All language subtitles for Two.Degrees.The.Point.Of.No.Return.2017..convert.1080p.web.h264-grashopr_track3_[eng]

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: The Earth
is getting hotter.

Experts predict that
in the next 25 years,

the global temperature will
rise two degrees Celsius

above the norm, and our planet
will reach a dangerous tipping

point, triggering
unparalleled disaster.

From unbearable heat waves
and uncontrollable wildfires

to extreme flooding
and epic super storms,

from catastrophic
earthquakes and devastating

volcanic eruptions
to rampant disease,

starvation, and the
wrath of rising seas,

scientists warn that mankind
will be pushed to the brink

once we reach two degrees.

The magic number is
two degrees centigrade.

That's when we lose control.

That's what the
future looks like...

if not hell, then a remarkably
similar temperature.

It will change the
character of human existence

on this planet forever.

[thunder rumbling]

NARRATOR: This is Bozeman,
Montana, 100 years from now.

The year is 2117.

The planet that has sustained
human life for hundreds

of thousands of years is
now unleashing everything

in its power to wipe it out.

For the 12,000 souls
that call Bozeman home,

every day is a
battle for survival...

a battle made all
the more desperate

knowing from an American
population that once numbered

320 million, they're
the only ones left.

[clock ticking]

Experts agree that arise
of two degrees Celsius

above the pre-Industrial
Age average

will be the biggest
threat to our existence

that humanity has ever faced.

When we start thinking about
a world that is on average two

degrees Celsius warmer than
it was before we began burning

fossil fuels, we're talking
about monumental changes

to the Earth's climate.

We're really thinking about
an entirely different world.

NARRATOR: And we're
already halfway there.

We're now at a plus one
degree above pre-Industrial

and increasing by a serious
amount every single year now.

One degree, which is
what we have so far,

is melting the Arctic.

It's one of the biggest
physical features on Earth,

and it's being destroyed
daily at one degrees.

That's not a good sign.

NARRATOR: Scientists warn
that it's already affecting

the lives of millions
across the nation,

nowhere more so than the
forests of the American West,

where massive fires destroy more
and more territory every year.

The Western United States has
been experiencing a major ramp

up in wildfire.

The last 30 years,
the area of forest

that we see burn in a given
year is about nine times larger

than it was 30 years ago.

That's a gigantic increase
in the area of forest

that we're losing
every year to fire.

NARRATOR: As both summer and
winter climates become hotter

and drier, forest fires are
growing more frequent and more

powerful than ever before.

If you raise the temperature
and you decline the rainfall,

then the wildfire
threat will get worse.

And the wildfire season
will get longer as well,

and that's the two things that
people are really concerned

about.

NARRATOR: In recent years,
California, Arizona, New

Mexico, and Utah have all seen
the largest fires in state

history.

We're seeing fires that
are in the multiple hundreds

of thousands of acres.

You can think about an
acre is a football field,

and so a fire that
burns 300,000 acres

is about 300,000
football fields.

Just think about
how big that is.

If you're in the Southwest
of the United States,

you might want to
consider moving.

NARRATOR: Research
teams are already

using advanced
technology to help

put an end to the destruction,
with an eye for today

and the future.

The key to fighting wildfires is
understanding how big they are

and how they're moving.

In the past, that's meant time
consuming, dangerous flyovers

or expensive satellite imaging.

But now, experts at
InSitu commercial aviation

have developed new equipment
that's cheaper, safer, and more

user friendly.

[music playing]

The Scan Eagle will provide
live video footage of the fire

for the fire suppression crews.

So if we were doing a
fire suppression mission,

we'd be pushing
full motion video,

both infrared and standard
video of the fire,

for the fire suppression crews.

NARRATOR: The Scan Eagle
provides teams on the ground

with real time updates
on fire location

and helps water drop
crews pinpoint hotspots

for containment.

Its drone can fly up to 20 hours
straight on just two gallons

of fuel.

With a wingspan of 10 feet and
weighing less than 50 pounds,

the Scan Eagle can be
launched and controlled

by just a single operator.

What you see behind us is the
Scan Eagle Mark Four launcher.

It gets the Scan
Eagle going from zero

to 50 knots in the space
of a large pickup truck.

This allows us to operate
in very remote areas that

are in the middle of nowhere.

NARRATOR: The Scan Eagle's
compact launch and recovery

system is also a crucial
component in fighting fires

across the Western
United States.

So we use our launcher
to get off the deck,

and then we use this to come
back without using a runway.

It's called a Sky Hook,
and it's a unique method

for recovering the Scan Eagle.

Instead of landing
on a runway, we

use hooks on the
end of the wing,

and then actually fly the
aircraft right into the rope.

The rope slides down the
wing, catches on the hook,

and basically yanks the
aircraft out of the air.

This technology is gonna be
a real game changer for fire

suppression.

NARRATOR: The Scan Eagle is one
of many technological advances

that's being developed to
ward off climate disasters.

But what happens if the Earth's
temperature continues to rise?

What will America look like if
we hit the point of no return?

It's the year 2042, and Earth's
average temperature has just

reached two degrees Celsius
above the pre-Industrial Age

average.

The consequences come
quickly and without mercy.

The wildfires that have
long threatened the West now

rage unchecked across
Idaho, Utah, and Colorado,

consuming millions
of acres of forest,

farmland, and city alike.

[music playing]

As you increase the
temperature in the wintertime,

the amount of snow stored
in the mountains goes down.

The soil dries out sooner.

And you have more
dry wood to burn,

and things go pretty quickly.

Which means more
and larger fires.

NARRATOR: From
Yosemite to Yellowstone

to the Black Hills of South
Dakota, our national parks...

once the living symbol of
America's independent spirit...

are now a smoldering
ruin of ash and dust,

stretching from the
California coast

to the foot of Mount Rushmore.

[music playing]

The population of Los
Angeles has more than

doubled as refugees from across
the region flee the smoldering

wreckage of their
own communities

to reach the relative
safe haven of LA...

not that things are
much better there.

To the North, the
San Gabriel Mountains

have been burning relentlessly.

In LA, a city once famous
for its smog, the air

is now so thick with ash
that it's nearly impossible

to tell day from night.

Wildfires increase
respiratory problems.

This is a huge issue
out in the West.

You're breathing smoke.

People are collapsing in their
apartments, in their houses,

and they're being pulled out
by the emergency services.

But the emergency services
are working outdoors in 105

or something like that.

And after a few hours of
that, they're not really

functioning anymore, either.

This sort of stuff snowballs.

