In previous events, it had taken volcanic activity up to one million years to dredge up enough carbon from within the earth to trigger a catastrophe. And the quickest and most effective way to do that is for us to change our diet. [Attenborough] Ive been lucky enough to spend my life exploring the wild places of our planet. Its a sanctuary for wild animals that are very rare elsewhere. The start of my career in my 20s coincided with the advent of global air travel. Well, weve destroyed it. Sparkling coastal seas. But that distant world is changing. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Thank you so much for being with us. 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. Saving individual species or even groups of species would not be enough. Do the preparation task first. To restore stability to our planet, we must restore its biodiversity. The truth is, with or without us, the natural world will rebuild. 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. At the same time, the Arctic becomes ice-free in the summer. The longer they have to wait for the ice to return, the more they use up their fat supplies. 1937 WORLD POPULATION: 2.3 BILLION CARBON IN ATMOSPHERE: 280 PARTS PER MILLION REMAINING WILDERNESS: 66%. [protester over megaphone] We are men and women, and we speak for children, and were all saying, Please stop killing the whales.. At some point in the future, the human population will peak for the very first time. We now have the opportunity to create the perfect home for ourselves, and restore the rich, healthy, and wonderful world that we inherited. And then, every hundred million years or so, after all those painstaking processes, something catastrophic happens, a mass extinction. A determined detective continues his search for the truth behind Asia's largest drug organization and its elusive boss he has unfinished business with. ATTENBOROUGH: Well, I think it changed everybody's view. Those forests and plains and seas were already emptying. In fact, in 2019, New Zealand dropped GDP as its formal measurement of progress and created its own index, taking into account people, profit, and the planet. The film's grand achievement is that it positions its subject as a mediator between humans and the natural world. Scientists call it the Holocene. 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. A few days after that and theyre gone over the horizon. Our cities will be cleaner and quieter. One Hundred Years of Solitude. To start to thrive. A thick belt of jungles around the equator has piled plant on plant to capture as much of the suns energy as possible, adding moisture and oxygen to the global air currents. Every one has a critical role to play. The problem is that our fishing fleets are just as good at finding those hot spots as are the fish. Its quite straightforward. David Attenborough, A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future 33 likes Like "We live our comfortable lives in the shadow of a disaster of our own making. Ten thousand years ago, as hunter-gatherers, we lived a sustainable life because that was the only option. [whales singing] Their mournful songs were the key to transforming peoples opinions about them. All rights reserved. Emmy-winning narrator David Attenborough ("Our Planet," "Planet Earth II") looks back and shares a way forward. Prehistoric Planet will be back for a second season. 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. In 1937, at age 11, he would cycle from his home in Leicester into the countryside to study fossils in the rocks. We learnt how to exploit the seasons to produce food crops. By the 1980s, uncontrolled logging had reduced this to just one quarter. Japans standard of living climbed rapidly in the latter half of the 20th century. On current projections, there will be 11 billion people on Earth by 2100. This most pristine and distant of ecosystems is headed for disaster. It was a rediscovery of a fundamental truth. Our closest relatives. There is no international law at the moment to stop it. And then you clear that furthermore for cattle. Ive had the most extraordinary life. Regenerative and urban farming are two options. Let's rewind to 1937 and some of the statistics of that time. However, Attenborough points out that vested interests will hold us back. We have overfished 30% of fish stocks to critical levels. In a single small patch of tropical rainforest, there could be 700 different species of tree, as many as there are in the whole of North America. There was nothing left to restrict us. There are something like 4,000 million of us today, and weve reached this position with meteoric speed. Levies and carbon taxes will go somewhere to shift this. Our blind assault on the planet has finally come to alter the very fundamentals of the living world. The world population was 2.3 billion, the carbon in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million, and the remaining wilderness was 66%. 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%. Immense grasslands. 