Channel 4 looks back at year of natural disasters

Channel 4 will be screening two docs this Christmas, in which, both will look at the two Asia related natural disasters in the past year- the Asia tsunami and earthquake.

The first looks at the tsunami, and asks the question – where was God? Titled Tsunami-Where Was God?, will see former Dominican Friar Mark Dowd travel deep into the heart of the area worst affected by the Tsunami to meet survivors of the ferocious wave in an attempt to understand how they have reconciled the death and destruction with their religions.

Through interviews with prominent religious leaders, victims, refugees and dignitaries, Dowd investigates the three main faiths: Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism and their followers? ability to resolve and answer this great theological conundrum. For some, the tragedy has strengthened their faith while others have found their beliefs undermined.
Cameras follow Dowd as he gains unprecedented access to the Vatican Observatory and enters a discussion with some of the greatest minds in Christianity as they try to restore faith in a benevolent God in the face of intense pain and suffering.

Documentary number two 2005: The Year the Earth Went Wild will look at a more general look at the year with a flashback to the devastating natural disasters, which occurred this year. The Sumatran earthquake on Boxing Day 2004 which lasted an unprecedented eight minutes and measured 9.3 on the Richter scale, making it more powerful than all of the world?s earthquakes in the last five years put together, spawned a tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean and killed more than 300,000 people.

There was disastrous flooding in India and Central Europe; catastrophic forest fires in Portugal; the worst hurricane season in history brought about America?s worst natural disaster in the shape of Hurricane Katrina; an earthquake in Pakistan killed 50,000 people and triggered an humanitarian crisis that is still continuing. And even Britain experienced extremes in weather conditions, including a tornado in Birmingham that caused more than ?25 million worth of damage.

This documentary explores these many extraordinary events using footage captured at the time, eye-witness accounts from traumatised survivors and asks the experts: was this just an unlucky year, or does 2005?s litany of disasters signify a real shift in our planet?s behaviour?

Telecast times for both shows are yet to be confirmed.