00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.460
[BULLFROG CROAKING]

00:00:08.856 --> 00:00:11.830
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:00:11.830 --> 00:00:14.724
It's very difficult for somebody
living in the United States

00:00:14.724 --> 00:00:20.330
to grasp the fact that if sea
level rises just a few feet,

00:00:20.330 --> 00:00:22.390
a whole nation will disappear.

00:00:25.670 --> 00:00:28.109
Way before most these
islands go under, they're

00:00:28.109 --> 00:00:29.775
going to lose their
freshwater supplies,

00:00:29.775 --> 00:00:30.770
their freshwater lenses.

00:00:30.770 --> 00:00:32.603
They're going to be
inundated with seawater.

00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:44.720
We are like the warning system
for the whole world to see.

00:00:44.720 --> 00:00:47.070
Major funding for
this program was

00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:51.460
provided by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting.

00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:54.070
Additional funding was
provided by the Environmental

00:00:54.070 --> 00:00:57.360
Verification and Analysis Center
at the University of Oklahoma.

00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:16.220
There is Bikeman, and
that sand bar there

00:01:16.220 --> 00:01:18.270
is where the island was.

00:01:23.600 --> 00:01:28.010
This was Bikeman,
but the original name

00:01:28.010 --> 00:01:46.165
is Teabanuea, meaning
"a place for chiefs."

00:01:46.165 --> 00:01:53.200
People used to come here when
it was an island to hold picnics

00:01:53.200 --> 00:02:01.020
and, much earlier, to present
their gifts to the gods,

00:02:01.020 --> 00:02:05.162
especially when they want to
go out fishing and have luck.

00:02:08.130 --> 00:02:14.594
It is now lost, as you can
see as you stand on it.

00:02:14.594 --> 00:02:16.570
It is sand and rock.

00:02:46.350 --> 00:02:51.260
They emerged millions
of years ago,

00:02:51.260 --> 00:02:55.310
thousands of islands scattered
across the vast Pacific Ocean.

00:03:06.270 --> 00:03:08.840
These islands now hold
unique ecosystems.

00:03:13.630 --> 00:03:16.690
Exotic fish, coral,
and marine life.

00:03:26.130 --> 00:03:28.870
[MALE VOCALIZING]

00:03:39.750 --> 00:03:45.420
They are also the home to
more than 7 million people.

00:03:45.420 --> 00:03:48.210
Nearly 1,000 distinct
languages and cultures

00:03:48.210 --> 00:03:52.754
thrive in some of the
smallest nations in the world.

00:03:52.754 --> 00:03:56.240
[SINGING AND CHANTING]

00:04:07.694 --> 00:04:10.184
Now these tiny
islands are shadowed

00:04:10.184 --> 00:04:13.172
by one of the biggest
threats the planet has ever

00:04:13.172 --> 00:04:15.662
faced-- global warming.

00:04:19.200 --> 00:04:21.310
Since the beginning
of time, the earth

00:04:21.310 --> 00:04:23.650
has been warmed by
sunlight beaming down

00:04:23.650 --> 00:04:26.530
through the insulating
blanket of the atmosphere.

00:04:26.530 --> 00:04:30.490
That blanket, made up of
carbon dioxide and other gases,

00:04:30.490 --> 00:04:33.230
traps heat on the earth
from the sun's energy,

00:04:33.230 --> 00:04:36.950
creating what is called
the greenhouse effect.

00:04:36.950 --> 00:04:39.450
This process regulates
the earth's climate,

00:04:39.450 --> 00:04:42.010
keeping it stable
enough to sustain life.

00:04:44.914 --> 00:04:47.334
[INDUSTRIAL NOISES OVERLYING
DRUMBEAT]

00:04:56.050 --> 00:04:58.400
But since the
Industrial Revolution,

00:04:58.400 --> 00:05:03.802
human beings have been releasing
chemicals into the atmosphere.

00:05:03.802 --> 00:05:06.700
Among them have been
enormous emissions

00:05:06.700 --> 00:05:11.322
of carbon dioxide created by
the burning of fossil fuels.

00:05:14.520 --> 00:05:17.530
The accumulation of
these industrial gases

00:05:17.530 --> 00:05:20.020
is thickening the
blanket of the atmosphere

00:05:20.020 --> 00:05:23.130
and warming the global climate.

00:05:23.130 --> 00:05:27.450
We know from geological
evidence that carbon dioxide

00:05:27.450 --> 00:05:33.230
in the atmosphere has
never been above a level

00:05:33.230 --> 00:05:39.000
of about 280 parts per million
for the last 230,000 years.

00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:46.350
It is now at roughly
370 parts per million.

00:05:46.350 --> 00:05:50.790
And that rise is all due to
human activity, of fossil fuel

00:05:50.790 --> 00:05:54.310
burning, deforestation,
and other types

00:05:54.310 --> 00:05:55.355
of land use activities.

00:05:57.910 --> 00:06:00.850
We also know that
when carbon dioxide is

00:06:00.850 --> 00:06:05.610
high in the atmosphere,
the temperature is hot.

00:06:05.610 --> 00:06:08.030
In fact, the global
temperature has already

00:06:08.030 --> 00:06:11.795
risen nearly 2 degrees
Fahrenheit in the past century,

00:06:11.795 --> 00:06:16.730
and the 1990s were the hottest
decade in the last 1,000 years.

00:06:16.730 --> 00:06:20.170
Scientists predict that
atmospheric carbon dioxide

00:06:20.170 --> 00:06:23.170
will double by the year 2100.

00:06:23.170 --> 00:06:26.600
By then, global temperatures
will have risen 5 degrees

00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:28.130
Fahrenheit or more.

00:06:28.130 --> 00:06:31.094
That may not sound
like much, but it

00:06:31.094 --> 00:06:35.050
could lead to dramatic and
unforeseen consequences.

00:06:35.050 --> 00:06:36.760
We're taking a real
risk because we're

00:06:36.760 --> 00:06:40.390
dealing with a very complex
system, very complex.

00:06:40.390 --> 00:06:42.530
We don't know how it
behaves completely.

00:06:42.530 --> 00:06:46.040
But we do know something-- if
we keep pushing that system,

00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:49.380
it's going to change.

00:06:49.380 --> 00:06:53.100
The temperature increase could
speed up global storm systems,

00:06:53.100 --> 00:06:55.525
trigger more
frequent and powerful

00:06:55.525 --> 00:07:00.630
hurricanes,
droughts, and floods.

00:07:00.630 --> 00:07:05.160
For the Pacific Islands, there
is an even more serious threat.

00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:07.240
When you warm water, it expands.

00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:10.270
And when you warm earth's
surface temperatures,

00:07:10.270 --> 00:07:15.000
ice that's on the land will
melt and go into the sea.

00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:16.490
And just as the
temperatures have

00:07:16.490 --> 00:07:18.910
been rising for about
200 years, so we

00:07:18.910 --> 00:07:20.858
believe that sea
levels have probably

00:07:20.858 --> 00:07:22.850
been rising for about
the same length of time.

00:07:27.340 --> 00:07:28.890
What could happen?

00:07:28.890 --> 00:07:30.750
Well, a chunk of the
Antarctic ice sheet

00:07:30.750 --> 00:07:33.290
could what we call surge.

00:07:33.290 --> 00:07:36.340
That would raise sea
level 15 to 25 feet, which

00:07:36.340 --> 00:07:38.990
would be the end of island
states, most coastlines,

00:07:38.990 --> 00:07:40.810
and so forth.

00:07:40.810 --> 00:07:43.470
These are forecasts
for the future.

00:07:43.470 --> 00:07:46.480
In the Pacific, islanders
say some of these changes

00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:50.500
already are beginning
to take place.

00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:53.330
4,000 miles southwest
of California

00:07:53.330 --> 00:07:56.510
lie the volcanic
islands of Samoa,

00:07:56.510 --> 00:08:00.170
home to a Polynesian culture
thousands of years old.

00:08:07.910 --> 00:08:11.632
There's a saying in English
that there's no place like home.

00:08:22.810 --> 00:08:25.030
I remember as a young
kid running around

00:08:25.030 --> 00:08:26.440
naked on the beach.

00:08:26.440 --> 00:08:29.260
That's the way of life,
they way you live.

00:08:29.260 --> 00:08:32.309
You'd go out fishing, the food
is available for you there.

00:08:32.309 --> 00:08:35.460
You don't suffer, you don't
worry about paying the rent

00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:36.840
or paying for anything.

00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:41.740
It's just a very
subsistence way of living.

00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:44.990
And that's the
relaxed, Pacific way

00:08:44.990 --> 00:08:47.608
of living that I like
most about the islands.

00:08:50.930 --> 00:08:54.940
In Samoan community, you're part
of the whole extended family.

00:08:54.940 --> 00:08:55.940
Everybody helps out.

