All right. Again your syndicate Ok. Would like to thank for pressure on her audience are broadcasting the windfall advertising in the wind farms a strategy to reach thousands of consumers in Eldorado County and beyond local content local commerce local community. Also publishes careful cakes if oks weekly broadcast schedule they can be reached at 530-621-1698 the National Alliance on Mental Illness one in every 4 persons has a mental illness understanding and accommodating a person with a mental illness school to help erase the stigma and help a person towards recovery change of heart change of mind for more information Bonnie can be reached at 530-333-1482 extension 0 Ok. Struggling to get my act together here I'm going to read a bit from it see we actually have to start out with one. September 7th issue of a New Scientist so. No further ado right into it. It's like I'm. Going to like I've read from this previously. But I really. You know go to the other one just in case. This is the September 21st issue of New Scientist. And. This one vanishing glaciers. Quote It's very fast we are confronted with the reality of the retreat close quote glaciologist Luke morrow about the rapidly branching ice at France's biggest glacier we're looking at unmistakable friend fingerprint of climate change as told by historical photos hanging in a hotel overlooking murdered last the sea of ice near the Alps highest summit Mont Blanc. About a century ago when with boaters and parasol sat near the Mont Monte had been my 10 birds train station but the glacier which then was almost level with the tongue of Jagat ice sneaking into the distance today visitors are greeted by a slightly sad and largely great glacier that's about 100 meters lower that's about 300 feet from the station a short trip by a cable car takes me to the height where in 1908 a visitor could descend down 3 steps to reach the gray sure there are now 580 steps down to the glacier. Of these 80 were added this year a stark illustration of the accelerating effects of global warming the fate of the world's glaciers will be laid bare by the un climate science panel on the 25th of September so it was 2 months ago just days after research is expected to confirm the extent of Arctic sea ice this summer reached the 2nd lowest level ever recorded there are some 170000 glaciers worldwide covering an area of 773-0000 square kilometers monitoring of $500.00 glaciers grow bored shows they're retreating across the board and since 1960 the rate at which they're losing I says increased a look to after a report from the energy of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change i.p.c.c. On our planet's oceans on ice once that this century made melting glaciers will quote 1st give too much water and then too little close quote many places mentioned in the i.p.c.c. Report will seem remote to some people but the murdered Ross and near Bennett nearby I gin to the glacier are in the heart of Europe next to Chamonix holiday destination visited by millions every year tourists can see the effects clearly the steps down to the Murdoch loss are punctuated by a quote level over the glacier close quote signs from 19852015 year the world agreed to persecuted. To avert dangerous global warming that rescue carbon a glacier white sheets have been laid atop the ice to slow the melting Sebastien payroll tells me he is running out of ways to adapt since $946.00 his family's business has carved a came here for tourists every year but this year the diggers encountered a spirit of rock indicating there at that nearing the bottom of the glacier if you use the ice this retreat means next year's cave will be the last quote It's a barometer of global warming close quote he says. Recent measurements by Christian descent of the University of Grenoble show that the murder Dawson Argentina the glacier France in the 2nd greatest glacier birth last around 800 metres in length in the past 3 decades researchers have gone further back in time by working out the glaciers steps using photos taken from a balloon in 1009 and comparing them with photos taken from a helicopter more recently the Lifton steps down to the shrinking groceries soon be dismantled of plans by skill a firm companion to do Mont Blanc go ahead it hopes to move across the Great sure 500 meters up the valley and build an educational center focusing on climate change quote It should allow us to dig a new cave in a place where scientists think there should still be some ice and next 20 years even with the most pessimistic scenarios close quote says My followed this job on company Dumont block and this is the amount mountaineers are seeing the changes up close quote 18 years ago people used to ask have you seen evidence of climate change they don't ask any of that any more because it's clear there is close quote says Andy Perkins a British mountain guide who has guided climbers here since 2001. Roaming is leading to more rock fall and thawing permafrost causing havoc with infrastructure He says quote You have to take greater care because there's no normal anymore close quote says Perkins in August Perkins took a client on the cars makes it around about Schama name that is considered stable again later a large piece of rock fell from a recent study at $95.00 Mont Blanc a massive climbing I 10 or areas from the famous 1973 book found that all but 2 of the routes have been affected by climate change Becky it's part of an all female team midway through climbing almost 4000 meter peaks and Alps found the heat wave in June close several round options it's hard to show it's hard to