Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 0 Likes
Twitter 0 Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
0 Likes
0 Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Videos

Nature’s Big Year: What Happened When Humanity Hit Pause

  • November 16, 2021
  • Mountain Life Media
Total
4
Shares
4
0
0
0
0
0
Total
4
Shares
Share 4
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

You’d expect a sharp decline in human activity—i.e., the lockdown most of the world endured—to have an environmental upside. But scientists studying the effects of our temporary absence have been surprised at how quickly and dramatically animals reacted.

Big owl close up with sky background
Photo: Nature’s Big Year Productions

As seen in Christine Nielsen’s documentary Nature’s Big Year, lockdown helped turtles nest more successfully on Juno Beach, Florida. When humans changed their habits, wolves and their prey shifted theirs. Sea lions basked on the streets in an Argentinian port, and wild goats romped through the streets of a Welsh seaside town.

Trailer courtesy of Nature’s Big YearProductions

Even the birds were talking louder and prouder. Chris Watson, David Attenborough’s frequent nature-sound recordist, noticed that the blackbirds on his property were, “singing more vigorously,” without human noise. His observations are bolstered by animal acoustician Miya Warrington, who analyzed the avian “conversation” on Watson’s property, comparing it with pre-pandemic levels.

Natures big year PandemicSound
Photo: Nature’s Big YearProductions

Natures big year Wet Wolf
Photo: Nature’s Big YearProductions

An unprecedented study at the University of Manitoba revealed that many species of birds were attracted to communities with stronger lockdowns and a team from Laval University found that lockdown led to a fitter, fatter flock of migrating snow geese in 2020.

In one of the film’s most surprising revelations, atmospheric scientists were shocked to discover that those beautiful blue skies during lockdown were hiding a deadly secret. Ground-level ozone, a harmful invisible gas, accelerated as other pollutants dropped off.

Natures Big Year November 2019
Photo: Nature’s Big YearProductions

Natures Big Year March 2020
Photo: Nature’s Big YearProductions

Nature’s Big Year follows the scientists through the pandemic, as they discover the effects of the biggest controlled experiment of our time. 

“When we started our research and filming, we had no idea where it would lead,” says writer/director Christine Nielsen. “As a producer,  there are few things I find more unsettling than an uncertain conclusion—a situation where it’s impossible to know whether the results will be interesting or even relevant.

Natures Big Year Ozone graphs
Photo: Nature’s Big YearProductions

Some of those famous early stories were incorrect, or just plain fake. The cavorting dolphins weren’t anywhere near the canals of Venice—the photos had been taken hundreds of kilometres away.  And some of the wild animals that appeared to be ‘taking back’ the streets were, in fact, looking for the absent tourists who they usually rely on for food. 

Natures Big Year camera tripod beach
Photo: Nature’s Big YearProductions

What kept my team and I motivated was the support and enthusiasm of our participating scientists, and ultimately, their results …. Those results resonated deeply with me. Lockdown demonstrates the tremendous impact humans have on the world. It’s also a wake-up call. Nature can rebound and we can shift our behavior when we absolutely must.” 

Watch Nature’s Big Year on CBC Gem.

Total
4
Shares
Share 4
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • animals
  • CBC doc
  • CBC Gem
  • COVID-19
  • documentary
  • lockdown
  • Nature doc
  • nature's big year
Mountain Life Media

Previous Article
Mutual-Care-Rethinking-our-relationship-outdoor-spaces-kayaker-maxime-Legare-vezina
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Ontario
  • Stay & Play

Mutual Care: Rethinking our Relationship with Outdoor Spaces

  • November 15, 2021
  • Mountain Life Media
View Post
Next Article
OLANG-BEAUTYSHOTS-2021-22_PIAVE_0307_2000
  • THE GEAR SHED
  • WINTER GEAR

Olang Piave: More Warmth, More Grip

  • November 16, 2021
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
You May Also Like
John-Haines-Simcoe-Street-Collingwood2-at-CreativeSimcoe-Street
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Ontario

Tribute: ML’s Map Artist John Haines

  • Ned Morgan
  • June 1, 2023
Kathryn-Corbiere-artist-Indigenous-Ontario-Blue-Mountains
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Ontario
  • The ML Interview
  • Women

Artist Profile: Elevating Awareness 

  • Editor
  • May 29, 2023
Fisher-Monahan-illustration-illustrator
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • On The Trail

