:00:00. > :00:20.Welcome to this special edition of Reporters.
:00:21. > :00:31.I'm at the climate change conference in Paris.
:00:32. > :00:34.We have reports from around the globe, we'll be looking at some
:00:35. > :00:39.of the greatest challenges affecting the planet.
:00:40. > :00:45.How conditions in some of the world's hottest and driest
:00:46. > :00:48.You couldn't get a clearer example than this.
:00:49. > :00:51.The reservoir that should be supplying the capital city
:00:52. > :00:55.If you think storm damage is the only cost of climate
:00:56. > :01:09.John Sopel looks at the drought in California and the politics
:01:10. > :01:15.A report from India on the developing nations
:01:16. > :01:24.that want to burn more fossil fuel.
:01:25. > :01:27.It's saying to the world that climate change is your problem,
:01:28. > :01:39.We hear from Switzerland where the melting of the glaciers
:01:40. > :01:46.Some of the dust used, driest, hottest parts of the world are set
:01:47. > :01:48.to experience even tougher conditions ahead.
:01:49. > :01:50.That's one of many projections for climate change being discussed
:01:51. > :02:00.One of the most vulnerable countries is Namibia in southern Africa,
:02:01. > :02:03.as I've been finding out, so much dust has been front
:02:04. > :02:06.of the year it could even affect the climate.
:02:07. > :02:09.In the baking heat of the land ravaged by drought and is
:02:10. > :02:14.We catch sight of a struggle under the punishing sun.
:02:15. > :02:22.Each step kicking more dust into the year.
:02:23. > :02:24.The ground I'm walking on has been torn apart,
:02:25. > :02:26.for three years, Namibia has suffered from what we call erratic
:02:27. > :02:29.rains and the lack of water to your worries everyone.
:02:30. > :02:33.For a glance at what could be a very parched and a dusty future for this
:02:34. > :02:35.country, you couldn't get a clearer example than this.
:02:36. > :02:37.A reservoir which should be supplying the capital city,
:02:38. > :02:41.Farmland has been turned into desert.
:02:42. > :02:56.Animals search the dust for something to eat.
:02:57. > :03:04.but dry spells could become more intense.
:03:05. > :03:13.This woman turns on her own tap but nothing falls out.
:03:14. > :03:15.She tells me that four of her goats have died.
:03:16. > :03:26.There is just nothing to feed them on, she says.
:03:27. > :03:32.This is one of the dustiest areas on the planet and what happened
:03:33. > :03:34.here matters far beyond Namibia and that's pictures of a massive
:03:35. > :03:37.cloud of dust or office land and the question is whether climate
:03:38. > :03:44.Higher temperatures and a more violent rainfall both
:03:45. > :03:50.of which are projected, may more easily break up the trust
:03:51. > :03:52.on the surface, exposing the famed material that lies underneath,
:03:53. > :03:57.Scientists have come to this barren spot because it generates so much
:03:58. > :03:59.of the dust that enters the atmosphere.
:04:00. > :04:03.The instruments measure exactly how much waste the ground.
:04:04. > :04:06.To help work out what it could mean for the global climate.
:04:07. > :04:09.On the one hand, it may mean less radiation coming into the system
:04:10. > :04:24.On the other hand, the dust provided in the atmosphere
:04:25. > :04:35.could reduce heat out of the atmosphere and make
:04:36. > :04:44.Whatever happens, children's year are being taught to get ready
:04:45. > :04:46.-- Whatever happens, children here are being taught
:04:47. > :04:48.to get ready for tougher conditions to come.
:04:49. > :04:51.They still as he through drip system, modern technology to cope
:04:52. > :04:55.We now know, maybe in the next two to three years to come,
:04:56. > :04:58.we don't know what will be able to get one single drop of rain
:04:59. > :05:00.and therefore we need to come up with something
:05:01. > :05:05.We spot an elephant churning up a small cloud of dust with each
:05:06. > :05:18.Life here has always been harsh, but now looks set to become tougher.
:05:19. > :05:19.President Obama has described climate change
:05:20. > :05:25.His plans to cut carbon emissions from power stations have run
:05:26. > :05:31.into opposition from Republicans in Congress.
:05:32. > :05:34.John Sopel assesses the state of the climate change
:05:35. > :05:40.In America, where everything is big, even nature seems outsized.
:05:41. > :05:43.You simply part, in summary tourist location but year-round
:05:44. > :05:46.The trouble is for the last few years, the snowfall has been
:05:47. > :05:50.The waterfalls are a trickle of their cascading best.
:05:51. > :05:53.The state has been suffering one of its worst ever entrance,
:05:54. > :05:54.affecting worldwide, business and livelihoods.