NARRATOR: The San
Fernando Valley

lays empty as the growing
population of nearly 20 million

crowds closer and closer to the
coastline to escape the inferno

to the North.

And as more and more people are
pushed into smaller and smaller

space, LA's once famously
overcrowded freeways

have become makeshift
shantytowns.

Tents now occupy the
roads instead of cars,

and all available fuel is used
in the firefighting efforts.

State and local officials have
kept the flames from overtaking

Los Angeles itself, for now.

But as the planet
continues to overheat,

the carnage of natural disaster
will engulf the South, Midwest,

and East Coast.

America and humanity's worst
nightmare has only just begun.

[ominous music]

Today, the planet
is one degree warmer

than it was when we
first began to measure

the global average
temperature back in 1880.

Scientists warn that
when we reach two degrees

above the pre-Industrial
Age average,

it will set in motion a series
of environmental catastrophes

that threaten to wipe
out human life on Earth.

If we go to two
degrees, the heat

triggers what they
call feedbacks.

And those are natural processes
that we can't turn off.

Once you get them
going, they're going.

So you lose control,
and after that, you're

trapped on an up escalator.

And it's carrying you up through
three, four, five, six degrees.

It will happen here, not
just can happen here.

I promise you, it will.

NARRATOR: As the Earth races
towards the two degree tipping

point, one question looms large.

How did this happen?

Sometime in the
1700s, human beings

learned to burn first
coal, then gas and oil.

And as they did, a cloud
of extra carbon dioxide

began to accumulate
in the atmosphere.

At first, it was a
very small cloud.

And now, it's a
very large cloud.

NARRATOR: In the 1700s, almost
everything was made by hand...

from clothing and furniture
to homes and buildings.

But in the 1760s,
new inventions...

like the cotton gin, steam
engine, and rolling mill...

made it possible to have
large scale manufacturing.

Before long, coal
powered factories

were producing goods at a
rate never before possible

in human history.

The story that you don't
often get from environmentalists

is that fossil fuels have
been an enormous benefit

to humanity.

We've emerged from the medieval
dark ages and permanent famine

and poverty to an era now
where our kids can be expected

to survive into adulthood.

NARRATOR: This
Industrial Revolution

reshaped civilization and
ushered in the modern era.

But experts believe that it was
also the beginning of society's

impact on the Earth's climate.

We industrialize.

We burn a lot of fossil fuels.

You get carbon
dioxide out of it,

and it lingers in the air a
long time because it's warming.

It's simple physics.

The question is,
how much, how fast?

And the answer is faster than
we thought and quite a lot.

NARRATOR: Carbon dioxide traps
heat inside the atmosphere.

The more carbon
dioxide there is,

the hotter it gets on Earth.

And all that extra
heat has begun now

to do very remarkable things.

It's the heat equivalent of
exploding nuclear weapons

every day in our atmosphere.

NARRATOR: It's the year 2050.

Global average temperatures now
sit at two and a half degrees

Celsius above normal.

Wildfires are still wreaking
havoc from California

to Colorado, and extreme
temperatures threaten

to cause even more damage.

By the year 2050,
certain parts of the world

are going to be so hot
that they're actually

incompatible with human life.

NARRATOR: Many nations
across the Middle East

and northern Africa have
already seen mass evacuations,

as people flee desert cities
whose daytime temperatures

regularly top 125
degrees Fahrenheit.

The next victims are those
living in the American

Southwest.

What heat does
is it's a stressor.

At first, your
heart rate goes up.

You begin to breathe
a little bit more,

a little bit of
lethargy and confusion.

The brain begins to be
affected, and that's

where things get very
dangerous and we go

into the world of heat stroke.

Your body is getting so hot that
all your biochemical processes

begin to malfunction.

And that is a true,
true medical emergency

where death is imminent.

[flatlining]

NARRATOR: For those who
remain in cities like Phoenix

and Albuquerque, spending more
than a few minutes in the sun

is hazardous.

That has huge implications
for workers, people that

are working in agriculture
or construction,

when just being outside
is not safe for them.

The amount of sickness
and even deaths

that can occur in those
situations is very scary.

Even sports events...

you know, you're not gonna be
playing a lot of games outdoors

in the daytime at 105 or 110.

Now, that gets just
more and more frequent.

NARRATOR: No more little league.

No more backyard barbecues.

No more 4th of July parades.

The risk of exposure
to the scorching heat

is just too great.

So once you lose the
ability to go outside,

you can imagine how
different and how intolerable

life would quickly become.

NARRATOR: In order to
survive, entire cities

have begun to shift their
daily cycles to work at night

and sleep through the
brutal daytime heat.

By the year 2054, the full
effects of the relentless heat

wave and drought
have forever changed

the once great American
tourist destination Las Vegas.

This glittering
oasis in the desert

was made possible thanks to
a masterpiece of engineering.

For 120 years, the
Hoover Dam which

generates hydroelectric power
from the waters of Lake Mead,

has provided electricity for
the bright lights of the Vegas

strip.

But now without any
natural rainfall,

those waters are receding
to perilously low levels.

The additional warming
works to speed up evaporation,

and so droughts are thought
to be sharper, more intense

than droughts of the past.

What people don't
realize is that water

is fundamental to the
production of energy.

We're using it to mine the fuels
that go into the power plants.

We're using it to
process those fuels.

And we're using it to run the
power generation facility.

When there are cases
where we're low on water,

you do see power plants
reduce their generation

or shut down their operation.

That can have a ripple effect
on the electricity grid,

and it can lead to
brownouts, to blackouts.

So it can be of serious impact.

[sirens wailing]

NARRATOR: With no way to
battle the extreme heat and no

reliable electricity to
power its casinos, hotels,

and restaurants, a city that
once hosted 40 million tourists

a year sees that
number fall to zero.

And the world famous Las Vegas
strip goes dark for good.

[horns honking]

Every aspect of
our modern lives

depends on electricity,
essentially.

If you want to
know how important

electricity is, just to
go out on a dark night.

Go and stand in some
woods where your eyes

don't function anymore,
and just see how you feel.

See how terrified you are.

Every rustle in the
bushes could be something.

And if that light disappears
and we find ourselves

in total darkness, we
can't protect ourselves.

The light is really the number
one concern because it's

what keeps us safe.

NARRATOR: In Vegas,
bottled water

has become more
valuable than money.

And within months,
stores and warehouses

have been picked clean...

first by panicked
citizens stocking up

on emergency supplies, and
then by desperate angry mobs

hunting for anything
to help them survive.

