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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/11/20131118science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11068\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/nightburn-large.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11068\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/nightburn-large.jpg\" alt=\"A nighttime prescribed burn in the Stanislaus National Forest in California's Sierra Nevada. (Eric Knapp/U.S. Forest Service)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A nighttime prescribed burn in the Stanislaus National Forest in California’s Sierra Nevada. (Eric Knapp/U.S. Forest Service)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Rim Fire, which consumed more than 250,000 acres in and around Yosemite National Park this summer, is a prime example of America’s dangerous legacy of putting out too many wildfires. After a century of suppressing the flames, firefighting agencies have let the brush and small trees get so thick, that when a fire does get going, it can turn into a monster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who fight and study fire generally agree that one of the best tools for preventing massive wildfires is prescribed burning: intentionally setting smaller fires before the big ones hit. But there are major challenges to fighting fire with fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Setting the Forest on Fire\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a sunny day earlier this fall, about 50 Forest Service firefighters, mostly men, all wearing the Forest Service uniform of fire-resistant bright yellow shirts and fire-resistant dark green pants, are working a prescribed burn in the Shasta National Forest, near Redding, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http://www.kqed.org/assets/slideshow/fightfirewithfire/_files/iframe.html?noscale=640x400\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Setting fire to a forest actually requires many of the same tactics as putting one out. The crews are planning today to burn a slope near Shasta Lake, bordered on three sides by fire lines, and on the fourth by the lake itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They had earlier cleared fire lines, strips without brush and leaves, that will contain the flames. As they begin their work this morning, they burn what they call “the black,” an area ahead of and along the edges of the area to be burned that creates a safety zone for them and helps keep the fire from spreading. Then, beginning at the top of the ridge and working their way down (fire travels uphill, so this helps keep it in check), the crews set flame to dead leaves, and let the fire do its work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11079\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/settingfire.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11079\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/settingfire.jpg\" alt=\"A firefighter works a prescribed burn at the Shasta National Forest.(Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A firefighter works a prescribed burn at the Shasta National Forest.(Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This is not a scene from \u003cem>“Bambi,”\u003c/em> with flames raging and animals fleeing. For the most part, the fire barely reaches a foot high. It kills bushes and smaller trees and clears out leaves and brush. But most of the bigger, older trees survive. Fires like this have, on occasion, gotten out of control and turned into wildfires in their own right. But this one is well under control. It’s the end of the wildfire season, and the firefighters — many of whom are on the elite hotshot teams that fight the biggest fires — are relaxed while monitoring the flames, talking about their kids and their dogs. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always like seeing fire on the ground,” says Eric Knapp, an ecologist with the Forest Service. He says prescribed burns are good for the environment, for animals, for preventing massive wildfires and for keeping firefighters and the public safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But getting them done is tricky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11081\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/fireline.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11081 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/fireline.jpg\" alt=\"A fire line marks the left-hand side of the burn. (It looks like a hiking trail.) The area to the left of the line burned previously. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fire line marks the left-hand side of the burn. (It looks like a hiking trail.) The area to the left of the line burned previously. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It’s Not Easy to Fight Fire with Fire\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The window for conducting prescribed burns is narrow: when it’s dry enough that a fire will start, but not so dry that it will rage. “We have a limited opportunity to burn, maybe a week or two every year,” says Knapp. “And (we have) a limited number of resources to get a lot of acres done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often the people conducting the burns are seasonal firefighters, who are only budgeted for six months. “A lot of their seasons are spent dealing with wildfire during the hotter, drier times,” says Knapp. In fact, at the Shasta burn, some of the firefighters are on the second-to-last day of their contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the smoke. “It’s a carcinogen,” Knapp acknowledges. “And there are people who are legitimately strongly affected.” Because of that, regional air quality districts tightly regulate prescribed burns. Another burn, scheduled to take place near Redding on the same day we went to Shasta, was cancelled because of smoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11083\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/smoke.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11083\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/smoke.jpg\" alt=\"Smoke rises from the prescribed burn at the Shasta National Forest. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Smoke rises from the prescribed burn at the Shasta National Forest. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And sometimes it just comes down to a public relations issue. Not everyone sees the benefit of starting fires. “There’s a consensus among the scientists and the land managers,” Knapp says. “I don’t believe there’s a consensus in the public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">It’s like we’re losing the race, we’re just not losing it quite as fast.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>It all adds up to mean that not enough acres burn. “Every year we fall further behind and the fuel continues to build up,” says Knapp. “If it weren’t for prescribed burning, we’d fall behind even more. But it’s like we’re losing the race, we’re just not losing it quite as fast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Backlog\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California alone, about 15 million acres of forest are in need of some kind of treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a huge deficit,” says Scott Stephens, a fire scientist at University of California, Berkeley. Before the year 1800, he says, 4.5 million acres burned in California every year. Fires started either by Native Americans or by lightning were generally smaller and less intense, but much more frequent. Many areas burned every ten years or so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/firefighters.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11089\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/firefighters.jpg\" alt=\"Firefighters monitor the flames and keep the burn on the right side of the fire line. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters monitor the flames and keep the burn on the right side of the fire line. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But because of aggressive fire suppression policies that managers followed for decades, many places haven’t burned in a century or more. Some forests are so overgrown, they have ten times the number of trees as they had historically. That’s the difference between running through the trees, arms outstretched, maybe with a couple of friends by your side, and not being able to crawl through. Forests like these are more susceptible to giant wildfires, because there’s more fuel to burn and it burns hotter.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">We’re carrying these forests that are incredibly vulnerable forward into climate change. It’s a disaster really.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“We’re carrying these forests that are incredibly vulnerable forward into climate change,” says Stephens. “It’s a disaster really.” Because, he explains, California’s changing climate will make the fire season longer, and the prescribed-burn season shorter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caught in the middle are the firefighting agencies, each with different approaches and priorities. The National Park Service and the Forest Service both have prescribed burn programs, but while the parks are concerned with conservation, the Forest Service must also take into account logging, and other land uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state agency, CalFire, has its own constraints, fighting many wildfires close to development in the “wildland-urban interface.” This mingling of forest and residential areas makes prescribed burns still more difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11092\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/burning.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11092\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/burning.jpg\" alt=\"The firefighters set the fire in spots then let it spread uphill. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The firefighters set the fire in spots then let it spread uphill. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Success and a Nightmare Scenario\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this summer’s Rim Fire — the largest known fire in the Sierra Nevada and the third-largest in California history — is a lesson in the dangers of fire suppression, it also offers glimmers of hope about the benefits of prescribed burns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where I started my division assignment on the Rim Fire, was in areas where the Forest Service had recently completed some prescribed burns,” says Tom Garcia, the fire manager at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. “And we were able to stall that fire out in that particular area and buy some decision space and some time.” With that extra time, Garcia says, they were able to get ahead of the fire, and save some nearby homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11098\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 308px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/ericknapp.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11098 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/ericknapp.jpg\" alt=\"Eric Knapp, an ecologist with the Forest Service, says we're going to have to accept more frequent fires. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"308\" height=\"431\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric Knapp, an ecologist with the Forest Service, says we’re going to have to accept more frequent fires. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My real nightmare scenario is current conditions going forward,” says Stephens. He says he hopes the Rim Fire will serve as a turning point: a glimpse of the path we’re on, and an opportunity to choose a different path that includes more thinning, more prescribed burns and more ability to manage and take advantage of fires that start naturally. A few of the National Forests in California are currently reviewing their management plans, and Stephens says he sees that as an opportunity to bring in more fire, too. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we don’t do it now we’re going to set people up in the future for less decision space. They’re going to have less options. It’s going to be warmer. It’s going to have longer drier periods,” he says. “50 years from now, 80 years from now, they will just wish that we would have moved.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knapp, the Forest Service ecologist, says he’s optimistic about the future. But major wildfires will be a part of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have to accept the fact that we live in an environment with occasional fire and that fire is more intense,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because after a century of admonishments from Smokey Bear, even with the best efforts of firefighters, even with prescribed burns and logging and managed wildland fire, the era of catastrophic fires is upon us.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Setting fire to a forest actually requires many of the same tactics as putting one out. The crews are planning today to burn a slope near Shasta Lake, bordered on three sides by fire lines, and on the fourth by the lake itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They had earlier cleared fire lines, strips without brush and leaves, that will contain the flames. As they begin their work this morning, they burn what they call “the black,” an area ahead of and along the edges of the area to be burned that creates a safety zone for them and helps keep the fire from spreading. Then, beginning at the top of the ridge and working their way down (fire travels uphill, so this helps keep it in check), the crews set flame to dead leaves, and let the fire do its work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11079\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/settingfire.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11079\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/settingfire.jpg\" alt=\"A firefighter works a prescribed burn at the Shasta National Forest.(Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A firefighter works a prescribed burn at the Shasta National Forest.(Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This is not a scene from \u003cem>“Bambi,”\u003c/em> with flames raging and animals fleeing. For the most part, the fire barely reaches a foot high. It kills bushes and smaller trees and clears out leaves and brush. But most of the bigger, older trees survive. Fires like this have, on occasion, gotten out of control and turned into wildfires in their own right. But this one is well under control. It’s the end of the wildfire season, and the firefighters — many of whom are on the elite hotshot teams that fight the biggest fires — are relaxed while monitoring the flames, talking about their kids and their dogs. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I always like seeing fire on the ground,” says Eric Knapp, an ecologist with the Forest Service. He says prescribed burns are good for the environment, for animals, for preventing massive wildfires and for keeping firefighters and the public safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But getting them done is tricky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11081\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/fireline.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11081 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/fireline.jpg\" alt=\"A fire line marks the left-hand side of the burn. (It looks like a hiking trail.) The area to the left of the line burned previously. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fire line marks the left-hand side of the burn. (It looks like a hiking trail.) The area to the left of the line burned previously. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It’s Not Easy to Fight Fire with Fire\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The window for conducting prescribed burns is narrow: when it’s dry enough that a fire will start, but not so dry that it will rage. “We have a limited opportunity to burn, maybe a week or two every year,” says Knapp. “And (we have) a limited number of resources to get a lot of acres done.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often the people conducting the burns are seasonal firefighters, who are only budgeted for six months. “A lot of their seasons are spent dealing with wildfire during the hotter, drier times,” says Knapp. In fact, at the Shasta burn, some of the firefighters are on the second-to-last day of their contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then there’s the smoke. “It’s a carcinogen,” Knapp acknowledges. “And there are people who are legitimately strongly affected.” Because of that, regional air quality districts tightly regulate prescribed burns. Another burn, scheduled to take place near Redding on the same day we went to Shasta, was cancelled because of smoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11083\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/smoke.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11083\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/smoke.jpg\" alt=\"Smoke rises from the prescribed burn at the Shasta National Forest. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Smoke rises from the prescribed burn at the Shasta National Forest. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And sometimes it just comes down to a public relations issue. Not everyone sees the benefit of starting fires. “There’s a consensus among the scientists and the land managers,” Knapp says. “I don’t believe there’s a consensus in the public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">It’s like we’re losing the race, we’re just not losing it quite as fast.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>It all adds up to mean that not enough acres burn. “Every year we fall further behind and the fuel continues to build up,” says Knapp. “If it weren’t for prescribed burning, we’d fall behind even more. But it’s like we’re losing the race, we’re just not losing it quite as fast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Backlog\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In California alone, about 15 million acres of forest are in need of some kind of treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re in a huge deficit,” says Scott Stephens, a fire scientist at University of California, Berkeley. Before the year 1800, he says, 4.5 million acres burned in California every year. Fires started either by Native Americans or by lightning were generally smaller and less intense, but much more frequent. Many areas burned every ten years or so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/firefighters.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11089\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/firefighters.jpg\" alt=\"Firefighters monitor the flames and keep the burn on the right side of the fire line. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters monitor the flames and keep the burn on the right side of the fire line. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But because of aggressive fire suppression policies that managers followed for decades, many places haven’t burned in a century or more. Some forests are so overgrown, they have ten times the number of trees as they had historically. That’s the difference between running through the trees, arms outstretched, maybe with a couple of friends by your side, and not being able to crawl through. Forests like these are more susceptible to giant wildfires, because there’s more fuel to burn and it burns hotter.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">We’re carrying these forests that are incredibly vulnerable forward into climate change. It’s a disaster really.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“We’re carrying these forests that are incredibly vulnerable forward into climate change,” says Stephens. “It’s a disaster really.” Because, he explains, California’s changing climate will make the fire season longer, and the prescribed-burn season shorter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caught in the middle are the firefighting agencies, each with different approaches and priorities. The National Park Service and the Forest Service both have prescribed burn programs, but while the parks are concerned with conservation, the Forest Service must also take into account logging, and other land uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state agency, CalFire, has its own constraints, fighting many wildfires close to development in the “wildland-urban interface.” This mingling of forest and residential areas makes prescribed burns still more difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11092\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/burning.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11092\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/burning.jpg\" alt=\"The firefighters set the fire in spots then let it spread uphill. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The firefighters set the fire in spots then let it spread uphill. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Success and a Nightmare Scenario\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this summer’s Rim Fire — the largest known fire in the Sierra Nevada and the third-largest in California history — is a lesson in the dangers of fire suppression, it also offers glimmers of hope about the benefits of prescribed burns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Where I started my division assignment on the Rim Fire, was in areas where the Forest Service had recently completed some prescribed burns,” says Tom Garcia, the fire manager at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. “And we were able to stall that fire out in that particular area and buy some decision space and some time.” With that extra time, Garcia says, they were able to get ahead of the fire, and save some nearby homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11098\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 308px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/ericknapp.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-11098 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/ericknapp.jpg\" alt=\"Eric Knapp, an ecologist with the Forest Service, says we're going to have to accept more frequent fires. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\" width=\"308\" height=\"431\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric Knapp, an ecologist with the Forest Service, says we’re going to have to accept more frequent fires. (Molly Samuel/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“My real nightmare scenario is current conditions going forward,” says Stephens. He says he hopes the Rim Fire will serve as a turning point: a glimpse of the path we’re on, and an opportunity to choose a different path that includes more thinning, more prescribed burns and more ability to manage and take advantage of fires that start naturally. A few of the National Forests in California are currently reviewing their management plans, and Stephens says he sees that as an opportunity to bring in more fire, too. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we don’t do it now we’re going to set people up in the future for less decision space. They’re going to have less options. It’s going to be warmer. It’s going to have longer drier periods,” he says. “50 years from now, 80 years from now, they will just wish that we would have moved.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knapp, the Forest Service ecologist, says he’s optimistic about the future. But major wildfires will be a part of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have to accept the fact that we live in an environment with occasional fire and that fire is more intense,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because after a century of admonishments from Smokey Bear, even with the best efforts of firefighters, even with prescribed burns and logging and managed wildland fire, the era of catastrophic fires is upon us.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "What California's New Fracking Rules Would Do (And Not Do)",
