David Attenborough's 'The Year Earth Changed' Documents Nature's Pandemic Recovery

David Attenborough narrates the Apple TV+ documentary 'The Year Earth Changed', which explores how wildlife thrived during COVID-19 lockdowns. The film shows reduced human activity leading to cleaner skies, with the Himalayas visible from Jalandhar, India after 30 years. In San Francisco, white-crowned sparrows developed new mating calls due to reduced noise pollution. Humpback whales communicated better without ship traffic. In Kenya, rhinos experienced a respite from poaching not seen since 1999. In Nara, Japan, sika deer returned to ancestral grazing grounds after relying on tourist-fed rice crackers. The documentary uses drone footage to capture empty cities and presents data on tourism declines. Attenborough frames the lockdown as a global experiment revealing nature's resilience, urging viewers to learn from the experience rather than return to pre-COVID normalcy.