Ticket #4767: SCIU04006_V2B.srt

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♪♪ [THEME MUSIC] ♪♪

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>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL:
I'm Carol Anne Riddell

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and this is Science & U!

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Today we're
talking about our home,

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planet Earth, a place
both familiar and wildly

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undiscovered for most of
us. We begin with water.

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It is central to our
existence and yet in many

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ways our oceans remain
largely unexplored even

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though they produce 70%
of the Earth's oxygen and

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billions of people rely on
oceans for their livelihood.

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Fabien Cousteau, grandson
of legendary ocean

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explorer Jacques Cousteau,
wants to change that with

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an ambitious project
to raise awareness.

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Living in an underwater marine
laboratory for thirty-one days.

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He spoke to our Vianora
Vinca about the experience.

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>>>FABIEN COUSTEAU: I'm
glad that we all came out

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of it in one piece.

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You know there were a
lot of uncertainties.

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This was a theory really,
the project itself,

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as epic as it was and
based on real science and

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history, as it was,
still was a theory.

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The theory was let's do
this crazy mission and see

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if people are still
interested in the oceans.

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>>>VIANORA VINCA: Dubbed
Mission 31 the endeavor

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took place 9 miles off the
coast of the Florida Keys

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and 63 feet below the
ocean surface where

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Aquarius, the last existing
underwater marine research

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lab or underwater human habitat
sits, on the ocean floor.

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>>>FABIEN COUSTEAU: In
history there have been

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habitats built certainly
first by my grandfather

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and others in the
60's.

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There were several
dozen in history.

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In the 80's things
changed and underwater habitats

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disappear, and I think
that's a huge travesty

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because we've explored
less than 5% of our oceans.

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>>>VIANORA VINCA: Since then
even with underwater exploration

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technology continuously
evolving Fabien Cousteau

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says there's nothing like living
in an underwater human habitat

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and being able to explore the
marine environment first hand.

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>>>FABIEN COUSTEAU: A
habitat immerses you in

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the environment and you
become very tactile and

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your senses are very much
attuned to that environment,

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which is invaluable when
you're trying to assess things.

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>>>INSTRUCTOR: We're going to do
a test. Where's your EGS valve?

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Steady flow valve? Good to go.

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>>>FABIEN COUSTEAU: I
picked some young aspiring

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marine biologists to
be able to encompass a

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nice rounded team that
could give a foray into

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robotics engineering, into
marine biology and science

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in general, so that we
could get a good picture

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of what the next
generation of ocean

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explorers and
aquanauts could be.

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>>>FABIEN COUSTEAU: This
is our scientist and this

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is one of our technicians
and they're going out to

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one of our sites to bring
some of the sea grass to

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plant around the, there's
a sea grass right there,

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to put around where
the predator prey fear

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behavior models are.

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And we were studying the
effects of the absence of

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predators on the
coral reef with regard to

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biodiversity and that
really goes into the

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subject of over fishing and how
we're taking away a lot of these

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essential creatures that
make coral reefs healthy.

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>>>GRACE YOUNG: We
actually just got back

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from the dive,
hence the wet hair,

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and it went really well.

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It took us about 45
minutes to set up the camera.

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We're using a lens that
has a really narrow focus

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so we can see the details
of these little critters.

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>>>FABIEN COUSTEAU: No, no,
no, don't move the camera.

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Just let me know when he
spits so I can push the trigger.

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>>>GRACE YOUNG:
Okay, I'll let you know.

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>>>LIZ MAGEE: But after
45 minutes we got it.

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There's a lot of critters that
just move really fast and only

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with a camera can we see the
details of their movements.

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So it was a pretty
good day and all.

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>>>GRACE YOUNG:
Really great day.

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>>>LIZ MAGEE: High-five.

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>>>FABIEN COUSTEAU: We were
able to do over three years

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of science in 31 days and that
in itself was invaluable.

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>>>MAN: Here we go. End of
Mission 31 Alpha.

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>>>VIANORA VINCA: After spending
a full month at the worlds

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final frontier, as Cousteau
likes to call the underseas,

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coming back on land was yet
another challenging experience

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he had to brace up for.

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>>>FABIEN COUSTEAU: It was a bit
of an unraveling experience-

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for the last seven days of
Mission 31 I was dreading coming

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back up because I had gotten so
used to being underwater in

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the worlds only undersea
laboratory, it became my home.

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And fish became our neighbors
and we became very

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accustomed to what that meant.
I'm torn. I'm really happy to

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be back up to the surface to see
friends and family.

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I'm a little sad to be leaving
our home for the last month

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but it was pretty awesome.

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>>>VIANORA VINCA: For Science
& U! I'm Vianora Vinca.

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>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL:
Gray whales have not

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inhabited the Atlantic
Ocean for the past three

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hundred years however
in the past five years

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sightings in bodies of
water connected to the

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Atlantic have led
scientists to speculate

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these whales may be
migrating through melting

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ice in the polar regions.
Andrew Falzon tells us more.

