people. if we lose. we lose the identity. and we lose who we are. >> they can't imagine moving even a few niles away from the sea. the people may have no choice. some of the victims of climate change. change. >> [ ♪ ] on "america tonight" - don't mess with you mum. >> every won want a sandwich, get over here. >> just as mothers keep things understand control in their community sara hoy in chicago, with the women warriors, keeping trouble off their streets. >> alaska - baked. a fiery season and warning about

what may lie ahead. >> smells like a fire place a month later. it jumped a highway and two creeks, that's how intense it was. alaska will see more of this jacob ward on the warm up in a state better known for its perm frost joie chen. it's the last frontier and the forefront of the national debate over climate change. president barack obama is in alaska pushing the discussion to focus attention on a climate heating up twice as fast as in the lower 48. and what that may mean to the long-term health of our world. "america tonight" sent jacob ward north for a closer look. he found a forest fire season burning hotter and longer than ever this summer, hundreds of

wildfires raged across alaska. there. >> we are seeing the guys get into what happened. where are they going, what will they face? >> what they are doing is kind of working on edge where we have some heat. >> for stephanie whalean, she is one of 3,000 firefighters and support crews flown in. they are battling a few of the fires that burnt 5.1 million acres this year. the second-worst fire season in alaska's history. >> we are in a village, an hour's flight from fairbanks. hundreds of fire-fighters have come in from all across the we are about the meet the instant commander. a couple have been on the line jim grant is based out of wisconsin. but he spent his summer trying to keep half a million acre fire trying to destroy villages along the ucon river.

>> in my 30-plus career, this is the largest incident i've been involved in. >> reporter: it's dawning on me, all of this is on fire. >> yes. protect. >> if spite of its size the fire represents 10% of forests burnt in alaska this year. >> we have 13 of these fires going on like this, plus numerous smaller fires. this is a very busy year for us. >> thomas been fighting fires in alaska for 40 years. he's noticed a change in alaska's weather patterns. >> this is the driest and warmest may on record. we keep setting high marks with those climate anomalies out there. there again, we can see another fire. >> reporter: the record temperatures are melting the permafrost.

beneath the force. priming them to burn. >> we had four of the largest in the past decade here. we can see a pattern developing here. >> reporter: that pattern has managers here worried. the fire threatened not just land, but homes. >> whenever we have a fire in proximity to the communities. there's a lot of value at risk that we didn't have in the past. >> reporter: in june, the fire on the peninsula threatened hundreds of home. in july, the socki fire burnt through the town of willow, destroying 55 houses. the socki fire swept through here a month ago. it's incredible to be here. it smells like a fire place a month later. it jumped over a highway and two creeks. alaska will see more of this. the state is heating up twice as fast as the lower 48.

and the number of acres is supposedly going to double by the middle of the century and be three times as much by the end of the century. we'll see the highs. jimmy runs the sled dogs, and they have been burnt out of their house alaska. >> some are standing, some are burnt. it's luck of the draw. >> reporter: this is the second time this year justin has rebuilt his house. until july, he drove the final nails into the roof of his home. a stove fire destroyed the first house in december. hammer in hand, he looked up and saw fire horizon. >> so that's when, like, we got texts and phone calls saying "it's a forest fire, it's coming at us." we decided to get stuff around, there.

>> the fire swept in hours later. >> it took the house and decimated the community famous for an alaskan sport. >> it's the u.n. official tackle for dog sleighing. willow. >> how many do you know lost their homes in the fire? >> i believe 10. working together the community evacuated 1,000 dogs. a few died from heat exhaustion. >> it was crazy. there's a wonderful community. people were coming in to evacuate the dogs. >> for you there was no option of leaving them behind? >> absolutely not. they are a part of the family. i chose them over other things that we could have saved. >> reporter: wild fires are not the only threat no the alaskan way of life. warmer winters meant less snow. the idedder odd was forced last

year to move 300 miles north. it's not what the highs, recent for. >> alaska came for the snow. >> for the cold and snow. >> reporter: in spite of abnormal weather, they are hope. the counter trend it temporary. >> everyone here is a dog musher or nose the sport well. you are intimately tied to the way the climate works in alaska. do you worry in 20-30 years, this? >> it comes and goes. there's hot years, there's wet years, dry or snowy. give me four in a row. >> the scientists who spent their lives studying the climate believes streams could be the new norm. >> it is part of the system. it's part of the story of the climate projections into the future.

not only is it projected to get warmer, but the variability of events will increase. >> when is the first time you noticed. >> scott is director of the scenarios networks for alaska at the university. >> his organization compiled 100 yards of data, from ship logs to future. >> if we move forward using the same scenario, looking at what is in store for us at the end of the century. there's a significant change. >> wow. >> help me understand the intensity of wildfire activity now, as compared to, i don't know, 50 years, 100 years ago. >> sure. this graph does a good job of that. we move into the 90s, and the number of bars above a million doubling. >> more forest fires have global indications for the rest of the planet.

