NOW NASA'S USING IT FOR A PEACEFUL MISSION,

BUT THE STAKES ARE JUST AS HIGH.

OUR TASK IS TO COLLECT AIR SAMPLES

THAT MEASURE GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE ATMOSPHERE,

THE MAIN CAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE.

FOR OVER 20 YEARS,

I'VE SERVED ON THE BOARD OF CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL.

SO THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME

I'VE WORRIED ABOUT THREATS TO OUR PLANET.

BUT THIS IS A CHANCE FOR ME TO SEE UP CLOSE

HOW SCIENTISTS STUDY CLIMATE CHANGE...

AND WHAT IT ALL MEANS.

YOU WERE MEASURING FOR US METHANE AND CO2.

WHEN YOU SEE THESE LEVELS GOING UP,

YOU'RE A CLIMATE SCIENTIST,

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING?

PERSONALLY, IT'S PRETTY SCARY. YEAH.

THE WORLD IS GOING TO BE SUFFERING IN A LOT OF WAYS

FROM THIS PHYSICAL REALITY FOR A LONG TIME TO COME.

Cheadle: IT'S 10:00 A.M. ON MARCH 16, 2013.

THIS HAS BECOME A WEEKLY RITUAL.

EACH SATURDAY, THESE PEOPLE WALK THE FOUR MILES

AROUND THE CARGILL MEAT-PACKING PLANT ON THE EDGE OF TOWN.

THEY'RE PRAYING FOR RAIN AND FOR THE PLANT TO REOPEN.

SIX WEEKS AGO, IT CLOSED,

AND OVERNIGHT, 10% OF THE AREA'S ENTIRE WORK FORCE WAS LAID OFF.

IT SHUT DOWN BECAUSE OF A THREE-YEAR DROUGHT

THAT DEVASTATED THE CATTLE HERD HERE IN TEXAS.

AND WITHOUT COWS, YOU CAN'T RUN A MEAT-PACKING PLANT.

Man: FATHER, WE -- WE PRAY FOR THE SITUATION IN CARGILL, MY GOD,

'CAUSE AS YOU BRING THE MOISTURE, AS YOU BRING THE RAIN,

CONDITIONS WILL CHANGE, MY GOD.

BECAUSE IT'S YOUR RAIN, IT'S YOUR SPIRIT...

Cheadle: IN A LOT OF THE COUNTRY,

SOMETHING LIKE A DROUGHT IS SEEN AS AN ACT OF GOD,

OR PART OF A NATURAL CYCLE.

BUT WHERE I LIVE, IN LOS ANGELES,

IT SEEMS LIKE ANY KIND OF EXTREME WEATHER

GETS BLAMED ON CLIMATE CHANGE.

SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE WE LIVE IN TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE TRUTH IS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT

AND IF IT'S POSSIBLE FOR THESE TWO SIDES TO TALK TO EACH OTHER.

SO I'M HEADING TO TEXAS TO FIND OUT.

[ EXPLOSION ]

[ INDISTINCT SHOUTING, CAR ALARM BLARING ]

THIS IS AL HASAKAH PROVINCE. I'M FROM HASAKAH CITY.

Friedman: I'M LESS THAN AN HOUR'S DRIVE

FROM THE SYRIAN BORDER.

ON THE OTHER SIDE, A CIVIL WAR IS RAGING --

THE WORLD'S DEADLIEST CONFLICT.

I'LL INTRODUCE MYSELF.

I WORK AS A MEDIC AND SAFETY CONSULT.

I SERVED IN THE BALKANS, IN SARAJEVO, AFGHANISTAN.

THIS WILL BE MY 10th TRIP INTO SYRIA.

BUT I'M NOT HERE TO WRITE ABOUT THE LATEST BATTLE.

THERE'S A DIFFERENT DISASTER I'M INTERESTED IN,

ONE I HOPE WILL TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT THE REAL ROOTS

OF THIS CONFLICT.

IT FEEDS INTO THE EUPHRATES.

IT ACTUALLY STOPPED? WOW.

HUH.

FOUR YEARS BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR STARTED,

SYRIA WAS HIT BY A DROUGHT

THAT LASTED UNTIL JUST BEFORE THE REVOLUTION,

A DROUGHT SO DEVASTATING

THAT IT ALTERED THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF SYRIANS.

THERE'S A MAN ON THE OTHER SIDE

OF THAT BORDER WHO CAN TELL ME ABOUT IT.

I JUST HAVE TO GET THERE.

THE NEAREST SYRIAN ARMY TROOPS?

NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WE'RE COMING, IS THAT CORRECT?

YEAH.

Woman: THIS REPORT CONSTITUTES AN ALARM-CLOCK MOMENT

FOR THE WORLD,

BECAUSE THIS REPORT WILL TELL US, AGAIN,

THAT EVERYTHING WE THOUGHT WE KNEW ON CLIMATE CHANGE

HAS ACTUALLY BEEN UNDERESTIMATED,

THAT THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE WILL BE UPON US

FASTER AND IN A MORE INTENSE FASHION THAN WE HAD THOUGHT.

President H.W. Bush: WE ALL KNOW THAT HUMAN ACTIVITIES

ARE CHANGING THE ATMOSPHERE

IN UNEXPECTED AND IN UNPRECEDENTED WAYS.

Man: ...THAT THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT HAS BEEN DETECTED,

AND IT IS CHANGING OUR CLIMATE NOW.

Man #2: THE ATMOSPHERE AND OCEAN HAVE WARMED.

