All language subtitles for years.of.living.dangerously.s02e07.1080p.web.h264-cbfm_track4_[eng]

In one of my many acting jobs,

I played a fake correspondent
on the Daily Show,

poking fun at the news of the day.

But this time is different.

These animals were grazing,

like this one here with the calf.

And within a very short period
of time they started feeling sick,

and they gradually collapsed
and they died.

What animal is this?

-The saiga antelope.
-The saiga antelope.

We estimate more than 200 000 died
this year,

in a mass die-off
in Central Kazakhstan.

I'm a vet, so I work in disease,

and I specialize on emerging
diseases like plague, etc.

I've never seen anything like this.
It's extraordinary.

This herd is 60 000 animals.
100% of them died.

From some kind of disease

which we're still working
on finding out what it is.

We know that a bacteria,

which naturally colonizes
the upper part of their throat,

changed its character.

The bacteria became bad.

So it was living with the animal,
like your gut bacteria,

and it suddenly became virulent.

How could this happen
to every animal?

In terms of trigger factors,

bacteria can be
temperature sensitive.

That is one possibility here.

That there was a period
of temperature rises

that sort of influenced
the local environment.

You're saying that the trigger
for the bacteria

to switch from good bacteria
to bad bacteria,

could be the rise in temperature.

It is a possibility, but we have to
work a bit more on it to be sure.

I'm gonna say this:
as an American,

why do I care about this?

Whatever's influencing
this situation

could well be influencing
other species.

-You're a mammal.
-That's true.

And if it can happen to this mammal,

what about us?

Wow. This is like something out
of a science fiction movie.

Except that it's real.

What else could climate change
be doing to animals?

My home state of California

is now in the fifth year
of a devastating drought.

-Unprecedented drought.
-Pretty much a wasteland.

It's hard to live here
and not worry about climate change.

And it seems like things
are getting worse every day.

-Six active wildfires.
-Nearly 83 000 people evacuated.

Sometimes I feel powerless
in the face of this crisis,

but I know
there must be something we can do.

I'm looking for a solution
to climate change.

It needs to be big,
and it needs to be now.

So, what exactly
are we listening for?

Well, they've got a couple
of different kinds of calls.

They've got a short sound
that's sort of like this.

Joseph, I never want you
to do that again.

So, we're looking for something
called pika?

Yeah, pikas.

What are pikas?

They're a little rabbit relative.
They can't live at warm temperatures

and they're restricted to just
the tops of the mountains.

Oh, there's one!

-Nice.
-Yeah, that was a nice long call.

Three years ago when I was here,
there were more pikas here.

And now hardly at all.

Yeah, the temperatures here have
increased

more than they have
on the global average

so they're pushed up and up and up
as it gets warmer and warmer.

Right, the pikas are more likely
to go further up,

just to stay cold.

Yeah, the problem is, in the past,
climate changed relatively gradually

and species had time to move,
to change their range.

Now if we sort of just project
how fast animals

can move and how long it is
between generation times,

animals aren't going to be able
to keep pace,

to move north fast enough.

But it's not just pikas that are
threatened.

Pikas are sort of a
"canary in the coal mine,"

for what's happening
with climate change.

In Yosemite, more than half
of the small mammals they looked at

were disappearing
from low elevation sites.

Could there be other reasons
why the pika are disappearing?

-They're not hunted for food?
-People don't hunt them.

-Their skin.
-It'd be a really small, skin.

-You'd need a lot of them, to.
-Half a glove. At the most.

This is one of those cases where
it seems to be just climate change.

Definitely just climate change.

That's what all of the evidence
is pointing towards.

I'll be honest. I'd never even heard
about the pika before.

But now, I'm worried
about the little guy.

There's a bunch of species that live
in what we call sky islands.

If climate change is pushing
high-elevation species

out of their habitat,

are there other ways that's
impacting animals around the world?

What about in Africa,
where human life began.

The place where
so many of our iconic animals live.

I'm an actress
and an animal rights activist,

but lately I've turned my focus
to climate change

because it's the single
biggest threat facing us all.

Recently I've been hearing about
carbon pricing,

a solution that all sorts of
prominent people are talking about.

We need to put a clear price
on carbon.

Carbon pricing is critical
for reducing emissions.

Renewable energy, fossil fuels, and
putting a price on carbon pollution

are beginning to turn the tide.

I have long believed
the most elegant way

to reduce carbon emissions
is to put a price on it.

Putting a price on carbon?

What do they mean by that?

I hear there's a guy in town
who might be able to explain.

Thank you very much!
I'm Yoram Bauman,

I appear before you tonight
as the world's first and only

stand-up economist.

I only have one thing going for me
as a stand-up economist

and that's low expectations.

Actually when I do
serious economics work

I work on climate change
and carbon taxes.

The idea that we can use
the tools of economics

to protect the environment.

Although I did this talk once for
a conservative crowd in Minnesota

and this fellow came up
to me and said

that the stuff about climate change
was the funniest part of my routine.

Climate change
is really overwhelming.

And I've heard about carbon pricing,

that it could be a solution,

but I don't really know what it is.

Basically it's the idea that the way
to get less pollution

is to make polluting expensive.

And it ultimately
it's a pretty simple idea.

Let's pay more for bad things
and let's pay less for good things.

Let's change our tax system
in a way that fossil fuel

and fossil fuel intensive products
are more expensive

and that more sustainable products
are less expensive

so that everybody has an incentive
to do the right thing.

People are afraid of the word tax,

they just feel like
they have to pay more money.

What do we say to those people?

Changing the tax system
doesn't just involve penalties.

We're gonna have higher taxes
on carbon emissions,

but they're gonna be offset
by lower taxes

on income, on sales,
on all the good things

that we want to encourage.

You know my mom's
a smoker and I remember

the increase in tax and I remember

that actually changed
a lot of lives,

it influenced a lot of people
in their decision-making.

It's a similar idea with
the "sin tax,"

with a tax on cigarettes,
a tax on alcohol,

where you're trying to use
the tax system

to influence people's behaviors.

We're not talking
about huge changes,

we're talking about relatively small
tweak to the tax system

and it's gonna have ripple effects
that are going to change the world.

I didn't realize that right now
across most of the U.S.,

companies can put CO2 in the air
for free.

A carbon price is simply a tax
on the pollution

that's causing climate change.

So why aren't we doing this?

As I dig a little more, I'm finding
out that we very nearly did.

In 2008, cap-and-trade,
a form of carbon pricing,

had the support of both Democratic
and Republican politicians.

The energy bill before the house
will finally create

a set of incentives that will spark
a clean energy transformation

of our economy.

Once you price carbon
in a reasonable way,

this green economy
that we're hoping for

really will begin to flourish.

But the fossil fuel industry is one
of the most profitable in history,

and in 2009 they fought back hard:

organizing anti-carbon
pricing rallies

and spending close to 200 million
dollars on campaigns.

They call it cap and trade,

but it's really just a big new tax
all of us will end up paying for.

And I'll take dead aim at the cap
and trade bill.

Before most people really knew
what a carbon price was

they were convinced
it was a bad idea.

Since then,
some states have made progress.

But Congress has failed to pass a
national carbon price

a staggering 27 times.

I hate to think of the damage
our inaction is causing,

not just here but around the world.

-Can I take a picture here?
-Yes, you can.

It's amazing to be here in person

and see the real life versions
of my favorite Disney characters!

All in one place.

We have a lot of game
to view here in Amboseli,

and for the elephants
it's number one.

-Oh, is that right?
-Yes.

My guide tells me
that all across Africa,

elephants are decimated
by a terrible poaching crisis,

fueled by the illegal trade
of ivory.

But here in Amboseli,

conservation efforts have succeeded
in keeping the park's population

relatively stable.

Norah Njeraini has worked
with these animals for 30 years.

-So this is one family.
-This is one family.

-That's one family?
-And this is a family.

Did these two families, did they,
are they together?

Yeah, because they are from the same
home area.

Yeah, how they greet,
they come together

and they trumpet to say hello.

And you can see the ears
"pak, pak, pak".

That's when they are excited.

It's like when you haven't seen
somebody for a long time.

You get together and you have tears
of joy and you hug and you're happy.

I love Adam he's my favorite boy.

-You know all their names?
-Yeah.

-That one with that calf is Kate.
-Yeah, okay.

Now you see, she is being guarded
by that male, Adam,

because she is now in heat.

-She's in heat.
-Yeah, she's in heat.

There's another male there,
what's he doing?

Now, this guy is waiting,
whether he'll have a chance.

Oh, so this is like a
New York City club.

There's one guy that's with a girl
and then the other guys

are standing around
waiting for that guy to fail.

-You see what's happening.
-What's happening?

The young male,
his name is Olgululi, he's sneaking.