ex-parties indicate that there's twice as much waiting to be released. as alaska's reflective ice and heat. >> is there any doubt in your from? >> in my mind, not much doubt. for me, it's apparent that greenhouse gases are a big contribution to this. i personally think we need to come to terms forward. >> as the change in climate brings more fire, all that can be done is make it through a season that gets longer. >> where it gets worrying is september, october, when you do it for so long, it starts to accumulate for you. it will start showing itself. especially if it kicks inbound in the lower 48 correspondent jacob ward joins us to follow up. not just the president, but

environmentalists tried hard to make the association to what those of us in the lower 48 feel is a remote place. how are we tied to what is happening in alaska? >> well, alaska, really, is a preview of what will happen to a lot of the united states. it has an accelerated effect. we depend on alaska to deflect a great deal of the sun that comes in from space, and the melting away of the snow cover, the permafrost means that alaska is absorbing heat faster than before, and it's not doing the job that we depend on it to do. the incredible growth of wildfires is pushing all kinds of carbon emissions out into the atmosphere that affects the lower 48 and the rest of the world. it seems a distant place, but the future is intimately

connected to our future in the lower 48. >> can they see in alaska a silver lining in the clouds here, and opportunity for their own future? >> you know, it's a great question, it's right. the spirit, the cultural kind of mood of alaska is optimistic. they have hun a life out of a place that you and i might find a difficult task to live there. they make a living in all ways, and, in fact, when scientists look at the possibilities of what it will look like, a few years from now, a decade, a generation, they talk about opening the passage ways up over the top of the globe to create a shaping economy, plus they are talking about an agricultural economy. alaska can grow beans or greens over a short window that it has each year. as that hot season grows, the growing season goes with it,

they are talking about growing grapes, tomatoes. there's an optimism when it comes to the economics of climate change. >> just to see the kind of fires that they are fighting, over extraordinary. >> it's unbelievable to see the scale and intensity of the fires in the lower 48. we talked in california where i'm based on about a 60 acre blaze, being a big deal. there you talk about 500 acres, a blaze threatening the town, that we were there to see. the scale of plus there are fires that burn not just all day. a 20 hour day, that's the sun shine we get. fires continue to burn over the course of a year. it's down under the mossy layer. sits there over the course of the winters.

nine, 10, 12 months at a time. it taxes the most seasoned firefighters in the lowest 48. >> thank you so much. >> next, hot spots, american cities facing a late summer crime site and community bracing for more trouble. later, can mum make a difference? >> the unlikely squad cooking up a fight against crime. and hot on "america tonight", a tale of two cities. a decade after katrina, special correspondent solo dad o'brien finds new orleans recovering and still struggling. that's at "america tonight".

a fast-forward look at a late surge of violence sending many scrambling for solutions, a number of cities that have seen

murder tallies at or over last year's totals. adam may puts a face and father's story to the grim numbers. >> reporter: his name was kevin jones. 22 years old. number 123 on baltimore's growing murder list for this year. another statistic. another homicide. another father's son. regginal jones carries no pictures of his only boy, just a high school diploma. around? >> it's the only thing i got right now. yes. it's the only thing i got right now. >> reporter: just before dawn on the morning of the prooek yeses

stakes, kevin was walking to his job as a guard at the race track. he was shot dead in the parking lot. why were you proud of him, what did he do to make you proud of him? >> walked across the stage. >> reporter: were you there when it happened? >> no, i was incarcerated. he started coming to see me when i first went to prison. he was - he couldn't even walk. >> even with his father locked up, and his mother out of the picture, kevin jones found a way to beat the ads. he graduated high school, worked full-time for two years, and applied to community college. >> he thought about being an engineer. electronics. >> reporter: to hear your son say he wanted to be an engineer, what was it like to hear that? >> it was - for me, it was positive. and, you know, when he said that, i looked at him.

i said man, that's what's up man, you know. that's what's up. >> i said hello fast-forward to an all hands on deck call in baltimore. hearing for freddie gray considered on wednesday. the court to consider whether the case against six officers who pleaded not guilty should be dismissed among other issues. you'll recall the death sparked protests, and they fear a court decision could reignite tensions in charmed city next, safer streets, a recipe for stopping crime, cooked up by mothers on the move. and no roaming the range. wednesday on "america tonight", what is keeping would-be whistleblowers in wyoming from getting the dirt they need to make their cases. on what some suspect is a road block to justice. that's wednesday on "america tonight".

