Politicians and corporates have to overcome vested interests and work towards the greater good. The killing of whales turned from a harvest to a crime. The forest is growing, flowers and fruit trees blossom, and wild animals visit. In the Frozen Planet series, filming crews noticed that the Arctic summers were growing longer, the summer sea ice had reduced by 30% in thirty years, and glaciers were far smaller. In my time, Ive experienced the warming of Arctic summers. Coral reefs were turning white. When it comes to the land, we must radically reduce the area we use to farm, so that we can make space for returning wilderness. The 50,000 large dams in the world, change the water flow and temperature of rivers. The Maasai word Serengeti means endless plains. To those who live here, its an apt description. And we've exterminated the great fisheries. Der Emmy-gekrnte Naturforscher David Attenborough (Unser Planet", Planet Erde II") hat einen Plan fr die Zukunft. Its rhythm of seasons was so reliable that it gave our own species a unique opportunity. Humpbacks living in the same area learn their songs from each other. Life in Pripyat continued comfortably until 26 April 1986, when reactor number 4 at Chernobyl exploded. David Attenborough. An imaginative young squirrel leads a musical revolution to save his parents from a tyrannical leader. The best time of our lives. And sadly, we don't only deplete our fish. Unless we stopped ourselves. watch for yourself. A line in the rock layers. You put crops on the land and get another reward. We have such a fascination for wildlife, but wild animals make up only 4% of the mammals on Earth. I spent the latter half of the 1970s traveling the world, making a series I had long dreamed of called Life on Earth, the story of the evolution of life and its diversity. I think the sudden sight that there were two people way out there, high up in the sky looking at the Earth from a distance where the whole globe was within one picture was an extraordinary realization, not only of the smallness of the planet but its isolation. Its entirely possible for us to apply both low-tech and hi-tech solutions to produce much more food from much less land. The herrings have disappeared from the North Sea. It was only in the 50s that large fleets first ventured out into international waters to reap the open ocean harvest across the globe. We remember environmental disasters, but do we actually learn from them? There is little left for the rest of the living world. Those forests and plains and seas were already emptying. All we need is the will to do so. He researched how the Earth had experienced massive eruptions at specific points, destroying many species. As Attenborough cautions, the bleached coral is like canaries in a coal mine. Since the Second World War, what's known as the "Great Acceleration" has brought us many progressive things, as our GDPs indicate. It was extraordinary that you could see what a man out in space could see as he saw it at the same time. [Attenborough] By the end of the century, Borneos rainforest had been reduced by half. Copyright 2020 NPR. To move from being apart from nature to becoming a part of nature once again. Right now, were facing a manmade disaster of global scale. What we see happening today is just the latest chapter in a global process spanning millennia. Starring: David Attenborough. Life had no option but to rebuild. As a child, Attenborough enjoyed studying fossils. They capture 3 trillion kilowatt-hours of solar energy every day. Any graph that measures their side-effects; carbon dioxide, methane, loss of land and sea wilderness, and increasing farmland will also illustrate a sharply accelerating increase. In 1950, a Japanese family was likely to have three or more children. Tired of the small-time grind, three Marseille cops get a chance to bust a major drug network. Their solution is to climb higher up the cliffs, but with their poor eyesight, they often fall from the tops of cliffs as the smell of the sea lures them closer. Complete the sentences with words from the . ATTENBOROUGH: Yes. In the northern regions, the temperatures would lift in March, triggering spring, and stay high until they dipped in October and brought about autumn. As the ocean continues to heat and becomes more acidic, coral reefs around the world die. Regenerative and urban farming are two options. No plowing and no fertilizers are used. In 2008, academic researcher Maxwell Boykoff, studied UK tabloids to determine how climate change was represented across the widest circulating newspapers. No one has lived here since. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. We filmed 650 species, and we traveled one and a half million miles. Attenborough, David, 1926-2 Entertain (Firm) BBC Video (Firm) British Broadcasting Corporation; . And then you clear that furthermore for cattle. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. And we don't learn the lessons. In his latest book and film, "A Life on Our Planet," he offers a grave and alarming assessment about . Thank you so much for being with us. If we fast-forward to 2020, a mere 83 years later, the statistics are disheartening. It's not too late. NPR's Scott Simon talks with British natural historian and broadcaster David Attenborough about his new book, Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and Vision for the Future. The United Nations and World Trade Organisation are trying to establish new rules in international waters, which are notoriously overfished by large nations. Addeddate Then watch the video and do the exercises. For much of its expanse, the ocean is largely empty. In this trailer, he talks about his documentary A Life on Our Planet. We have overfished 30% of fish stocks to critical levels. Throughout the north, frozen soils thaw, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide, accelerating the rate of climate change dramatically. on October 24, 2021. Whales were being slaughtered by fleets of industrial whaling ships in the 1970s. ATTENBOROUGH: I don't think it is a responsible thing to do is to simply say that what we see the future, it's very dangerous, and to hell with it. But, there are ways to change direction and alter the doom and gloom we've created. So, I had the privilege of being amongst the first to fully experience the bounty of life that had come about as a result of the Holocenes gentle climate. Nature will take any chance to reclaim some space. Indoors, within cities. But what if Nimona is the monster he's sworn to kill? The living world is a unique and spectacular marvel. As nations develop everywhere, people choose to have fewer children. Humanitarian crises would result as people would be forced to relocate, triggering border conflict. It will survive. Environmental economists are trying to address this. [NASA technician] Five, four, three, two one, zero. Our closest relatives. At some point in the future, the human population will peak for the very first time. urgency ? It was going to bring everything we had ever dreamed of. When fish stocks began to reduce, the Palauans responded by restricting fishing practices and banning fishing entirely from many areas. So there's not a profit in it, we still go killing it, and they throw a heck of a lot of it back. Once a species became our target, there was now nowhere on earth that it could hide. Every other species on Earth reaches a maximum population after a time. You can be in one spot on the Serengeti, and the place is totally empty of animals, and then, the next morning [bellowing] one million wildebeest. There were twice the number of people on the planet as there were when I was born. ATTENBOROUGH: Well, I think it changed everybody's view. But within only a few years, the nets across the globe were coming in empty. It was a great place to come to as a boy, because this is, um, ironstone workings, but it was disused. The point for me was simple: the wild is far from unlimited. If we do things that are unsustainable, the damage accumulates ultimately to a point where the whole system collapses. Ten thousand years ago, as hunter-gatherers, we lived a sustainable life because that was the only option. This film is my witness statement and my vision for the future, the story of how we came to make this our greatest mistake, and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right. I got as close as I did only because the gorillas were used to people. Vast forests. But Chernobyl was a single event. Well, weve destroyed it. All rights reserved. And if you knock down the whole of the Amazon rainforest, the whole of the climatic systems of rainfall and other climatic factors will be - go off balance. And if there's a profit in it, we do that - worse than that, even when there's not a profit in it, when governments actually see fit to subsidize it. Weve come this far because we are the smartest creatures that have ever lived. A marked change in atmospheric carbon has always been incompatible with a stable earth. Ocean life was also unravelling in the shallows. Over billions of years, nature has crafted miraculous forms, each more complex and accomplished than the last. How did that change our view of the world? Attenborough is now 94, and throughout his long life, has watched the natural world wither before his eyes. 1978 WORLD POPULATION: 4.3 BILLION CARBON IN ATMOSPHERE: 335 PARTS PER MILLION REMAINING WILDERNESS: 55%. The world population was 2.3 billion, the carbon in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million, and the remaining wilderness was 66%. These rivers are also dumping grounds for chemicals and pesticides, destroying birds and freshwater fish. Life cycles on, and if we make the right choices, ruin can become regrowth . How do we reclaim farmland but also increase the food supply for a growing population? web pages The government decided to act, offering grants to land owners to replant native trees. Download Worksheet Language level Ive seen it with my own eyes. Urban farming is an option on rooftops, abandoned buildings, and exterior walls of city buildings. In 2014, a plane with 239 people aboard vanishes from all radar. Let's briefly go back in time. A few millennia after this began, I grew up at exactly the right moment. Attenborough says, We run life on the planet to meet our own ends.. "No fishing" zones cover less than 7% of the ocean. Remember you can read the transcript at any time. So, Dutch farmers have become expert at getting the most out of every hectare. Thank you. In 1971, I set out to find an uncontacted tribe in New Guinea. Our predators had been eliminated. And this is what they saw what we all saw. Thats the sort of commitment you need if you want to even begin making a portrait of the living world. Its quite straightforward. Its now time for our species to stop simply growing. Its decision to do so has resulted in the human species pushing our planet towards a tipping point. Every one has a critical role to play. You say 75% of the Amazon rainforest could be gone. Skeletons of dead creatures. It was the first indication to me that the earth was beginning to lose