spy plane overwhelmed air traffic control and hundreds of flights were delayed. >> tonight we begin with what's being called an eminent danger in the united states, climate change. it's no longer distance, but it's affecting american it's now. mike viqueira joins us from the white house. >> according to one administration expert, what we had before is a collection of data dots, and now those dots are expected. the report offers a region by region account of what is being done to the environment, to public property and public health by global warming. in the northeast, heatwaves, coastal flooding and more storm surges can be expected if global warming continues the pace. in the southeast, decreased ability, and hurricanes, and in the southwest, drought and wildfire. the global temperature on average has increased between 1.3 and 1.9% ever since the late 19th century, but that change has accelerated in the last 44 years, since 197080% of that has occurred. the president is on a public relations push, and as a result of that, he invited well moan meteorologists across the country for special access, and this is what he had to say. >> what we have here is an opportunity not only to help local communities to adapt and prepare for rising temperatures, but we also have a chance to turn back these rising temperatures if we take bold actions now. >> now, the president is going to be continuing this public relations push later in the week. on friday, he travels to the san diego area, where he's going to talk about a public-private partnership to try to reduce greenhouse emissions, john. >> so what kind of actions can we expect from the government? >> the result, the political stalemate bleeds into this as well. and the republicans are likely to be unmoved or affected in the new regulations, but one of those expected in the next weeks, the president has set a june deadline, and it's bound to be very controversial, john, on coal-fired power plants. most of the country still derives its electricity from those cowl fired plants. and it's tough to talk about global climate change without the keystone, and the public was dead set against that, and the administration has put it off again. but rogue democrats are voting for the approval of the pipeline. this report is expected to be ammunition for the administration going forward. >> all right, mike viqueira, thank you. and the studies look at environmental impact. but also for needs in the future. from the weather channel, he joins us from the weather channel, welcome, paul. are the businesses coping with climate change. >> certainly in the past winter with the polar vortex, and the hit that the businesses took, it's very evident that the weather is becoming increasingly volatile. but it's hitting the bottom line, and wall street sees that as well. so leveraging weather data, and leveraging analytics to fet if front of the weather and be more adaptive. >> what kind of weather are we talking about? >> well, if you look at the impact of normal weather. and there isn't such a thing as normal weather anymore it seems, but the impact is $500 billion a year. and that's just normal fluctuations of weather. and doesn't count severe weather. so weather on the consumer demand and the economy, to the extent of changes, and how they're going to change consumer spending, they're going to be very wise in terms of how you plan for that, for example, if you're a retailer and how you advertise. >> let me stop you right there. there's more rain, and how do businesses cope with that, and if there's a drought, how do they cope with that? >> exactly, and if you're a retailer, a simplistic way, a department store retailer, if it's going to be warmer than it was in in the prior year, and you're moving into spring, you be sure that you have enough supplies to meet the demand, triggered by the weather. and so you're adapting by the changes to the weather. and maximizing the sales, and at the same time, you're providing the be products that we all need. so that's outlining how the technology now is catching up to the fact that the weather is becoming increasingly volatile, and businesses are using that and taking the opportunity to help people and also to increase their earnings. >> to make more money, sure, but give us an idea. what do you think of the biggest changes in consumer behavior that we have seen as a result of climate change? >> i think if we look at this from a retail perspective, people are buying differently now. in general, the spring iser starting earlier, and therefore merchandise has to be rolled out earlier. of course it has a direct impact on our wallet as it relates to energy costs. this year was a little bit unusual in the u.s. because it was so cold, it was costing more to heat our homes, but in general, it costs more to heat our homes, and it's going to be more and more. >> you talk about retail. and what other industries would be affected? >> well, of course insurance. the insurance industry is probably in the forefront of adapting to climate change. studying effects and looking at ways to make homes more resilient. and spending a lot of time and money on developing new ways to build homes so they are more resilient and can stand up to the increased storms, and looking at how they calculate risk. and looking to see if the risks of hail storms and tornadoes is staying the same. and in general, it's not, it's a moving target. so they need to price risk differently as we move forward. so there are a host of economic impacts that are going to be facing us, but because of the advances in technology, and the advances of computers, and