reach the point of changing
Our blind assault on the planet has finally come to alter the very fundamentals of the living world.David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet · 2020 — Chapter 11 of 17 · 3'02" · C1
The Wild Was Already Emptying, Explained: already emptying
Numbers first: fish stocks at critical levels, billions of trees cut, freshwater life down by more than 80 percent. Then a harder line. "Those forests and plains and seas were already emptying." The young feeling of an untouched wild was an illusion, and the planet left is run by humankind for humankind.
What happens
A narrator stacks the evidence that humans have taken over the living world. Fish stocks, trees, rivers, farmland, domestic birds, and the weight of mammals are all counted. The voice turns to images from filming that began in the 1950s and calls that feeling of an untouched wild an illusion. Forests, plains, and seas were already emptying, and the non-human world is called gone.
Listen for
blind assaultreplace the wild with the tameaccount forby humankind for humankind
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Phrase of the scene
already emptying
already losing what filled them
Right after the illusion is named, already emptying shows the forests, plains, and seas were losing life even then.
The coral in that old film was already emptying of color.
Also in this scene
- blind assault
a reckless attack, not an accident
- replace the wild with the tame
swap wild things for tame ones
- account for
make up a stated share
- by humankind for humankind
run by humankind, for humankind
- an illusion
looked real, but was not
Everything marked in this scene
26 notes across 27 lines
Keep to light and put the stress on alter.
Our blind assault on the planet has finally come to alter the very fundamentals of the living world.fish populations as a resource not warehouse goods, but fish populations
We have overfished 30% of fish stocks to critical levels.fell trees
We cut down over 15 billion trees each year.means phrase: The by-phrase only lists the methods; the result is the overlapping line about freshwater populations.
By damming, polluting, and over-extracting rivers and lakes, we'vemake a group smaller in scale
reduced the size of freshwater populations by over 80%.swap wild creatures for tame ones not two loose adjectives, but two whole classes
We're replacing the wild with the tame.land rich enough to grow crops
Half of the fertile land on earth is now farmland.the combined weight not a crowd, but the combined weight
70% of the mass of birds on this planet are domestic birds.almost the whole group
The vast majority, chickens.make up a stated share
After the domestic birds, account for names only the human share: over one-third. Mammal weight is the total that follows, not part of the phrase.
We account for over one-third of the weight of mammals on earth.breed animals for food
A further 60% are the animals we raise to eat.from one extreme to the other not two species; everything wild between them
The rest, from mice to whales, make up just 4%.constitute a share not invent or reconcile; it means constitute
The rest, from mice to whales, make up just 4%.operators and beneficiaries match
This is now our planet, run by humankind for humankind.reduced relative: run does not predicate; it modifies planet from behind.
This is now our planet, run by humankind for humankind.the remaining part; here, life besides humans
There is little left for the rest of the living world.almost nothing remaining almost none, not a small amount
There is little left for the rest of the living world.as a typical figure
Since I started filming in the 1950s, on average,fall by over fifty percent
wild animal populations have more than halved.Stress halved and keep the two words before it light.
wild animal populations have more than halved.concessive clause: although yields the feeling; the verdict is it was an illusion, not the overlap.
I look at these images now and I realize that, although as a young man I felt I was out there inDo not give and a full vowel; keep the three nouns apart.
Those forests and plains and seas were already emptying.less wild than before
Um, so, the world is not as wild as it was.the world that is not human
That non-human world is gone.take a place over by numbers
Uh... The... Human beings have overrun the world.The Wild Was Already Emptying, explained
What's really going on
The numbers are one argument, not a pile of separate alarms. "We're replacing the wild with the tame." Half of fertile land is now farmland. Seventy percent of the mass of birds is domestic, mostly chickens. Humans account for over a third of mammal weight, animals raised to eat another 60 percent, and "The rest, from mice to whales, make up just 4 percent." The planet in these lines is "run by humankind for humankind," with little left for the rest of the living world. The speaker looks back at images from the 1950s and calls that young feeling of an untouched wild an illusion, because "Those forests and plains and seas were already emptying." A softer word is refused. "Well, we've destroyed it. Not just ruined it." After that, the non-human world is called gone: human beings have overrun the world.
Theme
MemoryThe speaker looks at old images and says the feeling of an untouched wild was an illusion.
GuiltThe lines move past a less wild world, call ruined too soft, and say the non-human world is gone.
Listen for
- come to alter — Keep to light and put the stress on alter.
- more than halved — Stress halved and keep the two words before it light.
- plains and seas — Do not give and a full vowel; keep the three nouns apart.
Our blind assault on the planet has finally come to alter the very fundamentals of the living world.Human damage is no longer a side effect. It has reached the basic workings of the living world.
We're replacing the wild with the tame.Wild places and animals are being swapped for farmland, livestock, and other things people control.
The rest, from mice to whales, make up just 4%.After humans and the animals they raise to eat, every other mammal is a tiny share of the total weight.
This is now our planet, run by humankind for humankind.The planet in this account is managed by people and kept for people, with little room left over.
Those forests and plains and seas were already emptying.The forests, plains, and seas were losing wildlife even in the years the speaker remembers as untouched.
Well, we've destroyed it. Not just ruined it.Ruined is too soft. The speaker's word for what happened to that world is destroyed.
Questions about this scene
What has happened to wild animal populations since the 1950s?
Since filming started in the 1950s, wild animal populations have, on average, more than halved. The line says that just before the look back at old images.
Why does the speaker say "not just ruined"?
The line first says "we've destroyed it," then adds "Not just ruined it." The speaker is setting aside the milder word ruined and using destroyed for what happened to that world.
What is left for the rest of the living world here?
"There is little left." The planet is described as run by humankind for humankind, after farmland, domestic birds, and mammal weight have been counted.
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet · 17 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 12one-way doorsDavid Warns of One-Way Doors
Chapter 1life-supportChernobyl Empties a City
Chapter 2achingly intricateAttenborough at the Disused Quarry
Chapter 3like clockworkThe Holocene Was Our Eden
Chapter 4come crashing downGrzimek Charts the Serengeti
Chapter 5an edge toDavid Sees the Blue Marble
Chapter 6little more thanWhaling Turns from Harvest to Crime
Chapter 7dizzying diversityOil Palms Behind the Green Curtain
Chapter 8reap the open ocean harvestThe Ocean Starts to Die
Chapter 9stumbled onCoral Reefs Turn White
Chapter 10headed for disasterNo Ice Where Ice Was
Watching · Chapter 11already emptyingThe Wild Was Already Emptying
Chapter 12one-way doorsDavid Warns of One-Way Doors
Chapter 13level offHuman Population Peak
Chapter 14phase outMorocco's Solar Switch
Chapter 15spilt overPalau's No-Fish Zones Pay Off
Chapter 16make space forAttenborough Links Diet to Land
Chapter 17locking awayForests Take the Carbon BackChapter 11 of 17 · about 18 min to go