George Kourounis
Encyclopedia
George Kourounis is a Canadian adventurer, television presenter, storm chaser
, and explorer, currently best known for his television series Angry Planet
. He specializes in documenting extreme weather and worldwide natural disasters. He has also done a March Break program at the Ontario Science Center in 2011 for kids.
In January 2005, George brought his camera to the remote Danakil Depression in the harsh Ethiopian desert and was lowered 60 feet into the smoking crater of the active Erta Ale
volcano. He spent a half hour filming on top of the freshly hardened surface of the lava lake
wearing a protective heat suit.
This made him the first person to have ever filmed from the inside of three of the world’s most fearsome forces – a tornado
, the eye of a hurricane, and an active volcano
. He was able to intercept all four of the major U.S. land falling hurricanes in 2005, including devastating Hurricane Katrina
in Gulfport, Mississippi
. While he filmed the storm, the city around him was disintegrating in the incredible winds.
Some of his other accomplishments include documenting mountain gorillas
in Rwanda, climbing Mount Nyiragongo
volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and documenting numerous destructive tornadoes across the United States. He has also filmed forest fires, floods, lightning, and great white sharks. In 2006, he and his wife Michelle were married on the crater’s edge of the erupting Yasur volcano on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. The ceremony was documented for his television series Angry Planet.
.
. for OLN in Canada, The Travel Channel in Europe and The Weather Channel in Australia.
The series features Kourounis traveling to worldwide locations and examining various extreme forces of nature, typically at close range. The series premiered in March 2007 and production of the third season is currently underway.
The show has featured Kourounis participating in such adventures as tornado chasing, rappelling into erupting volcanoes, driving into the eye of hurricanes, enduring extremes of heat and cold and boating on a lake of sulphuric acid in Indonesia. Kourounis often teams up with scientists or local experts who assist in the adventures. Filming has taken place on all 7 continents.
Kourounis was nominated for a 2008 Gemini award for his work on Angry Planet.
Storm chaser
Storm chaser can refer to:*Storm chasing, the pursuit of any severe weather condition*Storm Chaser, registered US Service Mark for Warren Faidley confirmed by the US Trademark Office as the first, full-time, professional storm chasing journalist...
, and explorer, currently best known for his television series Angry Planet
Angry Planet
Angry Planet is a 39 part television series broadcast around the world featuring the adventures of storm chaser George Kourounis, Angry Planet is produced by Peter Rowe of Pinewood Films...
. He specializes in documenting extreme weather and worldwide natural disasters. He has also done a March Break program at the Ontario Science Center in 2011 for kids.
Storm Chasing
Kourounis has been a storm chaser since 1997 and documents all forms of severe weather including tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, floods, hail and lightning.In January 2005, George brought his camera to the remote Danakil Depression in the harsh Ethiopian desert and was lowered 60 feet into the smoking crater of the active Erta Ale
Erta Ale
Erta Ale is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, the most active volcano in Ethiopia. It is in the Afar Depression, a badlands desert area spanning the border with Eritrea, and the volcano itself is surrounded completely by an area below sea...
volcano. He spent a half hour filming on top of the freshly hardened surface of the lava lake
Lava lake
Lava lakes are large volumes of molten lava, usually basaltic, contained in a volcanic vent, crater, or broad depression. The term is used to describe both lava lakes that are wholly or partly molten and those that are solidified...
wearing a protective heat suit.
This made him the first person to have ever filmed from the inside of three of the world’s most fearsome forces – a tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
, the eye of a hurricane, and an active volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
. He was able to intercept all four of the major U.S. land falling hurricanes in 2005, including devastating Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
in Gulfport, Mississippi
Gulfport, Mississippi
Gulfport is the second largest city in Mississippi after the state capital Jackson. It is the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. As of the...
. While he filmed the storm, the city around him was disintegrating in the incredible winds.
Some of his other accomplishments include documenting mountain gorillas
Mountain Gorilla
The Mountain Gorilla is one of the two subspecies of the Eastern Gorilla. There are two populations. One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, within three National Parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga in the eastern Democratic...
in Rwanda, climbing Mount Nyiragongo
Mount Nyiragongo
Mount Nyiragongo is a stratovolcano in the Virunga Mountains associated with the Great Rift Valley. It is located inside Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about 20 km north of the town of Goma and Lake Kivu and just west of the border with Rwanda. The main crater...
volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and documenting numerous destructive tornadoes across the United States. He has also filmed forest fires, floods, lightning, and great white sharks. In 2006, he and his wife Michelle were married on the crater’s edge of the erupting Yasur volcano on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. The ceremony was documented for his television series Angry Planet.
Television
Kourounis entered television work with numerous appearances in weather documentary programs featuring severe weather and natural disasters. Kourounis has been a guest on television programs, including CTV Newsnet, Anderson Cooper 360, BBC-TV and Discovery Channel’s Daily PlanetDaily Planet
The Daily Planet is a fictional broadsheet newspaper in the , appearing mostly in the stories of Superman. The building's original features were based upon the AT&T Huron Road Building in Cleveland, Ohio...
.
Angry Planet
Kourounis co-created and hosts a television series titled Angry PlanetAngry Planet
Angry Planet is a 39 part television series broadcast around the world featuring the adventures of storm chaser George Kourounis, Angry Planet is produced by Peter Rowe of Pinewood Films...
. for OLN in Canada, The Travel Channel in Europe and The Weather Channel in Australia.
The series features Kourounis traveling to worldwide locations and examining various extreme forces of nature, typically at close range. The series premiered in March 2007 and production of the third season is currently underway.
The show has featured Kourounis participating in such adventures as tornado chasing, rappelling into erupting volcanoes, driving into the eye of hurricanes, enduring extremes of heat and cold and boating on a lake of sulphuric acid in Indonesia. Kourounis often teams up with scientists or local experts who assist in the adventures. Filming has taken place on all 7 continents.
Kourounis was nominated for a 2008 Gemini award for his work on Angry Planet.