The cops are totally
overloaded with emergencies

that are health related.

And it's dark.

You start to get looting,
start to get home invasions.

You start to get all sorts
of ugly things happening.

This is human nature.

A lot of people are not
gonna be doing well at this.

It is dangerous.

NARRATOR: Every
southwestern city

that hasn't been abandoned,
from Vegas to San Antonio,

has descended into anarchy.

Whether it's water,
electricity, even transport,

we've come to expect 24
hour access worldwide

in the modern era.

And if those things
start to break down,

it's law and order and social
breakdown within hours.

NARRATOR: While the deadly
heat waves cause chaos,

global temperatures
continue to climb

and nature's wrath turns
to America's heartland.

[ominous music]

Since scientists first
started tracking the Earth's

average temperature
in the late 1800s,

the top eight hottest
years on record

have all occurred
in the past decade.

We are currently living
through the hottest years

that humanity has
ever experienced

in our evolutionary history.

2016 is the hottest year
in terms of the recorded

temperatures, as was 2015
and as was 2014 before it.

If we keep on seeing the
increases that we've seen,

we're going to be off the scale
within just a few decades.

NARRATOR: Many experts believe
these rising temperatures are

the catalyst for an
unprecedented string

of natural disasters that
have battered America...

from super storm Sandy's
assault on the Eastern seaboard

to raging wildfires out West
to epic flooding down South.

All of these impacts
that we're seeing

get worse the more that
the temperature increases.

We've already warmed the
planet one degree Celsius.

So all the impacts we
already have experienced

are just at one degree.

NARRATOR: In 2016, a surprise
storm pounded the Louisiana

countryside, dumping more
than seven trillion gallons

of rainwater across the state...

three times more than the
rains of Hurricane Katrina.

So in August of
2016, Louisiana

was hit by a very
heavy rain event.

Didn't have a name.

It wasn't a hurricane.

It was just an event that
dumped a large amount of rain...

enough to flood
many of the rivers

around Baton Rouge and
other parts of Louisiana,

including some parts
that hadn't flooded

before in their modern history.

NARRATOR: Eight local
rivers reached record levels

of flooding, destroying
146,000 homes

and causing well over
$10 billion in damage.

Very, very extreme event of
the type that nobody expected,

people weren't prepared for.

Climate change loads
the dice, and it

seems to have done
so in this case,

and to have inflicted great
harm on the people of Louisiana.

NARRATOR: Experts believe that
a warming climate intensified

a slow moving weather system
over the Gulf of Mexico.

As the storm headed
towards Louisiana,

the increasingly hot air
sucked in water vapor

from the ocean,
lakes, and rivers

before dumping it in
one massive rainfall.

[thunder crackling]

Because warm air holds
more water vapor than cold,

we see huge disruptions of the
planet's hydrological cycle,

the way that water
moves around the planet.

We see way more
drought in arid areas.

And once that water
has evaporated up

into the atmosphere, it comes
down in much larger quantities,

so we see horrific floods...

floods on a kind of Noah scale
happening, now, routinely

around the world.

NARRATOR: To combat the
damage caused by flooding,

forward thinking architects at
Water Studio in the Netherlands

have a plan.

At this office,
we have a motto.

It says green is good,
but blue is better.

And what we mean by that is that
the next step is not on land.

It is on water.

Floating houses, floating
offices, floating roads,

floating churches...

I think we can do a
complete city on water.

NARRATOR: Fueling the
team's development

is the theory that the massive
influx of water produced

by torrential flooding
can actually help preserve

modern civilization.

In our business, floating
developments should not only

be beautiful, they also
should be efficient.

But imagine that you
have a city where

you have like 5% of the
buildings on the water.

You can take these parts and
bring them to another city,

and then exchange, for
instance, a theater

and float in a
school, and connect it

to the city on water.

So it brings flexibility.

The DNA of our next
cities will be flexible.

Living on water is
absolutely the future.

Embrace the water.

Don't see water as an enemy,
but see it as your friend.

NARRATOR: One of the
most important waterways

in US history is the
Mississippi River.

Running from tiny Lake
Itasca in northern Minnesota

to the Louisiana
Bayou, it's been

a driver of economic prosperity,
a lifeline to explorers

and pioneers, and an iconic
symbol of American culture.

But experts warn, as massive
flooding continues to increase,

the Mississippi is
a ticking time bomb.

It's the year 2061.

After a deluge of
colossal rainstorms,

the mighty Miss is under siege.

And the surge of water is
flooding America's heartland.

The waterways of 31 different
states, from the Rockies

to the Appalachians, all drain
into the mighty Mississippi.

Now, that massive surge of
water is flooding and drowning

an entire region.

Cities like St
Louis, Missouri have

seen their yearly average
rainfall triple from about 40

inches a year to well over 120.

There's nowhere
for the water to go.

Your storm drains weren't built
for that, so the streets flood.

They design beer glasses
to hold a bottle of beer.

Take a glass.

Pour a beer into it, and it
doesn't spill on your lap,

right?

If they suddenly double the
size of the beer bottles

and you try to pour it in,
you're gonna get a wet lap.

NARRATOR: Across the
Midwest, roads and bridges

have begun to give way beneath
the relentless downpour.

Major cities and
rural communities

alike struggle to adjust
to a new way of life.

By and large, we build cities
to suit the amount of rainfall

we expect them to get.

We have not built cities to
deal with really significant

increases in the
average amount of rain

that they're having
to deal with.

So you get to the point
where a rainstorm is not

an issue of umbrellas.

It's an issue of crisis.

NARRATOR: Across the
Mississippi floodplain,

thousands of acres of land
and dozens of small towns

have been wiped off the map.

While Memphis, Tennessee
holds on for dear life,

the barbecue joints
of Beale Street

have been swamped
under the rising river.

The spirited chords of
blues and rock and roll that

made the city famous have
been replaced by the deafening

white noise of rain on water.

Those who could abandoned
the city when the river first

breached its banks.

For those who can't
or won't leave,

the floods bring one
calamity after another.

[ominous music]

That's the really scary thing.

Floods are the things
that really kill people.

NARRATOR: In a cruel
twist of irony,

the drowning city is
also dying of thirst.

[music playing]

The water is not just a
problem because it's too high.

It's also because there's
not enough you can drink.

[music continues]

Assuming that the flooding has
actually got into the water

supply, you don't want to drink
water out of the tap anymore.

NARRATOR: Garbage floats
freely throughout the flooded

streets...

stinking, rotting, and turning
the water supply toxic.

You can be surrounded by
water and not have a drop

to drink in a flood.

