A Life on Our Planet

A well-written wake-up call on the loss of our planet's biodiversity and its impact on our climate.

First of all, I'd highly recommend listening to the audiobook. If you love Sir David Attenborough's documentaries, then I think you'll really enjoy hearing him narrate the book. I normally listen to audiobooks at 1.5x speed or higher, but this was one of the only books I listened to at 1.0x speed because 1) it didn't feel right to listen to it any faster than that, and 2) Sir David's voice is so calming!

The book starts out somewhat like an autobiography as Sir David takes his readers through how he became a well-known naturalist. Eventually, through his work showcasing wildlife around the world, he starts learning about the deteriorating biodiversity, and that's where he starts delving more into the topic of climate change.

You can really tell that this book is written by a natural historian because of its focus on animals and biodiversity. I recently read Bill Gates' How to Avoid a Climate Disaster and though both are of the genre “intro to climate change”, it felt like they were approaching the topic from two different angles. Sir David's book talks more about the impact of deforestation, illegal trade of wild animals, etc whereas Bill Gates' book had much more focus on innovation.