Original subtitles

This week on "Vice,"

the environmental time bomb

of our thawing planet.

Everywhere there are bits splintering,

breaking and falling down.

And then, the new underground railroad

for refugees across Europe.

We are right in the middle of Paris.

There are hundreds, maybe, thousands of tents set up here.

Go, go, go!

We are not animals!

Sync & corrections by honeybunny www.addic7ed.com

Fully, 24% of the northern hemisphere

is covered by permafrost,

deep layers of soil and water

that have been frozen for thousands of years.

But National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists

have now found that the Arctic is warming twice as fast

as the rest of the planet,

which is causing the permafrost to thaw

and release trapped greenhouse gasses.

And this release of methane and carbon is, in turn,

accelerating climate change.

Now, due to the seriousness of the situation,

a global effort is challenging scientists

to come up with a solution.

And one of the options they're pursuing

is nothing short of astounding.

So, we're walking out onto a... frozen lake.

So, we are gonna go out here and look for some pockets

of methane gas trapped in the lake ice.

Katey Walter Anthony is a researcher

with the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

She wanted to show us a phenomenon

that could have dramatic repercussions for our changing climate.

The methane is here because the permafrost is thawing.

And when it thaws...

there are microbes in the bottom of the lake that eat

the carbon that was in the permafrost and they make methane gas.

One molecule of methane is 20--

is like 25 molecules of carbon dioxide,

so it-- it's a really strong greenhouse gas.

And methane is contributing to climate warming,

and making the warming that's already happening worse.

- So, get down low. - Okay.

And as soon as I put this in,

as soon as I break through, gas will rush out, and you want to basically

get it right down in the gas stream, ready? Right above the hole, okay.

Oy!

Holy crap.

- That burned me. - It works.

- You okay? - Yep.

Wow.

- Are you okay? - Yeah, I'm fine.

I didn't expect it to be that powerful.

Woo.

And this is a-- a fairly recent discovery?

Yeah.

There's two times as much carbon in the frozen ground

as there is in the atmosphere.

Whoa.

Wow.

A large part of that carbon can be released and...

and add more carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere,

making climate warming even worse than we expect.

If you break through,

don't pull your spear out right away.

- Leave it in there 'til I get my torch over. - Okay.

That was pretty good.

So there are millions of lakes, like this now,

- and there are probably going to be millions more. - That's right.

In the not too distant future, so all you can do is--

is keep it underground.

There's nothing else you can do to mitigate this.

If we can slow down climate warming,

it will slow down permafrost thaw,

which will cause less of a temperature increase.

If we speed up climate warming,

and permafrost flash thaws,

then we'll have a huge pulse of greenhouse gasses,

especially methane going into the atmosphere,

that will cause a really abrupt warming.

There's more carbon locked in the permafrost,

than humans have released into the atmosphere

since the beginning

of the industrial age,

and it has already started to thaw.

To understand just how profound the impact could be,

we went to NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab,

where Dr. Charles Miller showed us some dire projections.

Just from thaw-induced carbon release,

the amount of temperature change could be as high

as a full degree or more.

Now, when you couple that in to the fully, um,

coupled climate models,

it's projecting out, somewhere in the neighborhood

of four to five degrees C temperature change.

Other models that I've seen

definitely show eight to ten degree changes

in the Arctic by the 2100 time frame.

What would the planet look like

with temperature rises of eight or nine degrees?

Eight degrees, ten degrees type of temperature change

may well take us into a tropical type of Earth,

even in the mid to upper latitudes--

just something dramatically different

that none of us have ever experienced.

So, really, the entire world ought to be focused

on keeping this carbon within the ground there.

That would be, uh, something that would be admirable,

but I think we're already on a path

to releasing a significant fraction of this carbon.

Because of its size and location,

one country where permafrost thaw is a major problem is Russia,

and because nearly 70%

of the country's landmass is permafrost,

Russian scientists are also at the forefront

of the search for solutions.

We went to Siberia,

where the effects of the thawing permafrost are plain to see.

The road is not used anymore now?

This lake is new? In your lifetime?

Sergey Zimov has been studying

the Arctic landscape for over 30 years.

He's seen firsthand how permafrost is thawing

under a changing climate.

Zimov and his team have dug a series of tunnels

to study permafrost,

the vast frozen layer of soil, ice and organic matter

that covers 24% of the northern hemisphere

and can extend to depths of 5,000 feet.

Take a look at this.

This is pretty much just...

pure ice almost,

but it's-- it's permafrost,

and I'm not even that deep underground.

We're-- I don't know--

ten feet underground?

But from above, you'd never guess it was this cold.

Yeah.

This was all permafrost under this? Everything?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And to illustrate this,

researchers took us to one of the most stunning examples

of permafrost thaw in the world.

They're taking us to see what they call a slump,

which is when the permafrost and the ice

have thawed or melted so much that the ground has collapsed.

Locals call it "The Gateway to the Underworld."