None of the water
around you is safe

because it's got
all sorts of stuff

in it just because it flooded
through gardens and dumps

and everything else.

But also, it's coming
up out of the sewers.

Once that water
gets contaminated,

it takes a very long
time to decontaminate.

And how much bottled
water do you actually

have in your house?

The answer is not very much.

NARRATOR: There's a saying
among the southern towns

along the Mississippi
that anything is possible,

if the good lord is willing
and the creek don't rise.

Now, during what is billed
as the Great Flood of 2061,

the raging river rises
higher every day.

But small bands
of Memphis natives

fight tooth, nail, and
sandbag to keep their city

from total annihilation.

Families crowd into second
story rooms and attics,

hoping higher ground
will keep them safe.

The strength of those
holding out hope in Memphis

is an inspiration to communities
across America locked

in their own
battles for survival

against a planet turned deadly.

But as global temperatures
continue to soar past the two

degree tipping point,
nobody and no place

is safe from the
wrath of destruction.

[ominous music]

Across America, experts believe
the effects of a warming planet

are already being felt,
from the massive forest

fires of California to extreme
flooding across Louisiana.

As global average temperatures
continue to climb,

scientists warn that
the Earth is approaching

a tipping point...

two degrees Celsius above the
pre-Industrial Age average.

And once we cross
that threshold,

the consequences will be grim.

Think about your own body.

If your temperature
spikes up two degrees,

you begin to feel sick.

It's a sign that
something's wrong.

We're on a path to see the
planet's temperature spike

up seven, eight degrees
Fahrenheit in the course

of this century.

That's the kind of fever that
lands you in the emergency

room.

[flatlining]

NARRATOR: As powerful
rainstorms across the nation

grow more severe, the
rising floodwaters

have led to an unexpected,
but no less dire problem.

One of the bedrock
principles of public health

is that our bathroom is
here, our food is here,

and we live over here, right?

We keep them separate, and
that keeps the germs away.

With an extreme precipitation
event, that's a lot of water.

And frankly, it turns that
whole system into a blender.

So now, our bathrooms are
being muddled with our drinking

water.

What does that do?

That creates disease.

NARRATOR: Lack of clean
water and growing mosquito

populations are leading
to outbreaks of relatively

new diseases like Zika, which
has spread North from Brazil

and has already caused more
than 200 cases of infection

in the southern United States.

So these aren't just
developing countries

with poor resources.

These are major, well-resourced
urban environments

where we're seeing this.

Flooding causes standing water,
and we know mosquitoes breed

in standing water.

So that's another increased
risk, the proliferation

of vector borne diseases.

[music playing]

When we say vector,
that means they're carried

by a mosquito or a tick.

NARRATOR: Flood conditions
and warmer temperatures

are also reviving diseases
Americans haven't seen

for generations.

Very old fashioned epidemic
diseases like cholera

and dysentery come
with flooding.

Yellow fever,
malaria, Lyme disease.

Dengue virus,
Chikungunya virus.

These are all viral diseases
that are debilitating.

Frankly, the old and
infirm and the very young

can die from this.

[sirens wailing]

NARRATOR: Today,
mosquito borne malaria

is responsible for a million
deaths a year across the globe.

And scientists at Intellectual
Ventures Laboratories

in Washington state are turning
to cutting edge technology

to help slow the spread of
disease carrying insects.

What's a good way
to kill flying pests?

A technology like pesticides
is indiscriminate.

It kills all the insects.

That includes the honeybees that
we want to pollinate things.

It includes butterflies and
all sorts of other stuff.

What if we could actually
judge, is this a good insect

or is this a bad insect?

We came up with
the idea of using

little computerized systems
that could spot flying insects

in the air, target
them with lasers,

and shoot them out of the sky.

Seems like science
fiction, but we've actually

gotten it to work.

NARRATOR: The system works by
establishing an invisible net

between two towers.

Anything that wanders
into that plane

is picked up by the state of the
art cameras, which then trigger

lasers to shoot and
kill the mosquitoes.

We can even be
selective and only shoot

the female mosquitoes because
male mosquitoes don't bite

people.

It's only the females that do.

With our system, we
can tell is this a male

or is this a female by
the wing beat frequency.

NARRATOR: These laser towers are
both intelligent and extremely

effective.

From initial acquisition to
bug lying dead on the ground

is about 100 milliseconds.

That gives us 10 bugs per
second that we can kill.

Never ceases to put a smile
on my face to see mosquitoes

get shot by a laser and die.

NARRATOR: While this
cutting edge idea is still

being developed, the goal is
to set up laser stanchions

in populated areas, creating
mosquito free safe zones.

This is creating what
we call a photonic fence.

If you take that technology
and scale it up a bit,

you could protect a hospital
or you can protect villages.

This area is now
mosquito clear.

NARRATOR: Mosquito
killing lasers

offer the promise of hope in
the battle against the growing

threat of disease.

And in the year 2069, it'll
be a much needed resource

as the global average
temperature now hits three

degrees Celsius above normal.

Winter no longer exists.

And without cold air
to kill them off,

mosquitoes start to wreak havoc.

[thunder crackling]

Mosquitoes are very
temperature sensitive.

That's why in the winter,
at least in the Northeast,

there's no mosquitoes.

So in a warmer climate,
historically those warm weather

months might be this
long in a certain spot.

Now, they're becoming this long.

NARRATOR: Unchecked, the
mosquito population explodes.

Making their way North,
they attack the East Coast

without mercy, spreading
infection and death

in their wake.

All these bugs that carry
these diseases are gonna

be creeping out of the tropics
and entrenching themselves

in big population centers that
have never had to see this

before.

NARRATOR: Philadelphia and
Baltimore, America's fifth

and 25th most populous
cities, are rocked by wave

after wave of diseases
traditionally found

in tropical climates.

[buzzing]

Take malaria for instance.

We know malaria is the
scourge of humanity, right?

For anyone who's ever had
it, they're miserable.

They're chronically sick.

It's a debilitating disease.

Not only are more
and more people

going to be dealing with
this, but now their families

are gonna be forced to leave
their jobs to take care

of them.

And the health care
system, wherever you are,

is gonna be more taxed from
these increased illnesses.

NARRATOR: The dense urban
populations of American cities

are proving to be the perfect
environment for disease

to spread and mutate.

Entire neighborhoods are
decimated seemingly overnight.

Human to human
transmission leads

to real outbreaks of epidemics
because we live crowded

together.

