WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.780 align:center line:90% 00:00:00.780 --> 00:00:04.570 align:center line:84% The 2020s, things were never the same after that. 00:00:04.570 --> 00:00:06.720 align:center line:90% That's when we saved the world. 00:00:06.720 --> 00:00:09.330 align:center line:90% Only, we almost didn't. 00:00:09.330 --> 00:00:12.150 align:center line:84% It all changed once we realized the difference working 00:00:12.150 --> 00:00:13.560 align:center line:90% with nature could make. 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:16.200 align:center line:84% Back then, we were all about electric cars, 00:00:16.200 --> 00:00:20.530 align:center line:84% renewable energy, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. 00:00:20.530 --> 00:00:22.080 align:center line:90% And they were all crucial. 00:00:22.080 --> 00:00:24.900 align:center line:84% But on their own, they never would have been enough. 00:00:24.900 --> 00:00:28.110 align:center line:84% We were already facing an extinction level threat. 00:00:28.110 --> 00:00:32.790 align:center line:84% We thought we were doing a lot, but we needed to do even more. 00:00:32.790 --> 00:00:34.890 align:center line:90% Enter nature. 00:00:34.890 --> 00:00:38.610 align:center line:84% The most sophisticated system for processing greenhouse gases 00:00:38.610 --> 00:00:40.710 align:center line:84% in the universe only had hundreds 00:00:40.710 --> 00:00:42.640 align:center line:90% of millions of years on us. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:44.550 align:center line:84% We had to stop the planet from warming 00:00:44.550 --> 00:00:47.130 align:center line:84% more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared 00:00:47.130 --> 00:00:49.720 align:center line:84% to the start of the 20th century. 00:00:49.720 --> 00:00:52.620 align:center line:84% Turns out, we had to be kind to nature. 00:00:52.620 --> 00:00:53.700 align:center line:90% Hear me out. 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:56.370 align:center line:84% Stopping the destruction of existing forests, 00:00:56.370 --> 00:01:00.780 align:center line:84% grasslands, and wetlands pulled 3.9 billion metric tons 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:02.640 align:center line:90% of carbon out of the atmosphere. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:05.010 align:center line:84% Smarter farming and forestry techniques 00:01:05.010 --> 00:01:07.740 align:center line:90% cut another 5.1 billion tons. 00:01:07.740 --> 00:01:10.260 align:center line:84% And restoring the forests and wetlands we had lost, 00:01:10.260 --> 00:01:14.520 align:center line:84% scrubbed another 2.0 That's 11 billion tons of carbon 00:01:14.520 --> 00:01:16.300 align:center line:90% removed from the atmosphere. 00:01:16.300 --> 00:01:18.270 align:center line:84% That's like a string of SUVs stuck 00:01:18.270 --> 00:01:20.610 align:center line:84% in bumper-to-bumper traffic stretching from here 00:01:20.610 --> 00:01:23.110 align:center line:90% to the Moon 56 times over. 00:01:23.110 --> 00:01:26.640 align:center line:84% That's one third of the emission reductions we needed. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:27.750 align:center line:90% How's it work, though? 00:01:27.750 --> 00:01:28.740 align:center line:90% Pick a tree. 00:01:28.740 --> 00:01:30.690 align:center line:90% Any tree. 00:01:30.690 --> 00:01:32.130 align:center line:90% Look closer. 00:01:32.130 --> 00:01:34.710 align:center line:84% Trees do this awesome thing called photosynthesis 00:01:34.710 --> 00:01:37.920 align:center line:84% where they soak up rays of sun and pluck carbon from the air 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:39.630 align:center line:90% to feed themselves. 00:01:39.630 --> 00:01:41.640 align:center line:84% They literally eat the stuff that traps 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:43.290 align:center line:90% heat in our atmosphere. 00:01:43.290 --> 00:01:45.030 align:center line:90% And have you heard of mangroves? 00:01:45.030 --> 00:01:47.490 align:center line:84% They're like trees but they live along the coast 00:01:47.490 --> 00:01:49.080 align:center line:90% near bays and beaches. 00:01:49.080 --> 00:01:51.450 align:center line:84% They became all the rage when word got out 00:01:51.450 --> 00:01:53.550 align:center line:84% they could store five times more carbon 00:01:53.550 --> 00:01:55.680 align:center line:84% than their landlocked counterparts. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:59.220 align:center line:84% Plus, as they age, trees, all plants really, 00:01:59.220 --> 00:02:01.740 align:center line:90% deposit their carbon into soil. 00:02:01.740 --> 00:02:03.960 align:center line:84% Other plants use that to grow, some of which 00:02:03.960 --> 00:02:07.380 align:center line:84% get eaten by animals, like us, which release carbon 00:02:07.380 --> 00:02:10.080 align:center line:84% back into the atmosphere starting the whole process over 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:10.800 align:center line:90% again. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:12.540 align:center line:90% It's called the carbon cycle. 00:02:12.540 --> 00:02:15.360 align:center line:84% And it worked really well for a really long time 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.690 align:center line:84% until we overloaded the system by burning fossil fuels 00:02:18.690 --> 00:02:21.360 align:center line:84% and cutting down too many of our forests. 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.690 align:center line:84% It can look very natural now, but protecting and restoring 00:02:24.690 --> 00:02:27.300 align:center line:84% nature at a global level was one of the hardest 00:02:27.300 --> 00:02:28.530 align:center line:90% things we've ever done. 00:02:28.530 --> 00:02:33.180 align:center line:84% And we still had to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:35.730 align:center line:84% But once we realized it would take more than switching 00:02:35.730 --> 00:02:38.220 align:center line:84% to renewable energy, once we really 00:02:38.220 --> 00:02:41.250 align:center line:84% partnered with nature to reduce our carbon footprint 00:02:41.250 --> 00:02:44.580 align:center line:84% and also to live on a better planet-- 00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:47.750 align:center line:84% That's when we really started to save the world. 00:02:47.750 --> 00:03:01.000 align:center line:90%