He's sneaking.
Oh, he's trying to get in!

Oh, here we go, this is the action.

He would do that
right in front of Adam?

-Yeah, yeah. But Adam can't let it.
-He can't let it.

If he did then he wouldn't
be your boyfriend anymore.

-He'll be kicked, tusk.
-You'd be like forget it, fail.

What's the most important thing
about elephants that we should know?

Elephants, they have personalities.

The boring one, the active one,
the talkative one.

Just like us.

And they love each other so much.

Man, if only all families
got along so well.

Norah now takes me
to the Amboseli Trust for Elephants,

a renowned research camp.

Wait, Norah what is this?

This is like a graveyard.

When elephants die
we collect the lower jaw,

we put tags
so that we know who is who.

How did these elephants die,
did they?

Most of these elephants,
they died during drought in 2009.

The drought that killed
most of these elephants

was one of the worst Amboseli
had ever experienced.

Starting in 2006, there were
three years with little rainfall.

And in 2009,
the spring rains just never came.

The Elephant Trust has been around
since the early 1970's.

Norah introduces me
to her colleague, Phyllis Lee,

who has worked with the trust
for decades

and is now
their director of science.

So Phyllis, the elephants died
because of the drought.

-The lack of water.
-No, not really.

Drought means different things.

It mostly means there's
very low precipitation, rainfall.

And when there's low rainfall,
nothing grows.

So what the elephants died of
was starvation.

There wasn't enough for them to eat.

So in 2008/9 if you'd looked out
over here all

you'd see was bare dirt,
and dust, and just dust.

And nothing else.

How many elephants did you lose?

-We.
-Not you personally, but.

-It feels like a personal loss.
-It probably is a personal loss.

-Because we knew them all.
-Yeah.

And we lost about 200 babies,

and almost all our big old ladies,
our matriarchs.

And that was really awful.

Because we had known them
since the project started, in 1972.

So if you can imagine,
animals you've known for 40 years

and you watch them collapse and die.

And you see the mother trying
to get up the calf.

But the calf won't go.

And we are helpless,
so it was horrible.

I almost give up this work,
because it was so sad.

And there's nothing you could do
to help them?

Nothing. Nothing we could do.

It was a special drought because it
was very prolonged, and very severe.

We think these kinds of events
will become more frequent.

So what do you think the answer is,
then?

-I think we're a bit late.
-You think we're late.

The elephants are part
of an global ecosystem.

Everything humans do
every place on the planet

affects other species.

That is the fascinating thing
that I'm learning about this

as well is that like how much
inter-connectedness there is

between what happens on one side
of the globe

to what happens on the other.

In California I saw how
rising temperatures

forced pikas out of their habitat.

Here in Kenya, drought has already
killed so many elephants.

It turns out in Amboseli,

rainfall has declined by 29%
over the past century!

We know global carbon emissions
have contributed

to the warming of the oceans,

and research links this phenomenon
to an increase in severe droughts

right here in Africa.

The death of so many
amazing creatures.

Where's this all going to end?

As the consequences of climate
change worsen from Africa to America

people are demanding solutions.

A movement calling for a price
on carbon is spreading

and at the forefront of the fight,
millennials.

I've been working on this
climate change campaign,

uniting students across the country
to really come together.

The way I feel we can do that
is through a price on carbon.

We're demanding action.
This will not be our future,

and that's really why I want
you guys to join up.

We all have to pay to take our trash
to the curb,

but the major polluters and industry
can dump their pollution,

into our shared world for nothing.

We subsidize
the fossil fuel industry

and we pay for the cleaning up
of disasters

that are striking us more and more.

There's been a rhetoric for so long,
that it's "the youth don't care."

It's time to change that
and it's time to show that

we as Texas Tech Red Raiders,

we're willing to be
on the frontline of this battle

to solve climate change.

And I'm about to start running

a carbon pricing campaign on campus.

There are people in my family
who wouldn't be where they were

without the oil industry
and it's hard to step up and say

we're gonna take away
these jobs.

These are people's livelihoods at
stake in this conversation

but climate change is
going to affect everyone

and we are the last generation that
has a chance to fight it.

Texas Tech University
is in the heart of oil country

and many of its students end up
working in fossil fuel industries.

Around these parts,

you don't hear
much about global warming.

That's what makes
Jordan Vogel's story so interesting.

Last summer, he had an eye-opening
internship in Washington, D.C.,

where he learned what climate change
is doing to his state.

