of snow geese on the wing and a piranha frenzy in the perilous waters of the world's largest wetland.

Descend into an undiscovered world for a look at the most bizarre animals on Earth. Cave angel fish live only in cave waterfalls, bat droppings support millions of dung-eating insects, and troglodytes never see daylight nor set foot on the surface.

Deserts are united by their lack of rain, yet they are the most varied of our planet's ecosystems. Explore Mongolia's Gobi Desert- home to wild Bactrian camels, one of the rarest mammals on the planet-, and locust plagues in Death Valley, USA.

Journey to the polar extremes of our planet, where for most of the year the Arctic and Antarctic are locked in ice. Humpback whales, emperor penguins, polar bears, and walruses face incredible survival challenges.

The vast wildernesses of African savannah, Asian steppe, Arctic tundra, and North American prairie are the great plains of the planet. One living thing is at their heart: grass. This humble plant feeds the greatest gatherings of wildlife on Earth.

Jungles cover 3% of our planet yet contain half of the world's species. Located around the warm equatorial zone, they are the most productive habitats on Earth. Conditions are perfect for life to flourish, but surviving the jungle is far from easy.

Dive into shallow seas to see the home of diverse wildlife like pygmy seahorses, electric clams, sea snakes, surfing dolphins, giant starfish, and king penguins.

From the evergreen forests of the frozen North to the deciduous dry forests of the Equator, discover the greatest woodlands on earth.

Oceans cover two thirds of the planet, yet largely remain unexplored. Whether dwelling on the surface or the deepest abyss, animals like whale sharks, giant manta rays, vampire squid, and sailfish must find food and conserve energy.