BBC exaggerated climate change in David Attenborough's Africa

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/feb/08/bbc-global-warming-attenborough-africa?intcmp=122


Zebras do battle in one of the more memorable scenes in the BBC's Africa series Photograph: BBC NHU

The BBC's natural history unit in Bristol is, rightly, respected across the world. No one else can match the professionalism, vision and majesty of its epic, beguiling programmes about the planet's wildlife. For anyone looking for a reason to justify the BBC licence fee, look no further that the unit's output.

Its latest series – Africa – concluded this week on BBC1. The last episode was devoted to examining how the continent's wildlife was at a "pivotal moment in their history". Sir David Attenborough, the series presenter and narrator, explained to viewers what pressures many endangered species now face as they come into conflict with the needs of local human populations. He also devoted a section of the programme to the challenges presented by climate change.

But it was during this section that - like a meerkat sensing danger - my ears pricked. Set against footage of elephants walking beneath Mt Kilimanjaro, Attenborough said:

Africa's climate is certainly changing. Some parts of the continent have become 3.5C hotter in the past 20 years.