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Upcoming Broadcasts:

Finding The Way (#404) Duration: 26:46 CC Stereo TVG

* News from Nature - WC crisscrosses Tornado Alley in the Midwest with National Geographic grantee Tim Samaras a team of storm chasers in search of the next big mega-storm. Netting hailstones, video-taping lightning strikes and seeking out powerful tornados, the storm chasers use high tech cameras and sensors to collect data that will help them discover ways to better predict severe weather in an effort to keep people safe.
* Stories from the Wild - Over the last 500 years, the homeland of the Zuni tribe in New Mexico has been redefined by Western colonizers. Most modern maps reflect Western names and places failing to recognize Zuni names and heritage. Now, through the Zuni Map Art Project, National Geographic grantee Jim Enote is helping Zuni artists and cultural advisors re-map their homelands and reconnect with their history and culture, with hopes of inspiring a younger generation to do the same.
* Field Reports - In the busy waters of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Boston, ships and submerged fishing gear pose a threat to humpback whales. Researchers with NOAA and the Census of Marine Life tag the marine giants to gain a clearer picture of the humpback's underwater habits, foraging strategies and movements. The data collected is used to redirect water traffic and implement safer fishing practices to keep these whales out of harms' way.
* Adventure and Exploration - China's Yangtze River is home to some of the world's most spectacular whitewater, but plans to dam the river for hydropower threatens to alter the river's natural landscape. National Geographic Young Explorer Trip Jennings and a group of international scientists, conservationists and river enthusiasts raft 120 miles of the Yangtze's Great Bend for what may be the last time. The team hopes the seven day journey will bring national attention to this threatened wonder before the flow of development slows the rushing waters.

Channels and Airdates:

KQED World
Sat, Nov 21, 2009 -- 7:30 pm
Sun, Nov 22, 2009 -- 1:30 am


What's The Impact? (#405) Duration: 26:46 CC Stereo TVG

* News from Nature - Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the perfect laboratory for researchers conducting the Census of Marine Life, an ambitious decade-long project to survey everything that lives in the oceans. Research reveals that climate change is threatening the biodiversity that resides in reefs around the world. Hoping to discover a few dozen new species as they check on the health of the coral of the world's largest reef, scientists shockingly discover hundreds of never before seen organisms.
* Stories from the Wild - WCs travels to Florida where National Geographic researcher Edmund Gerstein unravels the mystery of why manatees are all too frequently struck by boats. Gerstein's ground breaking discovery reveals that manatees constantly sustain injuries from boat propellers because they can not hear the low frequency sounds the motors emit. Now, after nearly 20 years of research, Gernstein and his wife develop an underwater high frequency alarm that may protect the manatees from future collisions.
* Field Reports - National Geographic photographer Mattias Klum journeys to an endangered habitat close to his heart: Borneo's tropical rain forest. Over the past 20 years, Klum has witnessed the devastating impact of deforestation and logging by palm oil companies as they clear land for new plantations. What used to be a diverse tropical rainforest with a rich eco-system is disappearing at an alarming rate, and time may be running out.
* Adventure and Exploration - Atop the frigid mountaintops of Colorado's Rocky Mountains, the pika makes its home as one of the world's highest dwelling animals. Now, scientists are discovering that local populations are vanishing from the peaks. To help shed light on this natural mystery National Geographic grantee Rob Guralnick treks to the tundra to investigate whether climate change is the culprit.
* Animal Encounters - Revered and reviled, snakes are the subject of legend. Host Boyd Matson remembers some of his many harrowing encounters with giant pythons and constrictors, and explores the world of exotic pet snakes, where beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Channels and Airdates:

KQED World
Sat, Nov 28, 2009 -- 7:30 pm email reminder
Sun, Nov 29, 2009 -- 1:30 am email reminder


Rebirth (#406) Duration: 26:46 CC Stereo TVG

* News from Nature - In the 1960s, the takhi horse disappeared from its native Mongolia and was declared extinct in the wild. Determined to repopulate takhi in the Mongolian wild, conservationists hope an ambitious captive breeding program can save the species. So far reintroducing the horse has been a success, but the takhi, considered the only true wild horse left in the world, still faces many challenges to its comeback.
* Stories from the Wild - Saved from overfishing by an act of Congress, striped bass now face the threat of a disease rarely seen in the wild: mycobacterium. Researchers believe the combined stress of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay, rising water temperatures due to climate change, shrinking habitats and poor nutrition are the cause of the diseased bass. Conservationists hope a multi-pronged approach encompassing the entire Chesapeake ecosystem will create a healthier environment not only for striped bass, but for all the Bay's inhabitants.
* Field Reports - Today's Sahara is a blistering expanse of desert that is one of the most hostile places on Earth. But occasionally over the course of time, periodic changes in the Earth's orbit and wobble have transformed the Sahara from sandy brown to lush green. Nat Geo Explorer-in-Residence Paul Sereno examines a green Sahara site known as Gobero that supported two distinct civilizations thousands of years apart.
* Adventure and Exploration - Zambia's Luangwa River Valley is rich with wildlife, but it hasn't always been that way. Just a few decades ago illegal hunting threatened the area's wildlife. But thanks to an innovative program called COMACO (Community Markets for Conservation), conservationists are transforming poachers into farmers. Now, communities enjoy a food surplus, and poaching is on the decline.

