(Photo from the Racing Extinction website)
January 16, 2016, 12:11p.m. – BETWEEN 200 and 2,000 species become extinct every year, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, and one species -humans – are to blame for it.
The crisis is brought to the fore by Oscar-winning director Louie Psihoyos, along with scientists, environmental activists and journalists, in “Racing Extinction,” a documentary that shows “never-before-seen images that expose issues of endangered species and mass extinction.”
The documentary, filmed by the Oceanic Preservation Society and financed by Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk, features contributions from a plethora of photographers and photojournalists such as Joel Sartore, Shawn Heinrichs and Paul Hilton, and environmental activists such as racecar driver Leilani Munter.
Racing Extinction also highlights crucial issues such as climate change and the destruction of natural resources.
According to the Racing Extinction website, a carbon spike had caused ocean acidification to rise to 25 percent over the last two centuries, resulting in the death of 19 percent of the world’s coral reefs. Without any action, coral reefs will be lost forever within the next 100 years.
There are only 100,000 koala, 50,000 Asian elephants, 13,200 grey wolves, 6,590 snow leopards, 2,164 giant panda, 250 Philippine crocodile, 57 Amur Leopard, and a single Rabb’s Fringed Limbed Tree Frog left in the world, according to the site.
“It (saving the environment) is not a spectator sport anymore. Everybody has to become active somehow,” Psihoyos said on the Racing Extinction website.
The University’s Office for Student Affairs and The Discovery Channel opened an exhibit on the documentary last Jan. 13 to drum up interest among Thomasians. The exhibit runs until Jan. 20.
Racing Extinction will be screened on Jan. 21 at UST Junior High School’s Miguel de Benavides Auditorium as part of the “Racing Extinction University Tour” that features “non-traditional, thought-provoking” activities and booths, all aimed at raising awareness on the need to preserve the ecosystem.
The Racing Extinction website also features #StartWith1Thing, a Twitter campaign encouraging viewers to do one thing that can “change your corner of the world, [and] leads to another and another and another.”
Racing Extinction premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast worldwide on The Discovery Channel last December.
Screening times on Jan. 21 are 8:30-10:00 a.m., 10:30-12 nn, 1:30-3:00 p.m., 3:30-5:00 p.m., and 5:30-7:00 p.m. Julius Roman F. Tolop