00:09:00.300 --> 00:09:03.630
A typical Samoan
Sunday for any family,

00:09:03.630 --> 00:09:06.260
they get up early in
the morning, about 5:30

00:09:06.260 --> 00:09:09.240
or 6 o'clock, prepare
the umu feast.

00:09:13.370 --> 00:09:16.480
And then they all go to church.

00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:18.960
[SINGING]

00:09:33.370 --> 00:09:35.800
And then after the
church, they came back

00:09:35.800 --> 00:09:38.620
and they have a feast.

00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:39.190
I love it.

00:09:43.170 --> 00:09:45.360
I'm a climatologist.

00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:47.590
My area of expertise
and interest

00:09:47.590 --> 00:09:49.810
lies within the Pacific.

00:09:49.810 --> 00:09:54.560
When I grew up, we always had
to battle natural disasters.

00:09:54.560 --> 00:10:00.130
My parents told me all the
stories about how to survive.

00:10:00.130 --> 00:10:03.700
When you grow up
in an area where

00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:07.750
it's so climate-dependent
and weather-dependent,

00:10:07.750 --> 00:10:10.765
you notice things so
easily in your environment.

00:10:13.458 --> 00:10:17.440
There's something
definitely happening.

00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:22.360
We feel the trend of tropical
cyclone and hurricanes

00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:24.732
on the increase.

00:10:24.732 --> 00:10:27.636
[HEAVY WIND]

00:10:31.508 --> 00:10:37.316
You cannot imagine being
in a cyclone or hurricane.

00:10:37.316 --> 00:10:39.819
You just break off
that [INAUDIBLE]

00:10:39.819 --> 00:10:40.805
at the end of the day.

00:10:46.228 --> 00:10:55.130
[SLOW DRUMBEAT]

00:10:55.130 --> 00:11:00.600
My own personal experience,
my parents' whole savings

00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:04.300
that was invested in the
house that I was brought up in

00:11:04.300 --> 00:11:08.000
was totally destroyed in one
of the worst hurricanes that

00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:13.430
ever struck Samoa in 1991.

00:11:13.430 --> 00:11:16.310
Everything they worked
their whole life to build

00:11:16.310 --> 00:11:17.440
was completely destroyed.

00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:23.470
And it's like
destroying my past,

00:11:23.470 --> 00:11:28.420
because I couldn't find a single
photo of me when I was a baby.

00:11:28.420 --> 00:11:32.360
All the memories go down there.

00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:36.310
The most concern for
Pacific island countries

00:11:36.310 --> 00:11:38.210
is the extreme
weather events that

00:11:38.210 --> 00:11:41.460
are associated with the
global warming phenomenon.

00:11:41.460 --> 00:11:45.890
For example, would
there be an increase

00:11:45.890 --> 00:11:50.280
in the number of hurricanes
occurring on a warming world?

00:11:50.280 --> 00:11:54.040
Based on the records that we
have so far in the Pacific

00:11:54.040 --> 00:11:59.580
region alone, definitely
there seems to be an increase.

00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:01.650
Another weather pattern
which many scientists

00:12:01.650 --> 00:12:07.058
predict will increase with
global warming is the El Nino.

00:12:07.058 --> 00:12:09.870
This little-understood
natural phenomenon

00:12:09.870 --> 00:12:12.168
originates in the
tropical Pacific.

00:12:12.168 --> 00:12:15.770
The El Nino causes dramatic
changes in global weather.

00:12:15.770 --> 00:12:18.250
It knocks storm systems
off their usual course

00:12:18.250 --> 00:12:23.970
and heats up the already-warm
waters of the south Pacific.

00:12:23.970 --> 00:12:28.410
We're standing on what appears
to be a coral graveyard, lots

00:12:28.410 --> 00:12:31.060
of pieces of dead coral.

00:12:31.060 --> 00:12:35.093
In American Samoa, marine
biologist Nancy Dashbach

00:12:35.093 --> 00:12:39.130
shows the effects of a recent
El Nino to a group of students.

00:12:39.130 --> 00:12:40.505
The ocean here was very warm.

00:12:40.505 --> 00:12:45.270
It got up to above 30 degrees,
32 degrees centigrade, which

00:12:45.270 --> 00:12:47.570
is about 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

00:12:47.570 --> 00:12:50.600
It was like a bathtub out
here for several months.

00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:53.830
Coral can't live in
temperatures that hot.

00:12:53.830 --> 00:12:57.110
So what happened
was, they bleached.

00:12:57.110 --> 00:13:01.080
That lasted for a while, and
then they started to die.

00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:03.680
Most of the reef
flat on the top has

00:13:03.680 --> 00:13:08.060
been killed all around
our islands of Samoa.

00:13:08.060 --> 00:13:10.610
When coral dies,
the islands also

00:13:10.610 --> 00:13:12.560
lose an important
natural defense

00:13:12.560 --> 00:13:15.090
against the impacts of storms.

00:13:15.090 --> 00:13:21.110
This is one of the major sources
of coastal protection for most

00:13:21.110 --> 00:13:23.370
of this low-lying
atoll, because they

00:13:23.370 --> 00:13:30.620
act barriers to stop the storms
surges coming on the islands.

00:13:30.620 --> 00:13:34.770
So if the warm water is
killing off these reefs,

00:13:34.770 --> 00:13:38.770
you will never have
that protection.

00:13:38.770 --> 00:13:41.050
Furthermore, a
lot of the islands

00:13:41.050 --> 00:13:43.659
depend on the coral
reef for their food.

00:13:43.659 --> 00:13:46.104
[HORN SOUNDING]

00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:58.730
You must be at the fishing
place by 5:00 in the afternoon.

00:13:58.730 --> 00:14:02.600
That will give us an hour to
put the nets down, and then

00:14:02.600 --> 00:14:07.010
wait for another
couple of hour or so.

00:14:07.010 --> 00:14:11.960
Our fishing-- our catches,
I mean, it's not normal.

00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:16.470
We are puzzled why
everything is changing.

00:14:16.470 --> 00:14:20.130
I think the effect of
El Nino here is great.

00:14:30.140 --> 00:14:33.440
Back then it's bad news
to catch between 400,

00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:34.645
500 pounds a night.

00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:42.230
But now you couldn't
fill a cooler sometimes.

00:14:42.230 --> 00:14:50.190
Everything has changed, and I'm
a little bit worried I'll only

00:14:50.190 --> 00:14:53.090
get the fish for us to eat.

00:14:53.090 --> 00:14:57.021
That means we won't sell any,
and we won't get the money.

00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:04.450
We're dealing here with
an issue of whole islands

00:15:04.450 --> 00:15:07.480
and communities at risk.

00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:10.320
And their very
survival is at stake.

00:15:15.520 --> 00:15:18.070
Northwest of Samoa
on the equator

00:15:18.070 --> 00:15:20.770
lies Kiribati, one
of the smallest

00:15:20.770 --> 00:15:22.863
countries in the world.

00:15:26.300 --> 00:15:30.290
Kiribati is a nation
of 33 coral atolls,

00:15:30.290 --> 00:15:33.562
the rims of ancient
volcanoes, and rises

00:15:33.562 --> 00:15:35.350
only a few feet above the sea.

00:15:35.350 --> 00:15:37.820
[DRUMMING AND SINGING]

00:15:44.740 --> 00:15:47.290
Because it is so
remote, Kiribati

00:15:47.290 --> 00:15:49.800
has retained much of
its traditional culture,

00:15:49.800 --> 00:16:10.913
a culture that has thrived
for more than 2,000 years.

00:16:10.913 --> 00:16:12.840
Here in Kiribati we
believe that there's

00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:16.980
a recipe, a secret formula
and a secret recipe,

00:16:16.980 --> 00:16:22.380
for human peace and
human happiness.

00:16:22.380 --> 00:16:25.585
To us, we see
happiness as a product

00:16:25.585 --> 00:16:30.562
of being able to be
part of a community,

00:16:30.562 --> 00:16:32.700
of a collection of people.

00:16:37.730 --> 00:16:39.600
We still have the
pristine environment here,

00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:44.030
as naturally beautiful as they
were created thousands of years

00:16:44.030 --> 00:16:46.090
ago.

00:16:46.090 --> 00:16:47.850
And our way of live
here, of course,

00:16:47.850 --> 00:16:52.550
is very much based on ourselves,
in the family, in the village.

00:16:52.550 --> 00:16:54.550
We care for each other.

00:16:54.550 --> 00:16:56.910
We look after each other
in a community say.

00:17:00.540 --> 00:17:02.770
To us, it's a paradise.

00:17:02.770 --> 00:17:07.530
But it is a paradise
that is under threat.

00:17:07.530 --> 00:17:11.020
We are now faced with
the challenges of change.

00:17:11.020 --> 00:17:16.939
As the world changes around
us, we also feel these changes.

