Watch the preview here and share with friends. The film comes out this summer on Netflix. Just the preview is very informative.
“As an Earth system scientist, I make sense of the world through data. However, I realize that people make sense of the world through stories. In the past two decades I have come to see that the biggest story in science today is a story of high drama, suspense and action. As a species, humanity is careening close to the edge. Our impact on nature is bringing us dangerously close to planetary boundaries. These are the thresholds myself and colleagues have identified ranging from climate change and the loss of species to the ozone layer and ocean acidification.
How close are we to the edge? This is the story we tell in a new Netflix documentary Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet, coming this summer.
Humanity has enjoyed a 10,000-year stretch of relative stability on Earth – a state of grace. This stability is the foundation of farming and our civilization. Everything we know and love depends on it.
It is tempting to think this is another climate story. But it is much bigger. It is about Earth’s life support system – the biosphere, a thin veil clinging to the surface of Earth where life thrives. My work is about understanding the interactions between Earth’s climate, ecosystems and life, the ocean and ice sheets, rivers, lakes and soils, forests and farms, the carbon cycle… and people – the economy, governments, consumers. As a species, as a global civilization, we are now in the driver’s seat. We are the main force for change in the biosphere.
But we can raise the drama up a notch. Our children are sitting in the backseat. They are shouting “turn on the headlights.” “Listen to the science.” “This is our future.” Our generation may be the last with the ability to keep our planet within the boundaries we need to thrive and prosper.”
~ Professor Johan Rockström, an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues.