BEAR: Deserts. Scorched, desolate, hostile. But, alive. One million hungry bats forced to leave the safety of
their cave before nightfall. The sun is so powerful here, there's barely anything to eat. The bats can only catch enough
insects by leaving early. But, in daylight, they're
dangerously exposed. Hawks wait for them. In the desert,
timing is everything. Get it wrong and
you pay the price. The sun governs the
rhythm of desert life. And the animals that
make their home here are at the mercy of its power. (theme music plays). Above me is a nuclear reactor
almost a million miles across. Every second, the sun spits
out more energy than humans have used in all our history. And nowhere is its power more
potent than in the desert. Amazingly, there are animals
that spend their lives in this scorching heat. But now the hottest places on
Earth are getting even hotter. And even the most resilient
creatures are facing a fight like never before. The sun's rule begins. From now on, survival
gets tougher by the hour. Nubian ibex make their
home in the highest, steepest corners
of the desert. A daunting place
to raise two kids. (bleating). But, their greatest
challenge comes from the sun. In the last few decades, heatwaves have
become more severe. They need water, but it
lies 1000 feet below. (bleating). (bleating). It's a perilous journey for
kids only a few days old. But, their soft soled hooves
grip like climbing shoes. And, they appear
utterly immune to vertigo. (bleating). Little grows on these
steep, sun baked slopes. All that's underfoot
is crumbling rock. ♪ ♪ (bleating). Driven downward by the sun, the family's journey
is almost over. But now, they no longer
enjoy the protection of the high cliffs. (bleating). An Arabian wolf. He outweighs an
ibex kid ten to one. In this desert, he's the
ibex's most feared predator. By keeping her family up slope, she has a slender advantage. But falling rocks
won't stop him. (bleating). (bleating). The kids have
unbeatable agility, but lack experience. (bleating). There's nothing
the mother can do. Now, she will focus all
her energy on protecting and providing for
her remaining kid. Deep in the canyon,
sheltered from the sun, it's a different world. This is what they've
risked everything for. The desert's most
precious resource. A lifeline. But a costly one. As the sun climbs higher
its power intensifies, tightening its
grip on desert life. In some places,
it seems miraculous that anything can survive. The temperature here is
rising three times faster than the global average. This mining town was
abandoned over 60 years ago. Some believe these
buildings are haunted. But whatever's stalking
this ghost town is very much alive. BEAR: In Africa's
Namib Desert... A brown hyena has set
up home in a ghost town. Her pups are hungry. And, finding food in
this desolate landscape seems impossible. Yet, less than a mile away,
the desert meets one of the richest seas in the world. The Atlantic brings
life to the Namib. Thousands of cape fur seals. Pups could be an easy target. 15 pound balls of blubber, totally unsuited to desert life. Black backed jackals
are also on the hunt. (seal calls). But, the pups have
formidable bodyguards. (growling). In a colony this size, there are plenty of
other opportunities. (growling). A placenta from
a recent birth. With three pups of
her own to feed, the hyena needs a bigger meal. (seal calls). As the land heats up,
bodyguards retreat to the sea. Armed with sharp teeth, even a lone pup can
put up a brave fight. (squeaky growling). (squeaky growling). It's easier to wait until
the sun takes its toll. Disoriented by
the punishing heat, this pup strays
into the desert. (squeaking, crying). (squeaking, crying). She timed her
hunt to perfection. Now it's time to relax
during the heat of the day. Even now, with
temperatures still rising, not all animals
can afford to rest. These meerkat pups are
just five weeks old. They still have a lot to
learn about desert survival. It's a dry season. Rain is six months away. And the closest river
hasn't flowed in seven years. Finding food is the
toughest challenge. Most of it's hiding
under sun-baked soil. With adults on guard
duty scanning for danger. Ready to sound the alarm. it's safe for the
pups' lessons to begin. First, digging. Harder than it looks. An adult can dig its own
body weight every few seconds. But, for a pup,
it's easier to beg. (barking). (chattering). Why not let the
adults do the hard work? But, not all handouts
make for a simple meal. A scorpion. The adult has already
disabled its stinger, but its pincers are
still fully functional. Learning how to deal
with dangerous animals is a vital desert skill. All too soon, it's
time for a break. They need to find
shade in the searing sun. But, lessons aren't over yet. (hissing). BEAR: In Africa's
Kalahari Desert, a young meerkat is face
to face with a cape cobra. One on one, he's
in big trouble. But when his family
hear the call, (squealing). they race to the rescue. (hissing). This will be one of the
most important lessons of all. How to handle a
venomous cobra. (hissing, chattering). If they can't see the
snake off their territory, the entire family
remains at risk. (hissing, chattering). (hissing, chattering). The pups now know, their secret to living in
this inhospitable desert, teamwork. Midday is approaching. School's over and it's
time to take shelter. For the next few hours, the
sun's full power is unleashed. Very few animals can
survive out in the open. This is the
world's oldest desert. It's existed for at
least 55 million years. And now the temperature
is rising even higher. An extra degree or two a
century may not sound much. But where creatures are
already pushed to the limit it could be fatal. At midday, the sand is hot
enough to melt your shoes. The shovel snouted lizard avoids burning its
feet by dancing. ♪ ♪ The buck spoor spider can
survive higher temperatures than any other spider. Up to 120 Fahrenheit. But it's gonna get
hotter than that. She must work fast,
weaving a blanket of sand to cover the entrance
to her burrow, where she escapes the heat. Now, the sand
hits 160 degrees. Yet, for hotrod ants, it's
the start of the working day. Alone on the dunes, they
scavenge the sun's victims. Long legs are a lifesaver. Just a fifth of an inch