because of the advances in our ability to communicate, there are all sorts of new opportunities to create new ways to deal with this, that really are all focused on resilience and adaptation, that affect the bottom line for businesses and help us as consumers, because we're going to need this super support. >> we usually don't think about the impact on those businesses but we appreciate you helping us do that today. paul, thank you. >> coming up at our half hour, the impact that it is having on you. to nigeria, where eight young girls are missing. that brings the total number to 285 4*. u.s. has sent experts to find the girls. new research on the group that claims that it kidnapped the girs. >> we have always identified them as one of the worst regional terrorist organizations that is out there. i can only imagine what the parents are going through. we have offered and it has been accepted, help from our military and law enforcement officials, and we're going to do everything that we can to provide assistance to them. >> nigeria's failure to be locate the girls after three weeks prompted huge protests today. in washington d.c., outside of the nigerian embassy, and outside of the consulate, thousands more took to the streets there. >> nigerians have come out on the capital of abuja, to try to find the hundreds of missing girls from the northeast. their anger is being fueled by the fact that the leader of baca haran released a new tape in which he says that he abducted the girls, and he plans to sell them on the open market. they're emboldened by the concerns of the international community. the u.n. says that what they're going to do is a crime against humanity. the uk has promised to help mill taylor, and the u.s. administration has basically said there are talks between the united states and nigeria about what to do to find the girls. but the people think that the nigerian government should be taking the lead to find them. >> now, comfort arrow has been tracking the growth of boca haran closely. and she told me that the threat that the group poses is not new. >> boca haran did not just emerge today. it increased in 2007, but you can track the emergence of this group to around 2002 to three, and i think that in the last four years, we have seen this group emerge into a monster that's no longer controllable. and i think walking away from some of the ideology, it's criminal from what we're seeing. >> the white house is sending a team to help and what are the biggest challenges in finding these girls? >> we're dealing with the territory, the poorest borders of nigeria. if they have idea gone across the border, the poorest border between nigeria and cameroon, even if they're still within nigerian borders, it's a very difficult terrain, and they will they're deeply into the bushes, as we have heard. >> based on the protests that we have seen in nigeria, the view from many in nigeria, how could this have happened? how is it that no one saw all of these girls taken away? >> well, i think it speaks again to the nature of the violence that is characterized with the boko hamam insurgency. and what it speaks to the last four years, and clearly, the police, or the military, or the joint task civilian task force or the military task force have not been able to deal with this. >> i understand the terrain and the fear, but we're talking about a school where these girls had to be taken away in buses or trucks. many buses or trucks because there are so many of them. and the fact that they disappeared and vanished into thin air seems too hard to imagine. >> if you tracked the violence that accompanied the insurgency for four years, this is the most tragic of all of them, but it's symptomatic of the kind of violence that we have seen in the last four years. nighttime raid, daytime early morning raids. a lot of fear among ordinary communities, people becoming distrustful and suspicious of one another. where rule of law has collapsed and key institutions that are supposed to provide basic services are no longer capable of doing that, and then you get the scenario like this. >> that's comfort hero, the national crisis group. >> the u.s. says that it's sanctioning two leaders on both sides of sudan's armed conflict because both have blood on their hands. the violence has displaced 1 million people. rebel forces have been fighting since december. the two sides are both guilty of war crimes, and secretary of state john kerry says that the armed forces and the rebel commander are blamed for the problems last month. south sudan's president and rebel leader have promised to meet face-to-face. he was visiting the capital of juba, and he met with them. >> next, a call to arms, how ukrainians are prepared to defend themselves if a full-blown war broke out. and how a u.s. spy plane disrupted flights at one of america's busiest airports. >> now to the crisis in ukraine today a truck was attacked. reporting from afghanistan. >> tensions between security forces and those desperate for food and shelter are easy to see. people surrounded convoys carrying supplies to grab whatever they could. resulting in gunfire after security forces were attacked by a group of men who were demanding tents. [ gunshot ] foreign aid agencies quickly left the area, and it's unclear when they will return. >> we came here to help people. and a group of people came and started shouting at us. loaded it on the truck and sped off. and then the police started firing >> reporter: shortly before the firing started, one of the presidential candidates, doula abdullah, told us that the government could be doing a better job. >> the