All language subtitles for BBC.Earth.One.Planet.Many.Lives.5of5.Human.1080p.x265.AAC.MVGroup.org

I've come here to Southwestern France
to the Pyrenees and then

deep into a mountain, more
than half a kilometre

through a labyrinth of damp and dark caves,

into this enormous and remarkable cavern.

But I've come here to show you
something very special.

Look at this.

No less than eight bison...

..drawn on this cave wall.

Absolutely beautiful.

But it's not just these bison. Have a
look at this panel over here!

Here, we don't just see bison - we see
primitive horses, tarpan.

And look there, a Pyrenean ibex.

Absolutely sensational.

Now, I've stood in art galleries all
over the world looking at art,

but this is the oldest I've seen by
far.

And possibly the most beautiful and
most moving.

The drawings of these animals are so fresh,

so accurate, so beautifully made.

For me, this is about being human.

This is about our history.

The cave paintings are the culmination
of a story

that began long before the first
humans set foot on Earth...

..deep within our planet's past...

LOUD EXPLOSION

..when the world of the dinosaurs...

..was destroyed...

..making way for the rise of the mammals.

It's a tale of turmoil and upheaval,

of millions of years of climate swings

from one extreme to another.

Until, out of the chaos,

our species was born.

A species capable of creating art

on a cave wall in Southern France.

Now, we think that these were drawn
around 13,000 years ago.

And that's significant because it
constitutes a turning point,

not just for our species, but for the planet,

because we were going on to be a
significantly powerful force,

capable of transforming and reshaping
the Earth.

In the time since the cave paintings
were done,

we've radically altered life on the planet...

..in ways our ancient ancestors could
never have imagined.

And so we've reached a unique point in
our planet's

4.5 billion year history, when an
intelligent species,

with a clear understanding of the Earth,

is transforming it at an incredible speed.

And that species is, of course, us.

66 million years ago,

one form of life dominated the surface
of the Earth.

DEEP GROWLING

Dinosaurs.

These magnificent creatures, amongst
the largest that have ever lived

on Earth, had reigned supreme for
around 150 million years.

They had evolved into many hundreds of species,

spread across every continent on the planet.

But all that was about to change.

What a wonderful place, packed full of life.

I've just been looking up into the
forest here.

Tanagers, aracari, orioles -

a mass of species.

Now, of course, all of them are
individually beautiful.

But, for me, it's when they form that
complex web,

when they knit together to form a
dynamic, harmonious,

functional ecosystem that things
become even more beautiful.

But I've got to say, of course,

that none of these species were predestined.

They weren't "meant to be".

In fact, they were only here because
of a single, freak, chance event.

An event of unimaginable violence

and astonishing destruction.

I'm talking, of course, about that day
66 million years ago

when the asteroid struck the Earth.

You know the one -

the one that's said to have wiped out
the dinosaurs.

Now, there has been lots of debate
about exactly

what killed the dinosaurs.

Since the 1980s,

scientists have believed the main
culprit was an asteroid...

..from the far reaches of the solar system,

the size of Mount Everest...

..and on a collision course with Earth.

An extraordinary claim requires some
extraordinary evidence

and, let's be clear, claiming that a
six mile wide asteroid

crashed into the planet, unleashing
the power

of a billion nuclear weapons is an
extraordinary claim.

So where is the evidence?

Where is the smoking gun?

Well, I'm sat in it.

This is called a cenote.

It's a word that comes from one of the
Mayan languages.

It literally means hole in the ground
filled with water.

Now, take a look at this map of this
part of Mexico,

the Yucatan Peninsula.

When I superimpose the cenotes, you
see there's an enormous

number of them, the landscape is
completely freckled.

But then look again in more detail.

You see this here?

There's an arc of these geological
features running across here.

And if we complete the arc, turning it
into a circle,

it has a diameter of 110 miles, which
corresponds perfectly

with the inner rim of the crater made

when the asteroid struck our planet.

Now, the cenotes weren't formed at the time.

Over millions of years, that impact
seems to have weakened

the rock here.

Water has leached through it, forming
cave systems,

which have collapsed in some places,
giving us this ring of cenotes.

HIGH PITCHED BIRD CALL

A devastating remnant of the asteroid
strike...

..that brought the reign of the
dinosaurs to a crashing end.

