Earth Day 2026: Carbon Catchers
[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.]
To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, it won’t be enough to cut human emissions–we must also remove carbon dioxide from the air and ocean. Luckily, some ecosystems already do this work. This Earth Day, watch this video to learn about how animals and plants work together to store carbon and stabilize our climate.