All language subtitles for Butterfly.Effect.S02E08_English

- [Narrator] 2035, the Aral
Sea Oasis, Central Asia.

Dubbed the miracle of
the desert, the region

is now a haven of green in
the middle of one of the most

arid zones of the globe.

(dynamic music)

For the whole world,
this is the proof

that sustainable
development does work.

In the mid-20th century
the Soviet Union

decided to turn this
remote and hostile region

into an experimental laboratory.

After decades of development,
advanced irrigation techniques

made it possible to exploit
the very last drop of water

and revolutionize agriculture.

Today the Aral Sea Oasis
is a example to humanity

and is a shop window for
sustainable development.

But, none of this ever happened.

In the 1950s, the Soviet
Union was to launch

a major agricultural
project in this region

and seal the fate
of the Aral Sea.

(dramatic music)

Our history is no more than a
series of incredible events.

Every one of us can
influence its course.

(rock music)
(crowd cheering)

(speaking in a foreign language)

- [Crowd] Heil Hitler!

- [Narrator] The most
infinitesimal of our decisions

can influence the
future of humanity.

To know the past is
to foresee the future.

(somber chanting)

1954, the Soviet Union
launches a project

of Pharaonic proportions,

the construction of the
great Karakum Canal.

2002, a specialist American
team goes to a secret laboratory

and destroys 300 tons of
bacteriological material.

2003, in an attempt to save
the threatened Aral Sea,

they built a huge concrete
dike in its northern part.

These three events
are the tragic steps

in one of the biggest
ecological disasters

of the 20th century, the
death of the Aral Sea.

(gentle music)

As these words are being
written, robots made by humans

are moving across the
surface of the planet Mars

millions of miles from Earth.
(dynamic music)

They were designed and sent
by men with a precise aim,

discover traces of water.

Why is this so important?

Because given our current
state of knowledge,

liquid water is the
main condition for
the presence of life.

(dramatic music)

Our planet is called
the blue planet.

Water covers 71% of its surface.

Of this gigantic mass,
only 2.5% is fresh water.

Majority of this is
trapped in glaciers

and the polar ice caps.

So, of all the water
present on Earth,

only 0.5% is accessible
and potentially drinkable

for all living
creatures on the planet.

Not much, but enough.

(slow somber music)

The reserves of fresh
water should be sufficient

to provide all with the means

to survive without difficulty.

(child laughing)

However, it so happens
that these reserves

are very unequally spread
across the surface of the globe.

Nine countries share 60%
of the world's reserves

of fresh water.

(moving to dynamic music)

These reserves are the
water table, the lakes,

and the rivers.

Often they extend over
several countries.

The Nile, for example,
crosses eight different states

before flowing into the sea.

The question of who owns
the water is at the heart

of international relations.

With the explosion of
the world's population

and climate change,
access to fresh water

has become an issue
of global proportions.

In the years ahead,
this could turn into

one of the principal causes
of international tensions

as is currently the
case in Central Asia

in the region of the Aral Sea.

(somber music)

- [Narrator] Welcome to
the memory of humanity.

Here, we can control
time, analyze and compare

billions of events
and alter them

to rewrite history endlessly.

All the events in our history,
however minute they might be

are memorized and
interconnected.

It only requires one to be
changed for all the others

to be shaken to the core.

For example, let us
go back 10,000 years

to witness the birth
of the Aral Sea.

The Earth has just
emerged from the Ice Age.

The warmer climate
melts the ice,

the rains are
increasingly heavy.

The water flows.

Streams form and then rivers.

In Central Asia,
the Syr Darya swells

and starts to fill a depression
which means a vast plain

that is lower than
the surrounding land.

Gradually, a fresh
water lake is formed.

Very soon, the waters of the
Amu Darya also contribute

to the flow.

The lake reaches its maximum
size 2,000 years later

and pours its excess waters
into the Caspian Sea.

However, this is a fragile lake.

Not very deep,
evaporation is high.

Over the following thousands
of years, it experiences

its highs and lows and
progressively becomes salty.

Today, we call it the Aral
Sea, but scientifically

it is really a salt lake.

The water has turned an arid
desert into a veritable oasis.

Let's resume.