SHARP, LOUD BLAST

DEEP SCREECHING

LOUD RUMBLING

THUNDERING BOOM

The blast annihilates everything
within its reach.

Earthquakes and tsunami tear across
the planet.

And then it begins to rain.

Not water...

..but scorching hot rock...

DINOSAUR ROARS

..made from the asteroid and the
bedrock it had struck.

ANGUISHED ROARS

Truly one of THE worst days in Earth's history.

DINOSAUR ROARS

But was this cataclysm enough to kill
the dinosaurs

all over the planet?

For a species to become fully extinct,

every member of that species has to
die and not be replaced,

and not just in a small area or even
over a continent,

but over the entire world.

That's what extinction's really about,
that's what it entails.

And generally, it's not a dramatic
process, it's a slow burner.

Have a look at this.

In my bag here, I've got the skull...

..of an ornithomimid dinosaur -

one of a group of dinosaurs.

These creatures looked rather like
giant ostrich

and they could run really fast.

But the key thing is that these
ornithomimids can be found all over

the world in the fossil record.

So how did they become extinct?

Well, those that were unlucky enough
to be living within the blast radius

of the asteroid, the answer's simple -

they just vaporised instantaneously.

LOUD, DEEP BLAST

And those living a little further away,

say within thousands of miles,

well, it's likely they were killed by
the aftermath effects

of that strike.

Things like earthquakes, tsunamis,

the glass rain and the forest fires.

But what about the ornithomimids that
were living, say,

on the other side of the world, as far
away as possible

from the immediate carnage that was
caused by that asteroid?

How did THEY die?

Well, something else was needed to
cause the worldwide mass extinction.

DEEP RUMBLING EXPLOSIONS

To seek answers to this puzzle,

scientists have drilled deep into the
asteroid crater.

The samples they've retrieved reveal
important clues.

Such as the fine-grain debris churned
up by the powerful tsunami.

As well as rocks like granite, melted
by the incredible temperature

and pressure created by the impact.

But, crucially, one type of rock
that's known to exist in this area

is missing from the place where the
asteroid hit.

This is anhydrite.

Now, I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking this is a rather
boring, grey rock.

But what's important is that it
contains large amounts of sulphur,

and this is the final piece of our
extinction jigsaw

because, when the asteroid struck, it
vaporised this rock,

releasing no less than 300 billion
tonnes of sulphur

into the atmosphere.

Today, there's virtually no trace of
anhydrite in the seabed

within the crater...

..because it was all blasted into the air...

..merging with ash and dust to form a
vast, grey cloud...

..sweeping across the entire planet.

With the cloud blocking out most of
the sunlight,

temperatures plummet by around 20 degrees.

But the extreme cold isn't the only killer.

In the dark, twilight conditions,

plants struggle to photosynthesise and
wither away.

And with virtually no plants to eat,
the food chain collapses.

Many dinosaurs starve to death.

When it came to the dinosaurs, only a
handful hung on to evolve

into the 10,000 or so species of birds
that we have today.

Three quarters of all animal and plant
species simply disappear.

This was one of the worst extinction
events our planet has ever seen.

And yet, for our world to emerge,

there needed to be some survivors.

And most importantly from that branch
of life that we belong to...

..the mammals.

What a place.

It's not representative of humanity's
greatest attributes,

is it? It's a mess.

An apocalyptic landfill,

screaming of waste and consumption.

I suppose the one thing we can say is,

"Look, nature's always fighting back,
isn't it?"

Look at the plants here and, out
there, a whole host of wildfowl.

But let's stick with the mammals

because 66 million years ago they
didn't all become extinct

and this is actually quite a good
place to find a modern creature

that shares some real characteristics

with those early mammals,

and I happen to have a very friendly
one inside my jacket.

What do you reckon?

I'll show you.

Yes! The rat.

Now, I'm rather partial to rats, I've
got to say.

Just look at those whiskers.

Those lovely bright eyes.

But you might not be quite so enamoured

when I tell you that our ancient
ancestors shared significant

similarities with creatures like this rat.

So what was it that they had that the
dinosaurs didn't?

Well, many of the dinosaurs were quite specialised.

The herbivores required very
particular species of plants to eat,

the carnivores very particular species
of dinosaurs.

But most of the early mammals, they
were generalists

and, equally importantly, they were omnivores.

They could eat plant material and flesh.

