Sir David Attenborough warns of another pandemic if we don’t tackle the climate crisis

The nation’s favourite TV host has issued his starkest warning ever to the drastic effects that could happen if we don’t tackle climate change as an eighth of the planet’s species risk dying out.

The nature expert has made a desperate plea for people to change their ways or the effects of global warming and climate change will be dire. 

His latest BBC programme, Extinction: The Facts, is slightly different from the usual euphoric and beautiful scenes found in his previous programmes. This one depicts imagery of monkeys escaping forest fires, corpses of killer whales and a lost baby bear stuck in a smoking landscape.

It highlights the threat of extinction of one million different species through coronavirus, explaining that ‘our destructive relationship with nature’ is linked to the emergence of Covid-19′ which both blames and threatens humans. 

In a final speech on a new BBC programme, Sir David said: “One thing we do know, if nature is given the chance it can bounce back.

He took us back to 1992 where he met a group of mountain gorillas, one named Poppy. Thanks to conservation efforts the family is still thriving, offering a glimmer of hope. 

He added: “To see Poppy’s daughter and granddaughter thriving is thrilling. It just shows what we can achieve when we put our minds to it.

“I do truly believe that together we can create a better future.”

Pausing for a moment, Sir David landed a statement that has shaken viewers to their core. 

He said: “I might not be here to see it but if we make the right decision at this critical moment we can save our planet’s ecosystem, it’s extraordinary biodiversity and all its inhabitance.”

“What happens next is up to every one of us” he explained. 

From then, Twitter was full of very teary-eyed watchers who explained how important the programme is. 

One user wrote: “I can’t imagine a world without Sir David Attenborough in it. Such an important programme once again. We can all do more. #ExtinctionTheFacts #Extinction”.

The programme also explains that deadly viruses such as Sars, Ebola and Aides have effected us via wildlife and through the intrusion of humans into natural habitats to rear cattle, grow soya, or produce palm oil.

It goes on to point out that there is no reason why a new virus that is deadlier than coronavirus could easily appear, and possibly even ‘wipe out’ humans. 

In his new book, A Life on Our Planet, Sir David explained that we could face a lifetime of floods, drought and an acidic ocean if we don’t act now to save our planet. 

He added that by 2030, just ten years from now, the world’s biggest rainforest could be reduced by 75% due to illegal burning and deforestation.

“Reduced rainfall would cause water shortages in cities and droughts in the farmlands created by the deforestation. Food production would be radically affected,” he writes.

“The biodiversity loss would be catastrophic. Species that may have given us drugs, new foodstuffs and industrial applications may be gone.”

Sir David also explained that the polar bear may also begin to die off, writing: “As the ice-free period lengthened, scientists detected a worrying trend.

“Pregnant females, drained of their reserves, were now giving birth to smaller cubs.

“It is quite possible that one year, the summer would be just that little bit longer, and the cubs born that year will be so small that they cannot survive their first polar winter. That whole population of polar bears would then crash.”

He also further explained that by 2080 another pandemic might hit due to a vast crop failure and that food production will hit a point of crisis worsening the effects of a pandemic. 

Attenborough does explain that solutions are ‘within our grasp’, adding that there are ‘steps we can take and goals we must achieve to avert the coming catastrophe’.