The Real Death Valley

The Weather Channel has been moving far beyond its roots, into the digital documentary business. The Real Death Valley is an example of how the channel is showing the effects of climate on the human condition. The documentary, which debuts Aug. 11, is the latest in a series of digital films that “peel back the curtain on the raw forces of nature." This 22-minute installment, reported by John Carlos Frey, is a thought-provoking, often gut-wrenching firsthand POV narrative that traces the journey migrant Central Americans take from the U.S. border around various checkpoints. The hot, humid conditions in Brooks County, Texas—the treacherous gateway between the border and the checkpoint at Falfurrias, Texas—have claimed the lives of scores of those in search of a better life in the U.S.