for them. for all that is me, for all that is you, kaiser permanente. call it a credit card crisis. credit card debt in the u.s. is now at more than $1 billion, and growing. we explore the reason behind a big spike in spending beyond our limits, and reaganomics. roller skating is planning to expand in san francisco, and some hope it could lead to a revenue boost for the city. but first, the

science of the volcanic eruption in iceland. it erupted after weeks of intense earthquake activity. a volcanologist explains the science of fissure eruptions and the dangers. with that, we say, hi everybody, i'm dion lim, thanks so much for joining us for this edition of getting answers. well, happening right now, a massive volcano has erupted near iceland's capital. this is actually a live look. you can see all of that magma up in the air, up to 100ft. and nearby areas really on high alert. so joining us now is volcanologist with the usgs california volcano observatory jessica ball jessica, thanks for being with us. >> be with you. >> all right. residents of nearby grindavik were evacuated already last month. there have been eruptions in recent years. i actually read that this country is very familiar to volcanoes. they have about 130 of them. did scientists know this eruption was going to happen? >> absolutely. they were very

closely monitoring the area for the earthquakes that happened when magma moves through the ground and they have their own version of the us geological survey there. the icelandic met office, and there scientists have been basically just waiting for this to go off. >> wow. and that being said, some of these images have been just breathtaking. you just saw some of lava flows and ash just clouding the sky. talk about the timeline of how long this eruption could last, because it's not just a one. and done type of deal, right? >> so this area is actually known for having this kind of fissure eruption. if you were to look at a map, you could actually see old fissures very close to this new one. and and fissure eruptions like this happen in many places around the world, including hawaii, for example. and they can last anything from a few days or weeks to months. so that is something that we can't really pinpoint point even when we're

monitoring an eruption really well. and i want to keep this image on the screen that we just saw so we can reference it. >> what we're seeing is all of this magma is being spewed up into the air also, undoubtedly there has been ash in the area and also a little bit of activity not far from this main site can you kind of explain how the volcano makeup works and also what this means on people in the area? >> right. so what's basically driving this eruption? and the reason you see this fountaining here is volcanic gases. uh. so the main one is actually water, air or steam. and then also a lot of carbon dioxide and some smaller amounts of sulfur dioxide and other gases. and it's literally like taking the cork off of a bottle of champagne or a shaken bottle of soda. um, once the magma makes it to the surface, that's a release of that pressure and that allows it to spew up into

the air. um, and as long as the magma that's below ground has enough gas in it, it will continue to push itself up out of these cracks and out of the fissure. >> i see that's why we are monitoring this so closely. and i remember when the volcano erupted back in 2010, flights were grounded. there were so many concerns over the air quality. what about this, this volcano and this latest fissure? does that compare? can you tell me about the magnitude compared to 2010? right >> so this is actually a different type of eruption entirely. um, 2010 was an explosive eruption. so what you had there was a gassy magma, but the magma itself was too sticky to flow like this. it was too viscous. and so instead of flowing, it exploded out of the volcano and created all of that ash, uh, here, what you're seeing is actually, um, gas escaping the magma much more easily. and so because it's able

to do that, you get lava flows instead of lava explosions. so we're really not going to see the same kinds of volcanic ash produced as we did in 2010. and it's not going to be as much of an aircraft hazard. wow. >> speaking of aircraft, we actually have a chopper shot right now where they are hovering. not too far from what appears to be the ground. can you tell me about what they're doing? obviously surveying the damage, but this looks very dangerous from, you know, a bystander's perspective, right? >> so the main trouble with a helicopter in that case is going to be the heat rising off the lava. and also all of those gases you can see in the back ground coming out in those big plumes. but what they're doing there is going out and surveying the limits of the lava flows, how far they've traveled and how quickly. and so each day the icelandic met office is putting out a hazard map to show, you know, how far these these hazards are going to occur, whether they're getting closer to the town and, and what people

might have to worry about in the future. all right. >> talking about the worries, i want to get to this because i remember there shortly after bardarbunga erupted in 2014, there were all these concerns about air quality. and to lure people back to iceland. people like myself took advantage of these special deals. you know, iceland was named a hot destination that year. are we planning to see something similar? i mean, is there a little bit of a silver lining where perhaps this could be a draw for tourists? >> uh- volcanoes are always a good draw for tourists, but in this case, the area that it's in is a little harder to access than it might otherwise be. it's not like just walking up to the park in hawaii and going to see a lava lake. um, so initially, because it's threatening a town like that, i would assume that the civil defense is going to ask the people, not come and try to see the volcanoes as spectacular as it is, and let them do their work and, uh, you know, either protect the town, keep people safe, or deal with

