1 00:00:27,900 --> 00:00:29,860 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A Perfect Planet. 2 00:00:34,500 --> 00:00:37,260 Life flourishes on planet Earth... 3 00:00:45,140 --> 00:00:48,340 ..thanks to powerful natural forces. 4 00:00:54,660 --> 00:00:57,940 The weather gives us predictable patterns of rainfall. 5 00:01:01,740 --> 00:01:06,060 Sunlight delivers energy to all parts of planet Earth's surface. 6 00:01:09,500 --> 00:01:13,140 Ocean currents carry nutrients around the globe. 7 00:01:17,820 --> 00:01:21,940 Volcanoes create and fertilise the land. 8 00:01:23,860 --> 00:01:28,180 Together, these forces have helped shape our living planet. 9 00:01:32,220 --> 00:01:34,020 But it's a fragile system. 10 00:01:34,020 --> 00:01:35,860 All right, come on, let's get him in. 11 00:01:41,620 --> 00:01:45,660 This baby elephant is dying of thirst. 12 00:01:45,660 --> 00:01:47,060 Big swallow. 13 00:01:49,340 --> 00:01:52,340 The latest casualty of our changing world. 14 00:01:53,700 --> 00:01:57,020 ELEPHANT SCREAMS 15 00:01:57,020 --> 00:02:01,780 Luckily, rescuers have found him, so he has a chance. 16 00:02:09,620 --> 00:02:13,260 This young animal is likely a victim of a new force... 17 00:02:15,100 --> 00:02:18,980 ..one so powerful, it threatens the future of life on Earth. 18 00:02:24,860 --> 00:02:28,300 SIRENS AND FAINT CHATTER 19 00:02:36,660 --> 00:02:39,300 For over 60 years, I've been privileged 20 00:02:39,300 --> 00:02:42,660 to witness the natural world in all its wonder. 21 00:02:44,300 --> 00:02:49,620 But the planet I saw as a young man has changed beyond recognition. 22 00:02:51,340 --> 00:02:56,900 Human activity is now so dominant, it's disrupting the forces of nature 23 00:02:56,900 --> 00:03:00,700 and the vital habitats that life needs to survive on Earth. 24 00:03:02,140 --> 00:03:05,460 This is the most important story of our time. 25 00:03:05,460 --> 00:03:09,300 So I've asked three world authorities from the front line 26 00:03:09,300 --> 00:03:10,780 to join me in telling it. 27 00:03:12,820 --> 00:03:16,740 Humans used to be a species, just like any other on Earth. 28 00:03:16,740 --> 00:03:19,540 But we've now become so populous 29 00:03:19,540 --> 00:03:21,540 and so destructive 30 00:03:21,540 --> 00:03:24,300 that we are the single most influential creature on Earth. 31 00:03:25,380 --> 00:03:28,100 Everything around us is collapsing. 32 00:03:28,100 --> 00:03:31,020 This is the planet that we're handing over to future generations, 33 00:03:31,020 --> 00:03:34,140 and the worst part, I'll tell you the worst part, to me, 34 00:03:34,140 --> 00:03:36,660 is that they're going to turn around and be, like, 35 00:03:36,660 --> 00:03:39,420 "Why did you not do something when you had the chance?" 36 00:03:39,420 --> 00:03:44,260 We are likely to lose over half the species of life on Earth 37 00:03:44,260 --> 00:03:46,940 over the next eight decades. 38 00:03:46,940 --> 00:03:50,660 The last time we had an extinction event of this magnitude 39 00:03:50,660 --> 00:03:52,380 was 65 million years ago. 40 00:03:53,420 --> 00:03:55,260 We are asleep. 41 00:03:55,260 --> 00:03:58,460 We are not taking a look at the enormity of this event. 42 00:04:00,340 --> 00:04:03,860 If you want evidence of how life is struggling to cope 43 00:04:03,860 --> 00:04:05,820 in our rapidly changing world... 44 00:04:07,460 --> 00:04:10,700 ..you need to look no further than here in Africa. 45 00:04:14,980 --> 00:04:20,420 As we warm the planet, we create more extreme droughts and floods, 46 00:04:20,420 --> 00:04:23,980 making it increasingly difficult for many animals to survive. 47 00:04:26,740 --> 00:04:31,820 One of our planet's most magnificent creatures is no exception. 48 00:04:31,820 --> 00:04:37,660 ELEPHANT RUMBLES 49 00:04:39,340 --> 00:04:43,700 Adult elephants drink around 200 litres of water a day. 50 00:04:49,420 --> 00:04:53,540 When rains fail, as they did recently here in Kenya, 51 00:04:53,540 --> 00:04:56,340 watering holes quickly run dry... 52 00:04:56,340 --> 00:04:57,620 FLIES BUZZ 53 00:04:57,620 --> 00:04:59,020 ..killing hundreds of them. 54 00:05:02,420 --> 00:05:08,660 GRUNTING AND SQUEALING 55 00:05:08,660 --> 00:05:11,060 You can see the scale of the problem... 56 00:05:12,940 --> 00:05:17,300 ..by the dozens of orphaned baby elephants left behind. 57 00:05:21,580 --> 00:05:24,500 These are the lucky survivors. 58 00:05:28,300 --> 00:05:31,220 They owe their lives to Angela Sheldrick 59 00:05:31,220 --> 00:05:32,620 and her team, 60 00:05:32,620 --> 00:05:34,620 who rescue these young orphans. 61 00:05:34,620 --> 00:05:37,220 Come on! Come on, little boy. 62 00:05:37,220 --> 00:05:41,460 The orphans, when we find them, tend to be in a pretty sorry state. 63 00:05:49,180 --> 00:05:53,900 They are not only physically damaged but psychologically, too. 64 00:05:53,900 --> 00:05:56,980 Hey. Hello. 65 00:05:56,980 --> 00:06:01,420 They have suffered such a loss, losing their elephant family, 66 00:06:01,420 --> 00:06:03,220 their mothers. 67 00:06:05,660 --> 00:06:09,780 Angela's team do their best to soothe that loss. 68 00:06:19,900 --> 00:06:21,700 Come on. 69 00:06:21,700 --> 00:06:25,020 The keepers replace a lost elephant family. 70 00:06:38,780 --> 00:06:41,820 They provide the tender loving care and the nurturing 71 00:06:41,820 --> 00:06:44,460 that is so important for them to heal. 72 00:06:47,340 --> 00:06:50,300 The keepers are there 24/7. 73 00:06:56,660 --> 00:06:59,540 It is a very, very special relationship 74 00:06:59,540 --> 00:07:02,980 that actually does last a lifetime. 75 00:07:02,980 --> 00:07:04,980 Despite the elephants becoming wild, 76 00:07:04,980 --> 00:07:08,020 they do never forget that love and kindness. 77 00:07:13,180 --> 00:07:17,580 The orphans have to be bottle-fed eight times a day. 78 00:07:20,020 --> 00:07:22,220 We raise these orphaned elephants to ultimately 79 00:07:22,220 --> 00:07:24,260 go back to their birthright... 80 00:07:25,580 --> 00:07:27,540 ..a wild and happy life. 81 00:07:27,540 --> 00:07:28,940 SHE LAUGHS 82 00:07:28,940 --> 00:07:30,580 You're such a clown! 83 00:07:36,100 --> 00:07:39,540 Hey! LAUGHTER 84 00:07:42,660 --> 00:07:43,780 Come with me. 85 00:07:48,220 --> 00:07:50,180 Go on. Go on. 86 00:07:50,180 --> 00:07:53,100 So far, Angela's organisation 87 00:07:53,100 --> 00:07:57,100 has released more than 150 orphaned elephants 88 00:07:57,100 --> 00:07:58,980 back into the wild. 89 00:07:58,980 --> 00:08:04,820 But, to survive, they now need to live in managed reserves, 90 00:08:04,820 --> 00:08:08,700 where people top up water supplies when droughts return. 91 00:08:12,260 --> 00:08:15,740 Over the years, we've seen an enormous change in the weather patterns. 92 00:08:17,500 --> 00:08:19,100 Greater unpredictability. 93 00:08:20,540 --> 00:08:23,380 The drier seasons are drier and longer. 94 00:08:23,380 --> 00:08:25,780 It is the 11th hour now. 95 00:08:25,780 --> 00:08:29,100 We have just one home, 96 00:08:29,100 --> 00:08:32,900 and we, as the dominant species, should take care of it... 97 00:08:33,940 --> 00:08:35,340 ..must take care of it. 98 00:08:35,340 --> 00:08:36,780 It is our responsibility. 