Article discussion about climate change.

What’s the real purpose of nature documentaries?

We can all agree that we all enjoy a good documentary on some fishes, reptiles, mammals or some other animals. To be able to see the beautiful side of wildlife, to experience an out of body experience when we dive into the deep oceans. It’s magnifying. However, it is sad to say that it is only the pretty things the directors want us to see. 

 The real struggles right now are global warming and climate change. Our home is on fire and people refuse to notice it.  

In an article by Sabrina Weiss, she argues that nature documentaries are not paying enough attention to point out the critical situations that climate change is causing. 

‘Climate change is lurking in the background of many wildlife documentaries. But are they really getting the message across about how our world is being irreversibly changed?’ Sabrina claims. 

 Some of the nature threatening aspects are covered in Netflix’s Our Planet (2019) and the BBC’s Dynasties (2018), Blue Planet II (2017) and Planet Earth II (2016), although after the statistical analysis conducted by Laura Thomas-Walters her colleagues from Bangor University, it was found that Our Planet dedicated 15 percent of the script to environmental threats and conservation. The only other series coming close to this figure was the BBC’s Blue Planet II but mostly left these issues to be discussed in a dedicated final episode rather than mentioning them throughout the series. 

‘The research team behind Climate Visuals previously suggested images and videos should show the causes of climate change at scale to better communicate “problematic” behaviors as people do not necessarily understand the links between climate change and their daily lives.’ 

This statement shows that even though some of the documentaries might focus on climate change affecting the nature, people don’t really realize that climate change is affecting them as well. “To raise awareness, they not only need to talk about the threats but actually show them,” says Niki Rust.

However, the change might come. The BBC’s Blue Planet II series has been praised for putting plastic pollution at the forefront of people’s minds and on the political agenda. A recent survey commissioned by Waitrose suggested that nine in ten respondents had reduced their use of single-use plastics after watching the series’ final episode. 

 The effect of climate change is not being viewed as a more holistic aspect. More and more people are becoming aware and more and more protests against several climate issues are being scattered all around the world. The young leader Greta Thunberg is producing a massive influence on people to take some actions. 

In my own documentary, I want to show the critical situation our earth is in. I want to share the word across young students about how we can make a change before it is too late!