00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:24.040
In the last 40 years of my
lifetime, a lot of changes

00:17:24.040 --> 00:17:26.825
have certainly happened
to the weather pattern.

00:17:26.825 --> 00:17:29.255
[SURF SOUNDS]

00:17:38.500 --> 00:17:42.620
Islands can erode from natural
causes, but in recent years,

00:17:42.620 --> 00:17:46.130
Kiribati islanders have
reported strange high tides,

00:17:46.130 --> 00:17:49.380
rogue waves, the loss
of small islands,

00:17:49.380 --> 00:17:53.270
and storms more powerful
than those of the past.

00:17:53.270 --> 00:17:55.310
I've lived here since
the '60s, and there

00:17:55.310 --> 00:17:58.690
used to be a tree here,
right in front of my house.

00:17:58.690 --> 00:18:02.160
In the '70s, the high
water mark used to be here.

00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:06.180
The tree was lost, along with
the beach that used to be here.

00:18:06.180 --> 00:18:09.720
We moved our house inland
there, and the water

00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:12.570
keeps coming up to the house
during the high tides now,

00:18:12.570 --> 00:18:16.310
and so we built this
seawall two years ago.

00:18:16.310 --> 00:18:19.757
If the tide continues
to wash away our land,

00:18:19.757 --> 00:18:21.840
we will have to move to
the other side of the road

00:18:21.840 --> 00:18:22.575
to higher ground.

00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:34.370
We'll continue to try and
carry on life as usual,

00:18:34.370 --> 00:18:36.600
and create things on
the island and encourage

00:18:36.600 --> 00:18:39.062
our people to move forward.

00:18:39.062 --> 00:18:42.160
But we're not too sure.

00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:45.570
There's no point in creating
a lot of infrastructure

00:18:45.570 --> 00:18:48.720
on an island that will disappear
in the next 50 or 100 years.

00:18:53.020 --> 00:18:55.410
On the islands, fresh
water has always

00:18:55.410 --> 00:18:56.546
been a precious commodity.

00:18:59.780 --> 00:19:02.920
But now, even the existing
groundwater is threatened.

00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:07.970
Seawater is always encroaching
onto the freshwater lens

00:19:07.970 --> 00:19:10.132
underneath the coral atoll.

00:19:10.132 --> 00:19:12.135
And this is happening every day.

00:19:15.950 --> 00:19:21.270
Just recently, we had the whole
area inundated with seawater

00:19:21.270 --> 00:19:24.880
when it rose up during one
of the recent spring tides.

00:19:27.550 --> 00:19:31.590
Whenever the water rises
by a few centimeters,

00:19:31.590 --> 00:19:37.550
that is enough to destroy
many acres of crop area.

00:19:37.550 --> 00:19:40.220
Certain plants just depend
very much on the fresh water.

00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:42.130
It must be fresh water.

00:19:42.130 --> 00:19:45.705
A few drops of seawater
on the roots of this plant

00:19:45.705 --> 00:19:48.760
is enough to destroy them.

00:19:48.760 --> 00:19:52.340
Affecting the livelihood
of many hundreds of people

00:19:52.340 --> 00:19:53.890
who depend on that crop.

00:19:58.460 --> 00:20:02.640
If the crops are destroyed,
they will have to be relocated.

00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:07.080
That will disrupt the culture
in that particular village.

00:20:07.080 --> 00:20:10.350
People will scatter.

00:20:10.350 --> 00:20:13.900
We will lose our human
values even before we

00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:16.355
start losing the islands.

00:20:16.355 --> 00:20:21.170
The human values that are
being nurtured in the culture

00:20:21.170 --> 00:20:22.009
will be lost.

00:20:27.760 --> 00:20:31.666
400 miles northwest of
Kiribati lies the Republic

00:20:31.666 --> 00:20:32.665
of the Marshall Islands.

00:20:35.670 --> 00:20:37.930
The Marshall Islands
is a country made up

00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:41.230
of 29 atolls, which,
like those of Kiribati,

00:20:41.230 --> 00:20:45.700
rise barely above sea level.

00:20:45.700 --> 00:20:48.200
[SNARE DRUM]

00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:53.140
Half a century ago,
these tiny islands

00:20:53.140 --> 00:20:55.650
attracted the attention
of the entire world.

00:20:58.884 --> 00:21:01.436
All right now, James,
will you tell them

00:21:01.436 --> 00:21:04.120
that the United
States government now

00:21:04.120 --> 00:21:08.716
wants to turn its
great destructive force

00:21:08.716 --> 00:21:12.935
into something good for mankind.

00:21:12.935 --> 00:21:14.860
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:22.995
Two of the islands were used
to test 67 nuclear weapons.

00:21:30.190 --> 00:21:32.420
Islanders were
forced into exile.

00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:35.420
Later, atomic fallout
and radiation poisoning

00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:38.090
forced many more to abandon
their contaminated homes.

00:21:41.280 --> 00:21:44.985
Memories of that tragic period
still haunt the islands today.

00:21:48.670 --> 00:21:51.070
But now that the
Cold War is over,

00:21:51.070 --> 00:21:53.600
a new generation of
Marshallese is beginning

00:21:53.600 --> 00:21:55.930
to plan for a better future.

00:21:55.930 --> 00:21:59.020
At 26, Ben Graham is
the first director

00:21:59.020 --> 00:22:01.394
of tourism for the
Marshall Islands.

00:22:01.394 --> 00:22:03.935
He hopes to help the Marshalls
build a new peacetime economy.

00:22:06.850 --> 00:22:10.820
What we're trying to do in our
approach is simple education.

00:22:10.820 --> 00:22:11.820
It's to state the facts.

00:22:11.820 --> 00:22:15.040
Yes, several of our atolls
were used for nuclear testing,

00:22:15.040 --> 00:22:18.150
but the Marshall
Islands as a whole

00:22:18.150 --> 00:22:24.040
is by no means a risky
place or a dangerous place

00:22:24.040 --> 00:22:26.430
to go as a visitor.

00:22:26.430 --> 00:22:29.190
In the last 50
years, our country

00:22:29.190 --> 00:22:30.775
has undergone a
great deal of change.

00:22:37.062 --> 00:22:40.038
[GUITARS PLAYING, SINGING]

00:22:43.014 --> 00:22:46.590
Many Marshall Islanders received
reparations for the damage

00:22:46.590 --> 00:22:50.390
wrought by the nuclear
testing and other US aid.

00:22:50.390 --> 00:22:54.490
But the country faces
difficult economic problems.

00:22:54.490 --> 00:22:59.396
More than 75% of the population
is under the age of 25,

00:22:59.396 --> 00:23:02.475
and jobs for this next
generation will be scarce.

00:23:09.888 --> 00:23:14.810
The Marshallese know they
must diversify their economy.

00:23:14.810 --> 00:23:17.060
We're going to go along the
northern side of the atoll

00:23:17.060 --> 00:23:17.870
here.

00:23:17.870 --> 00:23:19.770
Ben Graham has
been exploring some

00:23:19.770 --> 00:23:23.360
of the islands with his friends,
hoping to develop ecotourism

00:23:23.360 --> 00:23:25.690
destinations.

00:23:25.690 --> 00:23:29.150
I myself, I mean, I love
to go to the Aur atolls.

00:23:29.150 --> 00:23:31.970
You can fish, you can surf.

00:23:31.970 --> 00:23:40.490
You can snorkel and scuba dive
and explore ancient villages.

00:23:40.490 --> 00:23:43.230
I think with the coral down
here and the good water

00:23:43.230 --> 00:23:44.830
quality and the nice
beach here, this

00:23:44.830 --> 00:23:48.650
is a very good
island for visitors.

00:23:48.650 --> 00:23:52.380
A lot of our economic
well-being will depend on just

00:23:52.380 --> 00:23:56.640
how successfully
we develop tourism.

00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:01.850
And we realize that this is
not going to happen overnight.

00:24:01.850 --> 00:24:04.680
But Ben's plans may
soon be washed away.

00:24:04.680 --> 00:24:07.548
[SURF SOUNDS]

00:24:11.850 --> 00:24:17.360
The waters came in like this,
and took out all the houses.

00:24:17.360 --> 00:24:20.026
During a recent rain
season, the islands

00:24:20.026 --> 00:24:24.394
have been swept by
strong storms and tides.

00:24:24.394 --> 00:24:29.358
The houses by the
oceanside were washed out.

00:24:29.358 --> 00:24:32.640
And people were moved to
the churches and the school.

00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:37.300
We start to expect them, that
from this month to that month,

00:24:37.300 --> 00:24:39.856
there'll be a flood
somewhere on island.

00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:47.650
There were so many coconut
trees that were planted,

00:24:47.650 --> 00:24:49.542
but they have been downed.