At over half a mile wide, and 300 feet deep,

this crater is the largest of its kind

caused by permafrost thaw.

Oh, yeah.

This is solid ice.

Just like... you can see on that huge wall.

So when you walk down into the slump,

you end up facing an almost kilometer wide

wall of permafrost.

And it almost sounds like it's alive, 'cause

everywhere there are bits splintering,

breaking, and falling down.

And even that-- that stream, that running water,

that-- that's water, just water, coming from--

from the melting ice and the thawing permafrost.

As the exposed permafrost continues to thaw,

the crater keeps getting bigger,

expanding 60 feet every year.

Do you think this is a warning sign?

Do you think you could see many more of these

in the not too distant future?

Like, it's easy to imagine seeing this--

what would happen if-- if...

you know, a piece of land that had a town on top of it

were to go like this?

Yeah, look! There's a huge crack behind us.

This-- this makes me nervous.

This is-- this feels very precarious.

Feels like it's about to go.

As more and more permafrost thaws,

and the ground falls away,

carbon that was frozen in the permafrost is released into the atmosphere.

On a mass scale,

this process can accelerate climate change.

A solution is urgently needed.

If we don't do this,

what is the price we will pay

when all of these gasses are released?

But Sergey Zimov has a plan to keep the ground frozen.

He took us along the Kolyma River

to a site that might just prove

we can break the cycle.

Zimov is gathering animals here,

animals that will transform the landscape

from forest back into grassland,

which he says is much better at preserving the permafrost.

What does that do to the permafrost?

And just having animals grazing here is enough

for that difference in temperature?

The animals trample the vegetation,

which leaves the ground more exposed to the cold,

keeping the permafrost frozen.

Plus, while forest is dark, grass is light,

and the lighter the surface,

the more heat from the sun is reflected back to space.

Just take it back to what it was

thousands of years ago?

To prove his theory, Zimov and his team

are rounding up animals from across Siberia

to populate his park.

While the reindeer help,

in order to fully restore this land

to its prehistoric state,

it will take some prehistoric wildlife.

You've shown us some of the animals

that you've brought back.

Um, there's also been talk about bringing back

the woolly mammoth.

So, really, you need the mammoth,

or something like it, for it to be complete.

This might sound farfetched,

but scientists at the Institute of Applied Ecology

are working on this very idea.

Ironically, the solution to this problem

might also have been frozen in permafrost.

And do you know how old this is?

And at 28,000 years old,

you'd still be able to get DNA samples from this?

This sample could provide

the genetic material needed to bring the Mammoth back.

So, they're now, um, taking samples from all over the trunk

to try and find the most perfectly preserved DNA,

which could then potentially be used for a clone.

Well, do you think, for example

in your lifetime, or in the next ten years,

we could actually see living, breathing Woolly Mammoths?

It is possible to look at--

look at Sergey as a kind of Don Quixote figure,

but you think he's-- he's onto something

and it could actually-- it could actually work?

Sergey has proposed to reintroduce natural,

perhaps even Ice Age flora and fauna,

plants and animals,

allowing nature to, basically, heal itself.

That winds up generally being

the fastest and most efficient way

to restore the previous landscape,

ecosystems, bio-diversity, and climate.

If the ancient Arctic ecosystem

can be restored using geoengineering,

Serg3y w1ll h4v3 d3m0nstr4t3d 4 v14bl3 s0lution

to halt the threat of permafrost thaw.

When we first reported

on the refugee crisis in Europe,

countries across the EU were struggling to take in hundreds of thousands of people

fleeing war and crossing the Mediterranean.

Now, after a series of deadly terror attacks

spurred a wave of nationalism,

countries across Europe

have tightened their border controls even further.

We sent Gianna Toboni to Italy

to report on a growing underground network

that has emerged to help these refugees on their migratory path.

We are in Ventimiglia, Italy,

and this group of young, Ethiopian refugees

is just about to leave on their trek

to cross the border into France.

Many refugees who arrive

in Italy from Libya,

travel across the country

to get to the border-towns,

where they attempt to make

the illegal trek into France.

We're following these railways,

which are gonna lead us all the way up the mountain.

We'll probably be hiking for the next five, six, seven hours,

'til we get to the French border,

and that's when we'll cross over.

How many times have you tried to cross into France?

Think you'll make it this time?

Yeah.

Just before we left with Shaashoo and Nas,

they explained that the violence against

their persecuted ethnic group in Ethiopia

drove them to leave the country.

Do you think that if you would have stayed

in Ethiopia, you would have been killed?

Mm-hmm.

I'm sorry.

Italy has been overwhelmed by a surge of more

than 180,000 refugees just in the past year.

A new EU regulation made in February

is attempting to stem this constant flow of people

migrating to Europe through Libya.

But for those refugees who have already made it,

the EU is forcing them to register

and remain indefinitely in the first country they enter,

leaving many living on the streets,

while waiting for their asylum claims to be processed.

Comes up.