NARRATOR: As disease carrying
mosquitoes ravage the Eastern

seaboard, the epicenter of
this terrifying outbreak

will soon be America's
most populated city,

overrun with
infection and disease.

[ominous music]

[buzzing]

As Earth's average
temperature continues

to climb towards the two
degree tipping point,

the northernmost reaches of the
globe are becoming a target.

The permafrost, large areas that
have been covered in icy tundra

since the end of the last Ice
Age almost 12,000 years ago,

are now melting, unlocking
the frozen remains

of ancient creatures.

Carcasses of animals that died
5,000 years ago or 500 years

ago in the permafrost.

NARRATOR: As the land thaws,
the centuries old corpses

begin to rot, unleashing a new
wave of disease stretching down

from the North.

We had an incident
in northern Russia

in 2016 where an animal
thawed out of the permafrost,

and it had anthrax, which is
a very nasty disease indeed.

One of the local folks who
had handled it got anthrax.

Epidemic diseases do not tend
to vanish of their own accord.

If it was around
before, it'll probably

be surviving somewhere
way off a deserted part

of the woods or something.

All those diseases come back.

NARRATOR: As the planet
continues to warm,

scientists point to this event
as a portent of things to come.

It's the year 2071, and
America's population

has cratered from 320 million
strong down to 200 million...

more than a third of our
nation decimated over decades

of fire, floods, and disease.

The chaos began when the Earth's
average temperature rose just

two degrees Celsius above the
pre-Industrial Age average,

triggering a domino effect
of ecological disasters.

Now, with the average
temperature three degrees

Celsius hotter than normal,
mosquito borne viruses

from the flooded Midwest
and old world plagues

from the melting
permafrost in the North

have unleashed an onslaught
of disease and pestilence

across the mega cities
of the Eastern seaboard.

So one of the most
intuitive things

that we know from
a warmer world is

that when the world is warmer,
tropical and subtropical

diseases will spread.

We think being modern
means you don't have

to worry about the kinds of
diseases that carry people away

and drop lots.

They're still there.

We haven't eradicated
any of them.

It's just waiting for the
surfaces to break down.

Don't be surprised.

NARRATOR: At the epicenter
of this terrifying outbreak,

the city that
never sleeps is now

locked in a living nightmare.

One thing leads to another.

The heat causes an enormous
burden on the electricity

supply, which crashes.

We've got a city
here that's stricken.

There's people in
trouble everywhere.

They can't get out.

They can't move around.

There's no power.

The streets are flooded.

And not only that,
but there's disease

and some people have
medical emergencies.

Who do we treat first?

Knowing that if we go for
them first, somebody over here

is not gonna make it,
it gets very serious.

Because actually, we're choosing
who lives and who dies now.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: In the
1300s, the Black Plague

struck over 60% of the
population of medieval Europe.

That's 50 million people killed
in one terrible, seven year

span.

In the year 2074, three years
after the outbreak started,

the infection rate in New
York City has reached 80%

and it shows no
signs of slowing.

Dysentery, cholera,
all that stuff...

it can spread very fast.

So there, you have
to get on top of it

in terms of isolating
people immediately.

NARRATOR: In an effort
to limit the spread,

all public transportation
has been shut down.

The subway system with more than
800 miles of tracks lay silent.

New York's 13,000 taxis are
officially out of commission.

Hospitals are overrun
with patients showing

symptoms of over a dozen,
once rare, tropical diseases.

Officials from the Centers
for Disease Control

work around the clock to
identify and neutralize

new strains and mutations.

Now, these populations
that have never

had to prepare for it and never
had the historical experience

with it are now susceptible.

We also don't have any
drugs to treat Dengue or Zika

or Chikungunya, so
there's no drugs

available to treat the viruses
and there's no vaccine.

NARRATOR: As the
number of patients

quickly outpaces the number of
hospital beds across the city,

the army has turned Central
Park into a mobile field clinic.

[ominous music]

But with medical resources
growing more scarce by the day

and doctors increasingly unable
to identify, let alone cure,

the onslaught of diseases,
most who fall ill no longer

bother to seek treatment.

Lots of people will get ill,
and lots of people will die.

NARRATOR: Entire
apartment buildings

have become makeshift
quarantine zones...

modern day leper colonies where
the sick and dying gather,

hoping to spare their
loved ones from suffering

the same cruel fate.

And as the Earth's temperature
climbs towards four degrees

Celsius past the tipping
point, the true horrors

have only just begun.

[ominous music]

The Earth is currently
one degree Celsius hotter

than the pre-Industrial
average, and experts

warn that if we hit
the two degree mark,

there's no turning back.

The problem when you
start getting warming that's

over two onto three or
even four degrees warming

is that it triggers
all sorts of things,

what we call positive feedbacks,
that are really scary.

Pretty much every
climate scientist

who works in this
field for a living

is terrified of
that possibility.

We're dealing with a moving
staircase, an escalator that's

dragging us all up into the
higher levels of temperature.

And the United
States is not exempt.

It will be happening
in American cities.

NARRATOR: Experts urge that
signs of imminent disaster

are all around us.

Just over the last decade, the
climate related disasters that

have hit the US...

the severe drought in the
West, the pervasive wildfires

in Texas, super storm
Sandy in the Northeast...

it would be a tragic
mistake to say this was just

a fluke of history, thank
god we won't have that again.

This is exactly the
kind of combination

that we should be
expecting more and more of.

NARRATOR: The most infamous
and devastating storm

in recent American history
was 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

More than 1,200 lives were
lost to the intense winds

and terrible flooding, not
to mention the $108 billion

in damage.

More than 450,000
residents of New Orleans

were forced to abandon
their homes and evacuate.

It was the largest
one time population

migration in US history.

Experts warn that as the
Earth's temperature rises,

the threat of more frequent
and more powerful hurricanes

grows more dire every year.

That heating of
the ocean surface

basically provides an energy
source that feeds hurricanes

and feeds tornadoes,
feeds large storms

and feeds large rainfall events.

Basically, you're just ramping
up the energy so it just

becomes this
battery, if you will,

that's charging up with
more and more power.

Put that much energy
into the system,

and what do you expect out?

Bigger and better hurricanes.

NARRATOR: Hurricanes are
classified by wind speed,

with category one storms
reaching at least 74 miles

per hour up to category five
with sustained winds of 156

miles per hour and beyond.

For all its horrors,
when Hurricane Katrina

made landfall, it was only
a category three storm.

In the year 2086,
with temperatures

now three and a half degrees
Celsius above the norm,

the latest threat is the
rapidly warming ocean.