the lava flows. um, if they start approaching the town in the ocean. >> yeah. because we are talking about serious respiratory issues. correct >> we are. yes. so all of those, uh, gas plumes, you can see coming off of there, um, a lot of that would be the sulfur dioxide that's in the, um, the magma. and that's a really irritating gas, i can say by experience, once you start breathing that in, it makes you cough really badly. it's very acidic and it's just a nasty experience. and it can also make things worse for people who have respiratory ailments like asthma or who are already sick. um, so downwind of that gas plume is going to be just a not good place to be. and, um, yeah. >> oh, no. and real quickly, because i know we are limited on time. um, overall though, with this, despite there being a town very close by, we don't see the magma itself being an issue here. so much. >> not at the moment. >> um, from what i can tell from reports, it's sort of

concentrated in those two vents that you can see on the video. right now, and they seem to be at the northern end of the fissure. so at the moment, um, it's not a direct hazard to the town. all right. >> jessica ball from the usgs. we really appreciate you being here. thank you for enlightening us on the science behind this volcano. >> yep. always happy to share some volcano facts. >> great. >> all right, well, coming up, we are maxed out as a country when it comes to our credit cards, credit card debt. believe it or not, has reached a record high. and we'll talk about all of the reasons behind it. and they may not be as obvious as you think. we'll examine why we are

took a deep dive into the increased trillion dollar credit card debt in america. so what did they discover? joining us live now is cnet senior editor nick walney. he's got key findings, advice on how to get out of credit card debt. thank you for joining us. first off, i don't even know how many zeros are in a trillion because these numbers that were released by the federal reserve bank of new york, they are pretty alarming. >> yeah, it's really gone up quite a bit. people actually were really good about paying down their credit cards during the pandemic. part of that was attributed to the stimulus payments that people received. but since then, inflation really came roaring back and caught a lot of people off guard. and so between the cost of living uh- and just generally trying to keep up with limited savings, people are spending a lot more on credit cards and as a result, things are going up quite a bit. the reason that it's really alarming as well is that credit card apr's have gone up a lot in the last 18 months. in 2021, we

saw an average of about 14.6, and then already a little earlier this year, we were up to an average of over 21% for a credit card. apr it's quite high. so it's compounds a lot for people who have month to month balances. it's really important i see. >> so a very small balance could very quickly become a much larger balance that we cannot handle. that makes a lot of sense. you know i do want to pop up that graphic once again because it's really an astronomical way to show that rise. we all know not to spend more than we have, but why does it still happen when so often people just spend on a credit card? >> because it is what is convenient for many of us. we lean into credit cards early on in life. we have credit score culture in the united states and 35% of that fico score is going to be based on your credit history. and so for many people, the credit card is the way to start to build up that credit history. and then for many young people, from the people that i interviewed, what often came up was not necessarily that they

were being frivolous or flippant with their credit card spending. it was that for a lot of people, the credit card serves as the emergency fund. people have limited savings. over half of americans have less than three months of savings in an emergency fund. and so if you suddenly have car trouble or you have some sort of other financial setback, the credit card is usually the quickest and easiest way to get out of that situation in the moment. and often that can be what kickstarts this sort of debt spiral that causes you to have this month over month balance. >> right? and you mentioned young people. i want to touch upon this because it appears that credit card companies may have something to do with this. they are constantly marketing. i feel as though a n number of y s ago there were some credit cards that were geared toward young people as well. what do you know about that? >> credit cards are really focused on being very targeted in their advertising. you know, when you get that credit card promotion in the mail, a lot of that is the result of the different data points that have been collected about you, about developing your online financial identity. um, these data points, how we shop, how we buy,

particularly with the advent of e-commerce and innovations like buy now, pay later, it's becoming even more valuable to know who tends to spend and how much they spend. and, uh, and so it's not surprising to hear that you might get something like an alumni credit card offer, you know, right, at that exact time when you're when your school pride is at its peak. right. and so that's really intentional. and it's something that's good for consumers to be aware of, is that this is very much a targeted advertising business. >> yeah. and targeted in many other ways, not just mailers or billboards, but we see it in popular culture now. we have these lifestyle of the rich and famous reality shows. do you think that plays a role in our overspending? some of this consumer ism? >> oh, absolutely. especially with the advent of social media. you know, the social media real. it is that highlight reel, uh, you know, in terms of what people are trying to aspire to as a result. i also think, dion, that a lot of what has come up since the arrival of the covid 19 pandemic is that people are sort of rethinking their definition of what they want to