99 00:08:40,380 --> 00:08:44,100 What I need to say to people is, this is not going to get better. 100 00:08:44,100 --> 00:08:48,540 We are on a curve that's moving us with a series of events 101 00:08:48,540 --> 00:08:52,020 that's taking us into a new geological era in history. 102 00:08:56,300 --> 00:09:00,740 To understand how humans are destabilising our perfect planet, 103 00:09:00,740 --> 00:09:03,500 we need to look into the deep past. 104 00:09:05,700 --> 00:09:11,740 In Earth's long history, it's been through at least five mass extinction events. 105 00:09:13,740 --> 00:09:17,220 Most were caused by cataclysmic volcanic eruptions. 106 00:09:22,700 --> 00:09:26,300 It's not the lava or ash that wiped out life... 107 00:09:29,980 --> 00:09:34,260 ..but an invisible gas released by volcanoes 108 00:09:34,260 --> 00:09:35,860 called carbon dioxide... 109 00:09:37,100 --> 00:09:38,140 ..CO2. 110 00:09:40,580 --> 00:09:44,220 The single greatest extinction event on the planet so far was caused 111 00:09:44,220 --> 00:09:47,060 by the superheating of the world. 112 00:09:49,140 --> 00:09:53,420 Masses of volcanic activity pumped huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, 113 00:09:53,420 --> 00:09:55,820 massively raised the global temperature, 114 00:09:55,820 --> 00:10:00,660 and saw the destruction of around 90% of all life on Earth. 115 00:10:02,100 --> 00:10:05,740 Humanity is now acting like a super-volcano. 116 00:10:07,380 --> 00:10:11,660 We're releasing carbon dioxide at an even greater rate 117 00:10:11,660 --> 00:10:16,660 than the prehistoric mega-eruptions that extinguished life in the past. 118 00:10:24,860 --> 00:10:26,260 Here's the problem. 119 00:10:26,260 --> 00:10:29,060 Over the last two centuries, 120 00:10:29,060 --> 00:10:33,180 we dug up the burial grounds of a previous geological era in history... 121 00:10:34,700 --> 00:10:36,380 ..the Carboniferous era. 122 00:10:36,380 --> 00:10:39,900 And we took those dead remains, in the form of oil, 123 00:10:39,900 --> 00:10:42,740 gas and coal, and we made 124 00:10:42,740 --> 00:10:46,780 the entire industrial civilisation based on these fossil fuels. 125 00:10:53,340 --> 00:10:58,220 Almost every part of modern life depends on energy generated 126 00:10:58,220 --> 00:11:00,540 by burning these fossil fuels. 127 00:11:02,340 --> 00:11:05,500 And that produces CO2 in huge amounts. 128 00:11:08,740 --> 00:11:14,420 Globally, we now release 100 times more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere 129 00:11:14,420 --> 00:11:17,340 than all Earth's volcanoes combined. 130 00:11:18,420 --> 00:11:21,940 And by burning more fossil fuels, releasing more carbon dioxide, 131 00:11:21,940 --> 00:11:23,780 heating up the world around us, 132 00:11:23,780 --> 00:11:28,380 we have become one of the most powerful, destructive forces on the planet. 133 00:11:30,060 --> 00:11:33,700 Carbon dioxide acts like a blanket, 134 00:11:33,700 --> 00:11:35,940 trapping the sun's heat. 135 00:11:35,940 --> 00:11:38,380 This raises the temperature 136 00:11:38,380 --> 00:11:43,060 and so destabilises one of the most important forces on Earth - 137 00:11:43,060 --> 00:11:44,060 the weather. 138 00:11:49,860 --> 00:11:54,220 Many animals rely on predictable patterns of rainfall. 139 00:12:00,620 --> 00:12:04,780 But, as our world warms, our weather is changing. 140 00:12:08,940 --> 00:12:11,220 For every one degree that the temperature 141 00:12:11,220 --> 00:12:14,340 goes up on this planet because of CO2 emissions... 142 00:12:17,940 --> 00:12:21,180 ..the atmosphere is sucking up 7% more water. 143 00:12:23,900 --> 00:12:27,140 So we're getting more concentrated precipitation in the clouds... 144 00:12:27,140 --> 00:12:29,060 THUNDER RUMBLES 145 00:12:29,060 --> 00:12:30,380 ..and more radical, 146 00:12:30,380 --> 00:12:33,940 extreme, unpredictable, out-of-control weather events. 147 00:12:37,940 --> 00:12:41,260 NEWSREADER: Millions are bracing for a hurricane the likes of which we've never seen. 148 00:12:41,260 --> 00:12:42,420 We're getting hurricanes 149 00:12:42,420 --> 00:12:46,780 that are devastating our ecosystems and killing human beings every year. 150 00:12:49,900 --> 00:12:53,020 They're now over and over and over again every season. 151 00:12:55,580 --> 00:12:58,460 This planet is more powerful 152 00:12:58,460 --> 00:12:59,620 than we thought. 153 00:13:03,900 --> 00:13:05,700 More fires, more droughts, more floods. 154 00:13:07,460 --> 00:13:10,180 And so this perfect planet of ours is now 155 00:13:10,180 --> 00:13:12,020 being thrown into a system of flux. 156 00:13:22,500 --> 00:13:24,700 These extreme conditions are making it 157 00:13:24,700 --> 00:13:26,980 increasingly difficult for animals to survive. 158 00:13:33,340 --> 00:13:36,700 And that is not just affecting wildlife. 159 00:13:38,300 --> 00:13:40,820 WIND GUSTS 160 00:13:40,820 --> 00:13:43,340 New research suggests that, 161 00:13:43,340 --> 00:13:46,380 for every one-degree rise in global temperatures, 162 00:13:46,380 --> 00:13:51,420 a billion people will be pushed into near unliveable extremes. 163 00:13:52,740 --> 00:13:58,100 And this could trigger one of the greatest human migrations in history. 164 00:14:00,660 --> 00:14:02,580 We're about to have climate refugees, 165 00:14:02,580 --> 00:14:05,740 forced out of uninhabitable areas of the world, 166 00:14:05,740 --> 00:14:07,060 pushed up into Europe. 167 00:14:11,340 --> 00:14:12,700 We are on the cusp 168 00:14:12,700 --> 00:14:16,420 of the biggest migratory pattern 169 00:14:16,420 --> 00:14:17,340 in human history. 170 00:14:19,140 --> 00:14:22,020 We're going to see millions, tens of millions 171 00:14:22,020 --> 00:14:24,420 and, unfortunately, hundreds of millions of people 172 00:14:24,420 --> 00:14:27,660 migrating from areas that are no longer liveable 173 00:14:27,660 --> 00:14:31,180 in the next 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 years. 174 00:14:33,060 --> 00:14:34,780 And people are frightened 175 00:14:34,780 --> 00:14:37,940 because this is outside of our frame of reference. 176 00:14:43,420 --> 00:14:44,580 But there is hope. 177 00:14:47,700 --> 00:14:51,980 In Africa, the Sahara Desert is advancing southwards. 178 00:14:51,980 --> 00:14:58,020 But a remarkable project is aiming to stop it in its tracks. 179 00:14:58,020 --> 00:15:02,260 PEOPLE CHATTER 180 00:15:04,700 --> 00:15:06,380 The ambitious goal 181 00:15:06,380 --> 00:15:10,660 is to plant over one billion drought-resistant trees, 182 00:15:10,660 --> 00:15:12,580 like acacias. 183 00:15:12,580 --> 00:15:14,980 Known as the Great Green Wall, 184 00:15:14,980 --> 00:15:19,780 once complete, a band of trees will stretch nearly 5,000 miles 185 00:15:19,780 --> 00:15:21,860 right across Africa... 186 00:15:23,580 --> 00:15:26,620 ..one of the largest living structures on the planet. 187 00:15:28,940 --> 00:15:32,060 These trees stop topsoil blowing away, 188 00:15:32,060 --> 00:15:34,660 and their roots penetrate the ground, 189 00:15:34,660 --> 00:15:37,100 creating a network of channels 190 00:15:37,100 --> 00:15:39,700 that store water whenever rain falls. 191 00:15:44,180 --> 00:15:48,260 Ten-year-old Korka is one of the first children to benefit. 