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>>>HOWARD ROSENBAUM: As a
population gray whales in the

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Atlanta went extinct
several hundred years ago.

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>>>ANDREW FALZON: Dr. Howard
Rosenbaum directs the Ocean

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Giant's program for the Wildlife
Conservation Society.

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Measuring upwards of fifty
feet in length and up to

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forty tons in weight grey
whales are some of the

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largest
animals alive today.

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These gigantic creatures
live in the Pacific Ocean

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in two distinct groups.

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>>>HOWARD ROSENBAUM: So
the gray whales off the

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coast of Russia are called
the western gray whales

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and they are a highly
endangered population

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genetically distinct
from the animals that are

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called the eastern north
pacific gray whales for

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which there's a good
census and recovery

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laws such as the

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U.S. Endangered Species
Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, have
promoted the recovery of

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those animals from
very low numbers several

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decades ago to more
than twenty five thousand

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animals in the
population today.

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>>>ANDREW FALZON: But in
2010 this video stunned

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whale researchers
across the globe.

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It shows a gray whale swimming
off the coast of Israel. Then in

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2013 another whale was spotted
off the coast Namibia in Africa.

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The scientific community
was so surprised by the

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photos many
thought they were fake.

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But after they were
authenticated scientists

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began to hypothesize.

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They thought climate change
might be part of the equation.

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>>>HOWARD ROSENBAUM:
Now as we consider what's

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happening with climate
change and leads opening

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up in the Arctic and
animals being able to move

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through the Arctic, in
particular ice free zones,

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that these animals may
migrate from the Pacific

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to the Atlantic.

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>>>LIZ ALTER: Phylogenomics
is the study of using D.N.A.

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to reconstruct
evolutionary relationships

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between organisms
and between species.

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>>>ANDREW FALZON: Dr.
Liz Alter is an assistant

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professor of biology at
the City University of

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New York's York College
and Graduate Center.

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She's part of the
team that used D.N.A.

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to examine whether or not
the now extinct Atlantic

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grey whales migrated
from the Pacific Ocean.

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Prior to this study
there was no known genetic

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information on
Atlantic gray whales.

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Sources of Atlantic
gray whale D.N.A.

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are hard to come by and
show how science can come

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from some very
unusual sources.

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>>>LIZ ALTER: So
occasionally fishermen who

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are trolling the North Sea
will pull up a big chunk

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of whalebone and if they
don't feel like throwing

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it back overboard and
if they're a little bit

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curious about it,
they'll bring it back and

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eventually it makes its
way to a museum and then

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eventually to us where
we can extract D.N.A.

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from it and sequence it.

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>>>ANDREW FALZON: This
allowed Alter to confirm

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that the now extinct
Atlantic gray whales

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migrated from the Pacific
to the Atlantic during the

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warmer periods about ten
thousand years B.C. They

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realized that climate change has
created similar conditions.

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>>>LIZ ALTER: We all
started to wonder,

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OK well why is it that
gray whales are showing up

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in the Atlantic now
after this long hiatus?

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And of course the
immediate thing everyone

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starts to think about is
the decline in Arctic sea ice.

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>>>ANDREW FALZON: Since
certain polar regions have

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experienced significant
ice melt as a result of

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climate change scientists
believe that the whales

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were able to pass into the
Atlantic but caution it

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doesn't mean the climate
change is a good thing.

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>>>HOWARD ROSENBAUM: Just
because climate change is

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in essence facilitating
you know a movement of one

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population or another does
not mean it's positive.

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In fact there are really
Arctic dependent species

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that will suffer
due to warming seas.

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>>>ANDREW FALZON: I'm
Andrew Falzon for Science & U!

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>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL: As
you can see here at Inwood

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Hill Park even we urban dwellers
are surrounded by nature.

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Our next story is about
the struggle between the

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natural world and
the manmade one.

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Our Tinabeth Pina sat down
with Ted Steinberg author

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of Gotham Unbound.

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>>>TED STEINBERG: Greater
New York's one of the most

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altered environments on
the face of the earth.

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It's not an accident that
Manhattan today is some

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seventeen hundred football
fields larger than it was

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estimated to be back at
the time that Henry Hudson

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came to visit in 1609.

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>>>TINABETH PINA: How did
New York City become one of the

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most dramatically transformed
pieces of land in the world?

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>>>TED STEINBERG: Back
in the 1680's when the

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British created a market in
underwater land into something

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that could be bought and
sold just like anything else.

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The British colonists
paved the way for the

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enormous expansion of New
York at the expense of the sea.

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Another major turning
point in New York's

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environmental history
happened in the middle of

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the nineteenth century
when the city turned to

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sources of water located
outside the local environment.

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First they turn and tap
the waters of the Croton

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Watershed and then the
powers that be went on to

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conquer the waters of
the Catskills and the Delaware.