"headTitle": "What California’s New Fracking Rules Would Do (And Not Do) | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11062\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/RS3844_OilPumps_20120711b-scr.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11062\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/RS3844_OilPumps_20120711b-scr.jpg\" alt=\"Oil wells in Kern County, where much of California's fracking has taken place. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oil wells in Kern County, where much of California’s fracking has taken place. (Craig Miller/KQED) \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The debate over hydraulic fracturing is heating up in California, as the state \u003ca href=\"http://www.conservation.ca.gov/index/Documents/Text%20of%20Proposed%20Regulations%20-%20SB%204%20Well%20Stimulation%20Treatment%20Regulations.pdf\">released draft regulations\u003c/a> on Friday for the controversial oil extraction technique. This follows a \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB4\">bill\u003c/a> signed by Governor Jerry Brown earlier this year that adds new requirements for oil companies to protect groundwater and disclose more public information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These regulations are the strongest and most comprehensive environmental public health protections of any oil and gas producing state,” said Mark Nechodom, director of the California Department of Conservation, which oversees the state’s oil and gas division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the same time,” he said, “these regulations are designed to ensure that the oil and gas industry in California, which is a key element of the California economy, will remain productive and competitive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The technique by which water, sand and chemicals are injected underground at high pressure to release more oil has been used for decades in California. The long-awaited draft regulations represent the state’s first effort to address fracking, beyond the standards for oil well construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>New requirements in proposed fracking rules:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Oil companies must apply for a permit before fracking and disclose where it will take place, how much water will be used, the source of that water and how it will be disposed of.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli> They must disclose what chemicals are used in fracking, but not the concentrations in cases where they claim a trade secret exemption.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Oil well operators must provide at least 30 days advance written notice before fracking, to landowners and neighbors within 1,500 feet of the well.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Property owners may request water quality testing of their own wells before and after fracking.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Well operators must review earthquake faults in the area to ensure that the fluids used fracking don’t migrate along faults.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>An independent science panel will study the potential risks from hydraulic fracturing and other extraction techniques like acid well stimulation and report by January 1, 2015.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>State oil and gas regulators will do an environmental impact review of the potential environmental risks of fracking in the state and report by July 1, 2015.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli> The state will also set up a website by January 2016 for public information about fracking.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The State Water Resources Control Board will create a program to monitor groundwater basins specifically to protect drinking water sources from fracking.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Call for a Moratorium\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m feeling mixed about the regulations,” says David Pettit, attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that the best approach would be a straight up moratorium until fracking is proved safe,” he said. “But the regulations, particularly the scientific study and the statewide environmental impact report do give us a possibility of having a good analysis of the safety and public health issues that I hope the state can act on in a sensible way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”586a7ee57327ff9ff49152618277d546”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been doing it for 60 years and there hasn’t been an incident anywhere in the state,” says Catherine Reheis-Boyd of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wspa.org/\">Western States Petroleum Association\u003c/a>, an industry group. “To have a moratorium would make it even more difficult for California to supply the crude oil it needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We understand we have to do this right and if we don’t, we won’t be doing it the state of California,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Potential Oil Boom\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has a century-old oil industry, located mainly in Kern County. With much of the easily-accessed oil recovered, focus has shifted to the Monterey Shale, which holds an estimated 15 billion barrels of oil. Oil companies say recovering that oil is a challenge, given California’s complex underground geology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it is developed to the extent we hope, it really will provide jobs and a valuable to resource to California,” said Reheis-Boyd.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups say extracting and using that oil runs counter to the state’s aggressive climate change goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to shift to renewables,” said Kathryn Phillips of \u003ca href=\"http://california2.sierraclub.org/\">Sierra Club California\u003c/a>. “California is doing a good job at that, but we need to accelerate. To get investment, you need to stop putting investment in false hope. Extracting more oil is false hope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">We want to make sure people have an opportunity to know what’s happening in their region.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>State regulators are required to look at the potential greenhouse gas emissions associated with fracking as part of the statewide environmental impact report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What the Regulations Don’t Say\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Questions remain about the environmental review of each oil and gas well, under \u003ca href=\"http://ceres.ca.gov/ceqa/\">California’s Environmental Quality Act\u003c/a> (CEQA). Under the new rules, oil well operators must get a permit for fracking. The permit triggers a review of the potential impacts on the local water, air and community. Officials haven’t yet specified how they’ll do this review. A comprehensive review could be done on a case-by-case basis for each individual well site, or regulators could rely on the statewide environmental review when granting fracking permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure people have an opportunity to know what’s happening in their region,” said Kathryn Phillips. “We think you can only have that if you have a well-by-well review.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Questions also remain about whether several wells could be grouped together and approved with a single permit. In a signing statement, Governor Brown directed regulators “to develop an efficient permitting program for well-stimulation activities that groups permits together based on factors such as known geologic conditions and environmental impacts.” Oil and gas regulators say the conditions for grouping wells together will be developed in a separate rule-making process this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fracking regulations take effect on or before January 1, 2015. The division of oil and gas is developing a set of “emergency regulations” that will cover fracking until that time and the agency plans to release those in mid-December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State regulators are expecting a deluge of public comments over the next 60 days. \u003cspan style=\"font-size: 13px;line-height: 19px\">\u003ca href=\"http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dog/Pages/Index.aspx\">Five public hearings\u003c/a> will also be held. Another public comment period will follow in the spring after the agency makes revisions to this draft of the regulations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11062\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/RS3844_OilPumps_20120711b-scr.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11062\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/RS3844_OilPumps_20120711b-scr.jpg\" alt=\"Oil wells in Kern County, where much of California's fracking has taken place. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oil wells in Kern County, where much of California’s fracking has taken place. (Craig Miller/KQED) \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The debate over hydraulic fracturing is heating up in California, as the state \u003ca href=\"http://www.conservation.ca.gov/index/Documents/Text%20of%20Proposed%20Regulations%20-%20SB%204%20Well%20Stimulation%20Treatment%20Regulations.pdf\">released draft regulations\u003c/a> on Friday for the controversial oil extraction technique. This follows a \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB4\">bill\u003c/a> signed by Governor Jerry Brown earlier this year that adds new requirements for oil companies to protect groundwater and disclose more public information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These regulations are the strongest and most comprehensive environmental public health protections of any oil and gas producing state,” said Mark Nechodom, director of the California Department of Conservation, which oversees the state’s oil and gas division.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the same time,” he said, “these regulations are designed to ensure that the oil and gas industry in California, which is a key element of the California economy, will remain productive and competitive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The technique by which water, sand and chemicals are injected underground at high pressure to release more oil has been used for decades in California. The long-awaited draft regulations represent the state’s first effort to address fracking, beyond the standards for oil well construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>New requirements in proposed fracking rules:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Oil companies must apply for a permit before fracking and disclose where it will take place, how much water will be used, the source of that water and how it will be disposed of.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli> They must disclose what chemicals are used in fracking, but not the concentrations in cases where they claim a trade secret exemption.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Oil well operators must provide at least 30 days advance written notice before fracking, to landowners and neighbors within 1,500 feet of the well.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Property owners may request water quality testing of their own wells before and after fracking.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Well operators must review earthquake faults in the area to ensure that the fluids used fracking don’t migrate along faults.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>An independent science panel will study the potential risks from hydraulic fracturing and other extraction techniques like acid well stimulation and report by January 1, 2015.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>State oil and gas regulators will do an environmental impact review of the potential environmental risks of fracking in the state and report by July 1, 2015.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli> The state will also set up a website by January 2016 for public information about fracking.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The State Water Resources Control Board will create a program to monitor groundwater basins specifically to protect drinking water sources from fracking.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Call for a Moratorium\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m feeling mixed about the regulations,” says David Pettit, attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that the best approach would be a straight up moratorium until fracking is proved safe,” he said. “But the regulations, particularly the scientific study and the statewide environmental impact report do give us a possibility of having a good analysis of the safety and public health issues that I hope the state can act on in a sensible way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been doing it for 60 years and there hasn’t been an incident anywhere in the state,” says Catherine Reheis-Boyd of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wspa.org/\">Western States Petroleum Association\u003c/a>, an industry group. “To have a moratorium would make it even more difficult for California to supply the crude oil it needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We understand we have to do this right and if we don’t, we won’t be doing it the state of California,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Potential Oil Boom\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California has a century-old oil industry, located mainly in Kern County. With much of the easily-accessed oil recovered, focus has shifted to the Monterey Shale, which holds an estimated 15 billion barrels of oil. Oil companies say recovering that oil is a challenge, given California’s complex underground geology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it is developed to the extent we hope, it really will provide jobs and a valuable to resource to California,” said Reheis-Boyd.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental groups say extracting and using that oil runs counter to the state’s aggressive climate change goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to shift to renewables,” said Kathryn Phillips of \u003ca href=\"http://california2.sierraclub.org/\">Sierra Club California\u003c/a>. “California is doing a good job at that, but we need to accelerate. To get investment, you need to stop putting investment in false hope. Extracting more oil is false hope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">We want to make sure people have an opportunity to know what’s happening in their region.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>State regulators are required to look at the potential greenhouse gas emissions associated with fracking as part of the statewide environmental impact report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What the Regulations Don’t Say\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Questions remain about the environmental review of each oil and gas well, under \u003ca href=\"http://ceres.ca.gov/ceqa/\">California’s Environmental Quality Act\u003c/a> (CEQA). Under the new rules, oil well operators must get a permit for fracking. The permit triggers a review of the potential impacts on the local water, air and community. Officials haven’t yet specified how they’ll do this review. A comprehensive review could be done on a case-by-case basis for each individual well site, or regulators could rely on the statewide environmental review when granting fracking permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to make sure people have an opportunity to know what’s happening in their region,” said Kathryn Phillips. “We think you can only have that if you have a well-by-well review.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Questions also remain about whether several wells could be grouped together and approved with a single permit. In a signing statement, Governor Brown directed regulators “to develop an efficient permitting program for well-stimulation activities that groups permits together based on factors such as known geologic conditions and environmental impacts.” Oil and gas regulators say the conditions for grouping wells together will be developed in a separate rule-making process this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fracking regulations take effect on or before January 1, 2015. The division of oil and gas is developing a set of “emergency regulations” that will cover fracking until that time and the agency plans to release those in mid-December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State regulators are expecting a deluge of public comments over the next 60 days. \u003cspan style=\"font-size: 13px;line-height: 19px\">\u003ca href=\"http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dog/Pages/Index.aspx\">Five public hearings\u003c/a> will also be held. Another public comment period will follow in the spring after the agency makes revisions to this draft of the regulations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Soy and Dry Ice Among San Francisco’s New Tricks to Banish City Graffiti",
"headTitle": "Soy and Dry Ice Among San Francisco’s New Tricks to Banish City Graffiti | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10976\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/photo-1-e1384480289590.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10976\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10976\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/photo-1-e1384480289590.jpg\" alt=\"Dennis Barfuss, a specialist in dry ice-blasting, demonstrates graffiti removal at Agua Vista Park in San Francisco. (Photos by Lindsey Hoshaw/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dennis Barfuss, a specialist in dry ice-blasting, demonstrates graffiti removal at Agua Vista Park in San Francisco. (Photos by Lindsey Hoshaw/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rummage through the pantry or freezer and you’re likely to find some of the ingredients the \u003ca href=\"http://www.epa.gov/%E2%80%8E\">Environmental Protection Agency\u003c/a> is now deploying to clean up graffiti.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glass, dry ice and a form of soy oil are among the items the EPA has paid the \u003ca href=\"http://www.irta.us/\">Institute for Research and Technical Assistance\u003c/a> to test as non-toxic solvents that are safe for humans and the environment. The Institute, based in Los Angeles, is a non-profit that researches alternatives for hazardous chemicals, in particular solvents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Graffiti is everywhere and in order to clean it up, we traditionally use incredibly toxic chemicals and those chemicals go into the environment,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “They also harm workers so the exciting thing about this is the country is spending billions on cleaning up graffiti now we have a green solution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each year the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfdpw.org/\">San Francisco Department of Public Works\u003c/a> receives some 30,000 phone calls about graffiti vandalism, according to director Mohammed Nuru. The city spends $20 million annually on graffiti removal, much of it done by volunteers who must be protected from the toxic fumes in traditional solvents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10967\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 226px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/Graffiti-Ben-Shepard.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10967\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10967\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/Graffiti-Ben-Shepard.jpg\" alt=\"Ben Shepard points to a pole where graffiti was removed by high-pressure sand. Shephard is with Cold Jet, a company that manufactures high pressure blaster for use with sand and dry ice.\" width=\"226\" height=\"303\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ben Shepard points to a pole where graffiti was removed by high-pressure sand. Shephard is with Cold Jet, a company that manufactures high pressure blasters for use with sand and dry ice.