WEBVTT

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[dreamy instrumental music]

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♪ ♪

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- I feel like I\'m in the water.

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What are those bubbles for?

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- So they get oxygen.

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What is this creature
down on the bottom?

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- A sunfish.

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- Is it?
- Yeah.

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- That\'s right.
You\'re right.

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- Ohh.
- Whoo.

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- ♪ 10, 11, 12, 13,
14, 15, 16 ♪

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There\'s some over here
that are teeny.

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- That is so beautiful.

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- Look. One broke.

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Know what I feel?

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I wish I was a fish.

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- You wish you were a fish?

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- There are massive,
unrecognized changes

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of geologic scale
taking place in the ocean.

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Ocean chemistry
is being altered on a scale

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not seen for millions of years,

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and we don\'t know
what the consequences will be.

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- We are heading into some
pretty dangerous territory here.

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- It\'s not just the magnitude
of the change,

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it\'s the rate of change
that species can\'t adapt to.

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- I think
we\'ve gone past the point now

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whereby we can avoid
losing significant species.

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We\'re playing poker,
and if we lose at the poker,

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we could have a lot of problems
in civilization.

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- We now know that
the absorption of carbon dioxide

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actually changes
the very chemistry

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of our oceans.

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We risk not just damaging
the ocean\'s ecosystem;

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we are threatening
its very foundation.

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- [singing indistinctly]
- You\'re singing as well?

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- Look where you\'re going.

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- But I\'m not ready to stop.
- Keep your eyes - stop.

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[bike clatters]
- Oh, oh, oh!

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- If I want to go on the bike,
would that help you feel better?

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- Is it okay?

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This is my grandson, Elias.
- I\'m Elias.

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- Elias calls me Bestefar,

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which is \"grandfather\"
in Norwegian.

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Elias is a mischievous rascal.

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He\'s smart, he\'s inventive,

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and he\'s the kind of grandson
that anyone would want.

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- I\'ll help you.

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- You want to carry
the front end?

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I am now a retired educator

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who spends more time
than I probably should

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thinking about my grandchildren

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and what their lives
are going to be like.

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I continue to try to understand
what\'s going on environmentally,

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and I worry a lot
about the world

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that Elias is inheriting.

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One weekend,
after Elias and his family

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had been visiting,

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I opened an issue
of The New Yorker

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and read the article
by Elizabeth Kolbert

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called The Darkening Sea,

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about this phenomena
I\'d never heard of

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called ocean acidification.

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I knew that modern technology
had made it easier

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for the oceans to be overfished.

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What I didn\'t know was that
so much of the carbon dioxide

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was falling into the ocean
and creating a horrible problem.

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I clearly need more answers,
and I need to go to the source.

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- Elizabeth? Sven Huseby.
- [chuckles] Hi.

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- I have to tell you, I read
this article last November

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that you had written
for The New Yorker.

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I hope I\'m not overstating it,

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but my life really hasn\'t
been the same since.

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I have become somewhat obsessed
with ocean acidification.

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- There is
this huge untold story,

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you know,
that people really didn\'t know.

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They knew about global warming,
you know, vaguely,

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you know, in sort of
this mushy way,

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but they really just had no idea

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about what was happening
to the oceans.

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People like me sort of
try to translate it.

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And on some level,
ocean acidification,

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it\'s just the flip side
of global warming.

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Whatever you put into the air
ends up in the ocean.

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We\'re really talking
about very radical changes.

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It\'s huge; I mean the hugeness,
it\'s everything.

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It really is everything
about how we live.

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- I want to try to figure out
how to talk to my -

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at least, my oldest grandson,

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who\'s old enough to begin
to understand this.

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- Yeah.

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- And I\'m curious
whether you ever have

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this discussion
with your own children.

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- You know, my kids
are very aware of things.

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One of them said to me
the other day,

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\"This is the problem
with being born so late,

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\"you know,
that the world is really a...

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you know, degraded place.\"

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And that was a -
and that was sad, for a parent.

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- Mm-hmm.

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- If there\'s any issue
that really demands

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that we acknowledge
our interconnectedness,

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it\'s this one.

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- \"There are now 387 parts
per million of CO2 in the air,

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the highest figure
we\'ve had in 650,000 years.\"

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I just can\'t believe that.

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\"Pteropods are
tiny marine organisms

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at the bottom
of the food chain\"...

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\"About the size
of a child\'s fingernail.\"

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Wow.

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Oh, boy.

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\"Known as sea butterflies,

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\"they swim by a pair
of winglike flaps

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and grow delicate shells
for protection.\"

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[chuckles]

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Look at that.
Look at that.

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I adore them.

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\"Their shells, however,
are beginning to dissolve

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\"from the ocean\'s
changing chemistry,

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and this is threatening
the entire food chain.\"

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- \"Dear Elias,
Today I\'m starting a journey,

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\"and the purpose of this journey
is to find out some things

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\"about the world\'s oceans
that I don\'t really understand.

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\"I\'m on my way to Seattle,

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\"where I spent a good deal
of my own childhood.

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\"It is by the sea.

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\"As a matter of fact,
all the places I lived

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\"when I was growing up
were by the sea.

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\"I was born in Norway,
across the ocean.

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\"It was an ocean
that was filled with fish.

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\"We owned a fish market.

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\"We sold fish.
We sold crabs.

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\"We sold so much.

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\"That fish store
was the center of my world.

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\"In fact, my parents met
in that fish store.

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\"My mother,
who was working as a maid,

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\"used to come in and buy fish
four times a week

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\"from this debonair fellow
across the counter,

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\"and within a few years,
they were married.

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\"So I owe a lot to fish,
and so do you.

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\"When I was your age,

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\"we moved to a small village
in Alaska

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\"where my parents worked
in a salmon cannery.

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\"I would walk down the beach,

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\"and there would be an old man
mending salmon nets,

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\"and I would listen to him
tell me stories

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\"about the village,
about fishing, about his youth,

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\"and all the time, the water
was lapping at our feet.

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\"When I was nine years old,
we came to Seattle, Washington,

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\"and, Elias, we ate fish.

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\"We ate fish six days a week.

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\"The talk at home was always

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\"that it was simply
a matter of the right time,

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\"and we would move back
to Norway.

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\"But the way it turned out,

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that so-called right time
never came.\"

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[phone rings]

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- Hello.
- Hi, Elias. It\'s Bestefar.

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- Hi, Bestefar.
- How are you?

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- Good.
- Well, I\'m out in Seattle.

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I\'m gonna send you a postcard
every day

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while we\'re out here, okay?

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- Okay.

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- Are there any special kinds
of postcards

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you want me to send you,
like fishes or boats?

00:10:45.500 --> 00:10:48.367
- I\'d like a dinosaur postcard.

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- I see. Okay, well,
I\'ll look for one of those.

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- \"Tomorrow, I\'ll be going
to a conference,

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\"and there\'ll be lots
of people there like your papa,

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\"lots of professors,

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\"and they\'re gonna talk about
whether the oceans are healthy

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or whether they have problems.\"

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- This is kind of
a historic moment.

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For the first time,
we\'re bringing together

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all the scientists that
actually work on this problem

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for the Pacific Northwest.

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We\'re very fortunate to have

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many of the leading researchers
in this field

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participating today.

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- From a fishing industry
point of view,

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acidification is
an unambiguous threat.

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This is a short look
at what\'s at stake:

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60 to 100 billion bucks
in seafood trade worldwide.

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The U.S. commercial fisheries

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are valued
at about $28-plus billion.

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If you\'re a shellfish,
you\'re in trouble.

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And most of the things
that the fish we like to eat -

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they eat some kind of shellfish.

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When you show that pteropods
start dissolving within 48 hours

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in the water we already have
in the Gulf of Alaska,

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that\'s not slight.

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That\'s not some future prospect.
That\'s now.

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- We in the scientific
communities were wrong.

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We had underestimated
both the magnitude

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and the rate
of global climate change.

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Are we involved
in another mass extinction event

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for corals, for instance?

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When such events take place,

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it takes millions of years
for the corals to come back.

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- Are we screwed?
Is it already too late?

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- Are we screwed?

00:12:44.233 --> 00:12:48.300
Yeah, to a considerable extent.

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A world of 500 ppm

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is a world of enormous
environmental destruction.

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We ought to recognize that
and say it.

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And we cannot stop there.

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That is not an acceptable
final threshold.

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But can we do
any better than that now?

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I don\'t know.

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- \"I know you\'re only
five years old, Elias,

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\"so I may not send this letter
until you\'re much older.

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\"I\'m writing to share
with you my worries

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\"about what my generation
is leaving to yours.

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\"I\'m 65 now, and when
you\'re ready to read this,

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\"you might well ask what I did
to help solve this problem.

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\"I really believe
that the most important thing

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\"is to gather
as much information as possible

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\"to pass on to you and others

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\"about what is happening
in our oceans.

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\"My life has taught me
that the power to effect change

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begins with knowledge.\"

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What have we got - I mean,
it looks like you have

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Rube Goldberg
working in the back room.

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[men chuckle]
- What is this?

00:14:20.933 --> 00:14:23.567
- We have all the components
to study ocean acidification

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for the very first time
together on this mooring.

00:14:26.433 --> 00:14:28.600
- We\'ve moved well beyond
just figuring out

00:14:28.633 --> 00:14:30.233
what\'s the temperature change.

00:14:30.267 --> 00:14:32.933
There are chemistry changes.
There are ecosystem changes.

00:14:32.967 --> 00:14:34.667
There are biological changes.

00:14:34.700 --> 00:14:36.933
All of these things
are happening all at once.

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- We always thought of CO2
as a waste product

00:14:39.900 --> 00:14:43.167
of all of the production
of fossil fuels,

00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:45.933
from coal and oil
and automobiles.

00:14:45.967 --> 00:14:47.667
We just dumped it
into the atmosphere,

00:14:47.700 --> 00:14:50.700
and we said, \"No problem,
the oceans will suck it up.\"

00:14:50.733 --> 00:14:53.133
And sure enough,
the oceans do suck it up.

00:14:53.167 --> 00:14:54.733
- We first approached all this

00:14:54.767 --> 00:14:56.900
with the idea that,
wow, the oceans are performing

00:14:56.933 --> 00:14:58.900
this tremendous service
for humankind:

00:14:58.933 --> 00:15:02.600
it\'s absorbing 22 million tons
of CO2 a day.

00:15:02.633 --> 00:15:04.767
So we first approached
this saying, \"Great, you know,

00:15:04.800 --> 00:15:06.733
\"let\'s go figure out
how this is working,

00:15:06.767 --> 00:15:08.533
and maybe we can enhance it.\"

00:15:08.567 --> 00:15:10.933
It wasn\'t until we got out there
and actually quantified

00:15:10.967 --> 00:15:15.433
that the oceans have absorbed
118 billion metric tons

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of carbon dioxide -

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a metric ton is about how much
a small car weighs -

00:15:21.133 --> 00:15:22.667
that we\'ve put the equivalent

00:15:22.700 --> 00:15:27.133
of 118 billion
VW Bugs\' worth of CO2

00:15:27.167 --> 00:15:30.167
into the ocean
over the last 200 years.

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And 43% of that has happened
just in the last 20 years,

00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:36.533
and it\'s growing exponentially.

00:15:36.567 --> 00:15:38.700
You know, as we start
to project out into the future,

00:15:38.733 --> 00:15:40.133
it really gets scary.

00:15:40.167 --> 00:15:42.467
And people say, \"Oh, well,
the oceans are huge, you know.

00:15:42.500 --> 00:15:45.767
We could never really change -
affect the oceans.\"

00:15:45.800 --> 00:15:47.767
Well, we are.
- They are changing.

00:15:47.800 --> 00:15:49.533
- They are changing,
and we\'re measuring it.

00:15:49.567 --> 00:15:51.933
We\'re actually documenting that.

00:15:57.267 --> 00:15:59.033
- I\'m on my way to Alaska now,

00:15:59.067 --> 00:16:02.067
where I haven\'t been
in 55 years.

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I have mixed feelings
about returning after so long.

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I remember our time there
as one of hardship

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and one of yearning
to get back to Norway.

00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:17.133
This time,
I\'m meeting with Jeff Short,

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one of the scientists
at the conference.

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He has a young son,

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and I am hoping
they can share with me

00:16:24.433 --> 00:16:26.733
something about
how they talk together

00:16:26.767 --> 00:16:29.067
about these difficult issues.

00:16:31.433 --> 00:16:35.833
- In winter, sometimes,
it gets pretty nippy.

00:16:35.867 --> 00:16:38.500
In the city, it\'s all noisy.

00:16:38.533 --> 00:16:41.033
It\'s not as quiet.
There\'s more pollution.

00:16:41.067 --> 00:16:43.367
Here, it\'s pretty fresh
and clean.

00:16:43.400 --> 00:16:46.100
[laughs]
I like all the wildlife.

00:16:46.133 --> 00:16:50.500
You can see different species
of fish out in the water.

00:16:50.533 --> 00:16:52.867
Sometimes you can see whales.

00:16:52.900 --> 00:16:55.933
And there\'s too many
different species of bugs

00:16:55.967 --> 00:16:58.133
to even count.

00:16:58.167 --> 00:17:00.333
It\'s really neat.

00:17:00.367 --> 00:17:02.867
I like the glacier a lot.

00:17:02.900 --> 00:17:06.700
There\'s, like, this big lake
at the bottom of it.

00:17:06.733 --> 00:17:09.833
And there\'s this huge waterfall
pouring into the lake.

00:17:09.867 --> 00:17:11.767
And there\'s these
oddly shaped icebergs.

00:17:11.800 --> 00:17:14.800
Some look like battleships.