In fact, they could eat rotting plant material

and rotting flesh, and that was a real asset

when all of that starvation was going
on during the impact winter.

So, I have to tell you, that, all of
those millions of years ago,

animals like this represented hope.

And the world that we know today was
resting on the shoulders

of creatures just like this rat.

I like that.

Yes, down to you!

It's thought the extreme cold conditions

lasted for more than ten years.

But eventually the sky cleared,

the sun shone down

and life could begin to make a recovery.

For more than 150 million years,

the mammals had been living in the
shadows of the dinosaurs.

But now a new chapter could begin.

The age of mammals.

And it would be Earth's geological forces,

rather than an asteroid, that would
change the course of life.

Deep within the North Atlantic Ocean,

thousands of hydrothermal vents begin
to release

vast quantities of greenhouse gases,

including methane,

a gas around 25 times more potent than
carbon dioxide.

THUNDERCLAP

This methane escapes into the atmosphere,

sending temperatures rocketing and
triggering rapid climate change.

Violent storms ravage the planet with
flash floods...

..and protracted droughts.

This dramatic global warming has
profound implications

for the ancient mammals.

BIRDS TWITTER

Look.

Millions of bats.

Millions of mammals.

I can smell them, I can see them,

I can hear them and I can feel them.

There are so many bats out there
whirling around

that it's actually generated a breeze,

which is very pleasant given how
sweaty I am.

And it's ironic, isn't it, that, just
when the planet

was going to see the rise of mammals,

which would ultimately give rise to
species like our own,

it was also going through what can
only be described as

rapid climate change?

And I can show you that here with this graph.

Now, the Earth was already a few
degrees warmer at this time,

but look at this spike.

What this tells us is that, within the
space of just

a few thousand years, the global
average temperature rose

by five degrees Centigrade.

Incredible but sobering,

because climate scientists today go
back through the geological record

and they use this spike as an analogue

for what might be happening to our
atmosphere today.

And what really concerns them is how
this happened.

What's scary is that it was
precipitated by a series of events,

each triggering the next, triggering
the next, triggering the next,

until it pushed the Earth past some
serious tipping points.

And that is our nightmare.

Scientists believe that 56 million
years ago

the hot conditions on Earth led to a
very different world.

In the Arctic, where temperatures
averaged around 23 degrees,

alligators could be found swimming
under palm trees.

But despite this havoc, this hothouse Earth

seems to have had a silver lining.

Because, thanks to the warmer conditions,

subtropical forest or jungle has moved
away from the equator

and expanded across much of North
America, Europe and Asia.

And this rich, lush habitat would
prove to be crucial

to the emergence of new species of mammal.

Ones more like us.

Wow!

Just look at that.

What a landscape.

This is the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve
in Mexico

and, with its 2,700 square miles of forest,

it's one of the largest forest
reserves in Mexico

and Latin America.

And aside from these Mayan ruins on
which I'm standing

and a few other pockets of
development, there's very little

human activity here, which means it's
packed full of wildlife.

More than 400 species of birds -

toucans, trogons, parrots and tanagers.

And it's not just birds.

Hiding in the forest here are all
sorts of other natural wonders -

ocelot, puma, monkeys,

enormous numbers of bats,

not to mention a host of reptiles and amphibians.

So, the question is, why is this place
such a biodiversity hot spot?

Now, it's partly due to the vast
diversity of plants

that we have here.

We think that in this area alone there
are more than 1,500 species.

But it's not just that.

It's also down to something that we
very much take for granted.

Have a look at this fossil that I've
got here,

and in particular this tiny
star-shaped structure.

That is a fossilised flower.

And we know from where this rock came
from, in Utah in North America,

that that means that this flower bloomed

around 51 million years ago.

That is incredible.

Flowering plants are one of the great
drivers of biodiversity.

And 56 million years ago, Earth's
flourishing forests

were full of them.

For insects, flowers offered food in
the form of nectar

to tempt them in to spread the plant's
pollen for fertilisation.

But for other creatures, there was an
even juicier prize.

Something they can eat that helps disperse

the plant's fertilised seeds.

One of the plant kingdom's great gifts
to life.

Fruit.

First eaten by birds many tens of
millions of years earlier...

..the fruits of the forest were to
play a key role in the

evolution of a new type of mammal
revealed in the fossil record.

Fruit offered both a reward and a
challenge for mammals.

