All language subtitles for Earth.2023.S01E05.720p.WEBRip.x264-GalaxyTV

I've come here to Southwestern
France to the Pyrenees

and then deep into a mountain,
more than half a kilometre

through a labyrinth
of damp and dark caves,

into this enormous
and remarkable cavern.

But I've come here to show you
something very special.

Look at this.

No less than eight bison...

..drawn on this cave wall.

Absolutely beautiful.

But it's not just these bison.
Have a look at this panel over here!

Here, we don't just see bison -
we see primitive horses, tarpan.

And look there, a Pyrenean ibex.

Absolutely sensational.

Now, I've stood in art galleries
all over the world looking at art,

but this is the
oldest I've seen by far.

And possibly the most
beautiful and most moving.

The drawings of these animals
are so fresh,

so accurate, so beautifully made.

For me, this is about being human.

This is about our history.

The cave paintings
are the culmination of a story

that began long before the
first humans set foot on Earth...

..deep within our planet's past...

LOUD EXPLOSION

..when the world of the dinosaurs...

..was destroyed...

..making way for the
rise of the mammals.

It's a tale of turmoil and upheaval,

of millions of years
of climate swings

from one extreme to another.

Until, out of the chaos,

our species was born.

A species capable of creating art

on a cave wall in Southern France.

Now, we think that these were
drawn around 13,000 years ago.

And that's significant because
it constitutes a turning point,

not just for our species,
but for the planet,

because we were going on to be
a significantly powerful force,

capable of transforming
and reshaping the Earth.

In the time since the
cave paintings were done,

we've radically altered
life on the planet...

..in ways our ancient ancestors
could never have imagined.

And so we've reached a unique
point in our planet's

4.5 billion year history,
when an intelligent species,

with a clear understanding
of the Earth,

is transforming it
at an incredible speed.

And that species is,
of course, us.

66 million years ago,

one form of life dominated
the surface of the Earth.

DEEP GROWLING

Dinosaurs.

These magnificent creatures, amongst
the largest that have ever lived

on Earth, had reigned supreme
for around 150 million years.

They had evolved into
many hundreds of species,

spread across every continent
on the planet.

But all that was about to change.

What a wonderful place,
packed full of life.

I've just been looking up
into the forest here.

Tanagers, aracari, orioles -

a mass of species.

Now, of course, all of them
are individually beautiful.

But, for me, it's when
they form that complex web,

when they knit together to
form a dynamic, harmonious,

functional ecosystem that things
become even more beautiful.

But I've got to say, of course,

that none of these species
were predestined.

They weren't "meant to be".

In fact, they were only here because
of a single, freak, chance event.

An event of unimaginable violence

and astonishing destruction.

I'm talking, of course,
about that day 66 million years ago

when the asteroid struck the Earth.

You know the one -

the one that's said
to have wiped out the dinosaurs.

Now, there has been lots
of debate about exactly

what killed the dinosaurs.

Since the 1980s,

scientists have believed the
main culprit was an asteroid...

..from the far reaches
of the solar system,

the size of Mount Everest...

..and on a collision course
with Earth.

An extraordinary claim requires
some extraordinary evidence

and, let's be clear, claiming
that a six mile wide asteroid

crashed into the planet,
unleashing the power

of a billion nuclear weapons
is an extraordinary claim.

So where is the evidence?

Where is the smoking gun?

Well, I'm sat in it.

This is called a cenote.

It's a word that comes from
one of the Mayan languages.

It literally means hole
in the ground filled with water.

Now, take a look at this
map of this part of Mexico,

the Yucatan Peninsula.

When I superimpose the cenotes,
you see there's an enormous

number of them, the landscape
is completely freckled.

But then look again in more detail.

You see this here?

There's an arc of these geological
features running across here.

And if we complete the arc,
turning it into a circle,

it has a diameter of 110 miles,
which corresponds perfectly

with the inner rim
of the crater made

when the asteroid struck our planet.

Now, the cenotes weren't
formed at the time.

Over millions of years,
that impact seems to have weakened

the rock here.

Water has leached through it,
forming cave systems,

which have collapsed in some places,
giving us this ring of cenotes.

HIGH PITCHED BIRD CALL

A devastating remnant
of the asteroid strike...

..that brought the reign
of the dinosaurs to a crashing end.

SHARP, LOUD BLAST

DEEP SCREECHING

LOUD RUMBLING

THUNDERING BOOM

The blast annihilates
everything within its reach.

