MORE than 60 years after he first graced our TV screens, Sir David Attenborough’s passion for the natural world is greater than ever.
The national treasure is a man on a mission. Now 94, our best-known naturalist believes the planet CAN be saved from global warming — and without us giving up life’s pleasures.
Those famous bright-blue eyes glint like a schoolboy’s as Sir Daviddiscusses what we can do to tackle the looming climate crisis.
Arms outstretched on the table, he gestures up with his hands, as if conjuring hope, and tells Sun readers: “The fewer demands we make on the planet’s resources, the better.
“We do that in terms of food, in terms of energy, in terms of being respectful to the environment. We can do lots of things.”
In new film David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet, he looks back at his astonishing broadcasting career, which began in 1952 at the BBC.
In the documentary, which will be released in cinemas on September 28 then on Netflix later this year, Sir David bears witness to the devastation of the globe’s wildernesses at each stage of his working life.
When he fronted his first TV show, 1954’s Zoo Quest, the planet’s population stood at 2.7billion. Now it is 7.8billion, according to the UN.
On his trips back then, to faraway lands rarely seen by Brits, he thought the natural landscape was infinite.
Survival blueprint
But when he learned in 1978 that there were just 300 mountain gorillas left and whales were being hunted to extinction, Sir David realised action was required.
He now reflects on how half the world’s rainforests have been destroyed and the wild animal population has halved since he was young.
He says: “Do you know, 70 per cent of all living birds — if you count up woodpeckers, cuckoos, pigeons and so on — are chickens? And 96 per cent of all mammals, by weight, are domestic.”
Put another way, that means just four per cent of mammals — from mice to elephants to whales — live in the wild.
Having watched in dismay as the polar ice caps melt, Sir David warns in his film that global warming could also wipe out humans.
He says: “Humanity is at a crossroads. The natural world is under serious threat and the consequences could be apocalyptic.
“I have had an extraordinary, fortunate life. I have worked for 60 years making natural-history films.
“It so happens, during those years there have been greater changes in the relationship between man and the natural world than for 1,000 years.”
But A Life On Our Planet offers a blueprint for survival.
Rainforests can be brought back. In the past 20 years, Costa Rica has regrown half of what it cut down.
Solar farms, wind power, geothermal technology and energy-saving devices can end our reliance on fossil fuels.
Improving education for girls and reducing global poverty will slow population growth.
But what can Sun readers do? First and foremost, do not use what you do not need. That will save you money, too.
Sir David says: “Being wasteful, that is the real sin. We are astonishingly wasteful.
“I remember my dear father-in-law coming back in the middle of World War Two from America, appalled he had seen an American stubbing out his cigarette on a half-eaten steak.
“There are simple things like the use of power — putting a light on when you don’t need it.”
Of course, Sir David has racked up more air miles than most. But he is not demanding people give up travel abroad as the current crisis eases.
He says: “If you behave sensibly, you shouldn’t feel guilty that it has cost you some ergs (units of energy) to get from A to B. You can’t justify everything by the cost to the environment.”
Sir David’s new project was filmed with small crews working in basic conditions, without life’s luxuries, to reduce the carbon footprint.
In his own life, Sir David now eats a largely plant-based diet. It would certainly benefit the planet if others followed suit — and he is confident the world’s youth have the determination to make the changes needed.
Gentle persuasion
He says: “The world belongs to the younger people. I have had my go. The younger generation is very, very passionate and concerned about the next 60 or 70 years facing them.”
Sir David is all for youngsters who are not yet able to vote turning out to protest — led by the likes of teen campaigner Greta Thunberg and activists Extinction Rebellion — so long as their actions are lawful.
Peaceful protest, he says, is the only way their voices will be heard. He warns against committing criminal acts, even in the name of a just cause, arguing: “I don’t think it is sensible politics to break the law.
“If you are any good at all, some of your demands will be met and then you will be demanding people abide by those new laws. You can’t have it both ways.”
Indeed, Sir David’s art of gentle persuasion in his countless documentaries is surely more effective in changing minds than protesters gluing themselves to trains.
As for global warming, he says with a smile: “We are damaging the environment just by sitting here breathing.
( source and full article- https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12587629/sir-david-attenborough-humanity-at-crossroads-climate-crisis/ )
*** The blockade this past weekend of the printing presses I feel was not the correct course of action. Whilst I agree with the concept, this disruptive activity is questionable at best. ***