[thunder crackling]

The Atlantic and Gulf
Coasts are regularly

pounded by super storms that
reach category five, six,

and seven...

more than twice as powerful
as Hurricane Katrina.

A tropical cyclone,
hurricane, is basically

an engine that draws heat
out of the warm ocean

and pumps it up into the
cold upper atmosphere.

The hurricane's rocket fuel
is the warm surface layers

of the ocean.

If we get peak wind speeds
over 170, 200 miles an hour,

that will be a category six.

When those come onshore,
where they hit the coast

it's really ugly.

[ship horn blaring]

NARRATOR: Savannah, Georgia
remains America's third largest

port, handling more than
three million containers

with $63 billion worth
of cargo each year.

But in the spring of 2086...

[thunder crackling]

[wind howling]

the first category seven
hurricane ever to make landfall

in the United States savages
Savannah and the Georgia coast.

240 mile an hour winds decimate
Savannah's historic squares

and plantations.

Masses of flying debris
are powerful enough

to knock down buildings that
have stood through hundreds

of years of American history.

A storm surge of nearly
40 feet swamps the coast.

And when it retreats, it
drags the mangled remains

of Savannah's port
infrastructure into the sea.

You get inundations that
will wash away docks and really

cripple ports for
long periods of time.

Vast majority of the goods that
are shipped out of this country

and shipped into this country
come through the ports, 95%

at least by bulk.

And when you cripple
a major port,

you really have given the
whole economy a whack.

NARRATOR: Even the experts
are caught off guard

by the size and ferocity of
a category seven hurricane.

Nearly 20,000 lives are lost
in a single day of devastation.

Savannah is the
first American city

to be wiped off the map by
a new breed of super storms.

But as the warming planet
continues to soar past two

degrees, it won't be the last.

[ominous music]

As Earth's average temperature
continues to climb,

weather conditions
around the globe

have grown
increasingly volatile.

And experts believe
it's made our planet

and our country prone to more
frequent and more powerful

natural catastrophes.

What we're seeing is
extreme weather and extremes

in weather, so droughts,
heat waves, crazy rainstorms,

hyper energized storms.

These are all things that have
a significant impact on the way

we live our daily lives.

NARRATOR: One of
the biggest threats

we face comes from the rapidly
warming oceans, where hotter

water creates larger,
more powerful storms.

[music playing]

In October of 2012,
super storm Sandy

pounded the Atlantic coast.

From Florida to Maine and
as far West as Wisconsin,

the hurricane force
winds unleashed its wrath

on 24 states, leaving millions
without electricity for days

and inflicting over
$70 billion in damage.

Among the hardest hit
areas was New York City,

as a storm surge of
more than 13 feet

flooded the streets and subways
and paralyzed the city's eight

million plus residents.

We're already seeing
extreme weather events

that nobody was predicting.

For the people of New York,
that means Hurricane Sandy.

NARRATOR: Sandy was the
second most destructive storm

in American history,
and scientists believe

that rising global temperatures
played a key role in Sandy's

devastation.

But new technology
offers some hope

that we can stop these super
storms before they get started.

At the headquarters of
Intellectual Ventures

in Washington state,
scientists are developing

cutting edge techniques to
make hurricanes less powerful.

We've come up
with a way where we

can weaken the
strength of the storm

and also likely divert
it away from land.

What you want to do is mix
some of this surface layer

of hot water with the colder
water that's underneath it.

NARRATOR: Hurricanes are
powered by warm ocean water.

The hotter the water,
the stronger the storm.

So the team at Intellectual
Ventures has a simple plan.

Make the ocean water colder.

So, is there a way
that we could actually

make that happen?

Well, surprisingly, there is.

This is what we
call a Salter Sink,

and it looks like a hula hoop
connected to a trash bag.

A Salter Sink is
effectively a pump.

Down here is cool water.

Waves splash over
the top of this.

Now, every time a wave
splashes up over the top,

it puts water inside there.

That pumps hot water
down into the ocean.

And as it comes up, it mixes
and it changes its temperature.

NARRATOR: This clever invention
works like a giant pump,

pushing the warm water down
and bringing the cold water up.

The deeper you get
below the ocean surface,

the colder the water becomes,
effectively sucking the power

from the hurricanes.

One of these Salter Sinks
that's 100 yards across put out

in this hurricane alley area
for every one to 10 square miles

of ocean can dramatically reduce
the temperature at the surface.

This kind of approach allows
us to still have storms.

We can even give
those storms names.

But we get many fewer storms,
and the storms that we get

are less destructive.

NARRATOR: Though
researchers have yet

to build the first
full scale prototype,

they estimate each would cost
as little as a few thousand

dollars.

If successful, they
could play a pivotal role

in battling future hurricanes.

2089... it's been nearly 50
years since the global average

temperature crossed the
two degree threshold,

triggering a series of
ecological disasters.

Now, temperatures have
skyrocketed to four degrees

Celsius above normal,
and the warming oceans

are creating supercharged
hurricanes, the likes of which

we've never seen before.

Coastal cities from Boston
to Charleston to Miami

are leveled by 150 mile an hour
winds and 30 foot storm surges.

And America no longer has the
resources to pick up the pieces

and rebuild.

The government
will say, you know,

we are no longer going
to support people

who live in this area.

Some of these cities
are not gonna rebuild.

You're not gonna
rebuild that area.

It's flooded too many times.

Too low, this will
happen again, stupid...

get out.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: By the year 2095,
more than 80 million Americans

have fled the Eastern
seaboard, seeking refuge

from the constant hammering
of massive super storms.

But what awaits them
inland is no less deadly.

The skyrocketing global
temperatures and warming ocean

water combine to speed the
melting of massive glaciers

across the Arctic region.

One of the fascinating
things about climate change

is that it doesn't only involve
the atmosphere and the oceans.

It also involves
the solid Earth.

NARRATOR: Glaciers weigh
tens of millions of tons,

and all that weight
keeps the ground

beneath them locked in place.

When glaciers melt, the
Earth below is suddenly

free to move and shift.

That means more frequent
and bigger earthquakes.

Take that ice away, and those
faults will move very, very

quickly and very violently.

NARRATOR: As a brutal wave of
devastating tremors and quakes

rock the land...

[creaking and shattering]

nowhere is hit harder
than the earthquake capital

of the United States, Alaska.

Alaska is the
place where there's

the biggest link between
melting ice and earthquakes.

NARRATOR: More than one out of
every 10 earthquakes on Earth

occur in Alaska, as it sits
at the confluence of at least

six major fault lines.

As the tundra thaws, the
quakes are only getting worse.