Earthquakes and tsunami
tear across the planet.

And then it begins to rain.

Not water...

..but scorching hot rock...

DINOSAUR ROARS

..made from the asteroid
and the bedrock it had struck.

ANGUISHED ROARS

Truly one of THE worst days
in Earth's history.

DINOSAUR ROARS

But was this cataclysm enough
to kill the dinosaurs

all over the planet?

For a species to become
fully extinct,

every member of that species
has to die and not be replaced,

and not just in a small area
or even over a continent,

but over the entire world.

That's what extinction's really
about, that's what it entails.

And generally, it's not a dramatic
process, it's a slow burner.

Have a look at this.

In my bag here,
I've got the skull...

..of an ornithomimid dinosaur -

one of a group of dinosaurs.

These creatures looked
rather like giant ostrich

and they could run really fast.

But the key thing is that these
ornithomimids can be found all over

the world in the fossil record.

So how did they become extinct?

Well, those that were unlucky enough
to be living within the blast radius

of the asteroid,
the answer's simple -

they just vaporised instantaneously.

LOUD, DEEP BLAST

And those living a
little further away,

say within thousands of miles,

well, it's likely they were killed
by the aftermath effects

of that strike.

Things like earthquakes, tsunamis,

the glass rain and the forest fires.

But what about the ornithomimids
that were living, say,

on the other side of the world,
as far away as possible

from the immediate carnage that
was caused by that asteroid?

How did THEY die?

Well, something else was needed to
cause the worldwide mass extinction.

DEEP RUMBLING EXPLOSIONS

To seek answers to this puzzle,

scientists have drilled deep
into the asteroid crater.

The samples they've retrieved
reveal important clues.

Such as the fine-grain debris
churned up by the powerful tsunami.

As well as rocks like granite,
melted by the incredible temperature

and pressure created by the impact.

But, crucially, one type of rock
that's known to exist in this area

is missing from the place
where the asteroid hit.

This is anhydrite.

Now, I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking this is a
rather boring, grey rock.

But what's important is that it
contains large amounts of sulphur,

and this is the final piece
of our extinction jigsaw

because, when the asteroid struck,
it vaporised this rock,

releasing no less than
300 billion tonnes of sulphur

into the atmosphere.

Today, there's virtually no trace
of anhydrite in the seabed

within the crater...

..because it was
all blasted into the air...

..merging with ash and dust
to form a vast, grey cloud...

..sweeping across the entire planet.

With the cloud blocking out
most of the sunlight,

temperatures plummet
by around 20 degrees.

But the extreme cold
isn't the only killer.

In the dark, twilight conditions,

plants struggle to photosynthesise
and wither away.

And with virtually no plants to eat,
the food chain collapses.

Many dinosaurs starve to death.

When it came to the dinosaurs,
only a handful hung on to evolve

into the 10,000 or so species
of birds that we have today.

Three quarters of all animal
and plant species simply disappear.

This was one of the worst extinction
events our planet has ever seen.

And yet, for our world to emerge,

there needed to be some survivors.

And most importantly from that
branch of life that we belong to...

..the mammals.

What a place.

It's not representative
of humanity's greatest attributes,

is it? It's a mess.

An apocalyptic landfill,

screaming of waste and consumption.

I suppose the one thing
we can say is,

"Look, nature's always
fighting back, isn't it?"

Look at the plants here and,
out there, a whole host of wildfowl.

But let's stick with the mammals

because 66 million years ago
they didn't all become extinct

and this is actually quite a good
place to find a modern creature

that shares some
real characteristics

with those early mammals,

and I happen to have a very
friendly one inside my jacket.

What do you reckon?

I'll show you.

Yes! The rat.

Now, I'm rather partial to rats,
I've got to say.

Just look at those whiskers.

Those lovely bright eyes.

But you might not be
quite so enamoured

when I tell you that our ancient
ancestors shared significant

similarities with
creatures like this rat.

So what was it that they had
that the dinosaurs didn't?

Well, many of the dinosaurs
were quite specialised.

The herbivores required very
particular species of plants to eat,

the carnivores very particular
species of dinosaurs.

But most of the early mammals,
they were generalists

and, equally importantly,
they were omnivores.

They could eat plant material
and flesh.

In fact, they could eat
rotting plant material

and rotting flesh,
and that was a real asset

when all of that starvation was
going on during the impact winter.

