Are We Changing Planet Earth? (2006) Online

TV presenter David Attenborough revisits a question he asked 27 years ago in his program "Life on Earth". He's looking at the changes in the natural world and examines whether humanity is doing the changing. He has changed his mind about global warming over the years and is now convinced of its validity. This is part one of his two part program. The second part is called "Can We Save Planet Earth?"

The best thing Attenborough contributes is his natural love of his nature programs and the history of work he has done. The show works when he takes on individual cases of climate change. The show works least when he goes to the computer climate models. Attenborough is not the guy to explain climate modeling science. He is unconvincing and his examination is too superficial to matter. The individual stories of changes in the natural world are good compelling watch.

David Attenborough may dislike the term national treasure but it is a term that he deserves. He is brilliant at what he does and his prolific body of work is of one of the most consistently high standards of anybody.

Both parts of the 2006 two part documentary 'The Truth About Climate Change' do not see Attenborough at his best, and perhaps lesser efforts. That the documentary is still well worth watching in its own way, and has a lot to say about an important and relevant subject/issue in global warming. The first part 'Are We Changing Planet Earth?' is not his most in-depth effort and it doesn't exactly cover new ground. It is agreed that the computer climate model scenes are pretty superficial and that they didn't play to Attenborough's strengths. This is sad because when 'Are We Changing Planet Earth?' is good, it's very good.

'Are We Changing Planet Earth?' is beautifully filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate way and there is nothing static about it at all. The editing is smooth and succinct. The music fits well and is memorable.

In terms of information, 'Are We Changing Planet Earth?' is very interesting and is well written, even if it doesn't educate or illuminate as much as other Attenborough documentaries before and since. The individual cases of climate change and the exploration of the changes in the natural world are very absorbing and well done.

Like all his work, Attenborough's presenting helps hugely and a large part of why, for all 'Are We Changing Planet Earth's' faults it's still worth watching. He is very candid, clearly knowing his stuff and knowing what to say and how to say it. He delivers it with his usual richness, soft-spoken enthusiasm and sincerity, never talking down to the viewer and keeping them riveted and wanting to know more.

Overall, well done but considering Attenborough's calibre it's hard not to admit that one was expecting more. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Want to know what your future has in store?

Have you tried asking yourself a different question?........ "What does my children's CHILDREN's future have in store for them?"...or how about "What does MY CHILDREN's future have in store for Them?"... "Will I be able to cope with the environmental changes already taking place?" "Does my future come with a time warranty?"... "Will I die of natural causes?"... "Can we count natural disasters as natural causes?"

...CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE?!?!

Have you ever even stopped to wonder how YOU are affecting the global warming of our planet? If so, have you done anything even remotely drastic about it, preferably reducing it? If you already have grandchildren, can you predict how many times during the course of their lifetime their lives will be under serious threat because of air pollution, natural disasters, water shortage and UV rays? Will they die of skin cancer? ...Will you?

I didn't know the overall average temperature of the entire world rose from the year 1900 up to 2005 by just 0.6 degrees Celcius, did you??? That really doesn't seem anywhere near as terrible as to call it life-threatening, does it?? In fact, how can a change so remote, averaging less that one, One! degree Celsius, create environmental mutation on such a global scale? …Ever heard of the term "action-reaction"? Does it even matter that we (people) are responsible for this? Why in the world isn't there more, MORE!!!!! done about stopping, changing and reversing all the bad we've caused into good again, and can you spare me the strong oil lobbies this time? Can we even do it? …"Why in the world", there's something truly twisted and abstractly oximoronic in using this phrase, huh?

I sound like a smart ass with my fancy lingo, don't I? Can you predict by which year the terms "green house effect" and natural disaster" will be spoken out loud more frequently than "oil", "electricity", "car" and "plastic" combined? Do you think people that have made a fortune from destroying the world sleep well? Do you count the current president of USA among them? Ever noticed any kind of information about wind power and energy stored in oceans? I bet you've noticed these question marks, haven't you

No, I didn't forget to put one there at the end, I still want your undivided attention for a couple of seconds more!

What? Have you not been depressed and saddened enough by now? Are you waiting for me to say something else?? If you've read up to HERE then I hope you also know you should, in your own special way say something as well. And better not waste a lot of time!!!;)

Whatever some scientists are saying, the fact is we are changing the earth. OK, perhaps it was only ONE degree warmer last century, but only last year the Arctic was experiencing up to 7 degrees warmer than the average. The glaciers in Norway are melting at an astonishing rate, one glacier receded 60 meters last autumn, and according to the scientists in Norway who have been studying their glaciers for the past 50 yrs, are saying that Norway could be ice free within 40 yrs. The ice and snow fields of N America will disappear in perhaps 30 yrs, so where will they get their drinking water on the west coast. The same applies for N India, when all the glaciers in the Himalayas melt, where will 100,s of millions get water. The monsoons happen only for a few months every year. Greenlands ice could disappear this century, and the oceans of the world WILL rise by 6 meters.These are not figures from a dream world, they are facts. Read the IPCC report, the facts are there.