By: Sophia W.
Photo from: BT
In his 94 years, David Attenborough has traveled to every continent on the globe while also exploring and documenting exotic species of animals in their natural habitats. During his nature journeys, he has witnessed first-hand humanity's astronomical impact on nature, including the deforestation of Borneo Island, fishing fleets killing essential large fish in Asian seas, and the decolorization of coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef.
David Attenborough is an English broadcaster, writer, and naturalist most famously known for his educational television programs such as his Life series and Planet Earth. He was born on May 8, 1926 in London, England. His fascination for wildlife started when he was around seven years old and assembled a collection of bird eggs and fossils. After high school, he was offered a scholarship to study Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. After roughly 40 years of research and traveling, he decided to create a final documentary to recap all of his once in a lifetime opportunities and to inspire fellow viewers to take action and become involved in preserving the natural world.
Attenborough's new documentary, A Life on Our Planet focuses on the human ability to make life more efficient and comfortable while also dismissing the threats placed upon the natural world. Throughout his documentary, he mentions various ecosystems found in the natural world that are being affected and destroyed.
Attenborough addresses the deforestation in Borneo’s rainforests, located in the third largest island on Earth by emphasizing that humans have “cut down three trillion trees across the world. Half of the world’s rainforests have already been cleared.” The main drivers of this destructive practice are palm oil plantations, illegal logging, and forest fires- palm oil plantations being the most devastating impact because animals and plants depend on the rainforest’s trees as shelter. As a result of deforestation, the population of the Orangutan in the world has been diminished by two-thirds since the 60’s.
Photo from: Wikipedia
Attenborough brings up the atrocity occurring in the Indian and Pacific Ocean surrounding China, Indonesia, and India. Fishing fleets (commercial fishing ships used to capture particular types of fish) are finding hot spots of fish concentrations and they’ve removed 90% of the large fish in the oceans. This immense overfishing has disrupted the oceanic nutrient cycle, as there are excess consumers due to a decreased amount of predators. The fish that are taken keep the nutrients in the waters so that they can be recycled again and again by plankton. In Attenborough’s words, “the ocean starts to die.” Following this trend, rising water temperatures as a result of global warming have caused coral reefs to lose their color as they expel algae. Attenborough calls them “skeletons of dead creatures” because the once lively and colorful organisms are losing their color and texture that make them unique.
Photo from: BBC Earth
Attenborough explained that throughout the six million years that humans have inhabited Earth, their impact has become a blind assault to the very fundamentals of the living world. Anthropogenic activities have taken its toll on the 35 percent of remaining wildlife on Earth. Looking into the future, scientists have estimated that if we continue on this downward spiral of climate neglect, the Amazon rainforest will burn down in flames due to the lack of moisture and will result in a dry savannah (extensive land that's climate is seasonally dry and hot). Because rainforests will lack the resources several species rely on for survival, they will die out in the arctic, summers will look like an extensive body of water lacking ice and with that, the gas emitted from human activities will disperse into the atmosphere, further worsening global warming. By integrating vivid images and recordings of desperate animals, ecosystems, and the wildlife that has been devastated by human activities, the film urges humanity to support the natural world instead of slowly destroying it.
Attenborough emphasizes that if no effective climate action occurs by 2030, frozen soil will begin to thaw and release a potent greenhouse gas worse than carbon dioxide: methane, and accelerate the rate of climate change. In the years following, global food production will enter a crisis due to exhausted soil and disappearing pollinators. By 2100, the planet will become around 5° C (40° F) warmer.
Following the release of A Life on Our Planet, Liontrust (a British asset management company) has begun sustainable investing in the hopes of building a more stable, resilient, and prosperous economy. This process seeks to receive positive economic results while also benefiting society by investing in more sustainable companies with the same goal of not overusing nonrenewable energy. All of this was a consequence of the “Attenborough Effect” which has inspired people to be responsible with how much money they make and how they make their money. Finally, there is only one Earth and it is of utmost importance that we thrive to create a better tomorrow for future generations and our natural world. There is no second Earth, but there are second chances.
Discussion Questions:
What are some other ways not mentioned in the documentary that one can help sustain and support the natural world?
If you could ask David Attenborough one question what would it be and why?