a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! they say there are only three kinds of stories. man versus nature. >> one small step for man -- >> man versus man -- >> first you duck, then you

cover. >> and man versus himself. >> i am not a crook. >> the story we're about to chase has all three. several billion times over. the cast includes you, everyone you'll ever meet, and every living thing. the stage is the entire planet, and the stakes -- 100 miles, whoa, only the end of life as we know it. but this is not a show about the end of the world. the world will be just fine. the world has been spinning through fire and ice for over four billion years.

no, i'm talking about us, life as we know it. the modern human world that could only be built on a living planet with a goldilocks climate. not too hot, not too cold. and now the world's scientists are urgently trying to tell us goldilocks is dying. so this is a roadtrip into american stories of man versus nature, his neighbors -- [ chants ] -- and himself. as seas rise, mountains burn, and economies shift. and it's a search for ways to turn our denial or depression into action. >> this is only the beginning. >> to save the lives of millions we will never meet and a few we know really well.

this is the road to change. >> whoo! >> let's start with a confession. for years, i considered myself the luckiest s.o.b. in television news. whoa. i got to chase stories all over the globe. but everything is gone -- look at this. each trip brought fresh insight. like a lawnmower in the sky came down. into how much we're losing and how much we have lost. 50 years ago, 60,000 acres might burn in a year. last year, it was almost two

million acres. and now with every unnatural disaster -- >> a report out today from the united nations warns that climate change is having a devastating impact -- >> every horrifying warning from science -- >> this report paints a deadly picture for people right here in the united states. >> and every willfully ignorant shrug from the people in charge. >> all of this with the global warming and -- a lot of it's a hoax. it's a hoax. >> my wonder and gratitude turn into worry and grief. and i'm not alone. since so many share this feeling, the american psychological association came up with a name for it -- ecoanxiety. [ chants ] >> what we're not doing is acknowledging the bigness of it -- >> reporter: renee lurtzman studies the psychology of the

climate crisis. >> suddenly we're saying, guess what, everything that you thought was really amazing about being human, all these incredible developments, travel, food production, industrialization, that humans have benefited so much from and are very proud of, it's like all the sudden the narrative changes. it's like this is all actually destroying our planet. destroying lives that you care about and destroying the beings that we love. so that's a pretty intense message. >> it' bs big enough to short circuit our brains almost. >> exactly. exactly. >> how did we get here? how did good people with good inventions pave our road to hell? maybe we should start on highway

1. a prime example of nature versus hom an nature. look at this -- human nature. look at this, i'm driving on a highway over the ocean. the question now, though is for how long. you know, this was originally the overseas railroad built by an oil man named henry flagler. driven by the audacious vision that turning sea and swamp into paradise. man, if he could see it now. but 20 years before flagler found florida, a woman in upstate new york discovered something even more profound. her name was eunice newton-foot. she was a founding feminist, artist, and scientist who discovered that when you fill glass cylinders with different

gases and put them in the sun, carbon dioxide traps the most heat. an atmosphere of that gas would give our earth a high temperature, she wrote. back then nobody paid attention to scientists in skirts. and even as countedless men duplicated her discovery, there was no stopping the industrial revolution. coal and oil transformed humanity, built the modern world. complete with overseas highways. but all that burning also built an invisible greenhouse in the sky. and thanks to all that heat trapping gas, just the oceans are absorbing as much extra heat as five hiroshima-sized atomic bombs every second of every minute of every day.

eunice foote was right. and 163 years later on independence day 2019, anchorage was hotter than key west. >> this whole lake was -- there was no lake in the early 1950s. >> so the ice went all the way down to the end of the lake down there. >> right. >> this is what is left of alaska's spencer glacier. what took thousands of years of snow to grow has melted away in mere decades. the ice that we're standing on is probably about 5,000 years old. once this water melts off and goes into the ocean, as long as we have all this carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it's not coming back here.

>> and if you count greenland and the polar caps, since 1961 earth has lost the equivalent of a block of ice the size of the united states 16-feet thick. the satellites and computer models get better by the year. new science shows that predictions of sea-level rise have been wildly conservative. from bank do-- bangkok to bosto it is predicted that 150 million people will be living at high tide by 2050. >> we're committed to about a foot, maybe a foot and a half of sea-level rise here. >> by the end of the century -- >> by the end of 2100 it could be between three and six feet. >> some of your colleagues, they're predicting 15 feet of sea-level rise which means miami's gone, right? >> true, yes.

