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[wind howling]
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[Morgan Freeman] For 90%
of our planet's history,
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it has been too warm for ice to form.
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So when the Ice Age hit
two and a half million years ago,
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its impact was huge.
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[poignant music playing]
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[grunting]
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This is the story of a great freeze
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and the rise of a dynasty
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that would bring life
to the brink of extinction.
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[music intensifies]
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-[music ends]
-[echoing howls]
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[rousing music playing]
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[snarling]
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[trilling]
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[screeching]
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[rousing music continues]
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[growling]
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[wind howling]
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[rumbling]
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[rousing music intensifies]
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[music fades]
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[ambient music playing]
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[bird caws]
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[ethereal vocalizing]
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Yellowstone is one of the coldest places
in America.
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In winter, it still endures
some of the same freezing conditions
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that an ice age brings.
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[grunting]
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Temperatures can drop
below minus 50 degrees.
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Only those built for the cold can survive.
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A bison's thick coat
is such good insulation,
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they need little energy to keep warm…
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which is just as well,
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as grass is hard to find beneath the snow.
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[snorts]
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But bison aren't
the only hungry ones here.
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[high-pitched squawking]
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[howling]
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Wolves can also withstand
the coldest of winters…
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and have been hunting bison in America
for more than 100,000 years.
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[grunting]
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To split up the herd…
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[snorts]
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…the pack needs to get them moving.
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[bison grunting]
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Panic gives the wolves control.
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[tense music playing]
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The herd must stick together.
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One trip could prove fatal.
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But the bison can't run forever,
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especially in the deep snow.
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[grunting]
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[wolves whining, growling]
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[wolf growls]
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[grunting]
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Their only hope
is to turn and face their pursuers.
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[panting]
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[grunting]
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Only then does the pack finally relent.
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[bison grunting]
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But no matter where they go,
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the wolves will follow.
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Age-old enemies that have been
locked in battle for millennia.
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Yet these ancient adversaries are lucky…
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for they can look forward
to the end of winter
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and the relief of spring.
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[bison bellowing]
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But there was a time when winter
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never seemed to end.
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Two and a half million years ago,
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changes in the Earth's orbit,
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ocean currents, and carbon dioxide levels
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led to an abrupt cooling of the planet.
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The great Ice Age had begun…
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[ethereal music playing]
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…and it started
with the tiniest of things.
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On its own, a snowflake
is a fragile, frozen wonder.
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No two the same.
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But together,
snowflakes changed the world.
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Without warm summers to melt them,
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snow blanketed the north of the globe…
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[music ends]
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…and, over thousands of years, compacted
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to form permanent ice sheets
several kilometers thick.
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Here, in this silent realm,
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life was frozen out of existence.
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But south of the ice sheets,
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a new world was created
where life could thrive.
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Circling almost
the entire Northern Hemisphere,
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the tundra-steppe
became Earth's most extensive habitat.
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Mammals that adapted well to the cold
dominated these frigid lands…
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including the largest
and most iconic of them all…
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[creatures rumbling]
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…woolly mammoths.
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Their elephant-like ancestors
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left Africa millions of years earlier
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and evolved
into these highly specialized beasts.
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[rumbling]
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Long hair, smaller ears, and shorter tails
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help them conserve heat in the cold.
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[roaring]
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They are guided by an old female,
the matriarch,
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who passes her knowledge
down the generations.
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[roars]
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Generations she needs to keep safe.
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[roaring, snorting]
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[ominous music playing]
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[growling]
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[snarling]
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Bigger than lions today,
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cave lions can bring down
the very largest of prey.
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[mewling]
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But smaller is easier.
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With little cover,
the brazen cats don't even try to hide.
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Instead, they bide their time,
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waiting for the right moment.
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The calf must stay close
to its protectors…
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00:11:05,795 --> 00:11:09,131
but the hunters have him in their sights.