Now, the reward is that this is a
perfectly formed capsule

packed full of calories.

The challenge is you've got to find it

and then you've got to be able to get
it, and in a forest environment

like this that's actually quite difficult.

To find it, you've got to be able to
see it

and then identify that it's ripe.

And once you've done so, you've got to
be able to reach it,

which means that you've got to be able
to climb all the way up there,

20, 30 metres or more.

So what creature could have possibly evolved

that could take advantage of this
fabulous resource?

Maybe something like that.

And that is a Geoffroy's spider monkey.

Quite a rare animal these days.

But the key thing is that this animal
shares significant

characteristics with those first true
primates that arose

56 million years ago.

Look at them, they're beautiful, if
not a little weird.

They're highly specialised, but look
at the head.

Their eyes are forward-facing, like ours,

good for stereoscopic vision, good for
spotting fruit.

They've got a relatively big brain, so
they can remember where

they previously found that fruit, but
the key thing are the limbs.

Look - long and strong.

And if you look very carefully there,

you can see their hands are like hooks.

And their fifth limb, that prehensile
tail,

it's so strong they can hang from it

when they're eating fruits like this.

There's no denying that creatures like
this are perfectly adapted

for the high life up there at the top
of the forest.

Now, we're not entirely sure where the
world's first true primates,

our ancestors, appeared because as
soon as they evolved

they started spreading rapidly around
the world,

between North America and Asia and on
into Europe and Africa.

These primates, they were having the
time of their lives,

and very rapidly they'd occupied no
less than four

of the world's continents.

They were making it look easy and at
this point

it seemed as if the Earth was destined
to become

a planet of the apes.

But it wasn't to be.

After more than 20 million years of a
hothouse Earth...

..the planet's climate dramatically cooled.

Scientists aren't entirely sure why it happened,

but the result was devastating.

Across the northern continents,

the cooler, drier conditions decimated
the jungle.

Destroying much of the habitat of our
ancient ancestors.

Sadly, we've been conducting our own
perverse experiment

into what happens if you deforest the planet.

This is just one of a multitude of
sites all over the world

that have been destroyed.

Until recently, this would have been
tropical forest -

lush, green, filled with masses of mammals,

monkeys, tapirs, jaguar.

But they're all gone.

You see, habitat destruction like this

is probably THE leading force when it
comes to extinction today,

and it was no different 34 million
years ago.

When the tropical forest disappeared
from the northern climes,

there were severe consequences.

The primates disappeared from North
America completely

and all but disappeared from Europe.

So, on the face of it, this looks like
a massive tragedy,

a severe setback for our ancient ancestors.

Or was it?

Because, if the story that we're
really telling is the story of us,

Homo sapiens, humans, then it's not
that simple.

The path of evolution that would lead
from those ancient ancestors

to a creature like us, an upright,
bipedal, big-brained ape

with opposing thumbs, was never going
to be straight-forward.

For evolution to come up with
something like the human species,

it would require a very precise and
complex series of events,

and it would need to occur in a very
specific environment,

where evolution could be nudged, if
you like, towards the human species.

And it would be down to the Earth to
create that very special place.

Although primates had mostly
disappeared from the cold,

dry, northerly continents...

..in East Africa, where the jungle
still remained,

they had survived.

And here, the planet's forces began to
shape a new environment.

From deep within Earth, hot magma
started to rise up,

lifting the ground and forming large
cracks on the surface

as, over millions of years, the
continent pulls apart.

It forms the spectacular East African
Rift Valley.

Running some 4,000 miles through what
will become

Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and
Mozambique.

And crucially, with its patchwork of
forests and savannah,

it presents the primates with a dilemma.

ENGINE PUTTERS

So what was the dilemma?

Well, the first thing you have to
appreciate is that the

Rift Valley in East Africa was no
longer a single, great,

vast tract of tropical forest.

It had become fragmented into smaller
pockets of forest,

quite analogous to this rather
beautiful park that I'm sat in.

So these represent those pockets of
forest and the paths in-between

the grassland that had formed between them.

Now, I want you to imagine that you
are a highly arboreal,

tree swinging, fruit eating primate

and you've had your breakfast
here at point A,

but your lunch is over there at point B.

How do you get between the two?

Because in the old days you could
simply swing from tree to tree.

This was the dilemma facing those
early primates.

The forest had fragmented, so had
their food supply,

and they had no efficient way of
getting from A to B.