save for what they consider to be wealth. for many people, health has become wealth. travel has become an element of wealth and so people are leaning a little bit more into that. there's, uh, you know, a little more of that yolo energy, a little bit of that live life now energy, perhaps leaning a little bit too much into that. um, but we also noticed that that was something that came up several times with people, particularly as we are just an indebted country. debt is really normalized. most of us have more than one type of debt. people have decided, you know what? i was cooped up at home for over a year. i'm gonna go to europe next year, you know? so there's more of that energy floating around. it's just important to keep that in check and make sure that the numbers work. if you're going to do that, that makes a lot of sense. >> i know there are people who say, let's go while we still can. who knows if there's going to be some other kind of shutdown or major catastrophe in the world. and what about just the overall scope of what this means? i mean, this record high credit card debt must mean something for our economy and perhaps long terme. >> well, what we also know is

that when consumers are starting to get some recessionary pressure. uh so there is some concern with that as the federal reserve is trying to cool inflation. but i think also it's specifically this april's spike that consumers should be concerned about. so a couple of things that you can do for that. number one, you can try to go drum up some additional income, whether that be a side hustle, some other resource, something like that. it may also be a good time to look into, ironically, a balance transfer credit card or a balancefer loan of some kind where you can just get off of this really high interest debt for a period of time and start to pay it down. or perhaps looking into a debt relief company, it might have never been something that you considered, but for many people, working with a debt consolidation company will actually help them save money in the long run. so with the new year ahead, it's a good time to research your options and decide what you're going to do next. >> are you able to talk a little bit more about those debt consolidation companies? because oftentimes there are warnings that come along with them as

well. and i think people sometimes are wary whether or not it's a good idea for their situation. >> yeah. debt consolidation and debt relief companies as as umbrella concept. you know, historically they have had, uh, somewhat of a reputation of being predatory. there are good debt relief companies out there. you just want to keep in mind that if you are partnering with a debt relief company in some capacity, number one, that you're doing your homework. and number two, understand that what you're basically hiring that company to do is to attempt to negotiate with your credit card lenders about your interest rate and or your payments and the success rate of that is not guaranteed, right? it's a negotiation. and so that's just a risk to kind of keep in mind you should exhaust your other options. you should definitely look into things like balance transfer options that are often 12 or even 18 months at 0% introductory apr. for many people, that's enough of a runway for them to pay down that outstanding debt and save a few bucks along the way. so it's important to know all your options. i like the way you put that a runway. >> just buying some time to get

to the next level. um, that being said, what can people do to secure their future long terme? i mean, obviously it's so easy to say, use your credit cards less, but what are some practical tips people can take away? >> you know, one thing that i think we really need to think about is that with the cost of goods continuing to be up, taking a good look at how you want to spend the first few months of the year, what we know from the federal reserve bank of new york's data is that historically, americans are actually pretty good about paying down some of their credit cards in q1 of each year for that graph. that looks a little wild at the moment. you notice some of those down divots, those are usually those q1 divots. people get done with the holidays. they open up their bank statement and they're like, oh my god, what have i done? and they become a little bit more diligent about that. um, we actually missed some of that payoff. if you notice in that chart, uh, for 2023, we ended up being flat. and that's just because people are leaning much more into credit cards than they were previously in order to make ends meet, in order to get food on the table. all of these different things. so taking the time to actually look at what is

coming in, what is going out, i think it's also a good time to really take a good look at if you a using something like buy now, pay later, if you have a tendency to opt for those kinds of options where you can punt your additional payments to later, it might be time to start paying up front. look at me. i'm a boss. i'm paying 100% up front and getting it all paid off right away. and that's just going to help you stay connected to how much money is actually coming in, how much money is actually coming out, uh, going out. so that you're not getting stuck in this spiral of, oh my gosh, i don't have enough money to get through to the rest of the month. >> yeah, i see ads for klarna all the time. all of those companies that allow you to pay over time. so i can see how people can get into trouble that way. nick, thank you so much for joining us. senior editor with cnet. >> thanks for having me. >> now, roller skating is making a comeback nationwide. it could be expanding to an iconic building in san francisco. our media partner, the san francisco standard, has details on that plan and how it could help