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[grunting]
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[trumpeting]
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[roaring]
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-[snarling]
-[mammoths trumpeting]
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The mammoths form a wall of tusks…
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[snarling]
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…but the lions aren't going anywhere.
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[snarling]
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[snarling]
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[roaring]
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[trumpeting]
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[snarling]
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The matriarch has had enough…
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-[snarling]
-[trumpeting]
134
00:12:01,642 --> 00:12:05,187
…but one of the hunters
spots an opportunity.
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00:12:08,232 --> 00:12:10,151
[tense music playing]
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[snarling]
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-[growls]
-[bellowing]
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The teenager will never stray
from the herd again.
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[snarling]
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00:12:24,832 --> 00:12:26,208
[growling]
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00:12:26,292 --> 00:12:28,002
[roaring]
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00:12:31,922 --> 00:12:34,175
[snarling]
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00:12:36,761 --> 00:12:40,723
Now it's the lions' turn to defend.
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-[roaring]
-[snarling]
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The calf's mother…
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[roaring]
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00:12:50,107 --> 00:12:52,526
…knows it's a lost cause.
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They have no choice but to back down
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and protect the generations that remain.
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00:13:07,041 --> 00:13:10,836
All they can do
is continue their migration
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across the cold tundra-steppe.
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00:13:31,899 --> 00:13:35,653
While ice never completely
engulfed the planet,
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its impact was still felt
across the globe…
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sometimes in the most unexpected ways.
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With most of the world's water
locked up as ice,
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the land became increasingly dry.
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00:14:06,809 --> 00:14:09,979
This is the flip side of an ice age.
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00:14:14,066 --> 00:14:16,527
South of the tundra-steppe,
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00:14:16,610 --> 00:14:19,947
the deserts almost doubled in size,
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devouring everything in their path.
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[unsettling music playing]
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00:14:31,083 --> 00:14:33,085
[whispered vocalizing]
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Only desert specialists that had evolved
to withstand extreme heat
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could survive such hostile conditions.
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But the drying didn't stop there.
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Even further south,
Africa's tropical rainforests,
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stable sanctuaries for life
for over 50 million years,
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almost completely disappeared…
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[stirring music playing]
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[music ends abruptly]
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…replaced by a vast expanse
of dry forest and grassland.
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The impact on life was huge,
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not least on one group of animals…
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[honks, yaps]
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…the primates.
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Baboons share 94% of their DNA with us,
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as well as a crucial part of our story.
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00:15:49,995 --> 00:15:54,875
The descent from the treetops
to a life on the forest floor.
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Down here, during the Ice Age,
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our cousins faced many new challenges.
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Life on the ground is more dangerous…
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[tense music playing]
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00:16:27,992 --> 00:16:30,285
[baboon barking]
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…home to large predators.
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Fortunately, what primates lack
in strength and size,
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we make up for
with intelligence and large families.
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[gentle music playing]
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00:17:06,071 --> 00:17:08,991
But finding enough food
to feed many mouths…
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[chirping]
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…is a constant challenge.
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[elephant growling]
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So when food is found,
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it attracts plenty of attention.
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[grunting]
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-And where there's a precious resource…
-[elephant snorts]
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[screeching]
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…conflict is inevitable…
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-[warthog squeals]
-[baboon grunts]
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…not least with your own kind.
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[tense, dramatic music playing]
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A rival troop
with no appetite for sharing.
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[barks]
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[clicking]
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[grunting]
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-[barking]
-[screeching]
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In the dry forest,
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every fruit is worth fighting for…
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[screeching]
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[barking]
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…and every fight counts.
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[energetic music playing]
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[screeching]
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00:18:51,885 --> 00:18:53,887
[screeching]
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00:19:02,688 --> 00:19:04,690
[screeching]
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00:19:08,152 --> 00:19:09,236
[music slows]
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00:19:09,319 --> 00:19:10,988
[screeching]
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00:19:14,992 --> 00:19:17,744
The rival troop cut their losses.
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00:19:18,370 --> 00:19:20,706
-[clicking]
-But they'll be back.
