See related: Biologists warn extinction denial is the latest anti-science conspiracy theory. Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre | Transcript, The Sorrow and the Pity (1969) Review by David Denby, J.P. Morgan: How One Man Financed America [Transcript]. We will finally learn how to work with nature rather than against it. They were virtually impossible to find. All rights reserved. Huge herds on the plains have kept the grasslands rich and productive by fertilizing the soils. David Attenborough narrates a natural history of the oceans. The green sea turtle is one of the largest and most widespread of all the marine turtles. A RESTful API to access Revs workforce of fast, high quality transcriptionists and captioners. Mangroves and coral reefs along thousands of miles of coast have harbored nurseries of fish species that, when mature, then range into open waters. 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. Pollinating insects disappear. You could fly for hours over the untouched wilderness. There were twice the number of people on the planet as there were when I was born. People had never seen pangolins before on television. We must fix our sights on keeping one and a half degrees within reach. Skeletons of dead creatures. With nothing to restrict us, our population has been growing dramatically throughout my lifetime. A Life on our Planet paints this picture with enough clarity to have my 12-year old daughter in tears. This was particularly the case in the final episode of Planet Earth II, Cities, in which he did a piece to camera calling for the world to think more carefully about wildlife when it comes to urban development. How Darwin noticed different adaptations in the tortoises from Galapagos. The earth is not "living" because of us, but we are living because of the earth. Were certainly the most numerous large animal. And the reef turns from wonderland to wasteland. It worked out the secret of life long ago. We have a lot more than just climate change to worry about, argues this nature doc narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Can we fix climate problem in one generation? Im talking about the loss of our planets wild places, its biodiversity. Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet is a documentary about the end of the world. We cut down over 15 billion trees each year. And we now had the means to make people across the world aware. Industry-leading accurate legal transcription to ensure you dont miss a statement. The people alive now, the generation to come, will look at this conference and consider one thing. Like "For life to truly thrive on this planet, there must be immense biodiversity. Orangutan mothers have to spend ten years with their young, teaching them which fruits are worth eating. This particular one has a scientific name of Tiltonicerus, because the first one ever was found near this quarry here in Tilton, in the middle of England. And as we work to build a better world, we must acknowledge, no nation has completed its development because no advanced nation is yet sustainable. Speaker 6: (05:46) Over time, I began to learn something about the earths evolutionary history. Once the script and its timing is in place, it actually only takes him about two hours to record the narration for an hour-long episode, he explains, allowing for the odd re-take when theres a mispronunciation. The Netherlands is one of the worlds most densely-populated countries. So who should watch A Life on our Planet? See production, box office & company info, Self - Geological Survey of Denmark & Greenland, Self - Arc Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Self - Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Self - Future Africa: University of Pretoria, Self - Institute of Advanced Studies University of So Paulo, Self - University of California at San Diego, Self - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Self - Environmentalist at University of Queensland, : . David Attenborough talks about his longstanding fascination with discovering fossils. But on the 26th of April, 1986, it suddenly became uninhabitable. At first, they caught plenty of fish in their nets. At some point in the future, the human population will peak for the very first time. There was nothing left to restrict us. And to begin with, it was quite easy. In 1950, a Japanese family was likely to have three or more children. And you could happily retire. But within only a few years, the nets across the globe were coming in empty. Forests are a fundamental component of our planets recovery. David Attenborough investigates the age of an elephant bird's egg that he has discovered. The Maasai word Serengeti means endless plains. To those who live here, its an apt description. The biodiversity of the Holocene helped to bring stability, and the entire living world settled into a gentle, reliable rhythm the seasons. This truth defined the life we led in our pre-history, the time before farming and civilization. They charted them as they moved across rivers, through woodlands, and over national borders. As much now as I did when I was a boy. If theres any justice in the world, Marcel Ophls monumental labor will be studied and debated for years. We require wisdom. . We urgently need society (and the politicians we elect) to recognize the broader destruction of our natural world by a thousand cuts, and refuse to accept this any longer. You can see it. Share: Our Impact. David Attenborough introduces the world of glowing fungi, in the soil and above ground. It was shot in 39 countries. We must immediately halt deforestation everywhere and grow crops like oil palm and soya only on land that was deforested long ago. Running time: 1 hour 13 minutes. A mass extinction has happened five times in life's four-billion-year history. If we take care of nature, nature will take care of us. David Attenborough's breathtaking journey through Africa. Details a We are ultimately bound by and defined by the resources on this planet.. At last, Attenborough clearly illustrates the devastating impact humanity has had on our planet. The Second World War was over, technology was making our lives easier. And in less than 48 hours, the city was evacuated. [Attenborough] If we can change the way we live on Earth, an alternative future comes into view. visual of featureless humans walking on color-coded pathways, which looks like a commercial for pain-relief medication and to which the film returns constantly, to laughable effect. Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet: Directed by Jonathan Clay. 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. If working apart, we are force powerful enough to destabilize our planet, surely, working together, we are powerful enough to save it. For much of its expanse, the ocean is largely empty. They had never seen the center of New Guinea before. 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. For a long time, I and perhaps you have dreaded that future. As well as appearing on screen, he was very involved in the script. Ive had the most extraordinary life. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. Our EIN or tax ID is 45-3714703. 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. Leading lives that interlock in such a way that they sustain each other. At first, the cause of the bleaching was a mystery. We will all share in the benefits. Another potential solution is to get the generations communicating. David Attenborough climbs up a tree to capture a 12 Burmese python. Breaking Boundaries may have interesting even critical information to convey about the future of our species and the fate of the planet. Stay up to date: Weve managed to travel by boat to islands that were impossible to get to historically because they were permanently locked in the ice. A few days after that and theyre gone over the horizon. And a few years later, that idea became obvious to everyone. At the same time, the Arctic becomes ice-free in the summer. Your story put me in the shoes of the gorillas whose life got shortened. Half a million gazelle. David Attenborough Still Has Hope for Our Future At 94, the beloved British naturalist remains curious and optimistic. It triggered an environmental catastrophe that had an impact across Europe. Ways to fish our seas that enable them to come quickly back to life. Our cities will be cleaner and quieter. And beyond that strip, there is nothing but regimented rows of oil palms. A century ago, more than three quarters of Costa Rica was covered with forest. Even our oceans are wrought having been treated as humanitys toilet bowl for the past millennia, 90% of fish are gone and corals are being bleached white. 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. Speaker 8: (06:03) 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. [exclaiming in surprise] And Im still learning. The living world will endure. 0 likes. Kirsty and David discuss a memorable moment from the 1979 production, Life on Earth. Celebrate Sir David Attenborough's amazing programmes from the 1950s to the present day. We had very little understanding of how the living world actually worked. This is not about saving our planet its about saving ourselves. Life had no option but to rebuild. We are ultimately bound by and reliant upon the finite natural world about us. 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 style feels fussy and belabored as if the end of the world were not dramatic enough. The killing of whales turned from a harvest to a crime. The ocean is a critical ally in our battle to reduce carbon in the atmosphere. [protester over megaphone] We are men and women, and we speak for children, and were all saying, Please stop killing the whales.. The last time it happened was the event that brought the end of the age of the dinosaurs. The explosion was a result of bad planning and human error. But if you get in a helicopter, you see that that is a strip about half a mile wide. A marked change in atmospheric carbon has always been incompatible with a stable earth. 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. By 1997, only 46% of the planets wilderness remained. [Attenborough] They lived in small numbers and didnt take too much. Each generation able to develop and progress only because the living world could be relied upon to deliver us the conditions we needed. On an expedition in New Guinea, the BBC film crew give gifts to the Biami tribe. Today, the forest has taken over the city. And the rich and thriving living world around us has been key to this stability. We know how to stop the number rising and put it in reverse. It is time for us to change our ways. In the past, animals had to develop some physical ability to change their lives. Rainforests are particularly precious habitats. [thunder rumbling] And the weather is more and more unpredictable. The natural world is fading. Every other species on Earth reaches a maximum population after a time. Perhaps the fact that the people most affected by climate change are no longer some imagined future generation, but young people alive today, perhaps that will give us the impetus we need to rewrite our story, to turn this tragedy into a triumph. 47 programmes available. The BBC celebrates Sir David Attenborough on his 90th birthday. Ive traveled to every part of the globe. It always counts to do whatever it takes to save the humanity. When you think about it, were completing a journey. David Attenborough comes face to face with a baby rhino and asks what the future holds for this little one. BBC One posted a behind-the-scenes video of him working on Planet Earth II this week, documenting his role in proceedings. Planet Earth II (2016) - episodes with scripts. In 2002 he was named among the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide poll for the BBC. The pace of progress was unlike anything to be found in the fossil record. A few millennia after this began, I grew up at exactly the right moment. The future generations of many tree species would be at risk. The most remote habitat of all exists at the extreme north and south of the planet. But its possible to slow, even to stop population growth well before it reaches that point. I mean, we have completely well, destroyed that world. Published December 29, 2008. Which countries are best prepared for the green tech transition? He