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. That may sound impossible, but there are ways in which we can do this. There are no reviews yet. Planet Earth. The Masai in Kenya engages in projects to reduce their cattle herds and develop wildlife. Its decision to do so has resulted in the human species pushing our planet towards a tipping point. However, if we had "no fishing" zones in one-third of the sea, our fish stocks could recover over the long term. We will finally learn how to work with nature rather than against it. Below the line are a multitude of lifeforms. A renewable future will be full of benefits. The predators help to keep nutrients in the oceans sunlit waters, recycling them so that they can be used again and again by plankton. We found humpbacks off Hawaii only by listening out for their calls. . When they do, theyre able to gather the concentrated shoals with ease. The government decided to act, offering grants to land owners to replant native trees. People had never seen pangolins before on television. Its crazy that our banks and our pensions are investing in fossil fuel when these are the very things that are jeopardizing the future that we are saving for. A speed of change that exceeds any in the last 10,000 years. If herds of animals couldn't travel to new grazing, they, along with predators, would starve. Boo! A knight framed for a crime he didn't commit turns to a shape-shifting teen to prove his innocence. You put crops on the land and get another reward. Its only now that I appreciate how extraordinary. But to continue, we require more than intelligence. [1] Initially scheduled for cinematic release on 16 April 2020, the film was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of our diseases were under control. The natural world will survive. David Attenborough, A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future 8 likes Like "To restore stability to our planet, therefore, we must restore its biodiversity, the very thing we have removed. Renewable energy, such as solar, wind, and water, could supply power. David Attenborough A Life On Our Planet 2020 An important documentary that everyone should watch. Millions of people rendered homeless. It took a visionary scientist, Bernhard Grzimek, to explain that this wasnt true. [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. 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. 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. In this world, a species can only thrive when everything else around it thrives, too. [Attenborough] By the end of the century, Borneos rainforest had been reduced by half. Half of the fertile land on earth is now farmland. 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 Its been staring us in the face all along. And the rich and thriving living world around us has been key to this stability. Palau is a Pacific Island nation reliant on its coral reefs for fish and tourism. David Attenborough: ( 00:48) For much of humanity's ancient history, that number bounced wildly between 180 and 300, and so too did global temperatures. [Attenborough] They ate meat rarely. It was shot in 39 countries. At first, the cause of the bleaching was a mystery. In 1998, a Blue Planet film crew discovered that the beautiful colors of the coral reefs were turning to skeletal chalky white. I mean, we have completely well, destroyed that world. We have already moved beyond the boundaries of four of these nine. 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. We must rewild the world. 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. Just imagine that. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. However, half the world's rainforests have been destroyed, and the orangutan population in Borneo has reduced to a third of what it was. Its now time for our species to stop simply growing. as they were made aware of the natural world. And the changes we have to make will only benefit ourselves and the generations that follow. As a result, female polar bears are giving birth to smaller cubs, and these underweight cubs are less likely to survive. We've adopted a fatalistic attitude that it's "too little too late." And we've exterminated the great fisheries. Attenborough's wildlife journey started at a young age. Without large fish and other marine predators, the oceanic nutrient cycle stutters. At 93, Sir David Attenborough has spent a lifetime studying the natural world, and been knighted for his efforts. The Maasai word Serengeti means endless plains. To those who live here, its an apt description. Even orangutans play a role in this by spreading seeds as they search for ripe fruit. But what if Nimona is the monster he's sworn to kill? on the Internet. Each generation able to develop and progress only because the living world could be relied upon to deliver us the conditions we needed. When you first see it, you think perhaps that its beautiful, and suddenly you realize its tragic. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet is a 2020 film by the documentarian and natural historian David Attenborough. I'm quite sure. And Im going to tell you how. You say 75% of the Amazon rainforest could be gone. Sir David, thanks so much for being with us. If we dont take action, the collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon. But you now want to explain to us what peril we are in. But that rainforest is one of the key elements in the whole of the weather patterns of the world. For the first time, Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garca Mrquez's masterwork comes to the screen. What we see happening today is just the latest chapter in a global process spanning millennia. The global air temperature had been relatively stable till the 90s. One of the greatest films ever made, The Sorrow and The Pity is a contribution to history, to social psychology, to anthropology, and to art. Humpbacks living in the same area learn their songs from each other. In his more recent travels, Attenborough noticed fishers using mosquito nets in the hope of catching something to eat. They are the best technology nature has for locking away carbon. 