So, I have to tell you, that,
all of those millions of years ago,

animals like this represented hope.

And the world that we know today
was resting on the shoulders

of creatures just like this rat.

I like that.

Yes, down to you!

It's thought the extreme
cold conditions

lasted for more than ten years.

But eventually the sky cleared,

the sun shone down

and life could begin
to make a recovery.

For more than 150 million years,

the mammals had been living
in the shadows of the dinosaurs.

But now a new chapter could begin.

The age of mammals.

And it would be
Earth's geological forces,

rather than an asteroid, that
would change the course of life.

Deep within
the North Atlantic Ocean,

thousands of hydrothermal
vents begin to release

vast quantities of greenhouse gases,

including methane,

a gas around 25 times more
potent than carbon dioxide.

THUNDERCLAP

This methane escapes
into the atmosphere,

sending temperatures rocketing
and triggering rapid climate change.

Violent storms ravage the planet
with flash floods...

..and protracted droughts.

This dramatic global warming
has profound implications

for the ancient mammals.

BIRDS TWITTER

Look.

Millions of bats.

Millions of mammals.

I can smell them, I can see them,

I can hear them and I can feel them.

There are so many bats
out there whirling around

that it's actually
generated a breeze,

which is very pleasant
given how sweaty I am.

And it's ironic, isn't it,
that, just when the planet

was going to see the rise
of mammals,

which would ultimately give rise
to species like our own,

it was also going through
what can only be described as

rapid climate change?

And I can show you that
here with this graph.

Now, the Earth was already a few
degrees warmer at this time,

but look at this spike.

What this tells us is that,
within the space of just

a few thousand years,
the global average temperature rose

by five degrees Centigrade.

Incredible but sobering,

because climate scientists today go
back through the geological record

and they use this spike
as an analogue

for what might be happening
to our atmosphere today.

And what really concerns them
is how this happened.

What's scary is that it was
precipitated by a series of events,

each triggering the next, triggering
the next, triggering the next,

until it pushed the Earth past
some serious tipping points.

And that is our nightmare.

Scientists believe that
56 million years ago

the hot conditions on Earth
led to a very different world.

In the Arctic, where temperatures
averaged around 23 degrees,

alligators could be found
swimming under palm trees.

But despite this havoc,
this hothouse Earth

seems to have had a silver lining.

Because, thanks to the
warmer conditions,

subtropical forest or jungle
has moved away from the equator

and expanded across much
of North America, Europe and Asia.

And this rich, lush habitat
would prove to be crucial

to the emergence of
new species of mammal.

Ones more like us.

Wow!

Just look at that.

What a landscape.

This is the Calakmul Biosphere
Reserve in Mexico

and, with its 2,700 square miles
of forest,

it's one of the largest
forest reserves in Mexico

and Latin America.

And aside from these Mayan ruins
on which I'm standing

and a few other pockets of
development, there's very little

human activity here, which means
it's packed full of wildlife.

More than 400 species of birds -

toucans, trogons,
parrots and tanagers.

And it's not just birds.

Hiding in the forest here are all
sorts of other natural wonders -

ocelot, puma, monkeys,

enormous numbers of bats,

not to mention a host of
reptiles and amphibians.

So, the question is, why is this
place such a biodiversity hot spot?

Now, it's partly due to the
vast diversity of plants

that we have here.

We think that in this area alone
there are more than 1,500 species.

But it's not just that.

It's also down to something that
we very much take for granted.

Have a look at this fossil
that I've got here,

and in particular
this tiny star-shaped structure.

That is a fossilised flower.

And we know from where this rock
came from, in Utah in North America,

that that means that
this flower bloomed

around 51 million years ago.

That is incredible.

Flowering plants are one of the
great drivers of biodiversity.

And 56 million years ago,
Earth's flourishing forests

were full of them.

For insects, flowers offered
food in the form of nectar

to tempt them in to spread the
plant's pollen for fertilisation.

But for other creatures,
there was an even juicier prize.

Something they can eat
that helps disperse

the plant's fertilised seeds.

One of the plant kingdom's
great gifts to life.

Fruit.

First eaten by birds many tens
of millions of years earlier...

..the fruits of the forest were
to play a key role in the

evolution of a new type of mammal
revealed in the fossil record.

Fruit offered both a reward
and a challenge for mammals.

Now, the reward is that this
is a perfectly formed capsule

packed full of calories.