15 feet is a serious problem. >> are they doomsayers? are they overly pessimistic? >> what they're trying to tell us is if we remain on this trajectory, then there's a real possibility what they're suggesting could happen. it's not out of bounds. it's not a radical statement. >> next up -- mr. mayor -- >> how you doing? >> we check with the movers, the shakers. the fear is palpable in miami. and builders -- >> you want materials below flood. >> -- to see how well they're prepared and how neighbors of the future might survive. >> i do solemnly swear that i shall faithfully serve the underwater homeowners association.

this was supposed to be a roadtrip into the future. with science as my map, i set out to imagine how america would be transformed by the climate crisis. but i quickly learned that the future is now because we are the first humans ever to walk on a planet this hot. so nobody knows what comes next. >> even if we take dramatic action and avoid some of the worst impacts, the world wish so totally transformed by the action that we do take that the planet will be unrecognizable. >> one way or another. >> one way or the other. we're not going back to goldilocks. >> even if we manage to avoid really dramatic warming that

will mean solar arrays everywhere you look. carbon capture plantations mild wide. a whole new way of growing feed. a whole new kind of airplane. a whole new concrete. every single building will have to be retrofitted. if we do nothing, our world will be transformed. if we take action, our world will be transformed, too. >> what i realized we're living through the end of as we know it, it began to feel like a roadtrip through the five stages of grief. denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. miami shows signs of all five at once. >> 135,000 years ago all felt south florida was under water. what these hills are marine sands, and the valleys are the tidal channels which cut between them. the roirirony is what happened

125,000 years ago will dictate what happens to your house now. >> today around the u.s., close to 100 coastal communities face chronic flooding due to sea-level rise. the union of concerned scientists says that number could jump to 170 just in the next 15 years. meanwhile, in miami, everybody knows they're living on porous limestone. everybody sees how saltwaters bubbles up at king tide, and the university of miami study says flooding events have gone up 400% since 2006. but between the floods and storms, it's freaking gorgeous. it's estimated that a population of florida is growing at about 38 people an hour, and it's hard to find a developer or politician eager to sound the alarm that the water will come. >> their basic message is that we can deal with this. >> yeah. >> can they? >> no. >> no? >> no.

>> nobody can? >> not in the long run. whether it will be a floating city, whether it will be an abandoned city, i don't know what it will be. but it will not look at all like this city. >> but it's a short drive from denial downtown to bargaining, depression, and acceptance in pinecrest. >> i live in pinecrest. i'm 11. >> 8.54 feet. >> i'm 9. >> where neighbors have formed america's first underwater homeowners association. >> i'm at seven feet. lower than i thought to be honest. >> my name is judy, and i'm here for hope and for inspiration. >> there was some really negative response from people recoiling and saying, why are you doing this? you're going to hurt us and our property values. which i thought to be part of the cancer i'm trying to cure. >> it is the brainchild of artist and activist xavier

cortada. >> what's happening in our community -- >> before water covers the street in the next century, there will be an aquifer below it that will not give you the fresh water that you drink in these homes. and before that happens, there's going to be a flood insurance rise. as that happens, there's going to be property devaluation because all of a sudden the psychology of a house being an investment is going to be started to turn on its head. >> my momehome is in danger. a bunch of homes next to me. >> the fear is palpable. i wanted to give people a mechanism for coping and dealing with that fear and preparing for the inevitable. >> but they all know they can't do it alone. they need help from people in power. you are a republican. >> yes. >> what is it like being associated with a party in which climate change denial seems to be a main plank in the platform?

>> well, for me, denying climactic events is not an option because we live it. we want to push back on what people try to brand us with which is not accurate. >> come is what? >> that we're going to be under water in 50 or 100 years, when we know that's not going to happen. >> how can you say that for sure? >> because we're planning for it. we're making significant investments, hundreds of millions of dollars, and hopefully billions of dollars into the future, to make sure that doesn't happen. >> they've raised their wastewater treatment plant to handle three to four feet of sea-level rise. in 2017, voters raised their own taxes. the miami forever fund devotes $400 million to higher streets, bigger pumps, and better drainage. but that's just a drop in a smelly bucket when you consider that miami-dade county needs over seven times that amount to fortify all their septic tanks. and if they fail, it's everyone's mess. even those on ultra ritzy fisher

island. what does it say about the human condition that the most expensive zip code is also one of the most vulnerable to a changing planet? >> people at that income level have a lot more options than a lot of the rest of us. they can invest in upgrading their sea walls, their buildings. >> a sweeping new report by worldwide consulting giant mckenzie found that flood-prone homes could lose 5% to 15% in value this decade, and up to 35% by 2050, which has some scrambling to protect their investment. the plan is to raise the sea wall to here -- >> it will be by this high. >> traditionally you would build at fema base flood and one foot of free board. in miami beach we're saying you can build one to five feet higher. >> do you worry about banks or insurance companies at some point deciding we're not going

to write 30-year mortgages? >> we're having those conversations. >> as a developer, you now have an ethical obligation to try to convince a customer to build higher? >> we have those conversations, and it's also a dollar and cents because the higher you go, the more money it is. >> but as the haves decide between luxury appliances and altitude, the have nots in little haet are worried -- haiti are worried good something else. >> this one is pressured every day, sell, sell, sell, sell. >> the descendants of those who built henry flagler's railroad and immigrants who could only afford to buy on the wrong side of the tracks are now three feet higher than their rich patients in. >> they are being pushed out from their homes, from their businesses. we are now -- >> because high ground is valued property now. >> believe it or not, we didn't

know that. >> but even a few extra feet of altitude may not save you from a next-level hurricane. next up, how the fingerprints of an unnatural storm could be used to challenge the fossil fuel giants. we've always put safety first. ♪ ♪ and we always will. ♪ ♪ for people. ♪ ♪ for the future. ♪ ♪ and there has never been a summer when it's mattered more. wherever you go, summer safely. get 0% apr financing for up to five years on select models and exclusive lease offers. a breakthrough 10 years in the makingveclear, that reduces allergens in cat hair and dander. outstanding nutrition with the power to change lives. this is purina pro plan liveclear.

