[CULTURE] Our Planet

"The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?" - David Attenborough 

Today I decipher the usual acronym I use to refer us all, HOPE (Humans of Planet Earth), in remembrance of the relationship between us and the planet.

Earlier this month, David Attenborough, a British journalist who popularized the genre of nature documentaries, launched his new series Our Planet on Netflix. The production's partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is noteworthy since the theme of this year's Earth Day is "Protect Our Species". The 8-part docu-series explore the jungles, frozen lands, deep oceans, deserts, and forests around the world to show the diversity of living creatures we normally feel so distant to.  

Our Planet is the most outstandingly high-quality project ever and there's no question to that. Beside the fact that Attenborough's team has a high budget and a plethora of resources to film and produce to a scale never seen before in television world, Our Planet is distinctive from other previous nature documentaries we've seen, even from Attenborough's own, including the Blue Planet (2001), Planet Earth (2006), or Frozen Planet (2011). 

Attenborough is asking us all to take ownership of the environment. That's easily noticeable from the use of the possessive pronoun, "our". In the English language, individual possessive pronouns are more frequently used.  Instead of 'our family', 'our house', or 'our country', we say 'my family', 'my house', and 'my country'. However, as unusual as it is to use the collective possessive pronoun, it makes sense when referring to this planet earth. It is not just your planet or my planet. It is our planet. By emphasizing the fact that the planet is ours, Attenborough is forcing us to take on the responsibility. Just like we make our beds, vacuum the floors in our apartments, organize our desks out of responsibility and ownership, why not do the same for our planet? 

Nature documentaries are fascinating because we get to witness parts of the planet where the human touch is at the bare minimum. In order to closely document the movements of a Siberian tiger, a huddle of walruses, tens of different types of frogs and birds, the production team of Our Planet filmed for over 3 years with more than 40 cameras. Those camera angles captured the most natural behaviors of living creatures - the survival of the fittest and predators hunting for prey.

In episode 2, 'Frozen World', we meet two polar bears hunting for seals. *Spoiler alert* The hunt ends in failure. "Polar bears are adaptable predators," narrates Attenborough after the polar bears left alone as the baby seal successfully saves itself from getting eaten. The bears can always find alternatives. Nonetheless, the second part of the narrations is a twist. Polar bears "rely on sea ice. If that disappeared, so will the bears." At the end of the day, the ultimate predators to these species are humans who are causing the ice to melt. Polar bears are dying not because they can't catch some seals, but because they are losing their habitats. In other words, no part of the planet is untouched by humans. 

The world outside of cosmopolitan cities is still beautiful. There are colorful birds mating in the forests, a colony of penguins dancing on the ice, and floating jellyfish in the oceans. Nevertheless, Attenborough's narration, in contrast, is heartbreaking. He tells us the truth about the losses experienced on this planet. The loss of diversity of species, loss of glaciers, loss of colors, loss of population, loss of forests. Then there is loss of time - the time left to save ourselves from this crisis. 

Our Planet proves that we've reached the hard rock bottom. Vast, yet so little to thrive off of. Breathtakingly beautiful, yet astonishingly destructed. 

Dear HOPE, hope is not lost yet, according to Attenborough. He and his team would not have spent years traveling, filming and editing this film if there wasn't such a thing. This is David Attenborough talking in a 3-minute clip separate from the series.

"Suddenly, saving our planet is within reach. We've worked out all the problems. We're working on all the solutions. Most of them, we can down and over time all of them help the economy. Our population growth is actually slowing down and by the end of this century, it will plateau. There's never been a better opportunity to take control. The plan is obvious: stop doing the damaging stuff; roll out the new green tech and systems as they arrive; stabilize the human population as low as we fairly can; keep hold of the natural wealth we have currently got; and in eighty years' time, we'll be past the worst of it. More than that, we'll have built a world with eternal energy, clean air, and water. A stable, healthy world that we can benefit from forever. So what's stopping us? This opportunity is out of sight. Each of us is blinkered by the demands of Here and Now. Big picture. Long term. They're not in our field of vision. That must change if we're going to change. We now have the choice to create the planet we're all proud of. Our planet. The perfect home for ourselves and the rest of life on Earth. We have a plan. We know what to do. There is a path to sustainability. If enough people can see the path we may just start down it in time."