Now he's dedicated to fighting
for a solution.

But it's proving to be a hard sell,
even with his own family.

The severity and the variability
of weather

is changing and it is increasing.

We're gonna have more severe
droughts.

-We're gonna have harsher floods.
-That's right.

The big thing that we're trying to
get started at Texas Tech

is just to educate students
on the topic of climate change.

And the solution that I've posed
and that others have posed

is this carbon price.

Because what's the easiest way to
reduce consumption of a good,

increase the price of the good.

-Tax it.
-Who's going to pay for it?

These oil companies.

Yeah Jordan the problem though is
that you say these oil companies

build a product for us,
namely gasoline.

And so indirectly
we're having to pay for it.

Ultimately, the higher
their costs go,

the more expensive gasoline
comes for us.

Absolutely. We know
that's going to be the result

that comes from the carbon fee.

But our ultimate goal
is that one day,

renewables will be the more
cost-effective solution.

I mean, if you could use
clean energy right now

and it was just as cost-effective
as fossil fuels, would you use it?

-Absolutely.
-Do you have access to it right now?

Your dad and I have a difference
of opinion and you know that.

We have to have fossil fuels
for our vehicles.

We have to have them.

We're entering a new era of our
planet, and of our civilization.

This is a problem
we've never faced before.

Today Jordan's going
to make the case on campus

and hopefully
win over some classmates.

Since his parents still need
a lot of convincing

he's invited them along.

Hello, my name is Jordan Vogel,

and I'm here to talk to you guys
about climate change.

We've actually already seen impacts
here in Texas.

But there is a solution
to this problem.

A simple price on carbon.

Growing up in the agriculture
industry,

carbon pricing
makes me very apprehensive.

How are we going to make it if we
keep adding more taxes to things,

we're just trying
to feed the population.

If we don't act the instability
of droughts, of flooding,

they're gonna wreck havoc
on the agriculture as is.

Inaction is the biggest cost.

We're talking about three to six
feet of sea level rise in 100 years,

displacing hundreds of millions
of people.

These are kind of the things
that start to get my gears turning

and start to frighten me.

It's unfair to tax carbon.

Tax makes me feel like someone's
taking something away from me.

To me it just seems like
what about the China's of the world

that are you know three times,
four times as large.

The vast majority of countries
in the globe have agreed

to reduce emissions
by a certain amount.

China and a lot of the provinces
in China already have a carbon fee.

You talked about how climate change
influences us as Texans.

Well also as Texans we're one of the
leaders in the country

in terms of oil and gas production.

I could see if companies were forced
to marginalize their profits

because they were paying a tax
on carbon,

maybe that would reduce
jobs in Texas.

That's a fair question.
What if he's right?

The Maasai people have been in Kenya
since the 15th century.

They're renowned hunters
and warriors,

who traditionally lived on the milk,
meat and blood of their livestock.

A Maasai's wealth is measured
by the number of cows he owns.

I'm meeting with Maasai elder,
Daniel Leturesh,

to find out
what's happening here now.

-Hi, Daniel!
-Yeah, how are you?

-I'm Aasif.
-I'm Daniel.

-Nice to meet you.
-Yeah. This is my village.

-You're most welcome.
-Thank you.

Do you have cows in your country?

I have cows in my country,
I don't have any cows.

-You don't have any cows?
-No.

So how many cows you have here?

Uh, I have about 250.

-250?
-Plus the young ones.

-We depend on cows.
-Yeah.

We use milk,
we sell them, we eat meat.

So, 100% the Maasai depends on.

This is where we wash.

This is where you wash them, wow!

You can help this guy to.

-Can I help him wash?
-Yes.

I wash it the same way.

-They like it!
-Yes.

Oh, yeah. There we go.
There we go!

Come on!
I feel like I was born to do this.

I think you have cows.

So just tell me a little about,
how has the climate

in this area
changed over your lifetime?

Things are changing, it's not like
when we are young here.

The worst drought it's 2008.

So that was the worst drought
in your lifetime.

In my lifetime.
We'd never seen a drought like that.

We lost in this area
90% of our livestock.

-Wow.
-That drought,

it forced those who lose 100%,
for them to go and farm.

-To go and farm?
-Yeah.

So, is that a good thing
or a bad thing?

In fact, for a long time Maasai
they don't do farming.

They just keep livestock, animals.

-They move from place to place.
-Moving with the animals.