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this is a unique one in the world air/sea interaction tank. in a big, moist room at the university of miami, there is a box full of hurricanes. wow! that's incredible. a multimillion dollar storm simulation built to better understand the power of wind, water, and heat. the amount of moisture that can evaporate from the surface of the oceans is very, very sensitive to temperatures. so small increases in temperature lead to large increases in evaporation. evaporation is the fuel that drives the storm. if you warm up the ocean a little bit, you get a big response in evaporation that gives you a big response in the intensity of storms.

>> at least one study predicts that by century's end, the number of cat 4 and 5 storms in the atlantic basin will increase by 45% to 87%. while they can predict the behavior of nature during a hurricane, it's much harder to predict human nature after modern storms have passed. >> wow, look at that. you can see right into that kitchen. >> yep. >> wow. this was mexico beach, florida, three months after hurricane michael. once known as mayberry by the sea, the panhandle town lost three lives, 90% of its buildings were damaged, and there's no telling how many residents left and will never come back. >> it's hard to ignore what the data that is being put out about

global warming and the oceans around our continent and the rise of those. >> and knowing that, though, would you invest here? would you build -- >> no. my house is over there. no. >> but at what point is there a emotional obligation from leaders, from business to say, i'm sorry, you can't build there anymore? unless you take all the risk. >> you have to think of the economics of that. what becomes of the most valuable tax-based lots and not only mexico beach but along the coast, is the state willing to buy your property? >> because the value of that lot pays your cops -- >> that's right. they pay it all. sugar sand. that's exactly right. >> the mayor tells me he has an annual budget of $3.5 million. but just the cleanup from

michael is estimated to cost up to $60 million. in a future of storms made bigger, stronger, and wetter by the burning of fossil fuels, some wonders whether fossil fuel corporations like this one should help cover the tab. the motiva refinery is the big nest north america, and it's owned by a saudi arabian company that made $111 billion profit in 2018, almost twice as much as apple. meanwhile, their neighbor who lives here was driven out by the floodwaters of hurricane harvey and almost two years later can't afford the repairs to move back in. mitiva and 20 other fossil fuel companies are being sued by rhode island for their partial responsibility for our once and future climate crisis. while the companies are fighting the first-ever liability suit of its kind, motiva's parent

company acknowledged in a recent disclosure that claims such as these could grow in number. >> so climate attrition science i think is one of the biggest advances in our understanding of climate change in the last ten years. and basically this is researcher looking for human fingerprints on the storms. i also think it will become important in courtrooms in the future as people continue to sue fossil fuel companies and governments that are supporting these industries that we know are making the planet more dangerous. >> that's the thing that's so controversial, right. >> yeah. >> a day when you could sue exxonmobil for 50% of your losses for that storm. >> that's already happening to? degree. [ chants ] >> after rhode island, new york state did sue exxonmobil for allegedly defrauding investors about the true cost of climate change. and while the judge ruled new york didn't show enough evidence, he wrote that nothing in this opinion is intended to absolve exxonmobil from responsibility for contributing to climate change.

[ applause ] and while a federal appeals court ended the climate kids bid to sue the federal government for lack of climate action, court fights over liability have only just begun. >> i think this is a growing area, litigious area, because someone is to blame for losses that are occurring, and everyone's trying to figure out the legal mix of who and how and how much. >> do you see your town as a victim of this new normal? as a victim of a changing climate? no? >> no, i don't. i see us as a victim of mother nature in terms of hurricane michael. i've been here 65 years, and for 64 of those years we have been just fine. >> that, my friends, is human nature. even for those like the mayor who acknowledged the science, the attitude is never surrender.

always rebuild. #mytownisstrong. it's not just beach towns doing the grim math of resiliency these days. >> holy mighty god, we thank you for this time to come together, that we can put our faith into action and address climate change. >> next up we head to the heartland, where the people who grow our seafood afood are hopi praying, and rethinking everything they know about farming. alright let's roll. c'mon pizza's here. whoa! is that shaq? this is my new pizza the shaq-a-roni and it's bigger than pizza because for every shaq-a-roni sold, $1 is donated to the papa john's foundation for building community. $1 is donated to the papa john's foundation looembarrassing you. up wall. that wall is your everest - but not any more. today let's paint. behr. exclusively at the home depot.