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00:19:27,671 --> 00:19:31,175
To overcome the challenges
of a more hostile world,
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00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,470
primates relied
on their social intelligence,
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00:19:36,555 --> 00:19:39,057
a trait that, in time,
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00:19:39,141 --> 00:19:45,189
would lead to one species of primate
achieving global domination.
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[ominous music playing]
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00:19:49,902 --> 00:19:51,153
[music ends]
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00:19:59,786 --> 00:20:04,917
The buildup of ice in the north
affected the climate across the planet.
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00:20:08,921 --> 00:20:12,925
But just as life got used
to colder, drier conditions,
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00:20:13,842 --> 00:20:15,844
everything changed.
228
00:20:21,516 --> 00:20:25,896
The ice began to melt
as Earth's orbit shifted once more
229
00:20:28,065 --> 00:20:31,735
and global temperatures began to rise.
230
00:20:31,818 --> 00:20:33,987
[somber music playing]
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00:20:40,452 --> 00:20:44,039
What started as a series
of meltwater streams
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00:20:44,122 --> 00:20:47,167
soon turned into a deluge.
233
00:20:47,251 --> 00:20:49,253
[somber music continues]
234
00:21:04,101 --> 00:21:09,147
In North America, the meltwater
formed an enormous glacial lake
235
00:21:09,773 --> 00:21:15,862
600 meters deep
and covering 10,000 square kilometers.
236
00:21:21,243 --> 00:21:25,539
The only thing stopping the water
from flooding the land to the west
237
00:21:26,331 --> 00:21:29,710
was a towering wall of ice.
238
00:21:35,132 --> 00:21:40,595
On the far side,
the wall was almost a kilometer high…
239
00:21:40,679 --> 00:21:43,432
[ominous music playing]
240
00:21:43,515 --> 00:21:46,435
…a seemingly unstoppable barrier…
241
00:21:49,604 --> 00:21:51,273
but not for much longer.
242
00:21:51,356 --> 00:21:53,358
[faint rumbling]
243
00:22:00,490 --> 00:22:05,704
As temperatures kept rising
and the meltwater lake kept growing,
244
00:22:06,538 --> 00:22:09,458
the pressure from behind increased.
245
00:22:09,541 --> 00:22:11,543
[creaking, rumbling]
246
00:22:18,133 --> 00:22:23,138
Before long, the walls started to crumble
from the inside out…
247
00:22:38,028 --> 00:22:41,823
until finally, catastrophic collapse.
248
00:23:01,885 --> 00:23:03,887
[dramatic music playing]
249
00:23:17,651 --> 00:23:23,281
In an instant, a lake the size
of the Irish Sea is unleashed.
250
00:23:41,174 --> 00:23:42,801
[music fades]
251
00:23:42,884 --> 00:23:44,886
[birds tweeting]
252
00:23:45,887 --> 00:23:47,681
Thirty kilometers south,
253
00:23:48,181 --> 00:23:51,685
and the first hint
of the coming apocalypse.
254
00:23:53,812 --> 00:23:55,480
[faint rumbling]
255
00:23:55,564 --> 00:23:56,773
Tremors.
256
00:23:58,859 --> 00:23:59,901
[chirping]
257
00:23:59,985 --> 00:24:01,570
They sense danger…
258
00:24:02,404 --> 00:24:04,531
[whinnying]
259
00:24:04,614 --> 00:24:06,450
…but there's nowhere to hide.
260
00:24:06,533 --> 00:24:08,535
[rumbling intensifies]
261
00:24:21,006 --> 00:24:22,757
[whinnying]
262
00:24:27,220 --> 00:24:31,433
The first they see is a wall of dust.
263
00:24:35,061 --> 00:24:36,813
A hundred meters high,
264
00:24:37,439 --> 00:24:40,358
it's the vanguard of a giant tsunami.
