DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET

A couple of weeks ago a past professor of mine sent out a mass email regarding a new Netflix documentary titled “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet.” He explained that this is a documentary we should not miss. He also encouraged us to share the film with “friends, family, and anyone who lives on this planet!” So, here I am sharing it with the CritterFacts community!

The film begins in Chernobyl, Ukraine where we are reminded of the tragic explosion at a nearby nuclear power station that left this location inhabitable. Attenborough calls this travesty a “result of bad planning and human error.” The state of Chernobyl is used as a symbol in this film. It is to give us a jolting yet honest visualization of what our planet will become if we continue on our current course – a place that is no longer habitable.

Attenborough explains that the way we humans live on earth now is sending biodiversity into a decline. He notes that this too is happening as a result of bad planning and human error and will ultimately lead us to what we see in the footage of Chernobyl. The fate of Chernobyl is the same fate that overwhelmingly large sections of the globe may soon experience if there is no intervention soon.

Attenborough then begins to reflect on his remarkable life. He shares his experiences as a broadcaster and naturalist as he traveled all around the globe documenting and learning about the variety and wonder of the living world. As a boy, Attenborough would find fossils while exploring in rocks near his home.

As he then progressed throughout his lifetime and throughout his career, he began to notice a dark reality. He now became aware that the “process of extinction that [he] had seen as a boy in the rocks, was happening right there around [him], to animals with which [he] was familiar.” And we, humans, were responsible. Evidence of a fading natural world is all around us and has happened just in David Attenborough’s lifetime. 

The film then begins to go deep into the changes causing a global decline that Attenborough has witnessed throughout his lifetime. Some issues include overharvesting, habitat destruction, palm oil plantations, climate change, global warming, and fossil fuels.

We see that humans had broken apart from the rest of life on Earth. We eliminated anything that was left to restrict us. We continue to carry out an unsustainable way of life to the point where the damages will accumulate to a level where the whole system collapses.

This film keeps track of key statistics from 1937 to 2020 that are destroying our planet as a result of our actions:

Next, we are given an extremely startling yet honest timeline regarding the downfall of our planet if we continue on our current course. Attenborough explains that if he were born today, science says that he would be witness to the following:

2030s – The Amazon rainforest will be cut down to the point where it can no longer produce enough moisture and degrades into a dry savannah. This causes catastrophic species loss and alters the global water cycle. The arctic will now be ice-free in the summer. Without the white ice cap, less of the sun’s energy will be reflected out to space, and the speed of global warming will increase.

2040s – Frozen soils begin to thaw and release methane, a greenhouse gas that is more potent than carbon dioxide, accelerating the rate of climate change.

2050s – As the ocean continues to heat and become more acidic, coral reefs around the world die, and fish populations crash.

2080s – Global food production faces a crisis as soils become exhausted and unproductive by overuse. Pollinating insects disappear. The weather becomes increasingly unpredictable.

2100s – The planet is now 4°C warmer. Large parts of the Earth are uninhabitable. People become homeless by the millions. A sixth mass extinction is underway.

The changes seen in this daunting timeline are irreversible. We cannot afford for this to happen. Nature cannot afford for this to happen. “So”, David Attenborough asks, “what can we do?” His reassuring voice tells us that the answer is quite straightforward. “To restore stability to our planet, we must restore its biodiversity. The very thing that we have removed.” Attenborough enlightens that rewilding the world is much simpler than we think; and he tells us exactly how to do so.

Every species on Earth, including humans, reaches a maximum population after time. This is the number of individuals that can be sustained on the natural resources available. The population of the world is growing at an unsustainable rate. Using Japan as a model, we learn that if the standard of living is raised, and healthcare and education improve, people’s expectations and opportunities grow and the birthrate falls as a result. The sooner the human population peaks the easier it makes everything else we have to do.

Phasing out fossil fuels and making the switch to renewable energy is critical. Utilizing the elements of the Earth for energy such as sunlight, wind, water, and geothermal, will unlock a renewable future full of benefits. Energy everywhere will be more affordable, our cities will be cleaner and quieter, and renewable energy will never run out.

Without a healthy ocean, the world cannot operate. The ocean is a major tool to reduce carbon in the atmosphere and the more diverse the ocean is, the better it can do that job. The ocean is also a source of food for all of us. Harvesting the ocean needs to be done in a way that is sustainable so that the healthier the habitat, the more fish there will be, and the more there will be to eat.

If we are going to rewild the world, we need the space to do it. The area we use to farm needs to be dramatically reduced so that we can make space for returning wilderness. The quickest most effective way to do that is for us to change our diet. For every single predator on the Serengeti, there are more than 100 prey animals.

To this same effect, when we choose meat, we are demanding a huge amount of land. The planet cannot support billions of large meat-eaters. If we shift our diets to become largely plant-based, we would need only half of the land we use at the moment for food, and the land used to grow plants would generate a greater yield than raising livestock.

Forests are critical for the planet’s recovery. They are centers for biodiversity and serve as the best technology available for locking away carbon. Deforestation needs to halt everywhere immediately and growing crops such oil palm should only occur on land that has already been deforested for these purposes. Government action such as giving grants to landowners to plant native trees is necessary. The return of trees would absorb up to two-thirds of the carbon that has been pumped into the atmosphere by our activities to date. 

At first, it was quite an odd experience to not just hear David Attenborough’s famous voice behind an environmental film, but to also see his face. A face that has seen the beauty of nature all over the globe. A face that has then seen that beauty wither away at the hands of humans. My emotions are already high when watching a film of this type, but to see the hurt face of a naturalist I admire so much, well, I had never felt such a responsibility before. At the same time, I had never felt such a sense of inspiration and urgency as I watched and heard David Attenborough give us this witness statement.

Sir David Attenborough provided us with a powerful first-hand account of our impact on nature. He reminds us that the health of humanity is directly related to the health of the environment and wildlife. We have been severely degrading the health of the environment, habitats, plants, and wildlife, putting our human health at risk. We are reminded that we are a part of nature, not apart from nature.

Like David voices, I am sure we all wish we were not a part of this struggle because we wish this struggle was not real or necessary. However, it is real and it cannot wait another moment for real action. This crisis is our fault – but its reversal can be our greatest and most powerful achievement.

I hope that you watch the trailer below for this monumental documentary and can find the time to watch the film in its entirety.