00:17:14.833 --> 00:17:18.100
Then there\'s this big ice cliff
with cracks in it,

00:17:18.133 --> 00:17:21.933
and there\'s just
this huge ice field.

00:17:21.967 --> 00:17:26.833
It\'s not as big
as it used to be but...

00:17:29.800 --> 00:17:31.733
- We have tried
to not hide from him

00:17:31.767 --> 00:17:34.600
the fact that the planet
is going to undergo

00:17:34.633 --> 00:17:37.500
unprecedented change
over the course of his lifetime.

00:17:37.533 --> 00:17:41.000
It\'s a tremendously
high-stakes crapshoot.

00:17:41.033 --> 00:17:44.000
And the more acid
we put in the ocean,

00:17:44.033 --> 00:17:45.333
the more likely it is

00:17:45.367 --> 00:17:48.433
that fundamentally bad things
will happen,

00:17:48.467 --> 00:17:51.067
like, for example,
no more shellfish

00:17:51.100 --> 00:17:53.400
or no more coral reefs,

00:17:53.433 --> 00:17:56.467
and this is - for as far
as humans are concerned,

00:17:56.500 --> 00:17:58.200
no more of those things ever.

00:17:58.233 --> 00:18:00.267
You know, we\'ve always had
crises to face.

00:18:00.300 --> 00:18:03.167
Every generation has had
terrible crises to face.

00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:05.200
When I grew up,
it was nuclear war,

00:18:05.233 --> 00:18:08.300
and we worried about -
we had these drills in school,

00:18:08.333 --> 00:18:10.100
and there were gonna be
atomic bombs.

00:18:10.133 --> 00:18:12.600
People had shelters,
and it was a real fear.

00:18:12.633 --> 00:18:14.900
This is, I think, a worse fear,

00:18:14.933 --> 00:18:17.000
because that\'s
a political problem

00:18:17.033 --> 00:18:19.367
that you can solve
by talking amongst people,

00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:21.667
and that largely
has occurred so far.

00:18:21.700 --> 00:18:22.867
This isn\'t something that -

00:18:22.900 --> 00:18:25.167
you can\'t talk nature
out of this.

00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:29.267
We\'ve been in this very stable
environment climatologically

00:18:29.300 --> 00:18:30.800
for the last 20,000 years,

00:18:30.833 --> 00:18:33.700
and now we\'re committed to
leaving that stable environment.

00:18:33.733 --> 00:18:35.633
And we don\'t really know
where we\'re gonna go,

00:18:35.667 --> 00:18:37.833
but we do know it\'s gonna get
a lot more variable,

00:18:37.867 --> 00:18:39.667
and a lot of things
are gonna die,

00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:41.500
and there\'s gonna be
a lot of extinctions.

00:18:41.533 --> 00:18:45.433
[birds squawking]

00:18:45.467 --> 00:18:48.433
- I wanted to go someplace where
I could see what the effects

00:18:48.467 --> 00:18:52.700
of ocean acidification
might feel like to people,

00:18:52.733 --> 00:18:55.433
so I visited Cordova, Alaska,

00:18:55.467 --> 00:18:57.533
where they had
an environmental disaster

00:18:57.567 --> 00:19:02.233
nearly 20 years ago.

00:19:02.267 --> 00:19:05.033
As it happened,
I arrived at a time

00:19:05.067 --> 00:19:08.400
when the salmon
were coming home to spawn.

00:19:21.600 --> 00:19:23.733
- This is amazing.
What\'s going on out here?

00:19:23.767 --> 00:19:25.633
I mean,
I\'ve never seen this before.

00:19:25.667 --> 00:19:28.667
[chuckles]
Wh-wh-what is this?

00:19:28.700 --> 00:19:31.767
- The pink salmon have returned,
and that\'s -

00:19:31.800 --> 00:19:33.367
- Oh, that\'s what we see
hopping out here.

00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:37.067
- That\'s what\'s jumping
like popcorn right now.

00:19:37.100 --> 00:19:41.233
And the scientists
don\'t know why they jump.

00:19:42.767 --> 00:19:44.100
One of the theories is,

00:19:44.133 --> 00:19:49.533
they\'re trying to loosen
the egg sacs before they spawn.

00:19:49.567 --> 00:19:51.567
Maybe they\'re just happy.
[chuckles]

00:19:51.600 --> 00:19:53.800
I mean, they survived two years
in the ocean.

00:19:53.833 --> 00:19:55.633
They - they\'re the few,
the small percentage,

00:19:55.667 --> 00:19:59.467
that made it all the way back.

00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:01.400
[bird cawing]

00:20:01.433 --> 00:20:03.267
- And what do we have up here
behind us?

00:20:03.300 --> 00:20:05.100
- Well, this actually

00:20:05.133 --> 00:20:07.767
was one of the largest
salmon canneries.

00:20:07.800 --> 00:20:09.933
It went bankrupt
after the oil spill.

00:20:09.967 --> 00:20:13.700
It was a tremendous loss
for this area.

00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:18.133
The year the Exxon Valdez hit

00:20:18.167 --> 00:20:20.033
was such an emotionally
devastating time

00:20:20.067 --> 00:20:22.067
for this community.

00:20:24.600 --> 00:20:26.700
- Exxon Valdez, Valdez traffic.

00:20:42.067 --> 00:20:45.033
- The whole ocean
is so sensitive

00:20:45.067 --> 00:20:47.600
that that makes
a huge difference,

00:20:47.633 --> 00:20:49.767
all the way from the bottom
of the ecosystem

00:20:49.800 --> 00:20:52.433
to the very top predators.

00:20:52.467 --> 00:20:57.767
I watched this community
just unraveling.

00:20:57.800 --> 00:21:00.867
Everything
that we knew as normal

00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:02.500
just suddenly wasn\'t.

00:21:02.533 --> 00:21:04.833
Our whole world
had turned upside down.

00:21:04.867 --> 00:21:07.033
I think the way
the ocean acidification

00:21:07.067 --> 00:21:09.433
will hit these rural communities
will be very similar

00:21:09.467 --> 00:21:11.067
to what happened
with the oil spill.

00:21:11.100 --> 00:21:13.367
I worry that it will tear
these communities apart

00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:17.533
with the same types
of destructive behaviors -

00:21:17.567 --> 00:21:19.967
abuse, self-abuse,
abuse to the families,

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:22.600
abuse, polarization,
and fighting -

00:21:22.633 --> 00:21:25.200
that we saw
after the oil spill and -

00:21:25.233 --> 00:21:28.300
because this problem
is actually so much bigger.

00:21:28.333 --> 00:21:30.633
In terms of, like,
ocean acidification,

00:21:30.667 --> 00:21:32.567
I mean, first there has to be
the recognition

00:21:32.600 --> 00:21:33.900
that there\'s -
this is a crisis.

00:21:33.933 --> 00:21:36.200
And I\'m afraid
the call for alarm

00:21:36.233 --> 00:21:39.367
might come too close to the end,
where we can\'t change it.

00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:41.400
- I get it. I get it.

00:21:44.100 --> 00:21:46.433
How do you think
we should talk to our children

00:21:46.467 --> 00:21:48.533
and grandchildren about this?

00:21:48.567 --> 00:21:51.633
- I think of what Einstein said:
no problem can be solved

00:21:51.667 --> 00:21:53.733
from the same consciousness
that created it.

00:21:53.767 --> 00:21:55.033
And on one hand,

00:21:55.067 --> 00:21:57.133
I look at what\'s going on
in Washington, D.C.:

00:21:57.167 --> 00:21:59.933
\"Stay the course,\"
drill the planet, oil shales,

00:21:59.967 --> 00:22:03.200
you know, no regard
for the consequences of water,

00:22:03.233 --> 00:22:05.833
people\'s lives,
the future generations.

00:22:05.867 --> 00:22:07.267
And here
are these young kids going,

00:22:07.300 --> 00:22:09.067
\"No, we\'re gonna do it
a different way.\"

00:22:09.100 --> 00:22:10.600
The best thing
we can do right now

00:22:10.633 --> 00:22:13.200
is encourage these kids.

00:22:13.233 --> 00:22:17.500
- Later that day,
I met up again with Jeff

00:22:17.533 --> 00:22:19.767
who was speaking
to a group of teenagers

00:22:19.800 --> 00:22:22.100
at a local environmental
organization.

00:22:22.133 --> 00:22:24.433
- I had never heard
of ocean acidification

00:22:24.467 --> 00:22:26.700
apart from knowing
that Jeff Short

00:22:26.733 --> 00:22:29.733
was going to be coming
and talking about it.

00:22:29.767 --> 00:22:32.100
And I was flabbergasted

00:22:32.133 --> 00:22:34.533
that it hadn\'t been
on the national stage

00:22:34.567 --> 00:22:37.800
or international stage
as of yet, to my knowledge.

00:22:37.833 --> 00:22:39.133
- I want to inform people
about it

00:22:39.167 --> 00:22:42.633
because I have a hard time
imagining Cordova

00:22:42.667 --> 00:22:45.800
not being the same,
with the fisheries and stuff.

00:22:45.833 --> 00:22:50.800
But with the pH levels changing,
it\'s gonna be totally different.

00:22:50.833 --> 00:22:52.633
- And here,
we\'re standing very close

00:22:52.667 --> 00:22:56.367
to where you had
a horrific oil spill.

00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.000
- My father\'s
a commercial fisherman,

00:22:58.033 --> 00:23:00.267
and since the spill,

00:23:00.300 --> 00:23:02.933
the herring industry in Cordova
has collapsed.

00:23:02.967 --> 00:23:05.367
- So when you listen
to Jeff Short tonight

00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:08.967
talking about damage
to crustaceans or the shells -

00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.800
I don\'t know if he got into
talking about pteropods...

00:23:11.833 --> 00:23:13.400
- Yes.
- Yeah.

00:23:13.433 --> 00:23:16.267
- Which are at the breakfast
table for juvenile salmon.

00:23:16.300 --> 00:23:17.567
- Yes.
- Pink salmon, yeah.

00:23:17.600 --> 00:23:20.200
To think
if you lose one species,

00:23:20.233 --> 00:23:22.233
it is a chain reaction here,
you know?

00:23:22.267 --> 00:23:24.967
Everything relies
on something else, so...

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:26.333
- What do you think
we need to do?

00:23:26.367 --> 00:23:29.233
- We just have to cut
CO2 emissions.

00:23:29.267 --> 00:23:31.433
That\'s, I think,
probably the only way.

00:23:31.467 --> 00:23:33.167
- It\'s the cause
of all our problems.

00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:34.633
[laughs]

00:23:38.367 --> 00:23:41.600
- Hi, Bestefar.
- How are you?

00:23:41.633 --> 00:23:44.100
- Good. Are you coming
to visit soon?

00:23:44.133 --> 00:23:46.567
- Yes. I\'ll be there
tomorrow afternoon.

00:23:46.600 --> 00:23:49.167
Can I take you to school
on Monday?

00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:51.200
- Yeah.

00:23:53.733 --> 00:23:56.933
- What\'s out here, Elias?

00:23:56.967 --> 00:23:59.867
- I\'ve seen a great white.
- A great white?

00:23:59.900 --> 00:24:03.133
- A great white shark.
And they can leap really high.

00:24:03.167 --> 00:24:05.033
- And what do
the great whites eat?

00:24:05.067 --> 00:24:08.633
- Fish and seals.
- Fish and seals?

00:24:08.667 --> 00:24:09.800
- [softly] Yeah.

00:24:09.833 --> 00:24:13.367
And sometimes
they mistake surfers for seals.

00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:15.400
- Because they think
that the surfer is a seal?

00:24:15.433 --> 00:24:18.367
- Yeah, because the surfers
are dressed in black.

00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:19.533
- Got it.

00:24:19.567 --> 00:24:21.767
So they actually look
a little bit like seals.

00:24:21.800 --> 00:24:25.400
- I think I made a note of it
in one of my notebooks.

00:24:25.433 --> 00:24:27.333
- And will you introduce me
to your teacher?

00:24:27.367 --> 00:24:28.933
- Sure.
- And what\'s her name?

00:24:28.967 --> 00:24:30.833
- Liz.
- Liz. Okay.

00:24:30.867 --> 00:24:34.567
- Is this 8:30?
- Yep, exactly 8:30 now.

00:24:34.600 --> 00:24:36.367
- Let\'s go a little faster.

00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:39.267
Maybe we can run.
- I have my running shoes.

00:24:44.333 --> 00:24:45.600
- This is fun.

00:24:45.633 --> 00:24:48.600
[singing silly nonsense]

00:24:48.633 --> 00:24:50.867
- Whoa.

00:24:50.900 --> 00:24:53.700
[upbeat rock music]

00:24:53.733 --> 00:24:58.667
- ♪ I see the bad moon arising ♪

00:24:58.700 --> 00:25:03.533
♪ I see trouble on the way... ♪

00:25:03.567 --> 00:25:07.600
- I graduated from college
in the 1960s,

00:25:07.633 --> 00:25:10.800
and I wrestled
with what came next.

00:25:10.833 --> 00:25:14.200
I applied to the Peace Corps,
and I was accepted.

00:25:14.233 --> 00:25:16.667
But a professor
that I had been working with

00:25:16.700 --> 00:25:20.833
suggested that I go visit
a school up in Vermont.

00:25:20.867 --> 00:25:23.867
- ♪ There\'s a bad moon
on the rise ♪

00:25:23.900 --> 00:25:26.467
- There I took a job
as a history teacher

00:25:26.500 --> 00:25:29.033
and found
an extraordinary chance

00:25:29.067 --> 00:25:33.767
to teach, to learn,
and to watch young people grow.