:05:55. > :05:56.Living here and working here, I've noticed more and more
:05:57. > :05:59.of the trees are affected, the waterfalls are trying it
:06:00. > :06:01.of the trees are affected, the waterfalls are drying
:06:02. > :06:04.earlier, the river level is going down and before the storm
:06:05. > :06:06.to stick couple of weeks ago, the river level was probably
:06:07. > :06:11.California is leading the way in championing alternative,
:06:12. > :06:19.This factory makes solar panels, but it is their business
:06:20. > :06:27.but that makes it interesting.
:06:28. > :06:30.Given the choice of paying less for clean energy or more for dirty
:06:31. > :06:33.more customers will spend less for clean energy.
:06:34. > :06:36.Make it super easy for someone to call somewhere.
:06:37. > :06:38.There's no investment, the equipment, they don't
:06:39. > :06:47.Even though the presidential election is a year away,
:06:48. > :06:49.TV ads have already started appealing to she the political
:06:50. > :07:04.A billionaire businessman and the biggest donor
:07:05. > :07:06.Democratic party is finding these ones.
:07:07. > :07:09.People always say this is the most important election ever.
:07:10. > :07:11.In this case, we think it is the election for energy
:07:12. > :07:13.and climate that we have to get right.
:07:14. > :07:19.We to be part of the leadership to move the world to a better place.
:07:20. > :07:21.Electricity is made locally and we can transmitted
:07:22. > :07:32.across a transmission lines across the United States.
:07:33. > :07:35.In the Appalacian mountatins, coal is still king.
:07:36. > :07:37.From the mains to the power stations, tens of thousands
:07:38. > :07:41.They supply millions on the eastern seaboard who rely on it
:07:42. > :07:45.The Obama plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions from US power stations
:07:46. > :07:47.by nearly one third in 15 years is being fiercely resisted.
:07:48. > :07:49.We think it will be a devastating impact.
:07:50. > :07:51.We have had seven years of devastating impact
:07:52. > :08:00.The clean power plan, or the costly power plan,
:08:01. > :08:04.as we think it should be referred to, it's just not good for America.
:08:05. > :08:19.In the immediate term, lobbyist for call our planning
:08:20. > :08:21.-- In the immediate term, lobbyists are planning a full-on
:08:22. > :08:24.And then there the longer term battle.
:08:25. > :08:26.Irrespective of what happened in Paris, the future of coal-fired
:08:27. > :08:29.power plants like this one is not yet settled.
:08:30. > :08:31.Republicans in the Senate have already voted to reject to back
:08:32. > :08:35.It doesn't matter as long as there is a Democrat
:08:36. > :08:39.But whether to change next year, then everything would be
:08:40. > :08:42.Now to China, the world's largest pollutant where the effects
:08:43. > :08:46.warming are starting to become obvious.
:08:47. > :08:48.For years, the Chinese refused to discover any kind of target
:08:49. > :08:50.for cutting their emissions of carbon dioxide but attitudes may
:08:51. > :08:59.Our reporter has been to Tibet to look at a fight back
:09:00. > :09:09.This man's parents and grandparents had herds of cattle and 500 sheep.
:09:10. > :09:31.The cattle are long gone and his flock is down to 80.
:09:32. > :09:33.He's the last in a proud line of Tibetan herdsmen.
:09:34. > :09:35.The plant always adds to the heart of Asia.
:09:36. > :09:40.This is where the continent where is made.
:09:41. > :09:43.This is where the continent weather is made.
:09:44. > :09:52.Now, it's the scene of the climate change catastrophe.
:09:53. > :09:54.The sea is shrinking, the permafrost that protects
:09:55. > :09:56.the grassland in winter disappearing.
:09:57. > :09:58.The wind takes the soil and this is what is left.
:09:59. > :10:00.This man says there is no point being angry.
:10:01. > :10:08.But the death of his landscape and his way of life makes him sound.
:10:09. > :10:12.-- But the death of his landscape and his way of life makes him sad.
:10:13. > :10:16.When I was small, the grassland was covered in rich,
:10:17. > :10:20.But the sandstorms get worse year by year and the sheep do not get
:10:21. > :10:24.I can't go on like this for much longer.
:10:25. > :10:40.It has some of the world's worst air, soil and water on the planet.
:10:41. > :10:43.Thanks to global warming, floods at one extreme and dessert
:10:44. > :10:53.So now, a change of heart on an epic scale.
:10:54. > :10:55.China has become by far the world's biggest investor
:10:56. > :10:59.It's building the world's largest solar form on the grassland turned
:11:00. > :11:02.Chinese to put economic growth ahead of its environment.
:11:03. > :11:06.It sees rescuing the environment as the only sustainable way
:11:07. > :11:19.So, suddenly, the will is here, to power China
:11:20. > :11:22.China is betting that an energy revolution will put solar
:11:23. > :11:25.It wants to show the world the renewable technologies
:11:26. > :11:28.As technology advances, our solar batteries improve
:11:29. > :11:31.and the costs come down, so there's bound to come a day
:11:32. > :11:36.when solar power becomes cheaper than traditional energy.
