Bellamy & Attenborough.

A TALE OF TWO DAVIDS – Bellamy and Attenborough, from the Independent 13 January 2013 and Telegraph 22 January 2013. The Independent article begins: “They share a name – David – and a passion for nature. For a while they also shared a place in the vanguard of nature documentary-making, broadcasting from every corner of the globe to the homes of millions. But while one, Attenborough, basks in the glow of national treasure status, the other claims he is now a pariah”. Bellamy explained that he was rejected by the BBC and by environmentalist groups, many of which he started, after he criticised the theory that man made carbon dioxide was causing global warming. In an interview with the Independent, he said: “All of the work dried up after that. I was due to start another series with the BBC but that didn't go anywhere, and the other side (ITV) didn't want to know. I was shunned. They didn't want to hear the other side”. Bellamy, a botanist, reminds people that the increase in carbon dioxide is good for plants. He commented: “Someone even emailed me to say I was the worst paedophile in the world, basically saying I was killing children by denying global warming, but in the last 30 years crops have got greener and grow quicker. … and that is good news but we don't get it”. Bellamy also commented that David Attenborough “was on our side at first but then he had a change of heart”. As well being a promoter of man-made global warming David Attenborough is a patron of the Optimum Population Trust, and believes the only way to save the planet from famine and species extinction is to limit human population growth. Attenborough commented: “We are a plague on the Earth. It’s coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It’s not just climate change; it’s sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now”. He went on to say: “We keep putting on programmes about famine in Ethiopia; that’s what’s happening. Too many people there. They can’t support themselves — and it’s not an inhuman thing to say. It’s the case. Until humanity manages to sort itself out and get a coordinated view about the planet it’s going to get worse and worse”. However, David Bellamy says there are others reasons for famine in Africa. He tells of a visit to Sierra Leone: “I met a local boy called Bodcco. He was nine and could point out more of the local plants than I. He was fantastic. One day he didn't turn up. When I asked why, they told me he had died from malnutrition. He died because we (humans) had gone in there and dug up the diamonds and chopped down the habitat”.

Links: Independent, Telegraph