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By turning to outside
sources of water one of

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the by products of this is
that they could now pave

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over the natural
features of the land.

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Brooks, springs, ponds to
supply the inhabitants of

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Manhattan with water and
this incredible natural

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density gave way to
enormous unnatural density

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by which I mean instead
of oysters now you had all

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these human beings
pack, jam packed,

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into the New York
metropolitan area.

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19 million people stuffed
into less than 1% of the

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land area of the
United States.

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>>>TINABETH PINA: So what
happened to

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those natural inhabitants?

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>>>TED STEINBERG: What
happened to the oyster

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reefs and the marshlands,
they were filled in as

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part of this major
reclamation process that

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was going on here to
make way for real estate,

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roads, parks and
of course airports.

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I mean, if you take a look
at a place like Jamaica Bay

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as late as 1900 there
was about twenty five

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hundred square miles
of marshland there.

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By 1910 the amount of
marshland in Jamaica Bay

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had been reduced to about
three square miles and the

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same thing went on
throughout the other major

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saltmarsh complexes throughout
the New York metro area.

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>>>TINABETH PINA: The
decision to transform the

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waterscape and landscape
to accommodate 6% of the

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nation's entire population
has had several serious

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implications for
New York City.

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>>>TED STEINBERG: New York
has been thumbing its nose

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at the sea for some 300
years and now the city is

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confronted with
global climate change,

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with the prospect of
increasing sea level.

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The mid range prediction
is that by the middle of

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the twenty first century
sea level around New York

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is going to increase
anywhere from 11 to 21 inches.

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New York is on a collision
course here with disaster and in

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00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:08,734
particular with respect to the
issue of coastal flooding.

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Hurricane Sandy in 2012 was
most certainly a wake up call.

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According to the Federal
Emergency Management

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Agency some four hundred
thousand New Yorkers

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living in the 100 year
floodplain with a 1% risk

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of flood in
any given year,

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that's more people living
in the floodplain with the

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risk of being swamped than
in any other city in the

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United States
including New Orleans.

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>>>TINABETH PINA: Do you
think there's a chance or

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any possibility sometime
in the future that

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Manhattan may go back
to what it once was?

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>>>TED STEINBERG:
Well it already did.

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That's what happened
during Hurricane Sandy.

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Manhattan returned for a
brief moment to the watery

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world from
which it emerged.

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It's important that we
have some understanding

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given the pace of
urbanization as to what

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the ecological
ramifications are.

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This idea of New York
as an proposition really

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takes off and it continues
to shape and guide

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New York's relations with the
environment to this very day.

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>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL: We
live in and with nature

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but its power over us can be
both awe inspiring and tragic.

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From volcanoes and earthquakes
to hurricanes and tornadoes.

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One thing we can do try
to understand the science

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behind those
natural disasters.

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>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL:
Despite all our progress as

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people the enormity of nature's
power can overwhelm us.

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Perhaps no more so than when
we face natural disasters.

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A current exhibition at
the American Museum of

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00:14:53,500 --> 00:14:55,667
Natural History
captures exactly that.

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Called Nature's Fury:
The Science of Natural

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Disasters, it is an
in-depth look at the

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00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,400
potential danger
we live with daily.

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>>>ED MATHEZ: Natural
hazards are a consequence

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of us living on a dynamic
planet and there is no

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00:15:09,867 --> 00:15:12,600
escaping them, those
risks will always exist.

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>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL: Ed
Mathez, the curator of

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00:15:16,133 --> 00:15:17,767
Nature's Fury, explains
learning about these

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disasters can help protect us.

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>>>ED MATHEZ:
Understanding the science

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00:15:22,333 --> 00:15:27,467
is really important because
it helps us determine the risk. You know risk is really a
combination of probability and

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consequence. So that's where
science can help us.

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00:15:31,734 --> 00:15:35,033
>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL:
Earthquakes, volcanoes,

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00:15:35,033 --> 00:15:37,033
tornadoes and hurricanes are
all on

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00:15:37,033 --> 00:15:39,033
display here explained
though the stories of

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00:15:39,033 --> 00:15:41,033
people in communities as well
as interactive exhibitions.

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00:15:41,033 --> 00:15:44,100
Visitors can stand in
the eye of a tornado,

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00:15:44,100 --> 00:15:46,266
create a virtual
volcano and even their own

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00:15:46,266 --> 00:15:48,867
earthquake by jumping
next to a seismometer.

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00:15:48,867 --> 00:15:51,467
I'm going to make my
own earthquake here.

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00:15:51,467 --> 00:15:53,467
It's going to be huge. See that?

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00:15:55,867 --> 00:15:56,867
Hurricane Sandy is also
part of the exhibition an

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00:15:59,834 --> 00:16:02,133
example of Nature's Fury
that many in our area are

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00:16:02,133 --> 00:16:04,867
all too familiar with.

