Johannes Hano

The Arctic ice is melting. Climate change is progressing faster than in the rest of the world, and it is making the Arctic the focus of global politics. Neighboring countries and world powers fight for influence. At the center of their interest: access to mineral resources and new transport routes, because the melting ice opens up new, shorter shipping routes. Is there a new conflict at the North Pole? And how do people in the extreme north experience the change in their environment? ZDF reporter Johannes Hano and his team travel through the U.S. state of Alaska, and through northern Canada, visiting Denmark's autonomous region Greenland, Norway's Spitsbergen and northern Russia. they experience the magic of a beautiful nature, meet people who have learned for centuries how to survive in an inhospitable region. But now they learn how the struggle for power and influence is waking the Arctic from its slumber. For some time now, Russia has been doing everything it can to gain supremacy.

Glittering facades, vibrant life, and people facing the daily struggle for survival. ZDF correspondents each profile a megacity within their reporting area. How do people celebrate, laugh, and love in such a city? How are problems like housing shortages, food supply, transportation, and climate change solved – in metropolises with over ten million inhabitants?