Environment
Who controls your thermostat?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star program has promoted programmable thermostats since 1995, estimating that consumers will save 10%-30% on their heating and cooling energy bills. Consumers who can accurately predict when they will be home, and who find it difficult to remember to set up their thermostat in the summer or set [...]
Post on Mar 23, 2007 by Jim Gunshinan
A Giant's Eye View
This past week I stopped into one of my favorite (indoor) places on the Estuary: the San Francisco Bay Model in Sausalito. Built by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s, the model was used up until 2000 to simulate the effects of changes to the Estuary. It let engineers study the impacts of [...]
Post on Mar 22, 2007 by Ann Dickinson
JAWS along our Coast
Benchley's book and Spielberg's classic film Jaws might well have been set off San Francisco, in that although shark attacks are rare events, the fear and publicity associated with sharks off central California is on most everyone's mind. The White shark (Carcharodon carcharias), also known as the Great White Shark, requires no hyperbole. It is [...]
Post on Mar 21, 2007 by John E. McCosker
Elk Return to the Bay Area
Tule Elk once dominated the Bay Area landscape, but after the Gold Rush they were hunted to near extinction. Now thanks to naturalists and inspired ranchers, they are making a comeback.
Video on Mar 20, 2007 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
Exploring Elkhorn Slough
Go on an Exploration of Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, CA. While it offers a variety of rich habitats and vegetation for hundreds of species of birds, fish and other wildlife, it's under constant threat from human activity, pollution and erosion.
Science Hike on Mar 20, 2007 by Craig Rosa from QUEST Northern California
Discuss the "Elk Return to the Bay Area" TV story
For thousands of years, massive herds of Tule Elk ranged across California like bison roaming the great plains. Weighing more than 500 pounds and able to run as fast as a racehorse, they were among the most majestic animals in the west. There were once a half a million native tule elk found in the [...]
Post on Mar 20, 2007 by Chris Bauer
Green Building Revolution
An explosion in green building is underway. Cleverly engineered libraries, office buildings, even public housing projects are popping up across the Bay Area, championed as much by landlords as by environmental groups.
Video on Mar 20, 2007 by Amy Miller from QUEST Northern California
Exploring the Los Trancos Open Space Preserve
You probably know that the San Andreas Fault runs nearly the length of the state. But did you know that you can see the fault for yourself? Take a hike at Los Trancos Open Space Preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains above Palo Alto.
Science Hike on Mar 19, 2007 by Craig Rosa from QUEST Northern California
Discuss the "Green Building Revolution" TV story
In Menlo Park, the headquarters of a multi-billion-dollar foundation is cooled with melting ice instead of air conditioning. In San Jose, a computer company linked its irrigation systems to local weather stations so they automatically adjust as the weather changes. In Los Gatos, a nuns' retreat center uses compacted straw for walls, recycled newspaper for [...]
Post on Mar 19, 2007 by Amy Miller
Bay Area herpetology: salamanders, part 1
California newt (Taricha torosa)It is about the time of year when, on a hike pretty much anywhere in the Bay Area, you can turn over a rock or a log and find a salamander. Like frogs, the breeding habits of salamanders coincide with the seasonally wet weather of the spring time; and as amphibians, water [...]
Post on Mar 16, 2007 by Nick Pyenson
Bringing Back Urban Bees
Spring may be in the air, but our pollinators may not be. The U.S. bee population has declined, especially in urban areas. In the San Francisco Bay Area, there's a new buzz to bring wild, native bees to the urban landscape.
Audio Report on Mar 16, 2007 by KQED QUEST staff from QUEST Northern California
Discuss the "Bringing Back Urban Bees" radio story
Spring may be in the air, but the bees that pollinate our fruit and flowers may not be. The number of bees in the U.S. has declined, especially in urban areas. The traditional way to increase bee numbers is with hives of European honeybees — but setbacks in keeping city beehives means that a different, [...]
Post on Mar 16, 2007 by David Gorn
Cue the Pacific Tree Frog
Ahh… summer (well it seems like summer)… a time for lemonade, swimming in lakes and listening to the croak of frogs and catching them down by the creek. Wait! Is the lemonade organic? Is the lake protected? And most importantly, are you catching that frog in a jar, rather than with your hands, and putting [...]
Post on Mar 14, 2007 by Amy Gotliffe
Horsing Around for the Home Planet
A friend who is an aficionado of classical music described rock and roll as "a man who got on his horse and rode off in all directions. In my version of the saying, about climate change and our dependence on fossil fuels, I think we all need to get on our horses and ride off [...]
Post on Mar 09, 2007 by Jim Gunshinan
Creek by Creek
When you’re feeling gloomy about the state of the planet and all the environmental challenges we face, there’s no better medicine than to spend a day outside with kids, planting native plants. That’s what I did two weeks ago, when I tagged along with our Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed (STRAW) Project staff and [...]
Post on Mar 08, 2007 by Ann Dickinson
Mysterious hot springs, green flashes in the shadow of Mt. Tam
It all started when I met a member of Earth First! in an AOL chat room back around 1993. (And no, they weren’t recruiting me to chain myself to bulldozers and firebomb humvee dealerships). We were discussing Newt Gingrich's "Contract on America," and how they were trying to wipe out so much environmental progress. She [...]
Post on Mar 07, 2007 by Donovan Rittenbach
America's Last Whaling Station (radio)
The Bay Area was home to the last whale hunting fleet in the United States – only a generation ago. QUEST investigates how Richmond, California was part of a historic moment, and what remains today.
Audio Report on Mar 02, 2007 by Amy Standen from QUEST Northern California
Discuss the "America's Last Whaling Station" radio and TV story
This month, gray whales are beginning their 12,000-mile spring migration from calving grounds in Baja, Mexico, back up north to feeding grounds off Alaska. Just a generation ago, these waters were hunting grounds for commercial whalers. In fact, Richmond, California was home to America’s last commercial station. It closed in 1972. Nanotechnology Takes Off and [...]
Post on Mar 01, 2007 by Amy Standen
Mammoths, Spears, and Marty Stouffer
Woolly MammothTwo years ago, the skeleton of a mammoth was discovered and excavated right near the San Jose airport. That may not change your world, but consider that when that mammoth was alive, there was no San Francisco Bay– global sea level was lower because of massive glaciers that covered the Northern Hemisphere. This time [...]
Post on Mar 01, 2007 by Nick Pyenson
California's High Speed Rail
State transportation planners have nearly finished designing a high-tech bullet train system that would take passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in two hours at 220 mph — faster than a Ferrari. But will California voters pay for it?
Video on Feb 27, 2007 by Chris Bauer from QUEST Northern California
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