265
00:24:49,910 --> 00:24:52,621
[epic music playing]
266
00:25:16,603 --> 00:25:18,980
[music fades]
267
00:25:19,064 --> 00:25:21,316
In just ten hours,
268
00:25:21,399 --> 00:25:25,362
the megaflood smashes
an 800-kilometer-long path
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00:25:25,987 --> 00:25:29,866
through the American continent,
all the way to the ocean.
270
00:25:30,909 --> 00:25:32,911
[mournful music playing]
271
00:25:40,502 --> 00:25:44,297
Natural wonders that might otherwise
take millennia to form
272
00:25:45,215 --> 00:25:47,968
are created in a matter of hours.
273
00:25:49,094 --> 00:25:51,096
[ethereal music playing]
274
00:26:01,064 --> 00:26:05,068
But these spectacles are short-lived.
275
00:26:12,325 --> 00:26:13,910
Just a few days later,
276
00:26:14,703 --> 00:26:16,746
all that remains
277
00:26:18,039 --> 00:26:19,791
is an eerie silence.
278
00:26:19,874 --> 00:26:22,127
[music fades to silence]
279
00:26:28,216 --> 00:26:34,889
The indelible scars of this megaflood
still mark the American landscape today…
280
00:26:38,143 --> 00:26:41,605
yet since the dawn of the Ice Age,
281
00:26:41,688 --> 00:26:46,693
there have been more than 50 cycles
of ice buildup and melt…
282
00:26:49,237 --> 00:26:53,158
each causing its own epic floods.
283
00:26:53,241 --> 00:26:55,243
[optimistic music playing]
284
00:26:59,789 --> 00:27:03,293
Once the turmoil
of the last great melt subsided,
285
00:27:04,294 --> 00:27:07,172
balance slowly returned across the land.
286
00:27:15,513 --> 00:27:17,682
Rainfall became more regular…
287
00:27:19,976 --> 00:27:22,395
allowing forests to bounce back.
288
00:27:22,479 --> 00:27:24,481
[chirping, tweeting]
289
00:27:27,525 --> 00:27:29,694
Deserts shrunk and greened
290
00:27:30,362 --> 00:27:33,365
as, once again, water flowed.
291
00:27:39,412 --> 00:27:41,414
And where water flows,
292
00:27:41,998 --> 00:27:44,751
life soon follows.
293
00:27:53,927 --> 00:27:55,887
Europe's Danube delta
294
00:27:55,970 --> 00:27:59,015
is one of the largest wetlands
in the world.
295
00:28:00,475 --> 00:28:03,061
It formed after the last great melt
296
00:28:03,687 --> 00:28:07,941
and quickly became home
to an incredible wealth of animal life.
297
00:28:14,489 --> 00:28:16,449
With so much food on offer,
298
00:28:16,533 --> 00:28:19,953
whiskered terns travel
thousands of kilometers
299
00:28:20,036 --> 00:28:21,871
to breed in these rich waters.
300
00:28:23,665 --> 00:28:26,376
It's the perfect place to raise a family…
301
00:28:27,877 --> 00:28:30,088
[chirping]
302
00:28:32,424 --> 00:28:36,052
…but it's a wasted journey
303
00:28:36,636 --> 00:28:40,515
if a male arrives too late
to find a female.
304
00:28:46,938 --> 00:28:52,485
All he can do
is watch the success of others.
305
00:28:52,569 --> 00:28:53,611
[chirping]
306
00:28:53,695 --> 00:28:55,697
[slow, playful music playing]
307
00:29:00,702 --> 00:29:02,370
With his rival gone…
308
00:29:02,454 --> 00:29:03,663
[chirping]
309
00:29:03,747 --> 00:29:05,290
…now is his chance.
310
00:29:13,923 --> 00:29:15,592
[chirping]
311
00:29:18,386 --> 00:29:20,180
Food makes an excellent gift…
312
00:29:20,847 --> 00:29:21,848
[chirping]
313
00:29:23,516 --> 00:29:25,935
…but she's not impressed.
