Earth Day at 50 - TV, streaming specials mark the milestone

It was amid a growing awareness of man's pollution of the planet that Earth Day was born on April 22, 1970.

Fifty years later, that awareness is arguably at an all-time high and we've made significant gains in addressing problems, but we still have a long way to go. And it is on that note that a number of services will offer up environmentally oriented programming in prime time on Wednesday, April 22.

Probably the most noteworthy is "Jane Goodall: The Hope," airing at 8 p.m. on National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild and Nat Geo Mundo. Directed by Kim Woodard and Elizabeth Leiter, the two-hour documentary tells the story of the primatologist's four decades of advocacy work for chimpanzees and follows her in her travels in California, Sri Lanka and Florida to show how she has made a difference in animal conservation. There will also be a live segment from Australia with weather anchor Sam Champion of "Good Morning America."

Very appropriate to today's world is Discovery Channel's "The Story of Plastic," airing at 1 p.m., which shines the spotlight on the environmental damage and human rights abuses that occur throughout the entire life cycle of plastic, not just when it's disposed of. It also reveals how the plastics industry is stepping up its production of single-use products while at the same time blaming wasteful consumers for plastic pollution. The solution, the film posits, lies in stopping their mass production all together.

Also relevant is the PBS documentary "Climate Change: The Facts," which airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday locally. It brings together leading climate scientists to explain what might happen if global warming increases 1.5 degrees and examines the consequences of rising temperatures on ice sheets, fragile ecosystems, developing communities and extreme weather events. Personal accounts of California wildfires, extreme coastal flooding in Louisiana and increasing temperatures in Australia paint vivid pictures of these devastating effects.

Available for the younger set on Apple TV+ is "Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth," premiering on Friday, April 17. Based on the best-selling book by Oliver Jeffers, the animated short film follows a precocious 7-year-old who over the course of Earth Day learns about the wonders of the planet from his parents and visits a mysterious exhibit at an edifice known as the Museum of Everything. Meryl Streep narrates the program, with Ruth Negga, Chris O'Dowd and Jacob Tremblay providing the characters' voices.