Even with the mass production of coronavirus vaccines, humanity is far from done when it comes to solving globally catastrophic issues. 8 Billion Angels, a new documentary from director Victor Velle, reemphasizes this urgency by focusing on two problems that have only gotten worse in the last half century: overpopulation and increasing carbon dioxide emissions. Both are interconnected by our growth and behavior as a species, consuming natural resources ad nauseum without thinking too much about the consequences such actions will have at a later date. As the film effectively emphasizes, we now have dire cause for concern.

After a montage of various human activities across the world set to a 2015 speech by Jane Goodall lamenting our “planet of finite resources,” Velle takes viewers on a globetrotting discovery of just how prophetic Goodall’s words have become. Our oceans are the first stop, as a team of scientists collect water and shell samples from underwater volcanoes near Japan and discover a drastic increase in CO2 content, rendering the areas where fish once dwelled more inhospitable.

What they find affects nearby Japanese fishing markets as much as they do Maine-based oyster farmer Bill Mook, whose business must now safeguard local water sources to keep its produce healthy. Both regions’ woes are a byproduct of human interference, with conservationist expert Stuart Pimm attributing these changes to the number of “top predator” fish we’ve killed and Mook noting how rising oceanic temperatures have rendered sea creature habitats too acidic for coastal businesses to thrive.

Similarly, conversations with American farmers like Bill Mai and Lon Frahm reveal a gradual decline in available water from underground wells and aquifers, making field irrigation a dire resource. At one point, Frahm semi-jokingly describes an aquifer as “the gold at the end of the rainbow,” yet his comment isn’t really a laughing matter. These scenes highlight how farming has changed since the 20th century thanks to modern technological innovations: exponential population growth and a global agricultural market. Yet this feeds back into the underlying problem: more mouths to feed means more resources consumed to retain that status quo, resulting in less available water.

By contrast, Velle’s trip to New Delhi reveals a different sight: millions of residents forced to share space and use the same collective water sources—the Yamuna River—which have been tainted for decades by sludge and waste deposited from citywide drains. The result: a once holy tributary is reduced to an inky-black health hazard, while cramped traveling conditions send more vehicular smog into the atmosphere.

This cycle of overpopulation and over-pollution creates a feedback loop where the government, failing to articulate the problem at hand, leaves its citizens to unwittingly perpetuate the depletion of Earth’s resources. New Delhi is certainly an extreme example, with Indian environmental activist Vimlendu Jha noting how the city’s poorest residents depend on the Yamuna for drinking, bathing, and religious worship in spite of its toxicity, rendering them victims of class status limitations. Among the interviewees, there’s a recognition that the supply and demand nature of our planet’s residential and economic needs have become inherently lopsided, creating a slow-moving apocalyptic outcome that will hurt humanity’s most vulnerable communities ever worse over time.

What also stands out among the scientists and academics’ warnings is the irony of humanity’s predicament. Our species has long been driven by the pursuit of consumerism and progress but, in doing so, have unwittingly (or willingly) destroyed the environments and animals needed to maintain our planet’s balance. These in turn, produce more systems of inequality that pass down the consequences of our actions to future generations. To save this planet ultimately means finding ways to overcome the short-term, industrialist mindsets that got us here in the first place. As pointed out by Indian Parliament member Shashi Thraroor, something as simple as strengthening women’s rights can do wonders to curb overpopulation, as it gives women a sense of agency they previously lacked.

All of these features—water, people, poverty, growth, and waste—link together into a message of moral imperative that requires taking initiative before it’s too late. This is a tough message to hear and, for all of their fears, 8 Billion Angels’ interviewees remain cautiously optimistic about possible solutions. Yet as Jha bluntly acknowledges, successful solutions first require admitting that a problem exists. After that, the rest is in our hands.