But recent, some they decided
they can plant maize.

For getting something to eat.
But they change a bit our culture.

Daniel tells me this dramatic shift
in the Maasai's nomadic way of life

creates all sorts of new problems.

You can't farm
through migratory corridors.

That is the time they cause
conflict, human-wildlife conflict.

Because if you plant, like, maize,

the elephants they can come
and eat all the maize.

So this whole thing has led to a
conflict of space and resources

between the animals and the humans.

When farmers lose their crop,

sometimes they spear elephants.

-Really?
-Yeah.

-They kill the elephant?
-They kill the elephant.

Human-wildlife conflict:

this is now becoming
a huge problem.

These kinds of revenge killings
are happening more and more.

And in a way,
it was brought on by climate change.

The Maasai I spoke to said there
would be fewer conflicts

if it weren't for the droughts
that forced them

to change their way of life.

Stephen is a Maasai,

but he had to stop herding
after drought killed off his cows.

So, tell me what happened here.

This is my shamba, my farm.

I planted two acres of beans.

What happened here,
I lost everything.

Elephants spoil it in two day.

-This is how you feed your family.
-This is what I feed my family.

-We are six.
-Six?

I lost what I am depending on.

It's bad enough that elephants
are murdered for their tusks.

Now they have to contend
with climate change

driving them into conflict
with people.

There must be some way
to turn this around.

2.6 Billion Dollars
of property damage,

destroyed 2 billion dollars'
worth of crops.

The overall hit to the US economy,
25 billion dollars.

There's now evidence that damage
from floods, fires, and droughts

brought on by carbon pollution
will cost the U.S. economy

billions of dollars every year.

And yet there is still
no real prospect

for a national carbon price
in the United States.

Opponents say attacks on carbon
would lead to lost jobs

and a weaker economy.

But is that really true?

Then I learn that just north of us,
British Columbia, Canada,

has had a carbon price since 2008.

I have to go there.

And I've asked Jordan to come along
so we can find out if carbon price

really is a drag on the economy.

Our first meeting is with mayor,
Gregor Robertson.

-Are you nervous?
-I'm excited to meet the mayor.

It's pretty crazy, they've had a
carbon fee for eight years already.

We've just done latest measurements
of our carbon pollution

and we're down 15% since 2007
which has gotten us to that status

of the lowest carbon emissions per
capita of any city in North America.

And if you were to hear that people
in the U.S. were concerned

that it would negatively impact
the economy,

what would your response to them be?

It's a myth.
Our economy is thriving.

We've seen big growth in green jobs,

we're seeing clean tech industry
booming,

and I think that's directly
connected to carbon pricing.

We're here and the city's
not on fire.

We have a functioning city,

so that's great to be able
to see in person.

And something that's really shocked
me is just the unawareness of people

within the States of a carbon fee.

And that eight years has passed
since you guys have had this.

How did you get across
to your citizens

that this is something that was
beneficial?

There was a wobble at the
beginning because it's a new tax,

and people think,
"Well I don't want to pay more tax."

A little bit from industries
that were affected.

But, they realized that it wasn't
going to have that much of an impact

on day to day life or business
success.

We have to wean ourselves
off fossil fuels.

And B.C. and Vancouver,
we're a living example

of a very successful economy
that has carbon pricing

and we're reducing
our environmental impact,

and that story should be told
far and wide.

Carbon pricing is thriving here

and greenhouse gas emissions
are down.

So if it can work here
then why not in the States?

I need to get back to Los Angeles,
but before Jordan heads home

I've arranged for him to meet
with a conservative businessman.

Ross Beaty is a mining magnate,

and a major investor
in a hydro power plant.

He's agreed to give Jordan a tour.

You're going to see
some very, very big rivers here

and we're taking a little bit of
water from, making electricity from,

and then returning that water
to the original river.

-Is there very little waste?
-No waste at all. Zero.

That's awesome.

My assumption would be that most
successful businessmen like yourself

would be opposed to a carbon tax.

Well I have 5 kids

and I believe in a cleaner,
more sustainable world.

I'm convinced that carbon is causing
negative effects to our atmosphere.

It's causing negative effects
to our ocean.

And ultimately the life of my kids
is going to be worse

unless we do something about it now.

In America,
one of the things stopping us

from creating this carbon tax
is conservative pushback.

I'm from a very conservative place,
from a very conservative family

and I understand their fears
and anxieties

at allowing the government
to create another tax.

