Sir David Attenborough warns climate change has been ‘swept off front pages’ by coronavirus

‘The clock is ticking,’ says 94-year-old broadcaster

Monday 25 May 2020 05:59 BST

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Sir David Attenborough talks working from home after coronavirus

Sir David Attenborough has warned that climate change has been “swept off the front pages” by the coronavirus pandemic.

The 94-year-old broadcaster called for a renewed focus on the issue and suggested the outbreak could result in increased co-operation between the nations of the world.

“The trouble is that right now the climate issue is also seen as being rather in the distant future because we’ve got the virus to think about,” he said during an appearance on the So Hot Right Now podcast.

“And so what are the papers full of? The virus. Quite right, that’s what I want to know about, too.

“But we have to make sure that this issue, which was coming to the boil with the next COP meeting in Glasgow, has suddenly been swept off the front pages. And we’ve got to get it back there.”

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

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1/20Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

California

In this decade, humans have become ever more aware of climate change. Calls for leaders to act echo around the globe as the signs of a changing climate become ever more difficult to ignore

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Athens, Greece

Fierce wildfires have flared up in numerous countries. The damage being caused is unprecedented: 103 people were killed in wildfires last year in California, one of the places best prepared, best equipped to fight such blazes in the world

AFP/Getty

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Redding, California

Entire towns have been razed. The towns of Redding and Paradise in California were all but eliminated in the 2018 season

AP

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Athens, Greece

While wildfires in Greece (pictured), Australia, Indonesia and many other countries have wrought chaos to infrastructure, economies and cost lives

AFP/Getty

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Carlisle, England

In Britain, flooding has become commonplace. Extreme downpours in Carlisle in the winter of 2015 saw the previous record flood level being eclipsed by two feet

AFP/Getty

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Hebden Bridge, England

Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire has flooded repeatedly in the past decade, with the worst coming on Christmas Day 2015. Toby Smith of Climate Visuals, an organisation focused on improving how climate change is depicted in the media, says: "Extreme weather and flooding, has and will become more frequent due to climate change. An increase in the severity and distribution of press images, reports and media coverage across the nation has localised the issue. It has raised our emotions, perception and personalised the effects and hazards of climate change."

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Somerset, England

Out west in Somerset, floods in 2013 led to entire villages being cut off and isolated for weeks

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Dumfries, Scotland

"In summer 2012, intense rain flooded over 8000 properties. In 2013, storms and coastal surges combined catastrophically with elevated sea levels whilst December 2015, was the wettest month ever recorded. Major flooding events continued through the decade with the UK government declaring flooding as one of the nation's major threats in 2017," says Mr Smith of Climate Visuals

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Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

London, England

Weather has been more extreme in Britain in recent years. The 'Beast from the East' which arrived in February 2018 brought extraordinarily cold temperatures and high snowfall. Central London (pictured), where the city bustle tends to mean that snow doesn't even settle, was covered in inches of snow for day

PA

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

London, England

Months after the cold snap, a heatwave struck Britain, rendering the normally plush green of England's parks in Summer a parched brown for weeks

AFP/Getty

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

New South Wales, Australia

Worsening droughts in many countries have been disastrous for crop yields and have threatened livestock. In Australia, where a brutal drought persisted for months last year, farmers have suffered from mental health problems because of the threat to their livelihood

Reuters

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Even dedicated climate skeptic Jeremy Clarkson has come to recognise the threat of climate change after visiting the Tonle Sap lake system in Cambodia. Over a million people rely on the water of Tonle Sap for work and sustinence but, as Mr Clarkson witnessed, a drought has severley depleted the water level

Carlo Frem/Amazon

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

In reaction to these harbingers of climate obliteration, some humans have taken measures to counter the impending disaster. Ethiopia recently planted a reported 350 million trees in a single day

AFP/Getty

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Morocco

Morocco has undertaken the most ambitious solar power scheme in the world, recently completing a solar plant the size of San Francisco

AFP/Getty

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

London, England

Electric cars are taking off as a viable alternative to fossil fuel burning vehicles and major cities across the world are adding charging points to accomodate

AFP/Getty

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Purmerend, The Netherlands

Cities around the world are embracing cycling too, as a clean (and healthy) mode of transport. The Netherlands continues to lead the way with bikes far outnumbering people

Jeroen Much/Andras Schuh

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Xiamen, China

Cycling infrastructure is taking over cities the world over, in the hope of reducing society's dependency on polluting vehicles

Ma Weiwei

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Chennai, India

Despite positive steps being taken, humans continue to have a wildly adverse effect on the climate. There have been numerous major oil spills this decade, the most notable being the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010

AFP/Getty

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

Amazon rainforest, Brazil

More recently, large swathes of the Amazon rainforest were set alight by people to clear land for agriculture

AFP/Getty

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures

California

This decade may have seen horrors but it has led to an understanding that the next decade must see change if human life is to continue

Getty

Asked whether he saw a solution to the decreased awareness of climate change, he said: “No, if I knew that I would be a dictator but I’m not. I don’t know – we, you and me and lots of others like us have got to keep on going on about it but the clock is ticking.

“The danger of the Arctic and the Antarctic warming is becoming greater day by day.”

Sir David added: “What the result of coronavirus is going to be I don’t know. But I’m beginning to get a feeling that for the first time the nations of the world are beginning to see that survival depends on co-operation. If that happens, that’s going to be a first in human history.”

He also praised climate activist Greta Thunberg, 17, for galvanising the youth and following the science.

“I think she’s very remarkable,” he said. “And what is more she is, with all that power, she is nonetheless extremely modest.

“She is extremely well informed. But she’s also very modest. And she keeps saying: Look, the only guide has to be the science, we must follow what the science says.”

Sir David is the first guest to appear on the podcast about communication and climate change and his episode will be available from Tuesday.

Former Irish president Mary Robinson, singer Ellie Goulding and UN climate negotiator Christiana Figueres will also feature in the series, which is hosted by journalist Lucy Siegle and film-maker Tom Mustill.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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