up is 12 degrees cooler. And, the hotrods
live up to their name, running so fast they
create a cooling breeze. When it gets too much, they
climb off the sand entirely. By pushing the limits
of thermal survival, the ants can be active when
their predators are in hiding. But, even they must get
back to the nest soon. Before they boil to death. The ants' struggles
won't go unnoticed. Vibrations travel
down silk threads, to an underground lair. ♪ ♪ Sometimes, the spoor spider
lets the sun do its killing. It will emerge later to
eat its precooked meal. Across the world's deserts, temperature peak in
the early afternoon. With barely a trace of life, these landscapes look
like the surface of Mars. From space, the full beauty
of desert geology is revealed. In Africa, the eye of the
Sahara is 30 miles wide. A collapsed dome of rock
millions of years old. Landscapes like this will
become more common if deserts continue to expand
in our warming world. Right now, the closest we
have to a desert continent is Australia. The driest of all
inhabited land masses. A brutal drought has
hit an area the size of California and Montana combined. In places, under an inch of
rain has fallen in a year. Right now, survival
is all that matters. Unlike smaller animals, red kangaroos can't
burrow to escape the heat. Instead, they have evolved
to be some of the toughest of all desert creatures. But at 115 degrees, even
they begin to struggle. This mother and her joey
are dangerously overheating. They must find
shelter and fast. BEAR: In Australia, a
kangaroo and her joey are dangerously overheating. They have one
chance to escape. ♪ ♪ Shade cuts the
sun's energy by 80%. But latecomers
are not welcome. In the full force of the sun, this mother must draw on
all her survival skills. Digging offers a
little relief. Just five inches underground, the soil can be
50 degrees cooler. As a last resort, she uses
precious water reserves. Evaporating saliva cools
the blood in capillaries beneath her skin. But the heat keeps rising. Australia receives
more solar energy than any other landmass. They barely have
the strength to move. And, with almost
nothing left to eat they're all slowly starving. In the most severe droughts,
80% of red kangaroos can die. Their bodies quickly mummify
in the dry, desert air. Yet, a few of the very
toughest kangaroos somehow manage to survive. When the rains finally
come, their offspring will repopulate the outback. Not all deserts are
so desperately bleak. Saguaro cacti can tower over
60 feet and weigh two tons. Just one of over 2,000
plant species that grow here. In this green, spiky desert. A young Harris
hawk has a problem. (cawing). There are lots of
places for his prey to hide. (cawing). (cawing). It forces Harris hawks to
hunt like no other bird. In a pack. And, now the sun's dropping. It's cool enough to
launch an attack. As the youngest family member, his job is to flush the
rabbit into the open. Above, his mother
coordinates the hunt. The rest of the family
take their positions, ready for the chase. A dive signals
that the hunt is on. The three chasers
enter the game. (screaming). After a miss,
another chaser takes over. Finally, it's the
youngster's turn. (screaming). Beating his wings
four times a second, he accelerates to
over 30 miles an hour. (cawing). By working as a team, the hawks more than double
their chances of success. A smart hunting strategy in a desert with so
many places to hide. The Sonoran is the
most diverse desert in the United States. But, the monsoonal
storms that bring it life also spawn monsters. BEAR: On summer afternoons
in the western United States, the sun whips up winds
that suck moist air into the desert. Storms bring life to the land. (thunder, lightning). But, sometimes the
winds generate a monster. Moving at 50 miles an hour. A dust storm can engulf
and even suffocate the animals in its path. An unstoppable manifestation
of the sun's destructive power. By late afternoon, deserts
finally become less hostile. Conditions are
calmer and cooler. The perfect time for a hunter. It may be the end of the day, but this caracal is
just getting started. The prey she's after are all
coming home for the night. Hundreds of sociable weaver
birds return to roost in their enormous communal nest. (chirping). (chirping). (chirping). Muscular legs
propel her into the air. And, with claws splayed
like grappling hooks she'll try to catch any
bird within reach. (chirping). She can leap 11
feet vertically. (chirping). This could be her last
chance before sunset. (chirping). Deserts seldom give up
their scarce resources. But, the caracal will continue
hunting through the night. She's just one of many
species that use the ultimate survival strategy
against the sun. Timing their lives to
avoid it almost entirely. It's only at night that the true magic of
deserts is revealed. These fennec foxes have
been holed up for the day, waiting for darkness. Just to catch a glimpse
of them is extremely rare. Let alone to see two pups. They've emerged into a
world bustling with creatures, adapted to a nocturnal life in
our planet's largest dessert. Dense fur insulates the
fennecs against the cold. A reflective retina
enhances night vision. And, enormous ears
pinpoint the slightest sound. (owl hoots). The fact that such a diversity
of animals can thrive here in a landscape that at
first seems uninhabitable, is remarkable. Yet, for all nocturnal
desert animals, life is a race against time. Soon enough, the
sun will rise again. With each new day, life
here gets more challenging. As global temperatures
rise ever higher, our deserts are
expanding by almost 50,000 square miles every year. So, perhaps the ingenious and
battle hardened creatures of the desert might
just inherit the Earth. In Australia, desert life
shows its remarkable ability to bounce back. Creatures like the red
kangaroo have evolved over countless generations to cope
with the power of the sun. They thrive in a landscape
with barely any food or water. And are able to raise a
new generation in conditions that would kill us. We don't know exactly what
our warming world will bring. But, whatever happens, you can
bet that desert animals will never give up without a fight. Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.