314
00:29:27,145 --> 00:29:29,355
[chirping]
315
00:29:33,318 --> 00:29:36,654
He tries his luck nonetheless…
316
00:29:39,699 --> 00:29:40,825
but to no avail.
317
00:29:42,243 --> 00:29:43,536
[chirps]
318
00:29:46,414 --> 00:29:50,752
The spurned male must dine alone.
319
00:29:54,422 --> 00:29:59,803
Only when life is so bountiful
can females afford to be so choosy.
320
00:30:01,262 --> 00:30:03,264
[chirping]
321
00:30:08,812 --> 00:30:10,730
[chirping]
322
00:30:10,814 --> 00:30:15,276
The end of the Ice Age
ushered in not only a time of plenty…
323
00:30:18,530 --> 00:30:22,575
but also a time
of great climate stability…
324
00:30:25,078 --> 00:30:28,790
a time known as the Holocene.
325
00:30:44,180 --> 00:30:48,268
During this period,
warm, wet conditions prevailed…
326
00:30:48,351 --> 00:30:49,394
[trumpeting]
327
00:30:49,477 --> 00:30:51,437
…and average global temperatures
328
00:30:51,521 --> 00:30:55,233
fluctuated by
less than one degree Celsius,
329
00:30:56,776 --> 00:31:01,823
allowing life to flourish
in every corner of the world…
330
00:31:03,408 --> 00:31:05,368
[squawking]
331
00:31:08,621 --> 00:31:13,668
…each species boasting
an unbroken line of ancestry
332
00:31:13,751 --> 00:31:16,838
stretching back four billion years
333
00:31:16,921 --> 00:31:19,799
to the very origin of life on Earth.
334
00:31:20,466 --> 00:31:23,136
[gentle music playing]
335
00:31:33,897 --> 00:31:35,189
[trilling]
336
00:31:42,113 --> 00:31:44,115
[music fades]
337
00:31:45,283 --> 00:31:50,163
However, not everything thrived
during the Holocene.
338
00:31:53,791 --> 00:31:59,172
A strange and highly selective extinction
was underway.
339
00:32:01,257 --> 00:32:02,926
Across the planet,
340
00:32:03,009 --> 00:32:06,179
the largest land animals
were disappearing.
341
00:32:07,347 --> 00:32:12,810
Mammoths, cave lions,
and hundreds of other species vanished.
342
00:32:15,688 --> 00:32:18,191
North America was particularly hard-hit,
343
00:32:19,108 --> 00:32:22,654
losing over 70% of its giants…
344
00:32:25,782 --> 00:32:27,283
but not all.
345
00:32:29,702 --> 00:32:32,038
In the absence of competitors,
346
00:32:32,956 --> 00:32:36,084
bison took over the great plains…
347
00:32:36,167 --> 00:32:39,629
-[grunting]
-…roaming in huge numbers.
348
00:32:55,311 --> 00:32:57,397
-[grunting]
-But they weren't alone.
349
00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,607
[ominous music playing]
350
00:33:04,112 --> 00:33:06,990
With fewer big prey to choose from,
351
00:33:08,992 --> 00:33:12,495
bison became the focus
of another group of survivors.
352
00:33:16,290 --> 00:33:18,292
[grunting]
353
00:33:20,878 --> 00:33:23,464
Age-old enemies.
354
00:33:27,385 --> 00:33:31,431
Their best defense
is to keep an eye on the danger,
355
00:33:33,099 --> 00:33:36,436
stick together, and calmly move on.
356
00:33:40,940 --> 00:33:43,234
But these are no ordinary hunters…
357
00:33:45,570 --> 00:33:47,572
[grunting]
358
00:33:49,365 --> 00:33:53,703
…for the Ice Age saw the spread
of a new predator.
359
00:33:54,704 --> 00:33:56,706
[ominous music continues]
360
00:34:01,586 --> 00:34:02,712
Like wolves,
361
00:34:03,504 --> 00:34:05,339
we hunted in groups.