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In some cases you have to wear a mask and suit up,” Nuru said. “We’re looking for solvents that have fewer chemicals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chemicals like N-methyl pyrrolidone and toluene are renowned for their ability to dissolve paint. But the properties that make them effective solvents also make them harmful to people and the environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NMP and toluene are listed under \u003ca href=\"http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/files/P65single110813.pdf\">California’s Proposition 65\u003c/a> as chemicals known to cause developmental harm. Toluene is also listed as a hazardous air pollutant under the federal Clean Air Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department has spent the past three years trying new solutions with everything from baking soda to dry ice, and Nuru said they’re focused on eliminating as many types of harmful chemical solvents as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. Small pellets of ice are pressure-blasted onto surfaces where they freeze the graffiti, causing it to expand and explode off the surface of a bus or building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After hitting a structure the dry ice turns into a gas and returns into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, leaving no residue behind. The amount of CO2 is negligible, according to Ben Shepard of \u003ca href=\"http://www.coldjet.com/en/index.php\">Cold Jet\u003c/a>, which manufactures a high pressure blaster for dry ice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10989\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 226px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/Dry-ice-e1384484643801.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10989\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10989\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/Dry-ice-e1384484643801.jpg\" alt=\"Dry ice pellets are blasted onto surfaces, freezing graffiti that then expands and explodes off city buildings.\" width=\"226\" height=\"303\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dry ice pellets are blasted onto surfaces, freezing graffiti that then expands and explodes off city buildings.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco will also be testing sand and a soy-oil product.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The soy contains methyl ester, a compound in vegetable oils that can remove certain types of paint. It’s mixed with rubbing alcohol and can be wiped onto surfaces without a heavy duty sand blaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sand is made from old beer bottles and other recycled glass that is ground into a fine powder that is pressure-blasted onto graffiti to scrape it away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peanut oil was an early contender since it removes spray paint from stop signs the way peanut butter removes gum from hair. But the prevalence of nut allergies among many people squashed that solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They all kind of sound like home remedies, I mean who would have thought peanut butter?” Blumenfeld said. “But cities across the nation are feeling a budget squeeze, so many of these things like soy or the recycled glass are actually cheaper than the toxic alternative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For all their novelty, the natural materials can’t dissolve the graffiti itself. The tiny bits of paint that are blasted or wiped off may still contain harmful chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are not a magic wand,” Shepard said. “If we were, you would just point the nozzle and what you cleaned would disappear, sadly, we’re not there just yet.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "San Francisco cleans up a lot of graffiti every year. In the past, the city has used standard industrial solvents for this task, but now, workers will be cleaning up with non-toxic materials, in an effort to protect people and reduce toxic runoff.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10976\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/photo-1-e1384480289590.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10976\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10976\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/photo-1-e1384480289590.jpg\" alt=\"Dennis Barfuss, a specialist in dry ice-blasting, demonstrates graffiti removal at Agua Vista Park in San Francisco. (Photos by Lindsey Hoshaw/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dennis Barfuss, a specialist in dry ice-blasting, demonstrates graffiti removal at Agua Vista Park in San Francisco. (Photos by Lindsey Hoshaw/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rummage through the pantry or freezer and you’re likely to find some of the ingredients the \u003ca href=\"http://www.epa.gov/%E2%80%8E\">Environmental Protection Agency\u003c/a> is now deploying to clean up graffiti.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glass, dry ice and a form of soy oil are among the items the EPA has paid the \u003ca href=\"http://www.irta.us/\">Institute for Research and Technical Assistance\u003c/a> to test as non-toxic solvents that are safe for humans and the environment. The Institute, based in Los Angeles, is a non-profit that researches alternatives for hazardous chemicals, in particular solvents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Graffiti is everywhere and in order to clean it up, we traditionally use incredibly toxic chemicals and those chemicals go into the environment,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “They also harm workers so the exciting thing about this is the country is spending billions on cleaning up graffiti now we have a green solution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each year the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sfdpw.org/\">San Francisco Department of Public Works\u003c/a> receives some 30,000 phone calls about graffiti vandalism, according to director Mohammed Nuru. The city spends $20 million annually on graffiti removal, much of it done by volunteers who must be protected from the toxic fumes in traditional solvents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10967\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 226px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/Graffiti-Ben-Shepard.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10967\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10967\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/Graffiti-Ben-Shepard.jpg\" alt=\"Ben Shepard points to a pole where graffiti was removed by high-pressure sand. Shephard is with Cold Jet, a company that manufactures high pressure blaster for use with sand and dry ice.\" width=\"226\" height=\"303\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ben Shepard points to a pole where graffiti was removed by high-pressure sand. Shephard is with Cold Jet, a company that manufactures high pressure blasters for use with sand and dry ice.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In some cases you have to wear a mask and suit up,” Nuru said. “We’re looking for solvents that have fewer chemicals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chemicals like N-methyl pyrrolidone and toluene are renowned for their ability to dissolve paint. But the properties that make them effective solvents also make them harmful to people and the environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NMP and toluene are listed under \u003ca href=\"http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/files/P65single110813.pdf\">California’s Proposition 65\u003c/a> as chemicals known to cause developmental harm. Toluene is also listed as a hazardous air pollutant under the federal Clean Air Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department has spent the past three years trying new solutions with everything from baking soda to dry ice, and Nuru said they’re focused on eliminating as many types of harmful chemical solvents as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. Small pellets of ice are pressure-blasted onto surfaces where they freeze the graffiti, causing it to expand and explode off the surface of a bus or building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After hitting a structure the dry ice turns into a gas and returns into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, leaving no residue behind. The amount of CO2 is negligible, according to Ben Shepard of \u003ca href=\"http://www.coldjet.com/en/index.php\">Cold Jet\u003c/a>, which manufactures a high pressure blaster for dry ice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10989\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 226px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/Dry-ice-e1384484643801.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10989\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10989\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/Dry-ice-e1384484643801.jpg\" alt=\"Dry ice pellets are blasted onto surfaces, freezing graffiti that then expands and explodes off city buildings.\" width=\"226\" height=\"303\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dry ice pellets are blasted onto surfaces, freezing graffiti that then expands and explodes off city buildings.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco will also be testing sand and a soy-oil product.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The soy contains methyl ester, a compound in vegetable oils that can remove certain types of paint. It’s mixed with rubbing alcohol and can be wiped onto surfaces without a heavy duty sand blaster.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sand is made from old beer bottles and other recycled glass that is ground into a fine powder that is pressure-blasted onto graffiti to scrape it away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peanut oil was an early contender since it removes spray paint from stop signs the way peanut butter removes gum from hair. But the prevalence of nut allergies among many people squashed that solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They all kind of sound like home remedies, I mean who would have thought peanut butter?” Blumenfeld said. “But cities across the nation are feeling a budget squeeze, so many of these things like soy or the recycled glass are actually cheaper than the toxic alternative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For all their novelty, the natural materials can’t dissolve the graffiti itself. The tiny bits of paint that are blasted or wiped off may still contain harmful chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are not a magic wand,” Shepard said. “If we were, you would just point the nozzle and what you cleaned would disappear, sadly, we’re not there just yet.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Crab Season Kicks Off With New Limits for Fishermen",
"headTitle": "Crab Season Kicks Off With New Limits for Fishermen | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10914\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/crabboat3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10914\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/crabboat3.jpg\" alt=\"Crab fishermen wait at Pier 45 for the November 15 season opener (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crab fishermen wait at Pier 45 for the November 15th season opener (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Every November, fishing boats pack together at San Francisco’s Pier 45, where crews stack the decks with row after row of mesh crab traps. This year, a new fishery policy means those stacks are a little smaller.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody has more than 500 traps now,” says Larry Collins, president of the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association. “Some of these guys used to come with 2,000.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Central California’s crab season is typically fast and furious, in which 80 percent of the haul comes in the first four to six weeks. Previously, boats could carry an unlimited number of crab traps and local fishermen are typically joined by boats from Northern California and Oregon, because crab season opens two weeks later north of Mendocino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All those boats up there can kind of double dip,” says Pete Kalvass of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “They can go down and fish those two weeks off San Francisco and then head home and catch their own opening date.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the new fishery limits, each boat is allocated 500 crab traps or less, based on its historic catch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It ended the arms race,” says Collins. “We had to do something. There was more and more and more gear in the ocean every year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10915\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 380px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/crabboat2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10915\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/crabboat2.jpg\" alt=\"California crab boats are now limited to 500 crab traps or less. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"380\" height=\"260\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California crab boats are now limited to 500 crab traps or less. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oregon and Washington have similar limitations in place. Kalvass says West Coast crab fishermen will now be on a level playing field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the cap is on the number of traps, not the volume of crabs landed, the trap limits could conceivably extend the crab season, meaning consumers would see fresh crab in markets longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Typically, as the season wears on, the price that the fishermen get increases, so it was thought this would be a benefit to the fishermen,” says Kalvass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s taken us 12 years to get crab trap limits in California and three pieces of legislation,” Collins says. “But we’re finally here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fishermen are hoping to match last year’s record-breaking catch, when 31 million pounds were landed in California. Fresh crab should begin arriving dockside late Friday.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A new cap on the number of crab traps could help Bay Area fishermen--and maybe keep fresh crab in your local market a bit longer.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10914\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/crabboat3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10914\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/crabboat3.jpg\" alt=\"Crab fishermen wait at Pier 45 for the November 15 season opener (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crab fishermen wait at Pier 45 for the November 15th season opener (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Every November, fishing boats pack together at San Francisco’s Pier 45, where crews stack the decks with row after row of mesh crab traps. This year, a new fishery policy means those stacks are a little smaller.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody has more than 500 traps now,” says Larry Collins, president of the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association. “Some of these guys used to come with 2,000.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Central California’s crab season is typically fast and furious, in which 80 percent of the haul comes in the first four to six weeks. Previously, boats could carry an unlimited number of crab traps and local fishermen are typically joined by boats from Northern California and Oregon, because crab season opens two weeks later north of Mendocino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All those boats up there can kind of double dip,” says Pete Kalvass of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “They can go down and fish those two weeks off San Francisco and then head home and catch their own opening date.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the new fishery limits, each boat is allocated 500 crab traps or less, based on its historic catch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It ended the arms race,” says Collins. “We had to do something. There was more and more and more gear in the ocean every year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10915\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 380px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/crabboat2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10915\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/crabboat2.jpg\" alt=\"California crab boats are now limited to 500 crab traps or less. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"380\" height=\"260\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California crab boats are now limited to 500 crab traps or less. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oregon and Washington have similar limitations in place. Kalvass says West Coast crab fishermen will now be on a level playing field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the cap is on the number of traps, not the volume of crabs landed, the trap limits could conceivably extend the crab season, meaning consumers would see fresh crab in markets longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Typically, as the season wears on, the price that the fishermen get increases, so it was thought this would be a benefit to the fishermen,” says Kalvass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s taken us 12 years to get crab trap limits in California and three pieces of legislation,” Collins says. “But we’re finally here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fishermen are hoping to match last year’s record-breaking catch, when 31 million pounds were landed in California. Fresh crab should begin arriving dockside late Friday.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Why Astronauts and Telecommunications Companies Fear the 'Solar Maximum'",
"headTitle": "Why Astronauts and Telecommunications Companies Fear the ‘Solar Maximum’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10857\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/20131110-hmi_smaller-1024x1024.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10857\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/20131110-hmi_smaller-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"This region of sun spots is about the size of the planet Jupiter. It emerged on Nov. 2, 2013 and has been producing powerful solar flares. (NASA/SDO)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10857\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This region of sun spots is about the size of the planet Jupiter. It emerged on Nov. 2, 2013 and has been producing powerful solar flares. (NASA/SDO)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There sun is about to flip.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an event that takes place every 11 years, the magnetic field of the sun will change its polarity (in fact, this is already happening) sending a ripple of changing current way past Pluto, to the outer reaches of the heliosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the peak of this cycle – what’s called a “solar maximum” — there can be more dramatic \u003ca href=\"http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/halloween_storms.html\">aurora displays\u003c/a> in the northern latitudes, \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1989_geomagnetic_storm\">power outages,\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/03jun_fakeastronaut/\">scared astronauts\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, at Stanford’s \u003ca href=\"http://wso.stanford.edu/\">Wilcox Solar Observatory\u003c/a>, scientists will be paying close attention. Todd Hoeksema directs the observatory, which has been monitoring the Sun’s magnetic field since 1975.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(The Wilcox is not, by the way, the source of all the pretty pictures on this page – those come from NASA’s \u003ca href=\"http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/\">Solar Dynamics Observatory\u003c/a>, which is profiled in this \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/journey-into-the-sun/\">KQED Science video\u003c/a> back in 2010.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hoeksema, reached in his office, told KQED Science that this year’s reversal – “Cycle 24” – is a lot less dramatic than previous cycles, but still exciting enough to have him and others glued to their screens, watching sun spots come and go on the surface of our star.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So when, exactly, is this flip going to happen?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003c/strong>It happening right now. It’s a gradual process, not something that happens over the course of a few hours or even a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s kind of like a tide coming in and out. When does it reach high tide? You can specify a moment after the fact, but as you’re experiencing it, you can’t tell so well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In six months, I’ll be able to tell you pretty closely at which point the sun reversed its polarity, but I can’t do it now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What does that mean to say that the polarity reverses?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003c/strong>Magnetic fields point one direction or the other. And at the surface of the sun, they point into the surface, or out of the surface. And right now, the polar field in the south is changing from pointing out of the sun, to pointing into the sun. We call that going from positive to negative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>is a big deal because the sun’s magnetic field is what determines how solar wind is organized, and solar wind goes all the way past the planets to the edge of the heliosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Which is the part of space that’s influenced by the Sun. Didn’t the Voyager 1 spacecraft just \u003ca href=\"http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20130912.html#.UoGAEeJxXY8\">reach the edge\u003c/a> of the heliosphere?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are two Voyager spacecrafts. And people are pretty sure that one of them has recently passed outside the heliosphere for the first time, past Pluto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is that we don’t know what it’s going to look like outside the bounds of the heliosphere. So it’s a little bit hard to say for sure that you’ve done it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8XwfyNm5XQ\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So the reversal, when it hits, will affect this entire heliosphere. Will we feel it here on Earth?