KQED World: Tue, Feb 16, 2010 -- 9:00 AM

This program takes us on a journey around the world and addresses the most crucial issue of our time, how to solve global warming. "We would only have to improve carbon percentage by 1% on our 450 million hectares of agricultural soil in Australia and we could sequester all of the planet's legacy load of carbon," states Christine Jones, PhD. Stanford Professor, Christopher Fields, PhD. observes, "You can think of soils as a bank account that has the capacity to really build up very large quantities of capital moving into the future."
This groundbreaking documentary includes interviews with leading scientists as well as personal stories from farmers and ranchers on 3 continents to examine how carbon sequestration in top soil can not only curb global warming; but increase biodiversity, lessen the use of fertilizers and pesticides and create effective rainfall.
The "how", according to these experts, may come from an unusual source; the hooves and mouths of domesticated animals. Emmy Award winning filmmaker Chris Schueler shows how effective grazing plans in the Sonoran desert of Mexico and the almost infertile land in northern Zimbabwe and even the vast farmland in Australia as well as across the US have changed the topsoil into a rich, productive, moisture laden land.
As viewers take this stunningly filmed journey around the globe, the local children talk about how important the land must be to all of us. Through their voices we grow to realize the critical nature of this message. And we come to understand: the answer is right under our feet.