So, what was the solution?

What did evolution come up with?

Well, some of those early primates
decided to stick it out in the

shrinking forest and they evolved into
chimpanzees and gorillas.

But another group, our ancient ancestors,

started to do something that we take
for granted

but we have to learn to do.

What do you reckon?

I'll tell you - they started walking
on two feet.

But our early ancestors didn't just
walk out of the forest

never to return. They still spent a
lot of time there,

probably even sleeping in the trees.

But walking gave them freedom

and with that freedom came the ability
to hunt,

so they started eating meat and then
they evolved bigger brains.

And that's why the Rift Valley in East Africa

is known as the Cradle of Humanity.

Now, initially, there were quite a
number of human species.

But the key thing is that that is
where our species,

Homo sapiens, evolved.

Now, the origins of our species are
still shrouded in mystery.

But the East African Rift Valley is
where scientists

have discovered many of the most
important fossils...

..that tell the incredible story of
human evolution...

..and the emergence of Homo sapiens

around 300,000 years ago.

With hindsight, we simply have to
marvel at that remarkable

set of factors that came together to
produce that highly unlikely

chain of events.

The seemingly impossible had happened.

After the best part of 66 million years,

after continents tearing themselves apart,

mountain ranges forming, the Earth's
climate fluxing

and throwing between hot and cold,

a new force was about to be unleashed
upon the Earth.

Humans had arrived, and there was no
turning back.

Yet whilst our species had been
evolving in the warmth of Africa...

..Earth's climate had continued to cool.

Scientists think that part of the
reason may be down to Earth's

new mountain ranges -

the Himalayas, Andes and Rockies.

They had formed over tens of millions
of years

as the result of plate tectonics
pushing up the Earth's crust.

And through the process of weathering,

the exposed rock was reacting with
carbon dioxide,

removing it from the air and causing
temperatures to drop.

It meant that, as humans migrated out
of Africa into Europe,

Asia and Australia, the extreme cold,
dry conditions

prevented them from crossing into
North America.

Earth was in the midst of an Ice Age.

And yet, despite the extreme challenges

we faced from the climate, it was
around this time that humans

began to create something that had
never existed on Earth before.

Art.

The oldest that we know of is this
painting of a pig in Indonesia,

and it's been dated to around 45,000
years ago.

And closer to home in Europe,

we find cave paintings from more
recent periods.

Here we are, back in this spectacular cave

with its remarkable drawings.

They are so, so beautiful that it's
worth taking a moment

to think about what's going on here.

Well, around 13,000 years ago,

humans of the same species, exactly
the same species as us,

were standing or crouching here in the
flickering light of their lamps,

making these beautiful, beautiful drawings.

But what's it about?

Well, art is always about communication.

And this isn't just communicating to
me about their intelligence

or their creativity - there's
something else going on.

And it's interesting to note that in
cave paintings of this age

humans are very rarely depicted.

It's always about nature.

And at this time, all of these species
were wild animals.

We were still hunter gatherers, we
were in tune with,

connected to and, critically, part of nature.

But for us to go on to become the
global force that we've become,

things would need to change.

Our population would have to grow massively

and to achieve that we would need to
control nature.

The extreme cold and dry conditions of
the Ice Age

were not destined to last.

Subtle changes in Earth's orbit
altered the amount of sunlight

reaching the planet's surface.

And together with increasing levels of
carbon dioxide,

this pushed up temperatures...

..melting the ice.

For the first time, humans spread
across North and South America.

We were now living on every continent
except Antarctica.

And it was around 11,000 years ago,

in this warmer and more humid climate,

that humans did something simple but
revolutionary.

They began to farm,

first growing crops, then raising livestock.

Within a few thousand years,

nearly all human societies on the
planet were farming.

And slowly but surely,

producing food became an
industrialised process

with an ever greater impact on Earth's ecosystems.

This is a vast field of soya beans,

stretching all the way to the horizon
where the forest remains.

And many people think of this as a
natural environment,

but it couldn't be further from
natural if it tried.

This is the antithesis of
biodiversity.

Now, imagine biodiversity is a rainbow

and the spectrum represents the full
breadth of beautiful life

and when we're looking at this

we're looking at a tiny slice of one colour.

All of these regimented rows here are
just one species.

This is a monoculture.

And it's not just that because the
conditions that this crop

require to grow weren't here naturally.