THE AMOUNT OF SNOW AND ICE HAVE DIMINISHED.

SEA LEVEL HAS RISEN,

AND THE CONCENTRATIONS OF GREENHOUSE GASES HAVE...

Schwarzenegger: THERE IS NO MORE FIRE SEASON.

WE HAVE WILDFIRES ALL YEAR 'ROUND.

Man #3: CLIMATE CHANGE, EXTREME WEATHER...

Man #4: A WAKE OF MASSIVE DESTRUCTION...

Man #3: ...AND OUR VULNERABILITY TO IT.

Man #4: ...UNTHINKABLE, AND THE DEVASTATION.

Man #5: ...WHERE 12 YEARS OF DROUGHT HAS LEFT THE LANDSCAPE BONE-DRY.

Man #6: WE GOT ANY PATRIOTS IN THE CROWD?!

Woman #2: A NEW SCIENTIFIC REPORT HAS DETERMINED

THE LAST DECADE WAS THE WARMEST ON RECORD.

Man #7: OUR WORLD IS CHANGING FASTER

AND MORE DRAMATICALLY THAN EVER BEFORE.

Man #4: WE MAY HAVE RATIFIED OUR OWN DOOM.

Ford: THE DATA WE COLLECTED WITH THAT JET, PLUS A LOT MORE,

ALL COMES HERE TO NASA'S ADVANCED SUPERCOMPUTING FACILITY

IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

THESE DAYS, THE MOST JAW-DROPPING IMAGES

COMING OUT OF NASA AREN'T OF MARS OR THE MOON,

BUT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR OWN PLANET.

Nemani: SO, HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE PLANT GROWTH.

WE HAVE DROUGHTS GOING ON IN THE MIDWEST,

IN RUSSIA, IN BRAZIL, IN ARGENTINA.

Hansen: THREE BREAD BASKETS --

THE CORN BELT, UKRAINE, RUSSIA --

WHEAT BELT, AND DOWN HERE IN ARGENTINA --

THE SOY-CORN BELT --

IT'S ALL UNDERPERFORMING UNDER DROUGHT.

THIS IS ACTUAL DATA, NOT A PROJECTION?

YES.

CAN WE CONNECT THIS DROUGHT TO MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE?

AND GREENHOUSE GASES COME FROM THE BURNING OF FOSSIL FUELS,

AND THEY COME FROM CARS AND PLANES...

FROM DEFORESTATION.

...AND COAL-FIRE PLANTS. EXACTLY, YES.

HOW DOES THAT PLAY OUT IN THE UNITED STATES

OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

HERE WE'RE LOOKING AT HISTORICAL CLIMATE -- JULY 1950.

THESE ARE HIGH TEMPERATURES.

AS YOU CAN SEE, ONLY A FEW AREAS,

LIKE IN ARIZONA, YOU HAVE 100-PLUS DEGREES IN JULY.

BUT AS WE GO INTO THE FUTURE,

THE MODELS PREDICT THOSE REALLY HOT AREAS TO BE GROWING.

JUST SO YOU CAN SEE HOW THE HIGH TEMPERATURES

ARE SPREADING ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

AND IMAGINE THE IMPACT OF THOSE TEMPERATURES

WHERE WE PRODUCE FOOD.

AH.

Moore: IMAGINE, HARRISON,

THAT FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, IS LIKE PHOENIX.

THOSE AGRICULTURAL AREAS IN THE MIDWEST --

100 DEGREES.

THESE ARE CONSERVATIVE PROJECTIONS

BY THE WORLD'S LEADING SCIENTISTS.

AND ONE OF THE BIGGEST CAUSES

OF THIS IS SOMETHING ASTONISHING.

EACH YEAR. THAT'S A BIG NUMBER.

IT TURNS OUT THAT DEFORESTATION

ACCOUNTS FOR ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT OF EMISSIONS

AS CARS, PLANES --

IN FACT, ALL THE TRANSPORTATION ON THE ENTIRE PLANET.

THAT'S BECAUSE LIVING TREES

BREATHE IN AND STORE CARBON AS THEY GROW.

BUT WHEN THEY DIE,

THEY RELEASE THAT CARBON BACK INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.

MORE CARBON IN THE AIR MEANS MORE GLOBAL WARMING.

AND EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS,

ENOUGH FOREST TO COVER ALL OF GERMANY IS LOST FOREVER.

THIS PICTURE IS OF FOREST LOSS COLORED BY YEAR.

THE BEST COUNTRY IN TERMS OF REDUCING DEFORESTATION

HAS BEEN BRAZIL.

AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE SPECTRUM,

IN TERMS OF THE HIGHEST RATE OF INCREASE PER YEAR,

IS INDONESIA.

IT'S KIND OF A DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

'CAUSE FIRST THEY CUT THE TREES

THAT HAVE BEEN TAKING IN THE CARBON.

AND THEN THEY SLASH AND BURN THE LANDSCAPE,

AND THAT RELEASES SO-CALLED "BLACK CARBON."

SO MUCH FOREST IS BEING BURNED THERE

THAT YOU CAN SEE THE SMOKE FROM SPACE.

SO IS IT LEGAL TO SET THESE FIRES?

NO. UNDER INDONESIAN LAW, IT IS ILLEGAL.

AND WHAT ARE THEY BEING CLEARED FOR?

THEY'RE CLEARED FOR TWO PRODUCTS -- PALM OIL AND PAPER.

EVERYBODY KNOWS WE CUT DOWN TREES TO MAKE PAPER,

BUT PALM OIL?