362
00:34:08,885 --> 00:34:11,304
And what we lacked in strength and speed…
363
00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:18,269
we made up for
with intelligence and cunning.
364
00:34:21,230 --> 00:34:25,193
The evolution of our large, complex brains
365
00:34:25,276 --> 00:34:28,071
had set us apart from other primates
366
00:34:29,489 --> 00:34:33,785
and enabled us to hunt
in increasingly sophisticated ways.
367
00:34:33,868 --> 00:34:36,913
[slow, majestic music playing]
368
00:34:39,290 --> 00:34:40,917
Mimicking wolves
369
00:34:42,043 --> 00:34:45,171
and using carefully placed stone stacks,
370
00:34:46,756 --> 00:34:50,802
hunters corralled the bison for miles,
371
00:34:52,178 --> 00:34:55,014
until they were exactly
372
00:34:55,973 --> 00:34:57,350
where they wanted them.
373
00:34:57,433 --> 00:34:58,559
[music fades]
374
00:35:04,023 --> 00:35:05,733
[bison grunting]
375
00:35:08,111 --> 00:35:12,073
Only then do they close in
behind the herd.
376
00:35:13,783 --> 00:35:16,327
[grunting]
377
00:35:21,290 --> 00:35:23,626
Reveal themselves too soon
378
00:35:25,503 --> 00:35:28,881
and days of effort will be wasted.
379
00:35:29,549 --> 00:35:31,551
[ominous music playing]
380
00:35:38,182 --> 00:35:41,018
Their ultimate prize
isn't the death of one,
381
00:35:42,687 --> 00:35:44,522
but the fall of many…
382
00:35:49,694 --> 00:35:53,072
to feed many over the winter months.
383
00:35:57,034 --> 00:35:58,870
[grunting]
384
00:36:02,331 --> 00:36:04,458
The trap is set.
385
00:36:09,881 --> 00:36:14,010
All they need is a little encouragement.
386
00:36:14,844 --> 00:36:16,637
[hunters shrieking]
387
00:36:17,513 --> 00:36:19,724
-[shrieking]
-[dramatic music playing]
388
00:36:20,850 --> 00:36:22,393
[grunting]
389
00:36:31,652 --> 00:36:32,904
[music ends]
390
00:36:32,987 --> 00:36:34,197
[grunting]
391
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:36,282
[dramatic music resumes]
392
00:36:43,873 --> 00:36:45,416
[music ends]
393
00:36:45,499 --> 00:36:47,001
[rocks clattering]
394
00:36:49,253 --> 00:36:50,296
[dull thud]
395
00:37:00,473 --> 00:37:02,350
By the early Holocene,
396
00:37:02,975 --> 00:37:08,147
humans had spread out of Africa
to almost every continent on Earth
397
00:37:09,190 --> 00:37:13,027
and become
the world's most dangerous predator.
398
00:37:13,778 --> 00:37:15,780
[distant cries]
399
00:37:17,865 --> 00:37:19,742
While our rise contributed
400
00:37:19,825 --> 00:37:22,954
to the global extinction
of large land animals,
401
00:37:23,829 --> 00:37:26,874
our story could have been a short one
402
00:37:28,626 --> 00:37:31,212
had we not done something remarkable.
403
00:37:32,129 --> 00:37:34,131
[suspenseful music playing]
404
00:37:34,966 --> 00:37:40,304
We freed ourselves from the uncertainty
of a hunter-gatherer existence
405
00:37:41,013 --> 00:37:44,267
by forming alliances with nature.
406
00:37:47,228 --> 00:37:49,605
The stable climate of the Holocene
407
00:37:49,689 --> 00:37:53,609
enabled our ancestors
to develop a unique relationship
408
00:37:55,861 --> 00:37:57,071
with plants.
409
00:38:02,285 --> 00:38:04,704
They hand-selected certain species
410
00:38:05,454 --> 00:38:09,750
and sowed their seeds
where they were best able to grow.