00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:56.540
During the last decade,
the island of Majuro

00:24:56.540 --> 00:25:00.280
has lost dozens of
feet of shoreline.

00:25:00.280 --> 00:25:03.520
Unregulated development
contributes to the damage,

00:25:03.520 --> 00:25:06.410
but locals believe
that the unusual storms

00:25:06.410 --> 00:25:10.770
and sweeping high tides are
causing most of the erosion.

00:25:10.770 --> 00:25:14.150
We as a country need to
start asking ourselves,

00:25:14.150 --> 00:25:15.630
where will we go
and what will we

00:25:15.630 --> 00:25:20.060
do, before we
discuss development

00:25:20.060 --> 00:25:25.300
of any sector-- tourism,
fisheries, or agriculture.

00:25:25.300 --> 00:25:29.260
What will we do when sea level
rises and covers up our atolls?

00:25:36.940 --> 00:25:39.420
In an effort to prevent
further erosion,

00:25:39.420 --> 00:25:43.820
Majuro has become and
island of seawalls.

00:25:43.820 --> 00:25:46.930
Even garbage imported
from the United States

00:25:46.930 --> 00:25:49.330
is used to fend off
the rising tides.

00:25:54.340 --> 00:25:57.430
Since land is so scarce,
even the coral reefs

00:25:57.430 --> 00:26:03.020
are being dug up to construct
walls, walls that constantly

00:26:03.020 --> 00:26:03.980
need rebuilding.

00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:10.820
Sea walls cost money, and
all the money in the world

00:26:10.820 --> 00:26:14.256
won't prevent this
from happening.

00:26:14.256 --> 00:26:16.210
According to
government officials,

00:26:16.210 --> 00:26:18.950
building and maintaining
effective seawalls

00:26:18.950 --> 00:26:22.200
around Majuro will cost
more than the island's

00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:23.750
annual national budget.

00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:33.560
The erosion is not
only removing the land,

00:26:33.560 --> 00:26:36.523
but the very culture itself.

00:26:36.523 --> 00:26:41.630
Even the dead are not safe
from the rising waters.

00:26:41.630 --> 00:26:47.050
In the Marshallese culture,
each village has a cemetery.

00:26:47.050 --> 00:26:50.070
That village will
have a lineage,

00:26:50.070 --> 00:26:54.630
and the people of the
lineage will be buried there.

00:26:54.630 --> 00:26:58.890
It's very important for
families to know where

00:26:58.890 --> 00:27:01.870
their relatives are buried.

00:27:01.870 --> 00:27:04.850
We count the relatives
further back.

00:27:04.850 --> 00:27:07.210
It's not just the cousins
and the great aunts.

00:27:07.210 --> 00:27:10.870
It's really further back.

00:27:10.870 --> 00:27:14.980
In the culture, we can only
come and visit the graveyard

00:27:14.980 --> 00:27:17.820
during a funeral.

00:27:17.820 --> 00:27:20.240
That will be the time
that you can go and renew

00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:25.590
the paint on the grave or put
more flowers on the grave that

00:27:25.590 --> 00:27:26.835
belongs to your relative.

00:27:35.970 --> 00:27:40.400
We've lost some of the
graveyards because of erosion.

00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:43.790
This is part of a grave.

00:27:43.790 --> 00:27:44.630
That one too.

00:27:48.770 --> 00:27:49.635
Here's another one.

00:27:49.635 --> 00:27:51.130
A whole one over there.

00:27:51.130 --> 00:27:52.830
That probably
belonged to a child.

00:27:56.510 --> 00:27:59.380
When a grave is
eroded, the relatives

00:27:59.380 --> 00:28:05.070
would go and pick up all
the bones and move them.

00:28:07.690 --> 00:28:09.750
At this moment, that's
what they are doing.

00:28:09.750 --> 00:28:12.732
[WOODWIND INSTRUMENT PLAYING]

00:28:21.678 --> 00:28:24.660
[WATER LAPPING]

00:28:32.650 --> 00:28:35.740
The Marshallese, like
their Pacific neighbors,

00:28:35.740 --> 00:28:38.160
worry that in the not
too distant future

00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:41.020
they may have to
leave their homes.

00:28:41.020 --> 00:28:45.370
Those fears come from a sense
of history repeating itself.

00:28:45.370 --> 00:28:47.820
The United States, the
country that forced them

00:28:47.820 --> 00:28:52.470
into exile half a century ago,
now poses the biggest threat

00:28:52.470 --> 00:28:55.650
to their hopes for
a better future.

00:28:55.650 --> 00:28:57.770
It's a very unique
situation because we

00:28:57.770 --> 00:29:03.090
have a political and economic
partnership with the biggest

00:29:03.090 --> 00:29:05.410
country that contributes to
global warming, the United

00:29:05.410 --> 00:29:07.690
States.

00:29:07.690 --> 00:29:11.590
We think that countries and
people in countries which

00:29:11.590 --> 00:29:14.290
contribute largely
to global warming

00:29:14.290 --> 00:29:18.280
have an obligation to take steps
to try to prevent it and help

00:29:18.280 --> 00:29:19.740
people like us.

00:29:23.550 --> 00:29:26.600
Steps to bring down the
climate's rising temperature

00:29:26.600 --> 00:29:31.090
involve reducing greenhouse
gas emissions worldwide.

00:29:31.090 --> 00:29:35.100
It was at the Earth Summit
in Rio de Janeiro in 1992

00:29:35.100 --> 00:29:38.050
that the United Nations
called world leaders together

00:29:38.050 --> 00:29:42.070
to address the global
warming threat.

00:29:42.070 --> 00:29:45.960
150 nations signed the
first international treaty

00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:48.560
on climate change.

00:29:48.560 --> 00:29:51.220
The treaty set the year
2000 as the deadline

00:29:51.220 --> 00:29:53.805
for industrial countries
to voluntarily reduce

00:29:53.805 --> 00:29:55.025
their greenhouse gases.

00:29:57.580 --> 00:30:01.340
But the non-binding agreement
was ignored by most countries,

00:30:01.340 --> 00:30:05.920
including the United States, and
emissions continued to climb.

00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:07.850
We are by far the
largest polluters

00:30:07.850 --> 00:30:09.950
in terms of greenhouse gases.

00:30:09.950 --> 00:30:12.680
We're also the largest economy.

00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:17.300
Our particular circumstance
was that since 1992, 1993,

00:30:17.300 --> 00:30:21.636
this economy has been blessed
by rigorous economic growth.

00:30:21.636 --> 00:30:25.510
With that growth, greenhouse
gases are increasing.

00:30:25.510 --> 00:30:29.004
In addition, energy prices
hit all-time historic lows.

00:30:29.004 --> 00:30:30.420
And that, of course,
was something

00:30:30.420 --> 00:30:33.420
that proved disincentive
to reducing our own energy

00:30:33.420 --> 00:30:35.960
consumption.

00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:38.207
As a result, we saw
by the year 2000,

00:30:38.207 --> 00:30:42.020
we'd be well above
the 1990 level.

00:30:42.020 --> 00:30:45.330
Warned by industrial leaders
that changes in oil and coal

00:30:45.330 --> 00:30:48.880
consumption might force their
economies into recession,

00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:53.070
policymakers refused
to carry out cutbacks.

00:30:53.070 --> 00:30:55.820
They also pointed to gaps
in the scientific evidence,

00:30:55.820 --> 00:31:00.350
saying that the grim forecast
was not 100?rtain.

00:31:00.350 --> 00:31:05.050
It'll take us another 20,
25 years to be 99?rtain.

00:31:05.050 --> 00:31:06.980
And there's a high
price for that.

00:31:06.980 --> 00:31:08.840
The price that we pay
is if we wait around

00:31:08.840 --> 00:31:11.560
that long, it becomes that
much more expensive to fix

00:31:11.560 --> 00:31:14.470
the problem, and it becomes
that much more damage that we

00:31:14.470 --> 00:31:18.392
could have prevented
that we won't prevent.

00:31:18.392 --> 00:31:21.060
For Pacific Islanders,
the unwillingness

00:31:21.060 --> 00:31:23.860
of industrial nations to cut
their greenhouse emissions

00:31:23.860 --> 00:31:26.770
had come as a shock.

00:31:26.770 --> 00:31:29.020
They were determined to
convince world leaders

00:31:29.020 --> 00:31:32.304
that global warming
must not be ignored.

00:31:32.304 --> 00:31:33.970
So this is something
that we've actually

00:31:33.970 --> 00:31:36.520
got to confront as a region.

00:31:36.520 --> 00:31:39.970
Scientists from the islands,
including Penehuro Lefale,

00:31:39.970 --> 00:31:42.080
met to develop a
strategy for the coming

00:31:42.080 --> 00:31:44.330
international meeting.

00:31:44.330 --> 00:31:47.870
What can we say about the
longer term change, which

00:31:47.870 --> 00:31:52.410
are things which actually deal
with, at one extreme, survival?