00:25:33.800 --> 00:25:35.067
Majority dictates,

00:25:35.100 --> 00:25:37.500
and it changes the whole concept
of American government

00:25:37.533 --> 00:25:40.133
because the same protection
for minority opinions

00:25:40.167 --> 00:25:42.600
and minority groups
could not be maintained

00:25:42.633 --> 00:25:44.100
within that kind of a structure.

00:25:44.133 --> 00:25:47.167
It was the beginning of a time
of political turmoil

00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:48.800
in this country.

00:25:48.833 --> 00:25:51.667
We had just come through
a very difficult part

00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:53.567
of the civil rights era,

00:25:53.600 --> 00:25:56.567
and we had decided to commit
more and more resources

00:25:56.600 --> 00:25:58.467
to Vietnam.

00:25:58.500 --> 00:26:01.000
- The government is obviously
for the war in Vietnam;

00:26:01.033 --> 00:26:02.700
otherwise,
they would not be there, right?

00:26:02.733 --> 00:26:04.933
- So as a teacher at that time,

00:26:04.967 --> 00:26:07.800
a lot of discussion
was about protests,

00:26:07.833 --> 00:26:10.067
was about change,

00:26:10.100 --> 00:26:13.333
was about looking at how
you wanted the world to be.

00:26:13.367 --> 00:26:16.933
- I mean, there are lots
of things that have been changed

00:26:16.967 --> 00:26:20.033
because people had the will
to keep fighting against them.

00:26:20.067 --> 00:26:21.733
- And as a young person,

00:26:21.767 --> 00:26:24.667
you really felt
that change was possible.

00:26:26.467 --> 00:26:27.900
[laughter]

00:26:27.933 --> 00:26:31.933
- ♪ There\'s a bad moon
on the rise ♪

00:26:42.900 --> 00:26:45.633
- As an educator,
I know how important it is

00:26:45.667 --> 00:26:48.333
to be able to explain
the basics.

00:26:50.833 --> 00:26:57.233
But I taught history
for 25 years, not science.

00:27:05.867 --> 00:27:08.933
I\'m hoping that a visit with
my friend Deborah Williams

00:27:08.967 --> 00:27:10.767
will give me a crash course

00:27:10.800 --> 00:27:13.567
in the chemistry
of ocean acidification.

00:27:16.667 --> 00:27:18.133
The more I learn,

00:27:18.167 --> 00:27:21.433
the more frightened I\'ve become
about what this all means.

00:27:21.467 --> 00:27:24.933
You know, how do you communicate
a topic like this?

00:27:24.967 --> 00:27:26.100
What do you do?

00:27:26.133 --> 00:27:28.167
- Probably the thing
that resonates the best

00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:32.167
is reminding people
that when they were little,

00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:35.667
their mother probably said,
\"Don\'t drink cola,

00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:38.400
\"or another soft drink,
before you go to bed

00:27:38.433 --> 00:27:41.033
because it will rot your teeth,\"
and when I mention that,

00:27:41.067 --> 00:27:42.507
people shake their heads
up and down.

00:27:42.533 --> 00:27:44.033
Or I say,
\"And maybe if you\'re a parent,

00:27:44.067 --> 00:27:45.567
you\'ve mentioned
that to your child,\"

00:27:45.600 --> 00:27:47.167
and people shake their heads
up and down.

00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:51.367
And so what I thought
might be fun

00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:53.000
is to do an experiment.

00:27:53.033 --> 00:27:57.033
I contacted a few friends
of mine who have young children

00:27:57.067 --> 00:28:00.067
and asked, \"Do any of you have
any baby teeth you can spare?\"

00:28:02.267 --> 00:28:05.767
So what I thought we\'d do first
is just to pour out -

00:28:05.800 --> 00:28:07.233
and these are brand-new.

00:28:07.267 --> 00:28:09.967
Oh, boy, good thing
we didn\'t have an explosion

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:11.600
at the table.

00:28:11.633 --> 00:28:13.000
So we\'ve got the cola,

00:28:13.033 --> 00:28:15.933
and then the nothing but
spring water

00:28:15.967 --> 00:28:17.533
and carbonation,
which is -

00:28:17.567 --> 00:28:20.933
- Carbonic acid.
Both: Carbon dioxide.

00:28:20.967 --> 00:28:24.933
- Let\'s see first
what the acidity of the cola is.

00:28:24.967 --> 00:28:29.700
Now, remember, of course,
the pH of pure water is 7.

00:28:32.867 --> 00:28:34.700
That\'s like, what, 2 1/2?

00:28:34.733 --> 00:28:37.367
- And 2 indicates what?

00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:39.900
- 2 means it is quite acidic.
- It\'s below 7.

00:28:39.933 --> 00:28:44.833
- Oh, yes, dramatically below 7.
So that is why teeth do rot.

00:28:44.867 --> 00:28:46.600
- That\'s unbelievable.
[shutters audibly]

00:28:46.633 --> 00:28:48.400
It just gives me the shivers.
I can\'t tell you.

00:28:48.433 --> 00:28:49.733
- Exactly.

00:28:49.767 --> 00:28:52.300
And now we\'re going to see
what the acidity is

00:28:52.333 --> 00:28:54.367
with just pure water
and carbonation.

00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:56.333
- Got it.
Oh, boy, here it goes.

00:28:56.367 --> 00:28:58.967
- Look. See?
- Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:01.233
- There\'s 7.
7 would be pure water.

00:29:01.267 --> 00:29:02.700
It\'s not 7.
- 5?

00:29:02.733 --> 00:29:05.467
- Not 5. More acidic still.

00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:07.067
Both: 4.

00:29:07.100 --> 00:29:08.967
- That\'s it: pH of 4.
- I think it\'s 4.

00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:12.400
PH 4 from just putting
carbon dioxide in water.

00:29:12.433 --> 00:29:14.700
All right, so what
we\'re going to do now

00:29:14.733 --> 00:29:17.300
is see what happened
to the tooth.

00:29:17.333 --> 00:29:20.067
Now, you recall,
in Elizabeth Kolbert\'s article,

00:29:20.100 --> 00:29:22.100
she mentioned Dr. Fabry.

00:29:22.133 --> 00:29:24.267
- The lady with
the phytoplankton.

00:29:24.300 --> 00:29:27.167
- That\'s right. That\'s right.
The pteropods.

00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:29.633
And she found the shells
of the pteropods,

00:29:29.667 --> 00:29:33.467
which are normally translucent,
became opaque.

00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:36.467
And when this dries out,
you will see

00:29:36.500 --> 00:29:38.500
that it has developed
this dramatic crack,

00:29:38.533 --> 00:29:41.733
compared with this sister tooth,
which you see is -

00:29:41.767 --> 00:29:43.533
how beautifully translucent
it is.

00:29:43.567 --> 00:29:46.167
It almost looks polished,
like marble.

00:29:46.200 --> 00:29:49.400
This by comparison
has dramatically eroded.

00:29:49.433 --> 00:29:50.800
- Now I can actually see
the opening

00:29:50.833 --> 00:29:51.967
right through the tooth.

00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:53.400
- Precisely.
Look at that crack.

00:29:53.433 --> 00:29:55.000
- Unbelievable.
- Yep. Yep.

00:29:55.033 --> 00:29:58.367
- And that is just
in three weeks.

00:29:58.400 --> 00:29:59.833
- Holy mackerel.

00:29:59.867 --> 00:30:04.000
- And that is
a substantial piece of tooth,

00:30:04.033 --> 00:30:07.900
as opposed to
a very delicate pteropod.

00:30:07.933 --> 00:30:10.267
- And this is just water...
- Just water.

00:30:10.300 --> 00:30:11.800
- And carbon dioxide.
- Correct.

00:30:11.833 --> 00:30:13.700
- So that\'s really our oceans
right now.

00:30:13.733 --> 00:30:17.233
- That is what is happening
in the ocean right now.

00:30:18.967 --> 00:30:22.933
[water burbling]

00:30:22.967 --> 00:30:25.933
[pensive classical music]

00:30:25.967 --> 00:30:33.967
♪ ♪

00:31:19.300 --> 00:31:22.233
- I can\'t get the image
of that cracked tooth

00:31:22.267 --> 00:31:24.633
out of my mind.

00:31:25.833 --> 00:31:27.900
I know that a tooth
and a seashell

00:31:27.933 --> 00:31:29.600
are not exactly the same,

00:31:29.633 --> 00:31:33.033
but it made me wonder
what the dropping pH was doing

00:31:33.067 --> 00:31:37.433
to my dear little pteropods.

00:31:39.433 --> 00:31:41.433
Dr. Victoria Fabry,

00:31:41.467 --> 00:31:44.333
another scientist
from the Seattle conference,

00:31:44.367 --> 00:31:47.633
was actually the centerpiece
of Elizabeth Kolbert\'s article

00:31:47.667 --> 00:31:52.833
because of her work
with shelled pteropods.

00:31:52.867 --> 00:31:54.933
Well, here it is: the lab.

00:31:54.967 --> 00:31:56.933
- Yes, welcome to our lab.

00:31:56.967 --> 00:31:58.533
This is my daughter, Madeline.

00:31:58.567 --> 00:32:00.767
Madeline, this is Mr. Huseby.
- Well, hello, Madeline.

00:32:00.800 --> 00:32:02.333
Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you too.

00:32:02.367 --> 00:32:03.867
- I have to confess -

00:32:03.900 --> 00:32:05.933
I mean, people do all kinds
of things on the internet,

00:32:05.967 --> 00:32:08.733
but I really do a lot of time

00:32:08.767 --> 00:32:11.600
searching for images
of pteropods

00:32:11.633 --> 00:32:13.467
and reading about pteropods.

00:32:13.500 --> 00:32:15.000
I became fascinated.

00:32:15.033 --> 00:32:18.567
Who are these creatures
that I\'d never ever heard of?

00:32:18.600 --> 00:32:23.567
And then I found that they were
just drop-dead gorgeous.

00:32:23.600 --> 00:32:25.200
They were beautiful.

00:32:25.233 --> 00:32:27.600
So I would love
to see any examples

00:32:27.633 --> 00:32:31.333
that you have of these little,
you know, angels,

00:32:31.367 --> 00:32:32.667
as I think of them.

00:32:32.700 --> 00:32:34.667
- I\'ve got just what
you might want.

00:32:34.700 --> 00:32:37.500
- Oh, good. Good.
- Mm-hmm.

00:32:37.533 --> 00:32:40.100
Pteropods are difficult
to keep in the lab.

00:32:40.133 --> 00:32:42.000
They don\'t feed in the lab.

00:32:42.033 --> 00:32:45.733
But I\'d like to show you
some video clips

00:32:45.767 --> 00:32:47.533
of pteropods moving.

00:32:47.567 --> 00:32:48.833
- No wonder
I\'m in love with them.

00:32:48.867 --> 00:32:51.867
Look at that.
It\'s beautiful.

00:32:51.900 --> 00:32:55.733
- \"Pteropod\" actually
means \"winged foot.\"

00:32:55.767 --> 00:32:57.167
\"Pod\" is \"foot.\"

00:32:57.200 --> 00:33:01.233
And their foot has been modified
into two swimming wings.

00:33:03.300 --> 00:33:06.000
I think they look
a little bit more like moths.

00:33:06.033 --> 00:33:07.900
Although one time,
someone told me

00:33:07.933 --> 00:33:10.233
they looked like
flying coffee beans.

00:33:10.267 --> 00:33:12.167
What do you think
they look like?

00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:15.200
- A small elephant
with its ears...

00:33:15.233 --> 00:33:17.200
- Like a Dumbo-type elephant?
- Yeah.

00:33:17.233 --> 00:33:20.300
- I\'m not sure you two are
as enamored of these as I am,

00:33:20.333 --> 00:33:22.500
\'cause I think
they\'re just plain beautiful.

00:33:22.533 --> 00:33:25.700
- They are. They really are.

00:33:25.733 --> 00:33:28.000
- If you could share with me,
Vicky, a little bit,

00:33:28.033 --> 00:33:31.767
one of the catalysts that
really set you off on pteropods?

00:33:31.800 --> 00:33:35.500
- Well, I was just trying to get
a normal calcification rate

00:33:35.533 --> 00:33:38.400
on pteropods collected
in the subarctic Pacific.

00:33:38.433 --> 00:33:41.500
We\'ve just gotten back
from Antarctica,

00:33:41.533 --> 00:33:43.167
at McMurdo Station down there.

00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:45.500
We collected pteropods.

00:33:45.533 --> 00:33:48.500
I was lucky to find
a lot of them.

00:33:48.533 --> 00:33:50.367
They tend to swarm.
You don\'t find just one.

00:33:50.400 --> 00:33:54.133
You find lots of them.

00:33:54.167 --> 00:33:57.567
I put too many of them,
actually, in a jar.

00:33:57.600 --> 00:34:01.433
And like all animals,
they respire carbon dioxide.

00:34:01.467 --> 00:34:06.600
So their respiratory CO2
lowered the pH within the jar

00:34:06.633 --> 00:34:11.467
to levels projected to occur
by the end of this century.

00:34:11.500 --> 00:34:16.867
Within 48 hours, we saw
the shell started to dissolve.

00:34:16.900 --> 00:34:20.400
They\'re really animals
living on the edge.

00:34:28.467 --> 00:34:30.000
- Elias.

00:34:30.033 --> 00:34:31.833
Whoa!
- [squeals]

00:34:31.867 --> 00:34:34.133
- [laughs]

00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:38.040
Should we do that one more time?

00:34:38.067 --> 00:34:39.900
The \"squish squish kadooly\"
part?