411
00:38:09,834 --> 00:38:11,836
[gentle music playing]
412
00:38:16,299 --> 00:38:18,592
All this care and attention
413
00:38:18,676 --> 00:38:22,722
dramatically increased
the plants' chances of survival,
414
00:38:24,181 --> 00:38:29,103
and in return,
humans could reap the rewards.
415
00:38:33,983 --> 00:38:36,485
They learned how to produce more food
416
00:38:37,069 --> 00:38:40,239
and to make it last all year round.
417
00:38:44,368 --> 00:38:46,078
And where their plants grew,
418
00:38:47,997 --> 00:38:49,457
people prospered.
419
00:38:53,085 --> 00:38:58,549
Our ancestors discovered
how to ensure a stable food supply.
420
00:39:00,551 --> 00:39:03,971
And it wasn't just plants
they domesticated.
421
00:39:04,055 --> 00:39:05,389
[cattle lowing]
422
00:39:05,473 --> 00:39:06,807
Animals too.
423
00:39:08,517 --> 00:39:09,935
Across the world,
424
00:39:10,019 --> 00:39:14,774
many hunter-gatherers
gave up their nomadic lifestyles
425
00:39:17,026 --> 00:39:19,236
in favor of farming.
426
00:39:20,529 --> 00:39:25,951
Slowly but surely,
the wilderness was transformed,
427
00:39:27,203 --> 00:39:29,955
tamed by human hands.
428
00:39:32,375 --> 00:39:35,419
Freed from the constant battle
to find food,
429
00:39:36,212 --> 00:39:38,214
human populations grew,
430
00:39:39,799 --> 00:39:41,801
work diversified,
431
00:39:43,427 --> 00:39:46,097
society became more complex…
432
00:39:49,100 --> 00:39:52,019
and civilizations were born.
433
00:39:52,103 --> 00:39:54,105
[rousing music playing]
434
00:39:58,984 --> 00:40:04,031
We achieved something
no other species has ever done.
435
00:40:05,157 --> 00:40:10,037
We broke free of nature and rose above it.
436
00:40:11,580 --> 00:40:15,376
Agriculture changed everything…
437
00:40:17,753 --> 00:40:21,340
but another revolution was coming.
438
00:40:21,424 --> 00:40:23,426
[rousing music intensifies]
439
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:11,682
[music fades]
440
00:41:13,767 --> 00:41:19,899
Our ingenuity has taken us further
than we could ever have imagined,
441
00:41:21,859 --> 00:41:26,947
and our story is now written
on the surface of the Earth.
442
00:41:30,493 --> 00:41:36,332
What was once wild has been tamed or lost.
443
00:41:40,836 --> 00:41:43,797
We're too successful for our own good
444
00:41:45,049 --> 00:41:46,926
and for that of the planet…
445
00:41:49,470 --> 00:41:54,308
and we are now causing
the next mass extinction.
446
00:41:54,391 --> 00:41:56,393
[solemn music playing]
447
00:42:00,147 --> 00:42:03,817
It's not just
that simply feeding ourselves
448
00:42:03,901 --> 00:42:06,987
takes up more than half
of all habitable land…
449
00:42:21,835 --> 00:42:26,173
and it's not just
that the carbon dioxide we are releasing
450
00:42:26,257 --> 00:42:28,342
is heating our planet faster
451
00:42:28,425 --> 00:42:32,930
than at any time
in the last 500 million years.
452
00:42:40,062 --> 00:42:45,401
Nor is it just that we are warming
and acidifying the oceans,
453
00:42:46,986 --> 00:42:49,488
destroying their natural balance
454
00:42:49,572 --> 00:42:53,576
and killing off
vast swathes of marine life.
455
00:42:57,121 --> 00:43:01,959
Nor is it just that we are causing
extreme weather events…
456
00:43:02,042 --> 00:43:03,419
[thunder crashing]
457
00:43:03,502 --> 00:43:04,795
…fire and drought
458
00:43:05,963 --> 00:43:09,925
that are returning the Earth
to its barren beginnings.