nation is focused on this tragedy, and afghanistan is also focused on the tragedy, but i have seen a coordination effort, which responds to the immediate he needs of the people. >> reporter: he's talking about people like gula, he and his 14 family members call this tent home. their home was only partially damaged by the landslide, but they're all too afraid to return. >> we are traumatized. what if this happens again. still, we're not getting enough aid. it's going to people who come here from other places, then when the gun firing started, we had to run for our live. >> reporter: they had to leave behind whatever supplies they had received and now have only this dry bread to live off of until the relief agencies return. but it's people like them who continue to suffer. on the one hand, they're in desperate need of help, but as the violence intensifies, they continue to do with out. >> in ukraine, more signs of civil war, in the east and the south as pro russian fighters continue their battles against the ukrainian forces. in the east, russians are digging in for the fight. and paul brennon is there. >> reporter: the training is basic, and he attempts to assemble the rifle that he has stripped down. if the russians do come, and there's no indication that they will, it could be their first stop. according to the people gathered here, this staunchly pro russian city would not oppose them. >> it's not a problem, i'm russian, and i was born here. like serbs, they were born in cose vo. >> you see yourself as ukraine? >> i'm russian, and most of the people are russians. >> to the casual observer, this might seem relaxed but this is no picnic in the park. some have sticks and legs and others have brand-new military kits, apparently not supplied by russia. >> so you went to a shop and bought them? >> yep. >> across town, a city administration building, and the pro russians here have been following events in odessa closely. what if the army tries to come here, i ask? >> what have happened in was a terror operation. people who aren't sure about the government in kiev now understand that the government is abusing its power, and we must protect our city. >> the people have well established positions and seem confident ta they can help in anything that the ukrainian army throws at them. step away from this, it's peaceful. many cling to the hope that it can stay like that. >> we're trying not to be scared. and trying to stay calm. >> interpreter: i'm a resident of the city, and i was born here. no one is oppressed here. why they claim that russians are oppressed in >> reporter: back at the occupied sbu building, they practice their weapons training. they could soon be firing if for real. >> and the conflict between ukraine and russia is playing out on a very different stage. one of the biggest events, tonight, teams from ukraine and russia went head-to-head. alex forrest reports from copenhagen. >> behind the glitz and glamor, it has had a thread running through it. and now more than ever. against the backdrop of conflict between russia and ukraine, the young female artists have been taking on each other in a musical battle. but ukraine's maria says that she has refused to allow tensions back home to spill over here. >> my colleagues, and it's music, it's not politics. it's stronger and higher than politics. so don't think about it. we all are friends here, and it doesn't matter. we have the problems within our country, but it doesn't touch the religion. >> the main rivals have been the 17-year-old twins, they have ignored all requests for interviews from aljazeera. but these russian fans believe that politics could be put to one side. >> people in russia and ukraine have sympathy for each other. even though we have the terrible situation right now. >> reporter: despite the recent annexation, the organizers have confirmed that those folks from crimia will be treated as ukrainian. so viewers with performers from their own country. which means that people in crimea cannot vote for ukraine, but they can vote for russia. euro vision believes that other former soviet states did likewise. >> reporter: in the countries, a lot of them listened to the media and watched the russian news. >> russia! >> reporter: some of the audience were less than happy that they qualified for the final. which means that they can battle it out all over again with ukraine. aljazeera, copenhagen. >> we're learning more tonight about a major foulup at los angeles international airport. it led to an air traffic control meltdown caused by a spy plane that was flying high over corn california. lisa stark has that story. >> reporter: the i was said that the spy plain plane was on a routine training mission, but what happened was anything but routine. the air traffic computers got very confused and they thought that the u2 spy plane, flying at a very high altitude, was flying below 10,000 feet. and the computer started to try to manage that. if it was flying that low, how could it manage all of the commercial jets in the area? it was so complex that it used up most of the computer's memory and the computer stopped accepting new flight plans. it ground the entire system to a halt and hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled and hundreds of flights were stuck on the ground in the l.a. area, and parts of southern california and nevada. the faa said it took them about an hour to unravel the mess, and they have taken steps to make sure that this doesn't happen again. they have increased the computer memory and changed the flight plans, so what happened with this modern computer system and this old