Racing Extinction is a 2015 documentary by Greek-American photographer Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) which brings to attention the mass extinction of plant and animal life prominently caused by the growing number of humans on planet Earth.
Using never before seen imagery and interviewing scientists and activists with weighted opinions such as Elon Musk (Paypal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors), Professor of Ecology Stuart Pimm and Primatologist Jane Goodall Racing Extinction exposes this catastrophe which is unfolding every day. Ultimately the goal of the documentary is to bring about public understanding of the issue, raise awareness and change perceptions of how we look at our amazing planet that is so vast yet delicate.
The centrepiece of Racing Extinction is Anthropocene Extinction which is the study of how humans are contributing to mass extinction on Earth. It has been found that we are responsible for the greatest mass extinction of plants and animals since the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (extinction of the dinosaurs) 66 million years ago. It's a grave finding and the fact that most people are not even aware of it makes it even worse. What can be done to help the issue? One of the main causes is proposed to be global warming which we can all make a small impact on by reducing energy usage and buying products that are more eco-friendly among many other things.