:11:37. > :11:37.Personally, I'm very optimistic about it.
:11:38. > :11:40.On the roof of the world, the Paris climate change conference
:11:41. > :11:48.It's already too late for this Tibetan herdsman
:11:49. > :11:59.India is one of many developing countries that says it still growing
:12:00. > :12:02.and still trying to pull millions out of poverty so has no alternative
:12:03. > :12:04.but to keep burning even more fossil fuel.
:12:05. > :12:07.That's one of the major sticking point here at the talks in Paris.
:12:08. > :12:09.Let's hear from our reporter in India.
:12:10. > :12:11.Here's why getting an agreement to cutting carbon emissions
:12:12. > :12:21.India's energy policy is based on burning more of the stuff.
:12:22. > :12:46.It plans to open a major new coal mine every month until 2020.
:12:47. > :12:48.Doubling coal output to a billion tonnes a year.
:12:49. > :12:51.Most countries have put a ceiling on their future carbon emissions.
:12:52. > :13:08.It has refused to commit to any cap on CO2, let alone a cut.
:13:09. > :13:13.In effect, it is saying to the world that climate change is your problem,
:13:14. > :13:27.India has more impoverished people than any other country.
:13:28. > :13:42.-- This girl helps eke out a living for her family by scavenging coal
:13:43. > :13:50.There is fire everywhere and lots of smoke.
:13:51. > :13:59.Every day, her family build fires to make a kind of call.
:14:00. > :14:07.A quarter of a billion Indians, a fifth of the population,
:14:08. > :14:09.survive on that sort of money and, understandably, the Indian
:14:10. > :14:15.government says the country must be allowed to grow.
:14:16. > :14:18.Other countries have used coal over the centuries and done
:14:19. > :14:34.what they have done to the environment.
:14:35. > :14:35.You can't development without energy.
:14:36. > :14:37.We don't have any other source of energy.
:14:38. > :14:41.You have to be practical in terms of understanding.
:14:42. > :14:43.How do we do it without adversely affecting the environment?
:14:44. > :14:45.India has promised to install a lot more of these.
:14:46. > :14:48.Even so, it expects to triple its carbon emissions
:14:49. > :14:52.The coal under this region has been burning for over a century.
:14:53. > :14:54.Damaging their lungs and shortening the lives of everyone
:14:55. > :15:09.The challenge is to create the space for India and other developing
:15:10. > :15:11.countries to burn more coal without the entire planet
:15:12. > :15:23.Now, here's a surprising twist in the Cold War warming study.
:15:24. > :15:26.-- Now, here's a surprising twist in the global warming story.
:15:27. > :15:29.The food that we scrape off our plates may be adding
:15:30. > :15:33.In the UK alone, some 4 billion tonnes of food is chucked
:15:34. > :15:36.Most of it ends up in rubbish dumps and then gets
:15:37. > :15:40.I've been looking at the scale of the problem.
:15:41. > :15:43.On a frozen morning, steam rises from a mountain of waste.
:15:44. > :15:46.A scene that most of us never think of it.
:15:47. > :15:49.But at their site near Manchester and 200 others, rubbish dumped every
:15:50. > :16:05.When you get this close, the smell does become quite intense.
:16:06. > :16:06.That's because the waste here including bits
:16:07. > :16:11.What is happening is that bacteria are working their way through that
:16:12. > :16:13.waste and giving off a host of different gases,
:16:14. > :16:21.This is happening on a massive scale right across the country.
:16:22. > :16:23.Households throw away staggering amounts of food.
:16:24. > :16:25.For example, the equivalent of 86 million chickens
:16:26. > :16:34.So we asked researchers to monitor what happens under lights that mimic
:16:35. > :16:50.Our time-lapse camera followed the grim process of decomposition.
:16:51. > :16:52.The chicken swells up over the full course of the week.
:16:53. > :16:54.No surprise, flies were soon attracted.
:16:55. > :17:04.We've injected the sample from the decomposed chicken
:17:05. > :17:08.and you can see on the spectrometer there is this large peak here.
:17:09. > :17:16.Some food is collected by local councils but most still isn't.
:17:17. > :17:19.More greenhouse gases are added to the year and money is wasted.
:17:20. > :17:23.Not only is it costing us ?60 a month for the average family
:17:24. > :17:26.but 4.2 million tonnes of food that could have been eaten,
:17:27. > :17:30.ends up going to landfill and basically rots and gives off
:17:31. > :17:33.There are ways that food waste can be used.
:17:34. > :17:34.Here, rubbish is divided automatically.