The challenge is
you've got to find it

and then you've got to be able to
get it, and in a forest environment

like this
that's actually quite difficult.

To find it,
you've got to be able to see it

and then identify that it's ripe.

And once you've done so,
you've got to be able to reach it,

which means that you've got to be
able to climb all the way up there,

20, 30 metres or more.

So what creature could
have possibly evolved

that could take advantage
of this fabulous resource?

Maybe something like that.

And that is a
Geoffroy's spider monkey.

Quite a rare animal these days.

But the key thing is that this
animal shares significant

characteristics with those first
true primates that arose

56 million years ago.

Look at them, they're beautiful,
if not a little weird.

They're highly specialised,
but look at the head.

Their eyes are forward-facing,
like ours,

good for stereoscopic vision,
good for spotting fruit.

They've got a relatively big brain,
so they can remember where

they previously found that fruit,
but the key thing are the limbs.

Look - long and strong.

And if you look very
carefully there,

you can see their hands
are like hooks.

And their fifth limb,
that prehensile tail,

it's so strong they can hang from it

when they're eating fruits
like this.

There's no denying that creatures
like this are perfectly adapted

for the high life up there
at the top of the forest.

Now, we're not entirely sure where
the world's first true primates,

our ancestors, appeared
because as soon as they evolved

they started spreading rapidly
around the world,

between North America and Asia
and on into Europe and Africa.

These primates, they were having
the time of their lives,

and very rapidly they'd
occupied no less than four

of the world's continents.

They were making it look easy
and at this point

it seemed as if the Earth
was destined to become

a planet of the apes.

But it wasn't to be.

After more than 20 million years
of a hothouse Earth...

..the planet's climate
dramatically cooled.

Scientists aren't entirely sure
why it happened,

but the result was devastating.

Across the northern continents,

the cooler, drier conditions
decimated the jungle.

Destroying much of the habitat
of our ancient ancestors.

Sadly, we've been conducting
our own perverse experiment

into what happens
if you deforest the planet.

This is just one of a multitude
of sites all over the world

that have been destroyed.

Until recently, this would
have been tropical forest -

lush, green,
filled with masses of mammals,

monkeys, tapirs, jaguar.

But they're all gone.

You see, habitat destruction
like this

is probably THE leading force
when it comes to extinction today,

and it was no different
34 million years ago.

When the tropical forest disappeared
from the northern climes,

there were severe consequences.

The primates disappeared from
North America completely

and all but disappeared from Europe.

So, on the face of it,
this looks like a massive tragedy,

a severe setback for
our ancient ancestors.

Or was it?

Because, if the story that we're
really telling is the story of us,

Homo sapiens, humans,
then it's not that simple.

The path of evolution that would
lead from those ancient ancestors

to a creature like us, an upright,
bipedal, big-brained ape

with opposing thumbs, was never
going to be straight-forward.

For evolution to come up with
something like the human species,

it would require a very precise
and complex series of events,

and it would need to occur
in a very specific environment,

where evolution could be nudged, if
you like, towards the human species.

And it would be down to the Earth
to create that very special place.

Although primates had mostly
disappeared from the cold,

dry, northerly continents...

..in East Africa,
where the jungle still remained,

they had survived.

And here, the planet's forces
began to shape a new environment.

From deep within Earth,
hot magma started to rise up,

lifting the ground and forming
large cracks on the surface

as, over millions of years,
the continent pulls apart.

It forms the spectacular
East African Rift Valley.

Running some 4,000 miles
through what will become

Ethiopia, Kenya,
Tanzania and Mozambique.

And crucially, with its patchwork
of forests and savannah,

it presents the primates
with a dilemma.

ENGINE PUTTERS

So what was the dilemma?

Well, the first thing you have
to appreciate is that the

Rift Valley in East Africa was
no longer a single, great,

vast tract of tropical forest.

It had become fragmented
into smaller pockets of forest,

quite analogous to this rather
beautiful park that I'm sat in.

So these represent those pockets
of forest and the paths in-between

the grassland that had
formed between them.

Now, I want you to imagine
that you are a highly arboreal,

tree swinging, fruit eating primate

and you've had your breakfast
here at point A,

but your lunch is over there
at point B.

How do you get between the two?

Because in the old days you could
simply swing from tree to tree.

This was the dilemma
facing those early primates.

The forest had fragmented,
so had their food supply,

and they had no efficient way
of getting from A to B.

