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A Life on Our Planet / Journeys to the Other Side of the World

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Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

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116 people want to read

About the author

David Attenborough

174 books2,774 followers
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. The series includes Life on Earth (1979), The Living Planet (1984), The Trials of Life (1990), Life in the Freezer (about Antarctica; 1993), The Private Life of Plants (1995), The Life of Birds (1998), The Life of Mammals (2002), Life in the Undergrowth (2005) and Life in Cold Blood (2008).

He is the younger brother of director and actor Richard Attenborough.

Photo credit: Wildscreen's photograph of David Attenborough at ARKive's launch in Bristol, England © May 2003

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
31 reviews1 follower
January 30, 2021
If I could I would give this 10 stars. It is the most well written and researched book explaining what is happening to our planet. In a time where truth is hard to find, this book clearly states the facts about the damage we humans are doing to our planet but also offers solutions and optimism for a better future, where we live in balance with our natural habitat whilst still progressing in technology and lifestyle.

It looks at the varying issues from plastic to population and from wildlife safe havens to human rights.

I can only say WOW what a book. Thank you Mr Attenborough. You have certainly motivated me to change habits and make a positive impact. This is a book everybody should read.

I will now go back and read it from the start. A completely eye opening and enthralling read.
1,847 reviews9 followers
September 1, 2021
I remember when I was about 22 years old and starting my professional career, I complained about the bad state of the world that my father and his generation had left us. The depreciation of José López Portillo and then the difficult crisis of the entire six-year term of Miguel de la Madrid.

And now, at almost the same age my children have when I was young, I wonder what world am I leaving them?

During these almost 40 years I have enjoyed incredible comforts, such as telecommunications, smartphones, travel and in short, a waste of energy that has implied the destruction of the world.

If you want to become aware of these issues there are many books, but an excellent one that I just read and I recommend you is "A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future" written by the British scientist and producer Sir David Attenborough .

David published this book at the age of 94 (a few months ago), a work full of anecdotes and experiences from when with the BBC he produced countless documentaries to discover the world of nature and show it to the world.

In his book he tells us his stories, his encounter with gorillas and whales, his travels to countless places in the world. But even from that time, the destruction of biodiversity was already noticeable, which today is at its peak.

We would not have existed with our civilization if it weren't for the time we live in, the Holocene, which is an era in which strangely the climate has been very stable compared to other times. But since 2016 the phrase of a new era in which we are destroying everything was coined: the "anthropocene", which would begin in approximately 1950. I have been part of this time and I believe that we do not want to realize the destruction that we are doing to the world.

The book is worth reading. Some important lessons and points that David comments on in the book:

- Stop thinking that the important thing in life is to grow. That is over, we are reaching the limit. Today we must find new ways of doing things being who we are in the world.

- Use clean energy. It is so obvious and only a truly ignorant few will be against it.

- Rebuild the seas: we have destroyed 90% of many types of marine life. What to do?

- Use less space: we are using a lot of land to produce food for ourselves and the animals we eat. If we didn't eat so much red meat and chicken we could greatly decrease the farmland we need and eat even better.

- Rebuild the earth: we have destroyed forests everywhere and changed the earth in such a way that we have reached our carbon footprint limit, we must stop this.

- Plan to start decreasing the number of human beings on earth, the more education people have, fewer children, which is better for the planet.

- Live more balanced lives. Do we really need a new car every two years, clothes for every event, or a cell phone every year?

We are perhaps the last generation that can do something before there is no remedy, if we do it our children will thank us.
2,713 reviews
March 12, 2021
Wow! Wow! This is a great read! The author discusses life on planet earth. I learned a lot about animals and plant life. The author describes how humans are slowly destroying the planet. The author includes ways in which people can change what is happening. I couldn't put the book down.
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9 reviews4 followers
April 14, 2021
Takes you to the places he describes in brilliant detail! We can do better! We have to!!
6 reviews
May 11, 2021
Fabulous book!! Made me think of how we as humans are ravaging our planet. Very very interesting and informative
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