192 00:16:00,780 --> 00:16:05,300 12 million trees have already been planted here in Senegal, 193 00:16:05,300 --> 00:16:07,700 and with dramatic results. 194 00:16:11,180 --> 00:16:14,580 Wells are filling again, allowing crops to grow. 195 00:16:43,060 --> 00:16:47,340 So far, only 15% of the Green Wall is complete, 196 00:16:47,340 --> 00:16:50,700 but it's already breathing life back into the land, 197 00:16:50,700 --> 00:16:52,620 stemming the exodus of people 198 00:16:52,620 --> 00:16:55,300 and keeping communities together. 199 00:17:00,380 --> 00:17:03,500 And the trees do something else for our children's future. 200 00:17:07,540 --> 00:17:09,060 As they grow, 201 00:17:09,060 --> 00:17:13,140 they remove carbon dioxide from the air. 202 00:17:13,140 --> 00:17:17,420 ANIMALS CALL 203 00:17:17,420 --> 00:17:21,460 Carbon is the very foundation of life. 204 00:17:23,100 --> 00:17:25,180 Every plant absorbs it from the air... 205 00:17:27,860 --> 00:17:29,140 ..using it to grow. 206 00:17:32,220 --> 00:17:34,060 When animals eat these plants, 207 00:17:34,060 --> 00:17:38,660 some of this carbon is locked away in the fabric of their bodies. 208 00:17:42,740 --> 00:17:45,580 Together, these wild places, 209 00:17:45,580 --> 00:17:48,780 and the animals that allow them to thrive, 210 00:17:48,780 --> 00:17:52,580 take up over a third of the carbon dioxide we release. 211 00:17:55,220 --> 00:17:57,380 All of these systems, and the life within it, 212 00:17:57,380 --> 00:18:01,620 are so important to protect us 213 00:18:01,620 --> 00:18:02,980 from a warming planet. 214 00:18:08,620 --> 00:18:12,260 Some of the Earth's most important carbon stores 215 00:18:12,260 --> 00:18:15,660 are those rich in plant and animal species - 216 00:18:15,660 --> 00:18:18,140 the tropical jungles. 217 00:18:20,580 --> 00:18:22,220 Forests are sponges. 218 00:18:22,220 --> 00:18:25,060 They absorb enormous amounts of CO2 219 00:18:25,060 --> 00:18:27,260 from the atmosphere, and they trap that inside. 220 00:18:30,620 --> 00:18:33,780 Forests are about much more than just trees. 221 00:18:33,780 --> 00:18:37,700 In order to thrive, a jungle needs bustling animal communities. 222 00:18:39,020 --> 00:18:41,300 It needs insects to pollinate. 223 00:18:41,300 --> 00:18:43,540 It needs mammals to spread the seeds 224 00:18:43,540 --> 00:18:45,380 from one part of the forest to another. 225 00:18:45,380 --> 00:18:49,420 It needs this massive, tangled web of species interactions. 226 00:18:50,460 --> 00:18:51,980 A jungle rich in animals 227 00:18:51,980 --> 00:18:55,300 stores so much more carbon than a forest with little life. 228 00:18:55,300 --> 00:19:00,580 WHOOPING 229 00:19:00,580 --> 00:19:04,260 But many of the world's tropical jungles are under threat. 230 00:19:05,460 --> 00:19:10,660 And none more so than the greatest of them all - the Amazon rainforest. 231 00:19:14,820 --> 00:19:18,900 It's essential for the health of our planet, storing as much carbon 232 00:19:18,900 --> 00:19:24,580 as 25 years' worth of current emissions from all the cars in the world. 233 00:19:25,980 --> 00:19:30,060 The Amazon rainforest is one of the keystones of our climate. 234 00:19:30,060 --> 00:19:33,820 If we lose enough of the Amazon that it stops to function like that, 235 00:19:33,820 --> 00:19:37,980 then it's going to be an absolute disaster for civilisation, it really will. 236 00:19:42,860 --> 00:19:45,980 But urban expansion, cattle ranching 237 00:19:45,980 --> 00:19:49,900 and mining means that the forests of the Amazon 238 00:19:49,900 --> 00:19:52,660 are being lost at a frightening rate. 239 00:19:58,300 --> 00:20:01,580 It's not beyond the realms of possibility that we could 240 00:20:01,580 --> 00:20:03,740 deforest a rainforest, like the Amazon, 241 00:20:03,740 --> 00:20:06,020 so that trees cannot grow there 242 00:20:06,020 --> 00:20:07,460 and it turns into a savanna. 243 00:20:13,540 --> 00:20:17,780 Every minute, an area the size of about two football pitches 244 00:20:17,780 --> 00:20:20,140 is destroyed by humans. 245 00:20:20,140 --> 00:20:23,860 These amazing ecosystems around us - the oceans, the jungles, the forests, 246 00:20:23,860 --> 00:20:26,700 the mangroves - these are our greatest hope 247 00:20:26,700 --> 00:20:29,540 and our greatest buffers against a warming planet. 248 00:20:34,220 --> 00:20:37,180 On the front line in the heart of the Amazon 249 00:20:37,180 --> 00:20:39,500 stands of the city of Manaus. 250 00:20:41,580 --> 00:20:44,980 Here, urban expansion is eating into the jungle. 251 00:21:00,220 --> 00:21:03,500 Celina Pinage works for IPAAM, 252 00:21:03,500 --> 00:21:06,540 the Amazonas Environmental Protection Unit. 253 00:21:07,780 --> 00:21:10,900 Their mission is to save animals trapped in the city 254 00:21:10,900 --> 00:21:12,820 and to return them to the wild. 255 00:21:38,020 --> 00:21:41,540 Today, Celina is rescuing a sloth. 256 00:21:41,540 --> 00:21:44,540 It's the world's slowest mammal. 257 00:21:44,540 --> 00:21:48,180 Many become trapped as trees are cut down 258 00:21:48,180 --> 00:21:49,380 to make way for houses. 259 00:21:52,220 --> 00:21:54,460 SHOUTED WARNINGS 260 00:22:22,100 --> 00:22:26,780 Over 3,000 animals have been rescued in the past five years. 261 00:22:29,820 --> 00:22:34,060 Each one of these creatures is needed by the forest - 262 00:22:34,060 --> 00:22:37,540 to disperse seeds, pollinate plants 263 00:22:37,540 --> 00:22:41,380 or, like this jaguar, to keep herbivores in check. 264 00:22:51,340 --> 00:22:54,380 Whenever possible, Celina releases animals 265 00:22:54,380 --> 00:22:57,420 back into the protected areas of jungle. 266 00:23:25,260 --> 00:23:28,300 We don't just want to protect animals because they're interesting 267 00:23:28,300 --> 00:23:29,780 and they're beautiful. 268 00:23:29,780 --> 00:23:33,980 They're an integral part of a functioning planet, and we need to keep them around. 269 00:23:37,620 --> 00:23:41,940 So, how do we protect our remaining forests? 270 00:23:41,940 --> 00:23:46,380 Calculating their true environmental value could hold the key. 271 00:23:48,460 --> 00:23:52,700 And a new cutting-edge technology is beginning to do just that. 272 00:23:54,740 --> 00:23:59,980 It's led by a team from the Global Airborne Observatory. 273 00:23:59,980 --> 00:24:02,820 They've developed a way to quantify 274 00:24:02,820 --> 00:24:06,100 exactly how much carbon the forest stores. 275 00:24:09,780 --> 00:24:13,340 By firing high-powered lasers across the canopy, 276 00:24:13,340 --> 00:24:17,060 they can map the amount of carbon within each tree. 277 00:24:22,860 --> 00:24:27,580 The trees showing up as red and yellow are the most carbon-rich. 278 00:24:31,300 --> 00:24:35,780 These maps allow countries to see how valuable their forests are. 279 00:24:39,940 --> 00:24:42,660 I truly hope that we aren't too far away 280 00:24:42,660 --> 00:24:46,740 from realising the intrinsic value of wildlife, of forests, 281 00:24:46,740 --> 00:24:49,820 but we're not there yet and, for the time being, 282 00:24:49,820 --> 00:24:53,620 governments need to be financially incentivised to keep forests standing 283 00:24:53,620 --> 00:24:55,260 and to not cut them down. 284 00:24:59,740 --> 00:25:03,580 But what about areas of forest that have already been destroyed? 