Channels and Airdates:

KQED World
Sat, Dec 5, 2009 -- 7:30 pm email reminder
Sun, Dec 6, 2009 -- 1:30 am email reminder


Journey of Discovery (#407) Duration: 26:46 CC Stereo TVG

* News from Nature - Like their mythical namesakes, vampire bats feast on fresh blood in order to survive. Seeking out warm-blooded domestic livestock for a meal, the tiny bats thrive in the tropical regions of Central and South America. However in Peru, vampire bats are increasingly targeting humans and the encounters are turning deadly. Nat Geo grantee Daniel Streicker investigates the cause.
* Stories from the Wild - Every fall pronghorn antelope trek from Grand Teton National Park to their winter habitat in the Upper Green River Valley of Wyoming. The 100 mile migration is one of the longest in North America. But human development is fragmenting the pronghorn's habitat and conservationists, including Nat Geo Young Explorer grantee Joe Riis, worry the ancient migration route could be severed and lost forever.
* Field Reports - In Tasmania, Boyd leads the Nat Geo Kids Hands-On Explorer Challenge Expedition Team on a conservation project to save the endangered Tasmanian devil. Tasmanian devil populations have been decimated in the last decade by an untreatable facial tumor disease. Researchers hope that raising disease-free insurance-populations in captivity will save the devilish marsupial.
* Adventure and Exploration - Over the past 10 years, Arctic ice has been melting at a rate unparalleled in recorded history. Battling sub-zero temperatures and hungry polar bears, a team of polar explorers attempt to traverse 1400 miles across Canada's Ellesmere Island to discover the melting ice's impact.

Channels and Airdates:

KQED World
Sat, Dec 12, 2009 -- 7:30 pm email reminder
Sun, Dec 13, 2009 -- 1:30 am email reminder


What's It Worth (#408) Duration: 26:46 CC Stereo TVG

* News from Nature - In the early 20th century fur seals were pushed to the brink of extinction by hunters seeking the seal's luxurious pelt. Despite a longstanding ban on hunting, fur seal populations are still vulnerable and many colonies are in decline. Armed with Nat Geo's Crittercam, scientists travel to Russia's remote Kuril Islands to uncover the secrets to fur seal survival.
* Stories from the Wild - WC travels on assignment with National Geographic magazine to Alberta, Canada, where a controversial method of extracting petroleum is damaging the Canadian wilderness and a way of life. To reach large deposits of sand-oil that lie beneath the surface of Alberta's Boreal forest miners must strip the forest floor. Some conservationists contend the changing landscape and destruction of the Boreal is a substantive contributor to global warming.
* Field Reports - A group of prize-winning students from Atlanta venture deep into the Amazon rain forest to learn the true cost of consumer goods. Exploring the impact of deforestation and development on one of the most bio-diverse ecosystems on the planet, the trip's goal is to instill in the students a passion to protect Earth's great natural resources.
* Adventure and Exploration - In the Gulf Emirate of Abu Dhabi, increasing development is destroying the local food supply of the marine mammals that call the warm waters home. Thousands of dugongs ply the waters off the coast of Abu Dhabi, feeding on seemingly endless beds of sea grass. But as engineers drive back the sea to house the burgeoning population, dredging and construction leach silt into the Gulf, smothering the sea grass and threatening the dugongs.

Channels and Airdates:

KQED World
Sat, Dec 19, 2009 -- 7:30 pm email reminder
Sun, Dec 20, 2009 -- 1:30 am email reminder


Past and Future (#409) Duration: 26:46 CC Stereo TVG

* News from Nature - In Gombe, Tanzania, experts from U.S. based Sustainable Harvest help farmers create a viable coffee crop that benefits both the local economy and a famed chimp population. By improving production processes and utilizing shade-grown coffee trees, farmers produce a more consistent and more profitable bean. In turn, the better bean results in less pressure to clear-cut the forest canopy, increasing protection for the chimp's habitat.
* Stories from the Wild - Levees built by farmers in rural Illinois nearly a century ago cut the Emiquon Preserve from the Illinois River, reducing wetlands to cornfields. Recent restoration work has refilled the wetlands with water and provided a home to birds, waterfowl, aquatic plants and fish. But with the levees still in place, a team of scientists examines the potential impact of reconnecting the wetlands to its lifeblood, a river now changed by invasive species and floodwater from urban development.
* Field Reports - WC follows Nat Geo grantee Laura Ruykys over rocky cliffs in search of South Australia's most endangered mammal, the black-footed rock wallaby. Fewer than 100 of the wallabies remain in the wild due to hunting, introduced predators and changes in land management. Ruykys and a team of conservationists hope an accelerated breeding program that employs a more common wallaby relative as foster mom will increase black-footed wallaby populations and save the species from extinction in South Australia.
* Adventure and Exploration - Scientists from the Genographic Project, a landmark study seeking to trace the genetic lineage and migratory history of the human species, travel to Miami to launch the Genographic Spanish Language Kit. The results obtained from Miami's inhabitants, over half of whom are originally from Spanish-speaking countries, will help paint an increasingly detailed picture of how humans migrated across the globe over tens of thousands of years.

Channels and Airdates:

KQED World
Sat, Dec 26, 2009 -- 7:30 pm email reminder
Sun, Dec 27, 2009 -- 1:30 am email reminder


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