This Planet Videos Dec. 2017 - Feb. 2018

So you think your weather is weird? Cape Town, S. Africa is about to turn off the taps, and twin cyclones are acting strangely in South East Asia. And then there's the tragedy of Orangutans, great apes that are too close to human for comfort...but that humans are killing off across Borneo.

This week, water is the enemy: a bad cyclone wipes out an island's capitol and climate change causes the waters to rise. But buck up, it turns out that ants have a heroic side.

This Planet's Earthweek: - Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano has been belching smoke but will it blow? And is there something to learn from Pliny the Elder (yes! 79 AD). Then, sad news about micro-plastics. Yes, stop using those facial scrubs, people! And,, maybe Americans will finally find peace when the Russian World Cup is destroyed by -- locusts!

In these darkest days of winter, things can look pretty bleak. OK, let's indulge our gloom just this once: a whole mess of species, including our own, are facing destruction and maybe even doom, based on what we ourselves have wrought. But take heart, the video is only 1.5 minutes long.

The weather is bad, the oceans can't breathe. Then there are the killer fleas.

Bad news, good news: an assault on an endangered mammal, but there is a faster way to grow food to feed a hungry world.

Winter soltice stories: plastic threatens the Arctic; the dangers of animal selfies.

Winter soltice stories: plastic threatens the Arctic; the dangers of animal selfies.

This week: Massive spider nerds locate huge spiders; Permafrost suffers but Antarctic sealife catch a break.

This week: Among monkey thieves and extortionists, this legendary outlaw was brought to justice in China. And a new initiative, #CleanSeas, to fight plastic pollution.