:17:35. > :17:36.Some of it is diverted into equipment that goes
:17:37. > :17:44.Not only big skill so forth but more and more waste
:17:45. > :17:49.Any food waste, whether it's worth over food or food that has gone off,
:17:50. > :17:51.it is important that people present in the rate them.
:17:52. > :17:55.We can take that material use it in technology at this and squeeze
:17:56. > :18:00.Recycling their food waste, people are helping keep
:18:01. > :18:05.Scientists are preparing shown to fly over landfill and measured
:18:06. > :18:13.No-one knows exactly how big the problem is,
:18:14. > :18:19.but these flights should provide an answer.
:18:20. > :18:22.Many landfill sites are due to close in the coming years,
:18:23. > :18:24.but even when they do, there will be a legacy of gases
:18:25. > :18:26.seeping out of them for decades to come.
:18:27. > :18:29.A solar panel of the kind we are familiar with,
:18:30. > :18:34.but what about one that works in the dark?
:18:35. > :18:37.There's one in Morocco that uses the power of the sun to draw
:18:38. > :18:41.A reporter has been to the edge of the Sahara desert to see
:18:42. > :18:53.In Eastern Morocco, an ancient city at it to be powered by a futuristic
:18:54. > :18:56.In Eastern Morocco, an ancient city about to be powered by a futuristic
:18:57. > :18:59.technology that harnesses solar energy after dark.
:19:00. > :19:07.It takes a drive through bareen lands to find it.
:19:08. > :19:10.It stretches far towards the horizon.
:19:11. > :19:17.-- Renewable energy on a truly heroic scale.
:19:18. > :19:20.Row upon row of curved mirrors, capturing the power
:19:21. > :19:27.The plant will give energy to 8 million people.
:19:28. > :19:32.Work will be going on here for years.
:19:33. > :19:41.Well, in daytime, the mirrors track the sun through the sky.
:19:42. > :19:51.It's called concentrated solar power.
:19:52. > :20:03.Each mirror focuses the sun's rays to heat the tube along the middle.
:20:04. > :20:05.Oil inside the tube is warmed to 400 Celsius.
:20:06. > :20:08.The oil is transported here to make steam to generate electricity.
:20:09. > :20:10.The vast empty waste of the Sahara, stretching far
:20:11. > :20:15.Whoever would have thought a desert would come in so handy?
:20:16. > :20:21.But how does it make power after sunset? It uses the sun 's energy to
:20:22. > :20:26.melt salt in this issued cylinder that holds heat through the night
:20:27. > :20:31.and it generates power. This is a tanker full of salt, the kind of
:20:32. > :20:36.soldier friend on Europe table. During the day we heat up the salt
:20:37. > :20:40.in order to keep the seats that will produce electricity after sunset and
:20:41. > :20:45.this is quite a big innovation. We are able to store up to three hours
:20:46. > :20:49.of energy. Storing power from renewables is the holy grail of
:20:50. > :20:53.energy and developing nations want help from rich countries to get
:20:54. > :21:00.technology like this under the climate talks in Paris. So what
:21:01. > :21:05.Perthshire will be switched on sin. A future stage of the project is
:21:06. > :21:13.designed to deliver solar energy all day and eight hours into the
:21:14. > :21:20.Finally, one obvious outcome of climate change is on the power --
:21:21. > :21:25.pallbearers up in the Arctic. Other forms of ice are in retreat as well,
:21:26. > :21:28.especially in the Swiss Alps. Scientists are warning that all
:21:29. > :21:32.clusters may virtually disappear by the end of the century. A doctor
:21:33. > :21:56.explains why this happens. Hello. I am a close your expert. For
:21:57. > :22:02.the next couple of minutes, I'm going to explain to you how this is
:22:03. > :22:13.being to me is melting at an alarming rate and why the planet 's
:22:14. > :22:16.must set up and pay attention. So, let's start by looking at how piece
:22:17. > :22:46.-- Lister has depleted. -- Kweisi. This photograph taken in 1890, work
:22:47. > :22:55.again. Note, nothing is left but a scar in the rock. So, what happens
:22:56. > :23:02.to all of the melting ice? Well, take a look at this. This lake
:23:03. > :23:08.formed only in the last ten years. It currently holds ten litres of
:23:09. > :23:22.water. Water that will add to the rise in global sea levels.
:23:23. > :23:32.You can see here, either what of melted water.
:23:33. > :23:42.Cheer you can see face-to-face the climate change. So, in conclusion,
:23:43. > :23:46.the Kweisi sheer and many others and Switzerland will have almost
:23:47. > :23:51.vanished by the end of the century. Although diplomats in Paris won't be
:23:52. > :23:55.able to be verse rising temperatures, they must negotiate a
:23:56. > :24:02.new agreement to cope with the consequences of our changing
:24:03. > :24:07.climate. That's all from this special edition
:24:08. > :24:10.of reporters. Goodbye.