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it has been said that once in your life you may need a doctor or a lawyer, but every day you need a farmer. when they hurt, we hurt. and if you make a living with soil, seeds, and sun, few things hurt more than unpredictable weather. >> checking cattle with snow

blowing into my face, and i come around the corner, and i'm hearing the frogs chirping in a snow blizzard. it was just weird. i'm like, this is what climate change is. the wrong weather, the wrong time, with devastating consequences. >> matt russell works coyote run farm in southern iowa with his husband and adopted sons. >> this spring we just got hammered with rain. just hammered. >> and like their neighbor just injordan, they are still reeling from the wettest 12-month period the united states has ever recorded. >> and you see how short this corn is? normally this tassel will be at the top of my fingertips, eight-feet tall. >> he took a 20% hit, but at least he had a crop. thanks to freakish bomb cyclones and levee smashing floods, a staggering 19 million acres went unplant wanted around the

country. almost a third of farm income came from federal bailouts or insurance. >> holy mighty god, we thank you for this time -- >> you can't blame them for praying, but this is a different kind of devotional. >> that we can put our faith into action and address climate change. >> reporter: interfaith power and light is a national organization devoted to using faith to fight the climate crisis. >> we need to be a leader in that -- >> farmer matt heads the iowa chapter. >> i'd say the majority of farmers don't believe in it. and -- yeah, a sensitive issue. it's tied back to politics, too. >> and that's the sad part is this isn't rainbows and unicorns, this is proven stuff. >> the question we asked them is as a armer,how doesgod call you in your vocation? and so they'll talk about we feed people, we steward our land. and then we'll shift to in this climate crisis, what are you seeing? that's an invitation to talk about how they can solve it. >> we've been so divided

politically on the issue of climate change, that even if people believe in it and want to help, they're afraid to say anything -- >> right -- >> being judged by the neighbors or something, right? >> yeah. by other farmers, by groups. >> i know that some of my neighbors kind of -- i don't know if they laugh at me, but they probably do. but at the same time, still a lot of my -- i'll still do anything for my neighbor. but you just -- i hate seeing this polarization keep people from doing things that would be beneficial. >> meanwhile, farm debt is the highest in decades. for the first time, america's farm bill includes $50 million for rural mental health care and suicide prevention. >> so it's a fair question to

ask who in their right mind would possibly want to get into this business and feed the world in the next generation. but here's the good news -- right now every corn plant in this field is pulling carbon out of the sky and putting it in the ground. and with the right financial incentives and the right innovation, they can keep it there and still feed the world. iowa, nebraska, could be giants carbon sinks, and unlike drillers and miners and frackers, these farmers won't have to change careers in order to help save life as we know it. it is called regenerative agriculture or carbon farming. it involves less tilling and chemicals, more cover crops and natural microbes, less mono crop factory farms, more trees and wild prairies and biodiversity. >> just listen to all the birds, too. something you don't hear when

you walk out in a cornfield. there's just so much more not only the plant biodiversity but the wildlife diversity -- >> life -- >> exactly, exactly. >> and one big cheerleader for this idea happens to be a famous farm boy from tennessee. >> if you're looking for common ground in rural america -- >> right -- >> it's the ground. >> my father taught me a lesson when i was about 5 years old, where to find the best, most productive soil. and i held it in my hand and it was black and moist. but i'm embarrassed to tell you that it was 50 years later that i understood why it was black. that's the carbon. >> since earth's soil holds four times the carbon as all living plants and animals combined, the farm east of nashville is a working, growing laboratory to figure out the best way to keep it out of the sky and in the ground. there's a perception out there

that this kind of farming is for the amish or hippies, or for some elite who's can afford organic produce. does this scale? >> yeah. i think it does. you used to hear that same argument applied to solar panels where, oh, yeah, the wealthy elites can install solar panels. but look at what's happening now in subdivisions and places all over the country, people are putting in the solar panels because they're getting cheaper electricity. i think the same thing's going to happen with regenerative agriculture. >> i came across a startling fact recently that humanity has burned more carbon since your first book came out -- >> yeah, yeah -- >> than in all of human history before. that we're still going completely in the wrong direction -- >> the cause and effect there -- >> no, i'm saying despite your best efforts. we live both globally and locally in a growth, perpetual

growth -- >> that's right -- >> idea. and you don't get elected, and you don't get a board seat these days by saying we should slow down. >> we're -- we've got a big challenge on our hands. the biggest challenge human civilization's faced really. >> but the former vice does not agree that humanity must first process through the five stages of grief. >> we have not been condemned to it a death sentence. there is a group of people that seem to be eager to go from denial to despair without pausing on the intermediate step of solving the damn problem and doing the things that we can do now. >> and the good news is the solution says are not utopian, they are available. >> but even with all the technology, even with plenty of will -- >> i can at least say i tried to do something -- >> -- and a whole lot of faith -- >> we pray in your name, amen. >> -- so much of this story

comes down to politics. coming up -- >> there is no manmade climate change. >> a dive into partisan division fueled by fossil fuel. first, a trip to fire country where they're learning now more than ever -- >> only you can prevent forest fires. >> smokey bear is wrong. right now, switch to t-mobile and get four lines of unlimited for just $25 bucks a line. with access to america's largest 5g included. that's right. unlimited and nationwide 5g for the whole family for just $25 bucks a line. only at t-mobile. your cells. trillions of them. that's why centrum contains 24 key nutrients to support your energy. so you can take care of what matters most. and try new centrum minis today.

