Environment
KQED Science
With Drought, New Scrutiny Over Fracking’s Water Use
The drought is putting a spotlight on water use around California, including for hydraulic fracturing. How much water does fracking use and will it increase as companies tap into the Monterey Shale, estimated to be the largest oil resource in country?
KQED Science
Anti-Fracking Activists in California Take Fight to County Ballots
Activists are hoping local residents will do what state legislators haven’t done -- shut down the controversial oil production technique known as hydraulic fracturing.
KQED News
Climate Change Worsens Coastal Flooding From High Tides
A wave of high tides is expected to hit much of the East Coast this week. These special tides – king tides — occur a few times a year when the Moon's orbit brings it close to the Earth. But scientists say that lately, even normal tides throughout the year ...Read More
KQED Science
Now You Can Take a Virtual Hike in California State Parks
You can now visit 14 California State Parks from the comfort of your own web browser, using Google Street View.
QUEST
Will Recycling Phosphorus Help Stop Algae Blooms?
Excess phosphorus in lakes can cause destructive algae blooms big enough to be seen from satellites. NOAA image. We depend on big farms for our food. For crops, that means a lot of fertilizer; for animals, that means a lot of waste. For the lakes near these farms, that means a ...Read More
KQED News
National Park Service, Drakes Bay Oyster Co. Announce Exit Agreement
After nearly a decade of negotiations, scientific studies, congressional intervention and protracted legal skirmishing, the National Park Service and Drakes Bay Oyster Co. announced Monday they've reached agreement on terms for the firm's final exit from Point Reyes National Seashore.
KQED News
Court Upholds Water Releases for Salmon on North State Rivers
A federal judge in Fresno has ruled that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation did not violate the law when it made special reservoir releases last year to help salmon in Northern California's Klamath River survive the drought rather than save the water for farms. But U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill ...Read More
KQED News
Brown Signs Statewide Ban on Plastic Bags
Fenit Nirappil Associated Press Shoppers in San Franicsco's Chinatown with plastic bags. (David Paul Morris/Getty Images) SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation imposing the nation's first statewide ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores, driven to action by a buildup of litter and damage to aquatic ...Read More
KQED News
Brown, Bay Area Activists in NYC for U.N. Climate Summit
By Isaac Silk People protest for greater action against climate change during the People's Climate March on Sept. 21, 2014 in New York City. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) Hundreds of thousands of climate change protesters, including a large delegation of Californians, descended on New York this past weekend ahead of the United Nations ...Read More
KQED News
Glacier Breaks, Sends Mudslide Down Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta as it appeared on a hazy day in late August 2014. (Dan Brekke/KQED) MOUNT SHASTA, Siskiyou County — U.S. Forest Service crews on Mount Shasta were dealing Monday with mud flowing from a melting glacier that covered two roads and a bridge in muck, logs and rocks and forced ...Read More
QUEST
City Streets Could Someday Be Lit by Glowing Trees
San Francisco-based Glowing Plants hopes to engineer trees that can light city streets. For now, the team is working with smaller plants. (Lindsey Hoshaw/KQED) In the basement of a startup lab in San Francisco, scientist Kyle Taylor stands in a dark, windowless room. “I kind of like to have a big ...Read More
KQED News
Federal Judges Sends Wyo. Wolves Back To Endangered Species List
Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. ...Read More
KQED News
Brown Signs Statewide Ban on Plastic Bags
The new law will bar most single-use plastic bags. Industry vows to fight back with ballot issue.
The Lowdown
The Inequalities of Climate Change Visualized in One Fascinating Map
The Carbon Map was created by Duncan Clark and Robin Houston from the design firm KILN as an entry to the World Bank's Apps for Climate competition. Recently updated and featured on The Guardian, the map resizes the world's geography to reflect the nations most responsible ...Read More
KQED Science
Long-Range Forecast: Less Snow for Skiers, Less Water for California
A new federal report affirms what scientists have been saying for years: California's "bank account" of snow-melt water may be overdrawn within decades.
KQED Science
Large Protests In Hundreds Of Cities Vent Ire Over Climate Change
Streets in New York City and other towns are being taken over by marchers Sunday in what organizers hope will be the largest climate change protest in history.
Forum
California Proposition 1: Water Bond
Water is always a hot political topic in California, and this drought-plagued year is no exception. Proposition 1 on the November ballot would authorize $7.5 billion for what supporters say are critical water quality and infrastructure projects. We'll discuss what's in the bond and hear from opponents who claim that ...Read More
KQED Science
Why More Trees in the Sierra Mean Less Water for California
California water districts are eyeing a potential new source of water: trees. After a century of fire suppression, Sierra Nevada forests are more dense than ever before. And those pine trees are taking up a lot of water that might otherwise run off into California rivers.
KQED Science
Coastal Cleanup 2014: Taming Beach Trash
Plastics provide convenience but litter our oceans and waterways. Find out about efforts to clean up our coast and inland waterways at this year's annual Coastal Cleanup and how the "bag ban" may help keep trash out of our environment.
KQED News
U.S. Gets Middling Marks On 2014 'State Of Birds' Report Card
All is not well with the nation's birds. The most comprehensive study ever of birds in America is out today, and it says many populations are in steep decline, even as others are doing well. The report, called "The State of the Birds," comes from the federal government, universities and ...Read More