talked about his new docu-series, "A Perfect Planet," and why the. Make your content more accessible to people with disabilities. David Attenborough: (00:48) Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet Review: A Dire Warning, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/movies/breaking-boundaries-the-science-of-our-planet-review.html, A scene from the documentary Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet.. Nature is a key ally. Fishing is worlds greatest wild harvest. And this is what they saw what we all saw. A monoculture of oil palm. And yet, this is what weve been turning this dizzying diversity into. Its the only way out of this crisis we have created. The last time it happened was the event that brought the end of the age of the dinosaurs. By the 1980s, uncontrolled logging had reduced this to just one quarter. Unless we stopped ourselves. It had everything a community would need for a comfortable life. The stability we all depend on is breaking. [whales singing] Their mournful songs were the key to transforming peoples opinions about them. In this future, we discover ways to benefit from our land that help, rather than hinder, wilderness. By the time Attenborough had reached his 50s, the human population had doubled from its size when he was born. OUR PLANET. Duration: 2:51 This is a fundamentally important documentary by a man trusted around the world, so ideally, this documentary should be seen by everyone, but the brevity of the biodiversity crisis, the potential impacts and the solutions would be educational to politicians worldwide. Japans standard of living climbed rapidly in the latter half of the 20th century. A documentary series on the wildlife found on Earth. Sunlight, wind, water and geothermal. As we improve our approach to farming, well start to reverse the land-grab that weve been pursuing ever since we began to farm, which is essential because we have an urgent need for all that free land. Sitting on the edge of the Sahara, and cabled directly into southern Europe, Morocco could be an exporter of solar energy by 2050. The sooner it happens, the easier it makes everything else we have to do. Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our PlanetNot rated. Again, the two features work together. All this was absolutely clear, it was only just stopped being a working quarry. There are solutions to avoid this. Ive seen it with my own eyes. We now have the opportunity to create the perfect home for ourselves, and restore the rich, healthy, and wonderful world that we inherited. Even one as vast as the ocean. This is a series of one-way doors bringing irreversible change. We can start to produce food in new spaces. We humans cannot presume the same. Without this training, they would not complete their role in dispersing seeds. These people were hunter-gatherers, as all humankind had been before farming. How could the people of Easter Island create and move such imense structures around? View all of Mongabays coverage of conservation solutions here. as they were made aware of the natural world. Two impassioned fans talk about their hero. David Attenborough's breathtaking journey through Africa. Its happened in my lifetime. In the 1950s, Borneo was three-quarters covered with rainforest. At times, our ancestors existed only in tiny numbers, but just over 10,000 years ago, that number suddenly stabilized and with it, Earths climate. Palau is a Pacific Island nation reliant on its coral reefs for fish and tourism. In such places, huge shoals of fish gather. Yet, theyve removed 90% of the large fish in the sea. A speed of change that exceeds any in the last 10,000 years. Working with their traditional technology, they were living sustainably, a lifestyle that could continue effectively forever. This habitat was the subject of the series The Blue Planet, which we were filming in the late 90s. And powerful evidence that however grave our mistakes, nature will ultimately overcome them. And we were responsible. It was a great place to come to as a boy, because this is, um, ironstone workings, but it was disused. And, of course, the ocean is important to all of us as a source of food. In my lifetime, Ive witnessed a terrible decline. Increasingly, theyre doing so sustainably. Attenborough launched an official Instagram account on Thursday, Sept. 24, in support of the film. Our predators had been eliminated. We actually have no control. It scares me. We are Canadian. There was nothing to stop us, unless we stopped ourselves, he says in the new documentary and sadly, we have not. Great numbers of species disappear and are suddenly replaced by a few. 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. Coral reefs were turning white. Everything weve achieved in the last 10,000 years was enabled by the stability during this time. This documentary points out what the problems are, how the problems evolve, and how we can accomplish to reduce this long-termed crisis level. Although the rhinoceros is referred to as black, its colour varies from brown to grey. The problem is that our fishing fleets are just as good at finding those hot spots as are the fish. And the speed of global warming increases. The white corals are ultimately smothered by seaweed. The start of my career in my 20s coincided with the advent of global air travel. Transcribe your audio files to find high-impact insights in minutes. Were going to have to learn together, how to achieve this, ensuring none are left behind. The worlds greatest wildlife reserve. Fish populations crash. Thank you. Speaker 4: (03:12) Sir David Attenborough Answers . Giving people a greater opportunity of life is what we would want to do anyway. Scientists call it the Holocene. There is widespread acknowledgement within the scientific community that the climate of Africa has been changing as stated in the programme. The ocean has long since become unable to absorb all the excess heat caused by our activities. A mass extinction has happened five times in lifes four-billion-year history. But we can make them the only source. By damming, polluting, and over-extracting rivers and lakes, weve reduced the size of freshwater populations by over 