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♪ ♪ smokey the bear smokey the bear ♪ ♪ howling and a-growling and a-sniffing the air ♪ ♪ he can find a fire before it starts to flame that's why they call him smokey that was how he got his name ♪ >> bless his cartoon heart, but for nearly 75 years, our friend smokey bear has been mostly wrong. >> so remember, only you can prevent forest fires. ♪ >> no, you can't. sure the vast majority of forest fires are human caused, but the

fires set by lightning often burn more acres than the ones set by people. in fact, some of the recent epic blazes in australia were so big, their smoke columns created lightning which started more fires. and as the american west warmed 59% faster than the rest of the planet since 1970, more drought and more infestation of tree-killing beetles turned forests into fuel. just as millions of people with their campfires, cigarettes, and power lines came searching for paradise. >> that's how hot things got. that's a water meter. >> yeah. just melted it. >> yeah. >> and then when the system depressurized, it sucked in toxic smoke. >> around the time the camp fire ripped through paradise, the deadliest in california history, the fourth national climate assessment predicted that by

2050 the size of western wildfires could increase two to six times, and that's sobering because paradise is a case study that when the smoke clears, the nightmare has only just begun. >> in the meantime, you can't drink the water. >> can't drink the water. >> and after wildfires ripped from wine country in the north to the mansions of malibu in the south, an industry analysis found that insurance companies paid out twice as much in two years than they took in profit over 26. >> i'll guarantee you many of those people up there are grossly uninsured or maybe even underinsured because the insurance services offices have really cracked down. if you're in a fire-prone area, they are doubling, tripling your insurance costs or canceling you. >> this is my old college apartment in malibu. i couldn't afford insurance back in the day. i can only hope that whoever

lived here during the woolsey fire was covered. you have a list of addresses that are covered by your company. >> we do. >> and since public first responders have been so strapped, private for-profit fire-fighting companies are booming. the kind used by kim kardashian and kanye west to protect their calabasas mansion in the same blaze that took my college . >> have you ever come across a house that's engulfed and it's never near one of your houses and you have to dry on by? >> yes, i had done some pro bono work, too, had we not done something about it, the house would have been gone. >> reporter: firefighting was a private enterprise, it was ben franklin that sold the idea if everyone puts out the poor neighbor's house, the community saves itself. do you think with the fires getting as bad as they are, the trend, we can go back to that

model where -- >> maybe. >> -- you guys can do to fire department what is uber drivers do to taxi drivers? where i call you to come put out my house and pay you? >> i can pay you. i think people say we cater to the rich. we don't. as you see, the resources are so thivenlt they're so spread out. we got these fires going crazy, you know, i mean, would you do it? >> yeah, absolutely. if i had my family, sure. >> do you imagine a future where it's the haves and the have nots when it comes to defending your house against a wildfire? >> i'm not going to imagine that future i'm hired to manifest a different future. >> reporter: gavin newsom ran on promises to move california into a carbon-free future. but as governor, he has been consumed by fire and all its complications. like pg&e. the state's largest utility

company blamed for a series of blazes with liability lawsuits pushing them into bankruptcy. like the families burned into homelessness in the middle of a housing crisis and towns like paradise, struggling to rebuild. >> it should not be a state of haves and have nots that can protect themselves. it's incumbent upon elected officials of all political stripes to protect the most vulnerable. we're prioritizing the most vulnerable. >> to put it in figures, how much the u.s. the campfire cost? to future out the flames? >> nay are jaw breaking numbers, the debris is in the multi-not billions, multi-billion expenses. >> reporter: since the campfires started on federal land, some argued for more logging there to thin fuel. that's the direction the fire spread. >> reporter: but naturalists point out, leicester as we know it now calls for more forests, not less. >> and we have to also be

willing to be skeptical about agencies and companies that are in the logging business that say they're going to somehow save towns from fire by doing a bunch of loging deep out in the forest. because that's exactly what they did here. and we saw the tragic consequences in that campfire. >> reporter: yes, a decade before the deadliest blaze in state history. another fire burned the ridges. the timber companies locked this whole area and put in a plantation of ponderosa pines by argument that manning the forest, man can prevent the next big fire. exactly the opposite happened. when the campfire came roaring over that ridge, it blasted 32 you this logged area at a rate three times faster than average. by some estimates, if they had let this go wild and not touched it, the people in paradise would have two extra hours to evacuate. a tree that falls in the first