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well the Earth has a really good shield, so changes in the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field don’t affect us on the surface much. What you \u003cem>do\u003c/em> see are changes in the Earth’s geomagnetic field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that can affect our technological system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At solar maximum you see more solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Those can cause things like power outages. It can interfere with reception of data from satellites. Or even airplanes sometimes have trouble communicating at high latitudes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the most spectacular things you can see are auroras, so the northern lights will be more common at northern latitudes. People see those when there’s a lot of activity on the sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>And when the solar maximum is happening, we also see a lot more sun spots. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes. A sun spot is a large area on the surface of the Sun where the magnetic field is strong. They’re about the size of the Earth. And they’re dark because they’re a little bit cooler than the rest of the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that’s where the activity happens. When the magnetic field is complicated, you can get these big explosions [solar flares]. The interesting thing is when there are a few sun spots next to each other, that’s when you get the big explosions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>But it sounds like this particular solar maximum has been a bit of a letdown, right?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Based on past experience, we’ve probably reached, or are very close to the maximum this cycle, and it hasn’t been a very impressive one. There have been a few large storms – a lot of activity over the last couple weeks, for example — but not many.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So there may still be a big storm coming, but we seem to be at the peak, or just passing the peak of this cycle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10860\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 162px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/20131110_051548_2048_0131_0-162x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10860\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/20131110_051548_2048_0131_0-162x162.jpg\" alt=\"NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare on Nov. 10, 2013. (NASA/SDO) \" width=\"162\" height=\"162\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10860\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare on Nov. 10, 2013.\u003cbr>(NASA/SDO)\u003cbr>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This weak cycle is great for satellites, not so great for funding of space weather research. You know, in a bad year everyone sort of loses interest by the next time it comes around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cembed src=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/files/jw-player-plugin-for-wordpress/player/player.swf\" height=\"359\" width=\"639\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" flashvars=\"&bandwidth=2841&controlbar=over&dock=false&file=407a_sun.flv&image=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.kqed.org%2Fquest%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fposter_frames%2F407a_sun640.jpg&gapro.accountid=UA-1538528-1&gapro.height=359&gapro.pluginmode=FLASH&gapro.trackpercentage=true&gapro.trackstarts=true&gapro.tracktime=true&gapro.visible=true&gapro.width=639&gapro.x=0&gapro.y=0&plugins=gapro-1&skin=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.kqed.org%2Fquest%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fjw-player-plugin-for-wordpress%2Fskins%2Fglow.zip&streamer=rtmp%3A%2F%2Fkqed-flash02.streamguys.us%2Fquest%2F&viral.allowmenu=true&viral.bgcolor=0x333333&viral.fgcolor=0xffffff&viral.functions=embed&viral.matchplayercolors=true&viral.oncomplete=false&viral.pluginmode=FLASH\">\u003c/embed>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Every 11 years, the magnetic field of the sun changes its polarity (in fact, this may already be happening) sending a ripple of changing current out way past Pluto, to the outer reaches of the heliosphere. This solar \"flip\" is happening now. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10857\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/20131110-hmi_smaller-1024x1024.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10857\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/20131110-hmi_smaller-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"This region of sun spots is about the size of the planet Jupiter. It emerged on Nov. 2, 2013 and has been producing powerful solar flares. (NASA/SDO)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10857\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This region of sun spots is about the size of the planet Jupiter. It emerged on Nov. 2, 2013 and has been producing powerful solar flares. (NASA/SDO)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There sun is about to flip.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an event that takes place every 11 years, the magnetic field of the sun will change its polarity (in fact, this is already happening) sending a ripple of changing current way past Pluto, to the outer reaches of the heliosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the peak of this cycle – what’s called a “solar maximum” — there can be more dramatic \u003ca href=\"http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/halloween_storms.html\">aurora displays\u003c/a> in the northern latitudes, \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1989_geomagnetic_storm\">power outages,\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/03jun_fakeastronaut/\">scared astronauts\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, at Stanford’s \u003ca href=\"http://wso.stanford.edu/\">Wilcox Solar Observatory\u003c/a>, scientists will be paying close attention. Todd Hoeksema directs the observatory, which has been monitoring the Sun’s magnetic field since 1975.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(The Wilcox is not, by the way, the source of all the pretty pictures on this page – those come from NASA’s \u003ca href=\"http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/\">Solar Dynamics Observatory\u003c/a>, which is profiled in this \u003ca href=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/video/journey-into-the-sun/\">KQED Science video\u003c/a> back in 2010.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hoeksema, reached in his office, told KQED Science that this year’s reversal – “Cycle 24” – is a lot less dramatic than previous cycles, but still exciting enough to have him and others glued to their screens, watching sun spots come and go on the surface of our star.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So when, exactly, is this flip going to happen?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003c/strong>It happening right now. It’s a gradual process, not something that happens over the course of a few hours or even a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s kind of like a tide coming in and out. When does it reach high tide? You can specify a moment after the fact, but as you’re experiencing it, you can’t tell so well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In six months, I’ll be able to tell you pretty closely at which point the sun reversed its polarity, but I can’t do it now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What does that mean to say that the polarity reverses?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003c/strong>Magnetic fields point one direction or the other. And at the surface of the sun, they point into the surface, or out of the surface. And right now, the polar field in the south is changing from pointing out of the sun, to pointing into the sun. We call that going from positive to negative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>is a big deal because the sun’s magnetic field is what determines how solar wind is organized, and solar wind goes all the way past the planets to the edge of the heliosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Which is the part of space that’s influenced by the Sun. Didn’t the Voyager 1 spacecraft just \u003ca href=\"http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20130912.html#.UoGAEeJxXY8\">reach the edge\u003c/a> of the heliosphere?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are two Voyager spacecrafts. And people are pretty sure that one of them has recently passed outside the heliosphere for the first time, past Pluto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is that we don’t know what it’s going to look like outside the bounds of the heliosphere. So it’s a little bit hard to say for sure that you’ve done it.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/K8XwfyNm5XQ'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/K8XwfyNm5XQ'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So the reversal, when it hits, will affect this entire heliosphere. Will we feel it here on Earth?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well the Earth has a really good shield, so changes in the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field don’t affect us on the surface much. What you \u003cem>do\u003c/em> see are changes in the Earth’s geomagnetic field.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that can affect our technological system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At solar maximum you see more solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Those can cause things like power outages. It can interfere with reception of data from satellites. Or even airplanes sometimes have trouble communicating at high latitudes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the most spectacular things you can see are auroras, so the northern lights will be more common at northern latitudes. People see those when there’s a lot of activity on the sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>And when the solar maximum is happening, we also see a lot more sun spots. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes. A sun spot is a large area on the surface of the Sun where the magnetic field is strong. They’re about the size of the Earth. And they’re dark because they’re a little bit cooler than the rest of the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that’s where the activity happens. When the magnetic field is complicated, you can get these big explosions [solar flares]. The interesting thing is when there are a few sun spots next to each other, that’s when you get the big explosions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>But it sounds like this particular solar maximum has been a bit of a letdown, right?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Based on past experience, we’ve probably reached, or are very close to the maximum this cycle, and it hasn’t been a very impressive one. There have been a few large storms – a lot of activity over the last couple weeks, for example — but not many.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So there may still be a big storm coming, but we seem to be at the peak, or just passing the peak of this cycle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10860\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 162px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/20131110_051548_2048_0131_0-162x162.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10860\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/20131110_051548_2048_0131_0-162x162.jpg\" alt=\"NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare on Nov. 10, 2013. (NASA/SDO) \" width=\"162\" height=\"162\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10860\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare on Nov. 10, 2013.\u003cbr>(NASA/SDO)\u003cbr>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This weak cycle is great for satellites, not so great for funding of space weather research. You know, in a bad year everyone sort of loses interest by the next time it comes around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cembed src=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/files/jw-player-plugin-for-wordpress/player/player.swf\" height=\"359\" width=\"639\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" flashvars=\"&bandwidth=2841&controlbar=over&dock=false&file=407a_sun.flv&image=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.kqed.org%2Fquest%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fposter_frames%2F407a_sun640.jpg&gapro.accountid=UA-1538528-1&gapro.height=359&gapro.pluginmode=FLASH&gapro.trackpercentage=true&gapro.trackstarts=true&gapro.tracktime=true&gapro.visible=true&gapro.width=639&gapro.x=0&gapro.y=0&plugins=gapro-1&skin=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.kqed.org%2Fquest%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fjw-player-plugin-for-wordpress%2Fskins%2Fglow.zip&streamer=rtmp%3A%2F%2Fkqed-flash02.streamguys.us%2Fquest%2F&viral.allowmenu=true&viral.bgcolor=0x333333&viral.fgcolor=0xffffff&viral.functions=embed&viral.matchplayercolors=true&viral.oncomplete=false&viral.pluginmode=FLASH\">\u003c/embed>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Meditation May Ease PTSD in Combat Vets",
"headTitle": "Meditation May Ease PTSD in Combat Vets | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/11/20131111science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a revised version of a story originally broadcast in October, 2012. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10824\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/military.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/military.jpg\" alt=\"U.S. Army soldiers walk off the plane as they arrive at their home base after leaving Iraq. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10824\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Army soldiers walk off the plane as they arrive at their home base after leaving Iraq. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Every Veterans Day, we talk about the challenges veterans face back home from war. And in recent years, we’ve heard a lot about one challenge in particular: post-traumatic stress disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s estimated that 15 percent of soldiers who have returned from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD. That amounts to—and it’s a conservative estimate—some 250,000 people in the United States who experience PTSD-related symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, there’s nothing new about PTSD, and what that number leaves out are the veterans of previous wars whose lives have been derailed by the disease to some extent, even decades after they returned from war.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite all the attention on PTSD, the disease remains stubbornly hard to treat. That has forced the Department of Veterans Affairs to explore treatments that would have been considered decidedly from-the-fringes a generation ago. Some of that work is taking place at the Menlo Park division of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n“My little safe zone”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">Our society teaches us to go to school, live with our families and stuff, not to blow somebody else up.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>John Montgomery is a Vietnam vet with a bushy gray mustache and a tattoo of a scorpion on each forearm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I met him at the Menlo Park VA hospital, where he was being treated for the PTSD that had haunted him ever since he came back from the war.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During his time in the clinic, Montgomery had been thinking a lot about his life before the war. What relaxed him, he said, was to think about his childhood on the family farm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were dirt farmer kids,” he tells me. “It was the summer of 1957. We were irrigating 80 acres of cotton. I was laying back on a haystack at home. My brother was yelling, off in the distance, and I was just laying back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Montgomery trails off for a moment, lost in the memory. “Yeah, that’s my little safe zone,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when he talks about Vietnam and what he saw there, something in his voice changes. Montgomery speaks louder and more quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our society teaches us to go to school, live with our families and stuff, not to blow somebody else up,” he says. The image he can’t shake—even now, nearly four decades after his return—is of Vietnamese children trying to kill him. “They were after you, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Montgomery hadn’t even heard of PTSD until a few years ago. He sought help after decades of what he calls failed relationships and self-abuse. Part of his treatment is a twice-weekly guided meditation session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a bright fall afternoon, four men slouch in armchairs arranged in a circle. One younger vet in board shorts and flip flops lies on the floor. A couple of therapy dogs—golden retrievers named Eldridge and Elaine—settle at their owners’ feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two of the vets served in Vietnam; three younger men served in Iraq.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leah Weiss, a meditation trainer from \u003ca href=\"http://ccare.stanford.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education\u003c/a>, begins the session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let’s start with three deep, cleansing breaths,” she says.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nAn old approach, revisited.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The VA first began exploring meditation as a complementary treatment for PTSD back in the 1970s, says Stephen Xenakis, a retired brigadier general who formerly oversaw the Southeast Army Regional Medical Command.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 1970s, Xenakis worked as a psychiatrist with Vietnam vets at the former Letterman Army Medical Center, in San Francisco’s Presidio. He says meditation was one of several Eastern-inspired treatments that he and others were experimenting with.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">These other options that we had learned were helpful, back in the ‘70s, kind of fell off to the wayside.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Even back then, he says, it was clear that \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22669968\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">meditation could help\u003c/a> calm the nervous systems not just of veterans, but also prisoners and other people suffering from trauma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But getting the VA to integrate meditation into its standard treatment was tough, especially after the late 1980s when drugs like Prozac came on the scene. The drugs were easy to study and prescribe, cheap to administer. For a lot of patients, they were very effective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think in many ways,” he says, “these other options that we had learned were helpful, back in the ‘70s, kind of fell off to the wayside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, it’s become clear that drugs are no panacea. Side effects are common. And for about half of PTSD patients, the drugs don’t work at all. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2012/Treatment-for-Posttraumatic-Stress-Disorder-in-Military-and-Veteran-Populations-Initial-Assessment.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent report\u003c/a> from the Institute of Medicine concluded that “the evidence is inadequate” to demonstrate that SSRIs like Prozac are generally effective in treating PTSD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those limitations have spurred renewed interest in other approaches, such as meditation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What meditation may do for the brain\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in the TV room at the Menlo Park VA, Weiss’s voice is calm, almost hypnotic. She tells the men to “bring to mind a stranger, maybe someone you pass by when you’re commuting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Consider,” she instructs them, “that just like me, this person has had ups and downs in his or her life. Just like me, this person has had goals and dreams. Just like me, this person knows what it’s like to be disappointed, or to feel afraid.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This particular practice, called “\u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21840289\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">compassion meditation\u003c/a>,” aims at a specific and widely held hypothesis about what is happening in the brain of someone like Vietnam vet John Montgomery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea is that in combat, a switch—a fight-or-flight survival mode located in a part of the brain called the amygdala—has been turned on, and essentially become stuck. Meanwhile, another part, the frontal cortex, takes the backseat. And that’s critical. Because this part of the brain helps us relate to other people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The frontal cortex,” says Stephen Xenakis, “is what allows us to have relationships and families, what gives us a sense that there are rules of society and morality. It’s part of what is different about our brains from even other primates, and clearly other mammals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether or not this kind of meditation is effective in treating PTSD is, from a scientific standpoint, still unknown. According to a \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22669968\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2012 meta-analysis\u003c/a> on the efficacy of different kinds of meditation in treating PTSD, studies have shown that repeated sessions can increase “positive affect” and “social connectedness,” both of which are deficient in PTSD patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meditation in general, wrote the authors, “holds some promise” as a treatment for PTSD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Advice from an older veteran\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After about 20 minutes, Weiss asks the men to open their eyes and to reflect on what the meditation made them feel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the men have been taking part in these sessions for a couple months now. They’ve been listening to CDs with Weiss’s voice back in their rooms. They say they feel calmer, and more compassionate toward other people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But one of them, Esteban Brojas, is newer to this. Brojas served during the Iraq invasion in 2003. In some ways, he says, it’s like he’s still there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/119088392″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coming back to civilian life has been “a culture shock,” he says. “You’re still with that adrenaline; you’re still hyper-vigilant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brojas’s wife gave birth to their daughter while he was in Iraq. When he came back, he didn’t know how to hold her. “After taking someone’s life? It’s hard,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he speaks, Brojas’s voice starts to tremble and speed up. He rubs his hands together quickly as he rocks back and forth in his armchair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After the fact that you’re going into a building and there’s a grenade being popped in there and there’s a woman and a child in there? And you’re part of that? That’s hard. And to come home and hold your daughter in your hands?