show rock fall. Is. Getting worse because of the lack of data she says but feels that it feels worse than in the past quote I think there's more rock fall without a doubt close quote The heat wave made more progress was made more people probably want climate change. The retreat of the glaciers is affecting flora and fauna too says Hillary. You're already so the research center for Alpine ecosystems that show me but we're seeing the productivity of vegetation going way up front plants are moving up the slope and the growing season is getting longer close quote she says setting the example of a large tree that was found growing above Shama a glacier had been situated just a decade ago an example comes from the keeper of the big nets step a stop on a popular walking route in the area a local plant known as Janet be used to make an alcoholic drink usually picked about $2400.00 metres above sea level this year the keeper picked it at $3100.00 metres the highest so far Meanwhile some species were loose out like The Rock Tom again a bird his Alps habitat is shrinking the world is currently on the path to dangerous warming on the 23rd of September some 60 heads of state are expected to present a new climate change plans at a u.n. Summit in New York the u.n. Special climate are on boy Luis Alfonso de Alba says the European Union's contribution will be fundamental to the meeting success. Unless global action is taken to curb carbon emissions France's 2 greatest glaciers are doomed a recent study by Vincent shows that on the current emissions trajectory again Terry will be gone by 2080 and murdered last by the end of the century. Quote almost nothing cause close quote can be done locally to stop their decline he says their future rests on the course the world takes. And see what else we have here. Is an interesting one that's the sides could be partly to blame for bird decline beings can be hard harmed by low levels of near naked annoyed pesticides and now it seems birds can too migrating white crowned sparrows have been found to lose weight after eating seeds treated with one of these chemicals in the Clipper it delaying their onward migration by several days. Such a delay can could hamper their chances of success successfully breeding already the main manufacturer of the presses disputes the findings the latest twist in the debate over a new nick tonight it's is the result of work by Christina Morrissey at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada and her team they caught migrating sparrows tagged them with tiny radio transmitters and gave them feed containing Imidacloprid or an alternative without the chemical the birds given the pesticide lost up to 6 percent of their body weight in 6 hours before release whereas the other birds hardly lost any skin showed a decline in body fat among the 1st group when released the birds not fed him in the clear pred continued their migration after half a day those given the pesticides took 4 days on average to do the same. She says she has. She also has unplugged evidence that 2 other new nick noids have similar effects birds that arrive late at breeding grounds are less likely to raise young successfully and may not breed at all says Morsy quote This is serious impacts on populations close quote. The study shows sublethal doses of Munich you know it's can have adverse effects on seeding birds as well as on beneficial insects such as bees as Casper Hallman Rad about university and other ones. Birds especially small birds are really dependent on having sufficient body fat during migration cause quote The findings are disputed by bear the main manufacturer of emitted Imidacloprid. New Nick to donate exposure levels are far below those that disrupt migratory behavior in the pesticides are safe going to provide according to instructions as a bare spokesman. She says the birds were given realistic amounts they could get the highest dose given in the study by eating just 110th of a treated me seed corn. A 5th of a soya bean or 3 seats for instance quote it's tiny tiny amounts close quote she says in North America $57.00 of the $77.00 bird species associated with farmland are in decline with new Nic Nic the noise one possible factor. Says that banning these pesticides isn't the answer because farmers will just use alternatives that may turn out to be as bad Instead we need to find ways of farming that don't rely on quick chemical fixes she says. The regulatory system keeps failing by allowing new harmful chemicals into use. So these days at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. The only long term solution is to move away from reliance on pesticides to solve every problem. And. This is interesting one light therapy may help relieve symptoms of Natal Depression. Women with her natal depression appear to have altered circadian rhythms using light to reset the body clock seems to improve their symptoms our bodies run on internal clocks that are regulated by a suite of genes in concept or in concert with light they wake us up in the morning and leave a sleepy by night time people with severe depression tend to have disrupted sick a day and rhythms experiencing night daytime sleepiness and night time insomnia research has shown higher activity in some circulating in genes in people with the condition. Perinatal Depression which could during an after pregnancy seems to be similar women tend to get less sleep when they're pregnant particularly if they have Perinatal Depression to find out if circadian Jeems might play a role Massillon Monell. And cease Cecilia Maria Esposito of the University of