00:31:52.410 --> 00:31:54.500
So we need to talk
to the leaders

00:31:54.500 --> 00:31:57.860
about what are the impacts
of the latest El Nino,

00:31:57.860 --> 00:32:00.660
for example, the drought
that is taking place.

00:32:00.660 --> 00:32:02.680
The idea is to, how do
we work in partnership?

00:32:02.680 --> 00:32:04.510
How do we respect one another?

00:32:04.510 --> 00:32:06.560
There must be compensation.

00:32:06.560 --> 00:32:09.214
There must be some
flow of resources

00:32:09.214 --> 00:32:10.380
to address that financially.

00:32:17.340 --> 00:32:19.750
As the scientific
evidence of global warming

00:32:19.750 --> 00:32:21.880
became more compelling,
world leaders

00:32:21.880 --> 00:32:26.380
met again to consider the issue,
this time in Kyoto, Japan.

00:32:26.380 --> 00:32:28.510
At the conference,
leading scientists

00:32:28.510 --> 00:32:32.080
presented conclusive findings
confirming earlier theories

00:32:32.080 --> 00:32:34.150
of global warming.

00:32:34.150 --> 00:32:36.900
Are human activities
changing the earth's

00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:39.470
atmospheric composition
and climate?

00:32:39.470 --> 00:32:41.600
The answer is clearly yes.

00:32:41.600 --> 00:32:43.700
And even more relevant
for your discussions

00:32:43.700 --> 00:32:47.780
here in Kyoto, without policies
to limit greenhouse gas

00:32:47.780 --> 00:32:52.140
emissions, the earth's climate
is projected to warm by 1 to 3

00:32:52.140 --> 00:32:56.230
and 1/2 degrees centigrade
by the year 2100.

00:32:56.230 --> 00:32:58.650
Island nations
urged world leaders

00:32:58.650 --> 00:33:01.310
to heed the warning signs.

00:33:01.310 --> 00:33:05.380
Throughout the world,
the story is the same.

00:33:05.380 --> 00:33:08.030
Island countries are
on the front lines

00:33:08.030 --> 00:33:11.630
of the global
climate catastrophe.

00:33:11.630 --> 00:33:14.460
For days, world leaders
debated how much

00:33:14.460 --> 00:33:18.500
to cut back, how quickly,
and at what cost.

00:33:18.500 --> 00:33:21.400
The world is watching.

00:33:21.400 --> 00:33:24.960
Scientists and environmentalists
appealed to the world community

00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:27.230
to develop a treaty
to dramatically reduce

00:33:27.230 --> 00:33:29.530
greenhouse gas emissions.

00:33:29.530 --> 00:33:33.040
They called for a 60% to
80?crease, the only way,

00:33:33.040 --> 00:33:37.200
they warned, to quickly
stabilize the climate.

00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:40.730
But such a significant cutback
would require a drastic drop

00:33:40.730 --> 00:33:42.700
in fossil fuel consumption.

00:33:42.700 --> 00:33:45.990
It was a proposal world
leaders refused to consider.

00:33:45.990 --> 00:33:49.370
The imperative here is to do
what we promise rather than

00:33:49.370 --> 00:33:52.340
to promise what we cannot do.

00:33:52.340 --> 00:33:57.050
Even a compromise proposal
of 20% was rejected.

00:33:57.050 --> 00:34:00.710
To take on a target of
reductions they had anticipated

00:34:00.710 --> 00:34:03.800
would basically have caused
us such a severe impact

00:34:03.800 --> 00:34:05.710
our economy it
would have plunged

00:34:05.710 --> 00:34:07.400
the world into recession.

00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:10.131
That's just not a realistic
target for us to undertake.

00:34:10.131 --> 00:34:11.529
You cannot do that.

00:34:14.330 --> 00:34:16.679
[INAUDIBLE], the
delegate of Samoa,

00:34:16.679 --> 00:34:18.820
wishes to take the floor.

00:34:18.820 --> 00:34:24.830
The somewhat mediocre proposals
for strengthening commitments

00:34:24.830 --> 00:34:29.190
which are now being
discussed leads

00:34:29.190 --> 00:34:35.010
us to feel that Annex 1
Parties are probably not taking

00:34:35.010 --> 00:34:39.210
the science seriously enough.

00:34:39.210 --> 00:34:41.400
On the last day of
the Kyoto meeting,

00:34:41.400 --> 00:34:44.880
delegates stunned the islanders
by proposing global emissions

00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:51.380
reductions of only
6?low 1990 levels.

00:34:51.380 --> 00:34:56.389
We'll recommend the adoption of
this protocol to the conference

00:34:56.389 --> 00:34:57.480
by unanimity.

00:35:01.780 --> 00:35:05.810
The scientist say in
order to just stabilize

00:35:05.810 --> 00:35:08.140
the emissions of greenhouse
gas concentrations

00:35:08.140 --> 00:35:14.160
in the atmosphere, you need at
least 60% to 80% global cuts

00:35:14.160 --> 00:35:16.410
in CO2 emissions.

00:35:16.410 --> 00:35:23.390
What was agreed upon in Kyoto
is only a global reduction

00:35:23.390 --> 00:35:30.630
of 6% by the year 2010.

00:35:30.630 --> 00:35:34.160
From an island perspective,
that is really, really difficult

00:35:34.160 --> 00:35:35.680
to accept.

00:35:35.680 --> 00:35:41.560
Because it's the security and
the solvency off island nations

00:35:41.560 --> 00:35:42.580
that are at stake.

00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:48.560
Despite their disappointment
in such a small reduction,

00:35:48.560 --> 00:35:51.170
many treaty supporters were
relieved that an agreement

00:35:51.170 --> 00:35:53.380
was reached at all.

00:35:53.380 --> 00:35:55.280
Kyoto got lots of
people unhappy.

00:35:55.280 --> 00:35:58.100
But my own view is it was
an important first step.

00:35:58.100 --> 00:36:00.780
You can't solve a problem
at the scale of the planet,

00:36:00.780 --> 00:36:02.790
like the world's
atmosphere and its climate,

00:36:02.790 --> 00:36:05.982
by just having individuals,
corporations, or nation-states

00:36:05.982 --> 00:36:06.940
being the only players.

00:36:06.940 --> 00:36:08.540
It requires an
international agreement

00:36:08.540 --> 00:36:11.880
because everybody's
stuff contributes.

00:36:11.880 --> 00:36:14.140
The second principle
that it recognized

00:36:14.140 --> 00:36:17.340
is that you have to
charge the people who

00:36:17.340 --> 00:36:19.870
do the most damage the most.

00:36:19.870 --> 00:36:24.680
The overwhelming balance of
evidence and scientific opinion

00:36:24.680 --> 00:36:29.170
is that it is no longer
a theory but now a fact

00:36:29.170 --> 00:36:31.910
that global warming is for real.

00:36:31.910 --> 00:36:34.710
But Clinton administration
support of the treaty

00:36:34.710 --> 00:36:37.780
failed to convince
the US senate.

00:36:37.780 --> 00:36:40.530
Here's the plan that our
administration is now

00:36:40.530 --> 00:36:43.840
purporting, that
they would cause

00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:46.330
us to enter into an agreement--

00:36:46.330 --> 00:36:48.970
Congressional opponents
claimed the cost of emissions

00:36:48.970 --> 00:36:52.050
reductions fell too heavily
on the United States

00:36:52.050 --> 00:36:55.860
and that emerging industrial
countries needed to do more.

00:36:55.860 --> 00:37:02.460
When we arrive at the year 2010,
to achieve our 1990 levels,

00:37:02.460 --> 00:37:05.040
here's what the United States
will be doing in relation

00:37:05.040 --> 00:37:06.450
to the rest of the world.

00:37:06.450 --> 00:37:09.000
And here's what the rest
of the world will be doing.

00:37:09.000 --> 00:37:12.290
And yet China and India
and other Asian nations

00:37:12.290 --> 00:37:16.700
and developing countries,
by this administration's

00:37:16.700 --> 00:37:20.392
negotiations, would be exempt.

00:37:20.392 --> 00:37:22.850
The developing countries do
point to us, the United States,

00:37:22.850 --> 00:37:23.720
first and foremost.

00:37:23.720 --> 00:37:25.650
Other developed countries
too, say, you're

00:37:25.650 --> 00:37:26.800
the ones that
created this problem.

00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:28.140
You've got to take
the first steps.

00:37:28.140 --> 00:37:29.640
And that's what
Kyoto was all about,

00:37:29.640 --> 00:37:32.840
is our taking the first steps.

00:37:32.840 --> 00:37:35.040
European governments
have already

00:37:35.040 --> 00:37:38.430
ratified the climate treaty
and begun implementing programs

00:37:38.430 --> 00:37:40.860
to reduce their emissions.