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doreen, the therapist steps in. “I would say…” she begins, tentatively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Montgomery steps in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re not there right now, you’re right here,” he tells Brojas, firmly. “You’re in this environment, here. I mean, it’ll take time, it’s like a wave coming. It’ll subside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Montgomery’s doing something he thought he had forgotten how to do: feel compassion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>VA officials are now expanding the program and bringing it to women veterans, among others. The hope is to reach more vets sooner than it took John Montgomery to find the help he needs.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a revised version of a story originally broadcast in October, 2012. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10824\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/military.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/military.jpg\" alt=\"U.S. Army soldiers walk off the plane as they arrive at their home base after leaving Iraq. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10824\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Army soldiers walk off the plane as they arrive at their home base after leaving Iraq. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Every Veterans Day, we talk about the challenges veterans face back home from war. And in recent years, we’ve heard a lot about one challenge in particular: post-traumatic stress disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s estimated that 15 percent of soldiers who have returned from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD. That amounts to—and it’s a conservative estimate—some 250,000 people in the United States who experience PTSD-related symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, there’s nothing new about PTSD, and what that number leaves out are the veterans of previous wars whose lives have been derailed by the disease to some extent, even decades after they returned from war.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite all the attention on PTSD, the disease remains stubbornly hard to treat. That has forced the Department of Veterans Affairs to explore treatments that would have been considered decidedly from-the-fringes a generation ago. Some of that work is taking place at the Menlo Park division of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n“My little safe zone”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">Our society teaches us to go to school, live with our families and stuff, not to blow somebody else up.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>John Montgomery is a Vietnam vet with a bushy gray mustache and a tattoo of a scorpion on each forearm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I met him at the Menlo Park VA hospital, where he was being treated for the PTSD that had haunted him ever since he came back from the war.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During his time in the clinic, Montgomery had been thinking a lot about his life before the war. What relaxed him, he said, was to think about his childhood on the family farm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were dirt farmer kids,” he tells me. “It was the summer of 1957. We were irrigating 80 acres of cotton. I was laying back on a haystack at home. My brother was yelling, off in the distance, and I was just laying back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Montgomery trails off for a moment, lost in the memory. “Yeah, that’s my little safe zone,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when he talks about Vietnam and what he saw there, something in his voice changes. Montgomery speaks louder and more quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our society teaches us to go to school, live with our families and stuff, not to blow somebody else up,” he says. The image he can’t shake—even now, nearly four decades after his return—is of Vietnamese children trying to kill him. “They were after you, you know?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Montgomery hadn’t even heard of PTSD until a few years ago. He sought help after decades of what he calls failed relationships and self-abuse. Part of his treatment is a twice-weekly guided meditation session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a bright fall afternoon, four men slouch in armchairs arranged in a circle. One younger vet in board shorts and flip flops lies on the floor. A couple of therapy dogs—golden retrievers named Eldridge and Elaine—settle at their owners’ feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two of the vets served in Vietnam; three younger men served in Iraq.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leah Weiss, a meditation trainer from \u003ca href=\"http://ccare.stanford.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education\u003c/a>, begins the session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let’s start with three deep, cleansing breaths,” she says.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nAn old approach, revisited.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The VA first began exploring meditation as a complementary treatment for PTSD back in the 1970s, says Stephen Xenakis, a retired brigadier general who formerly oversaw the Southeast Army Regional Medical Command.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 1970s, Xenakis worked as a psychiatrist with Vietnam vets at the former Letterman Army Medical Center, in San Francisco’s Presidio. He says meditation was one of several Eastern-inspired treatments that he and others were experimenting with.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">These other options that we had learned were helpful, back in the ‘70s, kind of fell off to the wayside.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Even back then, he says, it was clear that \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22669968\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">meditation could help\u003c/a> calm the nervous systems not just of veterans, but also prisoners and other people suffering from trauma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But getting the VA to integrate meditation into its standard treatment was tough, especially after the late 1980s when drugs like Prozac came on the scene. The drugs were easy to study and prescribe, cheap to administer. For a lot of patients, they were very effective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think in many ways,” he says, “these other options that we had learned were helpful, back in the ‘70s, kind of fell off to the wayside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, it’s become clear that drugs are no panacea. Side effects are common. And for about half of PTSD patients, the drugs don’t work at all. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2012/Treatment-for-Posttraumatic-Stress-Disorder-in-Military-and-Veteran-Populations-Initial-Assessment.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent report\u003c/a> from the Institute of Medicine concluded that “the evidence is inadequate” to demonstrate that SSRIs like Prozac are generally effective in treating PTSD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those limitations have spurred renewed interest in other approaches, such as meditation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What meditation may do for the brain\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in the TV room at the Menlo Park VA, Weiss’s voice is calm, almost hypnotic. She tells the men to “bring to mind a stranger, maybe someone you pass by when you’re commuting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Consider,” she instructs them, “that just like me, this person has had ups and downs in his or her life. Just like me, this person has had goals and dreams. Just like me, this person knows what it’s like to be disappointed, or to feel afraid.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This particular practice, called “\u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21840289\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">compassion meditation\u003c/a>,” aims at a specific and widely held hypothesis about what is happening in the brain of someone like Vietnam vet John Montgomery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea is that in combat, a switch—a fight-or-flight survival mode located in a part of the brain called the amygdala—has been turned on, and essentially become stuck. Meanwhile, another part, the frontal cortex, takes the backseat. And that’s critical. Because this part of the brain helps us relate to other people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The frontal cortex,” says Stephen Xenakis, “is what allows us to have relationships and families, what gives us a sense that there are rules of society and morality. It’s part of what is different about our brains from even other primates, and clearly other mammals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether or not this kind of meditation is effective in treating PTSD is, from a scientific standpoint, still unknown. According to a \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22669968\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2012 meta-analysis\u003c/a> on the efficacy of different kinds of meditation in treating PTSD, studies have shown that repeated sessions can increase “positive affect” and “social connectedness,” both of which are deficient in PTSD patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meditation in general, wrote the authors, “holds some promise” as a treatment for PTSD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Advice from an older veteran\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After about 20 minutes, Weiss asks the men to open their eyes and to reflect on what the meditation made them feel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the men have been taking part in these sessions for a couple months now. They’ve been listening to CDs with Weiss’s voice back in their rooms. They say they feel calmer, and more compassionate toward other people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But one of them, Esteban Brojas, is newer to this. Brojas served during the Iraq invasion in 2003. In some ways, he says, it’s like he’s still there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe width='”100%”' height='”166″'\n scrolling='no' frameborder='no'\n src='https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/119088392″&visual=true&undefined'\n title='”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/119088392″'>\n \u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coming back to civilian life has been “a culture shock,” he says. “You’re still with that adrenaline; you’re still hyper-vigilant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brojas’s wife gave birth to their daughter while he was in Iraq. When he came back, he didn’t know how to hold her. “After taking someone’s life? It’s hard,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As he speaks, Brojas’s voice starts to tremble and speed up. He rubs his hands together quickly as he rocks back and forth in his armchair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After the fact that you’re going into a building and there’s a grenade being popped in there and there’s a woman and a child in there? And you’re part of that? That’s hard. And to come home and hold your daughter in your hands?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Doreen, the therapist steps in. “I would say…” she begins, tentatively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Montgomery steps in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re not there right now, you’re right here,” he tells Brojas, firmly. “You’re in this environment, here. I mean, it’ll take time, it’s like a wave coming. It’ll subside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Montgomery’s doing something he thought he had forgotten how to do: feel compassion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>VA officials are now expanding the program and bringing it to women veterans, among others. The hope is to reach more vets sooner than it took John Montgomery to find the help he needs.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Meteor Crashed with the Force of 600,000 Tons of TNT, Say Scientists (And It'll Happen Again)",
"headTitle": "Meteor Crashed with the Force of 600,000 Tons of TNT, Say Scientists (And It’ll Happen Again) | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Last February 15, at 9:20 in the morning, residents of Chelyabinsk, Russia, looked out their windows and saw a giant ball of fire fly through the sky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svzB0QYNIWI\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Chelyabinsk meteor was a 65-foot hunk of space rock that entered the Earth’s atmosphere at about 12 miles per second before exploding with a force equal to 600,000 tons of TNT, enough to level buildings and send 1,200 people to local hospitals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scary thing is: No one saw it coming, says the author of a paper, out today in the journal Science by researchers who studied the Chelyabinsk event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chelyabinsk was not detected in space at all,” said Peter Jenniskens, an astronomer with NASA Ames and the SETI Insitute. “It couldn’t be detected because it was coming from the direction of the sun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over at Slate, the Bad Astronomer explains what the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2013/11/06/science.1242642.abstract\">Science \u003c/a>paper, as well as another Chelyabinsk paper published in \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12671.html\">Nature\u003c/a>, say about the meteor’s trajectory and what it was made of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/02/17/watchforfallingrocks.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/11/06/chelyabinsk_asteroid_impact_small_rocks_may_hit_us_more_often_than_thought.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chelyabinsk-sized Asteroid Impacts May Happen More Often Than Previously Thought\u003c/a>They found that if you were 100 km (62 miles) from the Chelyabinsk impact, at peak brightness — and this stuns me — the asteroid was 30 times brighter than the Sun! I haven’t heard any anecdotes about this specifically, but the thermal pulse, the flash of heat, must have been palpable, even from that distance. Incredible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly/code?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slate.com%2Fblogs%2Fbad_astronomy%2F2013%2F11%2F06%2Fchelyabinsk_asteroid_impact_small_rocks_may_hit_us_more_often_than_thought.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.slate.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Slate\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who’s keeping an eye on these “near-Earth objects” as they’re called, and devising plans to keep us from going the way of the dinosaurs? KQED Science’s video team looked into it.\u003cbr>\n\u003cembed src=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/files/jw-player-plugin-for-wordpress/player/player.swf\" height=\"359\" width=\"639\" flashvars=\"&bandwidth=2841&controlbar=over&dock=false&file=303a_asteroids.flv&image=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.kqed.org%2Fquest%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fposter_frames%2F303a_asteroids_640.jpg&gapro.accountid=UA-1538528-1&gapro.height=359&gapro.pluginmode=FLASH&gapro.trackpercentage=true&gapro.trackstarts=true&gapro.tracktime=true&gapro.visible=true&gapro.width=639&gapro.x=0&gapro.y=0&plugins=gapro-1&skin=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.kqed.org%2Fquest%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fjw-player-plugin-for-wordpress%2Fskins%2Fglow.zip&streamer=rtmp%3A%2F%2Fkqed-flash02.streamguys.us%2Fquest%2F&viral.allowmenu=true&viral.bgcolor=0x333333&viral.fgcolor=0xffffff&viral.functions=embed&viral.matchplayercolors=true&viral.oncomplete=false&viral.pluginmode=FLASH\">\u003c/embed>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly is mulling a plan for the world’s space agencies to defend the Earth against asteroids, reports NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/nav/og-news.png\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2013/11/03/128233/space_agencies_of_the_world_unite_the_uns_asteroid_defense_plan?source=npr&category=science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Space Agencies Of The World, Unite: The U.N.’s Asteroid Defense Plan\u003c/a>Science The United Nations General Assembly may approve a plan soon for the world’s space agencies to defend the Earth against asteroids. The plan, introduced last week, is expected to be adopted by the General Assembly in December.\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly/code?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kqed.org%2Fnews%2Fstory%2F2013%2F11%2F03%2F128233%2Fspace_agencies_of_the_world_unite_the_uns_asteroid_defense_plan%3Fsource%3Dnpr%26category%3Dscience\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.kqed.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kqed\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The Chelyabinsk meteor was a 65-foot hunk of space rock that entered the Earth's atmosphere at about 12 miles per second before exploding with a force equal to 600,000 tons of TNT, enough to level buildings and send 1,200 people to local hospitals.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Last February 15, at 9:20 in the morning, residents of Chelyabinsk, Russia, looked out their windows and saw a giant ball of fire fly through the sky.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/svzB0QYNIWI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/svzB0QYNIWI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The Chelyabinsk meteor was a 65-foot hunk of space rock that entered the Earth’s atmosphere at about 12 miles per second before exploding with a force equal to 600,000 tons of TNT, enough to level buildings and send 1,200 people to local hospitals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scary thing is: No one saw it coming, says the author of a paper, out today in the journal Science by researchers who studied the Chelyabinsk event.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chelyabinsk was not detected in space at all,” said Peter Jenniskens, an astronomer with NASA Ames and the SETI Insitute. “It couldn’t be detected because it was coming from the direction of the sun.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over at Slate, the Bad Astronomer explains what the \u003ca href=\"http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2013/11/06/science.1242642.abstract\">Science \u003c/a>paper, as well as another Chelyabinsk paper published in \u003ca href=\"http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12671.html\">Nature\u003c/a>, say about the meteor’s trajectory and what it was made of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/02/17/watchforfallingrocks.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/11/06/chelyabinsk_asteroid_impact_small_rocks_may_hit_us_more_often_than_thought.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chelyabinsk-sized Asteroid Impacts May Happen More Often Than Previously Thought\u003c/a>They found that if you were 100 km (62 miles) from the Chelyabinsk impact, at peak brightness — and this stuns me — the asteroid was 30 times brighter than the Sun! I haven’t heard any anecdotes about this specifically, but the thermal pulse, the flash of heat, must have been palpable, even from that distance. Incredible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly/code?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slate.com%2Fblogs%2Fbad_astronomy%2F2013%2F11%2F06%2Fchelyabinsk_asteroid_impact_small_rocks_may_hit_us_more_often_than_thought.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.slate.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Slate\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who’s keeping an eye on these “near-Earth objects” as they’re called, and devising plans to keep us from going the way of the dinosaurs? KQED Science’s video team looked into it.\u003cbr>\n\u003cembed src=\"http://science.kqed.org/quest/files/jw-player-plugin-for-wordpress/player/player.swf\" height=\"359\" width=\"639\" flashvars=\"&bandwidth=2841&controlbar=over&dock=false&file=303a_asteroids.flv&image=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.kqed.org%2Fquest%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fposter_frames%2F303a_asteroids_640.jpg&gapro.accountid=UA-1538528-1&gapro.height=359&gapro.pluginmode=FLASH&gapro.trackpercentage=true&gapro.trackstarts=true&gapro.tracktime=true&gapro.visible=true&gapro.width=639&gapro.x=0&gapro.y=0&plugins=gapro-1&skin=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.kqed.org%2Fquest%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fjw-player-plugin-for-wordpress%2Fskins%2Fglow.zip&streamer=rtmp%3A%2F%2Fkqed-flash02.streamguys.us%2Fquest%2F&viral.allowmenu=true&viral.bgcolor=0x333333&viral.fgcolor=0xffffff&viral.functions=embed&viral.matchplayercolors=true&viral.oncomplete=false&viral.pluginmode=FLASH\">\u003c/embed>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly is mulling a plan for the world’s space agencies to defend the Earth against asteroids, reports NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb embedly-thumbnail-small\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/nav/og-news.png\" alt=\"\">\u003ca class=\"embedly-title\" href=\"http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2013/11/03/128233/space_agencies_of_the_world_unite_the_uns_asteroid_defense_plan?source=npr&category=science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Space Agencies Of The World, Unite: The U.N.’s Asteroid Defense Plan\u003c/a>Science The United Nations General Assembly may approve a plan soon for the world’s space agencies to defend the Earth against asteroids. The plan, introduced last week, is expected to be adopted by the General Assembly in December.\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"embedly-powered\" style=\"float: right\">\u003ca title=\"Powered by Embedly\" href=\"http://embed.ly/code?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kqed.org%2Fnews%2Fstory%2F2013%2F11%2F03%2F128233%2Fspace_agencies_of_the_world_unite_the_uns_asteroid_defense_plan%3Fsource%3Dnpr%26category%3Dscience\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://static.embed.ly/images/logos/embedly-powered-small-light.png\" alt=\"Embedly Powered\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"media-attribution\">via \u003ca class=\"media-attribution-link\" href=\"http://www.kqed.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kqed\u003c/a>\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv class=\"embedly-clear\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Report: California Will Fall Short of its Carbon Emissions Reduction Goals",