Milan Italy and rice 7 genes and $44.00 women in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy 30 of the women were diagnosed with Perinatal Depression by looking at whether the epigenetic tags called methyl groups were attached to their genes the researchers and their colleagues could tell how active these genes were they found that 3 circadian genes were more active and one was less active in the women who had been diagnosed with depression the team found that more methyl groups there were the more severe a woman symptoms were likely to be this a guess that the greater the difference in circadian gene activity the more likely a woman is to experience symptoms or depression as a boy in Exposito. The pair presented their findings at the European College of nurse psychopharmacology and your meeting in Copenhagen quote The work is tremendously exciting close quote says Katherine Sharkey at Brown University Rhode Island. You know own research shucky has found that using a light box to mimic natural daylight improves the symptoms of her natal depression in a small unpublished trial of 44 women with the condition she found that those given a light box and a sleep routine alongside routine treatment Sol are symptoms improved quote Everybody got better but the women given a circuit in you know invention did better than those without Sharky. Sharky doesn't have enough evidence to recommend the treatment more widely but there is evidence that a good sleep routine and outdoor exposure to sunlight is beneficial for mental health quote in a typical office space the light levels about 3 to 400 blocks but on a bright sunny day outside can be 50000 blocks close quote Sharkey. And. Here's one bones fire up body's response to danger your skeleton secretes a hormone that helps coordinate the fight or flight response suggesting this part of our body is far from a nerd when faced with sudden threat or heart and breathing rate blood pressure sort circulating blood sugar and body temperature increase to prepare our muscles fraction this response is known to be controlled by nerve pathways from the brain and hormones released by the adrenal glands. Now Gerard Carr sente at Columbia University in New York and his colleagues have discovered that a hormone released by Bones called osteo counts and also has a role they found that blood levels of osteo calcined quickly rose in people when stressed the same thing happened in mice and rats results build on the group's earlier work showing that bones released on osteo Kelson to help muscles burn fuel during exercise and that are still calcine injections in older minds make aging muscles more youthful together these findings suggest we need a radical rethink of the heart or bones which have previously been viewed as mostly inert structures as Carsten the body may have different ways of mounting a fight or flight or fight response so you have to back so we have backups in place in case one system fails says Robin McCallum at the University of Melbourne Australia. And there's an interesting one. To new species of electric eel were found it was stopped there is only one species of electric eel now 2 more have been discovered one of which delivers a record jolt all 3 species are found in South America and can produce between 650 and 860 votes. Who would have thought and there's one ancient game groups had crushing bites. Giant ice age Kangaroos had quote absurdly large cheekbones close quote which help them munch through branches the finding came from from creating a digital model of a school. System most Occident palace and extinct kangaroo that lived until around 42000 years ago. And see. How. You do this when crabs unleash their inner growl when intimidated. And there's a picture I wish you'd see crab looking threatening anyway crabs can grown by grinding their teeth inside their stomach I mean across stations have such teeth to aid digestion ghost crab is a 1st as been shown to use them to communicate as well there's long been known that ghost crabs use noise to deter intruders by flexing their claws making ridges near the joint rub against each other when an animal gets too close the crabs hold their claws upright which prevents them from making new sounds Jennifer Taylor at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in California noticed that even in this position their crabs still make a rasping noise when threatened gene or colleagues couldn't tell where the what was causing the noise so they used x. Ray videos to see what was happening inside the crabs as they growled in response to various threats he's revealed at the rasping coincided with movements of the teeth in the crabs for guts known as gastric mills and the teeth weren't grinding up food at the time. Many animals from worms and the birds have mechanisms for grinding food in their gizzards that can produce audible noises so birds swallow stones rather than having internal teeth as did dinosaurs Taylor suspects that some of these animals also use these noises for communication some fish such as grunts sounds using their teeth in their throats this is the closest known equivalent to the ghost crabs that is to. See. This is a commentary climate strikes grow up. Just over a year since we just teenager Gretta Thunderbird frustrated by political in action on climate change and following Sweden's hottest summer in more than 250 years skipped school and sat in front of the Swedish Parliament with a hand written. In Danish. Climate. School strike for the climate sign before long teenagers in other countries are following her lead building momentum