00:34:39.933 --> 00:34:41.900
- Yeah.
- See if you can remember it.

00:34:41.933 --> 00:34:45.700
♪ Squish squish kadooly ♪
- ♪ Squish squish kadooly ♪

00:34:45.733 --> 00:34:49.533
- ♪ Sqwadooly day ♪
- ♪ Sqwadooly day ♪

00:34:49.567 --> 00:34:53.567
- ♪ Hidey hidey hidey ♪
- ♪ Hidey hidey hidey ♪

00:34:53.600 --> 00:34:57.000
- ♪ Oh, yeah, hidey ho ♪
- ♪ Oh, yeah, hidey ho ♪

00:34:57.033 --> 00:34:59.667
- Whoo!
And then we build.

00:34:59.700 --> 00:35:01.167
You\'ve got to show me
how to do it.

00:35:01.200 --> 00:35:03.000
You know, it\'s been so long
since I\'ve done this.

00:35:03.033 --> 00:35:06.100
- Oh, at the top, we need
to not forget battlements.

00:35:06.133 --> 00:35:07.800
- Oh, battlements.

00:35:07.833 --> 00:35:10.533
How long do you think it took to
build a castle, a real castle?

00:35:10.567 --> 00:35:13.600
- Oh, maybe a few months
or years.

00:35:13.633 --> 00:35:14.900
- A few months?
- Yeah.

00:35:14.933 --> 00:35:17.367
- And is this the kind of wall
you had in mind, Elias?

00:35:17.400 --> 00:35:19.300
- Yeah.
- Good.

00:35:19.333 --> 00:35:22.933
- [singing happy nonsense]

00:35:22.967 --> 00:35:24.333
- Elias?
- What?

00:35:24.367 --> 00:35:26.933
- Are dolphins fish?
- [chuckles] No.

00:35:26.967 --> 00:35:29.900
- Dolphins aren\'t fish?
- No way, José.

00:35:29.933 --> 00:35:31.867
- What are they?
- They\'re called lungfish.

00:35:31.900 --> 00:35:35.900
They have lungs,
and they also have gills.

00:35:35.933 --> 00:35:38.133
- Oh, boy.

00:35:38.167 --> 00:35:41.233
Elias, look right out there.
- Where?

00:35:41.267 --> 00:35:45.167
- Look right out here.
Follow my finger.

00:35:45.200 --> 00:35:47.733
There he is.

00:35:47.767 --> 00:35:49.767
Do you see it?
Right out there. You see it?

00:35:49.800 --> 00:35:52.233
It just came up.

00:35:52.267 --> 00:35:54.367
It\'ll come up again.

00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:57.133
There he is.
- Way over there.

00:35:57.167 --> 00:36:00.200
- Oh, my god, look out there.

00:36:00.233 --> 00:36:02.333
That\'s right.
- [gasping]

00:36:02.367 --> 00:36:04.033
- That\'s huge.
- That was so up close.

00:36:04.067 --> 00:36:08.400
- I know.
That is big, big, big.

00:36:08.433 --> 00:36:11.100
[laughs]

00:36:11.133 --> 00:36:14.033
- Ohh, man.
- It\'s huge.

00:36:14.067 --> 00:36:15.433
- It\'s so amazing.

00:36:15.467 --> 00:36:19.267
I\'ve never seen a whale
in the wild in my life.

00:36:19.300 --> 00:36:21.000
- That\'s amazing.
- It\'s amazing.

00:36:21.033 --> 00:36:22.700
- Are you gonna tell
your friends at school?

00:36:22.733 --> 00:36:27.233
- Oh, I have to. I have to.
- Yeah.

00:36:35.867 --> 00:36:38.533
- What\'s your favorite animal
in the sea?

00:36:38.567 --> 00:36:40.300
- Penguins.

00:36:40.333 --> 00:36:42.200
- What\'s your second
favorite animal?

00:36:42.233 --> 00:36:43.400
- Whales.

00:36:43.433 --> 00:36:45.933
- Do you know anything
about the whales?

00:36:45.967 --> 00:36:47.367
- No.

00:36:52.067 --> 00:36:55.400
- I can\'t help but wonder
if we can rescue ourselves

00:36:55.433 --> 00:36:58.733
from the course we\'re on.

00:36:58.767 --> 00:37:01.767
Do we have the will to change,

00:37:01.800 --> 00:37:06.467
or have we become too cynical
and too divided?

00:37:06.500 --> 00:37:10.933
How bad do things have to get?

00:37:10.967 --> 00:37:13.000
- If you look back and say,
well, when in history

00:37:13.033 --> 00:37:15.433
did something similar happen
to the oceans,

00:37:15.467 --> 00:37:18.067
you\'d point to when
the dinosaurs became extinct

00:37:18.100 --> 00:37:20.100
65 million years ago.

00:37:20.133 --> 00:37:22.967
And at that time,
the oceans also became acidic.

00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:25.800
So what happened at that time?

00:37:25.833 --> 00:37:29.033
Coral reefs disappeared
from the geologic record.

00:37:31.000 --> 00:37:32.867
Plankton, these little tiny
marine organisms

00:37:32.900 --> 00:37:34.633
that make their shells
and skeletons

00:37:34.667 --> 00:37:37.667
out of calcium carbonate,
also disappeared.

00:37:37.700 --> 00:37:40.333
It\'s hundreds
of thousands of years

00:37:40.367 --> 00:37:42.600
before the tiny
single-celled organisms

00:37:42.633 --> 00:37:44.033
that live on the surface
of the ocean

00:37:44.067 --> 00:37:47.033
came back
and repopulated the ocean.

00:37:47.067 --> 00:37:50.100
Coral reefs are gone
for 2 million years.

00:37:50.133 --> 00:37:52.667
What I fear is that
this is the tip of the iceberg,

00:37:52.700 --> 00:37:54.733
this is what we know about,

00:37:54.767 --> 00:37:57.300
but what that means
higher up the food chain

00:37:57.333 --> 00:37:59.467
we don\'t know \'cause there\'s
no way to do an experiment.

00:37:59.500 --> 00:38:01.067
So what is the experiment
we\'re doing?

00:38:01.100 --> 00:38:04.233
We\'re doing it on the one ocean
that we actually have,

00:38:04.267 --> 00:38:06.833
and it\'s an irreversible
experiment.

00:38:06.867 --> 00:38:08.907
We\'re gonna say, \"Okay,
we\'re gonna see what happens

00:38:08.933 --> 00:38:10.533
\"when we acidify the ocean.

00:38:10.567 --> 00:38:13.067
\"We have no idea what
it\'s gonna do to higher forms,

00:38:13.100 --> 00:38:17.600
but we\'ll know in a few decades,
so just hang on,\" you know?

00:38:20.800 --> 00:38:24.067
You know, what if it wasn\'t us
that discovered fossil fuels

00:38:24.100 --> 00:38:26.733
and made an industrial society,
but what if it was -

00:38:26.767 --> 00:38:29.433
say, the Romans
had stumbled on coal

00:38:29.467 --> 00:38:31.767
and developed automobiles
and all of this?

00:38:31.800 --> 00:38:34.333
And, you know,
what if their scientists

00:38:34.367 --> 00:38:37.933
were telling them, \"Oh, well,
if you continue doing this,

00:38:37.967 --> 00:38:39.600
it\'ll take millions of years
to recover,\"

00:38:39.633 --> 00:38:42.400
and they say, \"But we really
like our consumer products,

00:38:42.433 --> 00:38:46.167
and we like our Hummers
and big houses and all of this.\"

00:38:46.200 --> 00:38:48.067
You know, would we say,
\"Oh, well, these people,

00:38:48.100 --> 00:38:50.033
they made a good,
rational decision,\"

00:38:50.067 --> 00:38:51.900
or would we think,
\"How could they have been

00:38:51.933 --> 00:38:54.100
\"so selfish and stupid
just so they could have

00:38:54.133 --> 00:38:56.800
a century or two
of a high lifestyle\"?

00:38:56.833 --> 00:38:58.500
Because there are
only enough fossil fuels

00:38:58.533 --> 00:39:00.733
to last a couple of centuries,

00:39:00.767 --> 00:39:02.800
which seems like
a lot to you and me,

00:39:02.833 --> 00:39:05.367
but, you know,
this is a tiny speck of dust

00:39:05.400 --> 00:39:06.767
compared to the length of time

00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:09.233
that we\'re damaging
the oceans for.

00:39:09.267 --> 00:39:13.333
And the other thing about it
is that most economists think

00:39:13.367 --> 00:39:17.633
that it will cost
something like 1% or 2%

00:39:17.667 --> 00:39:19.700
of our total economic activity

00:39:19.733 --> 00:39:22.000
to actually solve this problem,
to stop emitting CO2.

00:39:22.033 --> 00:39:23.267
- That\'s all?

00:39:23.300 --> 00:39:25.767
- Yeah, the most mainstream
economic assessment

00:39:25.800 --> 00:39:29.400
is at about 2%
of our total economic activity.

00:39:29.433 --> 00:39:31.167
It would mean that
for each dollar you spend

00:39:31.200 --> 00:39:34.033
on a soda or something,
you\'d have to pay $1.02.

00:39:34.067 --> 00:39:35.967
And that\'s - and -
- That\'s what it really means.

00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:37.400
That\'s what it
really boils down to,

00:39:37.433 --> 00:39:39.800
and at that level, you know -

00:39:39.833 --> 00:39:43.367
so we\'re willing
to damage the ocean

00:39:43.400 --> 00:39:46.800
for essentially millions
of years

00:39:46.833 --> 00:39:49.567
because we don\'t want to spend
2¢ more for something.

00:39:49.600 --> 00:39:52.000
It\'s crazy.
It\'s completely crazy.

00:39:52.033 --> 00:39:55.433
- That\'s - I had no idea

00:39:55.467 --> 00:39:57.033
that the percentages
were at that level.

00:39:57.067 --> 00:39:58.600
- Yeah, yeah.
2% percent of GDP is what -

00:39:58.633 --> 00:40:03.033
- 2%. Oh, my god.
Oh, my god.

00:40:03.067 --> 00:40:04.700
Ach.

00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:15.900
This is becoming
a very dark journey.

00:40:15.933 --> 00:40:17.967
I learned from Ken
this afternoon

00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:23.433
that within 50 years coral
may be extinct.

00:40:23.467 --> 00:40:26.400
And I\'m sickened
by the realization

00:40:26.433 --> 00:40:29.500
that we may in fact
live some day

00:40:29.533 --> 00:40:32.467
in a world without fish.

00:40:34.533 --> 00:40:36.400
- I came across
this same article.

00:40:36.433 --> 00:40:38.667
I think it\'s The Darkening Sea.
- That\'s the one.

00:40:38.700 --> 00:40:40.400
- I\'m researching for a project,

00:40:40.433 --> 00:40:43.000
which will be the fifth
and the last memorial,

00:40:43.033 --> 00:40:44.333
called Missing.

00:40:44.367 --> 00:40:46.667
It\'s about extinct species.

00:40:46.700 --> 00:40:48.267
It\'s about endangered species.

00:40:48.300 --> 00:40:51.833
But it\'s much more about
the habitats these species need

00:40:51.867 --> 00:40:55.367
to survive above ground
and then below water.

00:40:55.400 --> 00:40:57.000
Like, right here behind us

00:40:57.033 --> 00:40:59.533
is going to be
a permanent installation

00:40:59.567 --> 00:41:03.667
for the California Academy
of Sciences in San Francisco.

00:41:03.700 --> 00:41:06.467
It\'s called Where the Land
Meets the Sea.

00:41:06.500 --> 00:41:08.700
What you\'re looking at
is a model of something

00:41:08.733 --> 00:41:11.133
that will be 40 by 60 feet.

00:41:11.167 --> 00:41:14.300
It will be above your head.

00:41:14.333 --> 00:41:17.433
This is the mouth
of the San Francisco Bay.

00:41:17.467 --> 00:41:20.033
This is Angel Island.
And this is - that\'s -

00:41:20.067 --> 00:41:22.167
- Oh, my.
So this is a topography.

00:41:22.200 --> 00:41:24.433
- This is a topography
of the ocean floor

00:41:24.467 --> 00:41:27.000
and the land terrain
around the mouth

00:41:27.033 --> 00:41:28.900
of the San Francisco Bay.

00:41:28.933 --> 00:41:31.500
- So this is how it\'s gonna be
in the museum?

00:41:31.533 --> 00:41:35.067
- Outside in an outdoor terrace,
floating above you

00:41:35.100 --> 00:41:38.867
about 15 feet above your head.

00:41:38.900 --> 00:41:40.700
I\'m trying to point out,
a little bit,

00:41:40.733 --> 00:41:43.533
these areas in the world that
maybe you\'re not looking at,

00:41:43.567 --> 00:41:45.567
but look again.

00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:54.167
I think we\'re
a very visual creature,

00:41:54.200 --> 00:41:57.067
and therefore, what\'s below
the surface of the water,

00:41:57.100 --> 00:42:00.167
in a sense, becomes invisible,

00:42:00.200 --> 00:42:03.800
and so we\'re not connected
to it.

00:42:03.833 --> 00:42:07.367
What we can\'t see, we pollute

00:42:07.400 --> 00:42:10.667
because we actually
don\'t even see it as existing,

00:42:10.700 --> 00:42:14.733
and, I think, 85% of the world
is underwater.

00:42:14.767 --> 00:42:17.500
- Fantastic.
How did you end up getting that?

00:42:17.533 --> 00:42:19.867
- I actually was doing a piece
called 10 Degrees North.

00:42:19.900 --> 00:42:22.333
Maps are inherently political.
And I made a map.