00:37:40.860 --> 00:37:43.461
Meanwhile, some advocates
for American industry

00:37:43.461 --> 00:37:46.240
have launched multimillion
dollar campaigns

00:37:46.240 --> 00:37:51.340
to challenge the scientific
basis for global warming.

00:37:51.340 --> 00:37:53.460
The year 2085.

00:37:53.460 --> 00:37:55.400
The atmospheric level
of carbon dioxide

00:37:55.400 --> 00:37:59.230
has doubled to 540
parts per million.

00:37:59.230 --> 00:38:00.730
What kind of world
have we created?

00:38:03.350 --> 00:38:04.180
A better world.

00:38:04.180 --> 00:38:05.760
A more productive world.

00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:08.690
Plants are the basis for
all productivity on earth.

00:38:08.690 --> 00:38:12.020
They're the only organisms that
can utilize the sun's energy

00:38:12.020 --> 00:38:14.687
and create matter, food.

00:38:14.687 --> 00:38:17.020
And they're going to do that
much more effectively, much

00:38:17.020 --> 00:38:19.810
more efficiently.

00:38:19.810 --> 00:38:23.610
But mainstream
scientists disagree.

00:38:23.610 --> 00:38:26.030
In fact, rising temperatures
could eventually

00:38:26.030 --> 00:38:29.020
bring about crop failures,
decreased yields,

00:38:29.020 --> 00:38:31.900
and food shortages.

00:38:31.900 --> 00:38:33.620
I pay little attention
to people who

00:38:33.620 --> 00:38:37.160
go around expressing
these marginal views.

00:38:37.160 --> 00:38:39.050
And I think they're
very dangerous in a way,

00:38:39.050 --> 00:38:44.180
because they give people
an excuse for not planning

00:38:44.180 --> 00:38:47.930
effectively for the future.

00:38:47.930 --> 00:38:52.440
Without a treaty, global
emissions continue to rise.

00:38:52.440 --> 00:38:54.140
Basically, what
we've done already

00:38:54.140 --> 00:38:58.440
in terms of emitting
greenhouse gases into the lower

00:38:58.440 --> 00:39:01.310
part of the atmosphere
has set the stage

00:39:01.310 --> 00:39:04.006
for the next 50 or 80 years.

00:39:04.006 --> 00:39:07.080
But if we cut emissions
now, or if we cut emissions

00:39:07.080 --> 00:39:10.400
over the next 10
years, then, hopefully,

00:39:10.400 --> 00:39:12.770
towards the end of
the next century then

00:39:12.770 --> 00:39:17.087
levels of greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere will go down.

00:39:17.087 --> 00:39:18.920
It's not going to have
much effect on people

00:39:18.920 --> 00:39:20.440
in the next 20 or 30 years.

00:39:20.440 --> 00:39:22.870
We're talking about
our grandchildren

00:39:22.870 --> 00:39:23.695
and their children.

00:39:23.695 --> 00:39:26.060
We're talking about
creating a world which

00:39:26.060 --> 00:39:28.830
is a good place for them to live
in so that they don't look back

00:39:28.830 --> 00:39:31.170
to our generation and think
that was the generation that

00:39:31.170 --> 00:39:33.800
used up all the resources
and left us with a wasteland.

00:39:46.634 --> 00:39:48.050
The reason I'm
here is because I'm

00:39:48.050 --> 00:39:50.820
very concerned about what's
happening back home in terms

00:39:50.820 --> 00:39:52.320
of the impacts of
climate change.

00:39:55.680 --> 00:39:59.460
Everyone would say, look,
you're just one little person.

00:39:59.460 --> 00:40:00.971
You can't make a difference.

00:40:00.971 --> 00:40:02.470
How are you being
here going to make

00:40:02.470 --> 00:40:04.470
a difference to the outcome
of the negotiations?

00:40:07.252 --> 00:40:09.710
The scientists are telling us,
really, there's nothing much

00:40:09.710 --> 00:40:12.685
you can do because global
warming is going to happen,

00:40:12.685 --> 00:40:13.545
and it's happening.

00:40:16.570 --> 00:40:19.302
I couldn't sit back at
home and not do anything.

00:40:25.940 --> 00:40:27.110
Bonn, Germany.

00:40:27.110 --> 00:40:29.410
October, 1999.

00:40:29.410 --> 00:40:32.190
The scene of yet another
world meeting on the climate

00:40:32.190 --> 00:40:34.090
change treaty.

00:40:34.090 --> 00:40:38.180
Angie Heffernan has come to Bonn
from her home in Fiji, hoping

00:40:38.180 --> 00:40:41.020
to convince leaders of
industrialized nations

00:40:41.020 --> 00:40:43.500
to push the climate
treaty process forward

00:40:43.500 --> 00:40:45.630
to ratification.

00:40:45.630 --> 00:40:49.060
Angie is an environmentalist
and policy analyst

00:40:49.060 --> 00:40:51.120
working with the
Alliance of Small Island

00:40:51.120 --> 00:40:53.990
States, an organization
which negotiates

00:40:53.990 --> 00:40:56.810
on behalf of island nations
from all around the world.

00:41:00.050 --> 00:41:03.900
When I get on that
plane and leave home,

00:41:03.900 --> 00:41:06.531
I feel like I'm somebody else,
and I have to be somebody else.

00:41:10.140 --> 00:41:14.125
The first meetings I went, it
was like you didn't fit in.

00:41:14.125 --> 00:41:17.760
Here you are a woman,
a Pacific islander

00:41:17.760 --> 00:41:19.270
from this small little country.

00:41:19.270 --> 00:41:21.110
You're the victim.

00:41:21.110 --> 00:41:24.230
You feel like everything's
happening too fast.

00:41:24.230 --> 00:41:27.625
[CROWD SOUNDS]

00:41:38.585 --> 00:41:41.710
It can be very scary because
you see all these guys.

00:41:41.710 --> 00:41:43.390
Most of the people
at this meeting

00:41:43.390 --> 00:41:46.510
are men in their suits
and their briefcase,

00:41:46.510 --> 00:41:48.840
looking very serious,
looking like they're

00:41:48.840 --> 00:41:51.930
high-powered negotiators.

00:41:51.930 --> 00:41:54.530
We've got the diplomats,
you know, the ones

00:41:54.530 --> 00:41:57.100
that sweet-talk everyone.

00:41:57.100 --> 00:42:00.860
You've got the technical people,
technical experts that come.

00:42:00.860 --> 00:42:03.606
You've got the NGOs here
pushing their agenda.

00:42:03.606 --> 00:42:06.330
You've got the
government delegations.

00:42:06.330 --> 00:42:10.940
You've got the media as well
here to get the juicy stories.

00:42:10.940 --> 00:42:14.935
You've got the oil, the fossil
fuel industry people here.

00:42:14.935 --> 00:42:18.760
You've got everyone out here
with a different agenda,

00:42:18.760 --> 00:42:21.130
looking out for
their own interests.

00:42:21.130 --> 00:42:23.760
Basically you can divide them
into two different groupings.

00:42:23.760 --> 00:42:27.000
One, the one that wants
progress, the other one that

00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:28.185
wants to hinder progress.

00:42:30.960 --> 00:42:33.880
I want to be that voice,
that voice of conscience,

00:42:33.880 --> 00:42:36.910
because at the end of the day,
like from developed countries,

00:42:36.910 --> 00:42:39.206
they're contributing to
our problem in the Pacific.

00:42:39.206 --> 00:42:40.330
They're making us go under.

00:42:42.890 --> 00:42:46.180
My immediate hope is
that the US actually

00:42:46.180 --> 00:42:48.220
signs the Kyoto
Protocol so we can

00:42:48.220 --> 00:42:51.645
have some progress in
developed countries cutting

00:42:51.645 --> 00:42:53.990
their emissions, because
the Pacific doesn't

00:42:53.990 --> 00:42:57.280
have much time left.

00:42:57.280 --> 00:43:00.880
It was not a hope shared
by all who came to Bonn.

00:43:00.880 --> 00:43:03.450
Lobbyists for the Global
Climate Coalition,

00:43:03.450 --> 00:43:06.700
an association opposed to an
international climate treaty,

00:43:06.700 --> 00:43:08.710
argued that the
proposed agreement

00:43:08.710 --> 00:43:11.215
would devastate the US economy.

00:43:11.215 --> 00:43:14.190
The economic impact is
going to be very severe.

00:43:14.190 --> 00:43:15.190
And what does that mean?

00:43:15.190 --> 00:43:16.300
That means job loss.

00:43:16.300 --> 00:43:18.680
That means several
million jobs lost.

00:43:18.680 --> 00:43:21.870
It also means higher cost
for basic goods and services,

00:43:21.870 --> 00:43:26.950
like home heating expenses,
electric utility expenses,

00:43:26.950 --> 00:43:29.420
car gasoline prices, bus fares.

