Bikini Atoll Is “Best Example of the Earth’s Resilience”

(p. A13) . . . “The Age of Nature” is not just a beautifully made series, it’s also a surprisingly joyful one. It’s about rehabilitation—how humans are correcting environmental outrages from Panama to Mozambique to Central China to Yellowstone Park—and how forgiving Mother Nature can be if we just pay her some affectionate attention.  . . .

The best example of the Earth’s resilience might be the first location visited, Bikini Atoll—or, rather, the crater left by the 23 nuclear detonations the U.S. set off there from 1946-58. More than 60 years later, humans still can’t live in the immediate area, but under the South Pacific’s surface, anemones, polyps, sharks and wrasses flourish in and around the coral reefs that have somehow clung or sprung back to life.  . . .

Elsewhere around the globe, similar acts of restoration and reparation are taking place, or already have: In the ’90s, China’s Loess Plateau, a vast expanse of arable but powdery soil, had been all but ruined by deforestation and grazing, until a massive effort was undertaken to terrace the land and reforest it. Similarly, the Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, which once suffered the multiple threats of warfare, poaching, and poaching to finance warfare, had to be restocked with certain animals—200 buffalo, for instance, and 180 wildebeest—but other species, such as lions, have re-emerged on their own.

For the full review, see:

John Anderson. “TELEVISION REVIEW; ‘The Age of Nature’: Back From the Brink.” The Wall Street Journal (Thursday, October 15, 2020): A13.

(Note: ellipses added.)

(Note: the online version of the review has the date October 14, 2020, and has the title “TELEVISION REVIEW; ‘The Age of Nature’ Review: Back From the Brink.”)

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