towards a global Fridays for future school strike movement they've brought a new energy bluntness and charisma to the climate change debate and show spectacular skill at embarrassing politicians. On the 28th of September they are asking adults all over the world to join them and showing up on the streets whether you're an employee employer or neither it's worth asking what you can do to answer the call. If nothing else this is a chance to show a positive spirit of inner generational cooperation on an issue that could be very generationally divisive in a world increasingly scarred by such conflicts climate change is an issue for a song which should send a clear signal we know delegating it to the young sort out will leave it too late. Australia shows how support can be mobilized it was one of the 1st places outside Sweden to spark a huge strike by dint of the nation's location on the globe Australians will be some of the 1st to strike there not business as usual coalition of employers has pledged to support the strike whether by closing company doors having a meeting free day allowing a longer lunch break to attend protester just making it clear their teams won't be penalize for taking a few hours off in the United Kingdom the Trades Union Congress has voted support. 30 minutes of solitary action on the day as a strike begins across the Atlantic more than $1000.00 employees Amazon also walk out for being part of the longstanding Amazon employees for climate justice campaign. If you can't leave work there are plenty of ways to aid the strikers you could donate some of your wages to a climate campaign or right to schools local papers and political representation in support of the project protests above all young strikers want to see more people taking increasing ambitious increasingly ambitious climate action the most helpful thing any of us can do is look around decide what needs to change and resolve to make that change happen. That can't end with a 30 minute micro strike. On the 20th of September climate change isn't something we simply when ur lose in the game ends as climate scientist Kate Morrell puts it it's more of a slope we slide down. The sort of climate Neo ism that novelist Jonathan Franzen is pilloried after his article in The New Yorker last week that we're doomed so there's no point in doing anything it's the last thing we need right now as we cross the threshold of one degree centigrade of global warming it's still not too late concerted sustained action on behalf of those who care about the future of the planet is what is needed 20 assists number is the perfect time to show that's where we use down to. Right see what else do we have in here. This picture of a receipt see this picture which is to mud skippers which are their kind of fish but they spend a lot of time out. On mud mainly because they need to stay wet anyway. Next to this is. Our inglorious mud even fish can end up fighting over land used to these land dwelling great blue spotted mud skippers are facing off in the mud flaps of key are you shoe Island Japan their gaping mouths and raised dorsal fins a sign of aggression but skippers are highly territorial with some species building mud walls to keep trespassers to keep out trespassers was also a trap a pool of water in the fish's territory and kerching the growth of single celled algae called diatoms the made food for the species if the mud skipper infringes on a neighbor's territory. Fight me and Sue 20 centimeters long fish can leap 50 centimeters in the air during combat or in mating displays by propelling themselves with their pectoral fins as mud skipper serve adapted this been 19 percent of their lives out of water it's tempting to see them as a snapshot of our evolutionary past when our ancestors 1st flopped on the land. They seem to have easily overcome many of the challenges for fish living on land they move around using their fins lay eggs in water filled burrows and brain through their gills and skin although they have to keep their bodies moist this transaction transition isn't as difficult as it may seem however amphibious behaviors recorded and 33 families of fish and many have evolved independently earliest tetrapods which gave rise to be in the reptiles birds and mammals were more closely related to lungfish which good air to help them survive in water with the low dissolved oxygen. And. We can do this with real aliens. This is a book review the name of the book is imagined life quote if you can imagine a world that is consistent with the laws of physics writes planetary scientists James Trefoil and Michael Somers. Then there's a good chance it exists somewhere in our galaxy close quote The universe is mostly dark and empty with a few pockets that are populated by matter our force planets interstellar space is littered with hard to spot rogue worlds ject and early in their solar systems history and they are Amy outnumber orbiting plants 2 to one some experts want to figure out a 1000 to one which may explain why the little green men have yet to land on the White House lawn so our planet cluttered galaxy so is our planet clutter Daleks' a form of life traffic on summers are obviously Prime to receive with open arms any visitors who happened by in Imagine life their 2nd book they do a splendid job of explaining how tentative our thoughts on exobiology are their 1st book exoplanets is already rather dated such is the pace of the field in just 14 pages of imagine life the authors outline the physical laws constraining the universe they rattle through how to defend define life and why spying is so