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00:16:04,867 --> 00:16:06,533
The museum offers an
interactive map exploring

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00:16:06,533 --> 00:16:08,934
how New York City
was vulnerable.

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00:16:08,934 --> 00:16:10,934
Sandy demonstrates what
some scientists tell us.

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00:16:10,934 --> 00:16:13,934
Back in 2011 well before
the storm we brought you

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00:16:13,934 --> 00:16:17,633
an interview with
Professor Nicholas Coch,

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00:16:17,633 --> 00:16:19,867
an expert on hurricanes
who said New York City

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00:16:19,867 --> 00:16:23,200
could be hit hard.

307
00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,467
>>>NICOLAS COCH: We
know that if something has

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00:16:25,467 --> 00:16:27,000
happened before it's
capable of happening again.

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00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,633
If it hasn't happened in a long
time it's going to happen soon.

310
00:16:29,633 --> 00:16:33,233
This right angle makes the
New York area one of the

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00:16:33,500 --> 00:16:37,467
most dangerous places in
America for a hurricane to

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00:16:37,467 --> 00:16:41,133
come in based on the
generation of flood surge.

313
00:16:41,533 --> 00:16:45,500
>>>ED MATHEZ: New York
is one of the places that

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00:16:45,500 --> 00:16:47,967
should expect you
know pretty severe,

315
00:16:47,967 --> 00:16:50,266
pretty large hurricane every,
you know, few decades or so.

316
00:16:50,900 --> 00:16:54,934
>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL:
So we are not out of the clear?

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00:16:54,934 --> 00:16:56,934
>>>ED MATHEZ: Well there's no
such thing as being out of the

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00:16:56,934 --> 00:16:58,934
clear. There is such a thing as
taking you know sensible

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00:16:58,934 --> 00:17:02,033
mitigating actions but
there's no such thing as

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00:17:02,033 --> 00:17:04,367
being out of the clear.

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00:17:04,367 --> 00:17:07,433
>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL: There is
plenty of science here beyond hurricanes. The exhibit looks
at plate tectonics,

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00:17:07,433 --> 00:17:09,600
the theory of the movement
of the plates that make up

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00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:11,934
Earth's outer skin.

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00:17:11,934 --> 00:17:13,500
And did you know that
about 75% of all tornadoes

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00:17:13,500 --> 00:17:16,433
take place in an area covering
8 states in the central U.S.

326
00:17:16,867 --> 00:17:20,333
known as Tornado Alley.

327
00:17:20,333 --> 00:17:22,100
And while some natural
disasters strike with

328
00:17:22,100 --> 00:17:24,300
little warning,
others can give scientists

329
00:17:24,300 --> 00:17:26,600
significant
advanced notice.

330
00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:28,600
>>>ED MATHEZ: Volcanic
eruptions are a different

331
00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:30,600
kind of hazard.

332
00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:31,600
We do have forewarning,
typically we have

333
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:33,600
forewarning of weeks to days
to hours before eruption.

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00:17:35,166 --> 00:17:39,133
>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL: But
science is only one part

335
00:17:39,133 --> 00:17:41,333
of the learning here so is
human loss and resilience.

336
00:17:41,333 --> 00:17:44,266
For example Isaac Cline, a
meteorologist in Galveston

337
00:17:44,266 --> 00:17:48,066
Texas. The exhibit explains he
warned of a hurricane in

338
00:17:48,066 --> 00:17:51,834
1900 that killed thousands,
including his pregnant wife.

339
00:17:52,734 --> 00:17:56,633
>>>ED MATHEZ: These are
human tragedies and it's

340
00:17:56,633 --> 00:17:58,633
easy to forget that when
we you know wander through

341
00:17:58,633 --> 00:18:01,133
an exhibit like this that has
a lot of you know interesting

342
00:18:01,133 --> 00:18:04,633
things. But fundamentally this
isn't just interesting,

343
00:18:04,633 --> 00:18:07,834
it's also a tragedy. We can
never forget that.

344
00:18:08,367 --> 00:18:09,900
>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL: You
still have time to check

345
00:18:12,333 --> 00:18:14,333
out Nature's Fury the exhibition
runs through August 9th.

346
00:18:14,333 --> 00:18:18,233
Finally today the push
is not to cool down the

347
00:18:18,233 --> 00:18:21,033
environment and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions

348
00:18:21,033 --> 00:18:23,767
and a city program is
tackling that problem one

349
00:18:23,767 --> 00:18:27,133
roof at a time. Mike
Gilliam has more.

350
00:18:27,433 --> 00:18:29,533
>>>MIKE GILLIAM: During
the summer months rooftops

351
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:33,400
like this can be steaming
hot and that could raise

352
00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:35,967
some serious issues.

353
00:18:35,967 --> 00:18:39,900
But one group of people is
trying to change all that through a program
called Cool Roofs.