(somber humming music)

- [Narrator] Nature is a
free and abundant resource

that can be controlled
and exploited.

Such is the slogan of the
leaders of the Soviet Union.

(singing in a foreign language)

A union of several
republics, the Soviet Union

is a federation.

And, at the beginning of
the 1950s, its aim is clear.

Make up its economic lag

on the Western
capitalist societies.

On all fronts, in all
regions, they produce,

build, extract,
exploit, harvest.

Their objectives set by
Moscow are always ambitious,

sometimes unattainable.

Production is regionalized.

This region is responsible
for mineral extraction.

That for steel.

Another for tractor production.

Historical and natural
boundaries now only
exist on paper.

Populations, like the
wealth beneath the ground,

are considered as resources
and reviewed on the map.

In Moscow, they
decide on vast plans

for territorial development

and rationalization
of resources.

Human and environmental factors
are of secondary importance.

Everybody contributes to
the collective effort.

To oppose it is to oppose the
forward march of the regime.

Industry and exploitation
reach formidable sizes

commensurate with the country.

Resources are in proportion.

In 1919, the Soviet Union
selects the Fergana Valley

in Central Asia to launch
its cotton offensive.

Planting soon spreads to
three Soviet republics,

then to five.

Even though dry, this region
becomes a vast cotton field

to the detriment of wheat,
now grown in Southern Siberia,

another Soviet region.

The fields are
rapidly collectivized

into huge state
farms, the sovkhozes.

In the 1950s, huge
canals are constructed

to irrigate these vast fields.

Tons of fertilizers and
pesticides are used.

(singing in a foreign language)

They have to produce,
always produce more.

The cost doesn't matter.

In 70 years of Soviet
domination, Central Asia

goes from a production of
several hundred thousand tons

to nine million tons of cotton,

an increase of 1200%.

To achieve this incredible
figure, it was necessary

to irrigate a desert.

Millions of cubic meters
of water are taken

from the Syr Darya and
Amu Darya, the two rivers

that have always
fed the Aral Sea.

This decision, taken
in full awareness

by the Soviet leaders,
signed the death warrant

of the Aral Sea.

- [Narrator] We have just
reached a turning point.

(dynamic music)

A turning point is a key event,
a crossroads in our history

where the world swings
one way or the other.

The Soviet leaders, aware
of the consequences,

decide to sacrifice the Aral
Sea, which is considered

as a useless resource.

This decision is taken
without any consideration

for local populations
living directly off the sea

such as the fishermen in
the towns on the shores.

But, it also represents
a way of thinking.

(lively music)

Nature is a resource.

It has to be useful.

However, the Aral Sea is
seen by Soviet leaders

as an aberration.

Not very deep, and
therefore spread wide,

it's evaporation is high.

All this water is
considered as lost.

This is to misunderstand
the complex mechanisms

that govern the climate,

because this water
necessarily falls as rain

somewhere else feeding
another ecosystem.

Today, we know this.

Nature's balance is complex and
you cannot alter one element

without disturbing another.

It's a domino effect.

By opting for
cotton, Moscow signs

the Aral Sea's death warrant.

(slow somber music)
- At the beginning

of the 1940s, the Aral Sea
has an average surface area

of 67,000 square
kilometers which makes it

the fourth largest
lake in the world.

(birds squawking)

Fishing vessels come and go.

Fish abound.

Gradually, cotton
production is intensified.

Like all other plants,
cotton needs sun and water.

The sun may be abundant
in Central Asia,

but water must be
provided by irrigation.

However, intensive irrigation
creates salinization

of the soils which
become sterile.

The more you irrigate, the
poorer the soils become

and the more you
must find others.

It's a headlong race.

And, so they build
larger irrigation canals

which divert more water.

In 1954, construction is
begun on the Karakum Canal.

At 1,375 kilometers
long, it remains

one of the longest irrigation
canals in the world today.

Taking 11 cubic
kilometers of water

from the Amu Darya each
year, they carries it

across the Karakum Desert
as far as the Caspian Sea.

All along its course, it
irrigates vast fields of cotton.

A very rudimentary construction,
it leaks at least 30%

of its water which is
lost into the desert.

Along the two rivers,
they divert the water,

dig canals, build
dams, reservoirs.

