As a child, Attenborough enjoyed studying fossils. 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. And freshwater is equally at risk. We cut down over 15 billion trees each year. Not just ruined it. Palau is a Pacific Island nation reliant on its coral reefs for fish and tourism. That without such an immense space, the herds would diminish and the entire ecosystem would come crashing down. [thunder rumbling] [lowing] On the tropical plains, the dry and rainy seasons would switch every year like clockwork. A further 60% are the animals we raise to eat. He has perpetually been on the road ever since. There are no reviews yet. A boundary that marks a profound, rapid, global change. The Amazon Rainforest, cut down until it can no longer produce enough moisture, degrades into a dry savannah, bringing catastrophic species loss and altering the global water cycle. In 1950, a Japanese family was likely to have three or more children. Thank you so much for being with us. When they do, theyre able to gather the concentrated shoals with ease. 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. A habitat that is dead in comparison. But on the 26th of April, 1986, it suddenly became uninhabitable. Renewable energy, such as solar, wind, and water, could supply power. Every one has a critical role to play. And in life the animal itself lived in the chamber here and spread out its tentacles to catch its prey. The thing we rely upon for every element of the lives we lead. [Attenborough] If we can change the way we live on Earth, an alternative future comes into view. [protester in English] Hello, Boctok. There is no international law at the moment to stop it. To start to thrive. Some of the numbers are slightly out too. Sample Page; ; And you could happily retire. Orangutan mothers have to spend ten years with their young, teaching them which fruits are worth eating. And we understand that it's going to cost something if you put it right and that the Western and developed countries had more than their fair share. The Plant-Based Gut Health Program for Losing Weight, Restoring Your Health, and Optimizing Your Microbiome, Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are, An Introductory Guide to Deeper States of Meditation, Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun, 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind. And that's because of the oceanic commons, as they say, the areas of the ocean in which anybody can do what they like. Hence, if we suffer the fallout of a natural disaster, we take notice of the planet. But to continue, we require more than intelligence. If there is no corner of the oceans which is safe from fishing vessels of one kind or another, we are heading for total elimination of the edible fish from the sea. But, the moral of the story is indeed a positive one. Nature, once again, had to start again. SIMON: So what gives you hope? Nature will take any chance to reclaim some space. Ive always had a passion to explore, to have adventures, to learn about the wilds beyond. If we want to, we can kill almost anything in the sea that we wish. Our closest relatives. In the 1950s, Borneo was three-quarters covered with rainforest. Interspersed with footage of his career and of a wide variety of ecosystems, he narrates key moments in his career and indicators of how the planet has changed since he was born in 1926. [Attenborough] We are facing nothing less than the collapse of the living world. At first, the cause of the bleaching was a mystery. You write, for example, we have become too skilled at fishing. Do the preparation task first. Its the only way out of this crisis we have created. [NASA technician] Five, four, three, two one, zero. And to begin with, it was quite easy. And we now had the means to make people across the world aware. The cod fishery, I mean, we exterminated that from the Atlantic. With all these things, there is one overriding principle. In the end, after a lifetimes exploration of the living world, Im certain of one thing. Tune in for a live pre-show 30 minutes before Chris set, followed by an aftershow. 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. We all need to change our mindset, and we need to implement a new order right now. Earth could be 4 degrees Celsius warmer, making farming in many areas impossible. While the future of our planet may look bleak, Attenborough offers us hope and a vision for restoring our planet. But whether it will survive in the form that will include us in it is just another question. Rising sea levels could lead to cities like Rotterdam, Ho Chi Minh City, and Miami being evacuated. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. That non-human world is gone. A Life on Our Planet. Phytoplankton at the oceans surface and immense forests straddling the north have helped to balance the atmosphere by locking away carbon. The government decided to act, offering grants to land owners to replant native trees. The living world cant operate without a healthy ocean and neither can we. Required fields are marked *. J.P. Morgan: How One Man Financed America is a fast-paced and informative portrait of Americas most prolific banker a man so powerful that when he died, the NYSE paused all trading for half a day out of respect. We were transforming what a species could achieve. It was a very different world back then. This city in Ukraine was once home to almost 50,000 people. ATTENBOROUGH: Well, I think it changed everybody's view. Sir David, thanks so much for being with us. An imaginative young squirrel leads a musical revolution to save his parents from a tyrannical leader. They were virtually impossible to find. Video zone: David Attenborough: A Life on Our . Every human can make a difference, but we have to come together internationally, and support the many people already hard at work to save our planet. At the same time, the Arctic becomes ice-free in the summer. Tonight, weve got a rather different program for you. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. The longer they have to wait for the ice to return, the more they use up their fat supplies. A moment ago, we made this recording with an underwater microphone here in the Pacific near Hawaii. In his more recent travels, Attenborough noticed fishers using mosquito nets in the hope of catching something to eat. As Attenborough reflects on his life, he begins each chapter with three facts. If we dont take action, the collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon. Most of our diseases were under control. Fortunately, Tanzania and Kenya took far-sighted action to safeguard the sacred paths of the Serengeti migration. The living world will endure. But it was noticeable that some of these animals were becoming harder to find. The Netherlands is one of the worlds most densely-populated countries. And the quickest and most effective way to do that is for us to change our diet. I've seen it with my own eyes. [1] Initially scheduled for cinematic release on 16 April 2020, the film was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He seems tired of keeping quiet about it. Its an achingly intricate labor. as they were made aware of the natural world. We must rewild the world. The truth is, with or without us, the natural world will rebuild. How did that change our view of the world? Sir David Attenborough is 94 years old and has some stark, startling sentences in the first few pages of his new book. The last one is thought to have been a meteorite that struck Earth, destroying anything bigger than a dog. One man has seen more of the natural world than any other. He researched how the Earth had experienced massive eruptions at specific points, destroying many species. It was shot in 39 countries. The most remote habitat of all exists at the extreme north and south of the planet. We also need to rebuild our seas to capture carbon, increase biodiversity and food supply. Der Emmy-gekrnte Naturforscher David Attenborough (Unser Planet", Planet Erde II") hat einen Plan fr die Zukunft. Then you deal so with the land. They capture 3 trillion kilowatt-hours of solar energy every day. Urban farming is an option on rooftops, abandoned buildings, and exterior walls of city buildings. ATTENBOROUGH: Well, I'm not sure if you can take an overall view like that. You could fly for hours over the untouched wilderness. Protected fish populations soon became so healthy, they spilt over into the areas open to fishing. The Masai in Kenya engages in projects to reduce their cattle herds and develop wildlife. However, these marvels of the underwater food chain have become rarer, owing to overfishing, and because of disruptions in the food chain, our oceans are dying. In his 93 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of the planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. We've adopted a fatalistic attitude that it's "too little too late." Ice-free summers in the Arctic would also start. But that rainforest is one of the key elements in the whole of the weather patterns of the world. Ive had the most extraordinary life. This truth defined the life we led in our pre-history, the time before farming and civilization. More recently, you may have heard of Pripyat from the HBO series Chernobyl? But Chernobyl was a single event. Even in places where theres no land at all. If herds of animals couldn't travel to new grazing, they, along with predators, would starve. Or is that question not called for under the circumstances? Emmy-winning narrator David Attenborough ("Our Planet," "Planet Earth II") looks back and shares a way forward. But in certain places, there are hot spots where currents bring nutrients to the surface and trigger an explosion of life. It had everything a community would needfor a comfortable life. The 50,000 large dams in the world, change the water flow and temperature of rivers. Sir David Attenborough was 28-years-old when he convinced his bosses at the BBC to let him travel the world and document his explorations. According to Attenborough, the 22nd century could herald massive enforced human migration. At some point in the future, the human population will peak for the very first time. Complete the sentences with words from the . My first visit to East Africa was in 1960. People benefit from the timber and then benefit again from farming the land thats left behind. It was a feature of all five mass extinctions. Humanitarian crises would result as people would be forced to relocate, triggering border conflict. 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. Many of the millions of species in the forest exist in small numbers. The world population sits at 7.8 billion, the carbon in the atmosphere is 415 parts per million, and shockingly the remaining wilderness is 35%. The ocean covers 70% of our planet's surface, and it's where all forms of life began. It had everything a community would need for a comfortable life. The fishing quickly became so poor that countries began to subsidize the fleets to maintain the industry. So it's very profitable in the short term. If we do things that are unsustainable, the damage accumulates ultimately to a point where the whole system collapses. In 2008, academic researcher Maxwell Boykoff, studied UK tabloids to determine how climate change was represented across the widest circulating newspapers. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. He researched how the Earth had experienced massive eruptions at specific points, destroying many species. We remember environmental disasters, but do we actually learn from them? So when he asks that people heed his "witness statement" about the peril humans . [Attenborough] It felt that nothing would limit our progress. David Attenborough became a household name in 1979 with his ground-breaking BBC series, "Life On Earth," which was seen by an estimated 500 million people worldwide. It was designed for employees working at Chernobyl, a nearby nuclear plant. Our impact now truly profound. Do the preparation task first. And as the natural environment fails, pandemics are likely to increase. For 65 million years, its been at work reconstructing the living world until we come to the world we know our time. Its entirely possible for us to apply both low-tech and hi-tech solutions to produce much more food from much less land. Well, weve destroyed it. You knock down a rainforest tree, and you get a lot of money from the timber which you sell. Summer sea ice in the Arctic has reduced by 40% in 40 years. Soil would be inadequate, insects and bees destroyed, and droughts and flooding would increase. We account for over one-third of the weight of mammals on earth. In this summary, we'll briefly explore what Attenborough calls "the tragedy of our time," and how, with immediate and decisive action, disaster can be averted. David Attenborough, Our Planet In his 93 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of the planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Yet, we're nowhere near the stage where our population has stopped growing. We have to do our best. A 12-year-old boy learns he's the returned Jesus Christ, destined to save humankind. Environmental issues have historically had low news value. Preparation task . The future was going to be exciting. In 1937, at age 11, he would cycle from his home in Leicester into the countryside to study fossils in the rocks. This begs the question, 'What will the next 100 years look like if we dont change?'. Over billions of years, nature has crafted miraculous forms, each more complex and accomplished than the last. Let's rewind to 1937 and some of the statistics of that time. Which is why weve cut down three trillion trees across the world. The future generations of many tree species would be at risk. They may have got time to actually - to pay more to sort things out. 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. [Attenborough] By the end of the century, Borneos rainforest had been reduced by half. Life cycles on, and if we make the right choices, ruin can become regrowth . And renewable energy will never run out. Rewilding the world is simpler than you might think. But the longer we leave it, the more difficult itll be to do something about it. 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 of course, if we increase our wilderness areas, we have a natural way of capturing carbon. They discovered that the Serengeti herds required an enormous area of healthy grassland to function. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. Millions of people rendered homeless. A Life on Our Planet is a masterpiece that explores the life and legacy of natural historian and national treasure David Attenborough. Pripyat is situated in Ukraine, and was built by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Thats the sort of commitment you need if you want to even begin making a portrait of the living world. I noticed that in this transcript the years of the population, carbon & wilderness miss: 1937 & 1954 & repeat the year 1997 twice the last should be 2020. It is the only way out of this crisis that we ourselves have created. It seems utterly impossible that after such a devastating environmental disaster, there would be any kind of happy ending. Ive seen it with my own eyes. Um, so, the world is not as wild as it was. And it relies on its biodiversity to run smoothly. Since the Second World War, what's known as the "Great Acceleration" has brought us many progressive things, as our GDPs indicate. I don't think anybody has actually said that they were prepared for it, either. The film's grand achievement is that it positions its subject as a mediator between humans and the natural world. Theres a chance for us to make amends, to complete our journey of development, manage our impact, and once again become a species in balance with nature. By the 1980s, uncontrolled logging had reduced this to just one quarter. Seasons blend into one another in these tropical conditions, with lush growth, abundant flowering, and seed production occurring in ongoing cycles. The point for me was simple: the wild is far from unlimited. Within 20 years, renewables are predicted to be the worlds main source of power. SIMON: Sir David Attenborough - his book, along with his co-author Jonnie Hughes, is "A Life On Our Planet." Attenborough's wildlife journey started at a young age. And who knows what effect that will have on the world. Offline ansehen. A powerful shared conscience had suddenly appeared. Videos David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. Ocean life was also unravelling in the shallows. We need to shift to plant-based diets. Instead, cover crops are planted after harvest to protect the soil, and crops are rotated. The wilder and more diverse forests are, the more effective they are at absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. Go behind the scenes of Netflix TV shows and movies, see what's coming soon and watch bonus videos on, Trailer: David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. Once a species became our target, there was now nowhere on earth that it could hide. If this is the case, surely it's up to us to treat our planet with kindness and respect. Environmental economists are trying to address this. And sadly, we don't only deplete our fish. But lines blur when a key informant makes a big ask. Weve come this far because we are the smartest creatures that have ever lived. Why wouldnt we want to do these things? With this in mind, David Attenborough has dedicated his life to educating us about our planet, and making discourses visible, through his captivating storytelling. As a result, the no fish zones have increased the catch of the local fishermen, while at the same time allowing the reefs to recover. [Attenborough] By working hard to raise people out of poverty, giving all access to healthcare, and enabling girls in particular to stay in school as long as possible, we can make it peak sooner and at a lower level. The explosion was a result of bad planning and human error. If we take care of nature, nature will take care of us. As much now as I did when I was a boy. Its covered with small family-run farms with no room for expansion. Its decision to do so has resulted in the human species pushing our planet towards a tipping point. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. 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. Air transport will be hugely problematic to solve, although electric and hydrogen planes are in the process of being developed. And the idea could be passed from one generation to the next. Did you know that 1.8 trillion plastic fragments are currently drifting like a garbage site in the northern Pacific? In this trailer, he talks about his documentary A Life on Our Planet. The pace of change was getting faster and faster. If you have not used our catalog since prior to June 6, 2016 contact Circulation at the number below to get your PIN reset. Based on a children's book by Paul McCartney. Large carnivores are rare in nature because it takes a lot of prey to support each of them. One of the extraordinary things about it was that the world could actually watch it as it happened. Without large fish and other marine predators, the oceanic nutrient cycle stutters. I am David Attenborough, and I am 93. And they are centers of biodiversity. Focusing on a specific period, from the birth of Black Wall Street to its catastrophic downfall over the course of two bloody days, and finally the fallout and reconstruction. Small creatures called polyps, create reefs by building walls of calcium carbonate to protect their tiny forms, while the fantastic colors of a coral reef come from the algae in their tissues. ATTENBOROUGH: That means that nothing is safe. Thank you for the feedback, the missing data has been added and incorrect year amended. SIMON: You're 94, but I have to ask, for all you have seen - almost a century - in times that have been bleak, where does this moment rank? All these years later, its once again the only option. What we see happening today is just the latest chapter in a global process spanning millennia. The process of extinction that Id seen as a boy in the rocks, I now became aware was happening right there around me to animals with which I was familiar. In 1998, a Blue Planet film crew discovered that the beautiful colors of the coral reefs were turning to skeletal chalky white. As a result, the average global temperature today is one degree Celsius warmer than it was when I was born. A renewable future will be full of benefits. I'm quite sure. There are signs that this has started to happen across the globe. A speed of change that exceeds any in the last 10,000 years. The natural world is, fading, he writes. [Attenborough] Animals that had been viewed as little more than a source of oil and meat became personalities. we would keep consuming the earth until we had used it up. Nature is our biggest ally and our greatest inspiration. Our planet becomes four degrees Celsius warmer. The Maasai word Serengeti means endless plains. To those who live here, its an apt description. Um and, in a way, I wish I wasnt involved in this struggle. The sooner it happens, the easier it makes everything else we have to do. An in-depth, sobering look at the tragic events of a century ago. 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. We will finally learn how to work with nature rather than against it. There's some good news though. The best time of our lives. The pace of progress was unlike anything to be found in the fossil record. our planet 2020 imdb 15 inspiring david attenborough quotes on nature wildlife earth david attenborough a life on our planet netflix david attenborough a life on our planet learnenglish life Sir David. But scientists started to discover that in many cases where bleaching occurred, the ocean was warming. We cant cut down rainforests forever, and anything that we cant do forever is by definition unsustainable. But its now becoming apparent that its not all doom and gloom. Great numbers of species disappear and are suddenly replaced by a few. In one act, this would transform the open ocean from a place exhausted by subsidized fishing fleets to a wilderness that will help us all in our efforts to combat climate change. It revealed a cold reality. Without the white ice cap, less of the suns energy is reflected back out to space. But within only a few years, the nets across the globe were coming in empty. Its a sanctuary for wild animals that are very rare elsewhere. Over time, I began to learn something about the earths evolutionary history. [whales singing] [whales continue singing]. 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. At first, they caught plenty of fish in their nets. Vast forests. In the 1960s, families often had five children, but today the average is 2.5. But Ive had unbelievable luck and good fortune. In 1998, a Blue Planet film crew stumbled on an event little known at the time. [Attenborough] Ive been lucky enough to spend my life exploring the wild places of our planet. The orangutan. David Attenborough has seen more of the natural world than any other. [thunder rumbling] And the weather is more and more unpredictable. Clean energy has to replace fossil fuels. Jonnie Hughes served as director and producer, as he has on Attenborough's documentaries since 2000. Back then, it seemed inconceivable that we, a single species, might one day have the power to threaten the very existence of the wilderness. We have pursued animals to extinction many times in our history, but now that it was visible, it was no longer acceptable. Even orangutans play a role in this by spreading seeds as they search for ripe fruit. After the death of their father, two half-brothers find themselves on opposite sides of an escalating conflict with tragic consequences. 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. We must immediately halt deforestation everywhere and grow crops like oil palm and soya only on land that was deforested long ago. Imagine if we phase out fossil fuels and run our world on the eternal energies of nature too. You can see it. All rights reserved.