285 00:25:06,420 --> 00:25:10,140 In the Amazon, a revolutionary project is under way. 286 00:25:13,740 --> 00:25:16,620 The aim is to plant a new jungle 287 00:25:16,620 --> 00:25:20,220 of 73 million trees. 288 00:25:20,220 --> 00:25:24,900 PEOPLE CHATTER 289 00:25:24,900 --> 00:25:29,980 But regrowing a species-rich forest has always proved difficult. 290 00:25:33,620 --> 00:25:38,860 So the project has turned to the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, 291 00:25:38,860 --> 00:25:41,780 and young women like Milene Alves. 292 00:26:01,420 --> 00:26:04,780 Milene's community has a unique knowledge of seeds. 293 00:26:10,220 --> 00:26:13,300 It's enabled them to collect over 200 294 00:26:13,300 --> 00:26:15,660 of the most important tree species 295 00:26:15,660 --> 00:26:17,140 from across the Amazon. 296 00:26:49,820 --> 00:26:52,260 By mixing the seeds together, 297 00:26:52,260 --> 00:26:56,500 it allows them to create a super-recipe known as a muvuca. 298 00:26:59,180 --> 00:27:02,100 In this mixture, there is enough tree variety 299 00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:04,900 to jump-start a new jungle. 300 00:27:07,700 --> 00:27:10,540 Every year, around 20 tonnes of seeds 301 00:27:10,540 --> 00:27:14,140 are scattered over acres of burnt and degraded land. 302 00:27:15,980 --> 00:27:17,540 After six years, 303 00:27:17,540 --> 00:27:20,060 they will have restored an area of forest 304 00:27:20,060 --> 00:27:23,540 the size of 30,000 football fields... 305 00:27:24,780 --> 00:27:29,020 ..the largest tropical restoration project in the world. 306 00:27:34,100 --> 00:27:36,140 The best thing we can possibly do 307 00:27:36,140 --> 00:27:39,420 to mitigate the effects of a warming planet is to plant more trees 308 00:27:39,420 --> 00:27:41,580 and protect those trees that we have. 309 00:27:41,580 --> 00:27:42,820 We can do this. 310 00:27:42,820 --> 00:27:45,660 If we put them back, we are creating 311 00:27:45,660 --> 00:27:48,060 that stable climate that we need to survive, 312 00:27:48,060 --> 00:27:49,580 and it's such an easy thing to do. 313 00:27:49,580 --> 00:27:54,620 Planting trees and saving wildlife is a vital solution on land, 314 00:27:54,620 --> 00:27:57,020 but it's only part of the story. 315 00:27:57,020 --> 00:27:59,300 The carbon dioxide we produce 316 00:27:59,300 --> 00:28:01,980 is damaging another crucial part of our planet - 317 00:28:01,980 --> 00:28:03,340 the oceans. 318 00:28:08,620 --> 00:28:11,460 Life cannot survive without them. 319 00:28:18,180 --> 00:28:20,620 The reason we can walk out and live 320 00:28:20,620 --> 00:28:24,300 and breathe oxygen is because it's generated in the oceans. 321 00:28:27,940 --> 00:28:32,860 The oceans produce up to 70% of the oxygen we breathe 322 00:28:32,860 --> 00:28:36,260 and feed over three billion people. 323 00:28:40,740 --> 00:28:42,740 Just like our forests, 324 00:28:42,740 --> 00:28:44,580 the plants and animals here 325 00:28:44,580 --> 00:28:47,900 absorb vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. 326 00:28:50,260 --> 00:28:53,300 And, when they die, it sinks down to the ocean floor. 327 00:28:56,780 --> 00:28:59,580 The ocean is what we call a carbon sink. 328 00:28:59,580 --> 00:29:01,820 Basically, it's a giant sponge 329 00:29:01,820 --> 00:29:04,340 that has forever been absorbing 330 00:29:04,340 --> 00:29:07,740 all the excess carbon from the atmosphere, 331 00:29:07,740 --> 00:29:09,980 taking it down to the depths and keeping it there. 332 00:29:11,340 --> 00:29:15,140 The most vital life forms that allow the ocean to do this 333 00:29:15,140 --> 00:29:17,140 are some of the tiniest, 334 00:29:17,140 --> 00:29:21,140 microscopic plant-like organisms - 335 00:29:21,140 --> 00:29:23,500 phytoplankton. 336 00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:26,780 Now, we don't pay much attention to the little teeny plankton, 337 00:29:26,780 --> 00:29:32,420 but plankton are the most important organisms for taking carbon dioxide 338 00:29:32,420 --> 00:29:34,980 and transforming it into oxygen for the planet. 339 00:29:36,380 --> 00:29:39,020 Phytoplankton are the base of the food chain 340 00:29:39,020 --> 00:29:41,060 on top of which everything else survives. 341 00:29:41,060 --> 00:29:43,100 The krill eats the phytoplankton, 342 00:29:43,100 --> 00:29:45,340 whales eat the krill, 343 00:29:45,340 --> 00:29:48,180 sharks eat the fish, and so on and so forth. 344 00:29:48,180 --> 00:29:52,060 We need phytoplankton for everything else in the oceans to survive, 345 00:29:52,060 --> 00:29:55,340 to trap that carbon and keep our climate cool. 346 00:29:56,540 --> 00:30:00,580 But some of these crucial phytoplankton are under attack. 347 00:30:06,420 --> 00:30:09,180 Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, 348 00:30:09,180 --> 00:30:14,180 the oceans have absorbed almost half of all our CO2 emissions. 349 00:30:15,380 --> 00:30:17,340 But that has come at a cost. 350 00:30:23,260 --> 00:30:28,100 When water absorbs carbon dioxide, it becomes more acidic. 351 00:30:30,820 --> 00:30:34,500 But the problem when you have this acidification 352 00:30:34,500 --> 00:30:37,180 is that shells are made of calcium carbonate, 353 00:30:37,180 --> 00:30:39,980 and, as you have this increased acidity in the oceans, 354 00:30:39,980 --> 00:30:41,980 it starts to dissolve these structures. 355 00:30:41,980 --> 00:30:46,060 That threatens anything with a shell. 356 00:30:46,060 --> 00:30:49,340 Our increasingly warm, acidic waters 357 00:30:49,340 --> 00:30:52,540 are not only destroying coral reefs 358 00:30:52,540 --> 00:30:55,380 but decimating some phytoplankton, 359 00:30:55,380 --> 00:30:59,860 the amount of which has fallen by as much as 40% in recent years. 360 00:31:01,620 --> 00:31:08,020 250 million years ago, the ocean also warmed and became more acidic, 361 00:31:08,020 --> 00:31:13,900 contributing to the mass extinction of around 96% of all marine life. 362 00:31:15,300 --> 00:31:18,580 If we have less phytoplankton, the base of every food web, 363 00:31:18,580 --> 00:31:20,980 you lose so much more of everything else. 364 00:31:23,420 --> 00:31:27,020 It is serious. If we have less phytoplankton, 365 00:31:27,020 --> 00:31:31,180 we have less oxygen, which is what we need to survive. 366 00:31:35,620 --> 00:31:37,660 And the oceans are being damaged 367 00:31:37,660 --> 00:31:38,660 in another way. 368 00:31:40,380 --> 00:31:43,140 Research suggests that overfishing 369 00:31:43,140 --> 00:31:48,220 has removed as much as 90% of all large predatory fish. 370 00:31:48,220 --> 00:31:52,820 And fewer fish means a marine system that stores 371 00:31:52,820 --> 00:31:53,900 less carbon. 372 00:31:54,900 --> 00:31:59,180 Ocean species are dying at a rate that's so fast 373 00:31:59,180 --> 00:32:02,220 that, if it were human beings, we would absolutely be terrified. 374 00:32:07,900 --> 00:32:10,060 But there is hope here, too. 375 00:32:10,060 --> 00:32:13,340 MUFFLED RADIO MESSAGES 376 00:32:13,340 --> 00:32:15,620 When areas of ocean are protected, 377 00:32:15,620 --> 00:32:18,420 marine life can recover. 