spy plane will hopefully not repeat itself. >> thank you, lisa stark in washington. up next, the dramatic report concluding that climate change is not just a threat, but it's affecting our lives right now. >> reporter: i'm jake ward in san francisco and i'll see you what four feet of sea level rise will do to most americans. >> you've heard about climate change studies before. but tonight, the one you need to know about. the reality that goes beyond the warnings. >> this is not some distant problem of the future. this is a problem that is affecting americans right now. >> pollution linked to depression, rising food prices and businesses bearing the costs. tonight, our special report, climate change and you. >> i'm john seigenthaler in new york, the new report on climate change is not the first, but it could have the greatest impact on you. this time it includes a blunt warning to americans in every part of the country. put emissions now or your homes and health and jobs will be at risk. >> everyone wants to know how this will affect you. it depends on where you live, so we've kind of broken this down finish you. 64 million people in the densely populated areas, they will see the seans get more extreme. heatwaves, and coastal flooding. talking about the south, one of the most dramatic changes there. the decreased water supplies, and more frequent and severe storms, like tornadoes and hurricanes. the midwest could actually benefit in some ways. the bread basket will likely get longer growing seasons, and that could mean two harvests each year ago, but they can also expect rising carbon monoxide levels, more heatwaves and droughts and floods, and much of of the great plains right there, there's already too little precipitation. some communities will receive billions in water shortages. the southwest, hotter, and in some places, significantly drier. more water shortages as well. earlier snow melt in the northwest will reduce the water supply in the summer there, and that could wreak havoc on ecosystems. we did not forget alaska. twice as rapidly in the rest of the u.s. in the last six years, and in hawaii, right there, higher temperatures, rising sea levels and increased storms. these changes could have a rising cost of lives and cost of basic necessities such as water rising as well. regional solutions to adapt to all of these changes, here are the national solutions. cutting pollution from power plants, and investing in wind and solar power, adapting in agricultural centers to prepare for the impact of climate change, and working with other countries to address climate change globally. the white house said that if we don't act now, we'll have a multibillion-dollar tab in the future. and by then, the problems will be irreversible. >> it's up on both side of the aisle. and mike viqueira is at the white house. it won't be easy for president obama to change things, will it? >> the lines were drawn in the president's first term. remember the cap and trade legislation? the white house was hopeful, and it failed spectacularly, and many think that it cost the democrats seats in the long-term. we have a situation where conservative democrats in places like louisiana and arkansas and alaska are pushing things like the keystone pipeline extension. and that's being pushed by the conservative democrats this week, going rogue against the president. and the president today gave a series of interviews to meteorologists, talking about this, and he met in congress over the course of the last six years. >> in the last five years ago, we have seen some resistance from congress, and part of the reason of putting forward this assessment, which involved hundreds of people, experts, businesses, not-for-profits, and local communities sharing their experiences, is we want to emphasize to the public, this is not some distant problem of the future. this is a problem that's affecting americans right now. >> john, it bears repeating that there's a big decision looming, not just keystone, but other decisions looming. president obama has set a decision for coal power plants, and coal, the major source of electricity in the country. that's going to be june 1st, and both sides are gearing up for a major fight around that announcement. so could this affect midterm elections? >> certainly. when the president goes head-to-head in the midterms, and complains that democrats do not turn out for midterm elections, and the republicans have inherent advantage. and the senate could easily, the odds are that it will go to a republican majority and that would doom prospects for president obama pushing through his agenda without significant compromise, and that's something that democrats don't want to see. mitch mcconnell is up for re-election. he took the senate floor, and he's a republican leader and he talked about not just climate change but some of the regulations that the obama administration is proposing and their affect on jobs. >> i'm sure that he'll get loud cheers from the elites, the kind of people who leave large carbon footprints, and talk to everybody else about low flow toilets. >> so a year in congress, a year of action using his pen and phone, and that's likely what you'll see the president do starting with the regulations coming in weeks. >> thank you. an assistant professor at the university of utah, and she found an unusual link between climate change and mental health. pollution can increase the influence of suicide. amanda joins us from salt lake city. and welcome. >> hi. >> how did your team discover that air pollution coral lated with depression? >> they looked at the association between