By the time they
reach the Aral Sea,

their flow is
considerably diminished.

Between 1960 and 1970,
the level of the sea

drops by an average of
20 centimeters per year.

In the following decade,
the average rises

to 50 centimeters.

Wells start to dry up.

Boats are stranded.

(moving to lively piano music)

In 1975, the increasingly
sterile soils

demand ever higher uses of
fertilizers and pesticides.

The Port of Aralsk, having
no water, is closed.

In 1980, the construction
of the highest dam

in the world is
completed on the course

of the Amu Darya.

The sea level drops by more
than 80 centimeters per year.

Totally paradoxically, it
is planned to replenish

the Aral Sea by diverting
major Siberian rivers.

They dig navigation
canals in the sea bed

to allow ships to sail.

Around 1987, the level
reaches a critical point

and the sea is cut into two.

To the north, the
Lesser Aral Sea,

to the south, the Greater.

(somber music)
In 1991,

the Soviet Union breaks up.

The five republics
are now autonomous.

Faced with the new
economic challenges

and deprived of
support from Moscow,

the cotton industry
increases even more.

By 1998, the sea has
lost 80% of its volume.

The remaining water,
too saturated with
salt, becomes toxic.

Fish and weed disappear.

By 2003, nothing can now
save the Greater Aral Sea.

However, the Lesser,
fed by what remains

of the Syr Darya is
not yet condemned.

They decide to
save what they can.

A concrete dike,
12 kilometers long,

cuts it off permanently
from its big sister.

The Greater Aral Sea is
abandoned and left to its fate.

(delicate piano music)

A mere few decades will
have been sufficient

to reduce it to 10% of
its initial surface.

Its salt level is over
100 grams per liter.

Saturated with salts and
pesticides, the remaining water

is now a poison.

The Greater Aral Sea
is in its death throes.

By 2020, it will
no longer exist.

They're already talking
of the Aral Desert.

- [Narrator] Little by little

drop by drop
(dynamic music)

a sea has dried up.

And, yet a sea is vast.

The amount of water
is incredible.

The fish stocks
appear inexhaustible,

but that is exactly the problem.

Because this is not the case.

Everything comes to an end.

Certainly taking
one bucket of water

from the ocean or
killing one whale

will not change the balance.

However, it's the repetition
of the act over decades

thousands of times by
millions of individuals

that creates the problem.

Although some major
disasters are obvious

such as Chernobyl,
others are less so.

Like the hundreds
of millions of cars

that are driven every day, but
both are equally polluting.

In environmental matters,
each action counts.

Let's go back in time.

In antiquity, the Roman Empire
over-exploits the forests

of North Africa to the point
of causing their disappearance.

To our day, they have
still not returned.

During the Middle
Ages in Europe,

the intensive use
of blast furnaces

threatens the existence
of entire forests.

Craft and industry
have always had to deal

with the pollution created
by their activities.

This is not new.

And, for our
contemporary societies,

it has even become normal.

But, pollution has
evolved over time.

It is now more massive,
more irreversible.

- [Narrator] The Soviet
Union was a powerful

but destructive machine.

(dark music)

It managed everything and
oversaw the proper division

of tasks and resources.

When it broke up in the
early '90s, after 60 years

of supervision, it left
the satellite republics

to face their problems alone.

Far from fixing itself, the
situation was to get worse.

Whole regions had been
specialized in precise fields

making them depend on each
other for their essential needs.

In Central Asia, the five
cotton-producing republics

rapidly withdrew
upon themselves,

each looking to its own
interests, its own survival.

1/3 of the Uzbekistan economy
depends on agriculture.

For this, the country
freely pumps from the rivers

that run through its territory.

(speaking in a foreign language)

However, these had their
sources in two other republics:

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

These two mountainous countries

inherited from the
USSR the majority

of the region's
dams and reservoirs.

They also intend to
exploit their resources

as best they can.

They're increasing
production of electricity

by holding more and more
water in their dams.

Uzbekistan suffers
drought in the summer,

floods in the winter.

Tensions mount as the
levels of the rivers drop.

(speaking in a foreign language)

Previously, the Soviet Union
acted as interstate policemen.