Carbon taxing
is a conservative solution

because it's
a market-based solution.

You're basically
making polluters pay.

As long as we don't price carbon
correctly,

we're giving every single
emitter of carbon a subsidy.

That's not any principle
that a good conservative person

should live with.

A lot of these renewable energies

are suffering at the hand
of cheap gasoline and cheap oil.

The fossil fuel company
isn't paying the true cost

of that coal or gas or oil power.

They're not paying the cost
to society

in the form of climate change,

extreme weather events,
higher insurance premiums,

health problems for people,
breathing in polluted air.

So what a carbon price does,

is it increases the cost
of that electricity generation

and now you can compare that
to say solar or wind power

which is either going to be
the same price or even cheaper

than generating coal power.

One of the big things
I've noticed in Texas

is finally we're starting to take
advantage of what we're given

with the wind and the sun.

Well, it's what's there.

It's Mother Nature and it's clean,
it's sustainable.

Think about that word:
it means forever.

Society is now understanding
the cost of carbon pollution.

And there's a consensus now amongst
scientists, politicians,

all around the world.

Carbon pricing
is a way to fix the problem.

This year, the Canadian government
announced a nationwide

carbon pricing plan.

Which means what's happening
in British Columbia

will soon be implemented
all over the country.

And it's not just here.
It's happening all around the world.

The U.S. media
is even reporting on it.

Almost 40 countries and over 20
states, provinces and cities

are pricing carbon.

So are all of these carbon tax
economies suffering great hardships?

In a word: No.

Wildebeests.
Now that clearly tells you...

Climate change here
is disrupting a way of life

that has allowed humans and animals
to live side by side for centuries.

Those are elephants over there.

Fiesta Warinwa is a key leader

within the African
Wildlife Foundation,

one of the premier conservation
groups on the continent.

She tells me the droughts are
frustrating decades of efforts

to protect endangered species.

So I look around and I see
a lot of grassland and greenery.

You're talking about the drought

but it seems like
it's recovering pretty well.

It's only inside the park.

Drive 10 km out of the park and
the story's completely different.

And the reason why you only see it
inside the park

is because it's a protected area.

But outside the community area
it's overgrazed,

there's land degradation.

And the springs have almost dried
up.

Now that leaves the elephants
without any water access.

And it has to keep traveling,
keep moving, looking for water.

The animals, they just don't,
they don't have any resource.

Because the demand for the space
is becoming higher.

Both for wildlife,
as well as for humans.

So every time wildlife
gets out of the park,

you have
the human-elephant conflict.

We already have incidences
of poaching,

and poaching has become
a very big issue.

Because a lot of people
lost their livestock to drought,

and if they have lost
their livestock to drought

they do not have
any other source of income.

The demand for ivory
is now very high,

and therefore that pushes them
completely into illegal activities

such as poaching.

So there is a direct relationship
between poaching and climate change.

Could we see a day in Africa
when all the elephants are gone?

My answer will be a big yes.

Africa at the moment has between
400 000 to 500 000 elephants left.

But if we don't work extremely hard,

then one day we are likely to find
that most of the...

-It will be in thousands of years.
-No. Not thousands of years.

-Like many hundreds of years.
-No, not even a hundred years.

-Talk of 10 to 15 years to come.
-Come on!

We are talking about
30 to 35 000 elephants a year.

That's what we lose every year.

We lose 30 to 35 000
elephants a year?

So if the situation
continues like that,

we are not going to have
elephants anymore in Africa.

And it's not just the elephants.

Once upon a time, Amboseli had
more than 10 000 rhinos.

-Today not a single rhino is left.
-What?

Not a single rhino is left
in Amboseli National Park.

-They are almost becoming extinct.
-Hippos?

Hippos, the numbers
are not looking very good,

because hippos are so reliant
on water.

And if we continue
having frequent droughts,

the hippos will never survive.
They will die of overheating.

-We're losing hippos already?
-We're losing hippos.

Almost all the species.

So, the large mammals,
the large wildlife

-that we're so used to seeing?
-Yes. They will all be gone.

They will all be gone.

And that's why we are saying
we are in a crisis.

And it's not a small crisis.
It's a big crisis.

And we all have a role to play.

A lot of people deny, they don't
believe in climate change.

They don't accept it.

Anybody who denies,
at whatever level he is,

I would say let him come
to Amboseli.

Let him come to Amboseli.

