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Sir David Frederick Attenborough is a naturalist and broadcaster, who is most well-known for writing and presenting the nine "Life" series, produced in conjunction with BBC's Natural History Unit. We also learn of humanity's evolution, the different environmental circumstances which our ancestors had to survive and what has changed until now (this, the Holocene, is the gentlest era thus far). It is not simply a food chain—which implies a linear flow of energy—but a dense fabric, spreading in many directions, with each node bound up with every other. Renewable energy such as solar, wind, water and geothermal could sustainably power all human energy usage.
He was born in 1926 during one geological period - the holocene - and is now observing another - the anthropocene - the period in which humans are the dominant influence on the climate and the environment. That disaster is being brought about by the very things that allow us to live our comfortable lives. Though citizens of the UK claim David Attenborough as a national treasure, the planet needs to embrace him as an international treasure. I’m glad to have one of his books and very glad he’s sharing more of his expertise and knowledge on how better to take care of this beautiful planet 🌎 of ours! This is part memoir, part dire warning about the decline of our planet's wild places, its biodiversity and what we must do to help put it right.Overall: Interesting, easy-read introduction to environmental science, with an engaging opening section.
It’s not all doom and gloom as he also lays out very achievable ways we can start to reverse course if we act now. I would like to thank both Netgalley and Random House Publishing for supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. However, as an introduction to some of the current environmental challenges, I think this offers a pretty good overview. To quote an extraordinary and morally consistent environmental activist "it's time to start panicking" because there is still hope that we can change this.It is human activity that seeks to simplify this complex arrangement into something approximating a line—petroleum fertilizer, to corn, to animal feed, to cow, to steak—a process that boosts short-term yield at the expense of long-term sustainability. Attenborough is uniquely well-positioned—by his age, reputation, and experience—to be making this warning. I liked that Sir Attenborough gave a 360° view on what life was like in the 1930s, all the things he got to see and places he got to visit over the years thanks to his job, and that he also talked about other notable people who have blown the whistle decades ago and put in significant efforts to save the wild. However, Attenborough describes actions which could prevent these effects and combat climate change and biodiversity loss. Given that a safe level for humans would be 350 parts per million (ppm), we're now easily in the danger zone.
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