its balance. A broadcaster recounts his life, and the evolutionary history of life on Earth, to grieve the loss of wild places and offer a vision for the future. But whether it will survive in the form that will include us in it is just another question. [Attenborough] It felt that nothing would limit our progress. And when the government of Brazil is saying that that's what they actually want to happen because knocking down the rainforest is a very good (ph) way to get a quick buck. Its covered with small family-run farms with no room for expansion. I've seen it with my own eyes. Chris Rock makes comedy history with this global livestreaming event. None of us can afford for it to happen. And the idea could be passed from one generation to the next. Population growth peaked in about 1962. We need to shift to plant-based diets. Because what youre looking at is skeletons. You say in this book, with us or without us ATTENBOROUGH: Oh, well, yes. we would keep consuming the earth until we had used it up. Raising yields tenfold in two generations while at the same time using less water, fewer pesticides, less fertilizer and emitting less carbon. [imperceptible] Theyve always been a place beyond imagination with scenery unlike anything else on earth and unique species adapted to a life in the extreme. Scientists call it the Holocene. But the longer we leave it, the more difficult itll be to do something about it. There's some good news though. Required fields are marked *. Do the preparation task first. There are signs that this has started to happen across the globe. Its happened in my lifetime. Theyre places in which evolutions talent for design soars. ATTENBOROUGH: That means that nothing is safe. The Masai in Kenya engages in projects to reduce their cattle herds and develop wildlife. In the 30 years since the evacuation of Chernobyl, the wild has reclaimed the space. Emmy-winning narrator David Attenborough ("Our Planet," "Planet Earth II") looks back and shares a way forward. Let me just ask you about the 2030s. Yet, we're nowhere near the stage where our population has stopped growing. Just listen to this. A broadcaster recounts his life, and the evolutionary history of life on Earth, to grieve the loss of wild places and offer a vision for the future. Despite its size, the Netherlands is now the worlds second largest exporter of food. Due to carelessness, poor planning, and human error, it's probably the most devastating environmental disaster to date. This trajectory is unsustainable, and the Great Acceleration will inevitably result in a "Great Decline.". A broadcaster recounts his life, and the evolutionary history of life on Earth, to grieve the loss of wild places and offer a vision for the future. For a long time, I and perhaps you have dreaded that future. Ive had the most extraordinary life. But its now becoming apparent that its not all doom and gloom. [protester over megaphone] We are men and women, and we speak for children, and were all saying, Please stop killing the whales.. And that's because of the oceanic commons, as they say, the areas of the ocean in which anybody can do what they like. Sparkling coastal seas. Working together to benefit from the energy of the sun and the minerals of the earth. And we're on the danger of doing that. However, here's a curveball. . Ice-free summers in the Arctic would also start. Instructions. He believes that we have The Planetary Boundaries model as our guide, and that we should be looking to it for inspiration. A team of scientists led by Johan Rockstrom and Will Steffen, developed The Planetary Boundaries Model. We were transforming what a species could achieve. In his more recent travels, Attenborough noticed fishers using mosquito nets in the hope of catching something to eat. As much as 60% of farmland is devoted to beef production. For 65 million years, its been at work reconstructing the living world until we come to the world we know our time. Algal forests would not attach to ice, damaging the ocean food chain. Ive experienced the living world firsthand in all its variety and wonder. For. Just imagine that. It's a statement of his past experiences, what will happen if our current destructive path continues, and what we need to do to rehabilitate our remarkable planet. And the changes we have to make will only benefit ourselves and the generations that follow. Below the line are a multitude of lifeforms. And who knows what effect that will have on the world. That is quite true. Sunlight, wind, water and geothermal. This might all sound like a post-apocalyptic horror movie. Rising sea levels could lead to cities like Rotterdam, Ho Chi Minh City, and Miami being evacuated. We are ultimately bound by and reliant upon the finite natural world about us. By and large, its a story of slow, steady change. The Netherlands is one of the worlds most densely-populated countries. attenborough a life on our planet transcript life on earth the greatest story ever told david . That may sound impossible, but there are ways in which we can do this. And you could happily retire. However, as it does this, carbon dioxide changes into carbonic acid. The Amazon rainforest could suffer from "forest dieback" and be starved of moisture, becoming an open savannah and destroying its biodiversity. The worlds greatest wildlife reserve. And beyond that strip, there is nothing but regimented rows of oil palms. Rainforests are particularly precious habitats. Within the span of the next lifetime, the security and stability of the Holocene, our Garden of Eden will be lost. Even