difficult most of the molecules identifies as potential biomarker of life have quote non-biological production mechanism close quote they write a list environments in which life may have evolved from water worlds to mega earths . Expect normal fish and stubby dinosaurs. School all this before the meat course a planet by imaginary planet of otherworldly life and so was asian the authors want to believe that life that is quote really not like us close quote. But I have a hard time making it stick a carbon based life itself may be pressed against unexpected limits of the 140 amino acids only 22 are central to earth by own it may be that mechanisms of inheritance must converge on a narrow set of possibilities which may also set limits on alien biology. The trick to finding life in odd places is to dig scientists are beginning to abandon the idea that life must evolve and persist on the surface you know authors say as they imagine an aquatic alien civilization without. A mission to the surface would be akin to a Mars mission for us I'm not sure by. I'm not sure I buy this this is written by Simon Hughes I'm not sure I buy the assumption that life is most likely breeds. A kind of intelligence that manufactures technology nothing to biology or human history suggests that we may be a colossal oddity and still imagine life reminds me of my childhood books full of artists impressions of oceans on Venus only much much better. Ok. At the half hour provides public service announcements to get your meeting or and events announced on air please visit our website at Careful k. Dot au r g provide the information and mail it to p.o. Box for you 238 Georgetown California 9564 email it to announcement at Careful k. Or to Kathy Rome c a t h y r o h m at g. Mail dot com or drop it off on our studio 6290 Main St George Town you have a mail slot in the door please note that many of our programs are rebroadcast so the dates read may not be accurate. Here's some public service announcements the county of Eldorado Health and Human Services Agency Adult Protective Services wants to know you can Once you to know that you can report suspected elder or dependent adult abuse by calling 530-642-4800. See a beaut. C abuse report abuse. This year's parade of lights will take place on Saturday December 7th at dusk on Main Street in Georgetown watch the Christmas tree light up and enjoy this local tradition. And Saturday Nov 30th the gold country agreeing to host it's a monthly contra dance come with or without a partner and no experience is necessary the time is $7.00 to 10 pm details are available on the Granges website. On Thursday November 21st the turkeys revenge 5 and 10 k. Run and the Grand Bay will take place for more information visit single track running dot com. Ok. See. Right. Again I'm reading from the. September 21st issue of New Scientist. Some of these longer particles look. Interesting but sure I want to dive into it. And we will do this one this is a interview with Richard Dawkins the title of it is I want to break the cycle not to indoctrinate a few sadists of acquired such high public profiles Richard Dawkins and maintained it I mean amid such controversy his 1st book The Selfish Gene published in 1976 launched him to fame as a popularizer of evolutionary biology 8 books and 30 years later he wrote The God Delusion which reinvented him as a ferocious advocate for atheism. He chose a subject well during his writing career evolution and religion have emerged as front center in an increasingly vicious culture war between what he would characterize as the forces of darkness and superstition and those have been Lightman and reason both lionized and demonized for strident Busey's once again stepping into the fray bringing his lifelong passions revolution and secularism together in his 15th book outgrowing God a beginner's guide so this is a series of questions and answers a question you've written another book about God answer yes outgrowing God which is for young people teenagers let's say and young people up to about the age of 99 as well. Question It covers a lot of familiar Dawkins territory not just God but also evolution why did you feel that people needed more on these topics answer I want to encourage people to think. To think for themselves I've always felt rather passionate about breaking the cycle as each generation passes on superstitions to the next if you ask people why they believe in a particular religion that they do it's almost always because that's where they were brought up. I've long wanted to try to break that cycle while being keen not to indoctrinate because that's of course what we criticize religious people for doing. Question My experience of children of the age of middle aged largely of my own is that they are an interested in religion and don't need persuading of the truth of evolution. Answer I'm glad to hear that. That cannot be true all over the world however it's certainly not true in America or Unfortunately religion in anti-evolution have a real hold and and in the Islamic world question your new book spends a lot of time picking factual holes in the Bible. Pointing out logical inconsistency is an absurdity it's good sport but is it isn't it a futile exercise answer it's not futile to people who believe so many people have a literalistic Bible based faith and they're actually quite shocked to hear learn how little support or it is for any of the Bible stories many people in America are not aware that for example virtually nothing in the Old Testament has any evidential support at all it's not just Adam and Eve And no there's no