378 00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:24,100 Here, off the coast of Gabon, 379 00:32:24,100 --> 00:32:27,140 they've created one of Earth's most ambitious networks 380 00:32:27,140 --> 00:32:29,460 of marine protected areas. 381 00:32:32,980 --> 00:32:36,700 It's a hot spot for breeding whales and dolphins... 382 00:32:39,780 --> 00:32:42,620 ..and one of the most important of all marine predators... 383 00:32:44,700 --> 00:32:45,700 ..sharks. 384 00:32:47,540 --> 00:32:52,420 Sharks prevent the species they feed on from becoming overabundant - 385 00:32:52,420 --> 00:32:56,660 an essential factor in maintaining our oceans' rich diversity. 386 00:32:58,300 --> 00:33:01,300 When people think about poaching in Africa, 387 00:33:01,300 --> 00:33:04,580 they think about elephants and rhinos and hippos 388 00:33:04,580 --> 00:33:07,340 and these great, majestic creatures on land. 389 00:33:07,340 --> 00:33:10,900 But there is poaching that's taking place at sea. 390 00:33:12,300 --> 00:33:15,020 The reason that I call these fishermen poachers 391 00:33:15,020 --> 00:33:19,140 is that they are taking wildlife without licence. 392 00:33:19,140 --> 00:33:20,820 Captain Peter Hammarstedt, 393 00:33:20,820 --> 00:33:23,900 who works for the conservation group Sea Shepherd, 394 00:33:23,900 --> 00:33:28,060 is patrolling the 20,000-square-mile marine park. 395 00:33:28,060 --> 00:33:29,260 HORN BLARES 396 00:33:29,260 --> 00:33:32,820 Prepare boats for launch, prepare boats for launch. Thank you. 397 00:33:32,820 --> 00:33:37,500 They've spotted a commercial fishing boat on the edge of the park 398 00:33:37,500 --> 00:33:38,980 which needs investigating. 399 00:33:41,980 --> 00:33:45,020 The Gabonese government has joined forces with Peter's team 400 00:33:45,020 --> 00:33:46,820 to carry out boat inspections. 401 00:33:50,300 --> 00:33:53,700 The vessel may have a licence to fish here, 402 00:33:53,700 --> 00:33:55,980 but it could be taking more than its quota 403 00:33:55,980 --> 00:33:58,260 and catching protected species, 404 00:33:58,260 --> 00:34:00,980 like dolphins and sharks. 405 00:34:00,980 --> 00:34:03,900 MUFFLED RADIO MESSAGES 406 00:34:08,580 --> 00:34:10,620 When fighting a war to stop illegal fishing, 407 00:34:10,620 --> 00:34:13,860 the odds can seem insurmountable. 408 00:34:37,420 --> 00:34:40,060 This boat's fishing nets have pulled up 409 00:34:40,060 --> 00:34:42,420 threatened silky and blue sharks. 410 00:34:46,980 --> 00:34:49,620 Catching and keeping these creatures is illegal, 411 00:34:49,620 --> 00:34:53,260 so the fishermen must throw them back. 412 00:34:53,260 --> 00:34:55,700 But many are already so badly injured, 413 00:34:55,700 --> 00:34:57,940 they will not survive the ordeal. 414 00:34:59,500 --> 00:35:03,140 It saddens me greatly to see these incredible creatures 415 00:35:03,140 --> 00:35:07,820 being brutally manhandled as they're dragged across the deck, 416 00:35:07,820 --> 00:35:10,860 their fingers in their gills as they pull them. 417 00:35:16,260 --> 00:35:19,300 Globally, each year, millions of sharks 418 00:35:19,300 --> 00:35:22,060 and over 300,000 whales and dolphins 419 00:35:22,060 --> 00:35:25,100 are accidentally killed by fishing nets, 420 00:35:25,100 --> 00:35:28,260 seriously injuring the health of the oceans. 421 00:35:28,260 --> 00:35:31,980 It's the efficiency of these vessels that shocks me to the core... 422 00:35:33,900 --> 00:35:36,100 ..this sheer killing power of them. 423 00:35:38,060 --> 00:35:40,180 And you can really see 424 00:35:40,180 --> 00:35:43,460 why the oceans are being sucked dry of life. 425 00:35:58,540 --> 00:36:01,140 But the patrols are working. 426 00:36:01,140 --> 00:36:05,540 In the past three years, they have arrested 50 vessels 427 00:36:05,540 --> 00:36:07,020 and inspected hundreds more. 428 00:36:08,700 --> 00:36:11,060 Last year, we assisted the coastguard 429 00:36:11,060 --> 00:36:13,980 to arrest a vessel that was poaching sharks. 430 00:36:13,980 --> 00:36:16,540 And, by arresting this one single ship, 431 00:36:16,540 --> 00:36:20,380 we were able to save the lives of 250,000 sharks. 432 00:36:23,460 --> 00:36:26,460 Marine life here now has a chance. 433 00:36:29,340 --> 00:36:33,220 Currently, around 5% of the oceans are protected, 434 00:36:33,220 --> 00:36:37,660 but there's a global campaign to raise that to 30%. 435 00:36:38,860 --> 00:36:43,340 If we can do that, many of the planet's most vulnerable species 436 00:36:43,340 --> 00:36:45,380 could recover. 437 00:36:45,380 --> 00:36:50,460 And a healthier ocean has the power to absorb more CO2. 438 00:36:53,180 --> 00:36:54,940 We thought the ocean is 439 00:36:54,940 --> 00:36:59,180 this infinite space that is full of infinite resources... 440 00:37:00,900 --> 00:37:04,140 ..and this infinite capacity to 441 00:37:04,140 --> 00:37:07,100 withstand and tolerate everything that we throw at it. 442 00:37:09,380 --> 00:37:11,180 And I think we do need to... 443 00:37:11,180 --> 00:37:16,220 ..stop and reconsider our strategies if we want to move forward. 444 00:37:21,420 --> 00:37:25,420 Humans aren't just damaging life in the sea. 445 00:37:25,420 --> 00:37:29,940 We're also disturbing one of its most important forces... 446 00:37:34,540 --> 00:37:36,180 ..ocean currents. 447 00:37:40,420 --> 00:37:46,620 These transport essential nutrients to almost all marine creatures. 448 00:37:46,620 --> 00:37:48,300 We're dependent on 449 00:37:48,300 --> 00:37:50,900 these large circulation patterns that go on in our oceans. 450 00:37:52,420 --> 00:37:54,460 There's this continuous movement 451 00:37:54,460 --> 00:37:56,460 of beautiful cold water coming from the depths. 452 00:37:57,900 --> 00:37:59,220 It's chock-full of nutrients, 453 00:37:59,220 --> 00:38:00,940 it's chock-full of productivity. 454 00:38:02,100 --> 00:38:05,420 These currents begin at the poles. 455 00:38:07,340 --> 00:38:08,700 Here, cold, salty water, 456 00:38:08,700 --> 00:38:12,140 which is more dense, sinks to the depths... 457 00:38:13,540 --> 00:38:15,860 ..and flows towards the tropics 458 00:38:15,860 --> 00:38:16,980 and beyond. 459 00:38:20,300 --> 00:38:24,860 In the hotter parts of the Earth, warmer water rises and flows 460 00:38:24,860 --> 00:38:26,220 back towards the poles. 461 00:38:27,620 --> 00:38:30,620 This creates a global conveyor belt 462 00:38:30,620 --> 00:38:34,700 that circulates nutrients, oxygen and heat around our planet, 463 00:38:34,700 --> 00:38:37,380 regulating Earth's climate and weather. 464 00:38:39,220 --> 00:38:44,660 But it's now feared that our warming planet is destabilising the system. 465 00:38:46,660 --> 00:38:49,500 As you have an increase in ocean temperatures, 466 00:38:49,500 --> 00:38:51,300 it has impacts on everything. 467 00:38:51,300 --> 00:38:53,540 We have glaciers across the world and, as they melt, 468 00:38:53,540 --> 00:38:57,020 you have more of this fresh water just pushing into the oceans. 469 00:38:57,020 --> 00:39:01,100 And this fresh water is less saline, it's less salty, 470 00:39:01,100 --> 00:39:04,140 and that tends to float at the surface. 471 00:39:05,380 --> 00:39:08,740 And it's not moving. You don't have this circulation. 