So, what was the solution?

What did evolution come up with?

Well, some of those early primates
decided to stick it out in the

shrinking forest and they evolved
into chimpanzees and gorillas.

But another group,
our ancient ancestors,

started to do something
that we take for granted

but we have to learn to do.

What do you reckon?

I'll tell you -
they started walking on two feet.

But our early ancestors didn't
just walk out of the forest

never to return. They still
spent a lot of time there,

probably even sleeping in the trees.

But walking gave them freedom

and with that freedom came
the ability to hunt,

so they started eating meat and
then they evolved bigger brains.

And that's why the Rift Valley
in East Africa

is known as
the Cradle of Humanity.

Now, initially, there were quite
a number of human species.

But the key thing is that
that is where our species,

Homo sapiens, evolved.

Now, the origins of our species
are still shrouded in mystery.

But the East African Rift Valley
is where scientists

have discovered many of the
most important fossils...

..that tell the incredible
story of human evolution...

..and the emergence of Homo sapiens

around 300,000 years ago.

With hindsight, we simply have
to marvel at that remarkable

set of factors that came together
to produce that highly unlikely

chain of events.

The seemingly impossible
had happened.

After the best part
of 66 million years,

after continents tearing
themselves apart,

mountain ranges forming,
the Earth's climate fluxing

and throwing between hot and cold,

a new force was about to be
unleashed upon the Earth.

Humans had arrived,
and there was no turning back.

Yet whilst our species had been
evolving in the warmth of Africa...

..Earth's climate
had continued to cool.

Scientists think that part of the
reason may be down to Earth's

new mountain ranges -

the Himalayas, Andes and Rockies.

They had formed over
tens of millions of years

as the result of plate tectonics
pushing up the Earth's crust.

And through the
process of weathering,

the exposed rock was reacting
with carbon dioxide,

removing it from the air
and causing temperatures to drop.

It meant that, as humans migrated
out of Africa into Europe,

Asia and Australia, the extreme
cold, dry conditions

prevented them from crossing
into North America.

Earth was in the midst
of an Ice Age.

And yet, despite
the extreme challenges

we faced from the climate,
it was around this time that humans

began to create something that had
never existed on Earth before.

Art.

The oldest that we know of is this
painting of a pig in Indonesia,

and it's been dated
to around 45,000 years ago.

And closer to home in Europe,

we find cave paintings
from more recent periods.

Here we are,
back in this spectacular cave

with its remarkable drawings.

They are so, so beautiful that
it's worth taking a moment

to think about what's going on here.

Well, around 13,000 years ago,

humans of the same species,
exactly the same species as us,

were standing or crouching here in
the flickering light of their lamps,

making these beautiful,
beautiful drawings.

But what's it about?

Well, art is always
about communication.

And this isn't just communicating
to me about their intelligence

or their creativity -
there's something else going on.

And it's interesting to note that
in cave paintings of this age

humans are very rarely depicted.

It's always about nature.

And at this time, all of these
species were wild animals.

We were still hunter gatherers,
we were in tune with,

connected to and, critically,
part of nature.

But for us to go on to become the
global force that we've become,

things would need to change.

Our population would have
to grow massively

and to achieve that
we would need to control nature.

The extreme cold and dry
conditions of the Ice Age

were not destined to last.

Subtle changes in Earth's orbit
altered the amount of sunlight

reaching the planet's surface.

And together with increasing
levels of carbon dioxide,

this pushed up temperatures...

..melting the ice.

For the first time, humans spread
across North and South America.

We were now living on every
continent except Antarctica.

And it was around 11,000 years ago,

in this warmer and
more humid climate,

that humans did something simple
but revolutionary.

They began to farm,

first growing crops,
then raising livestock.

Within a few thousand years,

nearly all human societies
on the planet were farming.

And slowly but surely,

producing food became
an industrialised process

with an ever greater impact
on Earth's ecosystems.

This is a vast field of soya beans,

stretching all the way to the
horizon where the forest remains.

And many people think of this
as a natural environment,

but it couldn't be further
from natural if it tried.

This is the antithesis
of biodiversity.

Now, imagine biodiversity
is a rainbow

and the spectrum represents the
full breadth of beautiful life

and when we're looking at this

we're looking at a tiny slice
of one colour.

All of these regimented rows
here are just one species.

This is a monoculture.

And it's not just that because
the conditions that this crop

require to grow
weren't here naturally.