[ ♪ ] just after a spike in violence crime a number of cities are seeing, chicago close to the top of the list once again. 1700 shootings this year. nearly 300 homicides. a 20% increase over the same time last year. city leaders say they are doing what they can. what might make a bigger impact is listening to mum. "america tonight"s sara hoy with a powerful weapon in saving the city's streets. >> give me the lighter, i'm going to do it. i'm going to start to fire.

get over here. >> reporter: the charcoal grill is out. the smell of a barbecue blankets a block on the chicago south side. this is more than an average neighbourhood get together. . >> we've got a rhythm going. a group of mothers has taken to the streets in the englewood neighbourhood. hoping the presence deters violence that claims hundreds of lives across the city so far this year. >> in order to save my children i have to save everyone else's. >> this woman lost a child to . >> you stay out of trouble. >> this woman never lost a child to gun violence, and is fighting to make sure she doesn't. . >> i was thinking, just as mothers keep things under control. in their homes, i figured we can do it in the community as well. this summer, we took mums and set up shops on blocks, on the worst blocks, the blocks with

the most challenges, that are the most violent. i'm putting on the mument on patrol shirt. so everyone knows i'm there after a shooting death in the englewood neighbourhood recollects mothers against senseless shootings were created. they want to stop the gun violence plaguing the city, even for a few hours. . >> who knew it would work. it did, it worked. >> i don't want all the sandwiches gone. >> the women and the men from mask commit to patrol for four hours every afternoon. they plan to stay out until labour day. . >> thank you so much. >> reporter: neighbours and strangers from out of state started dropping off donations of cash and supplies in support. who is paying for this. >> for a long time it came out of my pocket. i told everyone don't count on me - coming or doing my hair, i

can't afford to get it done, this is what we are doing. now, thank god. we have a lot of contributions. >> reporter: the grassroots effort created a safe place in neighbourhood. in the weeks since they begin, there has been no shootings on the street corner. . >> what we essentially have done is created an out door community center, an out door community center. any day kids are catching cards, playing football, jumping rope or hanging out. sitting around. mommas. >> doing yoga. >> doing yoga, we do yoga as well. we do kick boxing, box of course, so we exercise together. we do a lot together. come get on the map. no one wants to shoot anyone or get shot when they are doing yoga. >> help me up. >> i mean, like, it's not okay.

you can't shoot someone when they are doing yoga. >> reporter: or eating. >> or eating dinner or cooking. you can't do that. it takes them out of that frame of mind. i mean, no one is angry, no one is hostile. no one is scared. no one is feeling any of the those things. they are the things that lead to violence. >> hello, how are you. >> reporter: she was born and raised in the neighbourhood she watches over. she's a freelance writer by day and studying to become a rabbi. her job doesn't end when she leaves the block. >> when i leave the block at night, i'm still making phone calls and asking "hey, where are you, what are you doing? you need to go in the house, it's too late for you to be out?" i love seeing them knowing we got to do this again, and we made it through the night and this summer. i can't imagine what it would be neighbourhood. >> reporter: most of the time

when media comes here, it's the headlines. >> yes. this is 500 shot and killed. holiday weekend ruined. you know the headlines and the lived here. absolutely. >> absolutely. >> we have already started making the change. >> it's not us, us necessarily making the change. it's our children that are changing. and they are changing before my very eyes. before last month they didn't have options they do now. i'm willing to fight for them to have the options. that's what i do every day. >> also fighting for the youth of chicago is mary. >> i lost the town. i lost my only son to street violence. he was stabbed to death. he left two kids that don't remember him, because they were one and two. i don't want to write him off saying they are not going anywhere.

that's a reason i'm here, to encourage and tell them. >> despite the multiple shootings, earning the city the nickname shah abbing, the people that live and volunteer say the city of chicago is home, with people. >> you don't see the people coming out like that. hanging out on the corner. it shocked me that it took off like this. i'm happy, and it makes my heart bleed. right. >> you have issues about now. >> there are obstacles, and not necessarily the ones >> i thought the kids was the biggest problem. that they would be the obstacle. when i got there they were so welcoming. they needed what i was offering. whether it was a hug, food. needed it. it was the police that didn't care for it. it has proven to be that our

biggest obstacle is our relationship with law enforcement. it really is. it's not necessarily the kids. the kids see the police as maybe even the entire african-american, the police are the bogeyman, the monster under the bed. >> reporter: in the time that you've been doing this, what has been your highest high and lowest low. >> there has been instances when one of my boys tell me he didn't want his gang tattoos, he wanted to go to school. and another kid saying i don't want to sell drugs. they are the highs. my lowest low would have to be the day that a young man was murdered on another block. he had just been out with us the day before, and i had seen him the day before. out getting food. the next morning he was gone. >> reporter: the shooting death caused tamara for a moment to doubt her efforts, a feeling she

let go of when one of the kids told her she was needed. >> that had to be my lowest low. one of my guys put it in proper perspective. that's why i do what i do. i realise there'll be days like that. i'm not god. i can't control everything. this is very knew. we are working on it. like you said, it was one, it could have been said. that's going to have to be good enough for me right now. >> for now. tamara and her team will keep a watch over the block difference. that's "america tonight". tell us what you think. at aljazeera.com/americatonight talk to us on twitter or facebook and come back. we'll have more of "america tonight"

♪ the refugee crisis plays out on the streets of hungary. police stop hundreds from boarding trains to germany. you are watching al jazeera. i am fabria ibrahim. the way is cleared for perez molina to face corruption charges. lebanese police push back protesters who want the