This has been flattened, it's been
drained, it's been fertilised.

It's been smothered in pesticides to
keep nature out.

Now, forgive me, because for just a moment

I'm going to take on the difficult
role of devil's advocate.

Imagine that we could put all of those
environmental issues

to one side and take a fresh look at this.

We might consider it to be remarkable

because it's highly efficient crop
production like this

which is producing enough food to cater

for our ever increasing human population.

You might say that our ability to
invent technologies

and come up with a food production
system that can feed

around eight billion people and keep
many of them

out of starvation and famine is an
incredible achievement.

But I can't forget those environmental issues,

certainly when I tell you that 40%

of the world's land surface that isn't frozen

is now given over to agriculture like this -

bland monocultures devoid of life.

And also, I can tell you that, of all
the mammals alive at this point

on planet Earth today,

only 4% of them are wild animals.

96% are humans, their pets

or domestic farm animals.

And that, from my perspective, is
terrifying.

But our takeover of the natural world

goes far beyond industrial agriculture.

Humans now have a greater effect in
shaping the Earth's surface

than many natural processes.

And human-made materials, like
concrete and plastic,

outweigh the combined biomass of all
life on the planet.

Behind all of this is the staggering
increase in the human population.

From one billion just a couple of
hundred years ago...

..to eight billion today.

Welcome to the human planet.

Now, it is awesome but for me it's not wondrous

because, hand on heart, this is not my
sort of environment.

I mean, there is some nature here,

but most of it is entirely artificial.

Most of what I can see is made of
brick, concrete, steel and glass.

This is Mexico City,

and together with the 59 districts
that radiate out to the horizon

it occupies 3,000 square miles,

and it's home to more than 21 million people.

And, staggeringly, it's not unique.

There are more than 30 other
megacities across the world

with more than ten million people
living in them.

But standing here looking at all of
this you've got to ask,

"How can it possibly work?"

One thing that we have to acknowledge

is that agricultural revolution,

our ability to produce food with
brutal efficiency.

That's what feeds all of us living in
these megacities.

But there's another far more important ingredient,

something that was formed by the Earth
and life

hundreds of millions of years ago,

something that we've drilled for and
mined for.

I'm talking about coal, oil and gas -

the fossil fuels.

That's what's powered the technology
that's allowed us

to build these megacities.

But it comes at a terrible cost

because, as we continue to burn those
fossil fuels,

we are pumping CO2 into this atmosphere

at a rate that's comparable with some
of those volcanic eruptions

that occurred millions of years ago.

And critically...

..we've started to radically transform
our climate.

For most of Earth's 4.5 billion year history,

the most dramatic changes in climate...

..have been driven by asteroids...

LOUD BLAST

LOUD RUMBLING

..the powerful tectonic movement of
the continents...

..and the catastrophic eruptions of volcanoes.

BOOMING EXPLOSION

Of course, as we've seen,

there have been moments when life too
has had a profound impact.

Like the bacteria that colonised the
oceans 2.4 billion years ago...

..and gave us the oxygen we breathe.

Or the swamp forests that sent
temperatures spiralling downwards

and created the coal we now burn.

But today, the climate is changing at
a faster rate...

..than at any time in the last 66
million years.

Now, I've seen so much of the natural
world that I cherish

destroyed that it's difficult not to
be pessimistic.

But, ironically, when I go searching
for hope,

I don't turn to those planetary forces.

I turn to the power of humanity

because, for all of our flaws,
all of our foolishness,

we are a truly remarkable species.

Adaptable, resourceful,

inventive, intelligent, creative.

And you might argue that our most
significant turning points

were perhaps standing up on two legs
and beginning to walk

or drawing those animals on the cave
walls or inventing farming,

or even landing on the moon.

But I need to argue that these were
just our dress rehearsals,

because in the very near future our
species will need to reach

the zenith of its achievements and
that all humanity will have to learn

to put our Earth first.

That unique, fragile, beautiful Earth

that for more than four billion years
has been forming this stage

on which we now stand,

and it's waiting for our finest
performance.

And if we don't pull it off,

then of course life on this planet
will continue to prosper.

But there will be no encore for humanity.

If the Earth could talk, what would it
tell us?

Well, the Open University imagine how
it might answer

some of our questions.

To experience this interactive presentation,

go to the website on the screen

and follow the links to the Open University.