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location, and it hopes to make it permanent. our media partner, the san francisco standard, writes about the upcoming event and how it could actually help benefit the city. so joining us now live is astrid kane, a familiar face who wrote the story for the standard. thank you again for being here. >> always a pleasure. how are you? good >> your sweater looks like a skating rink. almost. or like a journey that you're taking. very appropriate. >> kind of appropriate, right? >> let's talk right away about the church of eight wheels and how they're behind this effort. for those who don't know exactly what it is. tell me what people can expect. >> i mean, pretty simple. it's a roller rink for kids and adults alike. it's a fun roller disco, and it's been happening for about a decade in the fillmore district. >> wow. i think the church part gets people a little thrown off. they think maybe there's something religious, but just religious because people enjoy

roller skating so much. yeah it's not an active house of worship. >> it's just in a former church on fillmore and fell. >> well, let's talk about the group itself, because they're eyeing the second building in san francisco. so what did you learn about the building itself and what the plans are? >> yeah, it's a fantastic building just off market street downtown on. >> technically, it's in the tenderloin. i think it was built just prior to the turn of the last century, and it survived the 1906 earthquake and fire pretty much intact. wow >> so you can imagine this is a very sturdy building. so for all of people's roller skating needs, it should be all right. we are showing a map of it right now on the screen so everyone can take a look at exactly where it is you know, mayor breed, she has been a big fan of roller disco. we saw her at a pop up event last year at the civic center. talk about how roller skating could revitalize this area. and also downtown, even right. >> it has a lot of potential. it's something for everybody. we know the mayor loves a good

time, and this is just an extension of that. there's the skateboarding at civic center. and this just it's a logical follow up, right? everybody loves to strap on a pair of roller skates. >> it's funny, there were talks of revitalizing downtown with a soccer stadium. now we've got this roller skating opportunity. who is behind this effort to bring it to that bank building in the city? >> yeah, a soccer stadium might be a little bit pie in the sky, right. >> but roller skating has a decades long history in san francisco. courtesy of david miles jr. this is the godfather of skate, right? he's been doing this both at the church of eight wheels and at skating place in golden gate park, right off eighth avenue. >> oh, yes. i was just there the other day and it's still going strong. lots of people still interested. there there and tell everyone, when will the bank of eight wheels event take place? >> yes. so right now this is a one off. it's scheduled for next friday, december 29th. >> and do we know any thing about the future plans about where this may go? is it

expected to actually take off? >> i think that's the idea. yeah if it sells out, if it does, well, if people have a good time, i think david is more than open to having more events next year and beyond. >> and last question for you is for you personally, what was it like covering this? because you are a very fun, light hearted person. so i can imagine you may have strapped on some roller skates yourself for this. >> i wish i had, but i'm looking forward to doing it next week for sure. aha >> and we will get an update from you. i am sure about that. astrid kane, always a pleasure having you. >> thank you so much. really >> okay. and a reminder that you can check out more of the san francisco standard's other original reporting. all at their website. that is sf standard .com and abc7 will also continue to bring you more segments featuring the standard city focused journalism. you can look for that twice a week right here. on getting answers at 3 p.m, and a reminder you can always get our live newscasts

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a stormy pattern. >> oh, we are indeed, dionne. in fact, we had a good round of rain this morning. the afternoon has been relatively quiet. here's a look at live doppler seven. you can see what's happening right now. just a few scattered light showers around the bay area at the moment, but we expect more rain to develop

tonight as you can look, as you can see on the satellite radar, composite image shows more rainfall building offshore. and it's going to sweep in tonight and bring us some pretty good rainfall overnight. so here's the exclusive abc seven storm impact scale. this is a level one storm for tonight. mainly scattered showers. but tomorrow morning we expect some pretty heavy and widespread downpours. it will be a wet morning commute, gusty wind at times. there's a slight chance of thunder tomorrow and minor flooding on the roadways may occur. here's a forecast animation taking us into the late night hours again, just mainly scattered showers tonight. but look at that wave of steadier, heavier rain that will sweep in overnight. continue through the morning hours, mainly near the coast and bay, but then later in the day will expand and to all parts of the bay area. so just get ready for a soaking tomorrow. be sure you're prepared for that. it looks like it will be a wet commute in the morning and in the evening, and rainfall estimates uh- on top of what we already have but half an inch down in san jose, a little over 8/10 of an inch here in san francisco. up in the north bay, 1 to 2in of rain. and as we look

ahead on the accuweather seven day forecast, you see we get some drying out on thursday, the first day of winter weekend is going to be mainly sunny and chilly and things are looking pretty fair for christmas next monday. diane i love to see that. >> yeah, thank you and thank you everyone for joining us for this edition of getting answers today. >> we will be here every weekday at 3:00 answering questions from experts from around the bay tonight, breaking news. the northeast storms, the home engulfed in flames, the rescues by boat. also, the massive home explosion. several members of a family pulled from the debris, including children. and breaking news as we come on. will donald trump be kept off the ballot in a key battleground state? what the court just decided. first tonight, the rescues in the northeast. the deadly storms. the home up in flames, surrounded by water. hundreds of thousands without power tonight. search teams looking for victims swept away while riding in their car.