Noah G

Ms. Mewshaw

AP English Language and Composition

11 November 2020

  David Attenborough, in the documentary David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet, explains

that humans are destroying biodiversity and the natural world by including the impact of burning fossil

fuels, the effects of the increase in temperature brought by the burning of fossil fuels, and the

destruction of biodiversity. Attenborough supports his claims by describing what he saw in nature during

his 7 decade-long career as a journalist.  The author’s purpose is to inform the public so that they are

informed of the harm that humanity has caused around the world.

In the documentary, Attenborough shows that humans are continuing to practice overfishing.

This will have negative impacts on not only the oceans, but ourselves as well.  Humans have been

overfishing the ocean and certain areas which were known as hotspots have disappeared because of

overfishing and Attenborough explained that the nutrient cycle of the ocean is being thrown out of

balance. Many countries have overfished certain parts of the ocean. They overfished so much that

countries had to start subsidizing just to keep the industry running. The use of the images of large

amounts of tuna being fished out of the ocean and other images that show a lack of fish in certain areas

shows that humans are taking too much from the ocean and are not allowing them to reestablish.

Attenborough states that a Blue Planet film crew in 1998 first discovered coral bleaching and realized

that bleaching was most common in areas where the ocean temperature was higher. The coral went

from a multitude of colors to pearly white. The Blue Planet is a documentary that Attenborough

narrated in 2001. That documentary took years to film due to the amount of travel it required and as the

crew travelled, they came across the first coral bleaching. Finding coral bleaching only 20 years ago
shows how rapidly humans are destroying the oceans. In only 20 years most of our reefs have bleached

out or have been destroyed which is extremely fast when compared to the hundreds of years that it

takes to build a reef. This proves the point that humans are destroying biodiversity made by

Attenborough.

The polar regions are supposed to be cold, but in recent years according to Attenborough, they

have been warming rapidly. Attenborough states that there were times in his adventures where he

couldn’t reach certain areas because they were blocked off by ice, but as he got older the more he could

reach the poles because the ice continued to melt. Many ships that go to the poles used to have trouble

navigating as many mountainous landforms were blocked off by ice or glaciers, but in recent years the

ice has melted and these landforms are now able to be reached. The only reason Attenborough was able

to reach these unattainable areas was because of the increase in temperature of the oceans. This has

resulted from 80 years’ worth of burning fossil fuels which sends carbon into our atmosphere and

increases the global temperature. Attenborough states that the animals that live in these polar regions

will go extinct as many take refuge on the ice, which is melting until all that is left is water. Organisms

that live in these polar regions are designed to live in this region’s conditions. As the temperature

changes this habitat, many species will not be suitable for the new environment. Without the ice for

these arctic animals to live on, they will go extinct as many of them are not fully aquatic or cannot

handle the warmer temperatures. Once again, humans continue to ruin biodiversity. 

Attenborough has seen gorillas many times throughout his career, but each time it became

harder and harder due to poaching and habitat loss. Attenborough talked about his adventures in

Tanzania and how he used to come across gorillas regularly, but as the years went by it became harder

to find gorillas. It got to the point where the only gorillas he could find were being watched 24/7 by park

rangers because of poachers and hunters. Gorillas used to be abundant in the forests, but as human
civilization expanded and a want for gorilla fur increased, the only gorillas that could be found were

being watched and protected by human guards. Mountain gorillas currently have a population of around

800 specimens left in the wild. Mountain gorillas have not been able to survive in zoos unlike the

lowland gorillas. If it were not for humans poaching the gorillas or stealing the babies for the exotic pet

trade, the mountain gorilla population would be thriving like it was at the beginning of Attenborough’s

journalism career. Attenborough also shows a variety of exotic bird species in their natural habitat and

then shows images of chickens in cages. Many bird species show off bright and vibrant colors, but most

of the birds in the world today are chickens due to loss of habitat and mass human production.

Attenborough stated that we are “replacing the wild with the tame”. In this case chickens are the tame,

which are overcoming the beauty of nature. There are many beautiful bird species in the world, but

many are being killed by habitat destruction. The most common bird, the chicken, has been so mass

produced by humans that it takes up 70% of all birds. Many exotic bird species that belong in the

Indonesian Archipelago add biodiversity to the communities by having different roles in their ecosystem

and eating different foods. As habitat destruction is encroaching on their environment as well, humans

are destroying the biodiversity of bird species by normalizing the domestication of chickens everywhere.

Attenborough said in the documentary that “we are replacing the wild, with the tame.” Through

the documentary, Attenborough recounts his life as a naturalist and illustrates the realization that the

natural world is quickly being destroyed by humans by including the impact of burning fossil fuels, the

effects of the increase in temperature brought by the burning of fossil fuels, and the destruction of

biodiversity. Attenborough calls this documentary his “witness statement”. He hopes that his viewers

will be able to take away the fact that humans are destroying the Earth and humans need to act now.