354
00:18:40,033 --> 00:18:43,934
>>>STUART GAFFIN: It's a
great program and it's

355
00:18:43,934 --> 00:18:46,233
goal is to sort of take
out a heat source that's

356
00:18:46,233 --> 00:18:50,100
really really widespread
in this city and in every

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00:18:50,100 --> 00:18:52,300
city in the world frankly.

358
00:18:52,300 --> 00:18:53,500
>>>MIKE GILLIAM: Stuart
Gaffin is a professor at

359
00:18:53,500 --> 00:18:55,500
Columbia University
who also works for NASA.

360
00:18:55,500 --> 00:18:58,633
He says the principle is
simple and something we

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00:18:58,633 --> 00:19:00,800
all learned in
second grade.

362
00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:02,900
White reflects the sun
and heat while dark colors

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00:19:02,900 --> 00:19:05,767
absorb the sun's rays causing
surface temperatures to rise.

364
00:19:06,233 --> 00:19:10,266
>>>STUART GAFFIN: Because
of that the dark surfaces

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00:19:10,266 --> 00:19:12,266
heat up tremendously and I
spent a tremendous amount

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00:19:12,266 --> 00:19:14,700
time on rooftops and
I've seen them reach

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00:19:14,700 --> 00:19:16,700
temperatures up to 190 degrees
and routinely exceed 170.

368
00:19:16,700 --> 00:19:20,567
>>>MIKE GILLIAM: And with
the roof painted white

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00:19:20,567 --> 00:19:22,567
what do you see?

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00:19:22,567 --> 00:19:25,567
>>>STUART GAFFIN: So if it
was about eighty degrees out it would probably get
up to about ninety maybe

371
00:19:25,567 --> 00:19:27,567
one hundred but you're
easily shaving off seventy

372
00:19:27,567 --> 00:19:30,066
degrees Fahrenheit in that
peak sunlight condition.

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00:19:30,066 --> 00:19:32,700
>>>MIKE GILLIAM: Gaffin
says that can produce huge

374
00:19:32,700 --> 00:19:34,700
benefits when it comes to
global warming and energy

375
00:19:34,700 --> 00:19:37,000
consumption. Former Con Edison
sustainability manager

376
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,333
Morgan Scott says the company
has been on board for years.

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00:19:40,633 --> 00:19:44,500
>>>MORGAN SCOTT: The
reason why we're putting

378
00:19:44,500 --> 00:19:46,500
and helping and involved
in this program is because

379
00:19:46,500 --> 00:19:48,500
we really believe that
our customers will see benefits.

380
00:19:48,500 --> 00:19:51,300
So when we put a white
roof on a building and we

381
00:19:51,300 --> 00:19:53,734
reduce the building's
temperature over time we

382
00:19:53,734 --> 00:19:55,900
reduce the amount of
energy that a building

383
00:19:55,900 --> 00:19:58,133
needs to consume to keep
the building cool so our

384
00:19:58,133 --> 00:20:00,867
customers are
saving money.

385
00:20:00,867 --> 00:20:02,166
>>>MIKE GILLIAM:
Scott also points out the

386
00:20:02,166 --> 00:20:04,166
environmental benefits of
the Cool Roofs program.

387
00:20:04,166 --> 00:20:07,033
>>>MORGAN SCOTT: When you
reduce the energy that's

388
00:20:07,033 --> 00:20:09,033
consumed you have an
emissions reduction on the

389
00:20:09,033 --> 00:20:11,633
backend and so we like to
see that with emissions

390
00:20:11,633 --> 00:20:15,367
reduction you have
improved air quality.

391
00:20:15,367 --> 00:20:17,367
>>>MIKE GILLIAM: The
program is run through the

392
00:20:17,367 --> 00:20:19,367
city and started off with
a simple pilot program in

393
00:20:19,367 --> 00:20:21,700
2009 in Long Island City.

394
00:20:21,700 --> 00:20:24,500
They wanted to see if Cool Roofs
would be effective in New York.

395
00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:27,934
>>>GERALDINE SWEENEY:
Our goal was to coat one

396
00:20:27,934 --> 00:20:29,934
hundred thousand square
feet of roof top and at

397
00:20:29,934 --> 00:20:32,900
the same time work with
the scientific community

398
00:20:32,900 --> 00:20:35,000
to do some initial
analysis on what the

399
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,000
benefits are of
coating a roof white.

400
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,834
And that pilot proved so
successful that the city

401
00:20:41,233 --> 00:20:45,133
launched a full blown
program in 2010 with the

402
00:20:45,133 --> 00:20:48,033
goal of coating one
million square feet per

403
00:20:48,033 --> 00:20:51,033
year in buildings all over
the city to help the urban

404
00:20:51,333 --> 00:20:55,300
heat island effect that
is a phenomenon in cities.

