The Weather Channel Travels to the Far Corners of the Earth to Explore the World's "Tipping Points"

New global production to premiere October 2013

LOS ANGELES (August 2, 2012) - The Weather Channel Companies announced today that it is the U.S. partner on the global production of "Tipping Points," a landmark TV series that will explore the emerging tipping points of our changing climate system that have recently drawn concern from scientific communities worldwide for their fragile and near-crisis state. The groundbreaking docu-series will follow a group of pre-eminent scientists as they venture off the grid to explore the perilous tipping points making our weather systems more extreme and unpredictable. Produced by Unboxed Media, "Tipping Points" premieres in October 2013 and will feature 6x 60-min. episodes on The Weather Channel, as well as additional content across weather.com, mobile, tablet and social media platforms.

The series will explore the global impact of our changing climate system, how climate and human populations interconnect and the profound impact they have on each other. Scientists will explore the elements destabilizing our climate system and how changes in a remote area can - and do - dramatically impact those on other continents, thousands of miles away.

The phenomena of "tipping points" follows the concept that, at a particular moment in time, a small change can have a large, long-term consequence on a fragile climate system already in a state of flux. Localized ecological systems are known to shift abruptly and irreversibly from one state to another when they are forced across critical thresholds. Further, when the situation is pushed past the "tipping point," it will potentially lead to a chain reaction, putting other ecosystems around the globe in peril.

"Tipping Points" will feature several of the most critical examples, including the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet, total melting of the Himalayan icecap glaciers, dieback of the Amazon rainforest, shutdown of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation, and the rapid melt of the Permafrost in Siberia.

"We believe this is one of the most important series being produced today, and The Weather Channel is in the unique position to be an authority on changes in climate and weather," said Michael Dingley, senior vice president, content and development, The Weather Channel Companies. "'Tipping Points' will not only show how our changing climate system affect local communities in exotic and distant locales like the Amazon or Siberia, but how it impacts and is relevant to people even right here in the U.S., be it Portland, Maine or Portland, Oregon and every community in between. We need to explore and understand what can be done to stem the tide of change before we do irreparable damage, and ultimately put our own lives at risk."

The series is hosted by polar explorer and climate journalist Bernice Notenboom, who will be joined by a number of leading international environmental scientists in each episode such as Torben Christensen, Peter Cox, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Matthew England, James Hansen, Tim Lenton, Yadvinder Malhi, Konrad Steffen, Katey Walker, Jay Zwally, and more. Stu Ostro, senior meteorologist for The Weather Channel, will serve as contributing science editor on the project.

The Weather Channel owns the U.S. rights as the sole U.S. network to air the series. The global partnership includes international networks NHK Japan, ARD Group Germany, Canvas Belgium, VPRO Holland, and The Australia Network.

"Tipping Points" is the latest to join The Weather Channel's growing original content slate, which includes "Coast Guard Alaska," "Iron Men," "Lifeguard!," "Ice Pilots," "Hurricane Hunters," "Hawaii Air Rescue" (Sept. 5), and "Coast Guard Florida" (Oct. 10), as well as the "Braving the Elements" docu-series anthology, which includes "Turbine Cowboys," "Pyros," "Iceberg Hunters" (Sept. 18), and "Reefmakers" (Oct. 9).

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About The Weather Channel Companies

The Weather Channel companies (TWCC) are made up of The Weather Channel(R) television network, The Weather Channel digital properties, WSI, and Weather Underground. The Weather Channel is based in Atlanta and is seen in more than 100 million U.S. households. TWCC also operates Weatherscan(R), a 24-hour all-local weather network; The Weather Channel Radio Network; and The Weather Channel HD. The most popular source of weather news and information, TWCC properties reach 60 million monthly Web consumers (weather.com and Desktop) and 30 million monthly mobile users (mobile Web and applications) and offers the second most popular mobile app on all smartphones. WSI, headquartered in Andover, MA, primarily provides business-to-business weather services, particularly for the media, aviation, marine and energy sectors. Online weather service Weather Underground is based in Ann Arbor, MI, and San Francisco, and has developed the world's largest network of personal weather stations. TWCC is owned by a consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.