evidence that there was a Jewish captivity to Egypt for example which is shocking to some people question. But we all know that people believe the Bible not because the factual content of the stories but because of a commitment to a group identity answer probably yes but a lot of people literally believe what they read in the Bible it's important to disabuse people of this and evidence for anything in the Bible it's extremely flimsy question in terms of the harms and abuses done in the name of religion why do you think that the world has become a better or worse place since you wrote The God Delusion answer it's become a worse place hasn't it I think and hope it's temporary. I think there's clearly an overall trend in the right direction as you look over decades and centuries any trend that is subject to reversals. And a trend like that is subject to reversals and I think we're in a reversal at the moment but I think it's a blip if you look at the number of people who profess a religion and America and the rest of the world it's going down the number of people who say they have no religion is now really substantial It's about 25 percent which is huge it's bigger than most other it would just not denominations so that's a very good sign however it's not entirely clear whether religion has given over to rationalism or to a more big nonsensical new agey is. That would be. The press the pessimistic view question unfortunately I think pessimism is an order and there's evidence that as people discard the illogically correct views they adopt other superstitions to replace them answer yes that could be true so in a way that's why I think the 2nd half of the book the science part is so important I think we need to. Really pushed the beauty of science not just because it's true but because it's beautiful in an armory against not just religion but superstition generally question that part of the book is less combative for example it doesn't even mention the intelligent design movement or pick holes in its claims answer Yes I put in the positive case revolution I want to persuade my readers that that's an elegant beautiful idea that explains all the facts that automatically undercuts intelligent design question what about the wider cultural war over evolution particularly in the United States and it's Or it's still going on there are constant little frock us and it's an important fight we have on our hands there's an anti-science culture in parts of America I keep coming back to America and evolution is on the front line question we live in troubled times and sir yes we do . Question I'm interested in your views on that. On why that might be things like post truth politics fake news the triumph of gut feelings over facts these are things you have spent a lifetime arguing against you must find it depressing answer yes it is depressing but my views are not interesting I think you're right that we live in troubled times and I'm as troubled as the next person but I'm not a sociologist I'm not a psychologist I would only be able to give an amateur opinion as a citizen which is no more interesting than anyone else's question one of the things that frequently gets blamed for the mess are and social media of which you're a poet prolific user answer I think that's right Rich Ricky Gervais's makes a rather good point when he says that things people write on the walls of public private Tories you just ignore but that's what always used to happen now instead of writing in laboratories they tweet these people who otherwise wouldn't have a voice no editor would publish what they write they wouldn't get a letter published in the newspaper in the old days what they would do. Is write on walls now they tweet. Question Have you ever considered quitting Twitter. All it ever seems to do is polarize and inflame answer it does I mean if you look at the replies That's what you get then if you look at the number of people who read tweet and the number of people who like that can be very substantial question some of your tweets have led you to being called Islamophobia answer I know what I've said is that Muslims are not corporates but the biggest casualties of Islam they're the ones who suffer the most from Islam so I'm anti Islam but I'm definitely not anti muslim christian people have criticized you for subjecting Islam to special criticism. And sir not at all if you look at the God Delusion or outgrowing God Islamize scarcely mentioned I could fairly be attacked for attacking Christianity and not attacking Islam while aggression you described were the word Islamophobia as. Otiose. Could you explain what you mean and answer unnecessarily and actually printed because it gives an entire are totally wrong approach impression. There is no word Christan of but we shouldn't be phobic about people we should be mistrust for ideologies where they have pernicious effects which I think virtually all religions do. Question Another chapter in your book looks at progress and moral issues such as den journey racial equality and you present a very upbeat picture do you worry that progress is gone into reverse answer No it's important to take the long view I think there are absolutely no doubt we're getting better him as the centuries go by the moral standards of a 21st century person are significantly different from those of a 20th century person for all that we have reversals we have at the same time a very strong movement in favor of gay rights in favor of all sorts of other things which once would have been inconceivable during my lifetime you could go to prison for homosexual activities