And it's not the first time
that America's 49th state

has felt the power and
devastation of a massive quake.

[music playing]

In 1964, just five years
after Alaska joined the Union,

it was struck by a devastating
earthquake that reached

9.2 on the Richter scale.

In four excruciating
minutes of shaking,

much of downtown
Anchorage was leveled.

The shockwaves registered as far
south as Texas and Louisiana.

It was the largest earthquake
in American history,

and the second largest
ever recorded on Earth.

In the year 2095, as the
Alaskan glaciers melt,

a massive 10.0 earthquake
unleashes chaos

on a level far beyond what
anyone could imagine back

in 1964.

In Anchorage, the only warning
is a brief, eerie silence

broken by the howling of
dogs across the city, who

can hear the high frequency
compression wave as the fault

line slips.

A minute later, the Earth
begins to roll and tumble.

[ominous music]

After 10 brutal minutes of
shaking, nothing in Anchorage

is left standing.

The great quake of 2095
is unlike anything mankind

has ever seen.

But 1,500 miles south
of the ruins in Alaska,

the planet unleashes an
even more terrifying display

of its power.

[ominous music]

Across the globe,
average temperatures

have been steadily rising since
the dawn of the Industrial Age.

And experts believe as
the Earth gets hotter,

our weather is becoming
more extreme and more

prone to disastrous events.

[music continues]

In the spring of 2010, a
massive volcano in Iceland

began a three
month eruption that

sent ash spewing as
far away as Russia,

and grounded 10 million
flights across Europe.

It was the largest air travel
disruption since World War II.

Gigantic clouds of ash
also blocked sunlight

for nearly a week, fueling a
widely held scientific theory.

When volcanoes erupt,
they emit special gases

that are converted
into atmospheric haze.

Now, this atmospheric
haze literally

blocks sunlight from coming
to the Earth's surface.

And when this happens, global
temperatures are impacted

and they get colder.

NARRATOR: Today, researchers
are finding new solutions

to harness the positive
impact of volcanoes

without the devastation
that comes with eruptions.

[music playing]

To eliminate
global warming, we

have to reduce the amount of
light from the sun by about 1%

How could we do that?

Well, it turns out
volcanoes give us a clue.

NARRATOR: When
volcanoes erupt, they

send thousands of tons
of microscopic particles

into the atmosphere.

These particles reflect
sunlight away from the Earth

and can help cool
the planet's surface.

We can't actually cause a
volcanic eruption every year.

That would be silly
and destructive,

and actually, we don't
know how to do that.

It may sound crazy, but we think
we can solve global warming

by just running a
hose up to the sky.

NARRATOR: Researchers
at Intellectual Ventures

Laboratory have proposed the
Stratus Shield, a man made

system for releasing
reflective microparticles

high into the atmosphere to
simulate a volcanic eruption.

The idea centers around a
powerful hose 15 miles long

that would extend from
the ground into the sky.

Here, we see the
top part of that hose.

These V-shaped things
are giant balloons.

This hose stretches all
the way down to the ground.

We have a bunch of
sulfur that's piled up.

That sulfur is then
converted to sulfur dioxide

and pumped on up.

Up 10 to 15 miles high, we
have these spray stations

where an aerosol spray of
tiny particles is created.

NARRATOR: The theory is that
by adding these particles

to the stratosphere, it would
reflect 1% of the sunlight that

hits Earth back into space.

Not enough to be noticed
by the human eye,

but researchers believe
enough to cool the planet.

Just two small
pumping stations

doing this in the northern
and southern hemisphere

could solve the problem
for all of Earth.

NARRATOR: In the year 2100,
the temperature on Earth

has spiked to four
degrees Celsius

above the
pre-Industrial average.

And volcanoes that have
lain dormant for centuries

are ready to unleash their fury.

Four degree rise in
average global temperature,

you're really over the edge now.

I mean, if at two degrees
you've got problems,

you've got a nightmare
at four degrees.

NARRATOR: America has already
been savaged by an onslaught

of natural disasters.

Our once booming
population of 320 million

has been reduced by almost half.

The country is overrun
by hundreds of thousands

of migrants fleeing
for their lives

as entire cities are
wiped off the map.

Lots of people are
experiencing what can only be

described as security crises.

They're seeing their
livelihoods threatened,

their agricultural
production thrown into doubt,

and literally having their
homes burned before their eyes.

NARRATOR: As rising global
temperatures unleash hell

on Earth, the next victim is the
hub of the Pacific Northwest.

[ominous music]

Seattle's iconic Space Needle
threatens to tumble down

at any moment as violently
shifting tectonic plates rock

the city with tremors
on a daily basis.

But an even greater danger
lies in the distance.

Looming 14,000 feet over
Washington state's West Coast,

Mount Rainier last experienced
a major eruption in 1895...

long before major cities and
towns were built in its shadow.

200 years later, the glacial
ice around Mount Rainier

has become too thin to
contain the magma within.

If we decrease the pressure
where there used to be ice,

then some extra melting
can occur in the mantle.

And when it melts,
it will generate magma.

And that magma will then
move up into the crust,

and it will feed volcanoes
and feed eruptions.

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: With little warning,
the massive volcano erupts.

Lava pours from the Earth,
annihilating anything

within 10 miles of the peak.

Small towns like Puyallup and
Sumner are buried within hours.

And Seattle, one of the last
remaining population centers

in the country, is
about to be destroyed.

In the year 2111, the
global average temperature

soars five degrees
Celsius above normal.

From flooding and disease in the
East to the volcanic eruptions

of the Pacific
Northwest, America

finds itself a
nation of refugees...

small rural villages which
survive by hunting, fishing,

and subsistence farming.

But what little food
remains is running out.

Across the nation, the few
remaining crops begin to fail.

Crops are doing pretty well
when it gets warmer and warmer.

And then, there's a critical
temperature at which they just

start to tank.

People can't grow
crops in places

where their family for
generations has grown crops.

NARRATOR: Animal
populations begin

to die off, both on
land and in the sea,

triggering a worldwide crisis.

So you would have a
global food shortage.

We'd have people
commandeering ships of grain

on the high seas, people
banning the export of their food

to other countries in order
to protect their own citizens.

Governments would fall
in response to this.

How long does it take you
to get from civilization

to the state of nature?

And the answer is a
week with no food.

As time passes, more and more
people are feeling desperate.

They're frightened.

They're willing to risk their
lives for very little things

like a couple of tins of beans
because the baby needs food,

and there's no other way.

