What's happening?

It is 1957. A 31-year-old BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is the UK's national broadcaster. presenter named David Attenborough is on an island in the Great Barrier ReefThe world's largest coral reef system found off the coast of Australia. . He is filming some of the first ever footage of green turtles laying their eggs.

It is 2023. Attenborough's programmes are watched by millions of people around the world.

At 97 years old, he cannot go back to Australia. But speaking from England, Attenborough tells viewers that the island he once stood on is sinking.

The island is sinking as sea levels rise. When the island sinks completely, the turtles there will simply die out.

It shows how vulnerableat risk of being harmed the natural world is. But some think we can learn a lot from nature. They say it is not really fragileEasily broken. at all, but antifragile.

Find out more

Antifragility is the idea that the more stress something faces, the better it becomes at surviving.

Changes in habitatsAn animal's habitat is the place that they live in. often happen very quickly, say scientists. Species have to adapt quickly to this new stress if they want to survive.

Many die out. But the ones that survive do new and amazing things.

It is a technique that humans have already applied. People design everything from bridges to aircraft not just to survive damage, but to become stronger because of it.

Yes! The world has been through terrible times. Some animals have died out, but nature has always come back stronger. It is antifragile.

No! The world has never seen something like human-made climate changeLong-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Human action is a major cause of climate change. before. It would be a mistake to think that nature will definitely survive.