and private. Question If your current project into the future what current cultural norms would be seen as morality as morally indefensible answer almost a no brainer the treatment of nonhuman animals question Are you a vegetarian answer I'm trying to be I'm a vegetarian at home I want everyone to do it that's another thing moving in the right direction question. You never written in detail about the environmental crisis that strikes me as a debate you could usefully contribute to because it's essentially a failure of rationality and the true. Answer Yes it is I can't deny its huge importance but I haven't written much about it because it hasn't been my field and so at present I'd be an amateur. Question I write about the environment and have developed a jaundiced view of humanity as a result you strike me as someone who is quite optimistic that reason and science will bail answer Emma I'm not so sure there are some grounds for believing although there are problems science will solve them science is track record is encouraging but such optimism as I have is cautious question do you feel like your books have helped advance the cause of rationality answer I can't possibly tell I'm glad I've written all the books I have and I'm glad they're all in print and selling well I get numerous letters from people who say they went into science because they read one of my books I find that hugely encouraging hugely gratifying question do people say they that to you about atheism to answer yes they do question to return to God Your new book discusses the evolutionary psychology of religion as evolutionary biologist do you buy the idea that human brain is naturally receptive to religious ideas answer I think that's got to be true which is of course doesn't mean that they are right to do so we need some kind of explanation for the fact that religion is such an ubiquitous phenomenon all over the world. Question one conclusion is that research is that humans are deeply irrational belief in the supernatural is etched into our brains do you accept that . You know it's are well it's not universally true clearly there are plenty of highly rational people about people who are not religious who are not superstitious and who maintain a skeptical attitude towards such things although even those of us who think we're irrational sometimes get things wrong or susceptible to certain irrationalities question Are there any that you admit to answer I think if we were locked in a notorious haunted house at night you know I think of that if I were locked into a notorious haunted house at night I might be frightened I've never tried it but I think we're all of a susceptible to a certain level of irrationality. And it's the end of the interview. This is a very good. 10 minutes and time to read all maybe a little of this the sunken rain forest. In Ballard Binah a small town in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon the shoreline of a vast reservoir sparkles blue and a mild wind ruffles the water lifting small white caps within a few months fire will devastate vast swathes of the forests some not very far from here but the story I've come to investigate lies below the surface water surface for millions of trees have been drowned by hydroelectric dam blocking the u.s. River the submerged jungle was no longer 2nd carbon dioxide of the atmosphere instead the rotting corpses of once magnificent trees are belching out more greenhouse gases No wonder the bow by no dam is known by experts says quote The worst hydro Dr power plant in the world close quote and yet its environmental impact is worse than previously thought. As I discovered when I visited the region earlier this year to spend some time with climate researchers I should mention this is written by Daniel Grossman. See were mine. Completed in 1909 the bow by Ned dam was controversial from the start its construction ensured that an area substantially larger than Greater London was flooded and golfing territory that belonged to and digital is groups previously decimated by disease and violent confrontations with settlers the Brazilian government named claim the project would modernize the Amazon but the dam never achieved its advertised capacity and over the past decade whatever green conventions it had it had have been discredited ideologic powers widely considered a good way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while satisfying our ever increasing demand for power the most recent study produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change i.p.c.c. On this topic released in 2012 reported that taking into account construction and operation hydroelectric power produces only a half a per percent to 3 percent of the warming of fossil fuel power plants that burn coal oil or natural gas that's true for some dam such as those built in relatively cool dry places with relatively little vegetation which rots and turns into greenhouse gases but the i.p.c.c. Report ignored dams built and lowland tropical forests for luxuriant jungle produces an unusual amount of emissions one of the 1st people I met when I traveled to Brazil was Philip fear inside a biologist at the National Institute of Amazon research as I am. And my mouse is spent the past 15 years arguing and hydroelectric dams and tropical land lowlands our climate disaster he said Stu reasons 1st crops go alone and forests are highly productive so contain more carbon than other areas which means they release more when they die 2nd and hotter climates microbes that digest organic matter grow better and produce more greenhouse gases there