How would you summarise and assess it . Since i made the First Television programme it is three times as many since i made a first rate Television Programme it is three times as many people on the planet as it was then. And we have overrun it. And now we are realising what appalling damage we have done. And as well as realising the damage we are realising how much we are dependent upon the Natural World so everything we do, every breath of air we take, every mouthful of food we eat comes from the Natural World. And if we damage it we damage ourselves. When did you realise that we were very possibly on that path, as far as you see it . I think the first time i had absolutely indubitable proof was when, back in the 60s, i suppose, when i swam in a reef, a coral reef in australia and it was so damaged. And it is a terrible sight. It is like a cemetery. What was colourful coral swarms of wonderfulfish had now become bleached white and now they can recover but not from repeated assaults of increases in temperature. And that was a sign to me that humanity is capable of exterminating whole communities, enormous communities of living creatures. Ive been making Television Programmes and certainly for the last 20, 30 years i have ended each of them by saying, look, the world is in peril, look, we are damaging it. And it is all humanitys fault. And very little has happened. And yet suddenly, within the last five years, maybe, suddenly, it is as though people have been moving up and it is young people, really. It is young people who are shaking
it up and not before time. Hello, my name is David Attenborough and i have been appearing on radio and television for the past 60 years but this is my first time on instagram. And im making this move and exploring this new way of communicating to me because, as we all know, the world is in trouble. Congratulations. Youre the fastest person to get a i million followers on instagram. I dont know if you know that. Ive edited the paper this morning. So, why instagram and why now . Well, im so old its difficult to teach an old dog you do is make
well, im so old its difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. And, you know, im not a great user of social media and i havent used instagram before but the message that i am concerned about is so important i will use any medium. In 2050 if we carry on this part that we all are on, how bad will it be . What will our planet look like . Well, one of the things that will happen is that the world will get hotter and hotter and hotter that is not news. That has been happening for a very long time. And deserts are spreading. Why are people coming across the mediterranean in such numbers looking for less hot places . And more fertile places where they can grow their own food . Because the world is changing so that is one thing but also we are so clever, so ingenious, we can now strip
the seas in an industrial waste. Strip them of all the fish that are there, we are reducing them in such numbers that you are effectively destroying the population. You seem to have, and there is a particular moment in the film, where we can really get a sense of your feeling of grief. But you dont despair, do you . Why not . I dont despair because what would you go and do . Hide in a corner crying in a corner and forgetting at all and giving up . I mean, we have a responsibility and if there is a fragment of hope hide in a corner crying in a corner and forgetting it all and giving up . I mean, we have a responsibility and if there is a fragment of hope left, you have the responsibility to do something about it which is why we are here. In the face of, you know, huge countries like china or brazil or the United States doing something entirely different it seems irrelevant, sometimes. Well, we have to do what is in our power. We cannot take that as an excuse for doing nothing. We must do everything that all of us can do and must do and china
is taking very big steps, you know, in very many directions. It is a huge country with an immense population and they are starting to do things about sorting out their cliate and the weather to do things about sorting out their climate and the weather which has caused them such problems. So china is moving in the right direction. I agree that the present administration in america from a conservations point of view is disastrous. But there we are. I mean, that is who has been elected and we have to go through it. You talk about cost but there is also a personal cost and you talk about making changes to our lives. What was the thing that youve changed that sort of cost you personally view most . I would like to think. I mean, for the last six months have hardly moved out of this house so i cant pretend that ive changed my transport behaviour very much. But we are doing so. Im not flying away to all sorts of places. And how would you describe lockdown life . I cant plead a bad time. I think when i was newly married with a couple of kids in a flat with just two rooms in the garden and think about what it would be with just two rooms and no garden and think about what it would be like with a thought of the oncoming autumn and winter lying ahead of us having already been locked away for six months, i think that seems to be a pretty tough number. I know it is inevitable and i know it has to happen and many people are having a much worse time than i am. I am lucky. I have a garden, i have a house and we are surviving, my daughter