few years is, indeed, a problem from a fuels perspective. but a tree that has been, that fell five, ten, 15 years, acts more as a sponge. >> reporter: new science and ancient wisdom are helping people understand western landscapes evolve to burn. they need fire to thrive. >> there is a bunch of native insects that depend on dead trees. the bugs attract the wood peckers, which make the squirrels and they attract the hawk, all the way town bears. >> but you can't have any of that unless you have fire or drought that kills patches of trees. >> a forest needs depth to live. >> exactly. >> reporter: now, more than ever, ecologists like chad would convince our old friend to modify his message. only you can prevent community fires. instead of battling blazes deep in unpopulated woods, he says,

let them burn and spend those resources defending homes and businesses in towns like paradise. >> if folks think climate change is not real and folks think, well, we can't afford to address climate change, my gosh, jaw dropping to me the knife thnaiv that is the most expensive option is doing nothing. >> reporter: plenty will stay, rebuild, fight, and adapt. but what of the folks smoked out of california or flooded out of l.a. go? >> if my land goes under watt, it still my land? generally not. >> reporter: how hard is it to move entire towns? >> anybody else is probably not moving. >> reporter: next stop, a look at the next great migration.

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next stop on the road to change, louisiana. named after a french king who sold to us for less than 3 cents an acre. good deal. but now this land is sinking. just a seas arising. every hour of every day a piece of louisiana about the size of a football field slides into the sea. >> for people who study sea level change like me, there has

been a lot of change in just the last say five years. >> and those who study the drowning of louisiana say it's happening faster than anyone ever predicted. >> what maybe five years ago was the worst case scenario is now what we might call a fairly likely scenario. that's terrifying. >> it is terrifying. and it basically means climate change is here in full force. >> do you have children? >> i have an 8-year-old daughter. >> do you think she will ever be able to say take out a 30-year mortgage in new orleans? >> i don't know. i don't know. that is, i wouldn't bet my money on it, put it that way. >> this is for a regular high tide, no bad weather event. this is just water coming in. >> i woke up to this saturday

10:00 a.m. my mama's. >> two hours south of new orleans is isle dejean charles. a place to hide from the trail of tears. >> see these two trees here? >> nor the first 100 years they farmed this land until the saltwater came. >> whenever the water would get like this, you'd feel water right underneath the floor of the house. >> they raised their homes a few feet and a few feet more. until before and after slight proved what they already knew, 98% of their homeland has disappeared. >> i always talk about water as our life and our death. if we weren't able to farm

anymore, the waters, the shrimp, the oysters, the crabs that are stange our people. now it's killing us. it's killing us. >> reporter: so isle dejean charles won a first of its kind grant, $48 million grant to move 40 miles north. the state bought 5 acres of sugar cane fields. >> we will have baseball feelss, first quarter ponds, wetland, homes across the back. >> reporter: but before they could even break ground. >> we just had our tribal meeting today. >> reporter: they're getting a harsh lesson in how hard it is to convince americans to uproot and retreat. >> anybody else is probably not moving. >> really? >> so, yeah. >> so half of the 30 families that live here say they'll never leave. some worried if they can't pick their own land and neighbors, they'll lose tribal identity.

>> we can't discriminate against people. there is a fair housing act that says you can't tell people they can or can't live here based on some characteristic that they have. >> others like chris have a hard time believing that glaciers melting so far away could ever take his land. >> i have trouble with that. >> reporter: so do you doubt that melting dplabiers in antarctica -- glaciers in ant architeka will affect you here? >> this place is around water. we have always been around water. if we would be sinking, i think we would be suffering. >> if my land goes under water due to sea water rise, is it still my land? >> generally not. >> really? >> reporter: generally when land turns into open navigable water

you don't own it. you don't get a check. >> it's not under water. >> eventually it will be. >> it's not yet. >> i heard that, but it's still on top. >> reporter: it's still dry and it's still yours? >> and it's still mine. >> reporter: if it is this hard to move a few dozen people, consider the most widely accepted estimate by mid-century, climate could displace 200 million. at least 130,000 puerto ricans left their island right after hurricane maria, which many of the folks i met there after losing home and hope, their american passport became their most valuable. imagine what border crossings around the world might look like as things get worse?

in the u.s., imagine another great migration as folks seek safe harbor like oakies that left the dust bowl during depression. such mass movement could shift the entire electoral map, turning red states blue, blue states red. and it will change our very definition of neighbor and stranger. so now my favorite time to better understand the human dynamic between those who believe the crisis is real and those who don't. >> you only have 11 years to live, folks, 11 years, because climate change is coming up on us so fast. >> reporter: next up, a journey into the how's climate-gate and a denial. >> death threats made to me and my family. >> as business moves forward,