short-term exposure and risk of suicide in salt lake county. we found an increased risk of suicide with short-term exposure to carbon monoxide and particulate matter. and we expected to see it in the wintertime. but we found the risk to be greatest in the spring. >> so when you saw this report come out today, did you think that the suicide rates headed up? >> well, the message that i got from this report is that environmental resetters are associated with a number of health outcomes, including suicide. and air pollution will be impacted by climate change. so as we continue to study this association, which we're going to, we have to consider climate change's affects on air pollution. >> so what environmental factors in particular are related to suicide? >> well, there are a number of environmental factors. besides now air pollution, there are meteorological variables such as duration of sunshine, and temperature and rainfall. and those will also be heavily impacted by climate. >> so with colder and gloomier climates, contribute being to the higher suicide rates, that's true? >> that's actually not true. that's the impression that most people have, but that's actually not the case. there's a positive association between increasing temperatures, and increasing duration of sunshine, and negative association between increasing rainfall and suicide risk. so it's a little counter intuitive, but all of those factors may vary as a result of climate change. >> so do you believe that air pollution, the air that we breathe, and if it's high pollution, has an impact on mental health? >> yes, i do. there actually is more and more researching done that is linking air pollution with mental illness. we know that air pollution is associated with a number of poor health outcomes, mental illness being among those, and now it seems to be evidence of suicide as well. >> amanda, thank you very much. and good to talk with you. >> thank you. >> well, climate change is causing problems in lake mead in nevada. after a decade of drought, the lake is at the lowest level since construction. melissa chan reports. >> reporter: we talk about drought in california. but how about a drought that's at the lowest level in a decade. there are major challenges ahead for southern nevada. lake mead, the largest reservoir in the country, completed in the 1930s with the completion of hoover dam. it bottles up water from the colorado river, but it's future is not looking as bright. >> you know, in 2012 and 2013, those consecutive years were two of the dryest years on record. >> reporter: take a look behind me, this white band is the watermark where the water used to be. we're standing 100 feet below the top of that mark. the lake is at its lowest level since construction. after a decade of drought, the lake holds only half of its maximum capacity x because it provides 90% of las vegas' water, the stakes are high and the pressure is on to secure water for the city. >> right now, the limiting factor for las vegas is water, and sooner or later it's going to come back to bite us, because water is not an unlimited source. >> reporter: it turns out, the city of excess has one of the highest per capita water consumption rates in the country, despite major conservation efforts in the decade. the biggest culprit, not hotels and casinos, but landscaping, at golf resorts, but also in suburban sprawl. 70 to 100,000 new residents move here every year. las vegas saw a dip in the recession, but it's making a comeback, and the water supply must meet future demand. >> that's 2 million people that depend on our organization to make sure that every time they turn on the tap, water comes out and that's a responsibility that we don't take lightly. >> reporter: indeed the water authority will spend big money to fulfill its mission. lake mead currently tops out at 1,100 feet above sea level. and if conditions continue, it will expose the pipes, making pumping the water impossible. the authority will now build a third intake, sucking water from near the bottom of the lake. it's an expensive project, and the water authority said it's not the only answer. conservation remains equally important. >> part of the challenge has been to get people to realize that the changes that they make, that their one little itty bitty house in this vast metropolis makes a difference if everybody participates. >> it may be the desert city's biggest gamble yet. chasing growth while chasing water. that may not be sustainable, but this is sin city, and the bet is on. >> just another example of how desperate the situation is, the southern nevada water authority has even considered a $15 billion pipeline project to move water from the northern part of the state down south. >> melissa chan reporting. conditions are no better in neighboring california. one of the most severe droughts in state history is threatening crops, and while water reads are at all time lows, jennifer is here to explain. jennifer. >> well, john, the severe and prolonged drought is threatening the state's drinking water. one-third comes from snow mental, and there's precious little snow in the mountains from the winter. it's one thing to talk about how little snow there is, and it's another thing to see it. and we have aerial images that tell the story of a long, dry winter up in the sierra nevada mountains in california. this video was shot absolutely for aljazeera america. we placed a camera above an aircraft that is taking surveys of the snowpack. it's in corporation betwee, andy are trying to get far more accurate reads. they fly 20,000 feet over the sierra nevada, and they can pinpoint