A 1958 educational film by Frank Capra (director of It's a Wonderful Life) warns of the dangers of global climate change due to burning fossil fuels. The film predicts that excess carbon dioxide emissions will eventually lead to increased temperatures, melting of the polar ice caps, and rising oceans — nearly 50 years before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirmed the scientific basis for such warnings in its 2007 report.

This CIR/FRONTLINE co-production goes behind the scenes to explore how bipartisan political and economic forces have prevented the U.S. government from confronting global warming. “Hot Politics,” originally broadcast in April 2007, examines key moments that have shaped the politics of climate change, and how the private sector and local and state governments are now taking bold steps in the absence of federal leadership.

>> Stay tuned: The "Hot Politics" production team is working on a new feature-length documentary about the future of energy.

>> Watch the episode, extended interviews, and check local broadcast listings.

>> Check out CIR web exclusives, including videos and a special report on how energy companies have funded media disinformation campaigns to purposely spread doubt about the science behind climate change.

Today, listen to the last two radio stories in the Marketplace series "Plan B: Adapting to a Warmer World." Visit marketplace.org for local stations and air times of the Plan B series.

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More ice helps save polar bears
Ice melting in the Arctic is forcing polar bears to go farther to hunt for food or forage inland, making many of them starve. In our last installment of the Plan B series, Janet Babin explores how scientists are combating their extinction.

Engineering solutions to climate change
Scientists have come up with several potentially viable solutions to the climate crisis that could change things without you having to change your lifestyle. These “geo-engineering” initiatives are varied: from enormous mirrors to reflect the suns rays, to tiny particles that bolster a depleted atmosphere, to creating algae fields that will work overtime at consuming CO2. Marketplace reports on why the scientists don’t want you talking about these solutions.

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>> Learn more about the Plan B series produced by Marketplace in collaboration with CIR.

Today, listen to two new radio stories in the Marketplace series "Plan B: Adapting to a Warmer World." Visit marketplace.org for local stations and air times of the Plan B series.

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Dutch homes float with the climate
Marketplace Morning Report visits the Netherlands where a majority of the country is below sea level. Estimates indicate that climate change could raise water levels an additional 25 percent. Dutch engineers are building houses that float as needed to cope with flooding. Innovators plan to export the technology. Rico Gagliano checks out the climate-proof homes and looks into whether it will work.

Dutch plan for flooding: Higher ground
Marketplace returns to the Netherlands to report on “extreme landscape architecture.” The Dutch are welcoming flood waters into valleys that are now home to Dutch farms and building them a new one ... higher in the sky.

Tomorrow: The Big Fix
Marketplace Morning Report examines human projects underway to save animals facing extinction due in part to global warming. And “geo-engineering” initiatives to the climate crisis that could change things without you having to change your lifestyle.

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>> Learn more about the Plan B series produced by Marketplace in collaboration with CIR.

Listen to the first two radio stories in the Marketplace series: "Plan B: Adapting to a warmer world." Both stories explore ways that humans are making the most of rising oceans.

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Under dry sky, Aussies turn to the sea
With climate change reducing reliable rainfall in Australia, many cities are tapping the ocean as a water source. Nate Dimeo reports on Australia’s “Plan B” to desalinate seawater to provide clean water for drinking, agriculture, and recreation. Australia is promoting a new desalination technology that is less energy-intensive than the typical desalination plant.

Seeing opportunity in rising oceans
Conservative projections say rising seas from climate change would displace hundreds of millions of people and cost hundreds of billions of dollars over the next century. Sam Eaton travels to Bahia Kino, Mexico to meet with atmospheric physicist Carl Hodges, who is transforming abandoned agricultural fields into green pastures by diverting the fertile wastewater from the region’s industrial shrimp farms (which is usually pumped back into the Sea of Cortez and is already causing massive dead zones).

Tomorrow: Two radio stories from Marketplace on the Netherlands, where a majority of the country is below sea level. Estimates indicate that climate change could raise water levels an additional 25 percent. Marketplace Morning Report focuses on Dutch engineers who are building houses that float as needed to cope with flooding. In the afternoon, Marketplace reports on “extreme landscape architecture” in the Netherlands. The Dutch are welcoming flood waters into valleys that are now home to Dutch farms and building them a new one ... higher in the sky.

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>> Learn more about the Plan B series produced by Marketplace in collaboration with CIR.

>> Visit marketplace.org for local stations and air times of the Plan B series.