405
00:20:55,667 --> 00:20:59,633
>>>MIKE GILLIAM: A heat
island is a location that

406
00:20:59,633 --> 00:21:01,633
is hotter because
it holds the heat.

407
00:21:01,633 --> 00:21:03,633
So far according to the
Cool Roofs website more

408
00:21:03,633 --> 00:21:05,967
than six million square feet of
rooftops have been painted.

409
00:21:05,967 --> 00:21:09,567
Now that would be the
equivalent of close to one

410
00:21:09,567 --> 00:21:12,000
hundred twenty
football fields.

411
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,934
The Harlem Congregation
for Community Improvement

412
00:21:14,934 --> 00:21:17,166
has a number of buildings
in the program and they've

413
00:21:17,166 --> 00:21:20,266
seen roof
temperatures drop.

414
00:21:20,266 --> 00:21:22,166
>>>MALCOLM PUNTER: The
city was ahead of the

415
00:21:22,166 --> 00:21:24,166
curve on this initiative.

416
00:21:24,166 --> 00:21:26,133
They actually reached out
to organizations such as

417
00:21:26,133 --> 00:21:28,734
HCCI, asked us
to participate,

418
00:21:28,734 --> 00:21:31,166
we thought it was a great
idea and we participated

419
00:21:31,166 --> 00:21:34,333
and partnered over
a two-year period.

420
00:21:34,333 --> 00:21:36,767
>>>MIKE GILLIAM: Over
time that should both cut

421
00:21:36,767 --> 00:21:38,767
energy consumption
in the buildings,

422
00:21:38,767 --> 00:21:40,767
saving dollars, and it
should also help to cool

423
00:21:40,767 --> 00:21:43,133
the areas and in fact
the city and the planet.

424
00:21:43,133 --> 00:21:46,500
Program organizers past
and present say the

425
00:21:46,500 --> 00:21:49,433
Cool Roofs program works.

426
00:21:49,433 --> 00:21:52,233
>>>WENDY DESSY: My message is
that every roof should be

427
00:21:52,233 --> 00:21:54,600
white. This is a benefit to all
New Yorkers, to every resident.

428
00:21:54,967 --> 00:21:59,066
Everyone who lives here. It's
very easy to do, join us,

429
00:21:59,066 --> 00:22:02,700
come volunteer with
us, coat your own roof,

430
00:22:02,700 --> 00:22:06,967
go to our website and see how
you could become more involved.

431
00:22:07,367 --> 00:22:11,333
>>>MIKE GILLIAM: So the
experts agree a little bit

432
00:22:11,333 --> 00:22:13,333
of the special white paint
and some elbow grease can

433
00:22:13,333 --> 00:22:16,066
help to cool down our city
and do all of us a lot of good.

434
00:22:16,367 --> 00:22:20,000
I'm Mike Gilliam
for Science & U!

435
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:22,066
>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL: Think
about the size of New York City.

436
00:22:24,533 --> 00:22:26,533
Millions of people. Now think
about how much water we use.

437
00:22:26,533 --> 00:22:29,667
But where does all that water go
once it heads down the drain?

438
00:22:29,667 --> 00:22:32,734
For most of us it's out of
sight, out of mind.

439
00:22:32,734 --> 00:22:35,567
Managing and purifying New Yorks
water system is a massive

440
00:22:35,567 --> 00:22:38,900
undertakng and the key might
just be harnessing the power

441
00:22:38,900 --> 00:22:42,667
of tiny bacteria. Ari Goldberg
explains.

442
00:22:43,867 --> 00:22:47,734
>>>ARI GOLDBERG: I'm Ari
Goldberg. Every day,

443
00:22:47,734 --> 00:22:49,734
New York City generates 1.3
billion gallons of wastewater.

444
00:22:49,734 --> 00:22:52,967
That's four hundred seventy
four and a half billion

445
00:22:52,967 --> 00:22:55,433
gallons a year. Whenever
rain washes dirt into the sewer,

446
00:22:55,433 --> 00:22:58,533
whenever you flush a toilet,
take a shower, do the laundry,

447
00:22:58,533 --> 00:23:01,734
it ends up at one of New
York's 14 treatment plants.

448
00:23:01,734 --> 00:23:04,500
It's an expensive and involved
process, one that the city

449
00:23:04,500 --> 00:23:07,400
is trying to make
more efficient.

450
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:09,400
>>>JOHN FILLOS: We
basically have been focusing on

451
00:23:10,433 --> 00:23:14,333
applied research meaning
that we're looking to

452
00:23:14,333 --> 00:23:17,600
solve real problems.

453
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:19,767
>>>ARI GOLDBERG: Professor
John Fillos and his team

454
00:23:19,767 --> 00:23:21,767
at City College have been
tapped by the New York City

455
00:23:21,767 --> 00:23:23,834
Department of Environmental
Protection to develop a

456
00:23:23,834 --> 00:23:26,333
cheaper and greener technology
for the city's wastewater

457
00:23:26,333 --> 00:23:29,066
treatment. Specifically, the
removal of excess nitrogen with

458
00:23:29,066 --> 00:23:32,734
a tiny bacteria called anammox.