459
00:43:15,222 --> 00:43:18,684
And it's not just that we are doing
any one of these
460
00:43:19,852 --> 00:43:22,688
but that we are doing all of them,
461
00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:28,027
all at the same time.
462
00:43:29,987 --> 00:43:32,489
And to make matters worse,
463
00:43:33,449 --> 00:43:36,327
we are doing it at meteoric speed.
464
00:43:36,410 --> 00:43:39,121
[music quickens]
465
00:43:39,204 --> 00:43:41,206
[music ends abruptly]
466
00:43:46,712 --> 00:43:53,719
Although rare, mass extinctions change
the course of history like nothing else.
467
00:43:55,846 --> 00:44:01,685
So far, Earth has endured
five of these apocalyptic events,
468
00:44:02,936 --> 00:44:07,983
each one wiping out
more than three-quarters of all life.
469
00:44:11,445 --> 00:44:14,698
What's more, the dominant species going in
470
00:44:15,324 --> 00:44:19,578
are not the dominant species coming out.
471
00:44:23,791 --> 00:44:26,585
The impact of a mass extinction
472
00:44:26,669 --> 00:44:30,964
has not been felt for 66 million years.
473
00:44:32,383 --> 00:44:35,177
Now we're on track
474
00:44:36,553 --> 00:44:37,763
for the sixth.
475
00:44:45,521 --> 00:44:47,815
In the last 50 years alone,
476
00:44:48,691 --> 00:44:54,238
wildlife populations have fallen
by an average of almost 70%,
477
00:44:55,739 --> 00:45:01,662
and this time,
we are the ones responsible.
478
00:45:04,873 --> 00:45:08,293
And yet despite this grim forecast,
479
00:45:09,002 --> 00:45:12,589
there remains a glimmer of hope.
480
00:45:12,673 --> 00:45:15,259
[gentle, optimistic music playing]
481
00:45:16,218 --> 00:45:22,933
We are the first species
in the four-billion-year story of life
482
00:45:23,684 --> 00:45:27,896
to understand
what is happening to our world.
483
00:45:30,023 --> 00:45:32,693
We are also the first species
484
00:45:32,776 --> 00:45:36,530
to understand
what is needed to put it right.
485
00:45:36,613 --> 00:45:38,615
[ethereal vocalizing]
486
00:45:38,699 --> 00:45:43,036
Our intelligence has brought us this far,
487
00:45:44,747 --> 00:45:48,417
and it's the only thing that can save us.
488
00:45:55,007 --> 00:45:59,011
Our future, and that of the planet,
489
00:45:59,094 --> 00:46:00,929
is yet to be written.
490
00:46:02,890 --> 00:46:07,060
How we act now
will determine the next chapter…
491
00:46:07,144 --> 00:46:08,479
[baby gurgling]
492
00:46:08,562 --> 00:46:11,356
…in the story of life.
493
00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:13,358
-[echoing crash]
-[water dripping]
494
00:46:13,442 --> 00:46:15,944
-[music fades]
-[thunder rumbling]
495
00:46:20,324 --> 00:46:23,035
But whatever future awaits…
496
00:46:23,118 --> 00:46:25,579
[ominous music playing]
497
00:46:30,501 --> 00:46:33,378
…if there's one thing
we've learned from the past…
498
00:46:39,718 --> 00:46:45,808
it's that life has always found a way.
499
00:46:45,891 --> 00:46:47,851
[eerie music playing]
500
00:46:47,935 --> 00:46:49,853
[birds tweeting]
501
00:46:56,693 --> 00:46:58,695
[tweeting growing louder]
502
00:47:09,873 --> 00:47:12,376
[eerie music intensifies]
503
00:47:16,046 --> 00:47:18,382
[music fades]
504
00:47:20,092 --> 00:47:22,761
[rousing music playing]
35903
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