This need not be painful. Extinction: The Factsis a significant departure. Firstly, the film makes it clear that a key ultimate driver is consumption in rich countries. In the recent BBC film Extinction: The Facts, Sir David Attenborough painfully examines just how critical this crisis has become. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Reduce food waste. The wildlife trade brings 1,000s of stressed animals into close contact, providing the perfect opportunity for viruses to jump) between species. Towards the end, the film moves back to more conventional conservation territory to insert a much-needed dose of optimism. But it was the section on Covid-19 which rally made the jaw drop. A must own DVD of Extinction: The Facts According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the proportion of global deaths caused by communicable disease, maternal and neonatal conditions fell from 46 per cent in 1990 to 28 per cent in 2017. It is shocking that the BBC can have allowed such one-sided green propaganda onto our screens without putting issues of human development and the natural world into proper context. Now you can get the top stories from Gizmodo delivered to your inbox. The parallels with Greta Thunbergs recent high-profile speech to the UN serve to highlight how little progress has been made. At the same time, removing large predators results in increased abundance of rodents and bats which are more likely to carry dangerous viruses. Extinction With David Attenborough 6 December 2020 6/12/2020 Sunday ABC With a million species at risk of extinction, David Attenborough explores how this crisis of biodiversity has consequences for us all, including putting us at greater risk of pandemic diseases. In developed countries infectious disease has gone from being the main cause of death especially in children to being a rarity. Screening of Extinction: The Facts by Sir David Attenborough About this Event The Italian Cultural Institute is pleased to co-organise this event on the important topics of biodiversity and climate change in partnership with the British High Commission in Australia , the Embassy of Italy in Australia , the British Consulate General and the Italian Consulate General. Get the latest developments around the world, The Spectator Australia's Morning Double Shot delivers a hearty breakfast of news and views straight to your inbox, David Attenborough's BBC documentary 'Extinction: The Facts' (BBC), The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP, published in the Journal of the Royal Society, How David Attenborough and the catastrophist crew have humanity wrong, The dividing wall between law and politics is under attack, The Sydney Writers Festival: so woke you want to call for blood tests, What Kevin Rudd gets wrong about church and state, REVEALED: Al Gores real climate catastrophe, Higher prices, lower competitiveness as Daniel Andrews goes it alone on emissions, Sex, gender and the politics of domestic violence, Acauseworth dying for versus euthanasia, A fairer and healthier world needs a better public health agency than the WHO. Unglamorous soil species are just as important as big mammals. Surprisingly radical. Sir David Attenborough confronts viewers with some of the most shocking images of his 66-year BBC career as he outlines how animals are facing mass extinction because of humans. But there is no evidence that we were unhappier then. Sir David Attenborough has called on world leaders to do more to protect nature. With a million species at risk of extinction, David Attenborough explores how this crisis of biodiversity has consequences for us all, including putting us at greater risk of pandemic diseases. Enter your email below. 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. Extinction: The Facts, BBC One review - David Attenborough tells a devastating story This horrifying prognosis on the future of our planet was essential viewing . The only way in which most of us come into contact with a farm animal now is when a slab of it is presented to us on a plate. The film starts with a bleak interview with James Mwenda, the keeper of the worlds last two northern white rhinos; a mother and daughter pair. It is all those old-fashioned farmyards depicted in childrens books which mixed species and brought humans into close contact with animals. We are a group of 12 and 13 years olds come to tell you adults that you must change your ways. It is perfectly true that Chinese wet markets, where many different species are sold and killed alongside each other, have been implicated in SARS and Covid-19, the former involving civets and the latter most likely bats. In footage from the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, then 12-year-old Severn Suzuki addresses the largest UN meeting to have ever convened. Today that population is doing much better. It then tried to present two examples of food production intensive cattle ranching and wildlife markets in China as part of the same problem. But, says Sir David, the rate of extinction has been rising dramatically. Sir David Attenborough Warns United Nations Event Virtual. David Attenborough and various other scientists show us the effects of how our planet is rapidly changing, causing harm to all life on the planet. The young gorillas Attenborough met in 1978 now have dozens of children. Weve been changing biodiversity in critical ways which made [the pandemic] more likely to happen, says Peter Daszak of Ecohealth Alliance. The potential link between the drivers of biodiversity loss and emerging diseases is also explored. Extinction With David Attenborough With a million species at risk of extinction, David Attenborough explores how this crisis of biodiversity has consequences for us all, including putting us at greater risk of pandemic diseases. A study by Brown university in 2014, published in the Journal of the Royal Society, found that there has been a rise in the number of outbreaks of novel infectious diseases since 1980, but also that there has been a decline in the numbers of people being affected by them. Someone at the BBC needs to pluck up the courage. Over his incredible career, David Attenborough has seen more of earths natural wonders than almost anyone. Extinction: The Facts: Attenboroughs New Documentary Is Surprisingly Radical It is reckoned to be now happening at 100 times the natural evolutionary rate - and is accelerating. Extinction Rebellion, David Attenborough and the Green Party have combined to revolutionise the climate change fight. Julia Patricia Gordon Jones, a conservation professor at Bangor University, appeared in Extinction: The Facts and has been tracking the change in language and image use in nature films. Together, this is what makes the film so radical. David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. To hear him talk, with such clarity, about how bad things are getting is deeply moving. This sequence has a real emotional kick. The idea that we face a terrifying future of infectious disease flies in the face of reality. His latest BBC documentary, Extinction: The Facts, broadcast on Sunday night might as well have been produced by Extinction Rebellion, so determined was it to present a hysterical picture of apocalypse caused by consumerism and capitalism. This film is radical. But one might have expected better of Sir David Attenborough. Yesterday, Sunday 25th October, a small group from Extinction Rebellion delivered a letter to Sir David Attenborough. Sir David Attenborough also warned world leaders over the extinction crisis. A 2019 UN report revealed that one million animal and plant species currently face extinction. Sir David Attenborough has returned to television screens in the UK with a landmark new production. Join us for a screening of David Attenborough's recent documentary Extinction: The Facts to learn more about extinction, and what we can do about it. But are novel diseases becoming more commonplace? This week a documentary was launched by the BBC called Extinction: The Facts. Weve found that were behind every single pandemic. Privacy Policy. His latest BBC documentary, Extinction: The Facts, broadcast on Sunday night might as well have been produced by Extinction Rebellion, so determined was it to present a hysterical picture of apocalypse caused by consumerism and capitalism. A US environmentalist told us that she finds it scary that she doesnt catch so many insects on her windscreen as she used to. Sir David Attenborough has urged everyone to take responsibility for creating a 'better future' and safeguarding our planet in his new one-hour BBC documentary Extinction: The Facts. Secondly, having strong environmental standards for things produced in the UK (important though it is), is not enough. 'Extinction: The Facts': Attenborough's new documentary is surprisingly radical Menu Close Extinction: The Facts, BBC One review - David Attenborough tells a devastating BBC One review - David Attenborough tells a devastating story . planetary boundaries and global inequality. One of the most obvious ways were making it more likely that a virus would jump [from animals to humans] is that were having lots of contacts with animals wildlife trade is at unprecedented levels.. It should be obvious to anyone that counting dead insects on your windscreen is a pretty poor marker for the health of their populations for one thing, cars have become more aerodynamic over the years, allowing air to slide over and past them rather than slamming headlong into them, helping to save fuel as well as insects. The letter hopes to communicate the significance of nonviolent civil disobedience and its impact throughout history. Scientists have recently demonstrated what would be needed to bend the curve on biodiversity loss. When Najin passes away, says Mwenda, she will leave the daughter alone forever Their plight awaits 1 million more species. Globally, the chances of dying from an infectious disease have plummeted in recent decades. We also need to consider where the products we buy and the food we eat comes from if not, people in countries like the UK are simply offshoring environmental problems for others to deal with. I have written in the past about my growing frustration with Attenborough documentaries continuing, decade after decade, to depict nature as untouched by any mark of humans. There is the rundown of the main takeaways from Sir David Attenboroughs latest documentary Extinction: The Facts. Breeding poultry and pigs in close proximity has also been suggested as a breeding ground for flu viruses which can then jump to humans. The film looks at soy plantations in Brazil, one of the worlds biggest causes of biodiversity loss. It came in response to recent comments he made to the BBC about Extinction Rebellion. Just to ram home the point, one contributor, naturalist Robert Watson, spoke of many in the private sector making a huge profit at the expense of the natural world, seemingly oblivious to the far greater rape of the environment committed by the former Soviet Union and other socialist countries. Modern livestock farming, by contrast, involves huge monocultures, bred in environments where infectious disease is very tightly-controlled. In Extinction: The Facts, Sir David Attenborough gave stark warning yesterday of the extinction crisis facing our planet.The program aired on the BBC in the UK. by Marina Vaizey Monday, 14 September 2020. With a million species at risk of extinction, David Attenborough explores how this crisis of biodiversity has consequences for us all, including putting us at greater risk of pandemic diseases. We have become much better at identifying diseases, and much better at controlling them. But one might have expected better of Sir David Attenborough. When Sir David visited Rwanda's mountain gorillas 40 years ago, they were on the brink of extinction, with only around 250 individuals left. Sir David Attenborough has shared a warning about the future of the planet's animals and plants in the BBC's new documentary, 'Extinction: The Facts.' The film goes on to explain the impacts of biodiversity loss on our soil functioning (with a star turn from below-ground beasties breaking down leaf litter), the role of insects in pollinating our crops, and how losing trees and wetlands can contribute to landslides and floods. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use and It was only a matter of time before Covid-19 got swept up into the wider narrative of humans facing impending doom thanks to our abuse of the planet. The tone of the programme, Extinction: The Facts, is very different from his usual work. But then David Attenborough has become a Greta of the Third Age no-one dares question what he does because he is a national treasure. There was one example, however, in Sunday nights film of a human coming into close contact with an animal: old footage of Sir David himself cuddling up to a mountain gorilla. However, despite some progress with policies like the UKs landfill tax or Californias carbon trading scheme, most societies are far from doing this comprehensively. If there is genuine evidence on decline of insect populations we should have been presented with it, but this wasnt it. The David Attenborough Extinction DVD. The final quote was rather ominous but sums up exactly how our approach needs to change, given all the more gravitas by Sir Davids cultured, rich tones I do truly believe that together we can create a better future. Share. The documentary combined some genuine tragedies, such as the imminent extinction of the northern white rhino, whose population has been reduced to just two: a reproductively-useless mother and daughter, with more dubious claims. As one of the programmes talking heads, I helped reveal the honest truth: in most places, remaining natural habitats are squeezed between intensive agriculture and urban sprawl. (original title) Extinction: The Facts: Australia: Extinction: The Facts: Australia (alternative title) Extinction with David Attenborough: Canada (English title) The film starkly highlights what we are losing in exchange for out-of-season food, fast fashion and cheap poultry. We tend to think we are somehow outside of that system. Scientists have even linked the destructive relationship with nature to the emergence of Covid-19, we were told. It is explicitly calling for major changes in the way our economies work with a greater focus on both planetary boundaries and global inequality. A conservation scientist interviewed on the programme says Sir David tells it like it is. We have learned so much about nature from David Attenboroughs documentaries over the past seven decades. Little over a century ago, we would have had no idea what Covid-19 was it might possibly have acquired a name, maybe coughing disease, but we would have had no real idea whether it was novel or not. Yes, I wish to receive exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions from our partners. Weve had swine flu, SARS, ebola. I was certainly surprised to see this weaved into a Sunday night BBC prime time show. The screening will be preceded by a short panel discussion and Q&A session, moderated by Nick Crouch, British Deputy High Commissioner to Australia But these are hardly examples of the mass, intensive agriculture which feeds an increasing proportion of the global population. Finally, the film touched on the need to make us pay the true cost of the environmental damage we do. Starring: David Attenborough. As Attenborough says in the final scene, What happens next, is up to every one of us. Extinction is a natural process. If the world is overwhelmed by a pandemic which has jumped from the gorilla population into humans well know who might be to blame. I felt this might be contributing to unhelpful complacency about how much wild was really left. https://iview.abc.net.au/show/extinction-with-david-attenborough But we are part of it; and totally reliant upon on it. Well, yes in the sense that we have become better at identifying them the first virus, after all, was not discovered until 1900, and we have become ever better at isolating and identifying them. Pandemics, of course, have always been a regular feature of human life. David Attenborough has given his starkest warning about species extinction David Attenborough says nature's mass extinction is a threat to everyone but we can still change course. An outbreak, say, of swine flu is not going to be tolerated for long in a pig farm in a developed country though it might well be allowed to spread in a developing country where large numbers of people keep pigs in their back yards. The documentary called out that we need the best of the private sector to With a million species at risk of extinction, David Attenborough explores how this crisis of biodiversity has consequences for us all, including putting us at greater risk of pandemic diseases. Watch this episode on ABC The final story includes some of the most iconic footage from Sir Davids career: his meeting with Rwandas mountain gorillas 40 years ago. Julia P G Jones, Professor of Conservation Science, Bangor University. On the contrary, it is the exact opposite. This show is broadcast on the ABC. About Extinction With David Attenborough. In a new BBC film he lays bare just how perilous the state of that nature really is, why this matters for everyone who shares this planet, and what needs to change. A dehydrated and injured koala receives treatment at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie last November, after its rescue from a bushfire. Covid might have inspired an unprecedented global response, but in historical terms it is a pretty gentle pandemic even now it has a lower death toll than Hong Kong flu, which hardly affected our lives at all. However, the film makes clear that extinction is about so much more than the loss of large familiar mammals. Extinction: The Facts review a heartbreaking warning from David Attenborough With an eighth of the planets species at risk of dying out, this documentary offered a 2020 | PG | 1h 23m | Biographical Documentaries. 1m 26s Given that the average Brit consumes more than four times the resources of the average Indian, reducing consumption in places like the UK is vital. As the eminent Cambridge economist Partha Dasgupta says, 40 years ago people in the UK consumed a good deal less. Photo: AFP. The idea that businesses should not be able to degrade our environment for free is far from new. Read the original article. If we carry on like this we will see more epidemics. It went on: Weve seen an increasing rate of pandemic emergencies. At the time, Attenborough felt he might be seeing some of the last of their kind just 250 individuals were left and their future looked bleak. 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