It is scary, i grew to lo a lot of these people. Sara hoy at ground zero of the opiate epidemic, and why as bad as it is, americas addiction problem may be getting worse. Thank you for joining us, im joie chen. We know the grip is powerful and becoming deadly. There are signs that heroin is reaching into new communities, getting more people hooked. America tonight has closely followed the nations surge in opiate addiction, and now a new cvc report confirms what we have seen an explosion of death due to heroin overdoses, earlier four times higher over the last decade. On the streets sara hoy found the drug trade is luring more victims to their deaths. Reporter the north filly neighbourhood of kensington, a short train ride from buildings and monuments symbolizing philadelphia. The av mu was a thriving shopping district and is now an eyesore. Abandoned buildings, factories and row houses attracting pushers and users. Its a neighbourhood where the people are forgotten and the forgotten go to forget. This is the part People Choose to turn their head away from. A blinds eye. One woman not turning a blind eye is carol, born and raised in kensington. She note the pain of afiction, her 25yearold son used to live on the kens iming tonne streets when kensington streets when heroin took hold of his life. My son i dont know the feeling, i guess its euphoria. Reporter carol patrols kensic tonne handing out water, food, toiletries and clothes to the addict. He doesnt know its me yet. Sneakers . I didnt. I got you 10. 5. Reporter she plays the role of mum for many of the young addict looking to get clean and need help and guidance. Sorry, i have to do this. God dont run from me, please. What are you doing . Why are you down here . Reporter while many may have given up on the lost souls, carol refuses to do so. She draws inspiration from her sons journey through addiction. Everybody thought my son was here. I show his picture to people that are this close to entering recovery saying this is him before. I know him, he was crazy, i know what you are thinking. And im this is him now. I have gotten that response wow, crust like that. Im like yes. If he can do it, why dont you think you can. Reporter why do you care . Because of my son. You dont know unless you live this. This is something i wouldnt wish on anyone. Through his addiction im the person i am today. Im a better person. Reporter sadly carol is not alone in her experience. Across the country heroin use is up. In 2013, more than 8,000 people decide. Died. Many seeking a high using heroin laced with a potent ingredient. We met dr elon, a director of the center for Substance Abuse research. Many people start out prescribed an opiate for their pain that they may need at the time, buts for a reason they take more when they dont need it and are dependent on a prescription opiate. At that point they realise its cheaper to get heroin unfortunately it is cut with a substance used to treat severe pain associated with why fentonnel. I think it is used for two reasons one is that it gets into the brain very, very rapidly. In addition, its to potent that small quantities are needed to produce the high. Many drug dealers push the product as being an intense high. So they use fenton ill to improve the potency of their product that they are selling. Be . So its on the order of 20 times more potent than heroin. In philadelphia last year, fention ill laced heroin was found in 100 people who died of overdoses. It was most likely sold on kensington avenue. Is it friendly when you talk of an uptake of death or cutting heroin with fenton ill. Its potent, dangerous. Deadly. Its scary, i have grown to love a lot of these people down here. This fear keeps carol committed to bring those in the darkness into life. Reporter as long as the epidemic grows, carol will continue to patrol the streets of kensington. You deserve better. I deserve a lot better. Yes, you do. Everybody deserves better. They do. Reporter instilling hope and belief in those that need it the most. Come give me a hug, honey, come here. Come here, sweet cheeks. Get the hell out of here. Reporter hope that they can break free of heroins deadly grip. Thats america tonights sara hoy with an angel on the streets. Next a warning on water. Sheila macvicar in the South Pacific with a dieoff. And the threat it poses to all of us. Later, the firefighters arsenal. The jumbo jet air drops and questions about whether theyey do much good. Hidden in the mountains of afghanistan. What you have seen was a drop of the iceberg. A 5000 year old archeological site. This has preservation on a scale that no other sites have. Under threat by Global Mining and scheduled for demolition. Mes aynak is one of the most important sites in the century. With time running out. Theyre losing everything. Can archeologists stop the clock . This is rescue archaeologic we are trying to excavate as fast as possible. Ive been asked to keep my voice down cause we are so close to the isil position who is in charge, and are they going to be held to accout . But know were following the Research Team into the fire theyre learning how to practice democracy. Just seen tear gas being thrown. Glad sombody care about us man. Several human workers were kidnapped. This is whats left of the hospital is a crime thats under reported. What do you think. Were making history right now. Al Jazeera America [ ] a look at the endangered oceans and threats beneath the surface. Coral reefs are like the rain forests of the ocean. Unless Carbon Dioxide can be brought under control, what is known as coral bleaching. A die off of critical underwater creatures could set off a chain of environmental disasters. America tonights Sheila Macvicar travelled to the South Pacifics Marshall Island to get a firsthappened look. Is that the charge theyll go. This is a