00:42:22.367 --> 00:42:25.600
But then I had asked
the mapmakers to cut the Earth

00:42:25.633 --> 00:42:28.567
into 52 north-south sections.

00:42:28.600 --> 00:42:32.133
And I was drawn to one section
where there\'s a mountain.

00:42:32.167 --> 00:42:35.600
It\'s the tallest mountain
in the world.

00:42:35.633 --> 00:42:37.833
Guess what it is.

00:42:37.867 --> 00:42:39.900
It\'s Hawaii...
- Hawaii?

00:42:39.933 --> 00:42:41.433
- Because it goes both above

00:42:41.467 --> 00:42:43.133
but then once you go
below sea level,

00:42:43.167 --> 00:42:45.333
it\'s one of our tallest
mountains in the world.

00:42:45.367 --> 00:42:48.900
There we are thinking of Hawaii
as this little point.

00:42:48.933 --> 00:42:50.800
That has always stuck with me,

00:42:50.833 --> 00:42:55.700
that we have no idea
of the complexity of the terrain

00:42:55.733 --> 00:42:58.733
and its beauty underwater,

00:42:58.767 --> 00:43:00.607
and that\'s - we\'re not even
beginning to think

00:43:00.633 --> 00:43:03.000
about the life
that goes along with that.

00:43:03.033 --> 00:43:06.867
And to me, if you look
at the way fish swim,

00:43:06.900 --> 00:43:09.733
the way they move,
it\'s like birds flying.

00:43:10.833 --> 00:43:12.300
And they\'re so equivalent -

00:43:12.333 --> 00:43:14.900
whether it\'s in the air
or whether there in the ocean -

00:43:14.933 --> 00:43:17.033
the beauty of life that is,

00:43:17.067 --> 00:43:20.200
and we\'re not even seeing it.

00:43:20.233 --> 00:43:23.200
[poignant instrumental music]

00:43:23.233 --> 00:43:30.800
♪ ♪

00:44:01.567 --> 00:44:06.567
- [singing nonsense contentedly]

00:44:11.100 --> 00:44:13.067
- Oh, my god.
There are - look over there.

00:44:13.100 --> 00:44:15.333
There\'s one.
That\'s another sea urchin.

00:44:15.367 --> 00:44:16.633
- Yep.

00:44:16.667 --> 00:44:18.867
- Are they sea urchins
or sea anemones? Help me.

00:44:18.900 --> 00:44:20.567
- Those are anemones.
- Boy, oh, boy.

00:44:20.600 --> 00:44:22.300
- Oh, yeah. Hi.

00:44:22.333 --> 00:44:23.967
[squeals]
- Yeah.

00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:25.933
- He almost sticked me
into his mouth.

00:44:25.967 --> 00:44:28.367
- Look at that.
It\'s closing up like that one.

00:44:28.400 --> 00:44:30.533
This is like a jungle in here.

00:44:30.567 --> 00:44:32.967
- I\'m cold.
Can we go inside now?

00:44:36.667 --> 00:44:38.200
- Here comes one.
- [gasps]

00:44:38.233 --> 00:44:41.467
I wish I could touch its tail.
- I know.

00:44:41.500 --> 00:44:44.767
- Ohhh.
- Whooo. Whoo!

00:44:44.800 --> 00:44:46.600
- They look so amazing.
I love....

00:44:46.633 --> 00:44:49.467
- They\'re sort of slippery.
- So cu -

00:44:49.500 --> 00:44:51.933
[gasps, giggles]

00:44:51.967 --> 00:44:53.633
- Oh, my god.

00:44:53.667 --> 00:44:55.433
- [squeals]

00:44:55.467 --> 00:44:57.000
- Did you get him?
Did you touch him?

00:44:57.033 --> 00:45:00.133
- It\'s actually not that -
it\'s actually rough.

00:45:00.167 --> 00:45:01.367
- Really?
- Yeah.

00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:03.800
- Oh, that\'s nice.
- What\'s that?

00:45:03.833 --> 00:45:06.100
- What they call zooplankton.

00:45:06.133 --> 00:45:07.833
- Zooplankton.
- Yeah.

00:45:07.867 --> 00:45:09.400
Plankton are those things
in the sea

00:45:09.433 --> 00:45:12.000
that drift with the currents.

00:45:12.033 --> 00:45:14.733
They don\'t swim by themselves.
- Yeah, I know.

00:45:14.767 --> 00:45:16.667
In fact, actually, krill
is a kind of plankton...

00:45:16.700 --> 00:45:18.133
- That\'s right.
How did you know that?

00:45:18.167 --> 00:45:19.533
- But an enormous kind
of plankton.

00:45:19.567 --> 00:45:20.933
- That\'s true,

00:45:20.967 --> 00:45:23.133
and there are a lot of krill
down by Antarctica.

00:45:23.167 --> 00:45:24.500
- I don\'t know how I knew that.

00:45:27.300 --> 00:45:32.700
- I see, Elias,
that you had a map of Europe.

00:45:32.733 --> 00:45:36.267
Let me show you
where I\'ll be going next.

00:45:36.300 --> 00:45:39.133
It\'s way up north.

00:45:39.167 --> 00:45:42.333
I\'m going to an island
called Svalbard,

00:45:42.367 --> 00:45:44.600
north of Norway.

00:45:44.633 --> 00:45:48.533
Scientists there are doing some
of the most important research

00:45:48.567 --> 00:45:51.567
in the world
on the health of the oceans.

00:45:56.467 --> 00:45:59.700
[airplane engine droning]

00:46:03.533 --> 00:46:07.833
[bird cawing]

00:46:24.733 --> 00:46:27.600
Ny Alesund is a community
of scientists

00:46:27.633 --> 00:46:29.600
from all over the world.

00:46:29.633 --> 00:46:31.233
They come here to take advantage

00:46:31.267 --> 00:46:33.600
of the cold and cleaner
ocean conditions

00:46:33.633 --> 00:46:37.900
that they find
in the Arctic regions.

00:46:42.567 --> 00:46:46.800
It\'s hardly possible
to find a permanent settlement

00:46:46.833 --> 00:46:48.833
further north in the world.

00:46:48.867 --> 00:46:52.033
- When I flew in here,
I got on that small plane -

00:46:52.067 --> 00:46:53.733
I think there were 14 of us -

00:46:53.767 --> 00:46:55.767
and I felt I\'d come
to the United Nations.

00:46:55.800 --> 00:46:57.033
- Yeah.

00:46:57.067 --> 00:46:59.133
- I mean, there were people
from all over the world.

00:46:59.167 --> 00:47:01.933
- Yeah, we have around
20 nations each year.

00:47:01.967 --> 00:47:04.900
That creates
a very good exchange

00:47:04.933 --> 00:47:08.367
of scientific knowledge.

00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:12.400
- We are part of the first
Arctic expedition from India.

00:47:12.433 --> 00:47:15.133
You know, a lot is known
about our country.

00:47:15.167 --> 00:47:17.567
It\'s known
for its beautiful woman.

00:47:17.600 --> 00:47:19.800
It\'s known for its spicy food

00:47:19.833 --> 00:47:23.367
and definitely known for
its very, very hot temperatures.

00:47:23.400 --> 00:47:24.767
But very little is known

00:47:24.800 --> 00:47:28.300
that we also have
the Himalayan mountain ranges,

00:47:28.333 --> 00:47:31.067
and these ranges
are full of glaciers.

00:47:31.100 --> 00:47:34.433
And approaching the Himalayas
is no small joke.

00:47:34.467 --> 00:47:36.833
It is extremely difficult

00:47:36.867 --> 00:47:39.200
to trek up
to the Himalayan glaciers

00:47:39.233 --> 00:47:42.767
compared to going to the Arctic
or the Antarctic.

00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:44.900
- Because everybody knows
that if you want to study

00:47:44.933 --> 00:47:46.600
the melting of the glaciers,

00:47:46.633 --> 00:47:48.467
possibly the Arctic
is the best place.

00:47:48.500 --> 00:47:51.000
Most of the glaciers
that we were observing,

00:47:51.033 --> 00:47:52.833
they have receded
at an average rate

00:47:52.867 --> 00:47:55.233
of seven meters in one decade.

00:47:55.267 --> 00:47:57.500
And the glaciers
in the Himalayas

00:47:57.533 --> 00:47:59.667
are receding
at a much faster rate.

00:48:03.600 --> 00:48:06.033
- What do you got?
This morning\'s catch?

00:48:06.067 --> 00:48:09.500
- No, we\'re - we\'re bringing
in clean seawater,

00:48:09.533 --> 00:48:11.333
because we\'ve got
some experiments running,

00:48:11.367 --> 00:48:14.167
and we have to keep the animals
nice and clean.

00:48:14.200 --> 00:48:16.000
- Any chance
I can tag along and see?

00:48:16.033 --> 00:48:17.400
- Yeah, for sure.
Come, have a look.

00:48:17.433 --> 00:48:18.567
- Whoa!
- Thank you very much.

00:48:18.600 --> 00:48:19.733
- Terrific.
- Hold the tray.

00:48:19.767 --> 00:48:21.433
- Okay.

00:48:25.900 --> 00:48:28.567
- Try that one.
- We\'ve got five or six species.

00:48:28.600 --> 00:48:30.867
We\'re measuring
their metabolic rates.

00:48:30.900 --> 00:48:33.000
So we\'re measuring
how much they breathe.

00:48:33.033 --> 00:48:34.367
Respiration rate is a measure

00:48:34.400 --> 00:48:36.533
of the cost of living
to the animal.

00:48:36.567 --> 00:48:39.533
So for instance, if we were
to struggle for a mate

00:48:39.567 --> 00:48:43.100
and you and I had to fight
for a mate, it all costs energy.

00:48:43.133 --> 00:48:45.233
You can measure that in
a metabolic rate of the animal.

00:48:45.267 --> 00:48:47.933
You can measure that
in the oxygen it consumes, so -

00:48:47.967 --> 00:48:50.133
- So the more it\'s fighting,
the more oxygen it consumes.

00:48:50.167 --> 00:48:51.233
- Absolutely.

00:48:51.267 --> 00:48:53.700
Now, the more acid
the seawater goes,

00:48:53.733 --> 00:48:55.600
the harder the animals
have to work

00:48:55.633 --> 00:48:57.133
to make their skeletons.

00:48:57.167 --> 00:49:00.667
- I actually met a woman,
and she had put a baby tooth

00:49:00.700 --> 00:49:04.000
in cola, which had a pH of 2.

00:49:04.033 --> 00:49:05.967
- And the cola dissolves things
real fast.

00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:07.567
- Unbelievable.
- Yeah, yeah.

00:49:07.600 --> 00:49:10.067
Well, we\'re never gonna get
seawater with a pH of 2.

00:49:10.100 --> 00:49:11.667
I mean, that you can
be pretty certain of.

00:49:11.700 --> 00:49:13.733
So we\'re never gonna have
oceans of Coke.

00:49:13.767 --> 00:49:17.167
That\'s just not gonna happen.
[both chuckle]

00:49:17.200 --> 00:49:19.833
What we\'re going to have
is the equivalent of, say,

00:49:19.867 --> 00:49:22.900
your bathtub
with a can of Coke in it.

00:49:22.933 --> 00:49:25.500
We know there
are certain levels of pH

00:49:25.533 --> 00:49:28.100
that some animals,
called foraminiferans -

00:49:28.133 --> 00:49:31.100
we know they can\'t cope with
a fairly small change in pH.

00:49:31.133 --> 00:49:34.133
They are one of the animals
that lives ubiquitously

00:49:34.167 --> 00:49:35.567
around the planet,

00:49:35.600 --> 00:49:37.400
and they\'re very important
in the ecosystem.

00:49:37.433 --> 00:49:40.900
If they go out, it has
ecosystem-wide consequences.

00:49:40.933 --> 00:49:43.333
- At what point
do scientists feel

00:49:43.367 --> 00:49:46.067
it\'s time to raise
some kind of alarm?

00:49:46.100 --> 00:49:47.400
- The vast majority
of scientists

00:49:47.433 --> 00:49:48.967
think we\'re already
past the point

00:49:49.000 --> 00:49:51.400
whereby we should be concerned
and we should worry.

00:49:51.433 --> 00:49:53.433
I think
we\'ve gone past the point now

00:49:53.467 --> 00:49:57.267
whereby we can avoid losing
significant species.

00:49:57.300 --> 00:49:59.500
We might even see something
that would remove humans

00:49:59.533 --> 00:50:01.467
from the planet.

00:50:01.500 --> 00:50:02.733
That\'s the threat:

00:50:02.767 --> 00:50:05.467
it\'s the threat
to our own services.

00:50:05.500 --> 00:50:08.167
If you\'re -
if you\'re not even concerned

00:50:08.200 --> 00:50:10.700
about what we\'re doing
to other animals on Earth,

00:50:10.733 --> 00:50:12.767
there is a threat
to humans here.

00:50:12.800 --> 00:50:14.500
Some scientists
think that\'s coming

00:50:14.533 --> 00:50:16.467
within the next 30 to 50 years.

00:50:16.500 --> 00:50:18.633
Some scientists think it\'s
coming in the next 100 years.

00:50:18.667 --> 00:50:20.367
Some scientists
think it\'s not coming

00:50:20.400 --> 00:50:24.333
for 200 to 300 years,
but it\'s coming.

00:50:24.367 --> 00:50:27.133
- What would you say to someone
like my friend at home

00:50:27.167 --> 00:50:30.167
who says, \"God will take care
of these things,

00:50:30.200 --> 00:50:33.333
and I shouldn\'t get so upset
and worry about it so much\"?