I will take him physically
and show him some of the areas

that we used to have water,
we used to have enough pasture,

ten, fifteen years ago.

And today we don't even have
a single thing remaining.

I want the world to know that
climate change is happening,

and it's here.

And for us to be able
to do something about it,

we must take responsibility.

Whether it's a Maasai here
in Amboseli,

or whether it's an American
in N.Y., it's our responsibility.

Back in Texas oil country Jordan
knows that progress might be slow

but his family
is starting to listen.

We live in the land of the free, but
the things we do here affect others.

By doing nothing,
you're just condemning people

and for me
that's a tough ethical battle.

You know these individuals
have no control over this.

They are just condemned to this,
this fate.

But I can do something
to change that,

I can to try and at least advocate

for what I believe
is a solid solution.

We need to do something about it,
I think America has to lead this.

If we don't take a role and say:
yes, we're gonna do that,

then, it probably
isn't gonna happen.

So I would say, I'm on your side
and I'd be there to help ya.

What's the famous saying that
your mother and I have always said?

To much is given, much is expected.

And that's why we're really proud
seeing you do what you do.

Thank you. And I mean, you guys have
allowed me to live such a great,

fortunate life and I want other
people to have that.

And so for me this is something that
really galvanizes me, as a human,

as a Catholic, as an American.

All of these things this is
something that I feel I need to do.

And so to have yall's support,
truly it means a lot.

You'll have the family's support.
You sure will.

The more I dig into this,

the more I realize
what a threat climate change is

to animals around the world.

Scientists predict that
if temperatures continue to rise

one in six species
could actually go extinct.

That would mean more
than one million species.

Gone. Forever.

Each new discovery I make begs a new
and more terrifying question:

What could happen if so many species
disappear from the Earth?

Biologist Doug McCauley
and his colleagues

at the Mpala Research Center
in Kenya

are studying that very question.

Hippos are a lot bigger
than I thought they would be.

-They're big animals, so.
-Wow.

One of the larger mammals in Africa.

So now, how many hippos are left
in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Actually, less hippos
in Africa then there are elephants.

-Really?
-That's right.

And if you lost hippos, hippos are
like these keystones in the system,

that are incredibly important
for all the life

-that we're not necessarily seeing.
-Why?

They're in the water
all day long.

During the night, they're wandering
where we are.

And they're munching and grazing
all of this grass.

So they're like gigantic lawnmowers,

then they go back into the rivers
and then they crap it out.

-Right? All of this dung.
-All day long, they're in the...

Honestly, it sounds amazing.

They just eat all night long,
then spend all day sleeping and ***.

It actually reminds me a lot
of my 3-year-old to be honest.

So, hippo dung really is this
life-giving force to the river.

It's food for fish,
food for insects.

If you have less fertilizer going
in the feed, you have less fish.

You wreck the ecology of the web,
the food web in this river.

And effectively, everything dies.

So when a key species
like hippos die,

their entire ecosystem unravels.

The scientists at Mpala have created
an experiment to understand

what could happen
if these large mammals go extinct.

So we've just entered
the exclosure plots here.

We have this gigantic electric fence
all around us,

which simulates
the loss of elephants.

Nothing big
can get in here basically.

So, this is the world
with no large mammals?

-Welcome. Yes, precisely.
-Doesn't look that bad.

Well, that's have a look at some
of the finer details of this world.

We set a bunch of traps here
to get a sense

of how many rodents there are.

-So our box is moving here...
-Oh, God.

-Do you know what's in there?
-I don't, no.

Okay. Alright. And why are you
wearing protective gear

and I'm standing here like?

-Aasif, meet the pouch mouse.
-Oh, man.

-A pouch mouse?
-A pouch mouse.

We'll bring him out
check for some fleas on him, okay?

What happens is when you remove
all of the large herbivores,

elephants, and things like that,
you get a doubling amount of grass,

which is a doubling amount of food
for these guys,

which then means they take off
in numbers.

We have, at least in East Africa,

about a dozen
different rodent-borne diseases

that are important to human health
and to wildlife health.

I'm glad we're standing
in this place.

That's just awesome.

The loss of large mammals out here

means an explosion of tiny pests
that spread disease.

How do you feel about
combing a mouse?

-About what?
-Combing a mouse?

-No.
-Okay.

We'll check and see if we can
get any fleas and ticks from him.

-Okay, you got some fleas there.
-We got four mites and two fleas.

Great.

In London, scientists were looking
at how a climate-driven disease

could wipe out the saiga antelope.