459
00:23:32,734 --> 00:23:35,100
>>>JOHN FILLOS: When you
look at the nitrogen that

460
00:23:35,100 --> 00:23:37,367
originates from wastewater,
it's in the form of ammonia

461
00:23:37,367 --> 00:23:41,533
and it's organic nitrogen.
So when it's released into the

462
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,834
environment, whether it's
Jamaica Bay or

463
00:23:45,834 --> 00:23:48,433
Long Island Sound, when
you go into an excess amount

464
00:23:48,433 --> 00:23:51,533
is when you create the problems.

465
00:23:51,533 --> 00:23:54,834
>>>ARI GOLDBERG: It sounds
almost counter intuitive

466
00:23:54,834 --> 00:23:56,834
at first. Nitrogen is an
essential nutrient for life

467
00:23:56,834 --> 00:23:59,133
after all. Conceptually when we
think of wastewater we think

468
00:23:59,133 --> 00:24:02,467
of sludge and trash pollution,
but nutrient pollution?

469
00:24:02,467 --> 00:24:06,266
However, it turns
out when excess nutrients

470
00:24:06,266 --> 00:24:08,834
from household, industrial
and farming products end up

471
00:24:08,834 --> 00:24:12,367
in our waterways, they can
disrupt oxygen levels,

472
00:24:12,367 --> 00:24:14,834
marine life, and our
own drinking supply.

473
00:24:14,834 --> 00:24:16,834
>>>JOHN FILLOS: I guess
in some way people say

474
00:24:16,834 --> 00:24:18,900
everything in moderation
is good so when we talk

475
00:24:18,900 --> 00:24:21,367
about removing nitrogen
we're not talking about

476
00:24:21,367 --> 00:24:24,767
reducing it to zero. We're
reducing it to a level,

477
00:24:24,767 --> 00:24:28,266
which will sustain biological
activity in the waterways.

478
00:24:29,166 --> 00:24:33,133
>>>ARI GOLDBERG: The goal
is to turn these toxic

479
00:24:33,133 --> 00:24:35,133
levels of nitrogen
chemicals, for example

480
00:24:35,133 --> 00:24:37,133
ammonia or nitrate, back
into pure safe nitrogen

481
00:24:37,133 --> 00:24:40,433
gas, which will escape
safely back into the atmosphere.

482
00:24:40,433 --> 00:24:43,667
Conventionally this process
took massive amounts of

483
00:24:43,667 --> 00:24:46,367
energy and resources but
Professor Fillos' team is

484
00:24:46,367 --> 00:24:49,467
harnessing the power of a
bacterial family known as

485
00:24:49,467 --> 00:24:51,967
anammox to do the work for them.

486
00:24:51,967 --> 00:24:54,467
>>>JOHN FILLOS: What we're
doing is we're trying to

487
00:24:54,467 --> 00:24:56,467
find the most cost
effective way of doing it,

488
00:24:56,467 --> 00:24:58,600
which means the least
amount of energy,

489
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:00,900
the least amount of chemicals
that you need. And what

490
00:25:00,900 --> 00:25:04,734
happens, what we have
discovered that this

491
00:25:04,734 --> 00:25:06,967
bacteria anammox is
capable of transforming

492
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,667
the nitrate to nitrogen
gas under anaerobic

493
00:25:12,300 --> 00:25:16,233
conditions with the
minimum impact in terms of

494
00:25:16,233 --> 00:25:19,800
energy demand, in
terms of chemical demand.

495
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,600
>>>ARI GOLDBERG: The
anammox family of bacteria is a

496
00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:25,600
relatively new find having only
been identified in the 1990's.

497
00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,266
Early applications began in
Europe but now the City College

498
00:25:28,567 --> 00:25:32,700
scientists are building that
technology here starting with

499
00:25:32,700 --> 00:25:35,734
small scale reactors in the lab.

500
00:25:35,734 --> 00:25:37,734
>>>JOHN FILLOS: Basically this
is a scale model of the reactor

501
00:25:37,734 --> 00:25:40,900
that is going to eventually be
built to treat the

502
00:25:40,900 --> 00:25:43,700
waste stream. We start with
basically clean media,

503
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,367
and the purpose of
this media is to immobilize the

504
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,834
anammox bacteria
by growing on its surface.

505
00:25:54,433 --> 00:25:58,333
>>>ARI GOLDBERG: Anammox
is a very slow growing

506
00:25:58,333 --> 00:26:00,333
bacteria and getting it to
flourish on these plastic

507
00:26:00,333 --> 00:26:02,567
pieces was no easy task.

508
00:26:02,567 --> 00:26:04,934
>>>JOHN FILLOS: So that
process of developing this

509
00:26:04,934 --> 00:26:07,266
bio-film on this clean
surface took about 6 months.

