david attenborough: a life on our planet transcript

Half of the fertile land on Earth is currently farmed, and it's often overgrazed, over-sprayed with pesticides, and denuded of topsoil. Farms take up a combined space the size of North America, South America, and Australia combined, with devastating greenhouse gas emissions. We seem to have broken loose from the restrictions that have governed the activities and numbers of other animals. Overnight, Pripyat transformed from a pleasant, bustling town to a nightmarish disaster zone. But whether it will survive in the form that will include us in it is just another question. This unique feature documentary is his witness statement. The scale of the problem is so overwhelming . As carbon release accelerates, the ocean will continue to absorb its share of this. Its rhythm of seasons was so reliable that it gave our own species a unique opportunity. Life had no option but to rebuild. There just isnt the space. This too is happening as a result of bad planning and human error and it too will lead to what we see here. Levies and carbon taxes will go somewhere to shift this. It has hidden its secrets well because of the difficulties of filming underwater. [thunder rumbling] And the weather is more and more unpredictable. We cant cut down rainforests forever, and anything that we cant do forever is by definition unsustainable. [Attenborough] I was in a television studio when the Apollo mission launched. More than half of the species on land live here. Whales were being slaughtered by fleets of industrial whaling ships in the 1970s. As Attenborough reflects on his life, he begins each chapter with three facts. There are something like 4,000 million of us today, and weve reached this position with meteoric speed. This habitat was the subject of the series The Blue Planet, which we were filming in the late 90s. 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. Protected fish populations soon became so healthy, they spilt over into the areas open to fishing. However, half the world's rainforests have been destroyed, and the orangutan population in Borneo has reduced to a third of what it was. Addeddate Filmmaker Sir David Attenborough has been documenting the natural world since the 1950s. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. The predators help to keep nutrients in the oceans sunlit waters, recycling them so that they can be used again and again by plankton. It took a visionary scientist, Bernhard Grzimek, to explain that this wasnt true. Our home was not limitless. Executive-produced by his sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo. The trick is to raise the standard of living around the world without increasing our impact on that world. This city in Ukraine was once home to almost 50,000 people. [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. 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. Its a sanctuary for wild animals that are very rare elsewhere. The earths plants capture three trillion kilowatt-hours of solar energy each day. Within 20 years, renewables are predicted to be the worlds main source of power. So, what do we do? Even in places where theres no land at all. A sixth mass extinction event is well underway. However, if we had "no fishing" zones in one-third of the sea, our fish stocks could recover over the long term. There was an edge to our existence. The white color is caused by corals expelling algae that lives symbiotically within their body. And to begin with, it was quite easy. But we can make them the only source. One of the extraordinary things about it was that the world could actually watch it as it happened. Forests are a fundamental component of our planets recovery. But the longer we leave it, the more difficult itll be to do something about it. [Attenborough] They ate meat rarely. These rivers are also dumping grounds for chemicals and pesticides, destroying birds and freshwater fish. A few days after that and theyre gone over the horizon. Imagine if we committed to a similar approach across the world. The complete series [HD DVD] / a BBC/Discovery Channel/NHK co-production, in association with the CBC ; . We learnt how to exploit the seasons to produce food crops. But during his lifetime, Attenborough has also seen first-hand the monumental scale of humanity's impact on nature. In the 1950s, Bernhard Grzimek, a German scientist, realized that wildlife was under threat in the Serengeti and needed the entire expanse of the plains to survive. 2020 | Maturity Rating: 7+ | 1h 23m | Science & Nature Docs. But Ive had unbelievable luck and good fortune. If we want to, we can kill almost anything in the sea that we wish. A knight framed for a crime he didn't commit turns to a shape-shifting teen to prove his innocence. Despite its size, the Netherlands is now the worlds second largest exporter of food. Fossil fuels increase the greenhouse effect, releasing gases such as carbon dioxide. Leading lives that interlock in such a way that they sustain each other. 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. So there's not a profit in it, we still go killing it, and they throw a heck of a lot of it back. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. It had everything a community would need for a comfortable life. It was a great place to come to as a boy, because this is, um, ironstone workings, but it was disused. This trajectory is unsustainable, and the Great Acceleration will inevitably result in a "Great Decline.". Sir David, thanks so much for being with us. It was only in the 50s that large fleets first ventured out into international waters to reap the open ocean harvest across the globe. Attenborough is now 94, and throughout his long life, has watched the natural world wither before his eyes. As a child, Attenborough enjoyed studying fossils. 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 eat 50 billion chickens a year and feed them with soy planted on deforested land. In 1990, parts of the Mexican Coast were overfished, so a marine protected area was established. It was an astonishing vision of a completely unknown world, a world that had existed since the beginning of time. Mangroves and coral reefs along thousands of miles of coast have harbored nurseries of fish species that, when mature, then range into open waters. The Maasai word Serengeti means endless plains. To those who live here, its an apt description. The sooner it happens, the easier it makes everything else we have to do. That non-human world is gone. Let's briefly go back in time. The longer they have to wait for the ice to return, the more they use up their fat supplies. Just imagine that. They are the best technology nature has for locking away carbon. 