here on the loess plalateau i've witnessed that people can lift themselves out of poverty. ththey can radically improve their environment. and by doing so, reduce the threat of climate change. >> > [singing] >> when i first came to the loess plateau, i was astounded by the degree of poverty and degradation. and i w wondered, "how could the chinese people, the largest ethnic group oon the planet, and my fatather, and my o own ancestors come f from a place that was this barren?" china's loess plateau is a region that stretches for 640,000 square kilometers across nororth central china. unspoiled valleys in neighboring sichuanan show us how it might once have looked. iit's the sort of natural abundance that is necessary to support an emerging civilization. how could a landscape with such potential havave been reduced to this?s? when chinese scientists and civil engineers began to survey the area, they realized that several thousand years of agricultural exploitation had denuded the hills and valleys of vegetation. the relentless grazing of domestic animals on the slopes meant t