510
00:26:09,133 --> 00:26:12,934
Okay. This is how
slow the process is.

511
00:26:12,934 --> 00:26:16,667
And, to tell you the truth,
halfway through we became

512
00:26:16,934 --> 00:26:20,900
so frustrated that we
thought it was never going

513
00:26:20,900 --> 00:26:23,834
to happen but it
eventually happened and it

514
00:26:23,834 --> 00:26:26,133
worked very very well.

515
00:26:26,133 --> 00:26:27,934
>>>MAHSA MERHDAD: The
challenges we face during

516
00:26:27,934 --> 00:26:29,934
the operation was specifically
related to the wastewater

517
00:26:30,133 --> 00:26:34,133
characteristics in New York,
that we didn't expect

518
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,433
it in the beginning.

519
00:26:38,433 --> 00:26:40,467
>>>ARI GOLDBERG: Despite
these obstacles, once they

520
00:26:40,467 --> 00:26:42,467
had nurtured a population
of anammox, it was time to

521
00:26:42,467 --> 00:26:44,767
incorporate them into the
waste treatment process.

522
00:26:44,767 --> 00:26:47,033
Mahsa Merhdad is a
Ph.D. student working

523
00:26:47,033 --> 00:26:49,734
with Professor Fillos.

524
00:26:49,734 --> 00:26:51,367
>>>MAHSA MERHDAD: So here
on the screen we can take

525
00:26:51,367 --> 00:26:53,367
a look into the controls
here. In the summer we can

526
00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:59,667
temperature, ph, d.o., of
the reactor and also we

527
00:26:59,667 --> 00:27:03,233
can control the pumps. We
can calibrate the system.

528
00:27:05,300 --> 00:27:09,266
>>>ARI GOLDBERG: So as
nitrogen waste is fed into

529
00:27:09,266 --> 00:27:11,266
the reactor a critical
mass of bacteria is now

530
00:27:11,266 --> 00:27:13,934
able to feed on that waste
converting it to harmless

531
00:27:13,934 --> 00:27:16,533
nitrogen gas. And in
the process, cleaning our

532
00:27:16,533 --> 00:27:18,967
water. And the future
looks promising for this

533
00:27:18,967 --> 00:27:21,333
technology, using less
resources and costing less

534
00:27:21,333 --> 00:27:24,667
money then
conventional methods.

535
00:27:24,667 --> 00:27:26,667
>>>MAHSA MERHDAD: Anammox
for its growth doesn't

536
00:27:26,667 --> 00:27:29,567
need any external organic
carbon and the demand for

537
00:27:29,567 --> 00:27:33,734
oxygen is also reduced by
60%. It is more sustainable,

538
00:27:35,266 --> 00:27:38,700
more cost effective-

539
00:27:38,700 --> 00:27:41,300
>>>JOHN FILLOS: The
next phase was to build a

540
00:27:41,300 --> 00:27:43,767
larger scale, a pilot
unit, which we did this at

541
00:27:43,900 --> 00:27:47,667
the 26th Ward Wastewater
Treatment Plant.

542
00:27:47,667 --> 00:27:51,500
That project has also been
completed. It demonstrated

543
00:27:51,500 --> 00:27:54,834
the practicality and the
cost effectiveness of the

544
00:27:54,834 --> 00:27:57,867
process and the city of
New York is in the process

545
00:27:57,867 --> 00:28:00,867
of now putting together a
request for proposal for a

546
00:28:01,300 --> 00:28:04,767
full scale operation.

547
00:28:04,767 --> 00:28:07,233
>>>ARI GOLDBERG: While
this full scale operation will

548
00:28:07,233 --> 00:28:09,233
still take a while to implement,
thanks to Professor Fillos'

549
00:28:09,233 --> 00:28:12,100
team and a tiny bacteria
called anammox, within the next

550
00:28:12,100 --> 00:28:15,233
few years we can
expect all of New York City's

551
00:28:15,233 --> 00:28:17,500
wastewater treatment
plants to be both more efficient

552
00:28:17,500 --> 00:28:20,467
and more environmentally
friendly. From City College,

553
00:28:20,467 --> 00:28:23,233
I'm Ari Goldberg
for Science & U!

554
00:28:23,233 --> 00:28:25,300
>>>CAROL ANNE RIDDELL: That's
our show for today.

555
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:28,633
Join us next month for
a fascinating look at

556
00:28:28,633 --> 00:28:31,033
engineering in our
every day lives.

557
00:28:31,033 --> 00:28:33,033
From your commute to your
local Girl Scout troop.

558
00:28:33,033 --> 00:28:35,800
I'm Carol Anne Riddell, thanks
for joining us for Science & U!

559
00:28:36,467 --> 00:28:38,200
♪♪ [THEME MUSIC] ♪♪