00:43:29.420 --> 00:43:32.190
The ripple effect goes all
the way through the economy

00:43:32.190 --> 00:43:34.590
and touches every
household in America.

00:43:34.590 --> 00:43:38.380
Treaty proponents say such
fears are greatly exaggerated.

00:43:38.380 --> 00:43:39.920
Because when somebody
tells you it's

00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:43.970
going to cost a whole lot
of money to get off coal,

00:43:43.970 --> 00:43:46.504
and they point to all the
unemployed coal miners,

00:43:46.504 --> 00:43:48.170
they're not pointing
out how many people

00:43:48.170 --> 00:43:50.960
are going to make money in the
high technology, natural gas,

00:43:50.960 --> 00:43:53.209
combined cycle power plants,
how many people are going

00:43:53.209 --> 00:43:55.324
to make money in
the wind machines

00:43:55.324 --> 00:43:57.240
and in the solar machines,
how many people are

00:43:57.240 --> 00:43:59.302
going to make money in
the new fuel cell cars.

00:43:59.302 --> 00:44:01.010
So what you're really
doing is you're not

00:44:01.010 --> 00:44:02.910
costing the economy very much.

00:44:02.910 --> 00:44:06.800
You're redistributing
the winners and losers.

00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:09.390
Like Kyoto, the Bonn
conference did not

00:44:09.390 --> 00:44:11.810
produce a concrete
plan for action

00:44:11.810 --> 00:44:14.130
that all nations would accept.

00:44:14.130 --> 00:44:16.480
Mr. Chairman, we note
that the workshop

00:44:16.480 --> 00:44:19.070
failed to reach any
meaningful consensus

00:44:19.070 --> 00:44:22.570
on the issue of impacts
of response measures.

00:44:22.570 --> 00:44:26.020
Mr. Chairman, we
were very disturbed

00:44:26.020 --> 00:44:28.890
that the final session
of the workshop

00:44:28.890 --> 00:44:32.610
became a negotiation
where issues

00:44:32.610 --> 00:44:36.320
that seemed to have been
agreed to by all participants

00:44:36.320 --> 00:44:39.450
during the course
of the workshop

00:44:39.450 --> 00:44:42.260
were now being negotiated down.

00:44:42.260 --> 00:44:44.570
We are here at the
conference in Bonn

00:44:44.570 --> 00:44:47.100
with a number of
procedural delays,

00:44:47.100 --> 00:44:49.930
a number of deliberate
delays from some parties.

00:44:49.930 --> 00:44:53.500
A lot of deliberate
interference in the process

00:44:53.500 --> 00:44:58.020
by certain interested
industries and their lobbyists.

00:44:58.020 --> 00:44:59.660
And we are floundering
with trying

00:44:59.660 --> 00:45:03.520
to get a good outcome
for the island countries.

00:45:03.520 --> 00:45:05.970
Some of the largest
stakeholders in the debate

00:45:05.970 --> 00:45:08.510
over global warming
were barely visible

00:45:08.510 --> 00:45:10.050
at the treaty conference.

00:45:10.050 --> 00:45:14.380
The oil and coal industries,
these powerful multinationals,

00:45:14.380 --> 00:45:17.730
are cautious about any measures
to restructure the world's fuel

00:45:17.730 --> 00:45:18.830
supply.

00:45:18.830 --> 00:45:21.600
They have resisted
UN efforts to develop

00:45:21.600 --> 00:45:24.100
international
regulations, and argued

00:45:24.100 --> 00:45:26.190
instead for allowing
the market to set

00:45:26.190 --> 00:45:29.490
its own environmental standards.

00:45:29.490 --> 00:45:32.540
The Kyoto Protocol assumes
that new technologies,

00:45:32.540 --> 00:45:34.400
better and improved
technologies,

00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:36.936
will be available for use.

00:45:36.936 --> 00:45:39.310
A lot of creative minds in
American business and industry

00:45:39.310 --> 00:45:41.790
are at work right now
finding those technologies

00:45:41.790 --> 00:45:44.550
and working on them, and trying
to bring them to the market

00:45:44.550 --> 00:45:47.360
so that we can have
better and improved

00:45:47.360 --> 00:45:49.690
environmental performance
and business efficiencies.

00:45:49.690 --> 00:45:52.220
But this has got to occur
through the marketplace

00:45:52.220 --> 00:45:57.470
and over a period of time, and
let the market bring them out.

00:45:57.470 --> 00:46:00.150
So it becomes very
politically contentious.

00:46:00.150 --> 00:46:02.130
I understand their problem.

00:46:02.130 --> 00:46:05.720
We need to deal in a fair
way with their transition.

00:46:05.720 --> 00:46:08.320
But just because it's
difficult for them doesn't mean

00:46:08.320 --> 00:46:10.360
we hold back the
progress in the world

00:46:10.360 --> 00:46:14.390
and we destroy the
environment in the process.

00:46:14.390 --> 00:46:16.240
While the politicians
and scientists

00:46:16.240 --> 00:46:19.490
continue to argue over
policies to reduce emissions,

00:46:19.490 --> 00:46:22.591
Angie fears for her future.

00:46:26.410 --> 00:46:31.680
Well, you know, the scenarios
don't look very good for us

00:46:31.680 --> 00:46:34.490
in terms of impacts in
our countries at home.

00:46:34.490 --> 00:46:37.930
And at least I
can say, you know,

00:46:37.930 --> 00:46:41.660
at least I can say I tried.

00:46:41.660 --> 00:46:42.410
We tried.

00:46:42.410 --> 00:46:44.300
Because our children
are going to look back

00:46:44.300 --> 00:46:47.590
in time and they're going to
judge us by what we've done.

00:46:47.590 --> 00:46:49.740
And they're going to
blame our generation

00:46:49.740 --> 00:46:52.720
for not taking concrete action.

00:46:52.720 --> 00:46:57.260
But I'm very upset
and I'm very depressed

00:46:57.260 --> 00:46:58.910
and I'm very
frustrated, and I think

00:46:58.910 --> 00:47:01.195
like maybe it's not
worth my while coming

00:47:01.195 --> 00:47:02.070
to these conferences.

00:47:07.974 --> 00:47:11.418
[TRAFFIC SOUNDS]

00:47:28.160 --> 00:47:33.780
You sometimes feel frustrated
with the slow progress

00:47:33.780 --> 00:47:35.040
in negotiations.

00:47:35.040 --> 00:47:36.945
It's like trying
to move a dinosaur.

00:47:42.200 --> 00:47:45.087
But that's the way it is,
the way the world works.

00:47:45.087 --> 00:47:46.494
And we have to be patient.

00:47:49.780 --> 00:47:51.720
Penehuro Lafale's
efforts to raise

00:47:51.720 --> 00:47:54.050
public awareness
of global warming

00:47:54.050 --> 00:47:57.910
brought him to New York City.

00:47:57.910 --> 00:48:00.680
He believes the weather changes
occurring in his Pacific

00:48:00.680 --> 00:48:04.720
homeland may soon take
place throughout the world.

00:48:04.720 --> 00:48:08.590
On the island of Manhattan, a
city with nearly as many people

00:48:08.590 --> 00:48:13.030
as the South Pacific, he finds
a sympathetic ear, Dr. Vivien

00:48:13.030 --> 00:48:15.660
Gornitz.

00:48:15.660 --> 00:48:17.930
This is the World
Financial Center.

00:48:17.930 --> 00:48:20.090
You can see there
are two towers.

00:48:20.090 --> 00:48:22.360
And then behind it
are the twin towers

00:48:22.360 --> 00:48:25.070
of the World Trade Center.

00:48:25.070 --> 00:48:28.390
Dr. Gornitz is a scientist at
the Center for Climate Systems

00:48:28.390 --> 00:48:31.300
Research at Columbia University.

00:48:31.300 --> 00:48:33.470
She analyzes future
coastal hazards

00:48:33.470 --> 00:48:37.510
of sea level rise for the
New York metropolitan area.

00:48:37.510 --> 00:48:42.220
Penehuro joined her for an
unusual tour of New York.

00:48:42.220 --> 00:48:46.260
In New York, we live on
an island in Manhattan,

00:48:46.260 --> 00:48:47.880
and we're surrounded by the sea.

00:48:47.880 --> 00:48:51.620
But most of the people in the
city are not aware of that.

00:48:51.620 --> 00:48:57.300
For us in the Pacific, the sea
and the land is part of us.

00:48:57.300 --> 00:48:59.490
One of the
disadvantages, I think,

00:48:59.490 --> 00:49:01.740
of being as developed
as we are here

00:49:01.740 --> 00:49:05.570
is that we've lost a lot of
our connection to the land.

00:49:05.570 --> 00:49:08.550
We have a scientist see these
things that are changing,

00:49:08.550 --> 00:49:12.320
and it's very hard to convince
the rest of the public.