"headTitle": "Report: California Will Fall Short of its Carbon Emissions Reduction Goals | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Peter Lollo / KQED News\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10732\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 215px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/RS696_Download090427-061-scr-215x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10732\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/RS696_Download090427-061-scr-215x162.jpg\" alt=\"California's climate change policies are cutting emissions, but not enough, according to a report from Berkeley Lab. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"215\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California’s climate change policies are cutting emissions, but not enough, according to a report from Berkeley Lab. (Craig Miller/KQED) \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California is not on track to meet its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals, according to a \u003ca href=\"http://eetd.lbl.gov/publications/estimating-policy-driven-greenhouse-g\">study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory\u003c/a>. The report, released on Monday, found that California’s current energy policies have put the state on track to meet its \u003ca href=\"http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/ab32/ab32.htm\">2020 target\u003c/a>, which is to bring greenhouse gas emissions down to 1990 levels. But without adopting more aggressive tactics, the state will not meet its \u003ca href=\"http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/energy/ExecOrderS-3-05.htm\">2050 goal\u003c/a> to reduce emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The set of policies that we have — the renewable portfolio standard, the low-carbon fuel standard, vehicle efficiencies, zero net energy buildings, more efficient appliance standard, et cetera et cetera — are all very helpful,” said Berkeley Lab scientist Jeffery Greenblatt, who led the study. But, he said, taken by themselves, these policies will not get the state to its long-term emissions goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have to develop some additional policies to get us all the way to the 2050 target and we’re going to have to invest in more technology R&D in order to have those lower-carbon technologies available.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greenblatt recommended that the state invest in biofuels, derive 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources and develop more energy storage. Storage will become especially important as more and more power is acquired from fluctuating, intermittent sources like wind and solar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Air Resources Board, the agency charged with implementing California’s emissions goals, acknowledged the gap between current policy and long-term targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We agree that there’s more that needs to be done,” said Dave Clegern of the Air Board. He said that the state has been focused on meeting the 2020 goals, but now officials are drafting a new plan to help guide future energy policy. “It’s the first one to really look beyond 2020,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That plan is expected to be completed by March of next year.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Peter Lollo / KQED News\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10732\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 215px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/RS696_Download090427-061-scr-215x162.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10732\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/RS696_Download090427-061-scr-215x162.jpg\" alt=\"California's climate change policies are cutting emissions, but not enough, according to a report from Berkeley Lab. (Craig Miller/KQED)\" width=\"215\" height=\"162\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California’s climate change policies are cutting emissions, but not enough, according to a report from Berkeley Lab. (Craig Miller/KQED) \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California is not on track to meet its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals, according to a \u003ca href=\"http://eetd.lbl.gov/publications/estimating-policy-driven-greenhouse-g\">study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory\u003c/a>. The report, released on Monday, found that California’s current energy policies have put the state on track to meet its \u003ca href=\"http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/ab32/ab32.htm\">2020 target\u003c/a>, which is to bring greenhouse gas emissions down to 1990 levels. But without adopting more aggressive tactics, the state will not meet its \u003ca href=\"http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/energy/ExecOrderS-3-05.htm\">2050 goal\u003c/a> to reduce emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The set of policies that we have — the renewable portfolio standard, the low-carbon fuel standard, vehicle efficiencies, zero net energy buildings, more efficient appliance standard, et cetera et cetera — are all very helpful,” said Berkeley Lab scientist Jeffery Greenblatt, who led the study. But, he said, taken by themselves, these policies will not get the state to its long-term emissions goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to have to develop some additional policies to get us all the way to the 2050 target and we’re going to have to invest in more technology R&D in order to have those lower-carbon technologies available.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greenblatt recommended that the state invest in biofuels, derive 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources and develop more energy storage. Storage will become especially important as more and more power is acquired from fluctuating, intermittent sources like wind and solar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Air Resources Board, the agency charged with implementing California’s emissions goals, acknowledged the gap between current policy and long-term targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We agree that there’s more that needs to be done,” said Dave Clegern of the Air Board. He said that the state has been focused on meeting the 2020 goals, but now officials are drafting a new plan to help guide future energy policy. “It’s the first one to really look beyond 2020,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That plan is expected to be completed by March of next year.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Isabel Angell / KQED News\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10709\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/tugpanorama.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10709\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/tugpanorama.jpg\" alt='A panoramic view as crews raise \"Captain Al,\" from the bottom of the Oakland Estuary. (Isabel Angell/KQED)' width=\"1920\" height=\"780\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A panoramic view as crews raise “Captain Al,” from the bottom of the Oakland Estuary. (Isabel Angell/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A crew of about 50 workers painstakingly lifted a sunken tugboat out of the Oakland Estuary on Monday afternoon. The tug, nicknamed “Captain Al,” had been totally submerged in the waters between Oakland and Alameda for at least 15 years. But it was leaching lead paint into the water, so it had to come out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s part of a joint federal, state and local \u003ca href=\"http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/SWFacilities/Cleanup/Projects/Estuary2013/\">project to clean up the estuary\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s one of those things that the Oakland Estuary has been known as kind of a dumping ground,” said Todd Thalhamer, who’s overseeing the project for \u003ca href=\"http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/\">CalRecycle\u003c/a>, the state’s department for recycling and waste management. “Once you take that dumping away, that problem is going to cease.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the boat is upright it will be dragged to a dock where the Environmental Protection Agency will conduct more testing for toxins like asbestos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If that’s all clean and good, then we’re going to take this vessel to \u003ca href=\"http://www.bay-ship.com/\">Bay Ship\u003c/a> and cut it up for steel and recycle it,” said Thalhamer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 105 feet, Captain Al is the biggest boat out of the twenty pulled out of the estuary so far. Crews will haul out another tug, called “Respect,” next month.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Isabel Angell / KQED News\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10709\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/tugpanorama.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10709\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/tugpanorama.jpg\" alt='A panoramic view as crews raise \"Captain Al,\" from the bottom of the Oakland Estuary. (Isabel Angell/KQED)' width=\"1920\" height=\"780\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A panoramic view as crews raise “Captain Al,” from the bottom of the Oakland Estuary. (Isabel Angell/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A crew of about 50 workers painstakingly lifted a sunken tugboat out of the Oakland Estuary on Monday afternoon. The tug, nicknamed “Captain Al,” had been totally submerged in the waters between Oakland and Alameda for at least 15 years. But it was leaching lead paint into the water, so it had to come out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s part of a joint federal, state and local \u003ca href=\"http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/SWFacilities/Cleanup/Projects/Estuary2013/\">project to clean up the estuary\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s one of those things that the Oakland Estuary has been known as kind of a dumping ground,” said Todd Thalhamer, who’s overseeing the project for \u003ca href=\"http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/\">CalRecycle\u003c/a>, the state’s department for recycling and waste management. “Once you take that dumping away, that problem is going to cease.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the boat is upright it will be dragged to a dock where the Environmental Protection Agency will conduct more testing for toxins like asbestos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If that’s all clean and good, then we’re going to take this vessel to \u003ca href=\"http://www.bay-ship.com/\">Bay Ship\u003c/a> and cut it up for steel and recycle it,” said Thalhamer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 105 feet, Captain Al is the biggest boat out of the twenty pulled out of the estuary so far. Crews will haul out another tug, called “Respect,” next month.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Kepler Team: Universe \"Crowded\" with Earth-Like Planets",
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"content": "\u003cp>We’re just not all that special. At least that’s the consensus from scientists looking at data from a \u003ca title=\"NASA - Kepler\" href=\"http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/overview/#.UngqdFOw6lI\">NASA mission\u003c/a> to find “habitable” planets out there. The bottom line: one in five sun-like stars may harbor an Earth-like planet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There may be tens of billions of Earth-like planets in our Milky Way Galaxy alone, say astronomers working with data collected by the Kepler telescope. These planets are roughly the same size as Earth and exist at just the right “Goldilocks” temperature that could sustain liquid water and, maybe, life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closest of these planets is a scant 12 light years away, orbiting a star that’s visible to the naked eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10658\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/kepler-candidates-lined-up-4_0_2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10658\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10658\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/kepler-candidates-lined-up-4_0_2.jpg\" alt=\"Using data from the Kepler telescope, scientists have identified 3,538 planets, 647 of which are roughly Earth-sized. \" width=\"640\" height=\"640\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Using data from the Kepler telescope, scientists have identified 3,538 planets, 647 of which are roughly Earth-sized. (NASA)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The universe appears to be “crowded” with Earth-like planets, said NASA space scientist Bill Borucki. “If we ever get star travel, we’ll probably see a lot of traffic jams,” he told reporters at a Monday briefing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The profusion of Earth-like planets strongly suggests we aren’t alone, says UC Berkeley astronomer and Kepler scientist Geoff Marcy. “The chance for life of some sort out there in the universe has to be essentially 100 percent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists at the Mountain View press briefing said they were struck by the “remarkable” increase in how many of these planets they’ve been able to find.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In three years of combing through data collected by the Kepler telescope, scientists have identified 3,538 planets. Of those, 647 are roughly Earth-sized and 104 are in the “habitable zone” where liquid water could flow, potentially giving rise to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://www.youtube.com/embed/pffF4S-2BCw\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being in the “habitable zone” doesn’t necessarily mean that a planet sustains life, says Marcy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t tell whether they really have oceans and lakes and ponds, the cocktail mixer of biochemistry that makes life possible. We don’t know how stable their atmospheres are. So we don’t know that the planets that are suitable for life really ever do spawn life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Launched in 2009, the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2013/05/15/kepler-scientist-a-beautiful-instrument-has-died/\">now-crippled\u003c/a> Kepler telescope was designed to look for slight fluctuations in the amount of light radiating from distant stars, clues to the whereabouts of potential life-supporting planets.[contextly_sidebar id=”5e31cbcc0077abf64e7854e7da85091b”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just as a moth passing in front of a light bulb would create a brief flicker, the same is true of a planet in orbit around a star. Based on those observations, scientists have been able to identify which stars have planets in orbit around them, as well as the size of those planets and how tightly they orbit their stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of these discoveries have been notable more as science fiction curiosities than as potential Edens for intelligent (or non-intelligent) life. Last week, scientists introduced the planet Kepler 78b, which hugs its star at a distance of 900,000 miles — an orbit of just eight hours, as opposed to Earth’s 360-day cycle. Like Earth, Kepler 78b is rocky and rich in iron, but – at 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit — a little too toasty for life as we know it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After four years of collecting data, the Kepler telescope hit a disabling technical snag last May. NASA scientists say they’re trying to fix it. But even if the telescope goes dark, the amount of data it collected in its four-year run could provide analytical fodder “indefinitely,” said scientists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more on the mission, listen to KQED’s interview with Kepler astronomer Geoffrey Marcy, of the University of California, Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/118602895″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>We’re just not all that special. At least that’s the consensus from scientists looking at data from a \u003ca title=\"NASA - Kepler\" href=\"http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/overview/#.UngqdFOw6lI\">NASA mission\u003c/a> to find “habitable” planets out there. The bottom line: one in five sun-like stars may harbor an Earth-like planet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There may be tens of billions of Earth-like planets in our Milky Way Galaxy alone, say astronomers working with data collected by the Kepler telescope. These planets are roughly the same size as Earth and exist at just the right “Goldilocks” temperature that could sustain liquid water and, maybe, life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The closest of these planets is a scant 12 light years away, orbiting a star that’s visible to the naked eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10658\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/kepler-candidates-lined-up-4_0_2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-10658\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10658\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/11/kepler-candidates-lined-up-4_0_2.jpg\" alt=\"Using data from the Kepler telescope, scientists have identified 3,538 planets, 647 of which are roughly Earth-sized. \" width=\"640\" height=\"640\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Using data from the Kepler telescope, scientists have identified 3,538 planets, 647 of which are roughly Earth-sized. (NASA)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The universe appears to be “crowded” with Earth-like planets, said NASA space scientist Bill Borucki. “If we ever get star travel, we’ll probably see a lot of traffic jams,” he told reporters at a Monday briefing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The profusion of Earth-like planets strongly suggests we aren’t alone, says UC Berkeley astronomer and Kepler scientist Geoff Marcy. “The chance for life of some sort out there in the universe has to be essentially 100 percent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists at the Mountain View press briefing said they were struck by the “remarkable” increase in how many of these planets they’ve been able to find.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In three years of combing through data collected by the Kepler telescope, scientists have identified 3,538 planets. Of those, 647 are roughly Earth-sized and 104 are in the “habitable zone” where liquid water could flow, potentially giving rise to life.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/pffF4S-2BCw'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/pffF4S-2BCw'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Being in the “habitable zone” doesn’t necessarily mean that a planet sustains life, says Marcy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t tell whether they really have oceans and lakes and ponds, the cocktail mixer of biochemistry that makes life possible. We don’t know how stable their atmospheres are. So we don’t know that the planets that are suitable for life really ever do spawn life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Launched in 2009, the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2013/05/15/kepler-scientist-a-beautiful-instrument-has-died/\">now-crippled\u003c/a> Kepler telescope was designed to look for slight fluctuations in the amount of light radiating from distant stars, clues to the whereabouts of potential life-supporting planets.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just as a moth passing in front of a light bulb would create a brief flicker, the same is true of a planet in orbit around a star. Based on those observations, scientists have been able to identify which stars have planets in orbit around them, as well as the size of those planets and how tightly they orbit their stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of these discoveries have been notable more as science fiction curiosities than as potential Edens for intelligent (or non-intelligent) life. Last week, scientists introduced the planet Kepler 78b, which hugs its star at a distance of 900,000 miles — an orbit of just eight hours, as opposed to Earth’s 360-day cycle. Like Earth, Kepler 78b is rocky and rich in iron, but – at 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit — a little too toasty for life as we know it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After four years of collecting data, the Kepler telescope hit a disabling technical snag last May. NASA scientists say they’re trying to fix it. But even if the telescope goes dark, the amount of data it collected in its four-year run could provide analytical fodder “indefinitely,” said scientists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more on the mission, listen to KQED’s interview with Kepler astronomer Geoffrey Marcy, of the University of California, Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe width='”100%”' height='”166″'\n scrolling='no' frameborder='no'\n src='https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/118602895″&visual=true&undefined'\n title='”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/118602895″'>\n \u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Silicon Valley in Race for Battery Breakthrough",
