to be present only in low numbers
Many of the millions of species in the forest exist in small numbers.David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet · 2020 — Capítulo 7 de 10 · 3'31" · C1
Oil Palms Behind the Green Curtain, Explained: dizzying diversity
A curtain of green, with a few birds, looks almost intact. "And beyond that strip, there is nothing but regimented rows of oil palms." The dizzying mix of rainforest trees has been replaced by one crop, and the calm green is only a half-mile strip hiding the rows.
Qué pasa
The narration moves through a tropical rainforest where orangutan mothers spend ten years teaching their young which fruits are worth eating. A small patch may hold 700 tree species, as many as in North America. That mix is turned into a monoculture of oil palm. A curtain of green looks perhaps okay from the ground, but a helicopter shows a strip half a mile wide and regimented rows beyond.
Atento a
monoculturedispersing seedsdizzying diversityperhaps okay
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Expresión de la escena
dizzying diversity
variety so dense it overwhelms
The two previous lines match one small patch with all the tree species in North America. Dizzying diversity names that abundance. And yet is what turns the line toward oil palm; the phrase itself still means the variety.
The dizzying diversity of street food on that block is why we got lost.
También en esta escena
- monoculture
a landscape planted with one crop
- dispersing seeds
carrying seeds away from the parent tree
- perhaps okay
it seems acceptable at first glance
- regimented rows
lines arranged with military neatness
- double incentive
two separate gains from one act
Todo lo marcado en esta escena
28 notas en 25 frases
a job the system needs done
Every one has a critical role to play.good enough to be eaten
Orangutan mothers have to spend ten years with their young, teaching them which fruits are worth eating.participial phrase: The -ing phrase tells how those ten years are actually spent.
Orangutan mothers have to spend ten years with their young, teaching them which fruits are worth eating.finish the job that is theirs
Without this training, they would not complete their role in dispersing seeds.carrying seeds away from the parent tree
The decade of teaching is immediately cashed out as seed-carrying, not as a tribute to motherhood.
Without this training, they would not complete their role in dispersing seeds.in danger of being lost
The future generations of many tree species would be at risk.the thing something depends on
And tree diversity is the key to a rainforest.equal in number to
there could be 700 different species of tree, as many as there are in the whole of North America.variety so dense it overwhelms
The two previous lines match one small patch with all the tree species in North America. Dizzying diversity names that abundance. And yet is what turns the line toward oil palm; the phrase itself still means the variety.
And yet, this is what we've been turning this dizzying diversity into.what-clause: What is the thing produced, which is why into stays at the end.
And yet, this is what we've been turning this dizzying diversity into.Keep we've been light and put the weight on turning.
And yet, this is what we've been turning this dizzying diversity into.lifeless when set beside the other not corpses; the habitat has no living richness
A habitat that is dead in comparison.Let the f in half run into a, then land on mile.
But if you get in a helicopter, you see that that is a strip about half a mile wide.only that, and nothing else
And beyond that strip, there is nothing but regimented rows of oil palms.lines arranged with military neatness
From above, the palms are described as if they had been lined up on parade, and the tone stays cold.
And beyond that strip, there is nothing but regimented rows of oil palms.Ease off the end of nothing and move straight into but.
And beyond that strip, there is nothing but regimented rows of oil palms.two separate gains from one act
After the aerial reveal, the motive is counted as two payoffs, and the next line itemizes them.
There is a double incentive to cut down forests.what remains after the rest is taken not a person left out; the ground after the trees go
and then benefit again from farming the land that's left behind.sentence relative: Which refers to the whole previous reason, not to one noun.
Which is why we've cut down three trillion trees across the world.the newest stage of a long process not a book chapter; the present stage of a long history
What we see happening today is just the latest chapter in a global process spanning millennia.stretching across thousands of years
What we see happening today is just the latest chapter in a global process spanning millennia.reduced by two thirds
The deforestation of Borneo has reduced the population of orangutan by two-thirds since I first saw one just over 60 years ago.true by the meaning of the word
The line follows the count of orangutans, down by two-thirds since the speaker first saw one just over sixty years ago, and it follows the earlier counts of three trillion trees and half the rainforests cleared. It uses by definition to class anything we can't do forever as unsustainable.
We can't cut down rainforests forever, and anything that we can't do forever is by definition unsustainable.relative clause: The that-clause first limits anything to what cannot continue.
