Climate Change Resources

[American Museum of Natural History logo appears.]

[A rotating globe shows yellow and red areas indicating heat.]

[TENSE MUSIC]

[TEXT (NARRATED): The past decade is the warmest on record.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): Pictured: Surface temperatures in July 2023, the warmest month on record.]

[An upward-trending line graph traces annual global surface temperatures from 1850 to 2025.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): 2025 was 1.2°C (2.1°F) warmer than the pre-industrial average.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): 2025 global surface temperature compared to 1850-1900 average: +1.19°C (+2.14°F)]

[An area graph slopes upward, representing growing greenhouse gas emissions between 1850 and 2024, from 4 gigatonnes a year to 54.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Human-caused greenhouse gases are heating the planet and threatening living things—including us.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): Greenhouse gas (CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O) emissions, in CO₂ equivalents: 1850: 4 Gt, 2024: 54 Gt]

[The area graph slopes downward, representing annual reductions in greenhouse gases needed from 2024 to 2050.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): To limit warming to 1.5°C this century and avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we must cut emissions across every sector: energy, industry, buildings, transport, land protection and management and food systems.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): Paris Agreement (2015): Limit warming this century to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels”]

[SOUNDS OF CONSTRUCTION, A TRUCK STARTING UP, COWS MOOING]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Cutting emissions is not enough. To halt global warming, excess CO₂ must be removed from the air and ocean.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): 1.5°C pathway: Net-zero GHGs by 2050, with remaining emissions offset by removals]

[An additional part of the area graph is revealed. It shows projected negative emissions exceeding 10 gigatonnes by 2050.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Technologies may help capture and store carbon on a small scale.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): In 2025, CCS technologies removed ~0.05 Gt of CO₂, compared to ~22 Gt by natural ecosystems]

[A futuristic contraption draws in green bubbles.]

[ALARM BELLS]

[TEXT (NARRATED): What works on a big scale? Ecosystems. They store carbon naturally!]

[BUBBLING]

[A lake appears in the foreground, and the silhouette of a forest in the background. Green bubbles are drawn into the water and trees.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Plants absorb CO₂ directly from the air and water to form roots, stems and leaves.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): In 2023, plants and soils absorbed 25% of human-generated CO₂ emissions]

[TEXT (NARRATED): It’s not just plants. Wild animals also help ecosystems capture carbon.]

[DING]

[A beaver appears in the scene.]

[CHEERFUL MUSIC, INSECTS, BIRDS AND OTHER WILDLIFE]

[TEXT (IN SCENE): Wetlands. A dam good place to store carbon.]

[The scene brightens to reveal a marshy area with the beaver on top of its dam.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): By building dams, beavers engineer and maintain wetlands. Wetlands keep dead plants locked underwater, slowing decomposition and the release of CO₂.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): Wetlands hold 300-400 Gt of carbon, 20-30% of all soil carbon.]

[The scene changes to a yellow grassland.]

[TEXT (IN SCENE): Grasslands. A carbon superstore.]

[A fire sweeps across the scene.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Wildfires release CO₂ from plants and soil.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): Grasslands hold 525 to 634 Gt of carbon, up to 94% of that in soil.]

[The grass reappears, now with a herd of bison.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): By grazing, bison herds shorten the grass and prevent wildfires, so carbon remains in the ground.]

[The grassland becomes a snowy tundra, also populated with bison.]

[TEXT (IN SCENE): Permafrost. Keeps that carbon buffa-low.]

[WIND BLOWING, BISON SNORTING]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Bison also live in colder regions, where trampling herds compact the snow and soil, preventing permafrost from melting.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): Permafrost holds 1,460-1,600 Gt of carbon, 2x more than is currently held in the atmosphere.]

[A pan down reveals a cross-section of permafrost underground. Green bubbles, representing carbon dioxide, are trapped here.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Thousands of years’ worth of dead plants are locked in the frozen ground, slowing the release of greenhouse gases.]

[The scene shifts to a green forest.]

[TEXT (IN SCENE): Tropical forests. Carbon by the trunkful.]

[An elephant appears in the forest.]

[ELEPHANT TRUMPETING, INSECTS, OTHER FOREST LIFE]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Forest elephants eat fruit, and then poop seeds, spreading and fertilizing key tree species throughout the forest. These trees pull CO₂ from the air as they grow.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): Tropical forests hold 800 Gt of carbon, almost half of which is in living plants.]

[The scene shifts to the ocean, where sunlight filters through the water and brightens a blue whale.]

[TEXT (IN SCENE): The ocean surface. Whaley good at storing carbon.]

[WHALE CALLS]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Whale fecal plumes provide nutrients to tiny plants called phytoplankton.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): Phytoplankton are 1-2% of plant biomass but absorb more CO₂ than all land forests combined.]

[The whale releases a cloud of pink excrement and swims away. The pink matter prompts growth of green plankton.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Phytoplankton live and die fast. When they fall to the seafloor, their carbon can be stored in sediments for thousands of years.]

[Masses of green phytoplankton fall to the ocean floor.]

[BUBBLES, SPLASHING WATER, SEAGULLS]

[TEXT (IN SCENE): Seagrass meadows. A gift to humanatee.]

[A manatee bobs in shallow waters over an expanse of seagrass.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Manatees eat seagrass, trimming it like a lawnmower.]

[LAWNMOWER]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): Seagrass covers 0.1% of the ocean floor but accounts for 10% of carbon buried annually in ocean sediments.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): As the seagrass regrows, it absorbs more CO₂, storing carbon in roots and sediments.]

[A variety of shells lie scattered across the seafloor.]

[TEXT (IN SCENE): The ocean floor. A shell of a lot of carbon.]

[Green bubbles representing CO₂ are drawn from the water into the seashells.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Corals, mollusks and other shelled animals have hard exoskeletons made of calcium carbonate, a carbon-rich mineral. When shelled animals die, calcium carbonate falls to the seafloor. Over eons, it may turn into sedimentary rock, locking up carbon for millions of years.]

[TEXT (NOT NARRATED): Most of Earth’s carbon, about 65,500 Gt, is stored in rocks.]

[A pan downwards reveals green bubbles, representing carbon, packed into a thick layer of rock.]

[MARIMBA MUSIC]

[A bright sky with white clouds.]

[TEXT (NARRATED): Ecosystems store carbon and stabilize our climate. By conserving and restoring…we help ecosystems help us.]

[In a circle appears a succession of animals: beaver, elephant, blue whale, bison. Then the circle morphs into a turning globe.]

[PEACEFUL SOUNDS OF NATURE]

[Credits roll.]