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. Half of the worlds rainforests have already been cleared. SIMON: You advocate what you call no-fish zones. The various meetings that have been convened by the United Nations - setting out plans which need validation by national governments and which will cost national governments, and I think that we need to persuade our own government in this country - and maybe you in your country - that we as citizens recognize what's happening to the world. The largest whales, the blues, numbered only a few thousand by then. And this is what they saw what we all saw. In truth, I couldnt imagine living my life in any other way. [snorting] Whenever we choose a piece of meat, we too are unwittingly demanding a huge expanse of space. What has that done? Mistakes. 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. 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. And they are centers of biodiversity. And Im going to tell you how. But for us, an idea could do that. He researched how the Earth had experienced massive eruptions at specific points, destroying many species. To move from being apart from nature to becoming a part of nature once again. It will lead to our destruction. Millions of people rendered homeless. You put crops on the land and get another reward. Billions of individuals, and millions of kinds of plants and animals [birds chirping] dazzling in their variety and richness. I first witnessed the destruction of an entire habitat in Southeast Asia. From Pripyat, a deserted area after the nuclear disaster, Attenborough gives an overview of his life. A century ago, more than three quarters of Costa Rica was covered with forest. In this future, we discover ways to benefit from our land that help, rather than hinder, wilderness. As with the citizens of Pripyat, we carry on with our daily lives, unaware that our carelessness and lack of planning will ultimately destroy us, and our natural world, unless we alter our self-destructive trajectory. Weve managed to travel by boat to islands that were impossible to get to historically because they were permanently locked in the ice. SIMON: You were a BBC executive in the control room when the first pictures of Earth were sent back by the Apollo 8 crew. He has perpetually been on the road ever since. Our impact now truly profound. It was a brutal and unpredictable world. Our planet, vulnerable and isolated. 75% of all species were wiped out. The white corals are ultimately smothered by seaweed. Required fields are marked *. A habitat that is dead in comparison. Its finite. Um, and I certainly would feel very guilty if I saw what the problems are and decided to ignore them. 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. For much of its expanse, the ocean is largely empty. Iceland, Albania, and Paraguay generate their electricity without fossil fuels. Rising sea levels could lead to cities like Rotterdam, Ho Chi Minh City, and Miami being evacuated. The Holocene has been one of the most stable periods in our planets great history. In the 30 years since the evacuation of Chernobyl, the wild has reclaimed the space. Its entirely possible for us to apply both low-tech and hi-tech solutions to produce much more food from much less land. Plankton would also be destroyed by the acid, affecting the entire food chain. The most remote habitat of all exists at the extreme north and south of the planet. He and his son used a plane to follow the herds over the horizon. David Attenborough has seen more of the natural world than any other. 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. Chris Rock makes comedy history with this global livestreaming event. "No fishing" zones cover less than 7% of the ocean. Synopsis. ATTENBOROUGH: Well, it could be gone. And, of course, the ocean is important to all of us as a source of food. In this . Uploaded by 70% of the mass of birds on this planet are domestic birds. Seasons blend into one another in these tropical conditions, with lush growth, abundant flowering, and seed production occurring in ongoing cycles. We need to rediscover how to be sustainable. 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. Recent surveys indicate that one-third of the population has either stopped or reduced their meat consumption in the UK, and 39% of Americans are trying to eat less meat. They discovered that the Serengeti herds required an enormous area of healthy grassland to function. Morocco generates 40% from renewable power plants and exports solar energy. You can also read the transcript. Clean energy has to replace fossil fuels. By damming, polluting, and over-extracting rivers and lakes, weve reduced the size of freshwater populations by over 80%. How do we reclaim farmland but also increase the food supply for a growing population? Its quite straightforward. It's not too late. One Hundred Years of Solitude. I look at these images now and I realize that, although as a young man I felt I was out there in the wild experiencing the untouched natural world it was an illusion. Right now, were facing a manmade disaster of global scale. 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. But what if Nimona is the monster he's sworn to kill? 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 Raising yields tenfold in two generations while at the same time using less water, fewer pesticides, less fertilizer and emitting less carbon. Rainforests are particularly precious habitats. Tired of the small-time grind, three Marseille cops get a chance to bust a major drug network. 24FramesArchives Downloads only available on ad-free plans. 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. With nothing to restrict us, our population has been growing dramatically throughout my lifetime. The cycle of destruction continues as the sea life is trapped by or ingests this waste.

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