00:50:33.367 --> 00:50:35.533
- The argument I have
with that is,

00:50:35.567 --> 00:50:37.167
if you were to go into heaven

00:50:37.200 --> 00:50:39.267
and you had stabbed somebody
to death,

00:50:39.300 --> 00:50:41.267
God would not look kindly
on you.

00:50:41.300 --> 00:50:42.433
- I would hope not.

00:50:42.467 --> 00:50:43.700
- If you go to heaven

00:50:43.733 --> 00:50:46.000
and you\'ve ignored
climate change

00:50:46.033 --> 00:50:48.400
and you\'ve killed
50 million people in Asia

00:50:48.433 --> 00:50:50.733
because you\'ve ignored it,
because sea level\'s risen

00:50:50.767 --> 00:50:54.067
and they\'ve died,
are you not equally culpable?

00:50:54.100 --> 00:50:56.067
- I think so.
- I think so too.

00:50:57.533 --> 00:50:59.033
Yeah, I\'ve not really
been helping you

00:50:59.067 --> 00:51:01.700
as much as I should, am I?

00:51:01.733 --> 00:51:03.367
- Situation normal.
- Yeah, okay.

00:51:03.400 --> 00:51:05.600
[laughter]

00:51:07.700 --> 00:51:09.700
- How are you?
- Good.

00:51:16.100 --> 00:51:19.200
- [speaking Norwegian]

00:51:23.500 --> 00:51:25.467
- If you want to see
our sampling work,

00:51:25.500 --> 00:51:27.433
we\'re taking a boat out
tomorrow,

00:51:27.467 --> 00:51:29.133
and you\'re very welcome
to come and join us.

00:51:29.167 --> 00:51:30.567
- I would love to do that.

00:51:30.600 --> 00:51:32.900
- So we can take a trip to the -
towards the glaciers

00:51:32.933 --> 00:51:35.300
to get an idea of the amount
of carbon that\'s coming in.

00:51:35.333 --> 00:51:38.433
And you can get kitted up
in your survival suit.

00:51:38.467 --> 00:51:40.433
- Okay.
- Then we\'ll go and get a gun.

00:51:40.467 --> 00:51:43.333
- And - a gun?
Why do we need a gun?

00:51:43.367 --> 00:51:45.100
- There\'s polar bears here,
so we have to be -

00:51:45.133 --> 00:51:47.900
- Polar bears?
- We have to be prepared.

00:51:47.933 --> 00:51:50.100
- Okay, well, let\'s -

00:51:50.133 --> 00:51:52.867
- No, but there\'s - there\'s not
too many polar bears around,

00:51:52.900 --> 00:51:55.367
but there was one spotted
that way.

00:51:55.400 --> 00:51:58.800
- Okay, I guess, I\'ll learn
more about that tomorrow.

00:51:58.833 --> 00:52:00.200
- Okay, then.
- Okay.

00:52:00.233 --> 00:52:03.533
[whimsical instrumental music]

00:52:03.567 --> 00:52:11.567
♪ ♪

00:52:29.767 --> 00:52:33.000
[distant cracking sound]

00:52:35.233 --> 00:52:38.733
[deep booming sounds]
- Oh, yeah.

00:52:40.900 --> 00:52:42.567
- Sounds like dynamite.

00:52:44.533 --> 00:52:48.133
- Holy cow. Oh, my god.

00:52:52.067 --> 00:52:53.367
- Yeah, you see
the glacier here?

00:52:53.400 --> 00:52:55.067
You see, it\'s alive;
it\'s moving,

00:52:55.100 --> 00:52:56.567
and it\'s breaking off constantly

00:52:56.600 --> 00:52:58.200
because the whole Earth
is warming up,

00:52:58.233 --> 00:52:59.533
and one of the easiest -

00:52:59.567 --> 00:53:01.567
one of the first things
you can see is,

00:53:01.600 --> 00:53:04.100
is when all the glaciers
keep on regressing.

00:53:04.133 --> 00:53:05.967
So this is a -

00:53:06.000 --> 00:53:11.167
it\'s a very visual proof
of the global warming, so...

00:53:11.200 --> 00:53:13.300
Well, we are here
to see what it\'s all about.

00:53:19.733 --> 00:53:24.300
- For years, I\'d been hearing
about the shrinking glaciers.

00:53:26.700 --> 00:53:30.467
But not until these huge,
building-like pieces

00:53:30.500 --> 00:53:32.967
were falling off the edge
of the glacier

00:53:33.000 --> 00:53:36.000
every five minutes

00:53:36.033 --> 00:53:38.967
did I begin to wonder
how it was affecting

00:53:39.000 --> 00:53:42.000
the many creatures
below the surface.

00:53:44.900 --> 00:53:47.967
[woman singing melancholy song
in Norwegian]

00:53:48.000 --> 00:53:56.000
♪ ♪

00:54:39.567 --> 00:54:45.233
- \"Dear Elias, last night,
we had a real adventure.

00:54:45.267 --> 00:54:48.700
\"And now I\'m a bit exhausted.

00:54:48.733 --> 00:54:51.100
\"I\'m looking forward
to some time to rest

00:54:51.133 --> 00:54:54.967
\"and to collect my thoughts.

00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:58.133
\"The other day, I learned
that the chemistry of our blood

00:54:58.167 --> 00:55:02.267
\"is similar to the chemistry
of our oceans.

00:55:02.300 --> 00:55:07.600
\"We actually have saltwater
running in our veins.

00:55:07.633 --> 00:55:11.400
Maybe we are more like fish
than we realize.\"

00:55:11.433 --> 00:55:14.400
[poignant instrumental music]

00:55:14.433 --> 00:55:21.067
♪ ♪

00:55:21.100 --> 00:55:24.100
[Elias giggling]

00:55:57.033 --> 00:56:00.700
[Elias giggling]

00:56:00.733 --> 00:56:01.867
- You got me.

00:56:01.900 --> 00:56:03.867
- [laughs]
- Oh.

00:56:05.667 --> 00:56:08.633
[pleasant instrumental music]

00:56:08.667 --> 00:56:16.667
♪ ♪

00:56:18.800 --> 00:56:22.100
After all that I had seen
up in Svalbard,

00:56:22.133 --> 00:56:25.533
I was eager to head south
to visit my dear friend Rolf

00:56:25.567 --> 00:56:29.300
who is one of the wisest men
I\'ve ever known.

00:56:29.333 --> 00:56:32.567
His heritage goes back
to the indigenous Sami people

00:56:32.600 --> 00:56:34.633
of northern Norway.

00:56:34.667 --> 00:56:37.167
[both speaking Norwegian]

00:56:46.600 --> 00:56:48.667
Rolf and his wife, Gro,

00:56:48.700 --> 00:56:51.867
took me to a nearly abandoned
fishing community

00:56:51.900 --> 00:56:54.633
where they now had
a small summer cottage

00:56:54.667 --> 00:56:59.300
looking out
onto the Arctic Ocean.

00:56:59.333 --> 00:57:02.100
It is so beautiful up here.
Somebody did live here once.

00:57:02.133 --> 00:57:04.500
- Absolutely. Yes.

00:57:04.533 --> 00:57:07.867
- They came here because
there was always food here

00:57:07.900 --> 00:57:09.667
in the ocean.

00:57:09.700 --> 00:57:12.567
There has never been
a famine here, never in history.

00:57:12.600 --> 00:57:13.700
- Incredible.

00:57:13.733 --> 00:57:15.800
Hundreds of miles
north of the Arctic Circle,

00:57:15.833 --> 00:57:18.000
this is not
what I expected to find...

00:57:18.033 --> 00:57:20.000
- [laughs]
- Not what I expected to find.

00:57:20.033 --> 00:57:23.067
- Don\'t tell people.
- Okay, okay, okay.

00:57:23.100 --> 00:57:25.067
- Then they will all come.

00:57:25.100 --> 00:57:27.767
- I would love to get
your thoughts a little bit

00:57:27.800 --> 00:57:29.600
about changes that we\'re seeing.

00:57:29.633 --> 00:57:31.900
What do you think\'s going on?

00:57:31.933 --> 00:57:34.067
- Well, I\'m certainly not
an expert on this, you know.

00:57:34.100 --> 00:57:37.267
I\'m a scientist all right
but not in this field.

00:57:37.300 --> 00:57:39.600
And I think if you believe
at all in science,

00:57:39.633 --> 00:57:42.400
you have to realize that
the Earth is getting warmer.

00:57:42.433 --> 00:57:43.967
No question about that.

00:57:44.000 --> 00:57:47.833
So who is the culprit?
You know, who is the sinner?

00:57:47.867 --> 00:57:50.667
And we know
we have contributed to this,

00:57:50.700 --> 00:57:52.133
but we also know another thing,

00:57:52.167 --> 00:57:55.767
and that is that,
climate changes, we have had

00:57:55.800 --> 00:58:00.267
for thousands
and thousands of years,

00:58:00.300 --> 00:58:02.267
so that you have
all these big waves,

00:58:02.300 --> 00:58:05.333
and you can\'t do anything
with the big wave.

00:58:05.367 --> 00:58:07.933
We can adapt to them,
but that\'s all we can do.

00:58:07.967 --> 00:58:11.533
What we can do is
to stop to producing extra CO2

00:58:11.567 --> 00:58:12.867
and all that.

00:58:12.900 --> 00:58:14.433
But I doubt that we can do that

00:58:14.467 --> 00:58:18.067
because it takes an enormous
discipline world over.

00:58:18.100 --> 00:58:19.567
So I think
it would be much better

00:58:19.600 --> 00:58:23.567
if we could start looking
for new energy sources:

00:58:23.600 --> 00:58:27.833
solar energy, which would,
of course, be probably the best

00:58:27.867 --> 00:58:30.900
in large parts of the world;
maybe not here.

00:58:30.933 --> 00:58:33.467
But then you have
geothermal energy.

00:58:33.500 --> 00:58:35.233
I think I -
I believe a lot in that.

00:58:35.267 --> 00:58:39.400
Then we can use that time gap -
- Yeah.

00:58:39.433 --> 00:58:43.967
- The gap there that -
the time we get in that way,

00:58:44.000 --> 00:58:46.833
we can use that
to teach ourselves

00:58:46.867 --> 00:58:49.667
to live on this planet
without destroying it.

00:58:53.167 --> 00:58:56.600
[pensive instrumental music]

00:58:56.633 --> 00:59:04.633
♪ ♪

00:59:20.533 --> 00:59:22.967
- Time...

00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:24.733
How much time do we have?

00:59:27.767 --> 00:59:30.633
It\'s clear,
with the issue of carbon

00:59:30.667 --> 00:59:32.400
and the health of the oceans,

00:59:32.433 --> 00:59:35.533
the time is getting shorter
and shorter.

00:59:43.467 --> 00:59:47.733
I came south to Bergen
and the village of Os

00:59:47.767 --> 00:59:52.367
to my favorite hotel, Solstrand,
on the Bjørnefjord,

00:59:52.400 --> 00:59:55.000
where I first came
on my honeymoon

00:59:55.033 --> 00:59:58.233
and then came back
for my 60th birthday

00:59:58.267 --> 01:00:02.067
with Elias
when he was just a toddler.

01:00:05.733 --> 01:00:08.233
I keep thinking about him,

01:00:08.267 --> 01:00:12.200
and I certainly want him to have
the same sense of time

01:00:12.233 --> 01:00:14.333
as his life takes shape

01:00:14.367 --> 01:00:18.767
that I have so taken for granted
in my own.

01:00:37.667 --> 01:00:40.200
It\'s like growing up in
the fish store all over again.

01:00:40.233 --> 01:00:41.367
[laughs]

01:00:41.400 --> 01:00:44.367
Talk about memories.

01:00:44.400 --> 01:00:48.833
It brings back lots of memories,
lots of memories.

01:00:50.467 --> 01:00:52.500
The bounty of the sea.

01:00:52.533 --> 01:00:54.767
That\'s what it was all about:

01:00:54.800 --> 01:00:59.000
the endless bounty of the sea.

01:01:05.833 --> 01:01:09.133
Having grown up on fish,
it wasn\'t anything like this.

01:01:09.167 --> 01:01:11.100
It was just boiled and boiled,

01:01:11.133 --> 01:01:14.067
with some white potatoes
and some white cauliflower

01:01:14.100 --> 01:01:16.700
and some white sauce
on a white plate.

01:01:16.733 --> 01:01:17.733
Things have changed.

01:01:17.767 --> 01:01:20.533
Oh, my goodness.
Thank you.

01:01:20.567 --> 01:01:22.667
Thank you so much.
- [chuckles] Yes.

01:01:29.467 --> 01:01:32.767
- \"I\'m sitting here
at the Solstrand Hotel,

01:01:32.800 --> 01:01:35.033
\"where you came to visit.

01:01:35.067 --> 01:01:40.267
\"You may not remember that,
but it\'s a very special place.

01:01:40.300 --> 01:01:43.667
\"It was built in 1896

01:01:43.700 --> 01:01:47.533
\"by the man who was to become
Norway\'s first prime minister.

01:01:47.567 --> 01:01:52.767
\"I\'ve known for a long time
about its rich history,

01:01:52.800 --> 01:01:55.867
\"but what I didn\'t know
was that it actually

01:01:55.900 --> 01:01:58.467
is on the cutting edge
of the future.\"

01:02:07.367 --> 01:02:10.800
- Yes, that\'s true.
- That\'s amazing.

01:02:10.833 --> 01:02:12.267
I\'m still reeling

01:02:12.300 --> 01:02:14.700
from what I really didn\'t think
was possible,

01:02:14.733 --> 01:02:19.267
that you can take the heat
out of the ocean

01:02:19.300 --> 01:02:22.633
and heat this entire complex.