dive master on the island of majero located in the vast Pacific Ocean between australia and hawaii. It is the most populous of atolls making up the Marshall Island. The way to make a living by diving. Reporter this is a place you have been coming to for a long time. A long time. Reporter how many years . Nine years. Reporter last year he was shocked at what he saw when he returned to this spot. I saw bleaching coral. Accounts last year. When you say bleaching coral, what happened, the white. Very white. Very white. And normally it should be full of colour. Yes, green, purple. Red. But no more now. We had a major bleach ing event that started in the Marshall Islands in last fall. It was part of an event developing over time. As warm waters moved into the area around the Marshall Islands it stressed the corals, and they are in bad shape. Reporter mark is coordinator of reef watch at noah. The National Oceanographic and atmospheric group, an expert on the complex ecology of coral. Coral is interesting. Its animal, vegetable and mineral. The tissues. When the temperatures are too high, the corals expel the algae, spit them out and goes from having nice algae and the tissues like you see here, to spitting them out into the water. A few remain. The coral is getting lighter. The algae gives the coral its colour. Most corals turn pure white when they kick the algae out. They literally ripped their guts out to get rid of those in their tissues, and they are starving. Its a very stressful event as we descend below the waves and begin to explore the reef, theres none of telltale patches of white this signified the stress and live coral, what was seen last october. Instead, interspersed between colourful gardens of healthy coral, we see skeletal remains, devoid of life, drained the colour, covered with a thick layer of algae. Others have begun to collapse and crumble to the sea floor. I fish a lot as well. And one particular morning as i was going out, i saw this line of white in areas where normally there was live coral. Reporter Reginald White is chief meteorologist officer. When its a temporary event, coral can regenerate or get back to their normal, you know, life. Otherwise, you are seeing the death of the coral at certain levels, certain depths, and that is very alarming for Marshall Islands. Islands in depend on a subsistent economy. This is the food source. Reporter so if the coral dies . Then food sources for many people in the other islands goes with it as well. Its the rising ocean temperature that causes the die off to continue. Experts worry the results could be disastrous. Half a million rely on the reef as their primary source of food. Reporter Scientists Use an array of satellites to take the temperatures of the earths oceans. What is happening in the Marshall Islands appears to be growing into a global event. The bleaching is in kiribati in the tropical pacific area on the equator. Reporter in the months ahead noah predicted theyll hit closer to home. Well see the stress return to hawaii. If this happens, it will be the second time theyve had mass coral bleaching. Reporter thats twice in two years. Twice in two years. We are seeing here that the caribbean the northern caribbean areas, western atlantic, and gulf of mexico, we are looking at chances of bleaching in cuba, bahamas and florida. Rises, its taking less and less we have seen what looks like a third time ever. Third time ever. By around the mid part of the century. As much of 90 of the coral reefs may be seeing the temperatures that can cause coral bleaching every year. Can they recover . When this happens every year, no. Aiken had a glimpse into a future when he dove to inspect a coral reef during the bleaching of 2010. If there is anything that i if there is anything that i could wipe from my memory, its what that reef looked like. You are seeing coral. Its white. Everything is white all over. Starting looking at the reef, watching the fish. The fish were stunned. Some of the corals were dying at that point. The difference between that and a healthy reef was just so off. It was like nothing i had seen before. And it was heartbreaking. Aiken and other scientist say the fate of the earths reef hinges on talks in paris in december, aiming to keep Global Warming below 2 degrees celsius. For those depending on the coral reef for livelihood and survival, that hope may be all they have. Whether the bigger nations will hear the plea remains to be seen. From sea to the sky. Next the firefighters arsenal, the jumbo jet aircrafts and questions about whether they really do much good. And the race to space and its souvenirs next week on the programme. Adam may in the atmosphere of astronomical history and the high price of moon swag thats next week on america tonight. [crowd chanting] hell no gmo. Theyre slamming a technology that could be used to solve problems for people who desperately need it. They get exited about technology whether its in their phone or in their car, so why is it so weird on their plate . Somethings going into food that shouldnt really be there. Techknow investigates. You could not pay me to fake data. [ music ] reporter with no let up in the wests heatwave. Its been warned that the Fire Fighting seen is not only starting earlier, and is set to see more blazes and last longer than unusual. Last week, cal fire, californias fire Agency Responded to over 350 fire fires in the drought strainen state. Firefighters are looking skyward for help to contain the wild, but theres doubt that it is a strategy that works. Shock and awe. Inside the cockpit of an Air National Guard c130. The ground warning sounds. The plane is flying low, and slow. At the aircraft flies headon into a plume of smoke, ready to unleash a pink cloud of flame retardants. The historic rim fire began in an unremarkable way. In august of 