We can't cut down rainforests forever, and anything that we can't do forever is by definition unsustainable.Put the weight on definition and let by pass quickly.
We can't cut down rainforests forever, and anything that we can't do forever is by definition unsustainable.to the threshold at which
the damage accumulates ultimately to a point where the whole system collapses.relative where: Where marks the threshold of collapse, not a place on a map.
the damage accumulates ultimately to a point where the whole system collapses.Oil Palms Behind the Green Curtain, explicado
What's really going on
On the ground a curtain of green with a few birds can pass for forest. "and you think it's perhaps okay." A helicopter shows the trick: "that is a strip about half a mile wide," and "beyond that strip, there is nothing but regimented rows of oil palms." Orangutan mothers spend ten years teaching their young which fruits are worth eating. Without that, "they would not complete their role in dispersing seeds," and "The future generations of many tree species would be at risk." What replaced that diversity is blunt: "A monoculture of oil palm. A habitat that is dead in comparison." Cutting pays twice, timber and then the land left behind, which is why "we've cut down three trillion trees" and half the rainforests "have already been cleared." The orangutan population on Borneo is down by two-thirds since that first sight. The close is plain: "anything that we can't do forever is by definition unsustainable," until damage hits "a point where the whole system collapses."
Theme
SurvivalHalf the world's rainforests are already cleared, and the damage is said to accumulate until the whole system collapses.
GenerationsOrangutan mothers spend ten years teaching their young, because without that the future generations of many tree species would be at risk.
Escucha con atención
- we've been turning — Keep we've been light and put the weight on turning.
- half a mile — Let the f in half run into a, then land on mile.
- nothing but — Ease off the end of nothing and move straight into but.
- by definition — Put the weight on definition and let by pass quickly.
Orangutan mothers have to spend ten years with their young, teaching them which fruits are worth eating.Orangutan mothers stay with their young for ten years to teach them which fruits are worth eating.
And yet, this is what we've been turning this dizzying diversity into.The dizzying mix of tree species is being turned into the single oil-palm crop shown next.
And beyond that strip, there is nothing but regimented rows of oil palms.Beyond the strip, there is nothing left except oil palms planted in orderly, repeating rows.
What we see happening today is just the latest chapter in a global process spanning millennia.What is happening now is only the newest part of a worldwide clearing that has already gone on for thousands of years.
The deforestation of Borneo has reduced the population of orangutan by two-thirds since I first saw one just over 60 years ago.Borneo's deforestation has cut the orangutan population by two-thirds since the speaker first saw one, a little more than sixty years ago.
We can't cut down rainforests forever, and anything that we can't do forever is by definition unsustainable.Rainforests cannot be cut down without end, and the line says that very limit is what unsustainable means.
Preguntas sobre esta escena
Why does the green look all right from the ground?
The view is a curtain of green with occasional birds, and the narration says you think it's perhaps okay. From a helicopter that curtain is a strip about half a mile wide, with nothing but regimented rows of oil palms beyond it.
Why do orangutan mothers spend ten years with their young?
They are teaching them which fruits are worth eating. Without this training, the young would not complete their role in dispersing seeds, and the future generations of many tree species would be at risk.
Why is there a double incentive to cut down forests?
People benefit from the timber and then benefit again from farming the land left behind. The narration calls that a double incentive to cut the forests down.
What has the dizzying diversity been turned into?
A monoculture of oil palm, called a habitat that is dead in comparison. The patch it replaces could hold 700 tree species, as many as there are in the whole of North America.
David Attenborough: Una vida en nuestro planeta · 10 capítulos
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Capítulo 1life-supportChernobyl Empties a City
Capítulo 2achingly intricateAttenborough at the Disused Quarry
Capítulo 3like clockworkThe Holocene Was Our Eden
Capítulo 4come crashing downGrzimek Charts the Serengeti
Capítulo 5an edge toDavid Sees the Blue Marble
Capítulo 6little more thanWhaling Turns from Harvest to Crime
Viendo · Capítulo 7dizzying diversityOil Palms Behind the Green Curtain
Capítulo 8reap the open ocean harvestThe Ocean Starts to Die
Capítulo 9stumbled onCoral Reefs Turn White
Capítulo 10headed for disasterNo Ice Where Ice WasCapítulo 7 de 10 · quedan unos 9 min