NARRATOR: As starvation
begins to cripple what's

left of America's population,
global temperatures

continue to climb higher
and faster as they have ever

since we crossed the two
degree tipping point.

This is irreversible
change on a global scale,

and it gets worse every second.

NARRATOR: And the final calamity
is already underway as America

itself begins to drown
beneath the rising seas.

[ominous music]

Since researchers began
recording the Earth's

average temperature
more than 135 years ago,

eight of the 10
hottest years have

occurred in the last decade.

As the world
continues to heat up,

climatologists point
to signs from pole

to pole, including the
massive glaciers receding

in the Arctic.

Ever since about the
beginning of the 21st century,

things have started to
accelerate in Greenland.

Ice is already melting faster
than it was just a few decades

ago.

And we are very certain that
those speed-ups will continue

to happen.

The ice is being melted from
above by the warm atmosphere.

And even more
dramatically, the ice

is being melted from below
by the surface ocean, which

is also increasingly
getting warmer.

The ice sheet in Greenland
locks up a tremendous amount

of sea level rise.

If all of Greenland
were to melt tomorrow,

it would raise sea
levels by about 23 feet.

It's like a giant sleeping
beast, and we're poking it

and it's starting to wake up.

NARRATOR: In the year 2113,
as millions of tons of ice

around the poles melt
faster and faster,

entire cities are disappearing
beneath the waves,

from Los Angeles to
our nation's capital.

Five foot sea level rise...

Galveston, Texas 70% flooded,
New Orleans 90% flooded,

Miami Beach...

I really hate this...

90% flooded.

At 12 feet of sea level
rise, Atlantic City is gone.

It's 100% flooded.

The beach is inland
of where the city was.

20 feet of sea level rise,
and Cambridge, Massachusetts

is 80% underwater, New York
City is 40% underwater.

And Sacramento, though it
looks a long way inland,

is 60% underwater.

NARRATOR: And the
worst is yet to come.

Antarctica's huge.

If we dropped it
onto the lower 48,

it would cover the
entire lower 48.

And the ice is up
to two miles thick.

There's enough ice on
it that if it all melts,

the water level rises 200 feet.

[ominous music]

NARRATOR: By 2117, Earth is
now six degrees Celsius hotter

than it was a century ago.

The entire Antarctic ice
sheet is melting and crumbling

into the ocean, pushing
the unrelenting water

higher and deeper into our
coastline cities and beyond.

After a 200 foot
rise in sea level,

our nation itself
is unrecognizable...

as is the American population,
now just a few thousand souls

battling to survive.

[music crescendos]

Bozeman, Montana,
the 22nd century...

fortunate twists of geography,
timing, and ingenuity

have made it the last
outpost of life in America.

Sheltered by Idaho's
Sawtooth Mountains

to the West and the Canadian
Rockies to the North,

the city has survived the
epic tide of water flooding

from the Pacific
Ocean 800 miles away.

Bozeman's elevation keeps
temperatures just cool enough

to grow heat resistant
beans, potatoes, and beets.

And that's all anyone's had
to eat since the last sources

of meat...

rats and squirrels... died out.

But for a planet that
has sustained human life

for hundreds of
thousands of years,

it's only a matter of time.

The Earth is now unleashing
everything in its power

to wipe out humanity.

[ominous music]

Today, our planet
is one degree warmer

than it was when we first
began burning fossil fuels

in the 1800s.

And the skyrocketing
temperatures

show no signs of slowing down.

Experts predict that
at the current pace,

we'll hit two degrees Celsius
above the pre-Industrial Age

average in less than 25 years.

The magic number is
two degrees centigrade.

That's when we lose control.

We're idiots to find out
what two degrees will do,

but we're probably
gonna find out.

That's what the
future looks like...

if not hell, then a remarkably
similar temperature.

NARRATOR: Climatologists warn
that once we cross the two

degree mark, it will
trigger a domino

effect of natural disasters...

a downward spiral that will
threaten to end life on Earth

as we know it.

[music playing]

Imagine in the year 2042,
as the temperature on Earth

reaches the two
degree threshold,

extreme heat and
uncontrollable wildfires

ravage the American West.

By 2061, floods drown
the Midwest and usher

in a devastating
outbreak of disease.

In 2086, Earth's
average temperature

ticks up to three and a
half degrees above normal.

Hurricanes twice as
powerful as past storms

level the Eastern seaboard.

By 2095, the global temperature
has risen four degrees,

and melting glaciers
trigger epic earthquakes

and volcanic eruptions.

At the dawn of the 22nd century,
Earth's average temperature

hits five degrees
Celsius above normal.

Crops die out.

Mass starvation sets in.

And finally in 2117, as we
reached the six degree mark,

the Arctic shelf
crumbles into the sea

as the oceans rise up to 200
feet and swallow the country.

The only survivors are in
Bozeman, Montana, whose unique

geography has made it the
last outpost of civilization.

But for these doomed
refugees, there

is only so long
they can hang on.

As the soaring temperatures
become unbearable and food

impossible to grow, each
soul takes their last breath

until there is no
more life in America.

It's an apocalyptic scenario
that is hard to fathom,

and one experts believe can be
prevented long before we reach

two degrees.

It's spectacular when you see
the lights of all of our cities

from high above, whether you
are in an airplane or even more

dramatically from the
International Space Station.

But attached to every light,
there's a source of energy.

And most of that energy,
80% of that still,

is coming from fossil fuels.

So just there, you've got a
sort of visual encapsulation

of the whole problem.

Global warming is a defining
long term threat of our moment

in history, and we are the first
generation, the first group

of people living on this
planet who understand

that the road we're on
leads to big trouble

and that we still
have time to avoid it.

This is affecting us today.

We have the opportunity
to fix it now.

At some point, we're going
to lose that opportunity.

It's time to act.

We need a World War
II style mobilization

to deal with climate change.

It would be difficult, but
everything big and useful

is difficult. And it would
not be anywhere near as

difficult as somehow
trying to deal

with the financial, human,
and physical mess of a planet

that we've let overheat.

We're all in it together.

Either we all make it,
or none of us make it.

[music playing]

[ominous music]

[ominous music]

Since scientists first
started tracking the Earth's

[ominous music]

Across America, experts believe
the effects of a warming planet

[ominous music]

[buzzing]

[ominous music]

The Earth is currently
one degree Celsius hotter

[ominous music]

As Earth's average temperature
continues to climb,

[thunder crackling]

[ominous music]

[thunder crackling]

[ominous music]

Since researchers began
recording the Earth's

[thunder crackling]

[ominous music]