are 2 types of microbes that just dead trees one type operates an oxygen free conditions in the bottom of a reservoir and produces methane all the other which lives in auction Rich a lot of water close to the surface. Produces c o 2 in both cases growth is promoted by higher temperatures here inside says the increased methane created in opposite tropical dams is especially progress problematic although it is relatively short lived in air methane warms the atmosphere much more than c o 2 according to the i.p.c.c. Over 20 years each gram of methane as the same heating effect as 86 grams of c o 2. So why did the i.p.c.c. Reports give a tropical dams a clean bill of health quote a lot of the authors were from big hydroelectric companies close quote fair inside says William Mott The Tufts University in Massachusetts the lead author and one on the methodology study on which the 2012 i.p.c.c. Report was based says the body did quote drop the ball close quote by lumping tropical dams with all dams as there is no distinction but he insists there is this was due to inattention not nefarious motives quote i.p.c.c. Is dominated by people from the temperate world close quote says. In any case a clear eyed assessment of tropical dams is now more critical than ever most of the hydroelectric plants being planned are in the tropics primarily in low and forests nearly $150.00 large dams are slowed and slated in the Amazon Basin alone with another 72 planned a mouse and 50 in Cambodia we aren't going to restrain global warming if we build these dams based on false assumptions his fear inside. One of those assumptions was that the methane generated by the reservoir is forever trapped and held down by the massive water about the fear inside and his colleagues weren't convinced in the early 2000 and brute force were also at the n.p.a. And Alexander Kim and he's then a graduate student Forsberg put in put this to the test they realised that turban water intake at several meters below the surface right where most of the methane is held. They thought the gas could be released in the air when the water discords and the pressure dropped quote by opening a bottle of Coca-Cola close quote so the source for sure enough one Kermit and Bennett and all the way to sample water exit in the turbans for methane researchers detected significance amounts of the stuff extrapolating they were able to show that the reservoir or the bow Binah dam is releasing 39039000 tons of methane every year it's more than doubles the amount attributable to the dam compared to the previous estimates. The research shows that if you include methane and c o 2 bob mine is nearly 10 times as bad for the environment as a coal fired power station producing the same amount of electricity the news got even worse earlier this year when another research team reported that the dam is creating even more c o 2 and methane downstream of the flood gates to see for myself I join Joshi and Sean guard another i n p a biologist in a fishing boat halfway between Bel Binah and the point where the Who Tama River joins Amazon River shone Gart stared gloomily across the gunwales our pilot cut the engine we glided silent through a dead forest skeletal branches poking above the water. This eerie graveyard was once a stand of rare shoreline trees known as and. Forests as trees are adapted to sporadic flooding the result of rains changing the water level each year but the construction of the dam disrupted the rivers natural rhythms the abundance tech technicians deal with the annual 3 month pulse of high water by adjusting outflow to store this extra water for release during the rest of the year smoothing out the amount of electricity produced in years gone by the water level the river fluctuated a lot more between wet and dry seasons than it does now are shown Gart has brought me the average difference in the water level between these seasons as been significantly reduced during dry season the water is on average one metre higher than before the dam was built showing the guard thinks this higher water level prevented tree roots from ever drying out killing the tree you confirm and he and his team looked at growth rings inside 17 dead trees when the forest started failing the results showed the 1st trees begin dying to your so after ball behind the started raising the water rivers dry season level. Every tree in the shoreline at the lowest elevation along the previous shoreline in a sense not shown Gartner's team use satellite radar images to estimate the scale of tree mortality found that damask killed hundreds of thousands of trees which had previously locked up $130000.00 tonnes of carbon isn't clear how quickly the carbon from this dead and rotting forests will be released but it only adds to the case Binah dam is even more environmentally damaging and anyone thought. Ok I am running out of time so. To say that the the just last hour broadcasting is based. Relied on support from. The windfall advertising in the windfalls a strategy to reach thousands consumers and Eldorado County and beyond local content local commerce local community the windfall also probably says Care folkies Weekly. Broadcast schedule they can be reached at 530-621-1698 the National Alliance on Mental Illness one never for persons or as a mental illness understanding unaccommodating a person with a mental illness or operates a stigma and help a person towards recovery change your heart change your mind for more information Bonnie can be reached at 530333142. And with that Will. Bow out your listener care folk a l p f m Georgetown. Here we go. But