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in the last couple years, i have been pinballing between two americas. the one that believes we are committing fossil fuel suicide and the one that does not. >> i heard this thing you know about the climate change and the climate is changing. i have yet to see any substantial proof of that. >> reporter: you'd think victims of record shattering fires or drowning house would be the most zealous believers of the warning of science. but human nature doesn't work that way. >> reporter: if i was to say i

was affected by the climate change taking place where it's melting and turning into water, i have trouble with that. >> reporter: sometimes. so this is it? >> yes, this is it. >> reporter: members of the two americas share the same name, blood and home. you guys built this allureses? >> yes. we just team effort. >> reporter: bun boatload at a time? >> one boat load at a time. >> reporter: well, now, this is cozy. for generations, the whitney family has been watching their beloved bayous in southern louisiana disappear. >> when you think about how much land we've lost just in our lifetime, it's pretty scary. there is nothing building it back up. >> reporter: but even though they were nurtured in the same nature, the brothers don't see

eye-to-eye on why. >> do i sense a little bit of brotherly disagreement on whether man-made global warm secretary real? >> i do believe. >> reporter: you believe and you don't? >> i'm not a big believer, to be honest with you? >> reporter: why? >> i guess i go from what i see. right now most of the united states is clinched in ice. niagara falls is frozen over, i don't see where the warming effect is. >> have you tried to explain to him that climate change doesn't necessarily mean we're all going to turn into the tropics. >> reporter: we have decided to agree to disagree. >> really, okay. >> personally, i think the science seems to be spot on we can hope your brother's right. >> right. >> well, it's, you know, just like we need to be stew wards of our land, our marsh, try to preserve it. we need to be conscious of what we do to the environment. we need to be stewards of everything we do on earth. >> i can see him going out of

his way to say, just because i don't believe in climate change doesn't mean i am interested in being the steward of the happened. >> right. >> that felt very poignant. >> my grandfather originally had property out here. >> reporter: when i discussed with renee, she urgeled me to consider the setting. this is oil country, where loyalty and neighbors and respect for tradition is just as important as being a good steward of the land. >> the oil companies own the properties mostly for mineral rights. they have been generous to allow people to lease surface rights. >> right. >> in my experience, when people have a hard time coming to terms with the reality that climate change is actually human created, that usually there is something going on that we're trying to protect and it could be our deeply-held loyalties to

family, to industry. >> reporter: or for some folks. >> we keep hearing that 2014 has been the warmest year on record. >> reporter: loyalty to a certain brand of politics. >> you know what this is? it's a snowball. >> i would not cause the call this a crisis, no, sir. >> whether it's hotter or colder, the climate is always changing. there is no man-made climate change. >> is anything we do going to make 18 significant difference? >> no, i am a demyer. >> some things are changing, it will change back again. i don't think it's a hoax. there is probably a difference. i don't know that it's man-made. >> reporter: these days, it's hard to imagine the words conservative and conservation together. even though they're two letters apart. >> we come together with more knowledge than ever before. >> reporter: not that on ago they were. >> we come with an action plan on climate change.

>> reporter: in '92, the first president bush signed the first u.n. climate accord. the decades earlier, exxon's own scientists explained the greenhouse effect to their bosses and predicted with eerie precision just how hot we would get. so now today exxon insists that its understanding of climate change track the scientific consensus, intern amex on documents show that they knew in '82. but what do they do? drill, baby, drill. and spin, baby, spin. by '88, they were officially emphasizing the uncertainty. >> proponents of the global warming theory say that dirty fossil fuels is the reason. scientific everyday remains inconclusive as to whether human activity affects the global climate. >> reporter: then in 2009, just

as the world was poised to take real action. >> the hacked e-mail controversy involving british scientist sfwls it's been dubbed climate-gate. e-mails that many say cast doubt on the science behind global warming chains. >> reporter: someone hacked a server and thole 1,000 e-mails between climate scientists. >> i remember when i first learned of this it was just before thanksgiving, 2009. >> reporter: among the scientists whose e-mails were hacked, penn state's michael mann, co-author of the famous hockey stick graph showing how the earth's temperature jumped in the 20th century, findings that have been confirmed by the national academy of sciences. >> they went through the stolen e-mails and cherry-picked individual phrases. >> reporter: by suggesting scientists were making it all up, so-called climate-gate hijacked the conversation at the

worst possible time. >> there were actual death threats made to me and to my family. >> reporter: multiple investigations from the epa to the uk's house of common sense cleared them and declared climate-gate was a malevolent hoax. >> the only crime was the hack of e-mails. >> reporter: it added more denial. >> in the last 15 years, there has been no recorded warming. >> so it's a crazy catch-phrase? >> if we are all products of the stories we hear from the people we trust, it's no wonder that republican mike and democrat keith can look at the same disappearing land and disagree. >> you have a lot of you know good-heard people who have been convinced by their tribe that there is loyal republicans that they are supposed to deny the

science of climate change. >> that may be changing. cpac is an annual gathering of the red republicans. so you believe that child change, the climate crisis ask a hus until. >> it is, absolutely. >> reporter: but this year 22 booths away from climate hustle, i met kiara owe brian. >> i met to a few cpacs and spotted a climate woke republican who wants to have a carbon tax is like spotting a snow leopard in the wild. so do you consider yourself sort of a republican greta? >> i see myself as a solution seeker. we talk about the problem, we recognize the problems, now we need to talk about the

solutions. >> she is named after the reagan people and write it. it would tax and divvy it up. the average american family would receive tax and dividends ramp up until fossil fuels go the way of the dinosaurs. >> this is the solution to the largest statement of the economists in the per situation of the history of economics. >> reporter: no doubt, political winds are shifting with the changes in the weather. >> there is nothing we can do to stop whatever the weather is going to do. we can't make it warmer. we can't make it colder. >> reporter: could they blow over a new age of willed intervention? >> you can't just sit around waiting for hope to come. >> reporter: next up on our journey, the search for hope. second chances.