the snowpack, which will turn into snow melt with precision, and so far the reads are showing that the know pack is very shallow, even at the highest elevations. >> after two sizeable years of drought, the reservoirs are much lower than they are normally at this time of year. and so if we had a good year of snowpack, then we would fill that up and it would be a problem. but we have a lousy snowpack, so we have not very much to put into already serious deficit. so many of those reservoirs will not fill to their capacity this year, and as we head out into the dry summer months, then rationing is going to become a reality. >> reporter: the california department of water resources said the snowcap is at 4.3% of average, which means that the dry winter will make for a long, harsh summer in california. john. >> jennifer london, and thank you. now, the risk of a rising sea level is hitting south florida especially hard. now miami beach and other cities are trying to reduce the damage, and natasha is there with more. natasha. >> i'm standing on a major road here on miami beach. during high tide and after a heavy rain, this area is a mess. it's not uncommon for me to be up to my shins in floodwater. and that's why the state is in the midst of a massive construction project. they're installing the drainage pipes, and pump stations and elevating the streets to help alleviate the flooding in the future. but one geologist we spoke to said that the efforts are for naught. he said we're living on borrowed time. and it's not a matter of if south florida will become uninhabitable due to rising sea levels, it's a matter of when. miami and miami beach were built on limestone and sand respectively. they're porous, which makes it easier for seawater to rise up. by some estimates as early as 2048, there could be a two foot sea level rise in miami-dade county. that's right here on this construction cone, which means that flooding will be more persistent. to put it in perspective, he said that's just one morton cycle away. >> that's natasha reporting from miami. and from miami. we go out to san francisco. rising sea levels are a concern for coastal communities around the globe. and our science and technology correspondent, jacob ward, is in san francisco tonight with more. jake. >> well, john, it's really extraordinary just how many people rising sea levels will effect. 50% of the population of the united states lives in coastal counties. that's 164 million people. and today's climate assessment points out that we could see a single foot to 4 and a half feet of sea level rise by the end of the century. that doesn't sound like, but i'm standing at the high left mark. behind me, at&t park, and if there is a 4 and a half foot sea level rise, the fifth row would be the first out of the water. and the rest would be underwater. let me show you what france looks like now, the area that i'm in. and next to it what the flooded version of it would be. this was put together by a marine hecologist. and that's not just here in the united states, where we're trying to take steps. but barcelona would be absolutely inundated. or cities like bangkok, the most visited city in the world, would be absolutely underwater. the place would be almost damaged beyond repair. incredible, incredible damage. so even a prediction of 2 feet would be unbelievable. they talked about it today. 2 feet of sea level rise would cost almost $1 trillion in property damage in the united states alone. >> obviously people like to build on the beach and on the water, and let's take at&t park right there, it's a beautiful setting and looks terrific, but based on the reported it, what's the threat to coastal communities around the united states? >> well, there's no end to the amount of damage. not just in san francisco, so much would be lost. but when you think of two-thirds of the united states imported oil flows into the gulf of mexico, and that alone would be ireppably damaged by the sea level damage. do you go hard or soft on the problem? do you build a hard solution, like a barrier, which will contribute to erosion and end tourism in the areas, or do you go for the complicated soft approach, which is what the netherlands has pioneered building canals into the cities, so the water can flow in and out, and that's very very hard to do. and that's not how the united states is designed for, and this assessment has all of us rethinking that. >> how they would protect that baseball park behind us. so what are the authorities in san francisco and elsewhere doing to think about coping with this? >> that really is the great question. do you go hard or do you go soft? in this particular city, san francisco, they have slowly begun to look at sort of more environmentally sustainable plans where you can create canals that go in and out of the city. but they have looked at drainage systems, a big drain that you could open to protect the city. and that kind of $1 billion project is the kind of thing that people in the netherlands have looked at it said, it's too much humorous to think that we could hold it back, and instead, they're talking about the soft approach. and maybe that's what we need to do in the u.s. >> jake ward, as always, thank you very much. and as we continue our special report, how climate change may already be affecting the cost of what you put on the dinner table. and plus, how researchers are using genetics to breed livestock that can survive climate change. >> good evening, we have been talking about the heat and the wildfires across the plains for days, and we have a little bit of a change this evening. over the last 