01:02:22.667 --> 01:02:25.000
I find it almost miraculous.
- Yes.

01:02:25.033 --> 01:02:28.167
[speaking English]

01:02:28.200 --> 01:02:29.533
- Yeah.

01:02:36.667 --> 01:02:38.867
- Again from the ocean?
- Again from the ocean.

01:02:38.900 --> 01:02:40.867
- You have plenty
of raw material out here.

01:02:40.900 --> 01:02:44.267
- It is.
- [laughs]

01:02:55.700 --> 01:02:56.833
- Extraordinary.

01:02:56.867 --> 01:03:00.500
So really this solution
would be available

01:03:00.533 --> 01:03:02.333
along coastlines anywhere.

01:03:02.367 --> 01:03:04.333
- Yes, yes.
- Is this Norwegian machinery?

01:03:07.667 --> 01:03:10.233
- So this is something that
we could do in the States...

01:03:10.267 --> 01:03:11.367
- Yes.

01:03:11.400 --> 01:03:13.433
- Just as readily
as it\'s done here.

01:03:13.467 --> 01:03:16.133
I\'ve never heard of it
in the States.

01:03:21.167 --> 01:03:24.500
There is a real irony here.

01:03:24.533 --> 01:03:27.167
The very elements
that buffeted Norway

01:03:27.200 --> 01:03:32.033
for thousands of years
and made it nearly uninhabitable

01:03:32.067 --> 01:03:35.600
may in fact be the same ones
that will allow humans

01:03:35.633 --> 01:03:38.600
to live here
in a sustainable way.

01:03:41.033 --> 01:03:42.167
Hmm.

01:03:45.133 --> 01:03:48.133
Giant, floating wind generators

01:03:48.167 --> 01:03:50.100
are to be placed
in the North Sea,

01:03:50.133 --> 01:03:54.133
where the winds are strong
and constant.

01:04:03.867 --> 01:04:06.333
Look at the wind
bringing the power of the waves

01:04:06.367 --> 01:04:09.067
right across the rocks
out there.

01:04:13.333 --> 01:04:15.500
[speaking English]

01:04:21.833 --> 01:04:23.400
- I can\'t just see it;
I can feel it.

01:04:23.433 --> 01:04:24.767
- You can feel it.

01:04:31.333 --> 01:04:34.133
- So this would produce
electricity.

01:04:34.167 --> 01:04:38.333
There would be
no carbon dioxide generated.

01:04:42.267 --> 01:04:43.667
- And it feels,
standing right here,

01:04:43.700 --> 01:04:45.433
like there\'s enough wind
to go around.

01:04:45.467 --> 01:04:48.600
And the - and is it always
like this out here?

01:05:06.867 --> 01:05:08.400
- Are these kinds
of wind conditions

01:05:08.433 --> 01:05:09.667
something that you would see

01:05:09.700 --> 01:05:12.200
off the coast
of the United States as well,

01:05:12.233 --> 01:05:13.833
or is this unique to Norway?

01:05:28.167 --> 01:05:30.733
- How did you come -
what made you interested in wind

01:05:30.767 --> 01:05:32.833
or wind power?

01:05:32.867 --> 01:05:35.833
[speaking English]

01:05:49.100 --> 01:05:50.667
- So what are your dreams?

01:05:50.700 --> 01:05:52.933
What would you like to see
five years down the road,

01:05:52.967 --> 01:05:54.567
ten years down the road?

01:06:00.933 --> 01:06:02.900
- I will be here.

01:06:18.533 --> 01:06:20.000
- That\'s extraordinary.

01:06:35.867 --> 01:06:38.167
- Why is it so hard
to make it happen?

01:06:38.200 --> 01:06:40.467
- [chuckles] That\'s hard to say.

01:06:48.533 --> 01:06:51.000
- That seems like
such a small step to take.

01:07:06.100 --> 01:07:08.433
- It\'s not a matter of money;
it\'s a matter of will.

01:07:08.467 --> 01:07:09.767
- I think so.

01:07:14.700 --> 01:07:16.633
[engine revs]

01:07:16.667 --> 01:07:19.633
[up-tempo surf rock music]

01:07:19.667 --> 01:07:27.667
♪ ♪

01:07:29.633 --> 01:07:32.100
- \"It feels so good to be home,
Elias.

01:07:32.133 --> 01:07:36.333
\"I\'m really excited
by what I saw in Norway.

01:07:36.367 --> 01:07:39.100
\"And what I learned
was that right here,

01:07:39.133 --> 01:07:40.467
\"we have the materials in hand

01:07:40.500 --> 01:07:43.000
\"to make
all kinds of things happen.

01:07:43.033 --> 01:07:46.267
\"I mean, we are after all
a country that is famous

01:07:46.300 --> 01:07:50.333
\"for its inventiveness,
its innovation.

01:07:50.367 --> 01:07:52.767
\"I want to see
what is already happening here

01:07:52.800 --> 01:07:54.833
to move us
in the right direction.\"

01:08:01.133 --> 01:08:02.900
- Well, today\'s hearing
is focused primarily

01:08:02.933 --> 01:08:05.200
on the issue of increasing
acidification of the oceans

01:08:05.233 --> 01:08:08.167
and the impact
on living marine resources.

01:08:08.200 --> 01:08:11.367
My point is straightforward:
the time to act is now.

01:08:11.400 --> 01:08:13.500
The urgency of the need
for action is highlighted

01:08:13.533 --> 01:08:17.000
by growing concern over impacts
associated with climate change

01:08:17.033 --> 01:08:19.300
and ocean\'s role in the process.

01:08:19.333 --> 01:08:21.600
Yet progress
towards this goal is limited

01:08:21.633 --> 01:08:23.700
and appears
to be moving backwards.

01:08:23.733 --> 01:08:26.500
Is science important
to the administration or not?

01:08:26.533 --> 01:08:27.700
I don\'t think so.

01:08:39.433 --> 01:08:42.400
- We learned in the \'60s
the power of the government

01:08:42.433 --> 01:08:45.233
to resist the will of many.

01:08:45.267 --> 01:08:47.000
But we also came to understand

01:08:47.033 --> 01:08:49.300
that creative
and strategic thinking

01:08:49.333 --> 01:08:53.067
could move us
in a new direction.

01:08:53.100 --> 01:08:55.333
You are involved
in this whole matter

01:08:55.367 --> 01:08:57.400
of trying to hold
the government accountable.

01:08:57.433 --> 01:09:00.367
- When I learned
about ocean acidification,

01:09:00.400 --> 01:09:02.567
it became all that
I could think about.

01:09:02.600 --> 01:09:03.900
- I know the feeling.
- [laughs]

01:09:03.933 --> 01:09:05.367
- Believe me,
I know the feeling.

01:09:05.400 --> 01:09:07.300
It\'s not hard
to start getting depressed.

01:09:07.333 --> 01:09:08.633
It\'s not hard to lie there

01:09:08.667 --> 01:09:11.000
and have a hard time
going to sleep at night.

01:09:11.033 --> 01:09:13.867
Yet what I hear from you
is a certain hopefulness.

01:09:13.900 --> 01:09:16.900
What are signs out there that
there is some hopefulness here?

01:09:16.933 --> 01:09:18.900
- I am definitely
an optimistic person.

01:09:18.933 --> 01:09:23.633
And I think that one
of the opportunities we have

01:09:23.667 --> 01:09:27.700
is that it really isn\'t too late
to solve these problems

01:09:27.733 --> 01:09:31.000
and to come up with
personal responsibility

01:09:31.033 --> 01:09:34.133
as well as political
and legal solutions.

01:09:34.167 --> 01:09:36.533
So a lot of the work
that we do at the center

01:09:36.567 --> 01:09:40.500
is focused on sort of legal
and policy strategies.

01:09:40.533 --> 01:09:43.900
And right now, there aren\'t
really any national regulations

01:09:43.933 --> 01:09:45.433
on carbon dioxide emissions.

01:09:45.467 --> 01:09:48.200
And so we thought, \"Well,
what are the other tools

01:09:48.233 --> 01:09:50.867
that we have out there
to help us?\"

01:09:55.200 --> 01:09:57.133
We found that
the Clean Water Act -

01:09:57.167 --> 01:09:59.100
it\'s really
the nation\'s strongest law

01:09:59.133 --> 01:10:01.033
protecting water quality

01:10:01.067 --> 01:10:03.500
\'cause right now,
the Clean Water Act,

01:10:03.533 --> 01:10:07.900
it already lists pH changes
as a pollution problem.

01:10:07.933 --> 01:10:09.967
And right now, we have one
of the most serious threats

01:10:10.000 --> 01:10:11.433
to water quality.

01:10:11.467 --> 01:10:14.833
And so we have asked all these
different coastal states

01:10:14.867 --> 01:10:16.667
to place their ocean waters

01:10:16.700 --> 01:10:18.700
on the list
of impaired water bodies

01:10:18.733 --> 01:10:20.567
because of ocean acidification.

01:10:20.600 --> 01:10:24.000
And once these water bodies
are listed,

01:10:24.033 --> 01:10:25.800
states are then required
to take actions

01:10:25.833 --> 01:10:27.933
to limit the pollutants
causing the problem.

01:10:27.967 --> 01:10:30.867
We use the Endangered
Species Act as well,

01:10:30.900 --> 01:10:35.700
which is probably our nation\'s
strongest environmental law.

01:10:37.167 --> 01:10:39.167
Right now, the science is there.

01:10:39.200 --> 01:10:41.167
If the political will
is not there yet,

01:10:41.200 --> 01:10:44.000
we\'re gonna keep on them
until they recognize

01:10:44.033 --> 01:10:47.367
that this really is an issue
that needs to be addressed.

01:10:50.467 --> 01:10:52.700
- I work in the area of
socially responsible investing

01:10:52.733 --> 01:10:54.567
and basically
using the capital markets

01:10:54.600 --> 01:10:55.933
to create social change.

01:10:55.967 --> 01:10:57.100
- Aha. Okay.

01:10:57.133 --> 01:10:59.867
- Clean technology
will most likely eclipse

01:10:59.900 --> 01:11:02.000
information technology
for the 21st Century:

01:11:02.033 --> 01:11:03.300
the new industry.

01:11:03.333 --> 01:11:05.600
But it\'s all going to focused
around the idea

01:11:05.633 --> 01:11:07.900
that if you lower
the carbon output of something,

01:11:07.933 --> 01:11:09.233
it\'s going to be more valuable,

01:11:09.267 --> 01:11:11.700
and that is a technology
that then you could export.

01:11:11.733 --> 01:11:15.100
- Who\'s making this happen?
Who\'s driving it?

01:11:15.133 --> 01:11:16.667
- It\'s people
who are in the solar industry.

01:11:16.700 --> 01:11:17.933
It\'s the wind industry.

01:11:17.967 --> 01:11:19.600
It\'s people who can take
advantage of the fact

01:11:19.633 --> 01:11:21.067
that they\'re not
putting carbon out.

01:11:21.100 --> 01:11:23.500
It\'s these types of technologies
that we can develop.

01:11:23.533 --> 01:11:25.700
- Are we the ones
that are gonna be doing that,

01:11:25.733 --> 01:11:28.000
or is China gonna
beat us to it and -

01:11:28.033 --> 01:11:29.933
- Well, if -
yeah, that\'s a great question.

01:11:29.967 --> 01:11:31.867
If we don\'t do it,
the Chinese, the Europeans,

01:11:31.900 --> 01:11:33.533
and the Japanese will do it.

01:11:33.567 --> 01:11:35.967
We need another piston
to our economic cylinder.

01:11:36.000 --> 01:11:38.167
- What\'s giving investors
the confidence?

01:11:38.200 --> 01:11:39.433
This seems pretty high risk

01:11:39.467 --> 01:11:40.967
because, you know,
this is new ground.

01:11:41.000 --> 01:11:42.300
- But it\'s changed.

01:11:42.333 --> 01:11:44.233
There\'s a shift that\'s
taken place politically.

01:11:44.267 --> 01:11:45.507
I think people are seeing that.

01:11:45.533 --> 01:11:48.200
Wall Street cares
about one thing: making money.

01:11:48.233 --> 01:11:49.467
- Return, yeah.
- Right.

01:11:49.500 --> 01:11:53.433
- And it can go down
the alleyway of exploitation

01:11:53.467 --> 01:11:55.900
as easily it goes down
the alleyway of innovation

01:11:55.933 --> 01:11:57.367
and sustainability.

01:11:57.400 --> 01:11:59.500
If you can show that they\'ll
make more money doing that,

01:11:59.533 --> 01:12:01.100
they\'ll go down that alleyway.

01:12:01.133 --> 01:12:03.200
If you show them they\'ll make
more money doing exploitation,

01:12:03.233 --> 01:12:04.533
you say,
\"Here, boy go down the\" -

01:12:04.567 --> 01:12:06.067
It\'s like a dog chasing a bone.
\"Here you go.

01:12:06.100 --> 01:12:08.200
Go get the bone down
the alleyway of sustainability.\"

01:12:08.233 --> 01:12:09.733
As far
as capital investment goes,

01:12:09.767 --> 01:12:11.433
where do you want to invest
your money:

01:12:11.467 --> 01:12:13.867
with a company that deals with
environmental sustainability,

01:12:13.900 --> 01:12:15.667
or do you want one
that\'s gonna produce a toxic

01:12:15.700 --> 01:12:17.067
that you then
have to watch that toxic

01:12:17.100 --> 01:12:20.167
for 10, 20, 40, 100 years?

01:12:20.200 --> 01:12:21.767
I\'d rather invest -
- It\'s a no-brainer.

