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Forces of Nature

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March 4 - June 2, 2008

"Forces of Nature" made possible by: Funded in part by:
"Forces of Nature" produced by:

The ground moves, the mountains explode, the sky turns black and violent - paradoxically, natural forces that helped create life on our green planet can also imperil it. National Geographic, in partnership with Graphic Films, delivers an experience 10 years in the making - the awesome spectacle of earthquakes, volcanoes and tornadoes brought to the giant screen. 

Encounter Earth's fiercest powers and the death-defying science behind them, when Forces of Nature, a giant screen film made possible by Amica Insurance and funded in part by the National Science Foundation, opens Tuesday, March 4, at the Lied Super Screen Theatre.

Director of photography for Forces of Nature, Sean Casey, films an F3 tornado near Aberdeen, South Dakota, June 23, 2002. Photo by Greg Eliason.
Director of photography for Forces of Nature , Sean Casey, films an F3 tornado near Aberdeen, South Dakota, June 23, 2002. Photo by Greg Eliason.

Billions of years after Earth's genesis, this planet retains a volatile atmosphere. While we are at the mercy of these primal powers, our hope lies with researchers willing to risk their own lives on groundbreaking quests to understand the origins and behavior of natural disasters. From an active Caribbean volcano to the earthquake-tested antiquities of Istanbul, and finally on to America's notorious "Tornado Alley," Forces of Nature showcases three scientists aiming to improve our odds of surviving these terrifying events.

At the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, Dr. Marie Edmonds keeps watch over Soufriere Hills, the island's active volcano. In 1995, Montserrat citizens learned they were living on a time bomb when a massive explosion sent pyroclastic flows racing down the mountain.

Edmonds now searches for signs of future eruptions. She employs an arsenal of sophisticated instruments that she has developed for data collection on activity occurring miles below the surface. But positioning such devices takes Edmonds and her colleagues to the edge of danger along the mouth of the volcano. Laser reflectors that register even a few centimeters of ground deformation deliver clues that the volcanic chamber is swelling with magma and may be ready to burst. Forces of Nature describes the scene as Soufriere Hills wreaks havoc again.

Halfway around the world, different forces from Earth's depths threaten life above. Turkey sits atop one of the most seismically active faults in the world, where continental plates float on extremely hot rock, grinding against each other and building stress that demands geologic relief. In the ancient city of Istanbul, geophysicist Dr. Ross Stein has spent much of his career studying the rumblings of the North Anatolian Fault. When its locked walls release, tremendous waves race through the crust, violently shaking the surface above. Stein's earthquake-progression model anticipates stress sites along fault lines. But his model's success is little cause for celebration when predictions ring true for the city of Izmit. Forces of Nature witnesses the aftermath of the 1999 quake that had an astonishing human toll of more than 17,000 dead and thousands more injured. Is Istanbul next? 

There are other places where the ground seemingly holds steady, and disaster strikes from above. In the United States alone, tornadoes kill dozens of people each year, and Midwesterners rightfully fear the power of a sudden storm. Not all rotating storms spawn tornadoes, so it is up to scientists like Dr. Joshua Wurman to try to figure out which ones do, greatly aiding warning efforts. Wurman and his team log thousands of miles each spring criss-crossing the highways and dirt roads of the nation's aptly named "Tornado Alley" in Doppler radar trucks. 

Wurman's enduring mission is to get a radar's-eye view inside a tornado, solving the mystery of how these funnel clouds are born. But success on the project is an extreme version of "right time, right place," requiring trucks positioned at 90-degree angles on either side of a storm at the exact moment of a tornado's formation. Forces of Nature delivers a wild ride as Wurman's team manages to corner a massive twister.

From the very brink of erupting volcanoes, along shuddering fault lines, and barreling toward angry funnel clouds, larger-than-life images and sound immerse the audience in the colossal powers that shape our world. The result is the perfect combination of subject and medium: nature's grandest phenomenon captured on the world's biggest film format. 

Forces of Nature can be seen at 1:00 p.m. daily at the Lied Super Screen Theatre from March 4 - June 2, 2008. Please call Guest Services at 402-461-4629 or 1-800-508-4629 for showtimes and to purchase tickets.

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Schedule is subject to change.