"headTitle": "Silicon Valley in Race for Battery Breakthrough | KQED",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"audio-wrap\">\n\u003ch2>Listen:\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2013/11/20131104science.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10591\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/imprint2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10591\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/imprint2.jpg\" alt=\"Bay Area battery start-up Imprint Energy is developing flexible, thin batteries. (Photo: Imprint Energy)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bay Area start-up Imprint Energy is developing flexible, thin batteries. (Photo: Imprint Energy)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Apple released its newest computer operating system a few weeks ago, battery life was the big selling point: one hour more of web-browsing. Laptops, cellphones and electric cars are driving demand for cheaper and more powerful batteries, but battery technology has been slow to evolve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is becoming a hub for start-ups and multinational corporations hoping to produce the next big battery breakthrough. Technology like electric cars could depend on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m actually in the market for a new car and would love to buy an electric car,” says Venkat Srinivasan, who heads up battery research at \u003ca href=\"http://www.lbl.gov/\">Lawrence Berkeley National Lab\u003c/a>. “But there are practical problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, there aren’t many models that would work for Srinivasan’s daily 70-mile commute. The Nissan Leaf goes about 75 miles before it needs to be recharged. The top-of-the-line sedan from \u003ca href=\"http://www.teslamotors.com/\">Tesla\u003c/a> goes 300 miles, but it runs around $70,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we want to do is get cars that go 200 miles but you can buy them for the cost of say, a Toyota Corolla or Toyota Camry,” he says. “Where we are today in battery technology, we need a lot more work before we can get there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">I think we’re aiming for something very big. It’s like a moonshot.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Lithium-ion batteries, found in today’s electric cars and cellphones, have improved in the last 20 years, packing twice as much energy in the same amount of space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That sounds like a big thing, except if you compare it to semiconductors,” says Srinivasan. “The evolution is very, very slow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the decades, computer chips have doubled in speed every 18 months. Srinivasan says today’s lithium-ion batteries have improved about as much as possible with the materials they’re made of. What’s needed is an entirely new battery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paper-Thin Batteries\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So here is our special printer,” says Christine Ho, co-founder of \u003ca href=\"http://www.imprintenergy.com/\">Imprint Energy\u003c/a>. “We actually call it Megatron.” The two-year-old company’s Alameda lab looks a lot like a screen-printing shop. The batteries are printed in layers, producing cells that are paper-thin and bendable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of our customers and I think consumers in general, they just want things to be thinner,” she says. Lithium-ion batteries don’t perform well when they’re extremely thin, so Ho developed a new type of battery chemistry using zinc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I used to like to tell investors that the main components in our battery are also found in vitamins,” she says. “But then they used to challenge me to eat my battery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company is aiming to put its battery in everything from laptops to electric cars, but the battery’s flexibility makes it attractive for wearable electronics, like a cellphone on your wrist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imprint Energy is just one of about 40 companies working on battery technology in the Bay Area. Many are start-ups that have tapped into millions of dollars of Silicon Valley venture capital. But Ho says building hardware takes longer than building software, and software is what Silicon Valley is accustomed to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s been difficult is the investment community has really had a challenge with how long it takes for these technologies to be mature enough that they’ll be accepted,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Big Players in the Market\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enticed by the potential payoff of a battery breakthrough, major corporations are also getting in the game.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10592\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/IBM.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10592\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/IBM.jpg\" alt=\"Researcher Bryan McCloskey holds a test lithium-air battery at IBM's San Jose lab. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"350\" height=\"313\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Researcher Bryan McCloskey holds a test lithium-air battery at IBM’s San Jose lab. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At \u003ca href=\"http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smart_grid/article/battery500.html\">IBM’s Almaden Research Center\u003c/a> in San Jose, researcher Bryan McCloskey holds up a test battery cell. It uses lithium, but it has two little tubes sticking out of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re feeding a gas into your battery on one side,” he says. “This gas just happens to be air, ambient air.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Batteries are generally self-contained packets of chemistry. IBM is working on lithium-air batteries that use oxygen from the air to create chemical reactions. Getting a battery component from the outside means the battery can be smaller, lighter and more powerful, crucial for electric cars. McCloskey says it could take a decade to develop, but IBM is hoping the battery will take cars 500 miles on a single charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you could envision powering every single car in America with a battery that has IBM stamped on the side of it, that has a huge market,” he says. LG Chem, Bosch and major car companies are also working on batteries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley Lab is also trying to jump start battery development through the \u003ca href=\"http://www.jcesr.org/\">Joint Center for Energy Storage Research\u003c/a>, a research hub organized by the US Department of Energy. Its goal: to make a battery that holds five times more energy at one-fifth of the cost in the next five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This obviously is very, very challenging,” says Srinivasan. “But I think we’re aiming for something very big. It’s like a moonshot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Srinivasan says getting advanced battery research into the hands of companies quickly is key for reaching the goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re trying to do here in the long term is trying to find a way to create battery industry in the United States,” he says. “Today in the United States, we don’t do much battery manufacturing and so we’ve lost all those jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Energy has committed $2 billion in grants and funding for battery companies and research. But competition from well-established players in Asia has been tough and two US companies with federal support, Ener1 and A123, have already folded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some in the Bay Area are planning for the new jobs the fledgling industry could bring. San Jose State University is launching a new battery course to train workers, beginning this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 1px solid #aaa\" src=\"http://batchgeo.com/map/CalCharge\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"100%\" height=\"550\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003csmall>View \u003ca href=\"http://batchgeo.com/map/CalCharge\">California Battery Companies\u003c/a> in a full screen map\u003c/small>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10591\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/imprint2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10591\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/imprint2.jpg\" alt=\"Bay Area battery start-up Imprint Energy is developing flexible, thin batteries. (Photo: Imprint Energy)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bay Area start-up Imprint Energy is developing flexible, thin batteries. (Photo: Imprint Energy)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When Apple released its newest computer operating system a few weeks ago, battery life was the big selling point: one hour more of web-browsing. Laptops, cellphones and electric cars are driving demand for cheaper and more powerful batteries, but battery technology has been slow to evolve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area is becoming a hub for start-ups and multinational corporations hoping to produce the next big battery breakthrough. Technology like electric cars could depend on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m actually in the market for a new car and would love to buy an electric car,” says Venkat Srinivasan, who heads up battery research at \u003ca href=\"http://www.lbl.gov/\">Lawrence Berkeley National Lab\u003c/a>. “But there are practical problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, there aren’t many models that would work for Srinivasan’s daily 70-mile commute. The Nissan Leaf goes about 75 miles before it needs to be recharged. The top-of-the-line sedan from \u003ca href=\"http://www.teslamotors.com/\">Tesla\u003c/a> goes 300 miles, but it runs around $70,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we want to do is get cars that go 200 miles but you can buy them for the cost of say, a Toyota Corolla or Toyota Camry,” he says. “Where we are today in battery technology, we need a lot more work before we can get there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">I think we’re aiming for something very big. It’s like a moonshot.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Lithium-ion batteries, found in today’s electric cars and cellphones, have improved in the last 20 years, packing twice as much energy in the same amount of space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That sounds like a big thing, except if you compare it to semiconductors,” says Srinivasan. “The evolution is very, very slow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the decades, computer chips have doubled in speed every 18 months. Srinivasan says today’s lithium-ion batteries have improved about as much as possible with the materials they’re made of. What’s needed is an entirely new battery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Paper-Thin Batteries\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So here is our special printer,” says Christine Ho, co-founder of \u003ca href=\"http://www.imprintenergy.com/\">Imprint Energy\u003c/a>. “We actually call it Megatron.” The two-year-old company’s Alameda lab looks a lot like a screen-printing shop. The batteries are printed in layers, producing cells that are paper-thin and bendable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of our customers and I think consumers in general, they just want things to be thinner,” she says. Lithium-ion batteries don’t perform well when they’re extremely thin, so Ho developed a new type of battery chemistry using zinc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I used to like to tell investors that the main components in our battery are also found in vitamins,” she says. “But then they used to challenge me to eat my battery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company is aiming to put its battery in everything from laptops to electric cars, but the battery’s flexibility makes it attractive for wearable electronics, like a cellphone on your wrist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Imprint Energy is just one of about 40 companies working on battery technology in the Bay Area. Many are start-ups that have tapped into millions of dollars of Silicon Valley venture capital. But Ho says building hardware takes longer than building software, and software is what Silicon Valley is accustomed to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s been difficult is the investment community has really had a challenge with how long it takes for these technologies to be mature enough that they’ll be accepted,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Big Players in the Market\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enticed by the potential payoff of a battery breakthrough, major corporations are also getting in the game.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10592\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 350px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/IBM.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10592\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/IBM.jpg\" alt=\"Researcher Bryan McCloskey holds a test lithium-air battery at IBM's San Jose lab. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\" width=\"350\" height=\"313\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Researcher Bryan McCloskey holds a test lithium-air battery at IBM’s San Jose lab. (Lauren Sommer/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At \u003ca href=\"http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smart_grid/article/battery500.html\">IBM’s Almaden Research Center\u003c/a> in San Jose, researcher Bryan McCloskey holds up a test battery cell. It uses lithium, but it has two little tubes sticking out of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re feeding a gas into your battery on one side,” he says. “This gas just happens to be air, ambient air.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Batteries are generally self-contained packets of chemistry. IBM is working on lithium-air batteries that use oxygen from the air to create chemical reactions. Getting a battery component from the outside means the battery can be smaller, lighter and more powerful, crucial for electric cars. McCloskey says it could take a decade to develop, but IBM is hoping the battery will take cars 500 miles on a single charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you could envision powering every single car in America with a battery that has IBM stamped on the side of it, that has a huge market,” he says. LG Chem, Bosch and major car companies are also working on batteries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Berkeley Lab is also trying to jump start battery development through the \u003ca href=\"http://www.jcesr.org/\">Joint Center for Energy Storage Research\u003c/a>, a research hub organized by the US Department of Energy. Its goal: to make a battery that holds five times more energy at one-fifth of the cost in the next five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This obviously is very, very challenging,” says Srinivasan. “But I think we’re aiming for something very big. It’s like a moonshot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Srinivasan says getting advanced battery research into the hands of companies quickly is key for reaching the goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re trying to do here in the long term is trying to find a way to create battery industry in the United States,” he says. “Today in the United States, we don’t do much battery manufacturing and so we’ve lost all those jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Energy has committed $2 billion in grants and funding for battery companies and research. But competition from well-established players in Asia has been tough and two US companies with federal support, Ener1 and A123, have already folded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some in the Bay Area are planning for the new jobs the fledgling industry could bring. San Jose State University is launching a new battery course to train workers, beginning this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 1px solid #aaa\" src=\"http://batchgeo.com/map/CalCharge\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"100%\" height=\"550\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003csmall>View \u003ca href=\"http://batchgeo.com/map/CalCharge\">California Battery Companies\u003c/a> in a full screen map\u003c/small>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Water is Running Out in Central California Wine Country",
"headTitle": "Water is Running Out in Central California Wine Country | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Chris Richard\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s picking time for wine vineyards in the central California community of Paso Robles, and the farmers are bringing in a rich harvest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paso Robles’ vineyards support a $1.8 billion local economy, and cultivation is up sharply. But as vineyards proliferate around this farm town halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, residential wells are starting to go dry. Some are calling the plight of Paso Robles a good example of what’s wrong with California’s unregulated groundwater supply.[contextly_sidebar id=”f50eafa1a05c1ba36e79fb64708094ab”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>UPDATE: California officials released their “\u003ca title=\"CNRA - Water Action Plan\" href=\"http://bit.ly/1ag7WyA\">Water Action Plan\u003c/a>” toward securing the state’s future water supplies this week. It contains some approaches to better groundwater management–but recommends no specific regulation or legislation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farmers here irrigate from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/planning/commguidelines/PRgroundwater.htm#groundwater\">Paso Robles Groundwater Basin\u003c/a>, subterranean beds of sand and gravel that hold one of California’s largest water supplies. It contains an estimated 30 million acre-feet of water, enough to supply twice as many households as there are in the entire state for a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10579\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater4-large.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10579\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater4-large.jpg\" alt=\"Seventh-generation farmer Dana Merrill says grapes have been a “godsend,” because they sell for a high enough price that his family can afford to stay in farming. (Photo: Chris Richard)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Seventh-generation farmer Dana Merrill says grapes have been a “godsend,” because they sell for a high enough price that his family can afford to stay in farming. (Photo: Chris Richard)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the San Luis Obispo Groundwater Management Plan, the basin can deliver 97,700 acre-feet annually, assuming recharge levels from rain and Sierra snow remain at normal levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they haven’t, and demand on groundwater has continued to climb. According to the GMP, in 1997 the estimated demand was 76,404 acre-feet, or 78 percent of what could safely be withdrawn. Nine years later, it was at 89,473 acre-feet: 92 percent of the safe yield. By 2025, demand is expected to approach 108,000 acre-feet, or 110 percent of the safe yield.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">You’ve got a combination of less and less effective groundwater replenishment and increased groundwater pumping, which is an ecological train wreck waiting to happen.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Nominally, the basin is still within its safety limits. But with agriculture and development booming, water levels have started dropping. This summer, San Luis Obispo County released a new groundwater map showing that most of the aquifer has fallen at least 70 feet since 1997.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The 45-second shower\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Frank, director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at UC Davis, says until California develops coherent groundwater policies, we can expect such surprises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a natural condition, groundwater aquifers naturally replenish. But with an ever-shrinking available supply of surface water, the opportunities for groundwater replenishment are going to be less and less,” he said. “So you’ve got a combination of less and less effective groundwater replenishment and increased groundwater pumping, which is an ecological train wreck waiting to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Denise Smith’s gotten a taste of what that might mean. Her well suddenly went dry in June, and she’s been trucking in water ever since. She’s gotten showers down to 45 seconds. There are plastic buckets in her bathtub and in all the sinks so she can use water twice, and as much as possible, she eats off paper plates. She uses the dishwasher once a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10568\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater-large.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10568\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater-large.jpg\" alt=\"Denise Smith blames excessive water use by Paso Robles vineyards for her dry well. (Photo: Chris Richard)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Denise Smith blames excessive water use by Paso Robles vineyards for her dry well. (Photo: Chris Richard)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But there’s been nothing she can do for her garden. She had corn, pumpkins, tomatoes, fruit trees. Now, when she touches the leaves of her plants, they crumble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laying blame\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like many of her neighbors, Smith’s posted “Save Our Wells” placards along the road by her house. Also like her neighbors, she blames Paso Robles’ wine vineyards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They just keep planting more and more, and their wells are going deeper and their water usage is so much that, you know, it’s taken all the water from people,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until fairly recently, cattle ranching, grain and especially almonds dominated the local farm economy. But the energy crisis of the 1970s drove up the cost of pumping irrigation water from the ground. Farmers needed a crop that commanded a high enough price to pay those energy bills. It turned out that Paso Robles, with its warm days and cool nights, is prime wine grape country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Pomar Junction Vineyard and Winery ten miles southwest of Denise Smith’s bone-dry yard, the vines are thriving. With harvest underway, seventh-generation farmer Dana Merrill plucks a bunch of small, deep purple fruit and pops a sample into his mouth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Merrill likes grapes, and he says these Syrah varietals are especially tasty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wine grapes were a godsend. I mean literally, we would not be in agriculture if it wasn’t for wine grapes, because the other crops just aren’t economically viable in this area anymore,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like other area farmers, Merrill points out that grapes naturally require far less water than other crops such as alfalfa, and growers are using technology to decrease their needs even more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vineyard owner Kathleen Maas has embraced water thrift. She monitors soil moisture with subterranean, computerized sensors that send a message to her iPad when it’s time to water. To minimize pumping, she’s installed a quarter-million-dollar recycling system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she washes her grapes, the system uses gravity to run wastewater through a series of filtration tanks and back into storage for irrigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it hurt her feelings when a neighbor with a dry household well put up a sign blaming the vineyards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t take her water and I wouldn’t want to,” Maas said. “I’m doing everything I can to conserve. I tore out my lawn at home. And we’ll continue to pursue every avenue we can. And yet, there’s just no way it can be one single source who’s responsible for all this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10581\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater1-large.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10581\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater1-large.jpg\" alt=\"Harvest is underway in the vineyards of Paso Robles. Wine grapes grown there sell for up to $2,000 a ton, three times the state average. (Photo: Chris Richard)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harvest is underway in the vineyards of Paso Robles. Wine grapes grown there sell for up to $2,000 a ton, three times the state average. (Photo: Chris Richard)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s true that Paso Robles’ population has tripled in recent years, and a thriving tourist trade draws on the groundwater as well. Still, farms use about two-thirds of the water. The acreage devoted to vineyards has risen sharply since the 1970s. Then, vineyards made up a little more than 500 acres in all San Luis Obispo County. Today, there are more than 36,000 acres, most in the Paso Robles area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep water flowing, a property owner can dig a deeper well. But that can cost at least $30,000, and lots of people say they can’t afford it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Luis Obispo County supervisors have imposed an emergency ban on all kinds of new wells. But right now, they lack legal authority to limit how much owners of existing wells can pump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the tragedy of the commons,” said San Luis Obispo County Supervisor County Supervisor Adam Hill, referring to the classic explanation, in economics, of how people use more than their share of a communal resource for short-term gain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to “tragedy of the commons” theory, the race for immediate profit ends up devouring the resource, and that hurts everybody in the long run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the problem that we’re faced with now, and that I believe more and more of California counties are going to be faced with if they’re not already,” Hill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County authorities, farmers and homeowner representatives are trying to establish a local water management district that could monitor usage, pipe in a new supply and set up water recycling and storage facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frank, of the Law and Policy Center, says such districts can be effective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But that is very hit and miss. And the problem is that hydrology and groundwater don’t follow political boundaries,” he said. “And then it gets difficult, if not impossible, for local jurisdictions to manage groundwater that they share with jurisdictions outside of their own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Free-for-all\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, anybody who wants to extract groundwater needs a state permit, and state regulators monitor pumping. Texas has administrative regions that govern entire aquifers. In California, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office has twice recommended similar systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, over-pumping is depleting groundwater throughout the state. Using satellites that track gravitational changes, University of California, Irvine professor Jay Famiglietti is using satellites to track the damage caused by unrestricted pumping in the Central Valley. He said that region is losing about three cubic kilometers of groundwater a year, a rate equal to pumping Lake Mead dry every dozen years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California relies on subterranean aquifers for about a third of its water supply, and even more in drought years. Famiglietti likens California’s current lack of systematic regulation to a family that fails to monitor withdrawals from its bank account. If that goes on too long, he says, the checks will start to bounce.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "As vineyards proliferate around this farm town halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, residential wells are starting to go dry. Some are calling the plight of Paso Robles a good example of what's wrong with California's unregulated groundwater supply.",
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"description": "As vineyards proliferate around this farm town halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, residential wells are starting to go dry. Some are calling the plight of Paso Robles a good example of what's wrong with California's unregulated groundwater supply.",
"title": "Water is Running Out in Central California Wine Country | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>By Chris Richard\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s picking time for wine vineyards in the central California community of Paso Robles, and the farmers are bringing in a rich harvest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paso Robles’ vineyards support a $1.8 billion local economy, and cultivation is up sharply. But as vineyards proliferate around this farm town halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, residential wells are starting to go dry. Some are calling the plight of Paso Robles a good example of what’s wrong with California’s unregulated groundwater supply.\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>UPDATE: California officials released their “\u003ca title=\"CNRA - Water Action Plan\" href=\"http://bit.ly/1ag7WyA\">Water Action Plan\u003c/a>” toward securing the state’s future water supplies this week. It contains some approaches to better groundwater management–but recommends no specific regulation or legislation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farmers here irrigate from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/planning/commguidelines/PRgroundwater.htm#groundwater\">Paso Robles Groundwater Basin\u003c/a>, subterranean beds of sand and gravel that hold one of California’s largest water supplies. It contains an estimated 30 million acre-feet of water, enough to supply twice as many households as there are in the entire state for a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10579\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater4-large.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10579\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater4-large.jpg\" alt=\"Seventh-generation farmer Dana Merrill says grapes have been a “godsend,” because they sell for a high enough price that his family can afford to stay in farming. (Photo: Chris Richard)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Seventh-generation farmer Dana Merrill says grapes have been a “godsend,” because they sell for a high enough price that his family can afford to stay in farming. (Photo: Chris Richard)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the San Luis Obispo Groundwater Management Plan, the basin can deliver 97,700 acre-feet annually, assuming recharge levels from rain and Sierra snow remain at normal levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But they haven’t, and demand on groundwater has continued to climb. According to the GMP, in 1997 the estimated demand was 76,404 acre-feet, or 78 percent of what could safely be withdrawn. Nine years later, it was at 89,473 acre-feet: 92 percent of the safe yield. By 2025, demand is expected to approach 108,000 acre-feet, or 110 percent of the safe yield.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">You’ve got a combination of less and less effective groundwater replenishment and increased groundwater pumping, which is an ecological train wreck waiting to happen.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Nominally, the basin is still within its safety limits. But with agriculture and development booming, water levels have started dropping. This summer, San Luis Obispo County released a new groundwater map showing that most of the aquifer has fallen at least 70 feet since 1997.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The 45-second shower\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Frank, director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at UC Davis, says until California develops coherent groundwater policies, we can expect such surprises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a natural condition, groundwater aquifers naturally replenish. But with an ever-shrinking available supply of surface water, the opportunities for groundwater replenishment are going to be less and less,” he said. “So you’ve got a combination of less and less effective groundwater replenishment and increased groundwater pumping, which is an ecological train wreck waiting to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Denise Smith’s gotten a taste of what that might mean. Her well suddenly went dry in June, and she’s been trucking in water ever since. She’s gotten showers down to 45 seconds. There are plastic buckets in her bathtub and in all the sinks so she can use water twice, and as much as possible, she eats off paper plates. She uses the dishwasher once a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10568\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater-large.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10568\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater-large.jpg\" alt=\"Denise Smith blames excessive water use by Paso Robles vineyards for her dry well. (Photo: Chris Richard)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Denise Smith blames excessive water use by Paso Robles vineyards for her dry well. (Photo: Chris Richard)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But there’s been nothing she can do for her garden. She had corn, pumpkins, tomatoes, fruit trees. Now, when she touches the leaves of her plants, they crumble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Laying blame\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like many of her neighbors, Smith’s posted “Save Our Wells” placards along the road by her house. Also like her neighbors, she blames Paso Robles’ wine vineyards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They just keep planting more and more, and their wells are going deeper and their water usage is so much that, you know, it’s taken all the water from people,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until fairly recently, cattle ranching, grain and especially almonds dominated the local farm economy. But the energy crisis of the 1970s drove up the cost of pumping irrigation water from the ground. Farmers needed a crop that commanded a high enough price to pay those energy bills. It turned out that Paso Robles, with its warm days and cool nights, is prime wine grape country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Pomar Junction Vineyard and Winery ten miles southwest of Denise Smith’s bone-dry yard, the vines are thriving. With harvest underway, seventh-generation farmer Dana Merrill plucks a bunch of small, deep purple fruit and pops a sample into his mouth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Merrill likes grapes, and he says these Syrah varietals are especially tasty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wine grapes were a godsend. I mean literally, we would not be in agriculture if it wasn’t for wine grapes, because the other crops just aren’t economically viable in this area anymore,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like other area farmers, Merrill points out that grapes naturally require far less water than other crops such as alfalfa, and growers are using technology to decrease their needs even more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vineyard owner Kathleen Maas has embraced water thrift. She monitors soil moisture with subterranean, computerized sensors that send a message to her iPad when it’s time to water. To minimize pumping, she’s installed a quarter-million-dollar recycling system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she washes her grapes, the system uses gravity to run wastewater through a series of filtration tanks and back into storage for irrigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it hurt her feelings when a neighbor with a dry household well put up a sign blaming the vineyards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I didn’t take her water and I wouldn’t want to,” Maas said. “I’m doing everything I can to conserve. I tore out my lawn at home. And we’ll continue to pursue every avenue we can. And yet, there’s just no way it can be one single source who’s responsible for all this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10581\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater1-large.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10581\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2013/10/PasoRoblesWater1-large.jpg\" alt=\"Harvest is underway in the vineyards of Paso Robles. Wine grapes grown there sell for up to $2,000 a ton, three times the state average. (Photo: Chris Richard)\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harvest is underway in the vineyards of Paso Robles. Wine grapes grown there sell for up to $2,000 a ton, three times the state average. (Photo: Chris Richard)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s true that Paso Robles’ population has tripled in recent years, and a thriving tourist trade draws on the groundwater as well. Still, farms use about two-thirds of the water. The acreage devoted to vineyards has risen sharply since the 1970s. Then, vineyards made up a little more than 500 acres in all San Luis Obispo County. Today, there are more than 36,000 acres, most in the Paso Robles area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep water flowing, a property owner can dig a deeper well. But that can cost at least $30,000, and lots of people say they can’t afford it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Luis Obispo County supervisors have imposed an emergency ban on all kinds of new wells. But right now, they lack legal authority to limit how much owners of existing wells can pump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the tragedy of the commons,” said San Luis Obispo County Supervisor County Supervisor Adam Hill, referring to the classic explanation, in economics, of how people use more than their share of a communal resource for short-term gain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to “tragedy of the commons” theory, the race for immediate profit ends up devouring the resource, and that hurts everybody in the long run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the problem that we’re faced with now, and that I believe more and more of California counties are going to be faced with if they’re not already,” Hill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County authorities, farmers and homeowner representatives are trying to establish a local water management district that could monitor usage, pipe in a new supply and set up water recycling and storage facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frank, of the Law and Policy Center, says such districts can be effective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But that is very hit and miss. And the problem is that hydrology and groundwater don’t follow political boundaries,” he said. “And then it gets difficult, if not impossible, for local jurisdictions to manage groundwater that they share with jurisdictions outside of their own.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Free-for-all\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, anybody who wants to extract groundwater needs a state permit, and state regulators monitor pumping. Texas has administrative regions that govern entire aquifers. In California, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office has twice recommended similar systems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, over-pumping is depleting groundwater throughout the state. Using satellites that track gravitational changes, University of California, Irvine professor Jay Famiglietti is using satellites to track the damage caused by unrestricted pumping in the Central Valley. He said that region is losing about three cubic kilometers of groundwater a year, a rate equal to pumping Lake Mead dry every dozen years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California relies on subterranean aquifers for about a third of its water supply, and even more in drought years. Famiglietti likens California’s current lack of systematic regulation to a family that fails to monitor withdrawals from its bank account. If that goes on too long, he says, the checks will start to bounce.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
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},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"link": "/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"here-and-now": {
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"description": "[caption id=\"attachment_13657\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"351\"] Just over 2,000 wells have been fracked in California, according to industry data. (Craig Miller/KQED)[/caption] Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been used for more than 30 years in California, but it’s attracting attention and scrutiny because of renewed interest in the state’s large oil reserve, known as the Monterey Shale. In California, fracking is done mainly for oil, while in other states with recent fracking booms, like Pennsylvania and Texas, it’s used largely for natural gas. What is it? Fracking is just one phase of the process used to bring an oil or gas well into production. The technique is used to release oil from rocks deep underground. Water, mixed with sand and chemicals, is injected down the well bore at high pressure to create tiny fractures in the rock. According to the oil industry, more than 2,000 wells have been fracked in the state. Concerns Environmental groups have called for a moratorium on fracking until the state does a comprehensive review of potential impacts on both water and air quality. A chief concern is the chemicals used, some of which are carcinogens, and potential contamination of groundwater. Fracking also uses large volumes of freshwater. Industry sources say it uses less freshwater in California than is used in other states and no cases of groundwater contamination have been found. Where it Stands In November 2013, state regulators released draft rules for fracking that are now expected to go into effect in July 2015. They followed passage of SB 4, a bill signed by Governor Jerry Brown, that spelled out what the regulations should cover. Under the rules, oil and gas operators would be required to apply for a permit prior to fracking a well, and to provide written notice to nearby landowners. Operators would have to disclose what chemicals they use, but not the specific concentrations if they consider those a trade secret. State water regulators are also developing a groundwater monitoring program. The regulations are expected to be finalized by the end of 2014.",
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