Attenborough's climate change doc leaves viewers with one huge question

Megan Davies
Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

From Digital Spy

Following quickly on the heels of Netflix's Our Planet (Sir David Attenborough's other hard-hitting documentary series that highlights the impact climate change has had on different environments the world over), the naturalist has returned with a new important documentary on BBC One too.

Climate Change: The Facts sees Attenborough take an urgent look at the science of climate change, including contributions from leading scientists and personal testimonies of those who've witnessed its devastating effects.

The film reveals what is likely to happen if global warming exceeds 1.5 degrees and if major reductions in CO2 emissions are not made in the next decade as it warns that the negative effects of climate change are happening now.

And throughout the programme, many viewers had just one major question as they watched along: what are we doing to this planet?

Just like Our Planet's harrowing walrus scenes, Climate Change: The Facts revealed that last year's heatwave saw temperatures reach more than 40 degrees centigrade in Australia, which led to the deaths of more than 11,000 flying foxes who were all suffering from heat stroke.

Conservationists managed to save just over 300 of the animals, and the scenes in the documentary left viewers heartbroken:

The series also explored some of the major impact of climate change, highlighting the ice caps melting, the oceans rising and the destruction of the coral reef as prime examples, while also reflecting on last year's deadly California wildfires and considering its link to climate change.

Alongside tracking the catastrophes of climate change, the show also stressed that it's not too late to make a change – just so long as we act now, consume fewer products and be less wasteful – and highlighted the efforts of 16-year-old campaigner Greta Thunberg and children across the world in calling for change.

"We now stand at a unique point in our planet's history, one where we must all share responsibility, both for our present well-being and for the future of life on earth," Attenborough concluded.

"Every one of us has the power to make changes and make them now. Our wonderful natural world and the lives of our children, our grandchildren and all those who follow them depend upon us doing so."

And, all in all, by the end of the hour-long programme, viewers were calling for everyone to watch this documentary:

Climate Change – The Facts aired on BBC One, and is available to watch on iPlayer now.

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