This has been flattened, it's been
drained, it's been fertilised.

It's been smothered in pesticides
to keep nature out.

Now, forgive me,
because for just a moment

I'm going to take on the difficult
role of devil's advocate.

Imagine that we could put
all of those environmental issues

to one side
and take a fresh look at this.

We might consider it
to be remarkable

because it's highly efficient
crop production like this

which is producing
enough food to cater

for our ever increasing
human population.

You might say that our ability
to invent technologies

and come up with a food production
system that can feed

around eight billion people
and keep many of them

out of starvation and famine
is an incredible achievement.

But I can't forget
those environmental issues,

certainly when I tell you that 40%

of the world's land surface
that isn't frozen

is now given over to
agriculture like this -

bland monocultures devoid of life.

And also, I can tell you that, of
all the mammals alive at this point

on planet Earth today,

only 4% of them are wild animals.

96% are humans, their pets

or domestic farm animals.

And that, from my perspective,
is terrifying.

But our takeover
of the natural world

goes far beyond
industrial agriculture.

Humans now have a greater effect
in shaping the Earth's surface

than many natural processes.

And human-made materials,
like concrete and plastic,

outweigh the combined biomass
of all life on the planet.

Behind all of this is the staggering
increase in the human population.

From one billion just
a couple of hundred years ago...

..to eight billion today.

Welcome to the human planet.

Now, it is awesome
but for me it's not wondrous

because, hand on heart,
this is not my sort of environment.

I mean, there is some nature here,

but most of it
is entirely artificial.

Most of what I can see is made
of brick, concrete, steel and glass.

This is Mexico City,

and together with the 59 districts
that radiate out to the horizon

it occupies 3,000 square miles,

and it's home to more
than 21 million people.

And, staggeringly, it's not unique.

There are more than 30 other
megacities across the world

with more than ten million
people living in them.

But standing here looking at all
of this you've got to ask,

"How can it possibly work?"

One thing that we
have to acknowledge

is that agricultural revolution,

our ability to produce food
with brutal efficiency.

That's what feeds all of us
living in these megacities.

But there's another far more
important ingredient,

something that was
formed by the Earth and life

hundreds of millions of years ago,

something that we've drilled
for and mined for.

I'm talking about
coal, oil and gas -

the fossil fuels.

That's what's powered the technology
that's allowed us

to build these megacities.

But it comes at a terrible cost

because, as we continue to
burn those fossil fuels,

we are pumping CO2
into this atmosphere

at a rate that's comparable with
some of those volcanic eruptions

that occurred millions of years ago.

And critically...

..we've started to radically
transform our climate.

For most of Earth's
4.5 billion year history,

the most dramatic changes
in climate...

..have been driven by asteroids...

LOUD BLAST

LOUD RUMBLING

..the powerful tectonic
movement of the continents...

..and the catastrophic
eruptions of volcanoes.

BOOMING EXPLOSION

Of course, as we've seen,

there have been moments when life
too has had a profound impact.

Like the bacteria that colonised
the oceans 2.4 billion years ago...

..and gave us the oxygen we breathe.

Or the swamp forests that sent
temperatures spiralling downwards

and created the coal we now burn.

But today, the climate is
changing at a faster rate...

..than at any time
in the last 66 million years.

Now, I've seen so much of
the natural world that I cherish

destroyed that it's difficult
not to be pessimistic.

But, ironically,
when I go searching for hope,

I don't turn to those
planetary forces.

I turn to the power of humanity

because, for all of our flaws,
all of our foolishness,

we are a truly remarkable species.

Adaptable, resourceful,

inventive, intelligent, creative.

And you might argue that our most
significant turning points

were perhaps standing up on two legs
and beginning to walk

or drawing those animals on the
cave walls or inventing farming,

or even landing on the moon.

But I need to argue that these
were just our dress rehearsals,

because in the very near future
our species will need to reach

the zenith of its achievements and
that all humanity will have to learn

to put our Earth first.

That unique, fragile,
beautiful Earth

that for more than four billion
years has been forming this stage

on which we now stand,

and it's waiting for
our finest performance.

And if we don't pull it off,

then of course life on this planet
will continue to prosper.

But there will be no
encore for humanity.

If the Earth could talk,
what would it tell us?

Well, the Open University
imagine how it might answer

some of our questions.

To experience this
interactive presentation,

go to the website on the screen

and follow the links
to the Open University.