Sweetgrass Chronicles: Walking from BC to San Francisco

  • Editor
  • May 26, 2023
ML-Blue-Mountains-cover-trilliums-crop
View Post
  • In This Issue
  • Mountain Biking
  • Mountain Lifer
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Paddling
  • Photography

ML Blue Mountains 20th Anniversary Issue Out Now

  • Ned Morgan
  • May 18, 2023
Cracked-Dams-removal
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer

Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World

  • Mountain Life Media
  • May 15, 2023
Lara-Shea
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • The ML Interview
  • Videos
  • Women

ML Podcast: Award-Winning Filmmaker Lara Shea

  • Mountain Life Media
  • May 9, 2023
jeremy-Down-artist-surfing
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Ontario
  • Surfing

Artist Profile: Jeremy Down’s Georgian Bay Series

  • Mountain Life Media
  • May 8, 2023
Tomol-crossing-Chumash
View Post
  • Paddling
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Chumash Powered

  • Ned Morgan
  • May 5, 2023
Featured Posts
  • chu-chua-festival 1
    The Reconciliation Trail
    • June 5, 2023
  • Kathryn-Corbiere-artist-Indigenous-Ontario-Blue-Mountains 2
    Artist Profile: Elevating Awareness 
    • May 29, 2023
  • Mike-Traslin-Andy-Traslin-ski-touring-KootenaysBC 3
    The Traslin Brothers: 200 Months of Earned Turns
    • May 30, 2023
  • Leslie-Timms-Devils-Glen-Nutcracker-Colin-Field 4
    Behind the Devil’s Glen Climbing Route Closures
    • May 25, 2023
  • ML-5-panel-trucker-cap-black-white-front 5
    Father’s Day Gifts for Active Dads
    • June 2, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • John-Haines-Simcoe-Street-Collingwood2-at-CreativeSimcoe-Street
    Tribute: ML’s Map Artist John Haines
    • June 1, 2023
  • Fisher-Monahan-illustration-illustrator
    Sweetgrass Chronicles: Walking from BC to San Francisco
    • May 26, 2023
  • benno_bikes-46er-sea-otter-tour-web2
    Gear Shed: Picks for Spring & Summer
    • May 24, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 0 Likes
Twitter 0 Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM

Warning: preg_match(): Unknown modifier '0' in /home/customer/www/mountainlifemedia.ca/public_html/wp-content/plugins/powerkit/modules/lazyload/helpers/helper-powerkit-lazyload.php on line 146
avatar
mountainlifemedia
Mountain Life
25K Followers
“I have nothing to reconcile,” Tom Eustache says plainly to a room of 200 white people, followed by a small but exasperated chuckle into his microphone. 9 2
Here's your reminder that Father's Day is June 18th! 16 1
Check out our signature 20th Anniversary tees that just dropped in our shop! 🔥 13 0
For 15 years the Ontario artist drew ML’s gatefold map for both the Blue and Coast Mountains editions. 20 1
Just your average day on the trails…nothing to see here. #mountainlifer #onewheel 25 4
How many turns did you earn last winter? Most skiers and boarders would be proud to say they logged a week with no chairlifts and zero auxiliary help to the top—or toured exclusively for a month. 55 2
onekwe didn’t set out to become an artist. She first became a welder with the intention of establishing herself in the trade. But, as good welding jobs are few and far between where she lives on Manitoulin Island, she began doing commissions for architectural pieces and modern furniture. “From there, I found the opportunities and the abilities in myself to create art,” she says. 76 1
ML and partners offer a gear list curated for spring-summer stoke, including the latest sunnies, trail shoes, sun shirts, e-bikes, headlamps, racerback tanks, Rollerblades and sun hats. In alpha order. #linkinbio to check out all picks! 23 0
"Alright—where to begin? Between the months of July and November 2022, I walked about 2500 kilometres from British Columbia to San Francisco. Yes—I walked." 48 4
🚫The sweet sound of the wilderness at Devil’s Glen… 78 5
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

“I have nothing to reconcile,” Tom Eustache says plainly to a room of 200 white people, followed by a small but exasperated chuckle into his microphone. 6 2
Here's your reminder that Father's Day is June 18th! 16 1
Check out our signature 20th Anniversary tees that just dropped in our shop! 🔥 13 0
For 15 years the Ontario artist drew ML’s gatefold map for both the Blue and Coast Mountains editions. 20 1
Just your average day on the trails…nothing to see here. #mountainlifer #onewheel 25 4
How many turns did you earn last winter? Most skiers and boarders would be proud to say they logged a week with no chairlifts and zero auxiliary help to the top—or toured exclusively for a month. 55 2
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.