80%. Well, weve destroyed it. Celebrating Attenborough at 90. Life had no option but to rebuild. We had worked out how to produce food to order. The Holocene was our Garden of Eden. All we need is the will to do so. This film is my witness statement and my vision for the future, the story of how we came to make this our greatest mistake, and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right. He is a former senior manager at the BBC, having served as controller of BBC Two and director of programming for BBC Television in the 1960s and 1970s. Our blind assault on the planet has finally come to alter the very fundamentals of the living world. Um and, in a way, I wish I wasnt involved in this struggle. They are named so for the green colour of their fat and connective tissues. Attenborough rewrites each script to fit his own turn of phrase and checks for accuracy. The wilder and more diverse forests are, the more effective they are at absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. [Attenborough] At the turn of the century, Morocco relied on imported oil and gas for almost all of its energy. In yours, you could and should witness a wonderful recovery. For 65 million years, its been at work reconstructing the living world until we come to the world we know our time. Not just ruined it. More than half of the species on land live here. POOL/AFP via Getty Images. Its a creature called an ammonite. When you first see it, you think perhaps that its beautiful, and suddenly you realize its tragic. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. We now understand this problem. Explore and monitor how Future of the Environment is affecting economies, industries and global issues. When Attenborough showed the world how similar we are to some of our closest relatives, mountain gorillas, in his Life on Earth series in 1978, wilderness had dropped to 55% of the planet. A moment ago, we made this recording with an underwater microphone here in the Pacific near Hawaii. Boo! The thing we rely upon for every element of the lives we lead. An hour-long episode will actually only take him about two hours to record. In 1998, a Blue Planet film crew stumbled on an event little known at the time. We have pursued animals to extinction many times in our history, but now that it was visible, it was no longer acceptable. [wildebeest snorting] For every single predator on the Serengeti, there are more than 100 prey animals. But in certain places, there are hot spots where currents bring nutrients to the surface and trigger an explosion of life. Global food production enters a crisis as soils become exhausted by overuse. As nations develop everywhere, people choose to have fewer children. An in-depth, sobering look at the tragic events of a century ago. The global air temperature had been relatively stable till the 90s. [young Attenborough] We heard a crashing in the branches ahead. David Attenborough meets a particularly talented lyrebird. Without large fish and other marine predators, the oceanic nutrient cycle stutters. And renewable energy will never run out. This documentary's message is underrated by many people, and it has been like that for a long time. Get a weekly digest of the weeks most important transcripts in your inbox. A habitat that is dead in comparison. This is now our planet, run by humankind for humankind. Within the span of the next lifetime, the security and stability of the Holocene, our Garden of Eden will be lost. Uh The Human beings have overrun the world. In international waters, the UN is attempting to create the biggest no fish zone of all. By the time Attenborough filmed his Zoo Quest series in 1954, 64% of the planet was wilderness. [protester in English] Hello, Boctok. That is my witness statement. 1997 WORLD POPULATION: 5.9 BILLION CARBON IN ATMOSPHERE: 360 PARTS PER MILLION REMAINING WILDERNESS: 46%. A sixth mass extinction event is well underway. Climate Change: The Facts: Directed by Serena Davies. But to Attenborough, he was reliving the same phenomena he had observed as a child in the fossils he found at his local quarry extinction, during his very lifetime. It was a rediscovery of a fundamental truth. Its only now that I appreciate how extraordinary. And you see this curtain of green with occasionally birds in it, and you think its perhaps okay. The number of children being born worldwide every year is about to level off. We invented farming. Episode 6 of 6. Wherever I went, there was wilderness. Your life on earth . This story is one of inequality, as well as instability. A line in the rock layers. There are solutions whaling almost sent the great whales extinct, but its cessation after society changed its perspective to this being unacceptable has led to one of the planets greatest wildlife recoveries. David Attenborough describes the massive variety of life that lives on Earth. 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. Every one has a critical role to play. Despite its size, the Netherlands is now the worlds second largest exporter of food. Apparently stung by criticism about the false impressions his documentaries have provided on the state of our natural world, Attenborough has produced a witness statement outlining the changes to the environment over his 94-year existence and solutions to the biodiversity crisis he has lived through. The deforestation of Borneo has reduced the population of orangutan by two-thirds since I first saw one just over 60 years ago. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, BBC want new Planet Earth before David Attenborough turns 100, How David Attenborough puts a script together for Planet Earth II, camera calling for the world to think more carefully about wildlife when it comes to urban development, 15% off orders with this Zavvi discount code, 25% off everything with this Red Letter Days discount code, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Get up to 10% off using the Booking.com app, At least 10% less than RRP across all departments at TK Maxx, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK May 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this May, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands.