1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:07,240 # Your breath is burning my skin 2 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:17,400 # Your mouth takes in my water 3 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,280 # And the clouds roll like a river The rain falls sharp as ice 4 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:26,040 # And the oceans tumble over like mist in the night 5 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:30,040 # And my heart is a machine A machine keeping time 6 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:36,840 # And my body is a building scraping at the sky 7 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:44,160 # And water looks like water running 8 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:53,880 # Water looks like water running. # 9 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,200 ANIMALS CHITTER 10 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,400 Probably because I use it every day, I take water for granted. 11 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,560 I'm Kelly McEvers and I'm a radio journalist. 12 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:16,760 And for this story, I have teamed up with film-makers and scientists 13 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,760 to make a podcast-style documentary 14 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,600 about what might be the most important substance on our planet... 15 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:27,400 ..water. 16 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,080 And since embarking on this journey, I am now starting to see 17 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:35,040 this molecule everywhere. 18 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:40,680 We call it the water lens. 19 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:49,760 Look through it and you'll see water inside everything that lives. 20 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:51,160 ELEPHANT TRUMPETS 21 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:52,720 BIRDSONG 22 00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:58,760 You'll see rivers in the sky... 23 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,200 ..you'll even see water shaping human evolution. 24 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:11,720 You'll see water in the blueprint of civilisation... 25 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:14,920 FAINT CHATTER AND GUNFIRE 26 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:17,800 ..you'll see water connected to changes 27 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,120 and even conflicts across the world. 28 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:27,120 And for me, after seeing all this, I think one thing becomes clear... 29 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,720 ..we really can't take water for granted any more. 30 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,160 WATER DRIPS 31 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:49,000 WIND BLOWS 32 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,760 So if there are endless ways to combine atoms to make molecules... 33 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:18,200 ..what's so special about water? 34 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,960 Water is, of course, a molecule, 35 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:30,360 but it is in THE most 36 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,680 intense and intimate 37 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,400 relationship with life that one can imagine. 38 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,080 Geologist Stephen Mojzsis speaks to the heart of this film. 39 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:49,640 We need to understand this relationship between water and life 40 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,480 because, to be blunt, our survival depends on it. 41 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:57,880 WIND GUSTS 42 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,760 Stephen is one of the many experts we met on our journey. 43 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:18,120 And his particular expertise takes us back to the very beginning 44 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:20,520 of this story about water and life. 45 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:25,040 Stephen shocked the science world when he discovered 46 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,280 where Earth's water came from. 47 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,920 We long held this idea, 48 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:33,920 a belief, really, 49 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:38,480 that water was delivered by comets and asteroids and so on. 50 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,680 But instead, what we found is that water was already here! 51 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,080 And we know this from the investigation 52 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:47,440 of the very oldest minerals of all. 53 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,880 Stephen says water first showed up on the surface 54 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,120 about 4.3 billion years ago. 55 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,880 So much of the surface was molten rock that we call this time 56 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:03,680 the Hadean, which means "hell". 57 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:10,600 This is very much like what we might imagine the Hadean Earth was like, 58 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:12,560 a bright red sky. 59 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,240 That atmosphere is dominantly carbon dioxide. 60 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,240 Soon after it had finished its cooling, 61 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,720 rocks and minerals released water as steam. 62 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:33,960 THUNDERCLAP 63 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,360 It goes into the atmosphere, expands and cools 64 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,240 and, as clouds, then result in rain. 65 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:50,360 So began the first water cycle. 66 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:56,800 And it rained so much that two thirds of our planet 67 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:58,320 was submerged underwater. 68 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:05,760 This water has special powers. 69 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:12,160 Well, water is like the superhero of molecules. 70 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:18,080 Water is a really great solvent. 71 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,320 We call it the universal solvent 72 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,680 because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid. 73 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,560 And that meant our ancient oceans 74 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,080 were this primordial soup of chemicals. 75 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:39,320 That is the crucible of life's origin. 76 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,160 We don't know for sure, but scientists think there was a spark. 77 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:48,880 And then... 78 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,320 A water molecule is the link 79 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,040 between the non-living 80 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:58,800 and the living world. 81 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,680 Stephen says the development of life could not have happened 82 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:16,040 at a more crucial moment. 83 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:23,880 Because at this time, Earth's atmosphere was mostly carbon dioxide, 84 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:26,880 which acted like a blanket hugging the Earth. 85 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,200 That heated things up and threatened to vaporise all our water. 86 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:40,360 Earth's fate would have been a super-hot house 87 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:44,240 with a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere. 88 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,440 No water, no life... 89 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:49,840 ..hellish surface. 90 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,200 But then, Stephen told me, 91 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:57,000 early life evolved to rescue Earth from this scorching apocalypse. 92 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:01,200 Because a kind of bacteria 93 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,280 photosynthesised the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere... 94 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:08,320 ..and replaced it with... 95 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:12,880 The highly-toxic substance called oxygen. 96 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,800 Now...that's ironic 97 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,760 because without oxygen, we can't... 98 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,960 HE BREATHES DEEPLY 99 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,040 And it's this interplay between life and the atmosphere 100 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,360 that continues to keep Earth at the perfect temperature. 101 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,520 Not too hot, not too cold, 102 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,400 just right for liquid water. 103 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,640 Life has actually perpetuated the liquid water 104 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:47,240 on the surface of our planet for geologic time. 105 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:48,720 BLADES WHIR 106 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,200 INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER 107 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,080 Stephen has spent his career trying to find evidence 108 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:05,120 of early life forms and their watery origins. 109 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:09,840 Searching for fossils that might have survived for 3.8 billion years. 110 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,040 These rocks here to the east and north, 111 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,120 they're called the Amitsoq. 112 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:22,240 Which is one of the most exciting places in the world 113 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:26,160 to see the earliest evidence for life on our planet. 114 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:29,360 BLADES WHIR 115 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,680 Almost all of the fossil rocks from such an ancient time 116 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:38,680 have been churned up or weathered away. 117 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,400 This is one of the three places on Earth 118 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,920 where the original seabeds still survive. 119 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,200 Stephen has travelled thousands of miles 120 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,640 to see this single rock face. 121 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,520 Got to get the sun angle right. 122 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:00,080 There's a layer here. 123 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,640 At first, it's hard to tell if Stephen is impressed... 124 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:06,200 It looks like a kind of tepee. 125 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:10,000 ..and then... 126 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:11,520 Holy...! 127 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:13,080 FAINT LAUGHTER 128 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:15,920 There they are. I think... 129 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:20,680 ..holy, holy, holy cow. 130 00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:25,080 Stephen thinks he might be looking at the oldest life form ever found. 131 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:30,080 It'll take months of testing in a lab before Stephen can confirm 132 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:32,640 that these markings were once living beings. 133 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:39,080 It's the kind of thing that many of us have been looking for 134 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,920 for many, many, many years. 135 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,960 This is the ultimate search for a relative 136 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:50,760 at the base of the family tree of all life itself. 137 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:55,280 Ever since, all life has been bound to water. 138 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:01,080 It is such a fundamental bond. 139 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:02,960 No life can exist without it. 140 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:08,760 Even when life moved on to land 141 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,680 and the plants colonised the surface of the Earth, 142 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:14,120 even in the driest deserts, 143 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,880 they still carry a little bit of the ocean with them. 144 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:39,680 All plants are 90-95% water in the first place. 145 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,240 And it's part of their structure, it's part of their metabolism, 146 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:46,600 it's part of absolutely everything that they are. 147 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,560 Vast regions of our world are getting hotter and drier. 148 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:57,720 For humans to adapt, 149 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:02,760 it makes sense to study how nature overcomes the absence of water. 150 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:08,080 So for 25 years, plant scientist Jill Farrant 151 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,280 has championed a rare group of plants 152 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,560 that can dry out and still come back to life. 153 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:17,920 So this is a resurrection moss. 154 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,680 It rehydrates extremely quickly. It's going to happen fast, 155 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:22,560 so watch as I pour the water. 156 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:29,560 Mosses like this were among the first life forms to colonise dry land. 157 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:35,280 Plants that I work with are commonly called resurrection plants 158 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:37,600 because they appear to resurrect from the dead state. 159 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:39,160 They're not dead at all. 160 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:40,920 They're just so dry that they look dead. 161 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:44,000 But you just have to add water. 162 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,440 Back in her lab in Cape Town, Jill is trying to discover 163 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:58,040 how resurrection plants are able to break the sacred bond with water 164 00:12:58,040 --> 00:12:59,680 and still survive. 165 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,280 She wants to use this knowledge to help farmers get through droughts. 166 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:14,520 My dream is to create a crop that tolerates water loss and does not die 167 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:16,880 and produce food security in the face of drought. 168 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,440 Or if there hasn't been rain and you get a rain, 169 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,480 there's a guaranteed comeback of your crop. 170 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:25,040 All yours. 171 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,720 Imagine if a crop could resurrect in 24 hours 172 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,000 the way the resurrection bush does. 173 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:33,120 OK, let's pour some water on. 174 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:40,040 In its dry state, the bush transformed its insides 175 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,280 into a glass-like substance. 176 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:51,920 And now, as it rehydrates, these glassy tissues soften 177 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:53,640 and come back to life. 178 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,640 The strategy is extremely rare. 179 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,160 There are only 135 species in the world that can do this. 180 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,520 But in a drought-prone world, this strategy is a game-changer. 181 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:12,960 BIRDSONG 182 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:16,360 Resurrection plants might be rare, 183 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:20,520 but the genetic potential for resurrection is actually common. 184 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,360 It's in every plant that makes a seed. 185 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,600 Every single crop that we have makes a dry seed. 186 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:31,360 It has the genetics to be a resurrection plant, 187 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,760 it just doesn't switch those genes on in the face of a drought. 188 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,360 Let's actually just turn on those genes. 189 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:42,320 As water sources for crops become more and more erratic, 190 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:46,120 Jill hopes she can develop her resurrection crop 191 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,040 in time to save the world's most vulnerable farmers. 192 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:57,760 In the Northern Cape, Jill took our camera team to film a spectacular event 193 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,240 that dramatically shows this ability of life to survive 194 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,320 even in the driest extremes. 195 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,320 Now, what fascinates me is this leaf. 196 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:13,840 Look at this one. Yeah. 197 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:15,400 It's going to... 198 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:16,960 Yeah. Yeah. 199 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,080 Purple juice. 200 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:21,760 And it's got this capsule which all the seeds will erupt from. 201 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,200 Jill is introducing us to a secret desert bloom location 202 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,840 where we might film the mass flowering of the desert. 203 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:36,400 There's so much life here. It's dormant and it's waiting, 204 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:39,560 but, you know, you're going to have to have faith in the system 205 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:41,720 that the rain's going to bring it around. 206 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:45,040 Christian Munoz and his son, also named Christian, 207 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:47,280 are time-lapse experts, 208 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:51,800 and they have already spent decades chasing these elusive desert blooms. 209 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:11,480 They use a computer-controlled camera 210 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,640 which means they can combine two shots filmed at different times. 211 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,640 Once with the bloom and once without. 212 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:27,800 The trouble is, there's at least a six-month gap 213 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:29,720 between filming the two images. 214 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,880 And they're not just shooting in South Africa, 215 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,640 they are chasing super blooms all over the world. 216 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,640 The Munozes' biggest challenge has been to film the bloom back home in Chile. 217 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,920 The Atacama Desert is the driest desert on Earth. 218 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,160 There are areas with no record of rain at all. 219 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,080 Checking the weather radar, the Munoz family has a reason to be hopeful. 220 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:33,960 Sometimes a few drops is all it takes. 221 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,320 Finally, after a decade of work, 222 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:49,440 the Munozes can show us the transformative power 223 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,440 of water in a desert. 224 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:15,640 FAINT BIRDSONG 225 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:27,120 INSECTS CHIRRUP 226 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:33,600 WIND GUSTS 227 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:39,320 WIND GUSTS 228 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:53,880 FAINT BIRDSONG 229 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,600 Before they died, these flowers produced millions of seeds. 230 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:09,960 And with just a few molecules of water sealed inside each seed, 231 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,760 these time capsules of life can survive everything the desert throws at them. 232 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,400 We know of seeds that have sat for 30,000 years 233 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,640 and still germinated when they finally got water. 234 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,880 Seeds. You know, seeds are... I call them miracle technology. 235 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,960 Imagine if you had seeds of a Ferrari. 236 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:35,840 You know, human technology. 237 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,640 Ferrari, a nice car, beautiful, 238 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,200 the object of desire of many people. 239 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:45,240 And now you can buy a Ferrari that will arrive with an envelope 240 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:46,760 through the mail. 241 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:52,400 And you got this seed you put in a pot with soil. 242 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:57,680 You water it and a few months later, you have a Ferrari there. 243 00:19:57,680 --> 00:19:59,920 Imagine...imagine that! 244 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:03,320 And that's precisely what nature is doing quietly, silently... 245 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:05,760 ..with a tree. 246 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:10,960 It started with a seed that weighed just a few grams 247 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:15,520 and it's able to build it, the whole thing, 248 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,400 from gas, water and sunshine. 249 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,520 Right? Now, stop and think about this. 250 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:25,560 What technology we have that match that? 251 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:29,280 BIRDSONG 252 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,920 I have never met someone who loves trees as much as Antonio Nobre does. 253 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,040 He's not hugging the tree, he's listening to the water 254 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:54,920 rising up through the trunk. 255 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,520 DULL THUDDING 256 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,920 The leaves are pulling the water column and it cavitates. 257 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,000 It makes, "Tak-tak-tak-tak". 258 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,560 And you can hear it on the stem, on the tree trunk. 259 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:17,160 DULL THUDDING 260 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,040 Antonio, a scientist at INPE, 261 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,480 Brazil's equivalent of NASA, 262 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:32,040 has dedicated his career to tracking the water molecule 263 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,960 on its journey through the greatest forest on Earth. 264 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:38,000 WILDLIFE CHITTER 265 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,800 Antonio and his colleagues started by tracking the journey 266 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,200 of the water rising through the trees. 267 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:57,080 Measuring the molecules 268 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,640 as they are drawn 200 feet high into the canopy. 269 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,960 Colouring the water with a UV dye, scientists can even observe 270 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,920 the flow of water through each individual leaf. 271 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:26,840 A rainforest tree can pump 260 gallons of water a day. 272 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:35,440 Heated by the sun, the water escapes as vapour into the sky. 273 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,480 But Antonio noticed that alongside water, 274 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,120 the trees were also releasing something else. 275 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,200 Rising out of the forest, they measured tiny particles of dust. 276 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,840 So small, they would be dwarfed by the spray from a perfume bottle. 277 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,600 Why trees are releasing this dust, you know, 278 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,560 this is like Sherlock Holmes sort of mystery. 279 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:08,440 What is going on there?! 280 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,120 Antonio and his team discovered the forest was conducting 281 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:16,440 transactions in the air. 282 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,280 Creating its own cloud system. 283 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,480 Because every cloud and every raindrop 284 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:24,640 is formed on a speck of dust. 285 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:26,560 THUNDERCLAP 286 00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:31,920 The technical term is condensation nuclei, 287 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,680 but Antonio gave it a name that I like a lot better. 288 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:40,520 It's like you're dropping, er...magical dust, like fairy dust. 289 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:42,560 and then, pfff, it starts raining. 290 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:51,000 Fairy dust is another seemingly-magical expression 291 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,600 of the bond between life and water. 292 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:04,040 It's like seeding the air so that it would benefit itself. 293 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:09,840 So the forest is cranking its own rain. 294 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,560 Antonio's discovery immediately sparked a new mystery. 295 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:27,400 Everyone assumed in the dry season, Amazon trees stop pumping water, 296 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:28,880 but that's not what happens. 297 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,600 The Amazon trees do something that is counterintuitive. 298 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,640 They transpire more water during the dry season 299 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,320 than during the wet season. 300 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,120 The trees there are crazy, but they don't care. 301 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:53,320 They just pump, pump and pump. 302 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:57,120 They respond as a group. 303 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,320 And it's a big group! 304 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,960 400 billion trees pumping a staggering 20 billion tonnes 305 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,440 of water each day into the sky. 306 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,840 It rises and condenses on fairy dust to make clouds. 307 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,800 And then all these clouds move like a river. 308 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,720 Only this river is in the sky. 309 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,040 It captured the imagination. People said, 310 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,080 "Wow! There are rivers in the sky?! How come?" 311 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,160 Well, it's a concentrated flow of moisture 312 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:48,000 and they bring moisture from point A to point B, like a river. 313 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,720 Above the forest, the aerial river 314 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,120 is even bigger than the Amazon River itself. 315 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,600 You could think of this as the largest river on Earth. 316 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,520 And it flows far beyond the boundaries of the forest. 317 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,720 Blocked by the Andes mountains, it is forced to turn south, 318 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:20,360 travelling 2,000 miles, beyond the city of Sao Paulo. 319 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,160 Dumping water as it goes, it transforms areas 320 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,920 that should be deserts into fertile plains. 321 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,320 And floods the prairies of the Pantanal, 322 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:36,040 creating the largest wetland on Earth. 323 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,640 Which boasts the highest concentrations of wildlife 324 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,240 in South America. 325 00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:50,360 So much water arrives that the usual rules for animals 326 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:52,120 seem to be turned upside down. 327 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,080 Fish eat fruit from trees. 328 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,240 A tapir, having lost its meadows, 329 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:35,680 grazes while holding its breath. 330 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,880 Even jaguars move from land and hunt in the water. 331 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:25,920 The Amazon isn't the only flying river. 332 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:31,760 From the rainforests of Borneo to the African Congo, 333 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,200 there are many forests with the power to shape global weather. 334 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,440 Combine this with the natural ebb and flow of the seasons 335 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,600 and what you get is nature's great pulse. 336 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,400 This is ten years of data 337 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,800 of what the plants are doing. 338 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:55,760 The whole biosphere. 339 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,320 Low productivity in red and yellow 340 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,240 and high productivity in green and blue. 341 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:07,440 This is showing you what the biosphere is all about - life. 342 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,360 It's pulsating like a heart. Heartbeat. 343 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,480 Water is Earth's bloodstream. 344 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:21,600 And life is the result. 345 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:27,800 And now, researchers are following the paths 346 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,080 that water and life take together. 347 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,920 And new technology can open up an even greater understanding 348 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:46,560 of how the movement of animals is connected to the pulse of water. 349 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:50,080 When we caught up with Martin Wikelski, 350 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,040 he was busy putting a tracking device on a young giraffe. 351 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,240 But it's not just giraffe that he studies. 352 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:01,960 FAINT CHATTER 353 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,880 Martin is actually coordinating a worldwide 354 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,240 animal-tracking revolution. 355 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:10,840 Martin's high-tech miniature tags 356 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:14,520 can relay live feeds via the International Space Station 357 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:16,640 to scientists anywhere in the world. 358 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:18,400 All done. RELIEVED SIGHS 359 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:29,840 Well, on animals, we have these tiny little tags 360 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,320 that have a solar panel and a battery 361 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,560 and electronics inside and an antenna. 362 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,960 And that can be as a backpack, or it can be a little ear tag. 363 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,280 Martin even makes tags small enough for insects. 364 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:51,880 Like this death's-head hawkmoth. 365 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,120 With these smaller tags, Martin follows the signal from his airplane, 366 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:04,560 downloading the tracks to his global maps. 367 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:19,600 Martin is able to gather all this data 368 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:23,120 from creatures big and small, into the Icarus database. 369 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,920 Or, as some call it, the Internet of Wings. 370 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:34,200 It gives him a live global overview, 371 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,080 where he can actually see how the patterns of animals 372 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,200 connect with the pulse of water. 373 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:45,400 So water is actually THE most important thing. 374 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:49,800 In a lot of cases, we see that water is driving migrations, movements 375 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:51,840 or entire life histories of animals. 376 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:00,800 Wildebeest follow the rains as they sweep across the Serengeti. 377 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,000 BRAYING 378 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,880 They know the rain will transform a desert 379 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,200 into one of the richest grasslands on Earth. 380 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:25,920 As they graze, these 1.4 million stomachs break down the grass 381 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:28,680 and return the nutrients to the soil 382 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:30,680 in the form of dung and urine. 383 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:36,560 And discoveries in the Serengeti reveal 384 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:40,800 the greater the animal impact, the more the landscape is enriched 385 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,520 and is able to hold even more water. 386 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:50,440 The movement of animals can affect the landscape 387 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:53,160 just as much as the movement of water does. 388 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:03,040 12 million snow geese seem to know the exact moment 389 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:05,280 the snow will melt in the far north. 390 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:12,520 On their migration, they disperse nutrients and seeds they have eaten 391 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:14,240 across thousands of miles. 392 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,760 A lot of the movements we see here are related to water. 393 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:22,240 So we have the ice, when it melts, 394 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:25,800 we see the snow geese going up from California. 395 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:33,000 The productivity of populations of animals, like geese in the Arctic, 396 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:35,360 is highly dependent upon water. 397 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:39,440 So it's really a system that drives almost everything. 398 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,800 Everything from great herds to tiny insects 399 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:49,400 is perfectly synchronised with the pulse of water. 400 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:54,080 INCESSANT HONKING 401 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:02,080 THUNDERCLAP 402 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:05,720 But for us, one story really stood out. 403 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:08,120 An incredible journey following water 404 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:11,040 on a record-breaking adventure. 405 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,240 BIRDSONG 406 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:28,360 Wandering glider dragonflies hatch in the rice paddies of India. 407 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:36,040 And as the monsoon rains sweep off the southern coast, 408 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,920 the tiny insects rise 5,000 feet into the air, 409 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,240 following the water far out into the Indian Ocean. 410 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:03,640 The mystery of where the dragonflies go 411 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:06,960 caught the attention of biologist, Charles Anderson 412 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:11,240 when millions of wandering gliders suddenly appeared in the Maldives, 413 00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:13,440 400 miles off the coast of India. 414 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,800 I realised that something quite extraordinary was going on 415 00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,520 because dragonflies absolutely need fresh water to breed. 416 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,400 And Maldives is a place with no surface fresh water. 417 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:27,840 So, what on earth are they doing? 418 00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:29,840 Why are they coming here? What on earth is going on? 419 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,720 Without breeding waters, flying all the way from India makes no sense. 420 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:41,280 Unless...the dragonflies were en route to somewhere else. 421 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:48,240 Remember those flying rivers over the Amazon? 422 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:52,320 In a similar way, the monsoon brings rain from India to Africa. 423 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:58,120 Charles tracked how the dragonflies were hitching a ride on these storms. 424 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:01,560 Incredibly, the tiny insects spend about a week 425 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:04,480 flying 2,500 miles across the Indian Ocean. 426 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:08,440 All the way to Africa. 427 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:15,040 Most people cannot believe that a five-centimetre insect 428 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:16,600 could possibly cross an ocean. 429 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:23,000 And yet, they do. 430 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:28,680 The rains create temporary pools... 431 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,880 ..and the dragonflies arrive to be among the first to colonise them. 432 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:47,040 In the water, their nymphs prey on mosquito larvae. 433 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,360 Within just seven weeks, they're ready to emerge 434 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:07,000 and transform into adults. 435 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:08,360 HUMMING 436 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,240 The wandering gliders wait for the seasons to change. 437 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:30,080 A circuit of the Indian Ocean takes four generations to complete. 438 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,840 A round trip of 10,000 miles. 439 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:52,040 This is the largest, most amazing migration of any insect. 440 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:54,000 In some ways, of any animal. 441 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,200 To cross oceans, to pass between continents, 442 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:01,680 it is quite extraordinary. 443 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:09,480 Their relationship with water is extraordinary. 444 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:18,440 And in Africa, they eat so many mosquitoes, they can end up 445 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:22,440 being the most effective way to control diseases, like malaria. 446 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:27,080 So imagine, what if farmers in India 447 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:30,120 spray too many pesticides and kill the dragonflies? 448 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:35,200 It could cause a deadly malaria outbreak in Africa. 449 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,040 We are really just at the beginning of a new phase 450 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:45,320 of understanding Earth's systems. 451 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:49,680 Because we finally get a glimpse of how life is moving 452 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:51,520 and interacting around the planet. 453 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,440 And this is super exciting to us. 454 00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:57,720 THUNDERCLAP 455 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,960 The pulse of water connects all the plants, 456 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:14,400 all the forests and all the animals. 457 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,480 But of course, this pulse also connects you and me. 458 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:33,000 Over seven billion of us depend on the pulse of water. 459 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:39,960 Our success as a species has been to harness the pulse. 460 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:46,000 We use water, above all, to feed ourselves. 461 00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:52,440 But we now know that droughts are increasing in intensity, 462 00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:54,880 becoming longer, breaking records. 463 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:00,600 The pulse of water might not be as reliable as we thought. 464 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:15,640 On our travels across America, 465 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:19,840 we met farmers who are experts at growing food in dry climates. 466 00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:24,000 But for many of them, the most recent droughts have been overwhelming. 467 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:29,520 There are folks that have run out of water. 468 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:33,080 And if there's no water here, there's no value. 469 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,040 Yeah. There's no value at all. 470 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:40,800 We're so thankful this morning for the rain that we've had. 471 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:43,400 I know here, every drop counts. 472 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:47,640 And we've been praying that drought is broken in West Texas. 473 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:52,120 After 2010, we've had a pretty good decline in rain 474 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:54,320 and I've been stuck pretty dry for the most part 475 00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:56,120 for about the last nine years. 476 00:40:57,400 --> 00:40:59,920 We try to sustain until we get rain, 477 00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:02,080 and if there's no rain, then we have to sell. 478 00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:12,720 So the water table has dropped significantly in this area. 479 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:19,240 Without water, there's no livestock, there's no people. 480 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:23,440 It's not only farmers who suffer. 481 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:27,760 Without water, entire communities are collapsing. 482 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:34,040 And it seems like nothing can be done, other than to pray. 483 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:37,000 Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, we thank you for the blessing. 484 00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:38,960 We please ask that you keep the rainfall coming 485 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:41,440 and let it nourish our pastures and nourish our crops. Amen. 486 00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:42,680 Amen. Amen. 487 00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:44,520 THUNDERCLAP 488 00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:53,240 AIRCRAFT OVERHEAD 489 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:02,000 Scientists have developed a unique technology to follow the droughts 490 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:06,320 and to measure the amount of water held in the vegetation below. 491 00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:09,280 This is clear out of the end... 492 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:13,560 You want to continue down, you're going to run these 80 miles down. 493 00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:15,400 Time to go? 494 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:16,880 Er, yeah. 495 00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:20,760 You have to send all these clouds up. 496 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:23,320 They call Greg Asner the drought chaser. 497 00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:27,440 We have found ourselves facing these drought events. 498 00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:31,160 And when I say chasing, it's somebody calling me up and saying, 499 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:34,320 "Greg, we have this drought, can you come and help us 500 00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,080 "to make that assessment?" 501 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:38,720 And it used to be that we'd get that call once a year and now 502 00:42:38,720 --> 00:42:41,600 I'm getting that call, I'm not kidding, at least once a month, 503 00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:43,280 if not once a week. 504 00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:47,720 Greg's technology can see and measure water 505 00:42:47,720 --> 00:42:50,600 in ways impossible with the naked eye. 506 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:55,600 As he flies over, lidar scanners use a laser 507 00:42:55,600 --> 00:42:59,120 to create a high resolution 3D map of the forest below. 508 00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:05,800 At the same time, Greg's cameras record a spectral image, 509 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:09,760 which means they can see the chemical make-up of each tree, 510 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,560 including the movement of water in the canopies. 511 00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:22,280 In 2010, the drought chasers were called in to analyse a drought 512 00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:23,920 in the Amazon. 513 00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:27,480 We had this mega drought show up 514 00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:31,280 across a lot of the Amazon Basin, especially in Brazil. 515 00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:36,400 The imaging systems on board our plane were lighting up. 516 00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:41,720 Literally, the big screens were showing enormous amounts of loss. 517 00:43:41,720 --> 00:43:45,480 We saw this everywhere - all over the western Amazon. 518 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:51,480 We saw mortality that easily was over 50% of the tree canopy. 519 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:56,200 And the reason this is alarming is that at any given moment in time, 520 00:43:56,200 --> 00:44:00,040 you would expect to see about 1% to 2% of the canopy in a state 521 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:03,080 of dying just naturally. 522 00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:08,560 When you see 50%, 50 times the rate, you don't have words for it. 523 00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:14,920 Scientists like Greg Asner believe if just 25% of the Amazon is lost, 524 00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:18,520 it will reach a tipping point that could fatally damage the rivers 525 00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:21,040 that fly above the forest. 526 00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:24,640 People like Antonio Nobre think we're already there. 527 00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:29,440 And in 2015, there were worrying signs he might be right. 528 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:33,440 2,000 miles away in Brazil's biggest city, Sao Paulo, 529 00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:36,080 the flying river had stopped its flow 530 00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:38,280 and the people were running out of water. 531 00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:48,560 Antonio Nobre lives there. 532 00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:54,200 The drought struck us, you know, head on 533 00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:57,760 and I started getting really concerned. 534 00:44:57,760 --> 00:45:01,160 The Army started preparing for riots because, 535 00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:05,440 imagine 22 million people in the largest Brazilian metropolis 536 00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:10,000 running out of water, and people got so... It was like, 537 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:14,080 "What are we going to do. We don't have water, not even for drinking!" 538 00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:20,320 The only explanation is that we are damaging the Amazon. 539 00:45:20,320 --> 00:45:23,600 You damage the forest, you damage the flying rivers, 540 00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:27,000 therefore you damage the water cycle, the pulses stop. 541 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:31,480 It's like a heartbeat that all of a sudden stops. 542 00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:38,320 While we were filming here, we found one of the most unexpected effects 543 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:41,120 of the Amazon drought on the Rio Tiete. 544 00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:49,320 Normally, there's enough water to flush pollutants from Sao Paulo 545 00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:54,200 up to the sea, but in the drought, the pollution intensifies, 546 00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:59,240 phosphates and industrial chemicals combine to create this toxic foam. 547 00:46:08,040 --> 00:46:11,400 To kayak here, you have to wear a biohazard suit. 548 00:46:13,720 --> 00:46:16,960 It is the saddest image of a river I have ever seen. 549 00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:26,000 Multiple organ failure, you have that term 550 00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:29,320 in intensive care units, multiple organ failure. 551 00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:31,680 It's going on right now on planet. 552 00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:38,800 And that organ failure has been even more clear, 553 00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:41,760 as the Amazon forest recently started to burn. 554 00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:49,480 That connection between drought and fire is a story we know well, 555 00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:52,640 where I live in California. 556 00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:57,040 Our drought started in 2011 and lasted six years. 557 00:46:57,040 --> 00:47:00,800 It got so bad, the governor asked Greg Asner to come map its effects 558 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,080 on our forests. 559 00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:06,880 This is a dramatic landscape where we're seeing, I would say 30% 560 00:47:06,880 --> 00:47:12,280 are severely drought stricken and maybe 20 are surviving. 561 00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:14,720 Greg estimates the drought in California killed 562 00:47:14,720 --> 00:47:17,560 140 million trees. 563 00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:23,760 Without moisture, the forests are like a tinderbox. 564 00:47:27,120 --> 00:47:31,560 The famous Malibu coastline beneath a rising tower of smoke. 565 00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:37,560 2018 was the worst fire season in California's history, 566 00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:42,120 with over 8,500 fires burning close to 2 million acres 567 00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:44,360 and killing over 100 people. 568 00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:46,640 Oh, my God. I don't know what to do. 569 00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:52,480 Oh, my God. I'm surrounded by fire and I don't know which way to go. 570 00:47:56,720 --> 00:47:59,200 Oh, please, dear God. 571 00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:01,640 Oh, no way. 572 00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:03,840 So, you know, the system is changing, 573 00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:07,760 the water cycle is changing on us. 574 00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:09,760 Yeah, it's time to go. 575 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:14,520 Those are really big fundamental, planetary-scale changes 576 00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:16,640 that are affecting everybody. 577 00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:25,080 Amidst all this destruction, Greg Asner remains hopeful. 578 00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:29,240 Because whenever he flies, 579 00:48:29,240 --> 00:48:31,600 he finds places that somehow manage 580 00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:33,440 to beat the drought. 581 00:48:35,520 --> 00:48:38,320 He calls these places refugia. 582 00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:43,200 Whenever I've seen these massive losses, 583 00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:45,680 whether it's in the Amazon Basin, or in California, 584 00:48:45,680 --> 00:48:48,040 or in the Pacific islands, like Hawaii, 585 00:48:48,040 --> 00:48:52,880 we always have refugia emerge as places of survival. 586 00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:58,600 This is an example of a refugia, 587 00:48:58,600 --> 00:49:02,240 or a refuge, during the 2016 peak 588 00:49:02,240 --> 00:49:04,400 of the drought in California. 589 00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:08,440 And what you see here are mostly coastal redwood trees. 590 00:49:08,440 --> 00:49:12,400 What defines this as a refuge is the fact that there was enough 591 00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:17,640 water on the landscape persisting in the soil to generate a sustained, 592 00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:20,480 a resilient set of trees in this forest. 593 00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:23,480 And that's why they're showing up in blue. 594 00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:32,680 Protecting refugia protects water supplies of the future. 595 00:49:35,320 --> 00:49:38,320 To me, those are the nuggets, the gold nuggets of nature 596 00:49:38,320 --> 00:49:40,400 that give me hope and not just hope, 597 00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:42,920 but literally the biological resource 598 00:49:42,920 --> 00:49:46,120 for re-expansion of those species. 599 00:49:46,120 --> 00:49:50,960 The key is finding them and protecting them and allowing them 600 00:49:50,960 --> 00:49:52,960 to persist into the future. 601 00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:59,600 Our future is bound to water because of the intimate connection 602 00:49:59,600 --> 00:50:04,760 between life and the molecule that made us. 603 00:50:04,760 --> 00:50:09,400 On Earth, you have a paradise, you have water in the liquid form 604 00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:12,480 for four billion years. 605 00:50:12,480 --> 00:50:18,920 What is allowing for the water to remain on Earth is life. 606 00:50:18,920 --> 00:50:22,760 The take-home message here is that life is the key. 607 00:50:27,720 --> 00:50:30,800 The pulse of water moving across the Earth is the very thing 608 00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:32,720 keeping our planet alive. 609 00:50:36,160 --> 00:50:39,600 But that pulse is changing - because of us. 610 00:50:41,120 --> 00:50:45,760 And you don't have to be a scientist to realise what's at stake. 611 00:50:47,680 --> 00:50:51,040 Even though our human world is vulnerable to these changes, 612 00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:55,200 what fascinates me is how resilient nature can be, 613 00:50:55,200 --> 00:50:57,080 if we give it a chance. 614 00:50:59,760 --> 00:51:03,960 I realise now it's not the water I was taking for granted... 615 00:51:05,640 --> 00:51:07,600 ..but where it comes from. 616 00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:12,440 It's nature we need to fight for, as if our lives depend on it. 617 00:51:14,600 --> 00:51:16,360 Because they do. 618 00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:20,320 Next time on The Molecule That Made Us, 619 00:51:20,320 --> 00:51:22,720 Episode Two, Civilisations. 620 00:51:22,720 --> 00:51:25,520 An entire civilisation ends here. 621 00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:28,600 That's what we come from, a water-wading ape. 622 00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:32,320 This is unbelievable. 623 00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:11,600 # Your breath is burning my skin 624 00:52:14,040 --> 00:52:21,600 # Your mouth takes in my water 625 00:52:23,200 --> 00:52:26,800 # And the clouds roll like a river The rain falls sharp as ice 626 00:52:26,800 --> 00:52:30,760 # And the oceans tumble over like mist in the night 627 00:52:30,760 --> 00:52:34,240 # And my heart is a machine A machine keeping time 628 00:52:34,240 --> 00:52:36,800 # And my body is a building 629 00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:41,240 # Scraping at the sky 630 00:52:41,240 --> 00:52:47,360 # And water looks like water running 631 00:52:50,480 --> 00:52:56,840 # Water looks like water running. # 632 00:53:06,260 --> 00:53:08,360 It's amazing, isn't it? 633 00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:11,480 Our blue planet. 634 00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:16,240 The only planet in the solar system 635 00:53:16,240 --> 00:53:19,520 that's surface is covered in liquid water. 636 00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:27,160 But less than 1% of that is freshwater. 637 00:53:31,320 --> 00:53:33,800 Drain the saltwater away, 638 00:53:33,800 --> 00:53:37,480 paint a picture of our freshwater world - 639 00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:40,880 and these are the veins that carry the precious lifeblood 640 00:53:40,880 --> 00:53:42,400 we all depend on. 641 00:53:44,160 --> 00:53:48,480 A liquid with an almost mystical importance to humankind. 642 00:53:54,360 --> 00:53:58,160 And when you look at our human story through this water lens, 643 00:53:58,160 --> 00:54:02,720 as we have been doing for the past year, you start to see the extent 644 00:54:02,720 --> 00:54:06,880 to which the water molecule has shaped our destiny. 645 00:54:09,040 --> 00:54:13,760 And while our water history is an epic success story, 646 00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:16,760 it's also a story of a dangerous dependence. 647 00:54:19,800 --> 00:54:21,480 With an uncertain ending. 648 00:54:25,600 --> 00:54:28,360 Because now we face a difficult question. 649 00:54:29,720 --> 00:54:33,520 Are we about to become victims of our own success? 650 00:54:41,600 --> 00:54:44,960 I'm Kelly McEvers and I'm a radio journalist. 651 00:54:44,960 --> 00:54:48,520 For this story, I've been working with a team of film-makers 652 00:54:48,520 --> 00:54:52,200 and scientists, making a podcast-style documentary, 653 00:54:52,200 --> 00:54:56,240 digging deep into how water has shaped, and is still shaping, 654 00:54:56,240 --> 00:54:58,240 our civilisation today. 655 00:55:04,880 --> 00:55:08,800 But one of our crews started the story about as far away 656 00:55:08,800 --> 00:55:11,000 from civilisation as you can get. 657 00:55:12,280 --> 00:55:17,600 Deep inside Africa's Congo River basin on the trail of a new theory 658 00:55:17,600 --> 00:55:21,440 that might explain a critical moment in human evolution. 659 00:55:24,480 --> 00:55:27,360 And that theory is all about water. 660 00:55:37,680 --> 00:55:39,840 BUZZING 661 00:55:41,040 --> 00:55:43,040 This is a bonobo. 662 00:55:43,040 --> 00:55:45,320 It's a close cousin of the chimpanzee. 663 00:55:50,600 --> 00:55:53,000 You can only find them here in the Congo, 664 00:55:53,000 --> 00:55:56,960 and they have this unlikely relationship to water. 665 00:55:56,960 --> 00:56:00,280 This rare behaviour that gives us a glimpse at how we humans 666 00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:02,400 might have taken our very first steps. 667 00:56:02,400 --> 00:56:04,280 BUZZING 668 00:56:25,520 --> 00:56:30,040 So, if we're going to film this, we have to keep up with the bonobos. 669 00:56:30,040 --> 00:56:32,920 And I have to say this is not easy. 670 00:56:32,920 --> 00:56:36,160 Our crew spent three weeks trying to follow these guys. 671 00:56:44,200 --> 00:56:47,200 And following Professor Richard Wrangham. 672 00:56:47,200 --> 00:56:51,600 He's our guide to this new theory of how we evolved to walk on two legs. 673 00:57:05,920 --> 00:57:07,560 Here we are. 674 00:57:09,040 --> 00:57:11,720 Hi, Mawa, how are you doing? 675 00:57:13,920 --> 00:57:15,960 She's just sitting looking at us. 676 00:57:20,560 --> 00:57:22,720 She's just fascinated. 677 00:57:22,720 --> 00:57:25,520 "What's this guy doing wading in my pond?" 678 00:57:35,520 --> 00:57:38,680 You know, it's almost 50 years of walking in the tropical forests 679 00:57:38,680 --> 00:57:41,960 of Africa and, frankly, the thrill never dies. 680 00:57:43,800 --> 00:57:47,600 Richard told us that the story of our first steps has always 681 00:57:47,600 --> 00:57:51,800 been a hotly debated subject because up until now, 682 00:57:51,800 --> 00:57:56,520 no-one can agree how we came to make this move onto two legs, 683 00:57:56,520 --> 00:57:58,720 or in Richard's words... BOTH: Bipedalism. 684 00:57:58,720 --> 00:58:01,960 Which is very frustrating, because this is, in many ways, 685 00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:05,600 the defining characteristic of the hominin line, 686 00:58:05,600 --> 00:58:08,000 the line that led from the rainforest ape 687 00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:09,320 to where we are today. 688 00:58:10,720 --> 00:58:13,640 The generally accepted thinking is that we left the trees 689 00:58:13,640 --> 00:58:17,200 and slowly started to walk out onto the savanna. 690 00:58:17,200 --> 00:58:21,120 But it's never been exactly clear how that would have worked. 691 00:58:23,480 --> 00:58:25,840 In the initial phases of bipedalism 692 00:58:25,840 --> 00:58:28,680 it would have been hopelessly inefficient. 693 00:58:28,680 --> 00:58:33,000 That is why we're here, to see an energy-efficient way 694 00:58:33,000 --> 00:58:37,320 that our tree-dwelling ancestors walked out onto land 695 00:58:37,320 --> 00:58:39,480 some six million years ago. 696 00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:46,600 BONOBOS GIBBER 697 00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:02,560 BONOBOS SQUAWK 698 00:59:34,240 --> 00:59:36,400 So, here what we're seeing, 699 00:59:36,400 --> 00:59:40,360 is the bent hip, bent-knee locomotion, 700 00:59:40,360 --> 00:59:42,400 like Groucho Marx. 701 00:59:42,400 --> 00:59:46,320 You can see her whole body swivelling as she walks. 702 00:59:50,960 --> 00:59:53,720 Walking like this can be very tiring on land, 703 00:59:53,720 --> 00:59:56,480 but it's easy for getting food in water. 704 00:59:57,600 --> 01:00:00,920 And that's what's so wonderful about the wading hypothesis. 705 01:00:00,920 --> 01:00:03,240 In the water, you're buoyed up 706 01:00:03,240 --> 01:00:06,680 so that the physical stresses are much less. 707 01:00:06,680 --> 01:00:12,360 This is a wonderfully ecological argument for how we became bipedal. 708 01:00:15,120 --> 01:00:17,200 That's what we come from, 709 01:00:17,200 --> 01:00:19,760 a water-walking, wading ape. 710 01:00:21,600 --> 01:00:24,960 A water-walking ape might be the missing piece in the puzzle. 711 01:00:26,800 --> 01:00:30,360 And some people go even further, linking water origins to other 712 01:00:30,360 --> 01:00:35,120 human attributes, like why we sweat or why we lost the hair 713 01:00:35,120 --> 01:00:37,880 that covered our bodies, even the size of our brains. 714 01:00:39,480 --> 01:00:43,840 Clearly, for Richard, water was instrumental in the evolution 715 01:00:43,840 --> 01:00:47,240 of our uniquely human style of walking. 716 01:00:47,240 --> 01:00:49,600 WATER ROARS 717 01:00:49,600 --> 01:00:53,080 And it's this kind of thinking that kept coming up 718 01:00:53,080 --> 01:00:55,320 with all the experts we met. 719 01:00:55,320 --> 01:00:58,240 A rethinking of the role of the water molecule 720 01:00:58,240 --> 01:01:00,080 in our human story. 721 01:01:03,920 --> 01:01:06,000 We might take it for granted, 722 01:01:06,000 --> 01:01:09,240 but all civilisations are dependent on their supply of freshwater. 723 01:01:11,880 --> 01:01:14,440 Always have been, always will be. 724 01:01:19,600 --> 01:01:23,360 Of all the experts, for me, water economist Giulio Boccaletti 725 01:01:23,360 --> 01:01:26,680 really spelled out how this dependence on water 726 01:01:26,680 --> 01:01:29,080 has shaped the world around us. 727 01:01:29,080 --> 01:01:31,720 It's Giulio's first time here. 728 01:01:31,720 --> 01:01:33,960 It is, the first time in Cairo. 729 01:01:33,960 --> 01:01:35,480 It's exciting. 730 01:01:35,480 --> 01:01:38,840 It's just an enormous place with a lot of people, 731 01:01:38,840 --> 01:01:41,720 all of them living off one river. 732 01:01:41,720 --> 01:01:45,200 Giulio has spent his adult life trying to convince governments 733 01:01:45,200 --> 01:01:48,680 that water scarcity is humanity's biggest threat. 734 01:01:48,680 --> 01:01:52,720 He famously calculated that ten years from now, we will need 40% 735 01:01:52,720 --> 01:01:55,800 more freshwater than we will be able to supply, 736 01:01:55,800 --> 01:01:58,600 not just here in Cairo, everywhere. 737 01:01:58,600 --> 01:02:02,160 Egypt, in many ways, is a model for the world, and its management 738 01:02:02,160 --> 01:02:06,400 of this one stream of water is essential to the survival 739 01:02:06,400 --> 01:02:08,160 of this civilisation. 740 01:02:08,160 --> 01:02:11,720 And it's true now as it was true 5,000 years ago. 741 01:02:19,440 --> 01:02:22,680 It is hard to overstate the importance of rivers to the story 742 01:02:22,680 --> 01:02:24,360 of our civilisation. 743 01:02:25,760 --> 01:02:28,720 It's not just the freshwater that's so important. 744 01:02:28,720 --> 01:02:32,000 Ancient rivers like the Nile had a kind of heartbeat, 745 01:02:32,000 --> 01:02:35,400 the pulse of the yearly flood that brought new soil... 746 01:02:36,880 --> 01:02:39,240 ..to feed the crops. 747 01:02:39,240 --> 01:02:43,480 Today, the Nile is dammed, but at one time it flooded so far 748 01:02:43,480 --> 01:02:45,920 it reached to the pyramids and beyond. 749 01:02:55,080 --> 01:02:59,440 The waters engulfed areas by up to 40 times the size of the river. 750 01:02:59,440 --> 01:03:03,160 When it receded, it left behind a carpet of fertile soil 751 01:03:03,160 --> 01:03:07,280 that fed the world's first great civilisation. 752 01:03:15,680 --> 01:03:18,680 Ancient Egypt was to the ancient world what the United States 753 01:03:18,680 --> 01:03:20,920 has been for the 20th century. 754 01:03:20,920 --> 01:03:23,360 One of the reasons it was so powerful is that, 755 01:03:23,360 --> 01:03:27,440 just like the United States today, it was able to provide much, much 756 01:03:27,440 --> 01:03:30,480 more food than its population required. 757 01:03:30,480 --> 01:03:32,480 It seemingly didn't have a ceiling 758 01:03:32,480 --> 01:03:34,600 of how much it could actually produce. 759 01:03:42,120 --> 01:03:46,520 And all this food production was the beginning of our addiction 760 01:03:46,520 --> 01:03:50,200 to the molecule, the beginning of a dangerous dependence 761 01:03:50,200 --> 01:03:52,640 that made us vulnerable. 762 01:03:52,640 --> 01:03:55,640 Giulio is adamant, when it comes to a water crisis, 763 01:03:55,640 --> 01:03:57,840 we have been here before. 764 01:04:05,320 --> 01:04:08,360 Giulio confessed to me that he only really came to Egypt 765 01:04:08,360 --> 01:04:10,320 to walk down this old staircase. 766 01:04:10,320 --> 01:04:12,800 I've been waiting to see this for a long time. 767 01:04:14,880 --> 01:04:18,760 This is the nilometer, it's the oldest river gauge in the world, 768 01:04:18,760 --> 01:04:20,840 to measure the height of the river, 769 01:04:20,840 --> 01:04:23,400 and it's been here for 2,500 years. 770 01:04:26,480 --> 01:04:30,040 The nilometer was used by Ancient Egypt's water experts, 771 01:04:30,040 --> 01:04:33,360 the temple priests, the Giulios of the day. 772 01:04:34,760 --> 01:04:37,400 It's sort of strange to think that there was somebody like me 773 01:04:37,400 --> 01:04:39,440 worrying about water some four millennia ago. 774 01:04:39,440 --> 01:04:41,760 But that's what this indicates. 775 01:04:41,760 --> 01:04:45,800 Each year, the flood would rise up inside the staircase. 776 01:04:45,800 --> 01:04:48,600 The priests would carefully monitor its height 777 01:04:48,600 --> 01:04:51,000 using the markings carved into the walls. 778 01:04:51,000 --> 01:04:53,880 A good flood was, at this point, 11 or 12 metres. 779 01:04:53,880 --> 01:04:56,800 And yet they were measuring the finger difference, 780 01:04:56,800 --> 01:05:00,600 or the palm difference, or even the length of your forearm, 781 01:05:00,600 --> 01:05:02,920 the cubit difference. 782 01:05:02,920 --> 01:05:05,360 And so it's an instrument of extraordinary precision, 783 01:05:05,360 --> 01:05:07,400 given what they were trying to do. 784 01:05:07,400 --> 01:05:11,200 What they were trying to do was build a predictive model. 785 01:05:11,200 --> 01:05:15,520 This is from Ancient Egypt's oldest surviving text, 786 01:05:15,520 --> 01:05:18,920 and it is all about water and harvests. 787 01:05:18,920 --> 01:05:24,200 You can see here, you have three cubits or three forearms. 788 01:05:24,200 --> 01:05:29,200 One, two, three, four, five, six. Six palms and then two fingers. 789 01:05:29,200 --> 01:05:32,480 So, here they were recording the height of one year's flood. 790 01:05:34,560 --> 01:05:38,640 By looking into the past, the priests could see into the future. 791 01:05:40,520 --> 01:05:43,840 And that was key because the success of this instrument 792 01:05:43,840 --> 01:05:47,920 as an instrument of prediction, was dependent on having long records. 793 01:05:57,120 --> 01:06:00,280 Those records could predict a bad harvest, 794 01:06:00,280 --> 01:06:03,080 which gave the pharaoh enough warning 795 01:06:03,080 --> 01:06:05,960 to distribute food before the famine hit. 796 01:06:07,600 --> 01:06:09,840 It might be a simple stone staircase, 797 01:06:09,840 --> 01:06:13,600 but the nilometer's predictive technology was instrumental 798 01:06:13,600 --> 01:06:15,200 in Egypt's rise to power. 799 01:06:19,400 --> 01:06:23,280 This civilisation lasted for three millennia, far longer 800 01:06:23,280 --> 01:06:25,600 than our Western civilisation. 801 01:06:25,600 --> 01:06:29,040 And I'm sure that there were times when they were convinced 802 01:06:29,040 --> 01:06:31,600 that they would last forever, and they didn't. 803 01:06:31,600 --> 01:06:33,720 Something went wrong. 804 01:06:33,720 --> 01:06:38,520 A water crisis caught up with the pharaohs and they lost control. 805 01:06:38,520 --> 01:06:42,440 This is the last hieroglyph ever inscribed anywhere 806 01:06:42,440 --> 01:06:45,920 in the Egyptian world, and it's defaced. 807 01:06:45,920 --> 01:06:50,040 The last gasp of a civilisation that crashed and burned. 808 01:06:51,440 --> 01:06:53,480 An entire civilisation ends here. 809 01:06:53,480 --> 01:06:57,600 You know, this is the last sign that the Egyptians left us. 810 01:07:05,960 --> 01:07:10,480 The reasons for the fall of the empire are, of course, complex, 811 01:07:10,480 --> 01:07:14,400 but Giulio told me about some surprising new research 812 01:07:14,400 --> 01:07:17,280 that compares ice core data from the Arctic 813 01:07:17,280 --> 01:07:19,880 with the ancient Egyptian nilometer records. 814 01:07:22,200 --> 01:07:27,400 And there's a direct match between global weather events at the time, 815 01:07:27,400 --> 01:07:30,320 the failure of floodwaters in the Nile, 816 01:07:30,320 --> 01:07:34,520 and the successive collapse of dynasties in Ancient Egypt. 817 01:07:34,520 --> 01:07:37,360 It happened time and again, 818 01:07:37,360 --> 01:07:40,120 culminating with the fall of Cleopatra. 819 01:07:40,120 --> 01:07:42,920 There were at least two very severe droughts at the end 820 01:07:42,920 --> 01:07:46,320 of the Egyptian kingdom, during the last reign of Cleopatra. 821 01:07:48,000 --> 01:07:51,640 The drought persisted for much longer than expected, 822 01:07:51,640 --> 01:07:54,760 and then there will be strife, there will be problems, 823 01:07:54,760 --> 01:07:57,840 and the power of the state will be severely weakened. 824 01:07:57,840 --> 01:08:00,160 And that's what happened over and over again 825 01:08:00,160 --> 01:08:02,280 during the course of Egyptian history. 826 01:08:02,280 --> 01:08:04,880 And, in a way, that's what we face today as well. 827 01:08:07,680 --> 01:08:10,320 We, too, are vulnerable to changes in the climate. 828 01:08:10,320 --> 01:08:13,240 This is what Giulio's day job is all about, 829 01:08:13,240 --> 01:08:16,320 and he wants to warn us that water scarcity 830 01:08:16,320 --> 01:08:21,160 can still lead to famine, social unrest, even war. 831 01:08:27,080 --> 01:08:29,960 The origins of the world's civilisations... 832 01:08:32,040 --> 01:08:36,040 ..started alongside the fertile banks of four major rivers. 833 01:08:38,600 --> 01:08:41,640 And like Egypt, none lasted forever. 834 01:08:41,640 --> 01:08:45,920 The rains came and went in cycles associated with great droughts 835 01:08:45,920 --> 01:08:48,200 or catastrophic floods. 836 01:08:48,200 --> 01:08:52,240 But of the four, only one is defined by its relationship to water. 837 01:08:54,080 --> 01:08:56,320 China is the water kingdom. 838 01:08:59,520 --> 01:09:01,600 Controlling the molecule is at the heart 839 01:09:01,600 --> 01:09:03,640 of this entire civilisation. 840 01:09:07,440 --> 01:09:11,200 Even the word for politics uses the symbol for water. 841 01:09:12,400 --> 01:09:16,480 And at the centre of China's mythology is a 4,000-year-old story 842 01:09:16,480 --> 01:09:19,680 of a great flood that swamped the land for two decades. 843 01:09:19,680 --> 01:09:23,160 WATER ROARS 844 01:09:23,160 --> 01:09:26,960 As legend has it, the people were saved from the flood 845 01:09:26,960 --> 01:09:30,680 by a heroic figure known as Yu the Great. 846 01:09:33,040 --> 01:09:36,280 And his ability to tame the Yellow River 847 01:09:36,280 --> 01:09:39,520 made him emperor of China's first dynasty - 848 01:09:39,520 --> 01:09:40,920 the Xia. 849 01:09:44,560 --> 01:09:48,040 Our water journey took us to the ancient Yellow River Valley, 850 01:09:48,040 --> 01:09:52,000 to meet a man who thinks he has proved this legend to be true. 851 01:09:53,760 --> 01:09:57,680 Wu Qinglong is a geoarchaeologist who has been unravelling this water 852 01:09:57,680 --> 01:10:00,320 mystery for the last ten years. 853 01:10:14,560 --> 01:10:17,320 It's this perilous gorge that hides Wu's evidence 854 01:10:17,320 --> 01:10:19,040 of the mythical flood. 855 01:10:35,360 --> 01:10:39,280 The story begins at an archaeological site called Lajia. 856 01:10:42,400 --> 01:10:44,480 DOOR CREAKS 857 01:10:52,680 --> 01:10:54,320 This is China's Pompeii. 858 01:10:55,640 --> 01:10:59,040 4,000-year-old skeletons, mainly children, 859 01:10:59,040 --> 01:11:03,320 perfectly preserved by thick layers of mud and sediment. 860 01:11:14,320 --> 01:11:17,000 This is the first time any Western cameras 861 01:11:17,000 --> 01:11:19,560 have filmed this amazing find. 862 01:11:19,560 --> 01:11:23,040 And it's hard not to be struck by the scene of devastation. 863 01:11:27,880 --> 01:11:30,840 How these people died is part of Professor Wu's mystery. 864 01:11:37,920 --> 01:11:41,040 The state of the bodies suggests a flood has preserved them, 865 01:11:41,040 --> 01:11:44,360 but the excavation also shows signs of another disaster, 866 01:11:44,360 --> 01:11:46,520 that might have trapped them first. 867 01:12:01,320 --> 01:12:04,280 Inside Jishi Gorge, Wu began to piece together 868 01:12:04,280 --> 01:12:06,080 the gruesome chain of events. 869 01:12:11,720 --> 01:12:14,320 His first clue, the signature of a massive earthquake. 870 01:12:23,240 --> 01:12:26,440 An earthquake would explain why many of the skeletons' bones 871 01:12:26,440 --> 01:12:30,680 were broken, but it did not explain how it could have caused the flood 872 01:12:30,680 --> 01:12:32,480 that entombed the people. 873 01:12:41,920 --> 01:12:45,960 The evidence he was looking for was there all along. 874 01:12:45,960 --> 01:12:48,560 It had just been too big to see. 875 01:13:01,240 --> 01:13:04,160 The remains of an ancient landslide so big, 876 01:13:04,160 --> 01:13:08,480 it once filled the entire gorge and dammed the river behind it. 877 01:13:10,240 --> 01:13:14,960 Wu worked out how, over nine months, the river rose up behind the dam. 878 01:13:14,960 --> 01:13:19,680 600 feet of water building up until the pressure got too much... 879 01:13:21,200 --> 01:13:22,680 ..it burst. 880 01:13:28,800 --> 01:13:31,440 The Great Flood was real. 881 01:13:44,640 --> 01:13:48,440 of China's history and seeped into the psyche of an entire culture. 882 01:13:50,120 --> 01:13:53,960 And for Professor Wu, it was the culmination of ten years of work. 883 01:14:13,760 --> 01:14:18,600 Turns out, China's water obsession was born of real events. 884 01:14:23,280 --> 01:14:27,240 And their struggle to control rivers continued for millennia. 885 01:14:34,880 --> 01:14:39,000 Many of China's rulers were actually trained as water engineers, 886 01:14:39,000 --> 01:14:41,440 masterminding more and more ambitious projects 887 01:14:41,440 --> 01:14:43,480 to bring the molecule under control. 