(speaking in a foreign language)

Today, each country wants to
achieve economic stability

while sharing a single and
unique resource, water.

It's every man for himself.

(dynamic music)

- [Narrator] The water war.

We talk of water
shortage or hydric stress

when the demand for water
exceeds available resources.

The Aral Sea region currently
fits this definition,

but it is far from
being the only one.

The countries of the
Near and Middle East

of Africa and Asia are
especially affected

by this phenomenon.

It often creates
tensions, even conflicts

between the states concerned.

Examples are
increasingly numerous.

The case of the Dead
Sea is emblematic.

Its tributary, the
Jordan, is shared

between Israel,
Jordan, and Palestine.

Intensively used for
the needs of cities

and for crop irrigation,
it now barely feeds

into the Dead Sea
which has lost a third

of its surface area
over the last 50 years.

Water has become one of
the main causes of tension

between those countries.

On the other side of the
world, on the west coast

of the United States,
Nevada is also on the brink

of the abyss.

Located in the middle of
the desert in an environment

totally unsuited to human
activity, the city of Las Vegas

has two million residents
and 55 golf courses.

An artificial oasis, the
city is on a drip feed

from the waters of the Colorado.

Dubai and Barcelona are
equally starved of water.

Guaranteeing populations
access to drinking water

is now a challenge
of the first order.

And, to achieve
this, anything goes.

- [Narrator] More than 60
million people currently live

in the Aral Sea
region, four times more

than in the 1960s.

The ecological
disaster is slowly

turning into a
humanitarian disaster.

(gentle music)

The climate has turned hostile.

The winters are harsher,
the summers hotter, drier.

The Aral Sea is now no more
than a vast sterile expanse

contaminated with millions of
tons of salt and pesticides.

Dust storms laden with
chemical substances

sweep the former sea
bed now laid bare.

Neighboring regions
are seeing their soils

contaminated in turn.

Pasture land has shrunk by 80%.

(goats bleating)

Cattle breeding is
in full decline.

Pesticides are present
throughout the food chain.

Fishing has almost
entirely disappeared

through lack of fish
and water to sail on.

For five million
inhabitants, drinking water

is really no longer drinkable.

In some places, the cancer
rate is 25 times higher

than for the rest of the world.

Women suffer from anemia.

Infant mortality is soaring.

It's now about survival.

And yet, the story
doesn't end there.

(somber rhythmic piano music)

In 1936, on the island of
Vozrozhdeniya, the Soviet Union

set up a scientific
institution that in the 1950s

was to become a
vast research lab

into bacteriological weapons.

Thousands of animals
will serve as guinea pigs

over the decades.

Smallpox, leprosy, cholera,
bubonic plague, anthrax.

(speaking in a foreign language)

At the twilight of the
USSR, the lab was closed

and the infected materials
sealed in stainless steel drums,

then left there on an island
supposedly inaccessible.

Except that in 2001, the
island is no longer an island

and so anybody can
walk to the lab.

Anthrax free for the first
terrorist to come along.

(speaking in a foreign language)

In 2002, an American
expedition arrives

to neutralize 300 tons
of pathogenic products.

Perhaps the Aral Sea
disaster will allow humanity

to become aware of its fragility

and to be able to draw the
necessary lessons from it.

But, that is another story.

(dynamic music)

- [Narrator] Water is
worth its weight in gold.

Global warming is now an
admitted fact and recognized

by the scientific community.

For all the regions
already in hydric stress,

there is no way that things
can improve by themselves.

We can live without oil,
without gas, without gold.

But, water is the
essential minimum for life.

For many countries,
water will soon become

more precious than oil.

These countries will
have only two options:

adapt or seize more
water by force.

Adapting takes time.

(dramatic music)

Fortunately the process
is already underway.

Throughout the
world, increasingly
ambitious initiatives

are seeing the light of day.

New irrigation techniques,
desalination plants,

political commitment.

In 2015, the 21st
Conference on Climate Change

was held in Paris,
better known as COP 21.

Despite the announcement by
American President Donald Trump,

it cannot be denied
that for the first time,

the majority of countries
manage to agree.

It all remains to be done.

But, it appears that we
have finally understood

that we all live
on the same planet.

(dynamic music)