472 00:39:08,740 --> 00:39:10,100 It's causing a breakdown. 473 00:39:12,060 --> 00:39:15,900 Many animals depend on reliable ocean currents, 474 00:39:15,900 --> 00:39:17,740 so, as they change, 475 00:39:17,740 --> 00:39:19,820 the effect can be disastrous. 476 00:39:22,580 --> 00:39:24,020 This can be witnessed 477 00:39:24,020 --> 00:39:27,180 off the north-east coast of the United States, 478 00:39:27,180 --> 00:39:29,060 where it's thought to be triggering 479 00:39:29,060 --> 00:39:32,740 mass casualties of a critically endangered species. 480 00:39:34,180 --> 00:39:37,900 The fact that they're even here just stuns so many people. 481 00:39:37,900 --> 00:39:41,940 Bob Prescott heads up the emergency response team. 482 00:39:47,780 --> 00:39:51,060 We have about 250 people that walk beaches. 483 00:39:51,060 --> 00:39:53,300 They're looking for turtles in trouble. 484 00:39:55,100 --> 00:39:56,940 NEWSREADER: This week's frigid conditions 485 00:39:56,940 --> 00:39:59,100 have stunned sea turtles and left them 486 00:39:59,100 --> 00:40:01,180 stranded on beaches throughout the north-east. 487 00:40:01,180 --> 00:40:04,700 If you spot one, move the turtle above the high-tide line 488 00:40:04,700 --> 00:40:07,740 until a trained responder arrives. 489 00:40:07,740 --> 00:40:09,260 Timing is everything. 490 00:40:09,260 --> 00:40:11,580 If we can get to them within an hour 491 00:40:11,580 --> 00:40:13,580 of them washing up onto the beach, 492 00:40:13,580 --> 00:40:15,620 then we're going to be able to save 493 00:40:15,620 --> 00:40:17,660 90-95% of them. 494 00:40:19,220 --> 00:40:21,740 Here, off the coast of Boston, 495 00:40:21,740 --> 00:40:24,980 waters are warming faster than almost anywhere on Earth. 496 00:40:26,300 --> 00:40:29,620 It's thought to be causing turtles from the tropics to swim 497 00:40:29,620 --> 00:40:33,020 further north than ever before for summer feeding. 498 00:40:34,700 --> 00:40:37,260 But, when the cold autumn waters suddenly close in, 499 00:40:37,260 --> 00:40:39,220 the turtles go into shock. 500 00:40:42,660 --> 00:40:44,460 These are very young turtles. 501 00:40:44,460 --> 00:40:47,700 They're anywhere from one-and-a-half to six years old. 502 00:40:48,740 --> 00:40:51,180 When we find them, they're hypothermic, 503 00:40:51,180 --> 00:40:54,660 their heart is beating at one to five beats a minute. 504 00:40:54,660 --> 00:40:57,100 The blood is barely circulating. 505 00:40:57,100 --> 00:40:59,780 For all intents and purposes, look dead. 506 00:40:59,780 --> 00:41:01,380 The critically ill animals 507 00:41:01,380 --> 00:41:04,780 are rushed to the New England Aquarium near Boston. 508 00:41:04,780 --> 00:41:09,460 It has a state-of-the-art ER unit for turtles. 509 00:41:11,220 --> 00:41:13,180 We don't want to stress them any further, 510 00:41:13,180 --> 00:41:15,940 so we now treat the whole episode 511 00:41:15,940 --> 00:41:18,140 as sort of entering an ICU unit of a hospital. 512 00:41:19,340 --> 00:41:22,220 This is critical care for some turtles. 513 00:41:22,220 --> 00:41:25,940 He's pretty stiff. I can't get his mouth open much more. 514 00:41:25,940 --> 00:41:27,780 See, it's right there. 515 00:41:27,780 --> 00:41:29,380 Oh, there we are, there we are. 516 00:41:31,940 --> 00:41:35,260 When a turtle arrives, its condition is rapidly assessed. 517 00:41:35,260 --> 00:41:37,380 How are you doing? The animals are given 518 00:41:37,380 --> 00:41:39,700 stabilising drugs and fluids, 519 00:41:39,700 --> 00:41:42,220 their lungs are cleared of water 520 00:41:42,220 --> 00:41:44,500 and sand washed out of their scratched eyes. 521 00:41:47,460 --> 00:41:49,460 Got emergency meds. 522 00:41:49,460 --> 00:41:51,180 The veterinary team 523 00:41:51,180 --> 00:41:52,580 must ventilate turtles 524 00:41:52,580 --> 00:41:54,580 that are close to death 525 00:41:54,580 --> 00:41:56,580 to help them breathe. No response at all. 526 00:41:56,580 --> 00:42:01,660 But it's worth it for an animal that might live another 50 years. 527 00:42:03,380 --> 00:42:05,300 You want to save as many as you can. 528 00:42:06,340 --> 00:42:07,860 And it is depressing at times, 529 00:42:07,860 --> 00:42:09,380 cos a lot of them don't make it. 530 00:42:14,460 --> 00:42:17,500 You know, last year at Thanksgiving, we had 200 dead turtles. 531 00:42:22,100 --> 00:42:25,220 When you're looking into its eyes, it's looking back at you. 532 00:42:25,220 --> 00:42:26,860 There is a connection there. 533 00:42:28,220 --> 00:42:31,060 And it gets stronger and stronger as they start to recover. 534 00:42:33,940 --> 00:42:37,420 It can take months for the turtles to recuperate. 535 00:42:37,420 --> 00:42:38,860 But, once they do, 536 00:42:38,860 --> 00:42:42,500 they'll make the first plane flight of their lives. 537 00:42:42,500 --> 00:42:45,140 We have a big transport this morning - 538 00:42:45,140 --> 00:42:47,380 44 ridleys and one loggerhead. 539 00:42:47,380 --> 00:42:49,540 So we're going to start in 15B. 540 00:42:49,540 --> 00:42:51,420 All right, let's get to work! 541 00:42:53,460 --> 00:42:54,940 They are part of the planet. 542 00:42:56,060 --> 00:43:00,380 They're part of our very delicate web of life, if you will. 543 00:43:00,380 --> 00:43:03,620 38, 41, 44... 544 00:43:03,620 --> 00:43:06,460 The bottom line for all of these turtles 545 00:43:06,460 --> 00:43:08,700 is to get them back out into the water. 546 00:43:10,940 --> 00:43:13,140 We're doing great on timing, everybody. 547 00:43:17,140 --> 00:43:20,260 A very exciting day, cos it just brings that turtle 548 00:43:20,260 --> 00:43:23,300 one step closer to being released back into the wild. 549 00:43:24,820 --> 00:43:28,020 These mass casualties of our changing oceans 550 00:43:28,020 --> 00:43:32,060 are to be flown south to Florida and beyond. 551 00:43:32,060 --> 00:43:36,340 The future of this species depends on these young turtles... 552 00:43:36,340 --> 00:43:37,740 Ready. All right! 553 00:43:37,740 --> 00:43:38,980 ..which will be released 554 00:43:38,980 --> 00:43:42,340 into the warmer-water currents that they need to survive. 555 00:43:45,860 --> 00:43:48,300 It's a very emotional day for everybody. 556 00:43:48,300 --> 00:43:51,140 These are turtles that staff and volunteers at the aquarium 557 00:43:51,140 --> 00:43:53,420 have worked so hard to get them to that point. 558 00:44:13,700 --> 00:44:17,620 Changes in the ocean currents won't just harm turtles. 559 00:44:17,620 --> 00:44:22,460 With heat, oxygen and nutrients moving more slowly around the globe, 560 00:44:22,460 --> 00:44:25,660 the impact on all life could be dramatic. 561 00:44:25,660 --> 00:44:27,460 I mean, we live in a world where 562 00:44:27,460 --> 00:44:30,780 just one domino in a large game of dominoes... 563 00:44:30,780 --> 00:44:32,780 So you flick one piece, and you know what happens - 564 00:44:32,780 --> 00:44:34,420 everything starts to collapse. 565 00:44:34,420 --> 00:44:37,060 And that's exactly what we start to see over time 566 00:44:37,060 --> 00:44:38,660 as these conveyor belts slow down. 567 00:44:42,860 --> 00:44:47,820 Human activity is destroying the balance of our perfect planet... 568 00:44:50,060 --> 00:44:52,900 ..disturbing our oceans and disrupting our weather. 