and i are surviving very well. It is going to be very, very rough for people. One does miss seeing people and talking to people. You know, having wons friends around and just Walking Around, you know, having ones friends around and just Walking Around and seeing other people. You have got lots of books to read, having to in the next few months . Have you read them all . Chapter 13. I have not finished it yet. Can we talk a little bit about Extinction Rebellion because you talk about lobbying mps and all of that. Can we talk a little bit about Extinction Rebellion because you talk about lobbying mps and all of that. What about direct action . Getting change you have to be careful that you dont break the law, i think. I also think that we have to treat the people we share our community with with respect and disturbing their lives to such an extent that innocent people cant get about their own business as a serious thing to do and could disenchant a lot of people. Through, for example, instagram and other ways on social media you do have a chance, dont you, to reach out to a different audience. There is a real sense, because weve had so many people get in touch with us with questions that the Younger Generation seem to be, many of them, are on board. How does that make you feel . Oh, well, that is the great hope. I mean, that is the most important hope. The most important place where there should be hope. It is their world and it is there tomorrow. I wont be there. They will be. Its theirs. And if they are not persuaded it is important we are wasting our time. Of course, it is very important that young people should be concerned about this and they are, in increasing numbers. It is extraordinarily touching. They sent little videos, all these children. They are absolutely adorable. I would like to know what your favourite places and has it changed . My favourite place was a woodland in the middle of england. And it had rocks around it
which are full of fossils. Wonderful things, shelves, some up and big ones and sometimes you could hit a rock. Sometimes they were sitting out there hand over the rock and there it was. And you were the first person ever to see that. And it has not seen the sun for maybe 150 million years. Think about that. Im six years old and i have a question. What is your favourite dinosaur . Well, elliott. There was a huge animal that flew over the dinosaurs as big as a small aeroplane code. And it had huge wingsjust as big as an aeroplane and it was the biggest animal that ever flew and none of us could work out how it could get into the ground because. Get off the ground, because how do you beat the wings because it bangs
on the ground and doesnt lift up, it is a mystery. Hello, david i am three years old. What is your favourite animal . I dont really have favourite animal to be truthful but there is a fish i am very fond of called. What is it called now . The weedy sea dragon and it lives the seas off South Australia and it is about that long and it spends look exactly like bits of seaweed. My name is harry and i am 11 years old and i want to work in zoology but with the current climate crisis, i would like to know if there will be any animals left in the world to study . There will certainly be enough animals individually. They wont be as many different animals as we have now, i can be pretty sure of that. But we need to study them, we need to know all we can about them in order to protect them and help them so i hope you do go to university and you do study zoology and you do help in the struggle to care for nature. I am william and i am four years old. Who do you think would win out of a lion and a rhino . Well, it would depend whether they were in well, it would depend whether they were in the river or not. If they were in the river it would be the hippopotamus. If they were on the land i think it would be the lion. But im not sure, actually because the hippopotamus is very big, you know. It weighs much more than a lion so if it rolled over and got the lion underneath it the lion would like that very much. Hi, david. I am four years old. What is the biggest spider ever in the whole wide world . My mummy doesnt like spiders. Well, i can see why your mummy does not like spiders although there are none in this country that bite you. Well, there is one in, certainly in south america which is as big as your hand, really. And very hairy legs. And you dont want to mess with that because that one does have a nasty bite. If there is one choice to make today what choice would you like people to make . Dont waste. Dont waste anything. Dont waste electricity, dont waste food. Dont waste power. Just treat the Natural World of judgment as though it is precious, which it is. And dont squander those bits of it that we have control of. Hello. It has been so wet in the past three days that some places ive already had their 0ctober average rainfall. Numerous flood warnings in forest and those may well start to increase as the rain makes its way over the River Systems will stop travelling with lots of water and spray is bbc local radio will have more for you. You can see where the rain is, pretty heavy ra m parts parts where the rain is, pretty heavy ramparts parts of across parts of scotland, but generally speaking the rain continues to rotate around the area of low pressure, perhaps becoming a bit more fragmented and showering but cloudy. Still, pretty windy and western and southern areas, in fact northern and western and southern areas, there could be some messiness in some areas. In those areas we see in the rain,
theres more persistent rain coming in from Northern Ireland and parts of england and wales, but giving it a bit of the sunshine elsewhere, it will be slightly warmer. This is bbc news, the headlines at six. President trumps doctors say he is continuing to improve as hes treated in hospital for coronavirus they also reveal more details of his condition before he was admitted he received oxygen twice but they remain optimistic. If he continues to look and feel as well as he does today our hope is that we can plan for a discharge as early as tomorrow to the white house where he can continue his treatment course. I came here, wasnt feeling so well. I feel much better now. From hospital earlier the president said he hoped to be back soon, acknowledging that the real test lies in the days ahead. The Prime Minister says its too early to tell if the latest covid restrictions are working
and urges people to keep
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