The Majesty of Yosemite

The Sierra Nevada mountains of eastern California house the largest living trees in the world, the tallest waterfall in North America, and forbidding stone monoliths. On Wednesday, March 29 at 8:00 pm, Nature: Yosemite explores this land, which contains Sequioa, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks, and the effect of climate change on it. 

More than 30 percent of California's fresh water comes from snowmelt in the Sierra Nevadas, but the amount of snow is lessening, weakening rivers and waterfalls and endangering massive sequoia trees. With less water and rising temperatures, devastating fires are more and more common. Enjoy this glorious and imperilled landscape in photography from Nature: Yosemite. It may look very different, very soon.

Geologist Roger Putnam scaling El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, California. He has made the ascent 41 times. (Courtesy of Jonathan Byers/© THIRTEEN Productions LLC)

Half Dome in Yosemite National Park in moonlight. (Courtesy of Joseph Pontecorvo/© THIRTEEN Productions LLC)

Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall in North America, in the background of Yosemite Valley's Merced River. (Courtesy of Nimmida Pontecorvo/© THIRTEEN Productions LLC)

Sentinel Rock in Yosemite National Park, California. (Courtesy of Nimmida Pontecorvo/© THIRTEEN Productions LLC)

Researchers measure a giant sequoia in Whitaker's Forest, California. (Courtesy of Nimmida Pontecorvo/© THIRTEEN Productions LLC)

A wildfire just outside of Yosemite National Park in Bass Lake, California. (Courtesy of Joseph Pontecorvo/© THIRTEEN Productions LLC)

The Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park, home to the largest trees on Earth. (Courtesy of Nimmida Pontecorvo/© THIRTEEN Productions LLC)