12 hour, rain showers are popping up. what happened, the high pressure dominating the area is beginning to break down, allowing a little bit of moisture to come in here. but the temperatures are still very warm. we're talking about 95 in wichita, and oklahoma city is 93°. we're looking at the red flag warning encompassing all of the states. overnight, we're not too concerned because the temperatures and the winds go down, but tomorrow, the temperatures go back up again. they're not going to be as hot as today. so we're seeing a break, but also seeing the chance of severe weather starting to pop up, especially down here towards texas. you can see the border of oklahoma, that's going to be the main focus, and thursday, the temperatures drop back down, but unfortunately, we're going to be changing it out for more severe weather across much of the area. minnesota, all the way down to texas, this could be our next tornado outbreak across the region, and we're going to be watching it very carefully as it slowly makes its way to the east. that's a look at your weather. and the news is coming up after this. >> despite the growing evidence of climb at change, nearly 40% of americans either don't believe in it, or they simply don't know. yet researchers say that every corner of the earth is affected by climate change. in the west, the price of beef is at historic highs. in elizabeth, colorado, paul, how are ranchers dealing with this problem? >> reporter: about evening, we're in elizabeth, colorado, and this is high dry rangeland, and it's getting drier and drier every year. this region is in the bring of what some climbtologists are calling a mega drought, it's intensifying year after year, and the ranchers are trying to cope with shrinking pasture land and feed costs by cutting the size of the herd, the overall product available for consumption, and that's why the beef prices are at 30 year highs. i talked to a rancor today, ann, and she has been farming and ranching for decades, and here's what she told me about her current situation. >> we sold 17 mamas, and that's almost half the herd. we had 40 mama cows, and we sold 17, and most of them were bred cows. it was a hard thing for us to do. >> i was going to say, it's a financial impact, but it's also an emotional impact. >> it was very emotional for me. and i know it sounds crazy, but i do get attached to these animals. >> reporter: ann used to grow hay on the farm, and they haven't member able to do that for years, john. the spring rains and the summer showers that they used to see haven't happened in years, and there's no more spring snowpack, and the cost of hay has gone from $100 a ton to almost 300. >> so other than hay, what are the biggest challenges facing the ranchers raising cattle? >> it's all about moisture, rain, and snowpack, and with the forecasts what they are, and what the recent history has been, if that trend doesn't change, it will be harder and harder for ranchers like ann and her neighbors continue to survive and live the ranching lifestyle here o on the high plains. >> as the planet becomes hotter, humans are not the only ones affected. there's an impact on the food change. and tonight, we here from dr. carl schmidt. and they're trying to breed sturdier chickens that can withstand the impact of climate change. >> in my area of agriculture, we're concerned about the impact on climatization. it's not just the two or three degrees of global temperature that's expected but the occurrence of prolonged and hotter heatwaves, and that's when we lose birds and they die off. one of the reasons we're looking at backyard plots in say africa or south america, those animals are very exposed to the environment. so we through there's a lot of genetic various to help them survive, and in the long run, and this would take not genetic engineering but classic at breeding. we can first of all hopefully adapt more backyard flocks to survive, and also, if necessary, move some of the genes to confer heat resilience into the lines of chickens that are used for industry, for poultry production on a large scale. we're confronted with offsetting the damage done to the environment. confronting the challenge in 30 or 40 years, of feeding 9 billion people. i absolutely do not believe that all of these problems can be offset by the approach of ago kurt. it has to be a combined global effort. >> researchers say that if the temperatures rise, they will have to rely on heat resist at animals to feed the world. to recap our top story, the obama administration said that climate change is an american economic problem, one that can no longer be ignored. the report today, the new research says that the use of fossil fuels is already having a severe impact across the country. and the 800-page report details the vast economic impact that the changes have on infrastructure, water supply and agriculture. from one extreme to another, here's an image that caught our attention today, tonight's freeze frame, flooding in minnesota. the man looks like he's fishing but he's standing in a parking lot. it's known as prairie island park, yesterday. river levels crested at 14 feet. we'll see you back here at 11:00 eastern time. ... on american tonight, desperation and demands to bring back our girls. >> the hope of finding my daughter or our daughters lies in the hands of the government. because for now on -- from now on, we cannot do anything. >> three weeks since hundreds were kid naps. reports more girls have been taken. the u.s. offers to help free them. how? facing their fears over and over again, therapy for trauma survivors. even young rape vis.