So what disease
could these bugs be carrying?

So, we're gonna be able to look
at some the vectors,

-like ticks.
-What's a vector?

For example, when we're talking
about these rodents.

The rodents, the mice,
the rats, they're the host.

So where the disease begins.
When something bites the rat,

picks up the disease
when it bites it, that's the vector.

Could be a tick, could be a flea.

This vector goes on to find
another blood meal.

-And that could be you.
-Oh, I see.

The vector transmits the disease.

-Precisely.
-Alright, so this is a tick?

Right. It's one
of the vectors of disease, and to...

Jesus!

What the hell is?

There are many different diseases
that are vectored from rodents.

Oh, my gosh.

And there's nasty stuff,

there's Q Fever, there's spotted
fever, there's even plague.

Plague is a disease
that's vectored by fleas.

The Bubonic plague. The thing
that killed most of Europe.

-That sounds terrible.
-Yeah.

This doubling of hosts,
this doubling of vectors,

this doubling of disease,
doubles our risk.

So the same kinds of questions
about how will wildlife loss

and how will climate change
affect the fate of ticks,

the fate of disease, are as relevant
for people in America

as they are out here.

It's unbelievable.

I started out looking to understand
how climate change

was leading to the extinction
of animal species.

But now I wonder if it might also
lead to our own.

It's a question I have for Mpala's
director, biologist Dino Martins.

We talked about the extinction
of large mammals, and elephants

so do you see that as something
that could happen for us?

Is that in our future?
That kind of extinction.

Absolutely.
It's hard to frame it in terms of

how much longer will we have,
but if we have lost large mammals

from the planet apart from
the ones that we're keeping for food

we would be looking
at an ecological scenario to me

that would be heading towards
collapse very quickly.

I think the arrogance of humans
to think that we can destroy

all this other life and,
you know, survive.

And I would say, in nature,
what goes around comes around.

As we disrupt and destroy the world,
the consequences are very real.

Many scientists believe we are now
entering a new era of extinction,

as bad as the one
that wiped out the dinosaurs.

But this time, we are the cause.

I have one final stop to make
before I leave Kenya.

These are the last three
northern white rhinos on Earth.

Each with their own armed guard.

This is what it has come to.

So far, efforts to breed them
have failed.

And when these three die,
the species is gone.

It's hard to look into the eye
of this animal

and not see our own future.

As one of America's governor's
has said,

we're the first generation to feel
the impact of climate change,

and the last generation
that can do something about it.

I started this journey wondering

if there was anything
my generation could do

to help solve climate change.

Now I realize there is
a big solution out there.

We have to make some
important changes to the world.

Yoram Bauman has organized a meeting
with some of the youth activists

calling for a price on carbon.

We can stave off the worst impacts
or it's game over

and there's nothing
more personal to us

than the question
of like can we have kids?

Can we have a world that looks
anything like what our parents had.

We have the power to bring change.

That's what our country
is founded on.

What do we do now.
What do we do now?

It's all gonna be a matter of,
how many people can we inspire,

how many people can we bring on
to make a difference on this issue.

How do you make it fun and cool?

And especially talking
to young people like you guys do?

I mean, you can either be

completely depressed about
the future that we're looking at,

or you can be grateful for
being alive right now and being able

to be one of the few people
in human history

that can actually change
the fate of our entire planet.

I mean, that's unprecedented.

Since graduating from Texas Tech,

Jordan has moved to Colorado
to pursue law.

Tom started a carbon pricing
campaign on campus.

What do you know about
carbon pricing?

It should be taxed.

He even recruited his college
president to come onboard.

To me that's the single most
effective thing that we could do,

is put a price on carbon.

Appreciate that.

Camilla is devoting her life
to environmental activism,

and has moved to D.C. to
lobby for carbon pricing full time.

Because we all matter.

Because we are all the victims
of climate change.

And we are all empowered
to be part of the solution.

I hold in my hand my future.

And there are other Jordans
and Camilas and Toms out there.

Take it from me, an 11-year-old kid.
Your voice can change the world.

They know it'll be hard.

But there are victories
that can be won on campuses,

in cities and states,

that could create momentum.

They say they'll stick with it

as long as it takes
to build a movement,

just like the ones that ended wars

and promoted justice
and human rights,

powered by young people
demanding change.

This is the movement we need now.

With so much at stake,
our future depends on it.

Subtitles: Amaury Pinos
plint.com