orangutans play a role in this by spreading seeds as they search for ripe fruit. And we were responsible. . [Attenborough] If we can change the way we live on Earth, an alternative future comes into view. As much now as I did when I was a boy. The white corals are ultimately smothered by seaweed. Coral reefs don't like acid, and 90% of our reefs could die off in a few years. Estimates suggest that no fish zones over a third of our coastal seas would be sufficient to provide us with all the fish we will ever need. And in less than 48 hours, the city was evacuated. [whales singing] [whales continue singing]. Our planet becomes four degrees Celsius warmer. [thunder rumbling] And the weather is more and more unpredictable. We are Canadian. [thunder rumbling] [lowing] On the tropical plains, the dry and rainy seasons would switch every year like clockwork. [protester in English] Hello, Boctok. It was called natural history because thats essentially what it was all about history. No one wants this to happen. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet is a 2020 film by the documentarian and natural historian David Attenborough. Whole habitats would soon start to disappear. His book, "A Life On Our Planet: My Witness Statement And Vision For The Future" - and the highly honored broadcaster, historian of nature and best-selling author joins us now. This most pristine and distant of ecosystems is headed for disaster. It worked out the secret of life long ago. [whales singing] Their mournful songs were the key to transforming peoples opinions about them. By burning millions of years worth of living organisms all at once as coal and oil, we had managed to do so in less than 200. It was shot in 39 countries. In just 25 years, the forest has returned to cover half of Costa Rica once again. This city in Ukraine was once home to almost 50,000 people. And we now had the means to make people across the world aware. The Holocene has been one of the most stable periods in our planets great history. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. We found humpbacks off Hawaii only by listening out for their calls. And all of them completely undisturbed by your presence. It seems that the human population will only really peak early in the 22nd century, at about 11 billion people. Many new plant-based foods are on the market, and in the future, biotechnology may be able to use microorganisms to provide us with proteins. There was nothing left to restrict us. Not just ruined it. You and I belong to the most widespread and dominant species of animal on earth. Immense grasslands. Attenborough's BBC production, The Blue Planet, changed this when its sophisticated camera equipment filmed a bait ball frenzy, a fantastic underwater hunt the likes of which no one had seen before. If we want to, we can kill almost anything in the sea that we wish. Uh The Human beings have overrun the world. And in that one shot, there was the whole of humanity with nothing else except the person that was in the spacecraft taking that picture. A moment ago, we made this recording with an underwater microphone here in the Pacific near Hawaii. It triggered an environmental catastrophe that had an impact across Europe. And it relies on its biodiversity to run smoothly. David Attenborough has seen more of the natural world than any other. Boo! Today, it generates 40% of its needs at home from a network of renewable power plants, including the worlds largest solar farm. One Hundred Years of Solitude. So, how do we recognize critical thresholds? The pace of change was getting faster and faster. Phytoplankton at the oceans surface and immense forests straddling the north have helped to balance the atmosphere by locking away carbon. A knight framed for a crime he didn't commit turns to a shape-shifting teen to prove his innocence. As a result, female polar bears are giving birth to smaller cubs, and these underweight cubs are less likely to survive. We must immediately halt deforestation everywhere and grow crops like oil palm and soya only on land that was deforested long ago. Our planet, vulnerable and isolated. [Attenborough] It was a stark contrast to the world I knew. We account for over one-third of the weight of mammals on earth. And the speed of global warming increases. Im talking about the loss of our planets wild places, its biodiversity. SIMON: I - forgive me, but I feel the need to quote a movie in which your brother starred (laughter), "Jurassic Park," where the scientist says, nature finds a way. You can see it. In addition to this, we have an increased life expectancy. There are something like 4,000 million of us today, and weve reached this position with meteoric speed. It took a visionary scientist, Bernhard Grzimek, to explain that this wasnt true. Prehistoric Planet will be back for a second season. The scale of the problem is so overwhelming . The resources they used naturally renewed themselves. The last one is thought to have been a meteorite that struck Earth, destroying anything bigger than a dog. And if we do it right, it can continue because theres a win-win at play. This too is happening as a result of bad planning and human error and it too will lead to what we see here. And it lived about 180 million years ago. Some of the numbers are slightly out too. Based on a children's book by Paul McCartney. So, what do we do? Seasons blend into one another in these tropical conditions, with lush growth, abundant flowering, and seed production occurring in ongoing cycles.

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