A Looming Crisis: The Hidden World of Extinction. Oscar-winning director of The Cove, Louie Psihoyos, assembled a team artists and activists for the documentary Racing Extinction, intent on exposing issues as a result of poaching, balance of nature, global warming, melting of glaciers, ocean acidification, and the secret hidden world of extinction. Earth has witnessed five mass extinctions, and they are all tied to climate changes. Is the earth on the brink of a sixth mass extinction?
Photo /// Endangered species light up New York’s Empire State Building to call attention to the plight of endangered species. (Source: Discovery Channel)
In December 2015, Discovery premiered Louie Psihoyos’ Racing Extinction in more than 220 countries and territories around the world to show the world the serious problems plaguing our beautiful planet. Psihoyos is the Executive Director of Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS), the team behind Racing Extinction and a non-profit organization that brings environmental awareness and inspires people to save the oceans through films, photography, and the media. The director and photographer would fly around the world just to capture the beauty of the natural world and expose the world to the dark truth in his documentary films.
Psihoyos explored the darkest corners of the world and uncovered many hidden secrets. In an interview, he gravely said that there is no better time than now; from today onwards, each and every choice we make in the following years determines the fate of our earth and all living creatures. Racing Extinction is a film that will change the way you view the world, change the environment, and restore the earth.
The Song of the Last Kauai O’o Bird
Spring is the season of breeding for many species during which male animals compete with each other and go out of their way to attract females. The documentary shares a recording of a male Kauai O’o bird singing on a branch. He is the last male of the species singing for a female who will never come. And now his voice is gone.
Fishing by the rivers, watching beetles under the tree, and listening to the symphony of all sorts of species… these are all wonderful childhood memories for many people. However, one day, it could all disappear and we will no longer hear the symphony orchestra that is nature. Everywhere there is life, there is song. The planet is singing everywhere. But what’s happening is we’re killing the voices. In the documentary, a scientist narrates, “Each year, about one in a million species should expire naturally. In the next few decades, we’ll be driving species to extinction 1000 times faster than it should be. In a 100 years or so, we could lose up to 50% of all the species on earth”. This is rude awakening and it is happening right now.
A Chaotic World
Racing Extinction reveals the unthinkable but undeniable reality. What’s more, with global warming happening all over the world, even Taiwan is suffering from extreme weather such as an abnormally warm winter and snowfall, which is rarely seen in Taiwan. We are all left wondering and worrying what more could climate change bring us in the future.
Natural environments and animals have been under increasing threat of climate change long before humans became realized the seriousness of the issue. As climate change wreaks its havoc around the globe, animals and plants are forced to lose their homes and face risk of extinction.
What’s worse, in addition to everything that is going on, wildlife poaching, shark finning, animal breeding, among many others, are all ongoing issues that are really happening somewhere in the world. Such news can be seen on the news once in a while, so it’s a documentary film’s job to tell us that it is not just occasional occurrences; it is in fact worse than we have ever imagined.
Protecting Our Homes: Every Minute Counts
The earth has many beautiful natural landscapes and a diversity of animals and plants to maintain its ecological balance. Can you imagine one day all animals becoming endangered or extinct to the extent that we are only left with pictures or images to identify them? Species vanishing one by one is indeed happening. We only have one earth. As global citizens, we cannot wait any longer because urgent action is needed. The question is, what exactly should we do to save the dying earth?
For more information on Racing Extinction, please visit
Discovery Channel official website
#StartWith1Thing Facebook page
Racing Extinction promotion video