2013, near californias Yosemite National park. The pilot Eric Henderson was in the air that morning, on his way home no groveland california. I was at an event in lake tahoe. I saw the fire from the air. 7 oclock in the morning. It was small. But unpredictable. Powerful winds. Combined with rugged, bonedry terrain, ignited with a disaster. Few of us witnessed the power of a wildfire up close. Its an angry war that is unmistakable. Its merciless heat unstoppable. Less heat. The rim fire engulfed 100,000 acres. In a matter of days. Henderson was forced to flee. I packed up my things and thought maybe thats the last time i see her house. I pulled back to my friends roof which we are standing on. Perched atop a roof, they were helpless to do anything. Serious business. You can see flames. Oh, no. Its less than a mile. Very scary, realising that the fire was about to overrun the house. When you are sitting a block away and watching this happen. Its close, within half a mile. Hopefully they bring the heavies in to dump this thing. Reporter those big heavies are the largest fixed firefighters in the ordinarily. Old dc10 passenger jets converted into air tankers. Its over my house. It will be red. Oh, my gosh. Here it goes. It will dump on the house. It will dump on the house. What have you condition . Wow. Its a good thing, honey. Thank you. Appreciate your help, honey. See you later. Saving homes one at a time. During the rim fire, help came to groveland from 10,000 feet up. We got a closer look at albuquerque, new mexico, home base of the worlds only firefighting dc10s. That plane has to be ready to go in half an hour. It could be anyone one, it happens to be number two. I have a crew preflighted, we are waiting for a call. Reporter this craft is called a game changer. How does it change the game for firefighters . Primarily its quantity. This is a four or more times any other tanker flying, and therefore gets there with more sooner, and thats a good thing. Ive never had an Incident Commander running a fire, tell me that we got in too soon, and we brought too much. What about a home owner. They say that had the tool or weapon not been available, the outcome would have been worse. Go, baby. When the d. C. 10 comes in. It comes in once every hour and a half or so to drop the pay load. Taking it back. Yes. Like that. We like our big friend. In groveland the big friend gets the credit. After decades of air drops, some experts doubt aerial firefighting works. They are having researchers with trained firefighters going out after the drops occurred, to see how effective they are. Honestly, people are not sure, even though they have done this for 20, 30, 40 years. Reporter at the university calve consider berkeley, researcher bill stuart said we should look at firefighting, tv friendly cnn drops, to see if it is worth it. When things are hot, therell be an updraft of hot air, it will be hard for light material, retardant or water to get on to put out the flames. Its an expensive fight. Aerial assaults cost nearly 11 million, more than 10 . Of the 95 million spent on nine week long firefight. Stewart says not only are there questions about the effectiveness of the tankers, but a better investment may be made in more and better equipped boots on the ground. Maintaining fire safety is the number one priority. Theres a question of whether when we invest the next 10 million, how much of that will go to aerial suppression, how much will go to fuel management, and ground pressure. In the aftermath of the fire, the forest fire spent 134 million on rehabilitation, and trying to clampdown on fuel before the next fire. It estimates it will have to double the figure to restore the vulnerable woodland. Bill says his goal is no to ground the firefighters, but make sure resources are available to protect against future fires. Theres a choice of where we invest. Well have big fires for a long time in the west. Its not during the weather to say no, you cant nigh the air plane, but over a decade, where should be able to put the best investments. This fire season the first study of evidence is being launched that aerial firefighting is or is not effective. On board the d. C. 10 tanker the pilot says for communities in the path of a raging wildfire, theres no better protection. People say theres a more Cost Effective way to do this. I say to those people, show us what is Cost Effective. I dont know any other way of putting out the amount of retardant that aircraft do. The evidence is here. In the fastmoving rim fire, walls of flames went through, over the canyon, that was scarred, blackened and buried. Under two minutes. 300 feet flames. I dont know how we stop that. With a ground crew, without killing the ground crew. The giant dc10 danger, filled with 10 times retardant brought badly needed help in, fast. To home owners in the path of the flames, theres no doubt. If the dc10 wouldnt have come in here. They would have been lit. I dont know how they would have stap stopped that it would have been an aftermath, an afterthought. A cleanup. Well see ma what this season brings. Thats america tonight. Tell us what you think at aljazeera. Com americatonight talk to us on twitter and come back for more of america tonight tomorrow. Putting loved ones in a nursing home. Hoping for the best. My father died because of the neglect. Are they betraying your trust . Its a forprofit business. Inside these walls teenage thieves and arsonists, gangbangers, drug abusers even kids who kill. My anger was pretty bad. But, this once notorious juvenile lockup is trying something new. What does playing the piano do for you . Its therapy, a hobby an interest. Education, counseling offering a second chance. Put gas on his car. Lit it on fire. Set it on fire. And it blew up. Ya [laughs]. He used to be an incredibly aggressive young man