Recently, I had the opportunity to watch a newer Netflix documentary called A Life On Our Planet. David Attenborough, broadcaster, natural historian, and writer, describes his life, which has been characterized by worldwide travel and experiences then explains how this shaped his worldview. Attenborough, age 93, has vast credentials like his extensive travels and education being most prominent, but is responsible for voicing, producing, and directing numerous documentaries and various series concerning the planet and related aspects. Most recently, to further promote his message and newest documentary, Attenborough joined Instagram and in doing so, broke the Guinness World Record for becoming the first person to reach one million followers the fastest— just under five hours.
A Life On Our Planet, upon its release on Netflix and other streaming platforms, was top-ranked for some time and quickly gained traction. The documentary opens with Attenborough alone in a seemingly abandoned and overgrown area. I quickly recognized it to be Chernobyl; In 1986 the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant caused a nuclear accident forcing the entire city to undergo a mass evacuation, resulting still in the loss of lives, the entire city, and costing millions in damages, reparations, and aid. This event serves as a primary example of poor planning and human error leading to a devastating disaster. Attenborough expresses that we’re facing a planetary crisis that’s slowly but surely happening right before our eyes. He emphasizes the fact that the wild places of the world have decreased immensely and that the world now dangerously lacks its original levels of biodiversity. Attenborough states that “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.”
The film ranges in a multitude of aspects exploring and discussing obstacles and topics related to the Earth. Initially, a slide of a breakdown is shown describing the year 1937. At that point in time, the total world population was 2.3 billion people, the carbon level in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million and the remaining amount of wilderness was at 66%. Currently, in 2020, the world population is 7.8 billion, the carbon level in the atmosphere is 415 parts per million and the remaining amount of wilderness is only 35%. With widely uncontrolled and unregulated industrialization, deforestation, mass emissions, and farming it’s evident that the planet is paying the price. It is simply a scientific fact that our Earth is undergoing global warming. Attenborough establishes these premises early on to reiterate further just what it is we’re looking at. In this century we are facing a sixth mass extinction and it is already well underway. A noteworthy point that the film makes recognizes that nearly half of the fertile land left on the planet is dedicated to farmland. This aligns with the ever-increasing demand by the global population for meat. Raising livestock for consumption is not sustainable in the slightest and takes mass amounts of land, effort, resources, and money. Domesticated and livestock animals outnumber wildlife by a landslide and it’s all to satisfy the historic human need and dependency on meat. Attenborough expresses that, “This is now our planet run by humankind for humankind.”
The documentary shifts and portrays decade by decade exactly what will be happening at that point and that this generation will surely live through if nothing is done. During the 2030s, the Amazon Rainforest, (like others,) will no longer be able to retain enough moisture to thrive, will be severely impacted by deforestation, and will revert to a dry savannah-like existence. This will impact the water cycle globally and will in turn even further speed up the glacial and polar icecap melting, ramping up global warming even more. By the 2040s methane levels, (which are more harmful than carbon dioxide levels) will be at an all-time high of emitting from thawed, once frozen soil, as it melts and releases absurd amounts of methane into the atmosphere. In the 2050s the ocean’s temperatures will be too high and make it nearly uninhabitable for some species— such as coral reefs— which will die off completely. Populations of fish that we rely on for sustenance will no longer be able to thrive and will suffer extreme drops in numbers. Nearing the 2080s, the world will be in a state of a food crisis emergency as any farmable land/soil has been overused. At that point, large areas of the planet will be uninhabitable, there will not be enough resources to sustain the population, the weather will be detrimentally extreme and erratic, and the Earth will be warmer by four degrees celsius. Reaching this point will be when the sixth mass extinction will really take effect.
There is still time, and David Attenborough makes it clear that as long as we have the collective will, enact plans for revitalized ways of living sustainably and switch to harnessing energy through renewable resources. The end of the film comes full circle, honing back in on Attenborough in Chernobyl. He explains that it has been 30 years since the nuclear accident that caused the city to now be abandoned. Nature has taken the city back and the forest there now thrives and is home to many species of animals and life that are rare to see elsewhere. Chernobyl is an example of a tragic event while simultaneously is a potential beacon of hope. After human life was lost and driven out of there, it was only natural and indefinite that ecologically the environment bounced back. Attenborough urges a few main points and takeaways in the end. The Earth has no choice but to rebuild, it’s what it has always done post past mass extinctions and it will move on with or without the majority of the human population. It is crucial that humanity as a whole act because we only have enough time now to preserve what’s left of the planet for ourselves and to guarantee a life for future generations. It is too late to reverse the damage already done but if we pull back, switch to sustainable style living and protect what’s left eventually the Earth will return to a form of what it once was, hosting revitalized wild areas and biodiversity. We must now do all we can on a global scale to save ourselves and ensure a future, the Earth will catch up in time but only if the necessary shift to sustainable, harmonious, and balanced life occurs. He expresses his final words at the end, “All we need is the will to do so. We now have the opportunity to create the perfect home for ourselves, and restore the rich, healthy, and wonderful world that we inherited. Just imagine that.”
Stand for what you stand on. It’s time for real change. To view a trailer for the documentary and to learn more go to https://www.ourplanet.com/en/video/david-attenborough-a-life-on-our-planet-trailer/