Watch on Netflix. Section 107, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Mongabay is a U.S.-based non-profit conservation and environmental science news platform. When fish stocks began to reduce, the Palauans responded by restricting fishing practices and banning fishing entirely from many areas. He is the younger brother of the director, producer and actor Richard Attenborough, and older brother of the motor executive John Attenborough. Thank you. There are something like 4,000 million of us today, and weve reached this position with meteoric speed. Finally, Attenborough urges us to listen to experts scientists may have been illustrating the problems for several decades, but politicians have preferred to play the short game and ignore the evidence. David Attenborough's 'witness statement' for the planet (commentary) By the time Sir David Attenborough had reached his 50s, the human population had doubled in size from when he was born . Episode guide 1. Because what youre looking at is skeletons. Thank you for the feedback, the missing data has been added and incorrect year amended. 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. Can we fix climate problem in one generation? Biologists warn extinction denial is the latest anti-science conspiracy theory, They have conned us out of our lands: Conflict brews in Peru as Mennonite settlers clear forest, Expansion of Mennonite farmland in Bolivia encroaches on Indigenous land, Mennonite colonies linked to deforestation of Indigenous territories and protected areas in Paraguay, Deforestation on the rise in Quintana Roo, Mexico, as Mennonite communities move in, Colombia: Scientists explore remote seamounts to protect hammerhead sharks, Kelp forests contribute $500 billion to global economy, study shows, Parasites of the Caribbean: Study pinpoints cause of sea urchin die-off, Norway proposes opening Germany-sized area of its continental shelf to deep-sea mining, Mouth of the Amazon oil exploration clashes with Lulas climate promises, Ill keep fighting: Indigenous activist and Goldman winner Alessandra Munduruku, Dont buy Brazilian gold: Q&A with Indigenous leader Jnior Hekurari Yanomami, Report sums up Bolsonaros destruction legacy and Amazons next critical steps, Gold miner faces global protests as it rekindles a mine with a violent legacy, Professional services abound for Amazon land grabbers seeking legitimacy, Scramble for clean energy metals confronted by activist calls to respect Indigenous rights, Report links financial giants to deforestation of Paraguays Gran Chaco, You dont kill people to protect forests: New Thai parks chief raises alarm, Vietnams environmental NGOs face uncertain status, shrinking civic space, We lost the biggest ally: Nelly Marubo on her friend Bruno Pereiras legacy, Murders of 2 Patax leaders prompt Ministry of Indigenous Peoples to launch crisis office, Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesias Gorontalo, After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantans veteran forester persists, Aziil Anwar, Indonesian coral-based mangrove grower, dies at 64, A utopia of clean air and wet peat amid Sumatras forest fire hell, Saving forests to protect coastal ecosystems: Japan sets historic example, From scarcity to abundance: The secret of the peace farmers of Colombia, For key Bangladesh wetland, bid for Ramsar status is no guarantee of protection, Biodiversity, human rights safeguards crucial to nature-based solutions: Critics, Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules, To build its green capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest, Robust river governance key to restoring Mekong River vitality in face of dams. We invented farming. David Attenborough's breathtaking journey through Africa. And you see this curtain of green with occasionally birds in it, and you think its perhaps okay. Fishing is worlds greatest wild harvest. [Attenborough] We are facing nothing less than the collapse of the living world. If we continue on our current course, the damage that has been the defining feature of my lifetime will be eclipsed by the damage coming in the next. Just imagine that. . Walking through the ruins of a school evacuated after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown (perhaps the most devastating environmental impact on the planet), Attenborough illustrates that all is not lost nature can bounce back if we give it a chance. The mountain gorilla is one of the three subspecies of the eastern gorilla. [whales singing] Their mournful songs were the key to transforming peoples opinions about them. We must rewild the world. The Holocene was our Garden of Eden. Try Rev and save time transcribing, captioning, and subtitling. David Attenborough has the honour of a dragonfly being named after him. Recordings like these revealed that the songs of the humpbacks are long and complex. A sixth mass extinction event is well underway. All available episodes' scripts of Tv Show Planet Earth II . Our blind assault on the planet has finally come to alter the very fundamentals of the living world. Published December 29, 2008. Thats almost 20 times the energy we need just from sunlight. Our planet, vulnerable and isolated. Every other species on Earth reaches a maximum population after a time. We waste the majority of stuff we consume, be it food, electricity, or space so Attenborough implores us to reduce waste if we do nothing else. By the time Attenborough had reached his 50s, the human population had doubled from its size when he was born. Your life on earth . David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockstrm examine Earth's biodiversity collapse and how this crisis can still be averted.David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockstrm examine Earth's biodiversity collapse and how this crisis can still be averted.David Attenborough and scientist Johan Rockstrm examine Earth's biodiversity collapse and how this crisis can still be averted. Wild Isles. Mangroves and coral reefs along thousands of miles of coast have harbored nurseries of fish species that, when mature, then range into open waters. [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. It was called natural history because thats essentially what it was all about history. Even when people are telling that now is the time to make a change, it was still time to do that many years ago. Im talking about the loss of our planets wild places, its biodiversity. Banner image: Sir David Attenborough, image courtesy of the BBC. David Attenborough: (03:16) David Attenborough. Kirsty and David discuss a memorable moment from the 1979 production, Life on Earth. Vast swathes of forest have been cleared, waters polluted, species driven extinct. Billions of individuals, and millions of kinds of plants and animals [birds chirping] dazzling in their variety and richness. [Attenborough] It felt that nothing would limit our progress. That non-human world is gone. Huge herds on the plains have kept the grasslands rich and productive by fertilizing the soils. David Attenborough plays back sound recordings to astonished villagers in Sierra Leone. An hour-long episode will actually only take him about two hours to record. Life had no option but to rebuild. EXCLUSIVE: Content creator and entrepreneur Markiplier has entered production in Austin, TX, on Iron Lung, a new horror film that he's starring in and directing from his own script. This was a world of stability humanitys Garden of Eden that led to the Agricultural Revolution and our ability to expand our populations and distribution. Half of the worlds rainforests have already been cleared. It was a rediscovery of a fundamental truth. In the past, animals had to develop some physical ability to change their lives. But that distant world is changing. 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. The most remote habitat of all exists at the extreme north and south of the planet. He is the only person to have won BAFTAs for programmes in each of black and white, colour, HD, 3D and 4K.Attenborough is widely considered a national treasure in Britain, although he himself does not like the term. And powerful evidence that however grave our mistakes, nature will ultimately overcome them. and the commentary has organic flow . But it now appeared this was only because the ocean was absorbing much of the excess heat, masking our impact. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. In the 1950s, Borneo was three-quarters covered with rainforest. Often described as the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world's oceans, this multiple award-winning series features jaw-droppingly beautiful underwater . Soon after, missions to space showed the Earth as a lonely, isolated rock covered with water, and we began to recognize that we needed to look after our home. All available episodes (9 total) Supporting Content. How Darwin noticed different adaptations in the tortoises from Galapagos. See related: Biologists warn extinction denial is the latest anti-science conspiracy theory. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. The history of all human civilization followed. The voice that has characterised over 60 years of natural history content at the BBC - here are our top 5 David Attenborough moments.Subscribe: http://bit.ly. Orangutan mothers have to spend ten years with their young, teaching them which fruits are worth eating. Im absolutely terrified to bring a child to this world. We are ultimately bound by and defined by the resources on this planet.. David Attenborough narrates a natural history of the oceans. We found ourselves in an unusually benign period with predictable seasons and reliable weather. It was only in the 50s that large fleets first ventured out into international waters to reap the open ocean harvest across the globe. Many of the millions of species in the forest exist in small numbers. Ultimately, all of us will feel the impact, some of which are now unavoidable. So, what do we do? Add English on-screen subtitles for videos. But the longer we leave it, the more difficult itll be to do something about it. The Green Planet. [thunder rumbling] [lowing] On the tropical plains, the dry and rainy seasons would switch every year like clockwork. The fishing quickly became so poor that countries began to subsidize the fleets to maintain the industry. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, An hour-long episode will actually only take him about two hours to record, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. 25 min read. Its a sanctuary for wild animals that are very rare elsewhere. A renewable future will be full of benefits. Unless we stopped ourselves. Phytoplankton at the oceans surface and immense forests straddling the north have helped to balance the atmosphere by locking away carbon. David Attenborough takes a stark look at the facts surrounding climate change in today's world, detailing the dangers we are already having to deal with and future threats, but also the possibilities for prevention and radical political, social and cultural change. Moving from corporate responsibility to impact, This Jordanian Designer Creates Sustainable Fashion from Food Waste, is affecting economies, industries and global issues, with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale. Details a Make your content more accessible to people with disabilities. In 1971, I set out to find an uncontacted tribe in New Guinea. Once a species became our target, there was now nowhere on earth that it could hide. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. It is about empowering people.". Immense grasslands. Those forests and plains and seas were already emptying. At the age of 92, Attenborough remains committed to that mission. We have a lot more than just climate change to worry about, argues this nature doc narrated by Sir David Attenborough. And beyond that strip, there is nothing but regimented rows of oil palms. [Attenborough] At the turn of the century, Morocco relied on imported oil and gas for almost all of its energy. Making Waves. A few days after that and theyre gone over the horizon. All have a journey still to complete so that all nations have a good standard of living and a modest footprint. It comes down to this. For 65 million years, its been at work reconstructing the living world until we come to the world we know our time. Skeletons of dead creatures. Even as some of us were setting foot on the moon, others were still leading such a life in the most remote parts of the planet. And the reef turns from wonderland to wasteland. And there I was, actually being asked to explore these places and record the wonders of the natural world for people back home. The movie visualizes these metaphors tritely, for instance by cutting to a moody shot of a window being shut, and relies extensively on an elaborate C.G.I. Global food production enters a crisis as soils become exhausted by overuse. The earths plants capture three trillion kilowatt-hours of solar energy each day. Ocean life was also unravelling in the shallows. The explosion was a result of bad planning and human error. A few millennia after this began, I grew up at exactly the right moment. Share: Our Impact. And Im going to tell you how. Im crying while typing this by the way. David Attenborough's breathtaking journey through Africa. You think you have control. Discover why Rev is the #1 speech-to-text service in the world. And in less than 48 hours, the city was evacuated. For 10,000 years, the average temperature has not wavered up or down by more than one degree Celsius. And in life the animal itself lived in the chamber here and spread out its tentacles to catch its prey. But its possible to slow, even to stop population growth well before it reaches that point. 2030s. [Attenborough] By the end of the century, Borneos rainforest had been reduced by half. The problem is that our fishing fleets are just as good at finding those hot spots as are the fish. Speaker 7: (05:55) We have pursued animals to extinction many times in our history, but now that it was visible, it was no longer acceptable. More than half of the species on land live here. A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda. Affordable, clean energy, healthy air and enough food to sustain us all. David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities. The measure that greatly determines global temperature and the changes in that one number is the clearest way to chart our own story, for it defines our relationship with our world. Today, those whove done the least to cause this problem, are being the hardest hit. The trick is to raise the standard of living around the world without increasing our impact on that world. Its hard to concentrate on land composition and vanishing biodiversity amid the barrage of bizarre visual effects and histrionic music. 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. Two impassioned fans talk about their hero. Each generation able to develop and progress only because the living world could be relied upon to deliver us the conditions we needed. In yours, you could and should witness a wonderful recovery. Your excellencies, delegates, ladies and gentlemen, as you spend the next two weeks, debating, negotiating, persuading and compromising, as you surely must, its easy to forget that ultimately the emergency climate comes down to a single number, the concentration of carbon in our atmosphere. Yet the way we humans live on Earth now is sending biodiversity into a decline. People had never seen pangolins before on television. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. This is a challenge that we should try to solve in a quick way, but with a long term vision. For the first time civilization was possible and we wasted no time in taking advantage of that. The number that can be sustained on the natural resources available. With David Attenborough, Elena Bennett, Jason Box, Terry Hughes. For much of humanitys ancient history, that number bounced wildly between 180 and 300, and so too did global temperatures. Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Yet, theyve removed 90% of the large fish in the sea. Just listen to this. He and his son used a plane to follow the herds over the horizon. And a few years later, that idea became obvious to everyone. 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. No one wants this to happen. Giving people a greater opportunity of life is what we would want to do anyway. Fossils. David Attenborough: (00:48) How life has changed and adapted over the past three thousand million years. The living world is essentially solar-powered. Its happened in my lifetime. The future generations of many tree species would be at risk. And they are centers of biodiversity. Narrated by Sir David Attenborough, the perennial voice of the British nature doc, "Breaking Boundaries" is brimming with grim scientific insight and urgent cautionary pronouncements, but its . It was an astonishing vision of a completely unknown world, a world that had existed since the beginning of time. The truth is, with or without us, the natural world will rebuild. . This unique feature documentary is his witness statement. Ive had the most extraordinary life. Sir David Frederick Attenborough is a naturalist and broadcaster, who is most well-known for writing and presenting the nine "Life" series, produced in conjunction with BBC's Natural History Unit.