00:49:12.320 --> 00:49:15.620
Like the Pacific Islands,
Manhattan rises barely

00:49:15.620 --> 00:49:17.640
above the ocean waters.

00:49:17.640 --> 00:49:19.530
Portions of it
could be inundated

00:49:19.530 --> 00:49:23.590
by a rise in sea level, one of
the effects of global warming.

00:49:23.590 --> 00:49:25.970
Manhattan had a glimpse
of such a scenario

00:49:25.970 --> 00:49:30.020
in 1992, when a powerful
storm hit the New York area.

00:49:33.320 --> 00:49:36.410
We're going to see one of the
train stations, the PATH train

00:49:36.410 --> 00:49:41.260
stations, that was flooded
during the 1992 December

00:49:41.260 --> 00:49:42.930
nor'easter.

00:49:42.930 --> 00:49:45.450
And so this whole area
was flooded underwater

00:49:45.450 --> 00:49:47.740
during that storm.

00:49:47.740 --> 00:49:50.720
The water just washed over
and came down the stairs.

00:50:00.640 --> 00:50:03.970
So many of the tunnel
entrances and subway entrances

00:50:03.970 --> 00:50:08.180
are very close to
the water level.

00:50:08.180 --> 00:50:12.550
The entire transportation
system of the New York

00:50:12.550 --> 00:50:16.780
metropolitan area was
totally disrupted.

00:50:16.780 --> 00:50:18.550
All the airports were closed.

00:50:18.550 --> 00:50:22.005
The entire subway
system was shut down.

00:50:22.005 --> 00:50:26.660
The ferries weren't running,
and even the Metroliner service

00:50:26.660 --> 00:50:27.574
was disrupted.

00:50:30.320 --> 00:50:33.940
With the rise in sea level, it's
not that the number of storms

00:50:33.940 --> 00:50:37.410
would necessarily increase, but
their impacts would be greater.

00:50:37.410 --> 00:50:41.780
The amount of flooding
of even lesser storms

00:50:41.780 --> 00:50:44.160
would start to match
what is happening here.

00:50:53.375 --> 00:50:55.860
Notice all these
new construction,

00:50:55.860 --> 00:51:00.340
the skyscrapers and everything,
very close to the water's edge.

00:51:00.340 --> 00:51:03.910
What is considered a
boom and a revitalization

00:51:03.910 --> 00:51:07.680
of the waterfront puts
all of this area at risk

00:51:07.680 --> 00:51:11.420
to any future changes
in the sea level.

00:51:11.420 --> 00:51:14.140
Now of course in the
future, this area,

00:51:14.140 --> 00:51:16.759
people are not going to
abandon this area so quickly,

00:51:16.759 --> 00:51:18.550
so what they'll probably
do is they'll have

00:51:18.550 --> 00:51:20.405
to raise the seawalls higher.

00:51:23.070 --> 00:51:27.010
They will spend the money
to protect lower Manhattan,

00:51:27.010 --> 00:51:29.885
but this is not a feasible
solution for every coastline

00:51:29.885 --> 00:51:32.160
in the world.

00:51:32.160 --> 00:51:35.930
It's very interesting to see
that even New York itself is

00:51:35.930 --> 00:51:38.510
an island, and
people need to look

00:51:38.510 --> 00:51:41.820
at it from that perspective.

00:51:41.820 --> 00:51:45.610
The message is really clear that
we cannot afford to hold back

00:51:45.610 --> 00:51:48.010
and pretend that
there is no problem.

00:51:48.010 --> 00:51:51.510
We need to work together
as a global community

00:51:51.510 --> 00:51:53.890
to resolve the problems.

00:51:53.890 --> 00:51:57.610
The United States could
be impacted quite severely

00:51:57.610 --> 00:51:59.030
from global warming.

00:51:59.030 --> 00:52:03.200
For example, the state of
Florida, the Keys, the coral

00:52:03.200 --> 00:52:04.030
reefs.

00:52:04.030 --> 00:52:05.700
Places where
millions of Americans

00:52:05.700 --> 00:52:08.860
go each year for vacation
could be inundated.

00:52:08.860 --> 00:52:12.340
Places on the east coast,
the Chesapeake Bay,

00:52:12.340 --> 00:52:14.590
could be inundated if
we continue to pollute

00:52:14.590 --> 00:52:17.260
the way that we're polluting.

00:52:17.260 --> 00:52:20.740
I don't think that reducing
greenhouse gases in the United

00:52:20.740 --> 00:52:22.550
States has to be painful.

00:52:22.550 --> 00:52:24.800
But there have to be
changes that are made.

00:52:24.800 --> 00:52:27.640
And those changes need to
be done in the United States

00:52:27.640 --> 00:52:29.990
by making us more efficient.

00:52:29.990 --> 00:52:31.820
You could get a large
number of reductions

00:52:31.820 --> 00:52:33.320
from sport utility vehicles.

00:52:33.320 --> 00:52:37.240
Put forth a plan of how to
reduce carbon dioxide emissions

00:52:37.240 --> 00:52:40.300
from our power plants.

00:52:40.300 --> 00:52:44.360
The United States has a special
role to play in this debate,

00:52:44.360 --> 00:52:49.200
and it can be the leader on
advocating and making changes

00:52:49.200 --> 00:52:50.800
to fight global warming.

00:52:50.800 --> 00:52:53.740
The island states
have made everybody

00:52:53.740 --> 00:52:57.530
reexamine their fundamental
premises about development.

00:52:57.530 --> 00:53:00.470
Why not bypass the
internal combustion engine

00:53:00.470 --> 00:53:03.300
right over to fuel cells,
to other high technology,

00:53:03.300 --> 00:53:05.200
low polluting devices?

00:53:05.200 --> 00:53:08.380
Bypass coal burning to
combined cycle natural gas,

00:53:08.380 --> 00:53:11.320
efficient and clean, or to
solar and wind and other kinds

00:53:11.320 --> 00:53:12.830
of power.

00:53:12.830 --> 00:53:14.860
And all of this is
possible if there

00:53:14.860 --> 00:53:16.800
were an international
agreement with a bargain

00:53:16.800 --> 00:53:20.302
to transfer technology and
the resources to do that.

00:53:38.506 --> 00:53:40.610
The people of the
Pacific Islands

00:53:40.610 --> 00:53:42.950
believe they have already
glimpsed the future.

00:53:45.950 --> 00:53:51.640
Rising tides, more frequent
and more violent storms,

00:53:51.640 --> 00:53:56.300
declining food supplies,
physical erosion,

00:53:56.300 --> 00:54:00.676
cultural losses,
growing anxiety,

00:54:00.676 --> 00:54:05.430
and, perhaps, eventual exile.

00:54:05.430 --> 00:54:09.652
But, they warn, if the
bell tolls for them,

00:54:09.652 --> 00:54:12.640
it will toll for us too.

00:54:12.640 --> 00:54:14.970
Are we talking about
the whole planet,

00:54:14.970 --> 00:54:16.970
the interests of the
planet, the interests

00:54:16.970 --> 00:54:20.780
of the future of mankind?

00:54:20.780 --> 00:54:23.860
Or are we sort of just
going around the circle,

00:54:23.860 --> 00:54:30.010
being driven by interests
which are short term?

00:54:30.010 --> 00:54:33.490
It's a question of life
and death for us out here.

00:54:33.490 --> 00:54:37.860
Our country is beginning to
look at options of relocating,

00:54:37.860 --> 00:54:40.316
and literally seek
higher ground.

00:54:40.316 --> 00:54:43.304
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:54:49.247 --> 00:54:50.830
Once people have the
awareness of what

00:54:50.830 --> 00:54:53.410
is causing this
problem, then they

00:54:53.410 --> 00:54:57.110
know that there are options
available to them to continue

00:54:57.110 --> 00:54:59.887
to be a part of this
problem, or they want

00:54:59.887 --> 00:55:01.095
to be a part of the solution.

00:55:04.785 --> 00:55:09.390
And we may be the first
victim of this phenomenon,

00:55:09.390 --> 00:55:14.470
but your turn will
come up later,

00:55:14.470 --> 00:55:17.208
whether it will be your
children or grandchildren,

00:55:17.208 --> 00:55:18.699
unless you do
something about it.

00:55:21.681 --> 00:55:24.663
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:55:38.110 --> 00:55:40.640
For more information
about this program,

00:55:40.640 --> 00:56:33.050
please go to our
website at www.itvs.org.

00:56:33.050 --> 00:56:35.380
Major funding for
this program was

00:56:35.380 --> 00:56:39.740
provided by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting.

00:56:39.740 --> 00:56:42.360
Additional funding was
provided by the Environmental

00:56:42.360 --> 00:56:47.170
Verification and Analysis Center
at the University of Oklahoma.