"Hacking the Planet," New Series on The Weather Channel, Asks "Can Man Control Mother Nature?"

ATLANTA (Dec. 18, 2012) - The Weather Channel announced today that it has greenlit "Hacking the Planet," a new series that tracks the fascinating work of scientists developing ways to prevent, weaken or redirect threatening weather conditions and natural phenomena including tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Produced by Castle Pictures, Inc., "Hacking the Planet" features 6x 30-minute episodes and will premiere Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 at 9:00 p.m. ET.

What if humans were no longer as susceptible to Mother Nature's wrath? Geo-engineers are exploring seemingly unimaginable concepts, including attempts to deflect hurricanes, increase and decrease rainfall, channel lightning, and harness the power of tornadoes. Each episode of "Hacking the Planet" will follow host and former Scientific American editor-in-chief John Rennie through a series of field experiments, illustrated by unique animated graphics, to uncover strategies for potentially manipulating the Earth, and whether those plans would help mankind, harm the planet, or both. Rennie will be joined by Huffington Post's"Talk Nerdy to Me" Science Blogger Cara Santa Maria and Brian Malow, science writer and science comedian, who will help Rennie talk through each scenario and its plausibility.

"It simply defies nature to think that humans could prevent rain from disrupting a sporting event or use lasers to draw lightning away from sensitive areas like nuclear power plants," said Michael Dingley, senior vice president, content and development, The Weather Channel. "It's fascinating to imagine a world where we can could manipulate the planet's most powerful natural forces. If any of these experiments are successful, it's truly mind-boggling to think what that could mean for our future."

"Hacking the Planet" joins an ever-growing slate of original series for The Weather Channel, including "Coast Guard Alaska," "Coast Guard Florida," "Hawaii Air Rescue," "Hurricane Hunters," "Ice Pilots," "Iceberg Hunters," "Iron Men," "Lifeguard!," "Plane Xtreme," "Pyros," and "Turbine Cowboys," as well as upcoming series "Deadliest Space Weather" (January 10, 2013), "Reef Wranglers" (February 12, 2013,) "Prospectors" (March 5, 2013), "Reel Rivals" (May 2013), and "Tipping Points" (October 2013).

About The Weather Company

The Weather Company (TWC, formerly The Weather Channel Companies), provides the world's best weather. Through The Weather Channel, weather.com, Weather Underground, Intellicast.com and third-party publishing partners, the company provides millions of people every day with the world's best weather forecasts, content and data, connecting with them through television, online, mobile and tablet screens. Through WSI and Weather Central, the company delivers superior professional weather services for the media, aviation, marine and energy sectors. The Weather Company is owned by a consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. For more information, visit www.weather.com/press.