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and we are offering our security services for free, to all healthcare providers through 2020. go to the app store to download the bond app today. it's subtle and staggering, this trip shows how the climate crisis is already affecting countless lives. but the best science warns this journey into change has only just begun. since the industrial revolution

began earth warmed about 2 degrees fahrenheit. the paris accord set the ambitious limit of 2.7 degrees. but it is getting hotter faster. hold that limit. scientists of the ipcc say we may only have about 500 gigatons of carbon left to burn. period. the bernstein research found there were 2900 gigatons already on the books of fossil fuel corporations. and burning it all would blow past 5.4 degrees fahrenheit. a road to hell. all within the lifetime of this little guy. william river weir. my son. i know what you are thinking, that is your carbon foot print? well, last year in commercial air travel it was about 110

tons. it's impossible to rent an electric vehicle big enough to hold my crew and gear. we're at least a decade away from car bo-free jumbo jets. so the best i can do is eat less meat, take more trains and buy enough carbon offsets to plant 23400 urban free trees. but that's not a fix. but at least it's something, which is why al gore says he triple offsets all the carbon he burns. >> i think it's important individually to show that commitment in order for your message to be taken seriously? >> yeah, i do, and i do that. but, at the same time as important as it is to change your light bulbs, it's way more important to change the nation's policies. >>reporter: a recent study found since the '80s, just 100 companies profited from 71% of

industrial earth-warming pollution and much the way big bottling packaging companies used a fake crying indian to shape the blame of the pollution onto the consumers in the '70s. >> people start pollution. people can stop it. >> reporter: it is now in the best interest of fossil fuel companies to blame the individual for global warming. instead of a crying indian, they use wind mills to show that you could still feel good about their product because they're working on a carbon-free future. but exxon's own annual reports shows the amounts they actually invest if lower energy solutions is less than 2% of what they spent last year drilling for oil and gas. you have taken a stance that you won't fly at all. do you think it's okay if i do? >> i mean, i'm not telling anyone else what to do or what

not to do. so, of course, why would i care about your flights? i am only doing the because i decided i, myself, want to live this way. you can do whatever you want, of course. >> reporter: flight shaving helps distract us from the government prediction that the two fastest growing jobs in america this decade will be solar and wind installers. there are dozens of other green energy ideas just waiting to be scaled up. but to build them fast enough, the country must pull together in a way that it hadn't since world war ii. and get the rest of the world to join us. >> you are proposing essentially the moon shot, the civil rights movement, green new deal, all of that together. the sunrise movement, help push the green new deal.

a grand resolution to tackle the climate crisis and reshape society and the economy at the same time. >> young people want to be talking about jobs and racial inequity, how we get access to health insurance and healthcare. >> reporter: as a part of the same conversation? >> honestly, it's hard to pull them apart. >> reporter: the green new deal is vague and controversial and it's the first stab at legislating life as we know it. whether it is this idea or some other, a harvard study examined hundreds of protest movements through history. it found if a non-violent campaign can attract only 3.5% of a nation's population, change is almost guaranteed. which means, less than 12 million americans could force a tipping point if they can manage to turn ecoanxiety and

depression into action. >> we can't just sit around waiting for hope to come. then are you acting like spield irresponsible children -- spoiled irresponsible children. you don't understand, hope is something you have to earn. >> reporter: you woebl e probably can't take a sailboat to world leaders like freta. you can get in the face of your local officials and your favorite brands. you can pester your bank and grocer and utility company for their zero carbon plans. a since a yale study found 65,000 people talk about the climate crisis rarely or never, you can connect with neighbors. give voice to your worries and theirs and maybe give mother nature some love while are you at it. >> one of the most powerful things you can be doing is to talk about it and to name it.

>> pause and ask more questions and show curiosity, what are you really afraid of? what are you really anxious about? and allow that to just ha space. then we would find so many people trekking along with us. >> the only thing we have to fear is -- fear, itself. >> they said there is only three kind of storage in the world. man versus nature, man versus man and man versus himself. but what if we tried more man with nature stories? man with man? man at peace with himself?

it may just change the script and save life as we know it. >> hey, buddy, happy to meet yo you. >> when we filmed this episode of united change of america in 2019, there were already deep rotted inequities in the education system. when the pandemic came, schools closed sand we had to shift to online learning. the reality is students and families didn't have the resources to macthat work. how can kids that don't having a says to computers and the internet keep up? the pandemic showed