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. The natural world is, fading, he writes. Um and, in a way, I wish I wasnt involved in this struggle. We need to shift to plant-based diets. A Life on Our Planet David Attenborough A legacy-defining book from Sir David Attenborough, reflecting on his life's work, the dramatic changes to the planet he has witnessed, and what we can do to make a better future. This docuseries delves into one of our greatest modern mysteries: Flight MH370. Against the backdrop of the WWII battle known as Hitler's first defeat, a Norwegian soldier returns home and learns a shocking truth about his wife. Sunlight, wind, water and geothermal. The number that can be sustained on the natural resources available. In 1971, I set out to find an uncontacted tribe in New Guinea. And all of them completely undisturbed by your presence. [Attenborough] We are facing nothing less than the collapse of the living world. The number of children being born worldwide every year is about to level off. But within only a few years, the nets across the globe were coming in empty. All rights reserved. Pollinating insects disappear. But for us, an idea could do that. Honest, revealing and urgent, David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet is a powerful first-hand account of humanity's impact on nature and a message of hope for future generations. A further 60% are the animals we raise to eat. Um, and I certainly would feel very guilty if I saw what the problems are and decided to ignore them. Within the span of the next lifetime, the security and stability of the Holocene, our Garden of Eden will be lost. The 50,000 large dams in the world, change the water flow and temperature of rivers. Fish populations crash. It had everything a community would need for a comfortable life. But during his lifetime, Attenborough has also seen first-hand the monumental scale of humanity's impact on nature. It was the first indication to me that the earth was beginning to lose its balance. [thunder rumbling] And the weather is more and more unpredictable. Kate Raworth, an economist at the University of Oxford, has added a social boundary to The Planetary Boundaries model - one that requires us to provide minimum levels of human well-being for all, including adequate housing, clean water, food, education, and justice. One of the extraordinary things about it was that the world could actually watch it as it happened. Then you deal so with the land. He researched how the Earth had experienced massive eruptions at specific points, destroying many species. Starring: David Attenborough. And if we do it right, it can continue because theres a win-win at play. Phytoplankton at the oceans surface and immense forests straddling the north have helped to balance the atmosphere by locking away carbon. If we want to, we can kill almost anything in the sea that we wish. Polar bears need ice as the launching pads for hunting. In truth, I couldnt imagine living my life in any other way. It's not too late. There just isnt the space. A century from now, our planet could be a wild place again. 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. This is a series of one-way doors bringing irreversible change. After the death of their father, two half-brothers find themselves on opposite sides of an escalating conflict with tragic consequences. As Attenborough reflects on his life, he begins each chapter with three facts. And the speed of global warming increases. A line in the rock layers. [Attenborough] We had broken loose. One of the significant findings was that we pay attention to the environment when it affects us. [protester in English] Hello, Boctok. All that evolution undone. In 1950, a Japanese family was likely to have three or more children. If this is the case, surely it's up to us to treat our planet with kindness and respect. [indistinct chatter] Soil would be inadequate, insects and bees destroyed, and droughts and flooding would increase. David Attenborough. We all need to change our mindset, and we need to implement a new order right now. 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 over his lifetime. Even in places where theres no land at all. In the northern regions, the temperatures would lift in March, triggering spring, and stay high until they dipped in October and brought about autumn. It is the only way out of this crisis that we ourselves have created. If we do things that are unsustainable, the damage accumulates ultimately to a point where the whole system collapses. With all these things, there is one overriding principle. Without predators, nutrients are lost for centuries to the depths and the hot spots start to diminish. Whales were being slaughtered by fleets of industrial whaling ships in the 1970s. Today, it generates 40% of its needs at home from a network of renewable power plants, including the worlds largest solar farm. There are many differences between humans and the rest of the species on earth, but one that has been expressed is that we alone are able to imagine the future. SIMON: Sir David Attenborough - his book, along with his co-author Jonnie Hughes, is "A Life On Our Planet." Required fields are marked *. 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. Politicians and corporates have to overcome vested interests and work towards the greater good.