David Attenborough: A life on Our Planet
Project Topic Inspiration
I recently watched David Attenborough: A life on our planet on Netflix. It was a really powerful and heavy documentary to watch, really highlighting how we need to save our planet now more than ever. It is a more personal documentary from him than what we are used to and involved Attenborough reflecting on his life and how much change just in his lifetime that he has seen the Earth undergo. From fast rising populations to loss of habitats and wildlife. He claims that our intelligence has changed the way that we have evolved and that it has stopped us from living in harmony with nature. This has really sparked my inspiration and has really made me want to produce a project surrounding the importance of protecting the planet and creating change.
This is his witness statement. A big message of how humans have destroyed the natural world and how much of this destruction he has witnessed in his lifetime. He has noticed how certain animals and species were becoming harder and harder to find as a result of poaching and human impact. Having a knock on effect on the biodiversity and pushing animals to extinction. Since Attenborough had begun filming in the 1950s, wild animal populations have more than halved.
One of the main things that struck me in the documentary was him talking about places that are already taking action to lower the amounts of carbon in our atmosphere and reducing their impact. For example, in the Netherlands for their farming they use less pesticides, less fertilizer and less water, whilst emitting less carbon into the atmosphere.
As well as this, Morocco generates 40% of its energy needs from renewable power. Which is a really great and positive thing. That other countries should be striving towards.
He exclaims at the end of the documentary that it is not just about saving the planet, it's about saving ourselves. And as soon as people begin to make this connection I feel that change will be inevitable. Even though there does seem to be a lot more change and action happening It still seems as though many people still don't take these issues seriously and for someone who feels so deeply about this subject it can be very frustrating to try and educate people on how to cut down their plastic consumption or bring down their carbon footprint, as many people don't want to hear what you have to say. I feel that photography and film are such important mediums to get these messages across and can be really impactful and meaningful without people feeling like you're giving them a lecture. The message is really clear that we must act now and act quickly to reverse the damage.
The documentary goes onto explain what will happen in the near future if we carry on the way we are. By 2040 he claims that thawing soils will release methane into the atmosphere, a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide. By 2050, coral reefs around the world will die, and by 2080 global food production will plummet due to soils being overused and drying out, pollinating insects will disappear and the weather will be even more extreme.
Overall this documentary has really resinated with me. I knew we had to act now towards climate change but this documentary really concreted that and helped me to better understand why this is necessary and what can be done to help change. I hope that it has also sparked change in many others and that there is hope to better our future.