569 00:44:55,020 --> 00:44:57,620 But can we prevent the damage we're doing? 570 00:44:58,980 --> 00:45:01,380 Now the human population's at 7 billion. 571 00:45:01,380 --> 00:45:03,460 It's moving to 9 billion. 572 00:45:03,460 --> 00:45:05,500 And the problem is we're already using 573 00:45:05,500 --> 00:45:07,460 the equivalent of one-and-a-half Earths. 574 00:45:10,180 --> 00:45:11,380 It's not sustainable. 575 00:45:14,820 --> 00:45:17,260 Around 80% of the energy we use 576 00:45:17,260 --> 00:45:21,340 still comes from burning fossil fuels. 577 00:45:21,340 --> 00:45:24,660 It's what makes us so dangerous. 578 00:45:25,980 --> 00:45:30,260 We can reduce CO2 emissions by consuming less 579 00:45:30,260 --> 00:45:34,140 or reusing some of our resources. 580 00:45:34,140 --> 00:45:36,700 But the biggest saving we could make 581 00:45:36,700 --> 00:45:40,100 would be to stop using fossil fuels for our energy. 582 00:45:41,180 --> 00:45:43,300 And there are many people who think 583 00:45:43,300 --> 00:45:47,460 that we could exploit the natural forces of the planet 584 00:45:47,460 --> 00:45:48,940 to enable us to do that. 585 00:45:53,820 --> 00:45:56,860 The sun has not sent us a bill. 586 00:45:56,860 --> 00:45:58,940 The wind has not invoiced us. 587 00:46:02,700 --> 00:46:07,020 Coal, oil, gas, uranium - they're expensive. 588 00:46:07,020 --> 00:46:08,420 The sun and the wind is free. 589 00:46:13,740 --> 00:46:16,780 We live in a planet that's incredibly dynamic. 590 00:46:22,020 --> 00:46:23,580 We all live in environments 591 00:46:23,580 --> 00:46:26,540 where there is some source of energy that we can tap into. 592 00:46:26,540 --> 00:46:29,180 There's energy, there's power all around us. 593 00:46:35,380 --> 00:46:37,700 And we need to start looking at 594 00:46:37,700 --> 00:46:39,820 these natural sources of energy 595 00:46:39,820 --> 00:46:42,380 that don't have that negative impact. 596 00:46:48,700 --> 00:46:52,340 We have more energy than we'll ever know what to do with. 597 00:46:52,340 --> 00:46:53,940 We can power the whole world 598 00:46:53,940 --> 00:46:58,220 with just a fraction of the solar and wind that we get every year - 599 00:46:58,220 --> 00:46:59,260 a fraction of it! 600 00:47:06,340 --> 00:47:09,060 We're not going to start needing less power any time soon. 601 00:47:09,060 --> 00:47:12,220 We're just going to have to shift how we generate that power 602 00:47:12,220 --> 00:47:15,260 from non-renewables to renewables. 603 00:47:21,380 --> 00:47:22,780 Volcanic heat. 604 00:47:23,820 --> 00:47:26,220 So far, we've only tapped 605 00:47:26,220 --> 00:47:28,500 some 7% of its global potential. 606 00:47:31,340 --> 00:47:33,420 Or the wind in our skies. 607 00:47:35,380 --> 00:47:36,820 That could provide 608 00:47:36,820 --> 00:47:39,660 30% of our energy by 2050. 609 00:47:43,100 --> 00:47:45,540 And the power of the sun, 610 00:47:45,540 --> 00:47:48,020 which is virtually unlimited. 611 00:47:50,540 --> 00:47:53,900 In areas where most life struggles to survive... 612 00:47:56,660 --> 00:48:00,980 ..there is plenty of space to gather the maximum solar energy. 613 00:48:03,020 --> 00:48:06,660 The northern Sahara, home to the world's largest 614 00:48:06,660 --> 00:48:09,260 concentrated solar power plant. 615 00:48:13,620 --> 00:48:16,020 Here, innovative technology 616 00:48:16,020 --> 00:48:19,260 is using mirrors to superheat a special liquid 617 00:48:19,260 --> 00:48:22,100 to around 400 degrees Celsius. 618 00:48:23,820 --> 00:48:26,180 This heat is then stored in molten salt, 619 00:48:26,180 --> 00:48:31,180 allowing something not possible before - 620 00:48:31,180 --> 00:48:33,700 the ability to power steam turbines 621 00:48:33,700 --> 00:48:36,340 with the sun's energy during the night. 622 00:48:37,380 --> 00:48:41,020 It creates green electricity 24 hours a day, 623 00:48:41,020 --> 00:48:44,660 feeding Morocco's growing energy needs. 624 00:48:45,980 --> 00:48:48,580 And it has plans to supply Europe. 625 00:48:49,940 --> 00:48:52,780 We need to make enormous shifts in our society. 626 00:48:52,780 --> 00:48:54,700 This is starting, 627 00:48:54,700 --> 00:48:56,820 but it's happening just in small places. 628 00:48:56,820 --> 00:48:58,460 It needs to happen everywhere, 629 00:48:58,460 --> 00:49:00,700 and it needs to happen much, much faster. 630 00:49:00,700 --> 00:49:02,980 There's really no excuse. 631 00:49:02,980 --> 00:49:04,940 The Earth has all of the power we need. 632 00:49:04,940 --> 00:49:06,540 BIRDSONG 633 00:49:06,540 --> 00:49:08,820 Our mission is not growth, growth, growth, 634 00:49:08,820 --> 00:49:10,820 but sustainability, 635 00:49:10,820 --> 00:49:15,860 and that our responsibility is to steward this planet. 636 00:49:15,860 --> 00:49:17,300 That's the mission at hand. 637 00:49:19,420 --> 00:49:22,420 But is this transition to a low-carbon society 638 00:49:22,420 --> 00:49:24,660 happening fast enough? 639 00:49:29,940 --> 00:49:34,060 In 2015, 195 of the world's nations 640 00:49:34,060 --> 00:49:38,300 pledged to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. 641 00:49:41,300 --> 00:49:44,020 To avoid planetary disaster, 642 00:49:44,020 --> 00:49:47,220 the goal was to limit the warming of the Earth 643 00:49:47,220 --> 00:49:49,260 to well below two degrees. 644 00:49:49,260 --> 00:49:51,100 CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 645 00:49:51,100 --> 00:49:53,220 JOHN KERRY: Together, citizens of the world, 646 00:49:53,220 --> 00:49:56,780 we will work to save our planet from ourselves. 647 00:49:59,420 --> 00:50:04,060 BARACK OBAMA: Today's a historic day in the fight to protect our planet. 648 00:50:04,060 --> 00:50:06,900 LEONARDO DICAPRIO: You'll either be lauded by future generations... 649 00:50:08,140 --> 00:50:09,980 ..or vilified by them. 650 00:50:13,220 --> 00:50:15,460 To get an accurate reading 651 00:50:15,460 --> 00:50:17,500 of CO2 levels in the Earth's atmosphere, 652 00:50:17,500 --> 00:50:21,580 you must be far away from the pollution of the cities. 653 00:50:21,580 --> 00:50:23,980 So, in the heart of the Amazon, 654 00:50:23,980 --> 00:50:29,900 they built a 325-metre tower to do just that. 655 00:50:29,900 --> 00:50:33,380 It's one of a number of towers around the planet 656 00:50:33,380 --> 00:50:35,380 collecting vital data, 657 00:50:35,380 --> 00:50:38,020 and the news is not good. 658 00:50:38,020 --> 00:50:40,860 This year, CO2 levels in the atmosphere 659 00:50:40,860 --> 00:50:44,300 went up yet again, hitting another record high. 660 00:50:49,980 --> 00:50:52,780 I think we are in a crisis. I'm not going to mince my words. 661 00:50:52,780 --> 00:50:54,700 We are in a crisis right now. 662 00:50:54,700 --> 00:50:58,260 We are pushing the equilibrium that the planet used to be in 663 00:50:58,260 --> 00:51:00,540 in a way that may be unrecoverable. 664 00:51:03,300 --> 00:51:05,220 And what the scientists are telling us is 665 00:51:05,220 --> 00:51:09,540 we will face a runaway cascade of environmental events 666 00:51:09,540 --> 00:51:14,260 feeding off each other, taking us into an unknown abyss 667 00:51:14,260 --> 00:51:16,620 that could lead to a very quick mass extinction 668 00:51:16,620 --> 00:51:18,220 of much of life on this Earth 669 00:51:18,220 --> 00:51:20,380 in a very, very short period of time. 670 00:51:22,500 --> 00:51:24,940 Species are becoming extinct 671 00:51:24,940 --> 00:51:28,380 around 100 times faster than the normal rate. 672 00:51:29,700 --> 00:51:31,420 So rapid is the loss 673 00:51:31,420 --> 00:51:34,380 that zoos around the world are taking drastic action. 674 00:51:36,300 --> 00:51:39,780 They're collecting DNA from endangered species 675 00:51:39,780 --> 00:51:43,420 to build a genetic store of life before they go extinct. 676 00:51:45,260 --> 00:51:49,300 At Edinburgh Zoo, a health check on a Diana monkey 677 00:51:49,300 --> 00:51:51,980 presents a valuable opportunity 678 00:51:51,980 --> 00:51:56,420 to collect a sample for the European network of biobanks. 679 00:52:00,900 --> 00:52:06,300 We really feel the pressure to bank as many species as we can 680 00:52:06,300 --> 00:52:10,420 as fast as we can before it's too late. 681 00:52:10,420 --> 00:52:13,300 Marlys Houck at San Diego Zoo 682 00:52:13,300 --> 00:52:17,260 receives DNA samples from all over the world. 683 00:52:18,700 --> 00:52:21,180 She's taking them to a secure vault. 684 00:52:25,300 --> 00:52:27,820 It's known as the Frozen Zoo. 685 00:52:29,140 --> 00:52:31,060 It's hard to imagine, 686 00:52:31,060 --> 00:52:33,980 but there's probably more vertebrate life in that room 687 00:52:33,980 --> 00:52:35,820 than anywhere else on the planet. 688 00:52:39,900 --> 00:52:43,220 We get samples every day. It might be a tiger, 689 00:52:43,220 --> 00:52:46,580 it might be a bear, it might be a rare reptile. 690 00:52:48,220 --> 00:52:52,900 Right now, we have over 10,000 individuals represented. 691 00:52:57,980 --> 00:53:00,940 The living cells of our world's rarest animals 692 00:53:00,940 --> 00:53:05,180 are being stored here at minus-200 degrees Celsius... 693 00:53:07,300 --> 00:53:11,580 ..keeping their DNA viable indefinitely, 694 00:53:11,580 --> 00:53:13,220 just in case the worst happens. 695 00:53:15,620 --> 00:53:19,300 There are multiple frozen zoos like this around the world 696 00:53:19,300 --> 00:53:21,700 and, with extinction rates so high, 697 00:53:21,700 --> 00:53:24,660 they might be needed sooner than we thought. 698 00:53:28,860 --> 00:53:31,740 I hope that we never have to see 699 00:53:31,740 --> 00:53:34,500 extinction of some of these amazing species. 700 00:53:38,620 --> 00:53:41,100 But, if we do, the samples in the Frozen Zoo 701 00:53:41,100 --> 00:53:44,940 might be the hope for bringing them back, so that... 702 00:53:44,940 --> 00:53:47,700 ..our children and grandchildren 703 00:53:47,700 --> 00:53:50,100 could once again 704 00:53:50,100 --> 00:53:52,780 see the actual animals. 705 00:53:52,780 --> 00:53:57,300 Not knowing what the planet will be like when I'm an adult, 706 00:53:57,300 --> 00:53:59,580 not knowing whether it will be capable of sustaining life - 707 00:53:59,580 --> 00:54:02,580 that is a terrifying thing to face. 708 00:54:06,660 --> 00:54:08,660 I think the planet that I've been born into 709 00:54:08,660 --> 00:54:11,060 is the most beautiful place that I could ever imagine. 710 00:54:11,060 --> 00:54:14,140 It's full of amazing wildlife... 711 00:54:14,140 --> 00:54:16,820 ..and us - humans are incredible. 712 00:54:19,980 --> 00:54:23,780 But we seem to forget that the place that we live in is finite 713 00:54:23,780 --> 00:54:28,220 and very vulnerable, and it seems to be dying before our eyes. 714 00:54:34,700 --> 00:54:38,540 Since the age of ten, I've been hearing about our warming world, 715 00:54:38,540 --> 00:54:40,260 but nothing was really done at that time. 716 00:54:40,260 --> 00:54:43,140 All I observed at that time was sort of mass apathy. 717 00:54:46,620 --> 00:54:48,700 But what is positive is that the youth 718 00:54:48,700 --> 00:54:50,500 are standing up and are taking leadership. 719 00:54:50,500 --> 00:54:52,340 CHANTING: Save our planet! 720 00:54:52,340 --> 00:54:56,220 Save our planet! 721 00:54:56,220 --> 00:54:57,820 We need more people to care. 722 00:54:57,820 --> 00:55:00,420 We need more people to look at the facts and say, 723 00:55:00,420 --> 00:55:02,260 "I will do something about this." 724 00:55:04,700 --> 00:55:06,700 Whose future? Our future! 725 00:55:06,700 --> 00:55:08,380 Whose planet? Our planet! 726 00:55:08,380 --> 00:55:09,460 Whose future? 727 00:55:09,460 --> 00:55:14,060 So we need to think about how we interact with the natural world. 728 00:55:14,060 --> 00:55:16,300 We need to view it not as a commodity 729 00:55:16,300 --> 00:55:18,540 but as a system that we are a part of... 730 00:55:28,700 --> 00:55:30,820 ..because we are inextricably linked 731 00:55:30,820 --> 00:55:33,140 to the natural world, and whatever happens 732 00:55:33,140 --> 00:55:34,980 to the oceans, 733 00:55:34,980 --> 00:55:37,900 whatever happens to the forests, 734 00:55:37,900 --> 00:55:40,860 whatever happens to the deserts, that will come back 735 00:55:40,860 --> 00:55:42,700 and it will happen to us. 736 00:55:56,500 --> 00:55:59,780 Right now, we have the capacity and knowledge 737 00:55:59,780 --> 00:56:02,180 to stop the damage we are doing. 738 00:56:04,140 --> 00:56:06,060 But what we don't have 739 00:56:06,060 --> 00:56:07,420 is time. 740 00:56:09,100 --> 00:56:11,900 My inspiration and hope for the future 741 00:56:11,900 --> 00:56:15,900 lies with the next generation. 742 00:56:15,900 --> 00:56:20,500 But we all have a responsibility to reduce our carbon footprints, 743 00:56:20,500 --> 00:56:23,140 harness the forces of nature for our energy 744 00:56:23,140 --> 00:56:26,300 and protect the natural world. 745 00:56:26,300 --> 00:56:30,220 The survival of humanity and our fellow creatures on Earth 746 00:56:30,220 --> 00:56:31,820 depends upon it. 747 00:56:32,900 --> 00:56:34,900 Do you want to be the last generation 748 00:56:34,900 --> 00:56:37,740 that signed the death certificate of humanity? 749 00:56:37,740 --> 00:56:41,300 Do you want to be the generation that sees the last elephant killed? 750 00:56:41,300 --> 00:56:42,820 Do you want to be the generation 751 00:56:42,820 --> 00:56:45,060 that sees the last fish fished out of the sea? 752 00:56:45,060 --> 00:56:46,700 Or do you want to be the generation 753 00:56:46,700 --> 00:56:48,740 and the individuals that turned it around? 754 00:56:48,740 --> 00:56:51,940 This is the single most serious moment 755 00:56:51,940 --> 00:56:56,940 in the 200,000 years that our species has been on this Earth. 756 00:56:56,940 --> 00:56:59,300 I see reason to hope. 757 00:56:59,300 --> 00:57:02,100 And I think we can. 758 00:57:02,100 --> 00:57:06,420 I think we humans, we are incredibly intelligent animals, 759 00:57:06,420 --> 00:57:07,820 and we can, 760 00:57:07,820 --> 00:57:09,260 and we will, 761 00:57:09,260 --> 00:57:10,700 if we set our minds to it. 762 00:57:15,260 --> 00:57:18,540 The Open University has produced a free poster 763 00:57:18,540 --> 00:57:22,020 exploring our perfect planet. To order, please call... 764 00:57:25,980 --> 00:57:26,980 ..or go to... 765 00:57:31,180 --> 00:57:33,540 ..and follow the links to the Open University.