888 01:14:50,680 --> 01:14:54,720 This 1931 flood, the greatest in living memory, 889 01:14:54,720 --> 01:14:58,280 inundated an area the size of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut 890 01:14:58,280 --> 01:15:02,840 combined, leaving four million people dead 891 01:15:02,840 --> 01:15:05,680 and 40 million homeless. 892 01:15:08,800 --> 01:15:12,720 And it was out of this enduring struggle to control the flood 893 01:15:12,720 --> 01:15:14,840 that China became masters of the molecule. 894 01:15:17,200 --> 01:15:20,120 Today, the Three Gorges Dam is the monument 895 01:15:20,120 --> 01:15:22,040 to that water history. 896 01:15:23,920 --> 01:15:26,800 It is the world's largest hydroelectric project, 897 01:15:26,800 --> 01:15:30,600 generating enough power to supply Beijing with all its electricity 898 01:15:30,600 --> 01:15:33,120 needs, and stopping the floods downstream. 899 01:15:34,520 --> 01:15:36,280 It even has its own boat lift. 900 01:15:40,320 --> 01:15:43,240 But controlling all this water comes at a cost. 901 01:15:43,240 --> 01:15:48,200 The 400 square miles of reservoir displaced 1.2 million people, 902 01:15:48,200 --> 01:15:50,920 and caused huge ecological damage. 903 01:15:50,920 --> 01:15:55,080 The loss of habitat caused a dramatic reduction 904 01:15:55,080 --> 01:15:58,960 in local rainfall, and the weight of water... 905 01:16:01,240 --> 01:16:04,560 ..has even caused a 30-fold increase in earthquakes here. 906 01:16:08,200 --> 01:16:11,080 Concerned about the environmental impact, 907 01:16:11,080 --> 01:16:15,600 scientists use satellite imagery to count the dams across the world 908 01:16:15,600 --> 01:16:19,320 and calculate how much water is held behind them. 909 01:16:20,840 --> 01:16:23,680 The water in the Three Gorges, for instance, can be represented 910 01:16:23,680 --> 01:16:25,600 by a column 1,000 feet wide. 911 01:16:28,280 --> 01:16:30,240 Rising over 300 miles high. 912 01:16:31,440 --> 01:16:33,320 And that is just one dam. 913 01:16:33,320 --> 01:16:36,320 China has 87,000 of them. 914 01:16:43,600 --> 01:16:45,360 And it's not only China. 915 01:16:45,360 --> 01:16:48,120 The United States has almost just as many. 916 01:16:48,120 --> 01:16:49,800 84,000 and counting. 917 01:16:51,200 --> 01:16:54,560 Today, two thirds of the world's major rivers 918 01:16:54,560 --> 01:16:58,560 no longer have a connection to the sea, endangering fish populations, 919 01:16:58,560 --> 01:17:00,960 wetlands and estuaries. 920 01:17:00,960 --> 01:17:05,480 Within ten years, 93% of all river water will be choked by a dam. 921 01:17:07,480 --> 01:17:08,960 There is now so much water 922 01:17:08,960 --> 01:17:11,920 stored behind dams in the northern hemisphere, 923 01:17:11,920 --> 01:17:16,000 the weight of the water has tilted the axis of the planet, 924 01:17:16,000 --> 01:17:18,360 affecting the speed of its spin. 925 01:17:19,720 --> 01:17:23,120 The way we control water is changing the planet. 926 01:17:38,080 --> 01:17:41,120 For most of our history, anywhere without freshwater 927 01:17:41,120 --> 01:17:44,640 remained off limits to all but the smallest of settlements. 928 01:17:45,760 --> 01:17:49,400 But there was always another source of water - 929 01:17:49,400 --> 01:17:52,520 underground, tantalisingly close, 930 01:17:52,520 --> 01:17:57,800 which, if tapped, had the power to change the face of the planet 931 01:17:57,800 --> 01:17:59,080 like never before. 932 01:18:10,920 --> 01:18:13,640 In ancient Mexico, that power of groundwater 933 01:18:13,640 --> 01:18:15,680 was connected to the gods, 934 01:18:15,680 --> 01:18:20,920 and today, portals to their underground water world still exist. 935 01:18:31,840 --> 01:18:33,840 Here, where there is not a lake, 936 01:18:33,840 --> 01:18:37,080 river or stream for hundreds of miles, 937 01:18:37,080 --> 01:18:41,360 there are small openings in the jungle, called cenotes. 938 01:18:45,240 --> 01:18:49,080 Sources of water that could support whole cities. 939 01:18:52,880 --> 01:18:56,120 No wonder the Maya attributed a spiritual power 940 01:18:56,120 --> 01:18:58,920 to their mysterious underground water source. 941 01:19:07,600 --> 01:19:11,200 DISTANT GRUNTS AND HOWLS 942 01:19:17,880 --> 01:19:20,880 Camila Jaber has her own special relationship 943 01:19:20,880 --> 01:19:23,080 with the Maya's underwater world. 944 01:19:23,080 --> 01:19:25,280 She's a freediver. 945 01:19:25,280 --> 01:19:29,000 She's actually Mexico's national record holder. 946 01:19:29,000 --> 01:19:30,840 She went down deep... 947 01:19:32,920 --> 01:19:35,840 ..on a single breath. Yeah. For a long time. 948 01:20:08,360 --> 01:20:10,720 If you want to access this world, 949 01:20:10,720 --> 01:20:14,800 you have to dive 200 feet down in a single breath, 950 01:20:14,800 --> 01:20:19,040 which is incredible, but that's what freedivers do. 951 01:20:20,840 --> 01:20:23,160 And if that wasn't enough, today, 952 01:20:23,160 --> 01:20:27,400 Camila plans to dive into this eerie, toxic cloud 953 01:20:27,400 --> 01:20:29,360 at the bottom of the cenote. 954 01:20:35,920 --> 01:20:37,280 Frankly speaking, 955 01:20:37,280 --> 01:20:40,800 this is the most worrying thing we can encounter cave diving. 956 01:20:40,800 --> 01:20:44,680 Vincent is accompanying Camila as a safety diver. 957 01:20:44,680 --> 01:20:47,680 This is visually beautiful, but it's pretty toxic 958 01:20:47,680 --> 01:20:51,280 and it has exactly the same effect as carbon monoxide. 959 01:20:51,280 --> 01:20:56,720 So it's not really a good thing to be swimming in for ages. 960 01:20:56,720 --> 01:20:58,080 Someone tell that to Camila. 961 01:21:29,480 --> 01:21:33,080 Looks more like dancing in the water than swimming. 962 01:21:36,160 --> 01:21:38,160 I'm not really worried for her, 963 01:21:38,160 --> 01:21:41,680 as long as she's not staying very long in the hydrogen sulphide. 964 01:23:31,440 --> 01:23:35,800 It is not surprising the Maya worshipped these natural wells. 965 01:23:37,800 --> 01:23:39,120 For other civilisations, 966 01:23:39,120 --> 01:23:42,360 it was rare to get such easy access to groundwater like this. 967 01:23:46,680 --> 01:23:50,760 Here in India, this step well has 3,500 steps 968 01:23:50,760 --> 01:23:53,640 to access the freshwater below, 969 01:23:53,640 --> 01:23:56,600 a long climb to get a drink of water. 970 01:24:01,400 --> 01:24:03,440 In this way, for most of our history, 971 01:24:03,440 --> 01:24:07,320 underground water was always just out of reach. 972 01:24:07,320 --> 01:24:10,480 That changed in the early 1700s. 973 01:24:10,480 --> 01:24:13,640 Once again, water is at the centre of a massive leap 974 01:24:13,640 --> 01:24:16,720 in the progress of human civilisation. 975 01:24:16,720 --> 01:24:19,240 This time, it is all about an invention 976 01:24:19,240 --> 01:24:21,960 made on the small, wet island of Britain... 977 01:24:23,640 --> 01:24:26,360 ..a new machine called the Newcomen engine, 978 01:24:26,360 --> 01:24:31,120 and it harnessed one of the special properties of the molecule 979 01:24:31,120 --> 01:24:34,720 and used steam to drive the first mechanised pump. 980 01:24:36,440 --> 01:24:38,840 Originally designed to get rid of unwanted water 981 01:24:38,840 --> 01:24:40,360 from flooded coalmines, 982 01:24:40,360 --> 01:24:43,400 soon these pumps would be sucking much-desired groundwater 983 01:24:43,400 --> 01:24:45,240 all over the world. 984 01:24:49,480 --> 01:24:52,840 Steam engines powered the Industrial Revolution. 985 01:24:55,280 --> 01:24:58,560 Steam transported us further and faster. 986 01:24:58,560 --> 01:25:01,880 And that simple original design for a pump 987 01:25:01,880 --> 01:25:05,960 gave us access to groundwater that had been off limits for so long. 988 01:25:12,560 --> 01:25:13,920 There is no better place 989 01:25:13,920 --> 01:25:17,560 to see how that has affected the landscape than here in Arizona. 990 01:25:20,640 --> 01:25:23,840 We headed 60 miles east of Phoenix into the desert 991 01:25:23,840 --> 01:25:28,040 to see 21st-century pumps at work on an unimaginable scale. 992 01:25:38,800 --> 01:25:41,240 Each one of these circles is watered 993 01:25:41,240 --> 01:25:44,000 by a centre-pivot irrigator, taps into underground reservoirs 994 01:25:44,000 --> 01:25:46,600 that seeped into the Earth 995 01:25:46,600 --> 01:25:50,000 over tens of thousands of years, 996 01:25:50,000 --> 01:25:53,440 until we reached them with our really long straws. 997 01:26:03,200 --> 01:26:05,960 Sanjayan is convinced we have been building a debt here, 998 01:26:05,960 --> 01:26:07,640 that we will soon have to repay. 999 01:26:09,000 --> 01:26:10,880 And he took us to investigate 1000 01:26:10,880 --> 01:26:13,480 the extent of our thirst for underground water. 1001 01:26:20,840 --> 01:26:23,720 Although it wasn't as easy as we'd hoped. 1002 01:26:31,000 --> 01:26:34,560 You would think filming a farming operation wouldn't be that hard, 1003 01:26:34,560 --> 01:26:38,840 but we called over 50 farms and asked to film on their land. 1004 01:26:38,840 --> 01:26:40,880 Not one of them said yes, 1005 01:26:40,880 --> 01:26:43,560 especially if we were going to mention groundwater. 1006 01:26:43,560 --> 01:26:45,200 You couldn't get near this stuff. 1007 01:26:47,040 --> 01:26:50,840 It actually says "private property" right here, "no trespassing". 1008 01:26:50,840 --> 01:26:54,200 So we resorted to filming from the side of the road. 1009 01:26:54,200 --> 01:26:56,240 To film it with a drone, I had to stand on the edge 1010 01:26:56,240 --> 01:26:58,480 and I had to look across a fence. 1011 01:26:59,840 --> 01:27:01,000 Don't lose this thing. 1012 01:27:05,080 --> 01:27:07,760 And you think, my God, you know, we've gone around the world 1013 01:27:07,760 --> 01:27:10,720 and we've filmed all sorts of things that are really sensitive, 1014 01:27:10,720 --> 01:27:14,400 like giant oil rigs or nuclear facilities, and it wasn't this hard. 1015 01:27:14,400 --> 01:27:16,360 I mean, it's a piece of farm equipment. 1016 01:27:16,360 --> 01:27:18,400 It's not national security, for God's sake. 1017 01:27:18,400 --> 01:27:19,840 It's a piece of farm equipment 1018 01:27:19,840 --> 01:27:21,720 and no-one wants to talk to you about it? 1019 01:27:21,720 --> 01:27:23,680 That tells you there's something going on. 1020 01:27:23,680 --> 01:27:25,400 There's nothing illegal going on here, 1021 01:27:25,400 --> 01:27:26,920 but there is an issue. 1022 01:27:26,920 --> 01:27:31,040 With each of these pumps pulling water out of the ground 1023 01:27:31,040 --> 01:27:33,640 at up to 3,000 gallons per hour, 1024 01:27:33,640 --> 01:27:37,480 that is much faster than rainfall replenishes it. 1025 01:27:37,480 --> 01:27:40,640 The aquifer can only last so long. 1026 01:27:40,640 --> 01:27:42,560 Kind of amazing. 1027 01:27:42,560 --> 01:27:46,080 Look at this water, just gushing out. 1028 01:27:48,920 --> 01:27:53,360 It's cold, because it's coming from deep, deep under the Earth. 1029 01:27:55,040 --> 01:27:58,280 The last time that water was on the surface, 1030 01:27:58,280 --> 01:28:00,680 there were mammoths walking around here. 1031 01:28:00,680 --> 01:28:02,160 That's crazy. 1032 01:28:03,920 --> 01:28:07,040 It's certainly not the most sustainable way of using water. 1033 01:28:07,040 --> 01:28:10,000 It might not even be the most efficient way of using water, 1034 01:28:10,000 --> 01:28:13,000 but it's the fastest way of using water. 1035 01:28:13,000 --> 01:28:14,800 And it's hidden water, it's secret water, 1036 01:28:14,800 --> 01:28:16,160 it's water that, frankly, 1037 01:28:16,160 --> 01:28:18,280 not a lot of people want to even talk about it. 1038 01:28:18,280 --> 01:28:20,280 Not to us, anyway. 1039 01:28:20,280 --> 01:28:22,960 And the reason for all the secrecy - 1040 01:28:22,960 --> 01:28:28,080 it's a sensitivity about whose water it is and how long it'll last. 1041 01:28:30,560 --> 01:28:34,280 Growing alfalfa is worth half a billion dollars per year 1042 01:28:34,280 --> 01:28:35,520 in Arizona alone. 1043 01:28:35,520 --> 01:28:37,320 That's just been mowed. 1044 01:28:37,320 --> 01:28:41,600 So that's the alfalfa, what's left of it, that they've now baled. 1045 01:28:41,600 --> 01:28:42,800 As long as you own the land, 1046 01:28:42,800 --> 01:28:45,280 you don't pay for the water underground. 1047 01:28:45,280 --> 01:28:46,600 And while that lasts, 1048 01:28:46,600 --> 01:28:49,640 no-one wants to limit the amount of water they can pump 1049 01:28:49,640 --> 01:28:52,720 because it means they'll make less money. 1050 01:28:52,720 --> 01:28:57,360 Thousands of farms in America are pumping water in this way, 1051 01:28:57,360 --> 01:28:58,920 but this farm introduced me 1052 01:28:58,920 --> 01:29:02,120 to one of the most surprising parts of our water story. 1053 01:29:02,120 --> 01:29:04,720 Sanjayan took us here to show us 1054 01:29:04,720 --> 01:29:08,000 how far some will go to get as close as possible to a water source. 1055 01:29:09,440 --> 01:29:12,440 Look at this, it's incredible infrastructure. 1056 01:29:12,440 --> 01:29:15,360 I mean, it's spectacularly built, 1057 01:29:15,360 --> 01:29:19,240 clearly much more money than any of the other farms we've driven by. 1058 01:29:23,480 --> 01:29:26,680 I've never seen that kind of infrastructure 1059 01:29:26,680 --> 01:29:29,640 just to get into a farm, with a big, big gate. 1060 01:29:29,640 --> 01:29:32,640 And it looks like a high-security facility. 1061 01:29:34,080 --> 01:29:36,560 Why don't we see if we get to the very edge of this farm 1062 01:29:36,560 --> 01:29:39,360 and we can just stop there and take a look? 1063 01:29:39,360 --> 01:29:41,600 Because they're sure not going to let us in there. 1064 01:29:41,600 --> 01:29:43,280 Places like this show us 1065 01:29:43,280 --> 01:29:47,480 a new way that countries are tapping into each other's water. 1066 01:29:47,480 --> 01:29:51,160 And it's actually owned by a Saudi Arabian company. 1067 01:29:51,160 --> 01:29:56,480 And you think, why is Saudi Arabia in the middle of Arizona? 1068 01:29:58,160 --> 01:29:59,640 So, what's going on? 1069 01:29:59,640 --> 01:30:02,720 When you think of the Arabian Peninsula, you think of oil. 1070 01:30:02,720 --> 01:30:06,680 But when the Saudis started drilling for oil back in the 1970s, 1071 01:30:06,680 --> 01:30:09,880 they also found huge reserves of groundwater, 1072 01:30:09,880 --> 01:30:11,720 enough to fill Lake Erie. 1073 01:30:11,720 --> 01:30:14,040 It led to an explosion of centre-pivot farms 1074 01:30:14,040 --> 01:30:17,040 so big, you could see them from space. 1075 01:30:25,440 --> 01:30:26,800 And they got very good 1076 01:30:26,800 --> 01:30:30,520 at going deep down and sucking that water up at a very fast rate. 1077 01:30:30,520 --> 01:30:35,560 In the 1990s, the Saudis were one of the leading exporters of wheat. 1078 01:30:35,560 --> 01:30:38,720 They were actually the world's sixth-largest exporter. 1079 01:30:38,720 --> 01:30:40,560 But that didn't last long. 1080 01:30:40,560 --> 01:30:42,560 By 2012, in just 20 years, 1081 01:30:42,560 --> 01:30:45,680 80% of their aquifer had been pumped dry. 1082 01:30:46,800 --> 01:30:50,120 Almost overnight, they were importing as much wheat 1083 01:30:50,120 --> 01:30:52,480 as they used to export. 1084 01:30:52,480 --> 01:30:54,360 They looked around the world and said, 1085 01:30:54,360 --> 01:30:57,640 "Where can we grow crops where there is a steady supply of water, 1086 01:30:57,640 --> 01:30:59,840 "where people haven't really caught on to it?" 1087 01:30:59,840 --> 01:31:03,120 And guess what? They found it right here in Arizona. 1088 01:31:06,360 --> 01:31:10,120 And I think that's just sort of this astonishing story. 1089 01:31:10,120 --> 01:31:12,080 What's really astonishing 1090 01:31:12,080 --> 01:31:15,080 is the extent to which we are all doing this. 1091 01:31:15,080 --> 01:31:16,520 The Saudis aren't the only ones 1092 01:31:16,520 --> 01:31:19,040 tapping in to the water of other countries. 1093 01:31:19,040 --> 01:31:21,080 In fact, it's going on so much 1094 01:31:21,080 --> 01:31:25,240 that we're creating a new flow of water around the planet, 1095 01:31:25,240 --> 01:31:28,000 one that is not in the form you might expect. 1096 01:31:40,880 --> 01:31:43,600 If you had to name the world's second-largest exporter 1097 01:31:43,600 --> 01:31:46,200 of fruit and vegetables after the United States, 1098 01:31:46,200 --> 01:31:47,760 the tiny country of Holland 1099 01:31:47,760 --> 01:31:50,080 might not be at the top of your list, 1100 01:31:50,080 --> 01:31:54,200 but last year alone, their exports were worth $100 billion. 1101 01:31:57,160 --> 01:31:58,880 Since medieval times, 1102 01:31:58,880 --> 01:32:01,600 the Dutch have been the water experts, 1103 01:32:01,600 --> 01:32:03,720 and they're still leading by example today. 1104 01:32:03,720 --> 01:32:06,360 They recently committed to sustainable agriculture, 1105 01:32:06,360 --> 01:32:07,720 and since the year 2000, 1106 01:32:07,720 --> 01:32:11,560 many farmers have reduced their dependence on water by 90%. 1107 01:32:13,640 --> 01:32:15,120 Much of their success 1108 01:32:15,120 --> 01:32:19,480 lies inside vast arrays of climate-controlled greenhouses. 1109 01:32:19,480 --> 01:32:23,000 We ventured inside with water scientist Arjen Hoekstra, 1110 01:32:23,000 --> 01:32:25,720 and we were blown away by what we saw. 1111 01:32:26,720 --> 01:32:27,760 Wow. 1112 01:32:32,400 --> 01:32:34,320 That's impressive. 1113 01:32:34,320 --> 01:32:36,720 See all the seedlings, young tomato plants, 1114 01:32:36,720 --> 01:32:39,600 hundreds of thousands of those seedlings are growing here. 1115 01:32:42,440 --> 01:32:45,320 Outside is nearly freezing and here inside, 1116 01:32:45,320 --> 01:32:47,520 it's quite hot, actually, I must say, 1117 01:32:47,520 --> 01:32:50,440 but everything is climate-controlled 1118 01:32:50,440 --> 01:32:52,520 to create the perfect conditions for growth. 1119 01:32:52,520 --> 01:32:55,160 When you talk to someone like Arjen, 1120 01:32:55,160 --> 01:32:58,800 you realise he is fascinated by, actually obsessed with, 1121 01:32:58,800 --> 01:33:01,920 our use of water and its impact around the world. 1122 01:33:03,120 --> 01:33:07,360 He even came up with the concept of the water footprint, 1123 01:33:07,360 --> 01:33:10,840 that measures the amount of water needed to supply our daily needs. 1124 01:33:10,840 --> 01:33:13,280 Most people, if they think about water use, 1125 01:33:13,280 --> 01:33:17,720 they think about the shower and washing their hands, or cooking. 1126 01:33:17,720 --> 01:33:22,040 But in fact, 92% of all the water consumption in the world 1127 01:33:22,040 --> 01:33:26,440 is related to crop production in agriculture. 1128 01:33:26,440 --> 01:33:30,200 92%, just to grow the food that we need to eat. 1129 01:33:32,320 --> 01:33:36,320 When you calculate how much water it takes to grow a tomato, 1130 01:33:36,320 --> 01:33:37,800 it starts to add up. 1131 01:33:41,680 --> 01:33:44,800 The interesting thing about a greenhouse like this 1132 01:33:44,800 --> 01:33:47,000 is that it is kind of a laboratory. 1133 01:33:47,000 --> 01:33:50,920 We know the temperature, we know the lights. 1134 01:33:50,920 --> 01:33:54,000 We know exactly how much water the plant needs. 1135 01:33:55,520 --> 01:33:58,840 And if you count every drop, as Arjen has, 1136 01:33:58,840 --> 01:34:02,400 you discover something quite revealing. 1137 01:34:02,400 --> 01:34:06,480 Of all the water that a plant soaks up from the Earth, 1138 01:34:06,480 --> 01:34:08,240 99% evaporates. 1139 01:34:08,240 --> 01:34:11,600 Only 1% is used to build the plant. 1140 01:34:11,600 --> 01:34:12,600 I'll put it back. 1141 01:34:14,280 --> 01:34:16,720 Otherwise, you never know what happens. 1142 01:34:16,720 --> 01:34:21,600 Inside this greenhouse, the evaporation is contained, 1143 01:34:21,600 --> 01:34:25,560 and the drip irrigation reduces water footprint. 1144 01:34:25,560 --> 01:34:29,720 Outside, with traditional farming, there's 20 times that footprint. 1145 01:34:35,960 --> 01:34:39,760 Worldwide, the average is 200 litres of water 1146 01:34:39,760 --> 01:34:41,600 for one kilogram of tomatoes. 1147 01:34:41,600 --> 01:34:47,440 It takes 26 gallons of water to grow a pound of tomatoes, 1148 01:34:47,440 --> 01:34:49,960 so a tomato's water footprint 1149 01:34:49,960 --> 01:34:52,560 includes this invisible trail 1150 01:34:52,560 --> 01:34:55,240 of all the water that was used to make it. 1151 01:35:00,440 --> 01:35:03,800 This trail of water, Arjen calls virtual water. 1152 01:35:08,680 --> 01:35:12,400 And virtual water is as powerful and important as any flowing river. 1153 01:35:15,920 --> 01:35:18,520 You just need someone like Arjen to understand the scale of it. 1154 01:35:20,160 --> 01:35:22,320 SHIP HORN BLARES 1155 01:35:22,320 --> 01:35:26,160 When I see all those containers, I see water, 1156 01:35:26,160 --> 01:35:27,960 a lot of water. 1157 01:35:32,520 --> 01:35:35,560 If a single container ship were filled with tomatoes, 1158 01:35:35,560 --> 01:35:41,640 and it takes 26 gallons of water to grow a pound of tomatoes, 1159 01:35:41,640 --> 01:35:44,600 a whole ship like this has a water footprint 1160 01:35:44,600 --> 01:35:48,160 of over two billion gallons of virtual water. 1161 01:35:48,160 --> 01:35:51,360 That means a container ship filled with green coffee beans, 1162 01:35:51,360 --> 01:35:55,800 for example, has a trail of over 400 billion gallons 1163 01:35:55,800 --> 01:35:57,000 of virtual water. 1164 01:35:58,320 --> 01:36:02,200 Each boat has a satellite tracker, and mapped from space, 1165 01:36:02,200 --> 01:36:04,600 you really get to see the scale 1166 01:36:04,600 --> 01:36:07,880 of this new flow of virtual water around the planet. 1167 01:36:10,760 --> 01:36:13,560 Their paths form giant virtual rivers. 1168 01:36:13,560 --> 01:36:15,800 Going through the Suez Canal, 1169 01:36:15,800 --> 01:36:18,520 there is three times more virtual water 1170 01:36:18,520 --> 01:36:21,720 than real water is flowing over Niagara Falls. 1171 01:36:25,120 --> 01:36:26,720 Water is a global resource, 1172 01:36:26,720 --> 01:36:29,280 and if you don't have the water in a country, 1173 01:36:29,280 --> 01:36:31,200 you can rely on water elsewhere. 1174 01:36:32,560 --> 01:36:36,920 This is how Saudi Arabia taps aquifers in America 1175 01:36:36,920 --> 01:36:41,120 and causes a virtual water flow from Arizona to Jeddah. 1176 01:36:41,120 --> 01:36:46,280 Saudi Arabia, 66% of their total water use is outside the country. 1177 01:36:47,880 --> 01:36:51,720 With Europe, it's 44% and the United States, it's 20%. 1178 01:36:53,320 --> 01:36:56,680 In other words, this is a global dependency. 1179 01:36:56,680 --> 01:36:58,560 This flow of virtual water 1180 01:36:58,560 --> 01:37:02,840 is humanity's latest innovation to harness freshwater. 1181 01:37:02,840 --> 01:37:06,960 Our addiction to the molecule appears to have no limit. 1182 01:37:11,080 --> 01:37:13,960 But there is a dark side to virtual water 1183 01:37:13,960 --> 01:37:17,480 because it pushes the consequences of our thirst for water 1184 01:37:17,480 --> 01:37:20,600 out of sight and out of mind, 1185 01:37:20,600 --> 01:37:23,400 like our desire for cheap jeans and T-shirts, 1186 01:37:23,400 --> 01:37:26,800 which sucks a virtual water flow from countries far away. 1187 01:37:30,600 --> 01:37:32,880 Take the Aral Sea as an example. 1188 01:37:32,880 --> 01:37:36,560 In Uzbekistan, once the fourth largest lake in the world, 1189 01:37:36,560 --> 01:37:39,520 but the rivers that flowed into the Aral Sea 1190 01:37:39,520 --> 01:37:42,040 were diverted to irrigate cotton fields. 1191 01:37:42,040 --> 01:37:45,160 Cotton is for export to other parts of the world, 1192 01:37:45,160 --> 01:37:47,360 and the rivers don't end up in the sea any more. 1193 01:37:47,360 --> 01:37:50,160 The Aral Sea is disappearing. 1194 01:37:50,160 --> 01:37:53,440 In just 30 years, the Aral Sea was drained to a desert 1195 01:37:53,440 --> 01:37:57,000 by the suck of virtual water used to grow cotton. 1196 01:37:57,000 --> 01:37:59,640 It's a huge environmental disaster, 1197 01:37:59,640 --> 01:38:02,840 and that is directly related to that export of cotton. 1198 01:38:13,480 --> 01:38:17,200 Sanjayan witnessed this man-made tragedy for himself. 1199 01:38:17,200 --> 01:38:20,640 It takes your breath away because it's a gigantic lake, 1200 01:38:20,640 --> 01:38:23,480 unimaginably big, with ships on it, 1201 01:38:23,480 --> 01:38:27,000 that disappeared in my lifetime. In my lifetime. 1202 01:38:29,560 --> 01:38:32,280 It is too big to almost imagine 1203 01:38:32,280 --> 01:38:35,280 that it is humans that have done that. 1204 01:38:44,440 --> 01:38:48,960 For Sanjayan, the Aral Sea is just one of many signs. 1205 01:38:48,960 --> 01:38:51,280 The cracks in the system are everywhere. 1206 01:38:53,320 --> 01:38:56,720 And you don't have to leave America to see them, 1207 01:38:56,720 --> 01:38:58,640 like the Colorado River. 1208 01:38:59,760 --> 01:39:02,200 So many dams hold water in their reservoirs 1209 01:39:02,200 --> 01:39:06,480 and so many canals siphon it away, that now... 1210 01:39:06,480 --> 01:39:09,760 You end up with this river petering out, you know, 1211 01:39:09,760 --> 01:39:12,280 50 miles before it reaches the sea. 1212 01:39:14,920 --> 01:39:18,080 I could stop it with my foot, it had become such a trickle. 1213 01:39:19,800 --> 01:39:22,240 Maybe more importantly, our groundwater reserves 1214 01:39:22,240 --> 01:39:24,000 are at a breaking point. 1215 01:39:24,000 --> 01:39:27,600 Sanjayan took us to see the extent of our aquifer depletion. 1216 01:39:27,600 --> 01:39:29,240 Here in Arizona, 1217 01:39:29,240 --> 01:39:31,880 so much water has been pumped from underground 1218 01:39:31,880 --> 01:39:34,800 that the ground has dropped and ripped apart. 1219 01:39:35,800 --> 01:39:38,440 Holy cow! 1220 01:39:41,120 --> 01:39:42,960 Oh, this is unbelievable. 1221 01:39:44,800 --> 01:39:48,520 I mean, this is like a canyon opening up at my feet. 1222 01:39:52,000 --> 01:39:55,280 That's... Now, that's a crack. 1223 01:39:55,280 --> 01:39:57,440 LAUGHTER 1224 01:39:57,440 --> 01:40:00,960 I mean, that's a proper crack in the Earth. 1225 01:40:00,960 --> 01:40:03,720 Even further cracks down there. Be careful. 1226 01:40:05,200 --> 01:40:08,240 This is...this is all ready to go. 1227 01:40:09,360 --> 01:40:10,760 Whoa! 1228 01:40:10,760 --> 01:40:12,040 Oh, I'm so sorry. 1229 01:40:12,040 --> 01:40:15,280 You know, that's kind of amazing, right? 1230 01:40:15,280 --> 01:40:19,600 Because, like, nature's found a way to use this little bit of geology, 1231 01:40:19,600 --> 01:40:21,160 there's barn owls nesting here. 1232 01:40:21,160 --> 01:40:24,000 That's the white that I'm seeing here. 1233 01:40:24,000 --> 01:40:25,400 This is ridiculous. 1234 01:40:27,840 --> 01:40:32,800 It definitely feels like that crack in the wall of your foundations. 1235 01:40:32,800 --> 01:40:35,000 And it's not just Arizona. 1236 01:40:35,000 --> 01:40:40,040 The ground is sinking in California, New Orleans, 1237 01:40:40,040 --> 01:40:43,800 Mexico City, Saudi Arabia, Bangkok. 1238 01:40:43,800 --> 01:40:45,400 It's a sign. Shanghai... 1239 01:40:45,400 --> 01:40:49,240 It's an absolute sign. ..Tokyo... ..that you're running out. 1240 01:40:49,240 --> 01:40:52,360 Cracks in the desert, sinking cities, 1241 01:40:52,360 --> 01:40:54,920 just a few more of the signs that today, 1242 01:40:54,920 --> 01:40:58,920 our demands on freshwater are outstripping supplies. 1243 01:40:58,920 --> 01:41:02,800 It's a global problem, one that none of us should feel immune to. 1244 01:41:02,800 --> 01:41:05,520 And believe me, I'm not above any of this. 1245 01:41:05,520 --> 01:41:09,080 If we don't take care of water in a sustainable fashion, 1246 01:41:09,080 --> 01:41:12,000 it'll be the first environmental tipping point 1247 01:41:12,000 --> 01:41:14,360 that will bite humans the hardest. 1248 01:41:15,320 --> 01:41:16,400 I'm sure of it. 1249 01:41:18,640 --> 01:41:20,360 You know, you go around the world 1250 01:41:20,360 --> 01:41:22,800 looking at places in which people have found ways 1251 01:41:22,800 --> 01:41:26,080 to reverse ecological trends and come up with things, 1252 01:41:26,080 --> 01:41:29,400 and I think that... I mean, I still believe in human ingenuity. 1253 01:41:29,400 --> 01:41:32,520 And that does seem to be the question. 1254 01:41:34,160 --> 01:41:37,160 Can our ingenuity design a new water future, 1255 01:41:37,160 --> 01:41:40,600 like we've done over and over throughout history? 1256 01:41:44,240 --> 01:41:48,400 As we saw in Holland, we can engineer ways of saving water. 1257 01:41:50,520 --> 01:41:53,640 But high-tech solutions can only get so big. 1258 01:41:56,080 --> 01:41:58,200 You cannot start growing wheat or rice 1259 01:41:58,200 --> 01:42:00,040 in those kind of greenhouses, 1260 01:42:00,040 --> 01:42:02,720 because the amount we consume is so huge 1261 01:42:02,720 --> 01:42:05,520 that it will become much too expensive. 1262 01:42:05,520 --> 01:42:08,080 For Arjen, it is about a new appreciation 1263 01:42:08,080 --> 01:42:10,280 of the preciousness of water. 1264 01:42:10,280 --> 01:42:12,400 And for Giulio, it's just that simple. 1265 01:42:12,400 --> 01:42:14,720 All of these problems are manageable, ultimately, 1266 01:42:14,720 --> 01:42:16,800 but they certainly won't be managed. 1267 01:42:16,800 --> 01:42:19,800 We pretend everything can be solved through technology. 1268 01:42:19,800 --> 01:42:23,800 It looks like we no longer take our water management seriously enough. 1269 01:42:23,800 --> 01:42:26,520 We just don't value it like we used to. 1270 01:42:26,520 --> 01:42:28,280 And that's the real risk here. 1271 01:42:28,280 --> 01:42:31,000 If we believe that we don't actually have to worry, 1272 01:42:31,000 --> 01:42:33,120 because somebody will take care of it, 1273 01:42:33,120 --> 01:42:35,360 well, that's when the biggest problems arise. 1274 01:42:35,360 --> 01:42:38,800 Just like in Ancient Egypt, today's temple priests, 1275 01:42:38,800 --> 01:42:43,200 the scientists like Giulio, are warning us of a looming crisis. 1276 01:42:43,200 --> 01:42:45,680 And I'm afraid nobody's listening. 1277 01:42:45,680 --> 01:42:49,160 If we don't listen, our dependence on water, 1278 01:42:49,160 --> 01:42:53,040 this molecule that made us, will be the reason for our undoing. 1279 01:42:55,960 --> 01:42:59,880 For me, this is a wake-up call to start thinking beyond the tap... 1280 01:43:02,120 --> 01:43:05,720 ..and find that deep connection to the molecule 1281 01:43:05,720 --> 01:43:08,440 that is inside of us all. 1282 01:43:08,440 --> 01:43:11,040 Because if the next chapter in our water story 1283 01:43:11,040 --> 01:43:13,680 is going to be one we survive, 1284 01:43:13,680 --> 01:43:17,000 our next step needs to be our greatest. 1285 01:43:22,440 --> 01:43:25,400 Next time, on The Molecule That Made Us... 1286 01:43:25,400 --> 01:43:26,600 I'm so sorry. 1287 01:43:26,600 --> 01:43:28,600 Episode three: Crisis. 1288 01:43:28,600 --> 01:43:31,280 Liftoff of GRACE Follow-On. 1289 01:43:31,280 --> 01:43:32,920 We have just 1290 01:43:32,920 --> 01:43:34,880 flat squandered this resource. 1291 01:44:09,320 --> 01:44:14,160 # Your breath is burning my skin 1292 01:44:16,600 --> 01:44:23,920 # Your mouth takes in my water 1293 01:44:25,240 --> 01:44:29,360 # And the clouds roll like a river The rain falls sharp as ice 1294 01:44:29,360 --> 01:44:33,040 # And the oceans tumble over like mist in the night 1295 01:44:33,040 --> 01:44:35,080 # And my heart is a machine 1296 01:44:35,080 --> 01:44:36,920 # A machine keeping time 1297 01:44:36,920 --> 01:44:39,360 # And my body is a building 1298 01:44:39,360 --> 01:44:43,880 # Scraping at the sky 1299 01:44:43,880 --> 01:44:49,920 # And water looks like water running 1300 01:44:53,000 --> 01:44:59,400 # Water looks like water running. # 1301 01:45:14,800 --> 01:45:17,920 Sometimes the best story is right there in front of you, 1302 01:45:17,920 --> 01:45:20,080 but you don't see it. 1303 01:45:20,080 --> 01:45:22,040 How did I not see water? 1304 01:45:24,720 --> 01:45:27,360 I'm Kelly McEvers and I'm a radio journalist. 1305 01:45:29,320 --> 01:45:32,600 Every morning, I take a shower, I drink my coffee, 1306 01:45:32,600 --> 01:45:34,720 but it never really occurred to me. 1307 01:45:35,760 --> 01:45:38,600 I now believe this humble molecule, 1308 01:45:38,600 --> 01:45:41,040 the one that's hitting my face every morning, 1309 01:45:41,040 --> 01:45:44,680 could be the most important untold story of our time. 1310 01:45:45,800 --> 01:45:49,080 So, with a team of film-makers and scientists, 1311 01:45:49,080 --> 01:45:53,400 this is our podcast-style documentary on the story of water. 1312 01:45:56,040 --> 01:46:01,320 It's easy to follow this story through a record-breaking drought, 1313 01:46:01,320 --> 01:46:05,800 or in the increasingly frequent megafloods. 1314 01:46:05,800 --> 01:46:10,720 But sometimes the connections to water are less obvious, 1315 01:46:10,720 --> 01:46:14,080 like when dry forests burst into flames... 1316 01:46:17,240 --> 01:46:21,240 ..or when water shortages wreak havoc on stock markets. 1317 01:46:24,040 --> 01:46:29,400 Without water, we struggle to feed ourselves and people get desperate. 1318 01:46:29,400 --> 01:46:31,080 LOUD CLAMOUR 1319 01:46:31,080 --> 01:46:34,320 GUNFIRE 1320 01:46:34,320 --> 01:46:36,320 Changes to the supplies of water on Earth 1321 01:46:36,320 --> 01:46:38,880 are shaping a new world order around us. 1322 01:46:40,640 --> 01:46:42,800 So, I have a new saying - 1323 01:46:42,800 --> 01:46:46,600 "If you want to understand why our world is changing, 1324 01:46:46,600 --> 01:46:47,960 "follow the water." 1325 01:47:14,600 --> 01:47:17,640 So, what does a water crisis even look like? 1326 01:47:17,640 --> 01:47:19,400 Does it look like war? 1327 01:47:19,400 --> 01:47:22,200 Does it look like a famine? 1328 01:47:22,200 --> 01:47:24,920 Or does a water crisis hide in plain sight? 1329 01:47:30,400 --> 01:47:32,840 Just 25 miles long and five miles wide, 1330 01:47:32,840 --> 01:47:36,320 Gaza is near the epicentre of Middle Eastern conflicts. 1331 01:47:41,160 --> 01:47:42,880 But instead of politics, for a moment, 1332 01:47:42,880 --> 01:47:45,200 let's just follow the water. 1333 01:48:21,360 --> 01:48:23,960 Yehia Jedallah lives with his father and brothers 1334 01:48:23,960 --> 01:48:25,840 in a neighbourhood called Al-Shati. 1335 01:48:28,400 --> 01:48:32,760 For 4,000 years, people here have gotten their water from wells. 1336 01:48:32,760 --> 01:48:35,320 But because the aquifer is now overdrawn, 1337 01:48:35,320 --> 01:48:37,680 the saltwater is intruding from the sea. 1338 01:49:22,160 --> 01:49:26,960 Today, 97% of Gaza's wells are unfit for human consumption. 1339 01:49:29,000 --> 01:49:31,560 If nothing is done, the United Nations predicts 1340 01:49:31,560 --> 01:49:34,160 that Gaza will soon be unliveable. 1341 01:50:29,800 --> 01:50:31,320 Watching this, you might think, 1342 01:50:31,320 --> 01:50:34,560 "Whoa, that is really bad...for them." 1343 01:50:35,960 --> 01:50:37,680 But you're also probably thinking, 1344 01:50:37,680 --> 01:50:40,160 "My water problems are never going to get that bad." 1345 01:50:41,880 --> 01:50:43,880 But here is the thing. 1346 01:50:43,880 --> 01:50:46,080 Experts are saying that, in ten years, 1347 01:50:46,080 --> 01:50:50,960 the worldwide demand for water will outstrip supply by 40%. 1348 01:50:53,640 --> 01:50:56,640 So, statistically, at least, for many of us... 1349 01:50:58,120 --> 01:50:59,680 ..Gaza is the future. 1350 01:51:04,280 --> 01:51:06,960 Maybe you think this couldn't happen in one of the richest nations 1351 01:51:06,960 --> 01:51:07,960 in the world. 1352 01:51:10,160 --> 01:51:12,920 Well, take a look at this - the Salton Sea... 1353 01:51:25,800 --> 01:51:27,920 ..a place that once attracted more visitors 1354 01:51:27,920 --> 01:51:29,960 than Yosemite National Park. 1355 01:51:35,160 --> 01:51:38,040 ARCHIVE: Here is truly a miracle in the desert. 1356 01:51:38,040 --> 01:51:41,800 Today, the Salton Riviera beside the blue Salton Sea 1357 01:51:41,800 --> 01:51:44,880 is the place for you to take charge of your future. 1358 01:51:44,880 --> 01:51:48,080 This unusual city has a date with destiny. 1359 01:51:52,680 --> 01:51:55,960 That date with destiny did not end well. 1360 01:51:55,960 --> 01:52:00,840 Water scientist Jay Famiglietti understands what happened here. 1361 01:52:00,840 --> 01:52:04,560 I like to think of him as the water detective. 1362 01:52:04,560 --> 01:52:06,160 Welcome to my office. 1363 01:52:10,680 --> 01:52:15,080 Jay told me that we used to let fresh water reach the Salton Sea... 1364 01:52:18,000 --> 01:52:21,560 ..but now we have diverted the water for other uses. 1365 01:52:22,920 --> 01:52:26,520 The only water that reaches the sea is farm runoff... 1366 01:52:28,240 --> 01:52:31,280 ..which is so polluted that the entire basin 1367 01:52:31,280 --> 01:52:32,640 is a public health risk. 1368 01:52:34,480 --> 01:52:37,040 One of the things that I think is really clear 1369 01:52:37,040 --> 01:52:40,400 from looking at the satellite picture 1370 01:52:40,400 --> 01:52:44,080 is that the need for humanity to grow food 1371 01:52:44,080 --> 01:52:48,200 is really putting one of the biggest fingerprints on this global map 1372 01:52:48,200 --> 01:52:50,200 of changing water availability. 1373 01:52:50,200 --> 01:52:54,320 And so what that says to me is that we're having a huge impact, 1374 01:52:54,320 --> 01:52:56,360 and so we really need to think about it. 1375 01:52:58,080 --> 01:53:02,000 And for Jay, the Salton Sea is also a glimpse into the future. 1376 01:53:03,400 --> 01:53:09,440 If we think about worst possible situation - 1377 01:53:09,440 --> 01:53:13,360 take a big city like Phoenix, it runs out of water - 1378 01:53:13,360 --> 01:53:14,960 this is what it might look like. 1379 01:53:19,880 --> 01:53:23,600 Jay often gets accused of being Dr Doom and Gloom... 1380 01:53:23,600 --> 01:53:25,560 Rock, RC. countdown one... Go for launch. 1381 01:53:25,560 --> 01:53:29,440 ..but get him around his rockets and he perks up a bit. 1382 01:53:29,440 --> 01:53:31,520 Clarify range for screening. Go for launch. 1383 01:53:31,520 --> 01:53:35,280 I'm literally getting the chills. And it is not from the cold weather. 1384 01:53:37,280 --> 01:53:39,760 The total amount of water on Earth does not change. 1385 01:53:41,800 --> 01:53:44,360 You can't make it or take it away. 1386 01:53:44,360 --> 01:53:47,360 So the question is, where does it go? 1387 01:53:50,760 --> 01:53:53,640 To answer that, Jay and his colleagues at NASA 1388 01:53:53,640 --> 01:53:56,160 created the GRACE mission. 1389 01:53:56,160 --> 01:53:58,080 AFDS is ready for launch. 1390 01:53:58,080 --> 01:54:01,160 And now, after 15 years of successful measurement, 1391 01:54:01,160 --> 01:54:03,360 GRACE is getting a major upgrade. 1392 01:54:03,360 --> 01:54:05,200 F9 is in start-up. 1393 01:54:05,200 --> 01:54:07,680 LD, go for launch. Ten... 1394 01:54:07,680 --> 01:54:09,600 Nine, eight... 1395 01:54:09,600 --> 01:54:13,200 Yeah, it's a huge deal...obviously for me personally, but... 1396 01:54:13,200 --> 01:54:18,400 And I don't want to sound too corny, but it is a huge deal for a human. 1397 01:54:18,400 --> 01:54:21,520 And liftoff of GRACE Follow-On, 1398 01:54:21,520 --> 01:54:25,680 continuing the legacy of the GRACE Mission of tracking the movement 1399 01:54:25,680 --> 01:54:28,080 of water across our planet. 1400 01:54:35,880 --> 01:54:40,360 You know, it reminds me of sending my son off to college 1401 01:54:40,360 --> 01:54:43,000 and we dropped him off at the airport - 1402 01:54:43,000 --> 01:54:45,880 "There he goes! He's going to do great things!" 1403 01:54:48,440 --> 01:54:50,600 We have... Stage separation confirmed. 1404 01:54:50,600 --> 01:54:52,600 Stage separation has been confirmed. 1405 01:54:52,600 --> 01:54:58,320 GRACE can help us finally understand how water moves across our planet. 1406 01:55:03,960 --> 01:55:06,960 Several of Nasa's satellite missions have already been gathering 1407 01:55:06,960 --> 01:55:10,200 decades of data that can be pieced together, 1408 01:55:10,200 --> 01:55:13,920 and they picture the ancient pathways that water has taken 1409 01:55:13,920 --> 01:55:16,080 since the last Ice Age, 1410 01:55:16,080 --> 01:55:19,680 a pulse intimately connected with all life on Earth. 1411 01:55:19,680 --> 01:55:22,360 THUNDERCLAP 1412 01:55:22,360 --> 01:55:26,280 Scientists in the Amazon recently discovered that in tropical forests, 1413 01:55:26,280 --> 01:55:29,600 the trees themselves pump water back into the sky. 1414 01:55:32,320 --> 01:55:36,480 Above their canopies, this tree water gathers into aerial rivers 1415 01:55:36,480 --> 01:55:38,760 that can flow for thousands of miles. 1416 01:55:43,200 --> 01:55:47,400 But recently, even the most ancient patterns have been changing. 1417 01:55:56,400 --> 01:55:59,640 And we know this because, for the past 15 years, 1418 01:55:59,640 --> 01:56:02,560 Jay's GRACE satellites have circled the Earth, 1419 01:56:02,560 --> 01:56:05,840 every 94 and a half minutes, gathering data. 1420 01:56:11,440 --> 01:56:12,720 With remarkable precision, 1421 01:56:12,720 --> 01:56:17,640 they measure the weight of every snowstorm, flood and drought. 1422 01:56:19,680 --> 01:56:25,840 We've been able to construct this pretty incredible map, 1423 01:56:25,840 --> 01:56:30,200 and it's a really unprecedented look at how water is moving 1424 01:56:30,200 --> 01:56:33,240 over the Earth in a way that we've never been able to do before. 1425 01:56:35,720 --> 01:56:38,920 And we see a very, very distinctive pattern. 1426 01:56:40,920 --> 01:56:42,840 The wet areas, they're getting wetter, 1427 01:56:42,840 --> 01:56:45,640 and the dry areas in between are getting drier. 1428 01:56:48,600 --> 01:56:54,080 The availability of water is much more fragile and tenuous 1429 01:56:54,080 --> 01:56:56,320 than we think, and so even in the developed world, 1430 01:56:56,320 --> 01:56:58,040 we shouldn't take it for granted. 1431 01:57:05,800 --> 01:57:07,320 I live in Los Angeles, 1432 01:57:07,320 --> 01:57:11,240 and one of the things that worries me the most is drought. 1433 01:57:17,600 --> 01:57:20,560 NEWSREADER: Cape Town's main reservoir is a dust bowl. 1434 01:57:24,760 --> 01:57:28,440 Cape Town is about to find out whether a city can survive 1435 01:57:28,440 --> 01:57:30,600 when the water runs out. 1436 01:57:30,600 --> 01:57:32,840 Day Zero has arrived. 1437 01:57:33,800 --> 01:57:37,000 Drought hit South Africa in 2015, 1438 01:57:37,000 --> 01:57:41,440 and for the next three years, they had almost no rain. 1439 01:57:41,440 --> 01:57:46,440 The city of Cape Town was within days of shutting off their taps. 1440 01:57:46,440 --> 01:57:50,120 We sent a team to film the approach of Day Zero. 1441 01:57:50,120 --> 01:57:52,480 And as they followed the water, 1442 01:57:52,480 --> 01:57:55,560 the trail took an unexpected and dark turn... 1443 01:57:57,200 --> 01:58:00,240 ..out of the city and into the once-wealthy farmland 1444 01:58:00,240 --> 01:58:02,160 of the Western Cape, 1445 01:58:02,160 --> 01:58:05,600 where farmers were dying with the stress of the drought. 1446 01:58:06,840 --> 01:58:10,880 I lost three friends during this drought. 1447 01:58:10,880 --> 01:58:12,320 It took their lives... 1448 01:58:15,160 --> 01:58:17,320 ..because they had no hope for their farms, 1449 01:58:17,320 --> 01:58:18,920 they had no hope for nothing. 1450 01:58:22,000 --> 01:58:27,240 And that's, I think, why we still try to do what we do. 1451 01:58:32,960 --> 01:58:36,840 Burre Burger's charity delivers water and feed for livestock 1452 01:58:36,840 --> 01:58:40,520 to farmers who are no longer able to farm the land. 1453 01:59:05,600 --> 01:59:08,400 The thing with drought is the farmers now all do farming 1454 01:59:08,400 --> 01:59:10,600 for a year or maybe a year and a half, 1455 01:59:10,600 --> 01:59:12,680 but not for six, seven, eight years. 1456 01:59:12,680 --> 01:59:15,840 On some of the farms, they had no rain for almost seven years now. 1457 01:59:21,080 --> 01:59:22,280 So then you struggle... 1458 01:59:24,440 --> 01:59:26,280 ..and you... You struggle with life. 1459 01:59:28,360 --> 01:59:30,640 The UN reports that, worldwide, 1460 01:59:30,640 --> 01:59:35,840 areas affected by droughts have more than doubled in the past 40 years. 1461 01:59:35,840 --> 01:59:39,560 And droughts affect more people than any other natural hazard. 1462 01:59:42,160 --> 01:59:44,960 If there's one thing I'm going to change in South Africa 1463 01:59:44,960 --> 01:59:46,920 through this project of mine, 1464 01:59:46,920 --> 01:59:49,360 I'm going to bring back unity to our country. 1465 01:59:52,240 --> 01:59:55,840 We try to get people together, and it's because of water, 1466 01:59:55,840 --> 01:59:58,880 that one molecule. HE LAUGHS 1467 02:00:02,760 --> 02:00:05,680 If you're caught in the middle of a drought, it's easy to imagine 1468 02:00:05,680 --> 02:00:08,800 that the whole world is running out of water. 1469 02:00:08,800 --> 02:00:09,840 Far from it. 1470 02:00:11,960 --> 02:00:14,600 In fact, as the GRACE data shows us, 1471 02:00:14,600 --> 02:00:18,040 the moisture lost in a drought-stricken area 1472 02:00:18,040 --> 02:00:21,400 almost always finds its way to somewhere else. 1473 02:00:23,040 --> 02:00:25,840 One of the consequences of a warming world 1474 02:00:25,840 --> 02:00:28,800 is that the atmosphere can hold more moisture. 1475 02:00:28,800 --> 02:00:31,480 And if the atmosphere can hold more moisture, 1476 02:00:31,480 --> 02:00:33,680 that means it's going to drop more moisture. 1477 02:00:40,000 --> 02:00:43,520 When water is on the move, so is Mike Olbinski. 1478 02:00:43,520 --> 02:00:44,920 We got to haul ass! 1479 02:00:47,120 --> 02:00:49,280 ENGINE REVS, HE CLICKS TEETH 1480 02:00:50,400 --> 02:00:51,960 As a professional storm chaser, 1481 02:00:51,960 --> 02:00:57,800 he is one of the few people who benefits from new weather extremes. 1482 02:00:57,800 --> 02:00:58,880 Yeah, look at that! 1483 02:01:01,200 --> 02:01:03,040 It's really looking good out there. 1484 02:01:09,120 --> 02:01:11,040 Yeah, it's really gorgeous. 1485 02:01:14,280 --> 02:01:18,400 Most storm chasers want to see tornadoes, 1486 02:01:18,400 --> 02:01:22,360 but Mike tracks these rare giant thunderstorms 1487 02:01:22,360 --> 02:01:24,080 known as supercells. 1488 02:01:31,560 --> 02:01:33,120 Oh, this is stunning! 1489 02:01:36,080 --> 02:01:39,320 At this point, it's pretty, but I want a mothership supercell, 1490 02:01:39,320 --> 02:01:41,840 so we'll see if we get that. 1491 02:01:41,840 --> 02:01:45,280 And so hopefully it's going to be a beastly supercell 1492 02:01:45,280 --> 02:01:47,200 with some good structure after a while. 1493 02:01:48,880 --> 02:01:50,880 All right, I think we should go. 1494 02:01:50,880 --> 02:01:53,320 It's getting close and I want to get in front of it. 1495 02:01:57,560 --> 02:02:04,440 Supercells can be ten miles high, 25 times the volume of Mount Everest 1496 02:02:04,440 --> 02:02:07,680 and drop billions of gallons of water in just hours. 1497 02:02:10,000 --> 02:02:14,160 They produce softball-sized hail, high winds, severe lightning 1498 02:02:14,160 --> 02:02:16,080 and even tornadoes. 1499 02:02:16,080 --> 02:02:18,120 THUNDERCLAP 1500 02:02:20,720 --> 02:02:24,360 In the American Midwest, storms like these are a third more common 1501 02:02:24,360 --> 02:02:26,440 than when Mike was born. 1502 02:02:36,600 --> 02:02:42,120 Big storms are dropping 10% more rain than they did 25 years ago. 1503 02:02:42,120 --> 02:02:45,800 I felt a drop. That's hail! Oh, is that hail? Ow! 1504 02:02:45,800 --> 02:02:48,120 Hey, probably got to go! Yeah! 1505 02:02:48,120 --> 02:02:50,360 That hail just hit me in the head. 1506 02:02:50,360 --> 02:02:52,840 And it's not just moisture. 1507 02:02:52,840 --> 02:02:57,800 Storms feed on heat, so warmer conditions also mean more raw power. 1508 02:02:57,800 --> 02:02:59,720 MIKE YELPS 1509 02:03:03,320 --> 02:03:07,280 THUNDERCLAP 1510 02:03:07,280 --> 02:03:09,840 Now the nerves come out. Now the adrenaline's pumping. 1511 02:03:09,840 --> 02:03:12,920 THUNDERCLAP 1512 02:03:12,920 --> 02:03:15,280 THEY LAUGH 1513 02:03:15,280 --> 02:03:17,200 This is what we freakin' live for right here! 1514 02:03:18,960 --> 02:03:21,960 This is great... I hope my exposure is right. 1515 02:03:21,960 --> 02:03:26,960 Mike finally finds the supercell storm he's been looking for. 1516 02:03:26,960 --> 02:03:28,880 Oh, man, it's so great! 1517 02:03:30,400 --> 02:03:33,880 Just keep... Just move slow, baby! Just move slow. 1518 02:03:52,240 --> 02:03:55,600 This is one of the best supercells I've ever seen. 1519 02:03:59,120 --> 02:04:01,760 It's literally all, like, run by water. 1520 02:04:01,760 --> 02:04:03,000 They need this for the crops. 1521 02:04:03,000 --> 02:04:05,680 And if you didn't have it, then no-one would live here. 1522 02:04:07,080 --> 02:04:09,120 That was good, man. Thanks. 1523 02:04:09,120 --> 02:04:10,760 THEY CHEER 1524 02:04:10,760 --> 02:04:12,880 THEY LAUGH That was good! 1525 02:04:12,880 --> 02:04:17,160 It has been a good day for the storm chasers, 1526 02:04:17,160 --> 02:04:21,360 but these grand movements of water also tell a tragic story - 1527 02:04:21,360 --> 02:04:24,240 one we've been tracking all over America. 1528 02:04:25,560 --> 02:04:28,160 NEWSREADER: Supercells have been spotted on the radar. 1529 02:04:28,160 --> 02:04:30,520 NEWSREADER: Tornado Alley has already been hammered. 1530 02:04:30,520 --> 02:04:32,400 NEWSREADER: That is a wall of water right now. 1531 02:04:32,400 --> 02:04:35,680 NEWSREADER: Floodwaters rising as high as ten feet. 1532 02:04:35,680 --> 02:04:39,200 One storm in particular caught our attention. 1533 02:04:39,200 --> 02:04:41,040 In September 2018, 1534 02:04:41,040 --> 02:04:45,440 Hurricane Florence acted strangely as it hit the Carolinas. 1535 02:04:45,440 --> 02:04:47,960 REPORTER: Florence will produce catastrophic flooding 1536 02:04:47,960 --> 02:04:51,480 over parts of North and South Carolina for some time. 1537 02:04:51,480 --> 02:04:54,520 Instead of blowing through, like most hurricanes, 1538 02:04:54,520 --> 02:04:57,120 Florence stalled in the coast. 1539 02:04:57,120 --> 02:04:59,240 Like a supersize vacuum, 1540 02:04:59,240 --> 02:05:03,760 it took moisture from the ocean and poured it onto land as rain. 1541 02:05:05,880 --> 02:05:10,400 Florence broke 28 flood and rainfall records for the Carolinas. 1542 02:05:12,400 --> 02:05:15,200 That's the top half of our garage. 1543 02:05:15,200 --> 02:05:16,880 I don't know where the rest of it is. 1544 02:05:26,120 --> 02:05:30,840 We headed to the Carolinas with photographer Gideon Mendel. 1545 02:05:30,840 --> 02:05:33,520 Gideon has been documenting the increase in flooding 1546 02:05:33,520 --> 02:05:35,560 around the world. 1547 02:05:35,560 --> 02:05:37,080 If you could just pause for a second, 1548 02:05:37,080 --> 02:05:40,200 so I can, like, get the reflection of the church, that'd be cool. 1549 02:05:43,240 --> 02:05:46,480 I guess I have a kind of fascination with this landscape. 1550 02:05:46,480 --> 02:05:49,200 There's something about a flooded environment 1551 02:05:49,200 --> 02:05:52,680 which I actually find very visually alluring. 1552 02:05:54,000 --> 02:05:55,560 He ain't going to come in the boat... 1553 02:05:55,560 --> 02:05:58,040 OVERLAPPING SHOUTING 1554 02:06:00,280 --> 02:06:02,400 At the heart of the whole project is a series 1555 02:06:02,400 --> 02:06:04,280 that I called Submerged Portraits. 1556 02:06:06,320 --> 02:06:08,520 KNOCK ON DOOR 1557 02:06:08,520 --> 02:06:11,800 And it's a series of pictures of people affected by flooding 1558 02:06:11,800 --> 02:06:14,160 engaging with the camera directly. 1559 02:06:14,160 --> 02:06:16,360 Would you... Would you be open to us talking to you 1560 02:06:16,360 --> 02:06:18,240 and photographing you, maybe? Yeah! 1561 02:06:49,000 --> 02:06:50,480 Oh, I'm so sorry, George. 1562 02:06:54,800 --> 02:06:58,720 Can you come just a little forward, yeah? That's good... 1563 02:06:58,720 --> 02:07:01,280 It is quite amazing how long people will sit there and stand there 1564 02:07:01,280 --> 02:07:03,440 in the water and engage with me - 1565 02:07:03,440 --> 02:07:05,760 15, 20 minutes, half an hour sometimes. 1566 02:07:10,760 --> 02:07:12,880 The portraiture and the direct gaze at the camera, 1567 02:07:12,880 --> 02:07:14,360 for me, is so important. 1568 02:07:16,000 --> 02:07:17,880 THUNDERCLAP 1569 02:07:19,000 --> 02:07:23,200 For Gideon, the increase in flooding is a global story. 1570 02:07:27,800 --> 02:07:31,000 In the past 12 years, he has photographed 20 floods 1571 02:07:31,000 --> 02:07:32,600 in 13 countries. 1572 02:07:39,720 --> 02:07:42,440 The water connects all the people I photograph. 1573 02:07:44,400 --> 02:07:48,920 Despite huge differences in culture, class, location, 1574 02:07:48,920 --> 02:07:50,720 when the water's in your home, 1575 02:07:50,720 --> 02:07:54,080 they have a shared vulnerability to flooding, to climate change, 1576 02:07:54,080 --> 02:07:55,120 to global warming. 1577 02:08:08,480 --> 02:08:11,640 Extreme rain and flooding is now four times more likely 1578 02:08:11,640 --> 02:08:13,480 than it was 40 years ago. 1579 02:08:19,120 --> 02:08:23,040 Hurricanes are 60% more powerful than 50 years ago, 1580 02:08:23,040 --> 02:08:26,040 and their top wind speeds have increased 25%. 1581 02:08:26,040 --> 02:08:27,400 Really photogenic! 1582 02:08:29,080 --> 02:08:33,040 So, there's more flooding and there's more drought. 1583 02:08:33,040 --> 02:08:35,880 And honestly, it's amazing that farmers are still able 1584 02:08:35,880 --> 02:08:36,880 to feed the world. 1585 02:08:39,320 --> 02:08:41,840 But what I didn't realise is the extent to which 1586 02:08:41,840 --> 02:08:47,480 farmers are tapping into a secret stash of water, 1587 02:08:47,480 --> 02:08:52,680 a hidden source that is not affected by droughts or flood, 1588 02:08:52,680 --> 02:08:54,520 water that lives underground. 1589 02:09:02,960 --> 02:09:05,560 Deep under our feet, there are aquifers that, together, 1590 02:09:05,560 --> 02:09:09,520 hold more water than all the lakes and rivers on Earth. 1591 02:09:10,600 --> 02:09:12,400 They don't often look like this. 1592 02:09:12,400 --> 02:09:16,360 Most ground water is held in layers of rock or sand. 1593 02:09:16,360 --> 02:09:20,160 Many aquifers contain what's called fossil water, 1594 02:09:20,160 --> 02:09:24,000 and what that means is it took thousands of years to get here. 1595 02:09:34,640 --> 02:09:38,040 It is not easy to follow the water that is hidden underground. 1596 02:09:41,360 --> 02:09:43,880 But you might have seen these circles from a plane. 1597 02:09:47,080 --> 02:09:49,440 With a metal straw and a diesel engine, 1598 02:09:49,440 --> 02:09:52,920 we can reach aquifers 3,000 feet down. 1599 02:09:52,920 --> 02:09:55,680 Humanity started this kind of industrial pumping of water 1600 02:09:55,680 --> 02:09:59,280 just 100 years ago, and it's been so successful, 1601 02:09:59,280 --> 02:10:04,000 nearly half the water used for farm irrigation comes from underground. 1602 02:10:04,000 --> 02:10:08,640 This water grows almost one fifth of the world's food supply. 1603 02:10:08,640 --> 02:10:10,680 We have been draining aquifers with little idea 1604 02:10:10,680 --> 02:10:14,520 of how much water is in them, until now. 1605 02:10:17,560 --> 02:10:19,680 When Jay and his colleagues launched GRACE, 1606 02:10:19,680 --> 02:10:22,840 which stands for Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, 1607 02:10:22,840 --> 02:10:25,640 they designed the system to do the impossible... 1608 02:10:27,600 --> 02:10:31,640 ..to see into the earth's crust using gravity. 1609 02:10:33,000 --> 02:10:36,200 We can see storage changes in the world's great aquifer systems 1610 02:10:36,200 --> 02:10:37,240 from space. 1611 02:10:38,640 --> 02:10:41,520 I like to say GRACE works like a scale in the sky. 1612 02:10:43,360 --> 02:10:46,160 GRACE is actually two satellites. 1613 02:10:46,160 --> 02:10:48,960 As they approach an area that has just had a storm, for example, 1614 02:10:48,960 --> 02:10:52,480 the extra weight of that water pulls the satellites. 1615 02:10:54,520 --> 02:10:57,640 So, as they approach this region that has more mass, 1616 02:10:57,640 --> 02:10:59,880 and therefore a greater gravitational tug, 1617 02:10:59,880 --> 02:11:03,760 the first one gets pulled down and accelerates a little bit, 1618 02:11:03,760 --> 02:11:07,400 the second one comes in, gets pulled down, accelerates a little bit, 1619 02:11:07,400 --> 02:11:10,240 and so the distance between the two changes. 1620 02:11:10,240 --> 02:11:12,360 That's the measurement that the GRACE mission makes. 1621 02:11:12,360 --> 02:11:14,840 It's the position of the satellite. 1622 02:11:14,840 --> 02:11:18,760 In this way, GRACE can tell us the difficult truth 1623 02:11:18,760 --> 02:11:20,200 about our aquifers. 1624 02:11:21,360 --> 02:11:26,280 Sadly, ground water is barely managed around the world, 1625 02:11:26,280 --> 02:11:29,280 and so ground water is quietly disappearing. 1626 02:11:33,200 --> 02:11:38,520 In California, the ground water took thousands of years to accumulate, 1627 02:11:38,520 --> 02:11:43,560 and we're using this fossil water much faster than it can be replaced. 1628 02:11:43,560 --> 02:11:46,440 This is the definition of unsustainable. 1629 02:11:47,680 --> 02:11:50,520 The disappearance of ground water is really threatening 1630 02:11:50,520 --> 02:11:52,960 the water security of the western US. 1631 02:11:52,960 --> 02:11:55,000 And, really, no-one's talking about it. 1632 02:11:56,880 --> 02:11:59,360 Jay's been doing what he can to get the message out. 1633 02:12:01,280 --> 02:12:04,280 BILL MAHER: He's a professor at the University of California at Irvine 1634 02:12:04,280 --> 02:12:08,040 and Senior Water Scientist for Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1635 02:12:08,040 --> 02:12:09,480 Jay Famiglietti! 1636 02:12:09,480 --> 02:12:13,080 CHEERING Jay! Professor! How are you, sir? 1637 02:12:14,280 --> 02:12:15,960 All right! 1638 02:12:15,960 --> 02:12:21,200 So, finally, a witness who will tell us expert testimony about this. 1639 02:12:21,200 --> 02:12:22,480 You know, here's the thing. 1640 02:12:22,480 --> 02:12:27,160 The drought situation is much worse than I think is generally perceived. 1641 02:12:27,160 --> 02:12:29,600 And this may be why we're not getting the public response 1642 02:12:29,600 --> 02:12:31,800 that we want... Yeah, show that chart. Look at this. 1643 02:12:31,800 --> 02:12:34,040 It's green, and now it's red. 1644 02:12:34,040 --> 02:12:36,200 Now, Doc, I'm not a scientist... 1645 02:12:36,200 --> 02:12:38,120 Red is bad! Red is bad. 1646 02:12:38,120 --> 02:12:41,120 That's what I know - red is bad. LAUGHTER 1647 02:12:49,960 --> 02:12:52,280 It's pretty safe to say that Jay is frustrated more people 1648 02:12:52,280 --> 02:12:56,400 are not taking his breakthrough insight more seriously, 1649 02:12:56,400 --> 02:13:01,120 but the truth is...it's hard to stop pumping the water. 1650 02:13:01,120 --> 02:13:03,440 Farmers need water. 1651 02:13:03,440 --> 02:13:04,920 All of us need food. 1652 02:13:06,720 --> 02:13:09,720 If anything, we just keep pumping faster. 1653 02:13:11,880 --> 02:13:15,080 So, what we're doing here is we just got done setting casing yesterday... 1654 02:13:15,080 --> 02:13:17,000 It wasn't until we met Steve Arthur 1655 02:13:17,000 --> 02:13:19,520 that we got a sense of the scale of these wells. 1656 02:13:19,520 --> 02:13:21,960 He drills 30 new wells each year. 1657 02:13:23,000 --> 02:13:26,720 Can you see the water table fall over time? 1658 02:13:26,720 --> 02:13:31,680 Well, I remember when I was a kid, we would drill in the Madera area. 1659 02:13:31,680 --> 02:13:35,400 We would go 240 to 300 feet. 1660 02:13:35,400 --> 02:13:38,120 300 feet was considered a deep well. Yeah. 1661 02:13:38,120 --> 02:13:42,760 Now, we're replacing those wells with 500 and 600-foot wells. Oh, OK. 1662 02:13:46,080 --> 02:13:49,800 Steve says it's become a kind of race to the bottom, 1663 02:13:49,800 --> 02:13:52,080 If one farmer drills deep to get the water, 1664 02:13:52,080 --> 02:13:54,440 the next farmer drills even deeper. 1665 02:13:57,120 --> 02:13:58,920 And all this drilling is not cheap. 1666 02:14:00,000 --> 02:14:02,120 If I'm a customer, and I don't have a well, 1667 02:14:02,120 --> 02:14:05,960 I want you to dig a new well. It's 2,000 feet deep. 1668 02:14:05,960 --> 02:14:07,600 How much is that going to cost me? 1669 02:14:09,240 --> 02:14:11,760 It's going to cost you a little over half a million. 1670 02:14:11,760 --> 02:14:13,120 Whoa! 1671 02:14:13,120 --> 02:14:16,400 Half to three quarters, depending how it's constructed. 1672 02:14:16,400 --> 02:14:17,960 OK. 1673 02:14:17,960 --> 02:14:20,840 That is an insane amount of money, 1674 02:14:20,840 --> 02:14:24,000 which tells you that water is big business. 1675 02:14:25,680 --> 02:14:29,760 It also tells you why so many of America's aquifers are running dry. 1676 02:14:37,800 --> 02:14:40,840 The Ogallala Aquifer, one of the biggest on Earth, 1677 02:14:40,840 --> 02:14:45,240 lies beneath eight Midwestern states, from Texas to Nebraska. 1678 02:15:00,000 --> 02:15:02,520 This is Ogallala Aquifer water. 1679 02:15:02,520 --> 02:15:06,920 Comes through the water system over here with the big storage tank. 1680 02:15:11,040 --> 02:15:13,440 Like most of the families in St Francis, the Callicrates 1681 02:15:13,440 --> 02:15:16,120 have farmed here for generations. 1682 02:15:18,200 --> 02:15:22,000 My grandkids, Wilson and Charlie, will be the fifth generation 1683 02:15:22,000 --> 02:15:23,240 on this land. 1684 02:15:27,640 --> 02:15:31,400 But Mike does not see High Plains farming as a success story. 1685 02:15:33,840 --> 02:15:38,560 We have just flat squandered this resource over the last 40 years 1686 02:15:38,560 --> 02:15:42,520 that I've been associated with, with farming and ranching 1687 02:15:42,520 --> 02:15:44,280 and cattle production in this area. 1688 02:15:47,120 --> 02:15:50,160 If we would stop pumping today, it would take 6,000 years 1689 02:15:50,160 --> 02:15:53,640 to recover the amount of water that we've taken out 1690 02:15:53,640 --> 02:15:55,680 in just the last 40 or 50 years. 1691 02:15:58,160 --> 02:16:01,480 The aquifer under St Francis is already a third empty. 1692 02:16:03,840 --> 02:16:07,040 Mike blames the industrial model of agriculture, 1693 02:16:07,040 --> 02:16:09,160 the one he was taught in college. 1694 02:16:12,840 --> 02:16:15,840 I've had a front row seat in this disaster, 1695 02:16:15,840 --> 02:16:18,080 and I hate industrial agriculture. 1696 02:16:20,280 --> 02:16:23,680 Most of the water from the Ogallala Aquifer is used to grow grain 1697 02:16:23,680 --> 02:16:26,080 for feedlots, full of cows. 1698 02:16:27,320 --> 02:16:30,480 This is the biggest feedlot in the world, off to your left. 1699 02:16:30,480 --> 02:16:33,400 It's 130,000 head of cattle in one place. 1700 02:16:34,840 --> 02:16:37,600 From a business perspective entirely, you're thinking 1701 02:16:37,600 --> 02:16:41,720 about the Ogallala Aquifer as a gold miner would see a gold mine, 1702 02:16:41,720 --> 02:16:46,840 as an asset, as a resource to be extracted and utilised. 1703 02:16:46,840 --> 02:16:48,680 And when it's gone, it's gone. 1704 02:16:51,280 --> 02:16:54,520 What worries Mike is what happens when the water runs out 1705 02:16:54,520 --> 02:16:56,360 and the mining operation moves on? 1706 02:16:58,280 --> 02:17:01,760 In St Francis, Mike thinks industrial agriculture has broken 1707 02:17:01,760 --> 02:17:05,760 the hope these communities have for a sustainable future, 1708 02:17:05,760 --> 02:17:08,680 and it has already hurt the community that lives here. 1709 02:17:10,480 --> 02:17:13,960 You know, when we look at this main street of St Francis, Kansas, 1710 02:17:13,960 --> 02:17:16,000 what you're really looking at is the approach 1711 02:17:16,000 --> 02:17:17,520 of industrial agricultures. 1712 02:17:17,520 --> 02:17:19,160 It doesn't care about people. 1713 02:17:19,160 --> 02:17:21,080 It cares about return on investment. 1714 02:17:21,080 --> 02:17:23,360 It cares about a bank account. 1715 02:17:23,360 --> 02:17:26,320 And everything else doesn't matter. 1716 02:17:26,320 --> 02:17:30,800 It's no wonder we're losing rural communities and losing farmers. 1717 02:17:34,720 --> 02:17:38,240 Down on the southern edge of the Ogallala, the aquifer is already 1718 02:17:38,240 --> 02:17:41,240 running dry and putting farmers out of business. 1719 02:17:42,840 --> 02:17:46,040 Without the farmers, the local economy collapses. 1720 02:17:47,000 --> 02:17:49,120 And if the trend continues, 1721 02:17:49,120 --> 02:17:53,520 the town of Happy, Texas is the sign of things to come. 1722 02:17:58,680 --> 02:18:01,840 Four churches, but not a single store open for business. 1723 02:18:08,240 --> 02:18:12,360 Jay knows this underground water problem is not only in America. 1724 02:18:13,880 --> 02:18:16,360 GRACE sees into aquifers all over the world. 1725 02:18:17,600 --> 02:18:20,480 There's 37 major aquifers around the world, 1726 02:18:20,480 --> 02:18:24,200 and over half of them are past sustainability tipping points. 1727 02:18:24,200 --> 02:18:27,000 Which means we use more than is being replenished 1728 02:18:27,000 --> 02:18:28,600 on an annual basis 1729 02:18:28,600 --> 02:18:31,160 and we're technically mining them. 1730 02:18:33,200 --> 02:18:36,040 Given that nearly half of the water used for farm irrigation 1731 02:18:36,040 --> 02:18:38,320 depends on these aquifers, 1732 02:18:38,320 --> 02:18:40,800 you can understand Jay's alarm. 1733 02:18:40,800 --> 02:18:44,360 So as that ground water disappears, 1734 02:18:44,360 --> 02:18:46,000 our ability to produce food 1735 02:18:46,000 --> 02:18:48,800 for the world's growing population will be threatened. 1736 02:18:51,400 --> 02:18:55,360 In fact, there's growing evidence this is already happening, 1737 02:18:55,360 --> 02:18:57,480 and it is having serious consequences. 1738 02:18:59,160 --> 02:19:02,760 This story begins in Syria, 2006, 1739 02:19:02,760 --> 02:19:06,000 when the country was hit by the worst drought in 500 years. 1740 02:19:07,520 --> 02:19:10,520 Farmers began to overdraw water from their aquifer. 1741 02:19:11,880 --> 02:19:14,520 And with GRACE, Jay could see it as it was happening. 1742 02:19:16,040 --> 02:19:21,160 We saw the Syria hot spot and we saw that ground water depletion way 1743 02:19:21,160 --> 02:19:24,360 ahead of time, and we did try to communicate 1744 02:19:24,360 --> 02:19:27,160 that to the Pentagon, State Department... 1745 02:19:29,200 --> 02:19:30,800 ..and it's, you know, it's tough. 1746 02:19:30,800 --> 02:19:32,280 It's tough to get attention. 1747 02:19:32,280 --> 02:19:35,280 You know, who are you? You're some professor that walks in 1748 02:19:35,280 --> 02:19:40,120 with a research paper and a colourful map. 1749 02:19:41,440 --> 02:19:44,720 And it's hard to really convey what's happening. 1750 02:19:44,720 --> 02:19:47,280 But, you know, we made our efforts repeatedly. 1751 02:19:49,320 --> 02:19:51,600 I was actually reporting in the Middle East at the time. 1752 02:19:52,680 --> 02:19:56,000 And when protests, and later war broke out, 1753 02:19:56,000 --> 02:19:58,840 we knew it was connected to the drought, 1754 02:19:58,840 --> 02:20:01,200 but what we didn't know was how it was connected 1755 02:20:01,200 --> 02:20:04,000 to a much larger global water story. 1756 02:20:07,600 --> 02:20:10,680 Neither protesters are battling for regime change. 1757 02:20:37,320 --> 02:20:41,800 The Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan is home to about 80,000 refugees 1758 02:20:41,800 --> 02:20:43,160 from Syria's civil war. 1759 02:20:49,480 --> 02:20:53,120 Troy Sternberg is a geographer from Oxford University, 1760 02:20:53,120 --> 02:20:56,600 and another detective who follows the story of water. 1761 02:20:58,400 --> 02:21:02,160 He wrote a paper showing how global droughts caused a chain of events 1762 02:21:02,160 --> 02:21:06,720 that influenced not only Syria's war, but politics around the world. 1763 02:21:12,400 --> 02:21:16,200 His interviews with refugees like Mahmoud Al-Kadr add a human 1764 02:21:16,200 --> 02:21:18,320 dimension to the data. 1765 02:21:18,320 --> 02:21:21,440 Mahmoud, could you please explain what brings you to the refugee camp? 1766 02:21:21,440 --> 02:21:23,080 What factors drive you here? 1767 02:21:28,080 --> 02:21:30,600 TRANSLATED: The lack of rain have reduced the amount 1768 02:21:30,600 --> 02:21:32,680 of crops growing naturally. 1769 02:21:32,680 --> 02:21:36,600 So people had to go out and start getting water from underground. 1770 02:21:36,600 --> 02:21:38,400 But they also stopped the diesel. 1771 02:21:38,400 --> 02:21:40,680 So there is no diesel to be able to pump water. 1772 02:21:40,680 --> 02:21:43,120 So there was no, no water to drink. 1773 02:21:43,120 --> 02:21:44,960 There is no food with the drought. 1774 02:21:44,960 --> 02:21:46,760 We start eating the grass. 1775 02:21:49,440 --> 02:21:52,400 85% of Syria's livestock died 1776 02:21:52,400 --> 02:21:55,920 and hundreds of thousands of farming families like Mahmoud's 1777 02:21:55,920 --> 02:21:57,400 had to abandon their farms. 1778 02:21:59,600 --> 02:22:02,240 They ended up settling outside Syria's big cities. 1779 02:22:09,200 --> 02:22:12,080 Troy's research shows that there were much larger global forces 1780 02:22:12,080 --> 02:22:15,280 at work, more than just a drought in Syria. 1781 02:22:18,880 --> 02:22:22,520 When Troy followed the water, he documented a series of droughts... 1782 02:22:24,920 --> 02:22:27,840 ..that connected Russia, China, the Arab Spring 1783 02:22:27,840 --> 02:22:30,640 and politics across Europe. 1784 02:22:36,080 --> 02:22:38,800 This globalised world is very interconnected, 1785 02:22:38,800 --> 02:22:41,400 things that happen in one part of the world can have a great 1786 02:22:41,400 --> 02:22:43,600 knock-on effect in another part of the world. 1787 02:22:43,600 --> 02:22:46,160 Sometimes we talk about this as the butterfly effect, 1788 02:22:46,160 --> 02:22:50,000 but I think it's more direct and it's really climate, drought, 1789 02:22:50,000 --> 02:22:53,520 anything that happens that we can't control or can't count on. 1790 02:22:53,520 --> 02:22:56,880 One way might be to look at it as a series of dominoes. 1791 02:22:56,880 --> 02:23:00,800 It was a set of dominoes that collapsed over a ten year period, 1792 02:23:00,800 --> 02:23:03,680 and it started when Australia faced a drought 1793 02:23:03,680 --> 02:23:06,200 described as a 1,000 year event. 1794 02:23:08,000 --> 02:23:10,320 Australia is dying of thirst, 1795 02:23:10,320 --> 02:23:12,440 and where there used to be water, 1796 02:23:12,440 --> 02:23:14,560 there is only dry cracked earth. 1797 02:23:16,080 --> 02:23:18,520 During the winter, countries in the northern hemisphere 1798 02:23:18,520 --> 02:23:20,800 depend on the southern hemisphere for wheat, 1799 02:23:22,160 --> 02:23:24,360 and the drought threatened Australia's ability 1800 02:23:24,360 --> 02:23:26,840 to supply this winter wheat to the rest of the world. 1801 02:23:31,320 --> 02:23:32,720 Then the next domino fell. 1802 02:23:33,680 --> 02:23:37,400 In 2010, mainland China suffered its own drought. 1803 02:23:40,800 --> 02:23:44,040 The drought ravaging China is being called the worst in a century. 1804 02:23:48,560 --> 02:23:51,920 Wheat is a global commodity traded on the international market, 1805 02:23:51,920 --> 02:23:54,080 so liable to market forces. 1806 02:23:54,080 --> 02:23:57,160 So if China needs more wheat, my thinking was, 1807 02:23:57,160 --> 02:24:00,200 "Does this have another impact somewhere else in the world?" 1808 02:24:02,520 --> 02:24:05,040 Troy followed the trail to the Middle East, 1809 02:24:05,040 --> 02:24:07,760 where farmers were suffering from their own drought. 1810 02:24:10,960 --> 02:24:14,000 And with the wheat issues in Australia and China, 1811 02:24:14,000 --> 02:24:16,840 it affected food prices in Syria and Egypt. 1812 02:24:22,440 --> 02:24:26,200 So, as Egypt needs more wheat and China needs more wheat, 1813 02:24:26,200 --> 02:24:27,600 there's less wheat available. 1814 02:24:28,800 --> 02:24:32,000 Then in 2010, another domino fell. 1815 02:24:32,000 --> 02:24:35,360 Russia, the largest exporter of wheat to the Middle East, 1816 02:24:35,360 --> 02:24:37,840 was gripped by a devastating heatwave. 1817 02:24:43,360 --> 02:24:46,000 TRANSLATION: Due to abnormally high temperatures and drought, 1818 02:24:46,000 --> 02:24:49,040 I believe it's reasonable to introduce a temporary ban on grain 1819 02:24:49,040 --> 02:24:50,520 and wheat products export. 1820 02:24:52,160 --> 02:24:55,520 With wheat exports from Russia reduced by 80%, 1821 02:24:55,520 --> 02:24:57,240 world prices skyrocketed. 1822 02:24:59,080 --> 02:25:01,000 It's Christmas for the speculators, 1823 02:25:01,000 --> 02:25:06,160 as prices drive upwards - wheat by a whopping 130%. 1824 02:25:06,160 --> 02:25:09,000 There's a limited supply, great demand. 1825 02:25:09,000 --> 02:25:12,560 Speculators on the commodities market saw an opportunity. 1826 02:25:13,720 --> 02:25:16,400 They bought and held on to the wheat, while prices rose. 1827 02:25:18,360 --> 02:25:20,120 Richer countries can stockpile the grain. 1828 02:25:21,240 --> 02:25:24,000 They have a great physical and infrastructure power. 1829 02:25:24,000 --> 02:25:27,240 Ships around the world that can transport wheat. 1830 02:25:27,240 --> 02:25:29,240 Other countries don't have this possibility. 1831 02:25:31,080 --> 02:25:33,720 By the time some Arab governments realised what was going on, 1832 02:25:33,720 --> 02:25:34,840 it was too late. 1833 02:25:35,800 --> 02:25:38,480 Prices for bread went way up. 1834 02:25:38,480 --> 02:25:42,480 In Egypt, the wheat prices skyrocketed 300% and more. 1835 02:25:43,800 --> 02:25:47,160 In recent weeks, there have been long queues in front of bakeries. 1836 02:25:47,160 --> 02:25:51,080 Rising prices have even caused riots in the Nile delta. 1837 02:25:51,080 --> 02:25:54,320 Hunger began to fuel people's anger toward their governments. 1838 02:25:58,240 --> 02:26:01,160 We see food riots in Cairo. 1839 02:26:01,160 --> 02:26:04,320 After Friday prayers, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators 1840 02:26:04,320 --> 02:26:05,840 gathered in Tahrir Square. 1841 02:26:05,840 --> 02:26:08,480 The people of Egypt have toppled their leader. 1842 02:26:08,480 --> 02:26:10,440 Egypt will never be the same. 1843 02:26:10,440 --> 02:26:13,600 And that's where the Arab Spring really brings everything together. 1844 02:26:15,640 --> 02:26:17,560 Which brings us back to Syria. 1845 02:26:19,200 --> 02:26:21,760 Inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings 1846 02:26:21,760 --> 02:26:24,160 and suffering from their own drought, 1847 02:26:24,160 --> 02:26:27,000 Syrian protesters also took to the streets. 1848 02:26:27,000 --> 02:26:29,080 The Syrian government made it very clear today 1849 02:26:29,080 --> 02:26:30,840 that it will tolerate no dissent. 1850 02:26:32,960 --> 02:26:34,360 Events escalated... 1851 02:26:37,960 --> 02:26:40,400 ..and Mahmoud's family was caught in the crossfire. 1852 02:26:43,080 --> 02:26:47,000 TRANSLATION: I lost my son and I lost my wife in this war. 1853 02:26:47,000 --> 02:26:51,080 My wife was on the way to the market in Damascus. 1854 02:26:51,080 --> 02:26:55,920 On rooftops there were some snipers and she got a shot in the head. 1855 02:26:58,160 --> 02:27:00,200 So I'm afraid for the rest of the family. 1856 02:27:00,200 --> 02:27:03,000 And we came here, and here they were helping us, 1857 02:27:03,000 --> 02:27:05,040 and they were supporting us. 1858 02:27:06,280 --> 02:27:08,960 Water or drought is, of course, only one factor 1859 02:27:08,960 --> 02:27:10,640 that influenced these events. 1860 02:27:12,920 --> 02:27:15,840 But when a million refugees fled to Europe, 1861 02:27:15,840 --> 02:27:18,320 the falling dominoes came down much closer to home. 1862 02:27:20,520 --> 02:27:23,600 These people calling for the regime to change are on the back foot. 1863 02:27:23,600 --> 02:27:25,240 They've been forced from their homes 1864 02:27:25,240 --> 02:27:27,160 and pushed towards the border with Turkey. 1865 02:27:27,160 --> 02:27:31,080 As migrants pour into Europe, in the UK, we see this filmed on TV 1866 02:27:31,080 --> 02:27:32,760 throughout the summer of 2015. 1867 02:27:32,760 --> 02:27:35,920 It plays very well into the Brexit leave debate. 1868 02:27:38,000 --> 02:27:39,600 The leave campaign celebrates, 1869 02:27:39,600 --> 02:27:43,520 as the UK votes to cut its ties with the European Union. 1870 02:27:43,520 --> 02:27:48,440 The fear of mass migration directly impacted the Brexit vote in Britain, 1871 02:27:48,440 --> 02:27:52,480 and, according to Troy, even had an impact here in America. 1872 02:27:52,480 --> 02:27:55,120 If you go further, this news plays out in the US, 1873 02:27:55,120 --> 02:27:59,560 Donald Trump gets elected on this very nativist "America first" theme. 1874 02:27:59,560 --> 02:28:01,400 We will build a wall. 1875 02:28:03,680 --> 02:28:07,080 Troy's concern is that the water crisis can spark an even more 1876 02:28:07,080 --> 02:28:10,080 dramatic chain of events in other parts of the world. 1877 02:28:12,320 --> 02:28:13,680 What will we see next? 1878 02:28:13,680 --> 02:28:16,000 What happens if we have a climate disaster 1879 02:28:16,000 --> 02:28:19,040 in India or China or Mexico or Pakistan? 1880 02:28:19,040 --> 02:28:21,480 Then we're talking about very serious dynamics 1881 02:28:21,480 --> 02:28:23,160 and very serious outcomes. 1882 02:28:31,400 --> 02:28:34,320 In our globalised, interconnected world, 1883 02:28:34,320 --> 02:28:36,880 no country can afford to ignore water and climate. 1884 02:28:38,840 --> 02:28:41,920 For the past four years, the World Economic Forum has ranked 1885 02:28:41,920 --> 02:28:43,680 the impact of the water crisis 1886 02:28:43,680 --> 02:28:46,600 alongside weapons of mass destruction, 1887 02:28:46,600 --> 02:28:48,280 disease outbreaks 1888 02:28:48,280 --> 02:28:50,080 and failure to address climate change. 1889 02:28:56,560 --> 02:28:59,160 Looking for solutions, we came back to the US 1890 02:28:59,160 --> 02:29:00,680 and we went to New York City. 1891 02:29:02,320 --> 02:29:04,640 And we reconnected with Giulio Boccaletti, 1892 02:29:04,640 --> 02:29:07,000 who wrote a seminal report for the World Economic Forum. 1893 02:29:08,840 --> 02:29:12,320 In it, he calculated that, ten years from now, 1894 02:29:12,320 --> 02:29:15,520 the world will need 40% more fresh water than it can supply. 1895 02:29:18,840 --> 02:29:22,200 But Giulio thinks if more people knew about New York's water story, 1896 02:29:23,400 --> 02:29:24,880 they could avoid that grim fate. 1897 02:29:25,880 --> 02:29:29,800 New York has a very particular experience, but one that I think 1898 02:29:29,800 --> 02:29:33,480 holds the key to the solution to the water crisis for the whole world. 1899 02:29:34,600 --> 02:29:38,160 I suspect most New Yorkers, you know, assume that water just comes 1900 02:29:38,160 --> 02:29:41,360 out of the tap, and yet behind that tap there is one of the most 1901 02:29:41,360 --> 02:29:44,640 sophisticated integrations of nature and water 1902 02:29:44,640 --> 02:29:46,800 that has ever been seen on the planet. 1903 02:29:51,520 --> 02:29:54,880 Giulio took us to meet the CEO of WaterAid America... 1904 02:29:58,800 --> 02:30:00,280 ..Sarina Prabesi. 1905 02:30:01,960 --> 02:30:05,480 While Sarina has worked on water issues all over the world, 1906 02:30:05,480 --> 02:30:09,640 here in New York, she and her husband also own a coffee shop. 1907 02:30:09,640 --> 02:30:11,720 She cares a lot about New York's water. 1908 02:30:14,040 --> 02:30:16,280 Water is the lifeblood of our business, 1909 02:30:16,280 --> 02:30:18,480 like, there is no good coffee without good water. 1910 02:30:18,480 --> 02:30:20,760 So you work for WaterAid, 1911 02:30:20,760 --> 02:30:22,960 and what do you think people imagine when they think 1912 02:30:22,960 --> 02:30:24,280 about the water crisis? 1913 02:30:24,280 --> 02:30:27,160 People have thought about the water crisis or something elsewhere. 1914 02:30:27,160 --> 02:30:30,600 But now I think there is more understanding 1915 02:30:30,600 --> 02:30:32,480 that the water crisis is all around us. 1916 02:30:32,480 --> 02:30:36,720 So New York had a proverbial fork in the road, right, 1917 02:30:36,720 --> 02:30:38,840 and had to take one option rather than the other? 1918 02:30:38,840 --> 02:30:41,440 In the '80s, the water was getting very polluted 1919 02:30:41,440 --> 02:30:45,400 and in the '90s, I think there was a real strategic decision to make 1920 02:30:45,400 --> 02:30:49,080 of how the future of New York City water would be handled. 1921 02:30:50,760 --> 02:30:53,640 One way could have been a bit more business as usual, 1922 02:30:53,640 --> 02:30:55,080 invest in infrastructure. 1923 02:30:55,080 --> 02:30:57,680 And this was... We're talking about a treatment works, right, 1924 02:30:57,680 --> 02:30:59,040 I mean, a treatment plant? 1925 02:30:59,040 --> 02:31:02,560 Treatment, filtration, technology, high cost. 1926 02:31:02,560 --> 02:31:05,000 I think $6 billion. 1927 02:31:05,000 --> 02:31:08,000 Definitely a more energy intensive approach. 1928 02:31:08,000 --> 02:31:09,680 And what about the alternative? 1929 02:31:09,680 --> 02:31:11,880 And the other option was to really look at 1930 02:31:11,880 --> 02:31:13,680 where the water is coming from. 1931 02:31:17,040 --> 02:31:20,760 Because where the water was coming from was the Catskill Mountains. 1932 02:31:26,080 --> 02:31:30,000 So instead of a new treatment plant, New Yorkers chose to invest 1933 02:31:30,000 --> 02:31:33,640 in a nature reserve that doubles as a giant waterfall. 1934 02:31:36,760 --> 02:31:42,040 The water is being filtered by trees in its natural environment, serves 1935 02:31:42,040 --> 02:31:44,280 like a sponge holding the water. 1936 02:31:46,560 --> 02:31:50,040 A forest replaces heavy industrial infrastructure, 1937 02:31:50,040 --> 02:31:54,680 with the added benefits that the place runs itself, maintenance free 1938 02:31:54,680 --> 02:31:58,840 and supplies 90% of New York's water. 1939 02:31:58,840 --> 02:32:02,680 For New York City, it was a radical choice for the time, 1940 02:32:02,680 --> 02:32:08,240 but it was going back to something that has been working for millennia. 1941 02:32:09,520 --> 02:32:11,720 The water cycle belongs to nature. 1942 02:32:13,760 --> 02:32:16,800 In a way, it's the most simple of answers - back into nature. 1943 02:32:16,800 --> 02:32:20,880 Find the answer back at the very beginning from the ecosystems 1944 02:32:20,880 --> 02:32:23,720 that we came from, and yet, it can support one of the most modern 1945 02:32:23,720 --> 02:32:25,480 societies on the planet. 1946 02:32:28,400 --> 02:32:31,440 Making the most of our connection to nature is undoubtedly 1947 02:32:31,440 --> 02:32:33,040 the best way forward. 1948 02:32:35,480 --> 02:32:39,120 But what works for a wealthy city in a moist climate 1949 02:32:39,120 --> 02:32:42,040 won't necessarily work everywhere. 1950 02:32:42,040 --> 02:32:44,720 I don't think we're really going to find any silver bullets. 1951 02:32:44,720 --> 02:32:48,240 I think as we look around the world, region by region, 1952 02:32:48,240 --> 02:32:52,640 each one is going to need a different portfolio of approaches 1953 02:32:52,640 --> 02:32:55,800 to manage their way through water scarcity. 1954 02:33:00,120 --> 02:33:03,800 Maybe it's not surprising, but we found in the places on Earth 1955 02:33:03,800 --> 02:33:06,960 where there is less water, people value it more. 1956 02:33:09,520 --> 02:33:12,960 And of all the places we went to, it was in the Middle East 1957 02:33:12,960 --> 02:33:16,440 where we saw not only the challenges ahead, but also glimpses of hope. 1958 02:33:18,880 --> 02:33:22,400 Since its inception, Israel has valued water, 1959 02:33:22,400 --> 02:33:24,720 much like America values oil. 1960 02:33:24,720 --> 02:33:26,920 They even went to war over it. 1961 02:33:30,400 --> 02:33:33,440 So here, controlling water is a matter of survival. 1962 02:33:35,840 --> 02:33:38,320 Israel recycles 90% of its water, 1963 02:33:38,320 --> 02:33:40,680 compared to just 1% of the US. 1964 02:33:42,640 --> 02:33:45,320 And they achieved this not just through wealth and power, 1965 02:33:45,320 --> 02:33:48,080 but through winning hearts and minds. 1966 02:33:48,080 --> 02:33:50,320 SPEAKS IN HEBREW 1967 02:34:03,880 --> 02:34:07,680 It's this appreciation of water that Mike Callicrate 1968 02:34:07,680 --> 02:34:10,560 would like to see here, in the US. 1969 02:34:10,560 --> 02:34:12,960 I would like to see us not pop a drop 1970 02:34:12,960 --> 02:34:14,520 more than what the recharge rate is. 1971 02:34:14,520 --> 02:34:16,560 And we know what those numbers are. 1972 02:34:18,920 --> 02:34:22,520 Water is a public resource and it should be used 1973 02:34:22,520 --> 02:34:24,720 responsibly and preserved. 1974 02:34:24,720 --> 02:34:26,560 We can do this. 1975 02:34:29,600 --> 02:34:34,480 So in the end, each of our water experts agreed we CAN do this. 1976 02:34:36,160 --> 02:34:39,360 That unlike some threats we face, the water crisis is solvable. 1977 02:34:42,240 --> 02:34:44,120 But we are vulnerable. 1978 02:34:45,880 --> 02:34:48,920 And in this finely tuned, globalised world... 1979 02:34:51,880 --> 02:34:56,120 ..if we don't respect water, the climate, collapse will follow. 1980 02:35:14,080 --> 02:35:19,040 When we understand the connections, where our water comes from... 1981 02:35:22,240 --> 02:35:24,600 ..then we value it for what it is... 1982 02:35:26,360 --> 02:35:28,080 ..the fuel of life itself... 1983 02:35:30,600 --> 02:35:32,720 ..the molecule that made us.