01:12:21.800 --> 01:12:23.200
- It\'s a no-brainer.
- [laughs]

01:12:34.400 --> 01:12:36.500
- I feel the same kind
of excitement -

01:12:36.533 --> 01:12:37.900
and I still feel it -

01:12:37.933 --> 01:12:40.633
as when I went to my first
major league baseball game.

01:12:40.667 --> 01:12:42.067
What am I seeing?
- Yeah.

01:12:42.100 --> 01:12:46.400
So welcome to the largest
single corporate

01:12:46.433 --> 01:12:49.767
solar installation
in U.S. history.

01:12:49.800 --> 01:12:51.100
This is a tiny fraction.

01:12:51.133 --> 01:12:53.233
Even if we look at all
of the roofs around us,

01:12:53.267 --> 01:12:56.100
this is just a tiny fraction
of what\'s been installed here,

01:12:56.133 --> 01:13:00.933
but it\'s a total of about
1.6 megawatts AC power.

01:13:00.967 --> 01:13:04.233
These installations cross
seven acres of solar panels

01:13:04.267 --> 01:13:07.067
powering about 30% of
the total load here at Google.

01:13:07.100 --> 01:13:10.367
- So tell me this again,
Andrew, so I really can -

01:13:10.400 --> 01:13:12.367
it takes a little longer
at my age.

01:13:12.400 --> 01:13:16.333
This is 1.6 megawatts
of AC power...

01:13:16.367 --> 01:13:17.667
- That\'s right.

01:13:17.700 --> 01:13:20.067
- And it\'s 30% of all
the power used by Google?

01:13:20.100 --> 01:13:21.400
- That\'s right.
[chuckles]

01:13:21.433 --> 01:13:23.300
Oh, my god.
You know, my dream -

01:13:23.333 --> 01:13:27.033
I look at this Google-colored
rainbow here at Google,

01:13:27.067 --> 01:13:31.500
and, you know, my dream
is that something like this

01:13:31.533 --> 01:13:33.000
were available for everyone.

01:13:33.033 --> 01:13:35.900
Is this just us, Andrew?

01:13:35.933 --> 01:13:39.500
Is this essentially something
that we can achieve

01:13:39.533 --> 01:13:40.933
here in the United States,

01:13:40.967 --> 01:13:44.967
or are other parts of the world
looking at similar technology?

01:13:45.000 --> 01:13:46.867
- Right now,
the U.S. is not the leader.

01:13:46.900 --> 01:13:50.000
Right now, the largest markets
are Germany and Japan,

01:13:50.033 --> 01:13:52.500
and Spain is even larger
than the U.S. this year.

01:13:52.533 --> 01:13:53.633
- I had no idea.

01:13:53.667 --> 01:13:55.100
- And so the United States
is actually

01:13:55.133 --> 01:13:56.800
sort of behind the curve
on this one.

01:13:56.833 --> 01:13:58.800
And if you look at a map
of the world,

01:13:58.833 --> 01:14:03.233
there are two places that have
extraordinary solar insolation,

01:14:03.267 --> 01:14:05.167
the amount of light
hitting a given patch of land.

01:14:05.200 --> 01:14:06.867
Those two places
are the United States

01:14:06.900 --> 01:14:08.633
and sub-Saharan Africa.

01:14:08.667 --> 01:14:10.767
The United States has a lot
of solar opportunity

01:14:10.800 --> 01:14:14.100
and a lot of people willing
to buy and install these systems

01:14:14.133 --> 01:14:16.467
and put them up on their
rooftops all over the place.

01:14:16.500 --> 01:14:19.433
And so the question is,
is America going to step up,

01:14:19.467 --> 01:14:21.433
or are we gonna sort of
allow ourselves,

01:14:21.467 --> 01:14:23.367
in a very uncharacteristic way,

01:14:23.400 --> 01:14:25.767
not to be the leaders
in a technology race?

01:14:25.800 --> 01:14:28.633
- Scientific American
just did a big cover article

01:14:28.667 --> 01:14:29.933
last month on this.

01:14:29.967 --> 01:14:32.400
You know, $420 billion dollars,
and you would power

01:14:32.433 --> 01:14:34.400
the entire country
with solar panels.

01:14:34.433 --> 01:14:36.533
And $420 billion
is a lot of money,

01:14:36.567 --> 01:14:38.300
but it\'s half of what
we\'re spending in Iraq.

01:14:38.333 --> 01:14:39.867
- I was gonna say,
we already spent that.

01:14:39.900 --> 01:14:41.300
- It makes me sick
to talk about that.

01:14:41.333 --> 01:14:43.233
- Say this again: we could power
the entire country

01:14:43.267 --> 01:14:44.567
with half the war budget?

01:14:44.600 --> 01:14:46.367
- Yeah, exactly.

01:15:06.233 --> 01:15:09.000
- Dude, I want to do a shovel.

01:15:09.033 --> 01:15:11.367
- Come and dig with me.

01:15:12.700 --> 01:15:15.667
- It\'s my great pleasure
to introduce Sven Huseby,

01:15:15.700 --> 01:15:17.833
my teacher and friend.

01:15:17.867 --> 01:15:19.967
As a young teacher in the \'60s,

01:15:20.000 --> 01:15:21.900
he was committed
to engaging students

01:15:21.933 --> 01:15:23.367
and making a difference
in the world

01:15:23.400 --> 01:15:25.567
through activism and inquiry.

01:15:25.600 --> 01:15:26.967
And so it is
particularly relevant

01:15:27.000 --> 01:15:28.867
to invite Sven
back to Putney today

01:15:28.900 --> 01:15:32.233
at this celebration
of our school\'s bold commitment

01:15:32.267 --> 01:15:35.800
to sustainability
and responsible citizenship.

01:15:35.833 --> 01:15:37.567
Welcome back, Sven.

01:15:37.600 --> 01:15:41.600
[cheers and applause]

01:15:48.333 --> 01:15:49.633
- Thank you, Matthew.

01:15:49.667 --> 01:15:54.133
It\'s a special pleasure
to be back

01:15:54.167 --> 01:15:58.233
to see all these students
lined up along the perimeter.

01:15:58.267 --> 01:16:00.333
I can\'t tell you
all the feelings

01:16:00.367 --> 01:16:04.400
that are running through me,
and they\'re all very good.

01:16:04.433 --> 01:16:08.000
And my pleasure today
in being here

01:16:08.033 --> 01:16:11.800
is having the opportunity
to say thank you

01:16:11.833 --> 01:16:15.667
to the Putney community
for having the insight,

01:16:15.700 --> 01:16:19.167
for having the wisdom,
and for having the courage

01:16:19.200 --> 01:16:25.000
to go down the path of creating
a net-zero-carbon structure,

01:16:25.033 --> 01:16:28.600
a LEED-certified building.

01:16:28.633 --> 01:16:33.200
And I have to say that
when I first came to Putney -

01:16:33.233 --> 01:16:35.333
I think it was the second year
I was here -

01:16:35.367 --> 01:16:40.267
there was a movie that came out,
and it was called The Graduate.

01:16:40.300 --> 01:16:43.000
And there\'s a moment
in that film in which

01:16:43.033 --> 01:16:44.933
what I thought at the time
was an old man -

01:16:44.967 --> 01:16:47.933
someone a bit younger
than I am -

01:16:47.967 --> 01:16:51.033
leaned over to the young
protagonist in the film

01:16:51.067 --> 01:16:54.333
and whispered in his ear,
\"Plastic.\"

01:16:54.367 --> 01:16:57.467
Well, I would like to lean over
in the collective ears

01:16:57.500 --> 01:17:01.567
of the student body today
and whisper, \"Cleantech\"...

01:17:01.600 --> 01:17:03.433
[cheers and applause]

01:17:03.467 --> 01:17:06.533
Because having learned
over the last two years

01:17:06.567 --> 01:17:10.767
about the hidden cost
of modern life on our oceans,

01:17:10.800 --> 01:17:15.300
I can tell you with certainty
that whether you go out there

01:17:15.333 --> 01:17:21.133
as educators, as artists,
as entrepreneurs,

01:17:21.167 --> 01:17:25.667
as politicians, as scientists,

01:17:25.700 --> 01:17:28.533
whatever path
you choose to follow,

01:17:28.567 --> 01:17:32.567
know that you can be
the difference

01:17:32.600 --> 01:17:35.100
with every choice you make.

01:17:35.133 --> 01:17:38.400
[applause]

01:17:40.433 --> 01:17:42.867
[poignant instrumental music]

01:17:42.900 --> 01:17:50.800
♪ ♪

01:18:09.200 --> 01:18:13.733
- \"Elias, we\'ve been
on a long journey,

01:18:13.767 --> 01:18:15.233
\"and what we\'ve learned

01:18:15.267 --> 01:18:17.633
\"has sometimes
been painful to hear,

01:18:17.667 --> 01:18:22.433
but we can still change
the outcome.\"

01:18:22.467 --> 01:18:26.467
So my message to you
is to ask hard questions,

01:18:26.500 --> 01:18:31.267
find out as much as you can,
always think critically,

01:18:31.300 --> 01:18:33.800
and act to protect our oceans.

01:18:33.833 --> 01:18:35.300
What do we see here?

01:18:35.333 --> 01:18:38.667
- Birds. Lots of them.

01:18:38.700 --> 01:18:41.167
That means probably
it\'s a good day for fishing.

01:18:41.200 --> 01:18:44.867
- Could be. Could be.
- Could be.

01:18:44.900 --> 01:18:47.567
- My very first fishing rod.

01:18:47.600 --> 01:18:49.233
- And he doesn\'t need
any license, does he?

01:18:49.267 --> 01:18:51.567
- No.
- Let\'s go fishing.

01:18:51.600 --> 01:18:53.233
- And what are we gonna do
with the fish?

01:18:53.267 --> 01:18:55.667
- Eat it. We don\'t want to catch fish
and then waste them.

01:18:55.700 --> 01:18:58.033
- No, I agree with you.

01:18:58.067 --> 01:19:00.500
- You know what the trick is
to find fish?

01:19:00.533 --> 01:19:03.767
The trick is to look
for seals or birds.

01:19:03.800 --> 01:19:04.967
- Yeah?

01:19:05.000 --> 01:19:06.633
- As long as they have a fish
in their mouth,

01:19:06.667 --> 01:19:08.833
that means that\'s where
some fish is.

01:19:08.867 --> 01:19:10.467
- Because if they\'re eating,

01:19:10.500 --> 01:19:12.033
you know there got to be
fish there.

01:19:12.067 --> 01:19:13.433
That\'s good thinking, Elias.

01:19:13.467 --> 01:19:15.067
You already think
like a fisherman.

01:19:15.100 --> 01:19:17.667
- Yes, indeed.

01:19:17.700 --> 01:19:19.600
I hope we\'ll catch some fish.
- Careful. Careful.

01:19:19.633 --> 01:19:21.400
- Do you think we\'re at
a good place to fish now?

01:19:21.433 --> 01:19:22.733
- I think we might be.

01:19:22.767 --> 01:19:24.900
- I think that right there
would be not a bad place.

01:19:24.933 --> 01:19:26.333
- Yeah.

01:19:26.367 --> 01:19:29.833
Okay, this is gonna take
a little time here.

01:19:29.867 --> 01:19:33.167
I\'m gonna take the line,
pull it all the way up here.

01:19:33.200 --> 01:19:36.167
[traditional instrumental music]

01:19:36.200 --> 01:19:44.200
♪ ♪

01:19:45.167 --> 01:19:48.433
Where is the hook?
- Oops, it\'s tangled.

01:19:48.467 --> 01:19:52.267
- You\'ve got a mess here.
What happened?

01:19:52.300 --> 01:19:53.967
- Do you have the hook
in your mouth?

01:19:54.000 --> 01:19:56.500
- [mumbles]
- Dude, you could hurt yourself.

01:19:56.533 --> 01:19:57.700
Be careful.

01:19:57.733 --> 01:19:59.400
[seals barking]

01:19:59.433 --> 01:20:02.133
Look, a sea lion.
- Oh, my goodness.

01:20:02.167 --> 01:20:04.733
- Oh, lots of sea lions.

01:20:04.767 --> 01:20:08.300
One, two, three, four, five.

01:20:08.333 --> 01:20:10.233
Five.
That means there are fish.

01:20:10.267 --> 01:20:12.200
Fish, fish, fish.

01:20:12.233 --> 01:20:14.467
- You\'re gonna stand over here
with me.

01:20:14.500 --> 01:20:17.800
Take your finger like this,
and put your thumb around here.

01:20:17.833 --> 01:20:19.133
Flick this with your other hand.

01:20:19.167 --> 01:20:22.267
Flick this. That\'s right.
Okay, turn it.

01:20:22.300 --> 01:20:25.267
Just stand like this, okay?

01:20:25.300 --> 01:20:26.900
- How will we know
when a fish comes?

01:20:26.933 --> 01:20:28.767
- Well, you\'ll feel something.

01:20:28.800 --> 01:20:30.500
- Okay, I\'m ready.

01:20:30.533 --> 01:20:33.133
Hello, little fishies.

01:20:33.167 --> 01:20:35.833
Come on.

01:20:37.800 --> 01:20:40.767
- You\'re really fishing.

01:20:40.800 --> 01:20:42.967
How does it feel?
- Good.

01:20:43.000 --> 01:20:46.733
Like, dancing for the fish.

01:20:46.767 --> 01:20:51.733
Bestefar, you really like
the ocean, don\'t you?

01:20:51.767 --> 01:20:55.333
- Yep.
- I like it too.

01:20:56.833 --> 01:21:04.833
♪ ♪