![]() ![]() We travel to the searing heat of Australia with its weird and wonderful wildlife, and witness the pioneering animals of North America that make the most of every opportunity. We explore the cities of Europe, full of surprises, and the wilds of Africa, home to the greatest gatherings of animals. We see the extraordinary variety of life found in South America and visit the largest of all continents - Asia, so big it still hides rarely seen creatures. ![]() Over time, each one developed its own remarkable wildlife. Millions of years ago huge forces ripped apart the Earth's crust, creating seven distinct continents. The most spectacular moments from the Seven Worlds, One Planet series that highlights the incredible rich and wonderful diversity of life found on our planets seven unique continents. Disease ecologists believe that if we continue on this pathway, this year’s pandemic will not be a one-off event.Īlso known as "The Best of Seven Worlds, One Planet". Human activities like the trade in animals and the destruction of habitats drive the emergence of diseases. Our destructive relationship with the natural world isn’t just putting the ecosystems that we rely on at risk. Seventy-five per cent of Earth's land surface (where not covered by ice) has been changed by humans, much of it for agriculture, and as consumers we may unwittingly be contributing towards the loss of species through what we buy in the supermarket. But the single biggest driver of biodiversity loss is the destruction of natural habitats. Last year, a UN report identified the key drivers of biodiversity loss, including overfishing, climate change and pollution. Plants underpin many of the things that we need, and yet one in four is now threatened with extinction. The loss of insects is threatening the pollination of crops, while the loss of biodiversity in the soil also threatens plants growth. ![]() Everything in the natural world is connected in networks that support the whole of life on earth, including us, and we are losing many of the benefits that nature provides to us. With a million species at risk of extinction, Sir David Attenborough explores how this crisis of biodiversity has consequences for us all, threatening food and water security, undermining our ability to control our climate and even putting us at greater risk of pandemic diseases.Įxtinction is now happening up to 100 times faster than the natural evolutionary rate, but the issue is about more than the loss of individual species. Through this revelation and others, we can understand that animal songs are marvelous examples of the spectacular survival strategies that species have developed in order to stay alive. Scientists are discovering that, in fact, in the majority of all songbird species, females sing - and it is only now they are being properly heard. Today, new science in the field of birdsong is transforming those long-held ideas. ![]() When Sir David was born, the science of song had already been transformed by Charles Darwin’s theory of sexual selection: singing is dangerous as it reveals the singer’s location to predators, but it also offers the male a huge reward, the chance to attract a female and pass on genes to the next generation. Each one - from the song of the largest lemur to the song of the humpback whale to the song of the lyrebird - was recorded in his lifetime. Sir David Attenborough chooses his favourite recordings from the natural world that have revolutionised our understanding of song. ![]()
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