Extinction’s toll is almost unbearable. According to an international group of 145 experts who reported on Earth’s biodiversity for a United Nations body in 2019, about 1 million species of plants and animals are at risk of extinction, with at least 680 animal species wiped out since the 16th century. The evidence points to accelerating extinction rates driven by climate change, land use and urbanization.

The PBS documentary takes an unsparing look at how those human-wrought changes affect animals. Humans pay a price, too: Extinction drives everything from diseases to food insecurity. As biodiversity disappears, humans will find it harder to sustain their own lives.

But extinction isn’t a foregone conclusion. The documentary manages to find hope among the wreckage, pointing to times international cooperation helped push meaningful change and highlighting the work of conservationists and researchers who are working against the clock to keep more species from disappearing.

Even those who have seen the ravages of extinction firsthand, such as conservationist James Mwenda, who watches over the last two white rhinos on Earth, have hope. “We are waking up and realizing the planet is an integral part of our existence,” he says.

If nothing more, the film’s stunning visuals, many of them overhead shots of large groups of majestic animals and gorgeous landscapes, may help remind people of what’s at stake during this mass extinction.

“Extinction: The Facts” airs at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Check your local listings for details.