They know where to send you afterwards.

Yeah.

So everybody just got off the train tracks,

and we're now walking on the highway.

Oh, careful, careful.

Guys, this is terrifying.

These cars come so close to us,

and there's nowhere else to go.

Once off the railroad tracks,

each passing car on this narrow road,

could potentially report them to the authorities.

This is fucked up.

What do you do if a car comes?

There's nowhere to go.

Does this scare you guys?

Around 3:00 a.m.,

we cross the border into France

with Shaashoo and his friends.

At sunrise, French police arrested them,

and sent them all the way back

to where they first arrived in Italy.

The French police reported nearly

40,000 migrant arrests in the area

just in 2016.

For those who make it into France,

there's a new route emerging in the Alps,

where a group of local French citizens are offering them refuge.

We are way up in the mountains on the French/Italian border.

This is kind of like the underground railroad for these refugees.

And it runs right through a farm

that's owned by a man named Cédric

who's actually taken a lot of these migrants in

and is allowing them to live in his backyard.

Hi. Hello. Allô. Ca Va?

How are you? What is your name?

Hi.

Hello. Hello.

Wow. Lot of people. Hello.

- Nice to meet you. - Hi.

Gianna. Nice to meet you.

Hello.

Nice to meet you. Wow.

This is crazy. You hear a plane overhead,

and all of the refugees just ran into their tent.

They're obviously terrified.

Cédric was arrested

and recently convicted in French court

of helping refugees cross the border.

Others like him run the same risk.

Not far from Cédric's farm,

we met with his friend Françoise,

who has hosted more than two dozen refugees at one time on her property.

So, how many people do you have living with you?

Oh, I think today... 18.

- Wow. - 19, I think.

Yesterday, 25.

It's a situation absolutely terrible,

and now we are at the end of our possibilities.

You see, I am very angry. Very, very, very angry. - Yes.

Because it's normal that we, people,

we must do the work of our government.

You think the government should be doing more.

The-- the government do nothing.

The problem is not they do more,

they do nothing.

In meeting the refugees,

we found that the majority of them were 18 and under.

How old?

Seventeen. And you?

You?

Voila. Children.

Gianna, nice to meet you. Hello! What's your name?

Muhammad, nice to meet you.

Oh, wow!

Can you tell me about your picture?

What was it like traveling from Sudan with kids this age?

You just couldn't stay in Sudan.

As a lawyer, Françoise understands

the legal battles refugees face,

and believes that the French government

turning away minors violates humanitarian law.

The ultimate goal for many of the refugees

is to move all the way north through France to the UK.

But when they reach the English Channel,

they find the UK border is completely sealed,

leading to massive refugee settlements

like the Calais Jungle.

We're overlooking what's called "The Jungle."

It's the biggest refugee camp in France.

There are over 8,000 refugees that are settled here.

The problem now, though, is that law enforcement

is trying to evacuate this entire camp.

What's unclear is how exactly they're going to do it,

and how much of a fight these refugees are going to put up.

Multiple fires burned

across the camp over the next few days.

While people fled their tents,

it was clear the authorities were not in a rush

to put them out.

Volunteers like Christian Salomé,

the director of an NGO

providing resources to the refugees,

began to feel desperate for the remaining migrants

whose homes were quickly burning.

Over the next few days,

the government continued to dismantle the Jungle,

even though thousands of refugees remained.

This is one of the ways where kids,

when put in a place for weeks at a time,

they'll make the place theirs.

It's a good distraction.

Uh-oh, we're gettin' pushed out.

What is it like to see this happening right now?

In the coming days, many of the minors were bussed

to reception centers across France

while others made their way to Paris.

We are right in the middle of Paris.

There are thousands of tents set up here.

It's clear that this city is not set up

for the amount of refugees that have flooded into it.

There aren't Social Services out here.

There are only so many processing facilities,

so it's basically just a massive homeless camp

for refugees from all different countries.

In November 2016, aid groups estimated

that thousands of migrants were living in tent cities across Paris.

We met 23 year old Manuel,

who fled Nigeria nearly two years ago.

Lots of politicians in the US and in European countries,

there's this sort of stigma around refugees.

Can you just talk a little bit about that?

Like how are you seen as a refugee?

Each and every one of us, my brothers here right now,

never-- never wished to be a refugee.

It was the situation of the country back where we lived,

that turned us to what we are now.

Because I wouldn't imagine myself to come to France

and start sleeping in the streets,

when I have a good home and everything is comfortable back there.

Even here, the refugees,

many of them just teenagers,

were met with the same responses from authorities

who began dismantling their makeshift camp

and destroying their tents.

Go back, go back, go this way.

It's tough to watch these young people who traveled so far,

and each new place they land,

they get uprooted and thrown out.

Why did you decide to leave Afghanistan?

Oh, shit.

We are not animals!

We are not fighting! Why you hit us?

They want to kill us!

Sync & corrections by honeybunny www.addic7ed.com