Microscopic ocean creatures could be key to saving the world as David Attenborough warns humanity is ‘almost out of time’
David Attenborough has made a chilling warning to the world in his new documentary.
Premiering on the British broadcaster’s 99th birthday, Ocean explores how Attenborough’s ‘lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery’.
However, he also warned that the ocean is now under threat from destructive fishing practices that have a knock-on effect on our entire planet.
In a press release, Attenborough said: “Over the last hundred years, scientists and explorers have revealed remarkable new species, epic migrations and dazzling, complex ecosystems beyond anything I could have imagined as a young man.
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“In this film, we share those wonderful discoveries, uncover why our ocean is in such poor health, and, perhaps most importantly, show how it can be restored to health.”
In the documentary, Attenborough offers an urgent message, saying: “We have drained the life out of our ocean, now we are almost out of time.”
However, all hope is not lost as the biologist has revealed that there are microscopic ocean creatures that could be the key to saving the world.
Phytoplankton are tiny organisms that have a vital role in the ocean.
These plant-like creatures float near the surface of the water and are responsible for creating a major amount of the oxygen we breathe around the world.
These ocean plants are under threat due to fishing trawlers, who scrape along the seafloor, destroying anything in its path.
Attenborough believes that if we are able to create zones of the sea where these trawlers aren’t allowed to enter, we could start to see the ocean thrive again, adding that the ‘ocean can recover to a glory beyond anything anyone alive has ever seen’.
It may well be that we rely on the ocean in the future to help with humanity’s battle against climate change and Attenborough is urging people to act now to protect the future of the Earth.
The broadcaster went on to say: “After living for nearly a hundred years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea.”
Speaking to the Times, Attenborough added: “If we save the sea, we save our world.”
He remarked that he ‘won’t get to see the ocean’s recovery and restoration’ but the ‘young children seen playing on the beach today’ very well may do and that they might get to witness ‘perhaps the most consequential time for the human species in the past 10,000 years’.