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but should you be made aware if you are consuming them. that's next on "consider this."

the reason for this is throughout the consequences throughout the middle east that could affect transportation and petroleum products. >> is it crystal clear that the impact of a u.s. strike on syria will mean higher gas prices? >> so far, we are seeing that to be the case. syria is not a big oil producer. it's not a big shipment zone either. but at the same time, anything that takes place in the middle east that could cause continued

turmoil or violence in other countries, you know, that's something that concerns the petroleum markets and as a result you see the future prices rise. on wednesday, we saw the price of west texas intermediate crude oil go up $6 per barrel in comparison to the week previous and gasoline futures went up $15. and so those are some pretty huge price jumps. we have seen the petroleum markets drop a little bit since then. there's a lot of concern and prices at the pump have been going up. on the other hand, things aren't as bad as they were a year ago. in fact, if people can remember labor day back in 2012, the national average is $3.83 per gallon. so, you know, it's a lot cheaper than a year ago but you can expect to see higher prices in the days ahead. >> michael, i appreciate it. have a great labor day weekend. michael green with aaa with us. stay tuned. more news in just a moment here on al-jazeera.

saudi arabia for that. ♪ make

hello again, everyone, i'm tony harris. here is the latest from al-jazeera. president obama addressed the topic of military intervention in syria today. he says he has not made a final decision but the u.s. is considering a, quote, limited narrow act. the president made it clear he considered syria's use of

chemical weapons a threat to national security and secretary of state john kerry echoed obama's sentiments. he said while the u.s. will act on its own timeline, anything that the u.s. does with regard to syria will not be open ended. paul beeben joins us live. secretary kerry made a forceful case for action in syria. what were some of the key points? >> that's right, he was very forceful. almost as emotional as he was earlier in the week, discussing specifics about the details of the aftermath of the chemical attacks. talking about bodies wrapped in white shrouds without a spot of blood but he emphasized over and over, that this intelligence that he was referring to and that was released shortly after the secretary's statement, was very, very high competency. this is no longer about what we know, but what we do now. it's a question of american resolve, and america's place in the world. >> our concern with the cause

of the defenseless people of syria, is about choices that will directly affect our role in the world and our interests in the world. it is also profoundly about who we are. we are the united states of america. we are the country that has tried not always successfully, but always tried to honor a set of universal values around which we have organized our lives and our aspirations. this crime against conscious, this crime against humanity, this crime against the most fundamental principles of international community, against the norm of the international community, this matters to us. >> and a little while after that, president obama spoke at the white house ahead of a meeting with balkan leaders -- pardon me, baltic leaders. he said there's no open-ended

commitments being discussed. there's no american boots on the ground in syria. he did not make a decision but he did express that he wished the international community had already acted and lamented the fact that it did not already happen and the incapacity of the u.n. security council to move forward on this issue. we also learn he has consulted with the french president and the british prime minister and with leaders from congress. >> we are confident that we can provide congress all the information and get all the input that they need, and we're very mindful of that. and we can have sirius conversations with our -- serious conversations with our allies and friends around the world about this, but ultimately we don't want the world to be paralyzed and frankly, you know, part of the challenge that we end up with here is that a lot of people think that something should be done but nobody wants to do it. >> and as we heard from james

baez at the u.n., u.n. inspectors will leave tomorrow. >> all right, paul beban at the state department. thank you. appreciate it. here's a look at the events leading up to this critical point in the crisis necessary syria. during the spring of 20 , protests erupt within -- of 2011, protests' rupt. amid rumblings that damascus was using chemical weapons, president obama said that it would be a red line that would change the equation in syria. then this past march, both opposition rebels and the assad regime accused each other of using chemical weapons on civilians. then in june, the group of eight, which consists of the u.s., the u.k., france, germany, italy, canada, japan and russia issue a statement strongly condemning any use of chemical weapons but they don't assign blame in the march attack. on august 21st, reports surface of a deadly chemical

attack in damascus and the assad regime deny act. and they think it was carried out by the syrian government and more than 1400 people were killed, including 400 plus children. to egypt now. one policeman was killed and three injured in an attack by armed men at a check point in a cairo suburb. no word on the motive behind the attack. al-jazeera's mike hannah reports from the capital of careo. >> friday prayers completed, many prepared to take to the streets in protest. in recent weeks, dozens of muslim brotherhood laters have been arrested, but the anticoup alliance. they demand to press the demands for a democratically elected government. while small protests get underway in many parts of cairo

these are the scenes. deserted streets and whole areas cordoned off. the apparent intention here, to contain whatever protests there are within defined areas and provent the various demonstrations from linking together in one massive dissent. any action against security personnel will be met with the utmost force. few are likely to willing to attempt to breach these barriers. mike hanna al-jazeera, cairo. >> while many of the world is slowing down growth. helping to drive that growth is energy exploration in the first of a six-part series, al-jazeera will be will be scamming the -- examining the impact of that boom. we traveled to texas, the

number one gas producing state. >> reporter: it's midday in nixon, texas. not so long ago, this was a quiet farming town. now it's a literal crossroad of the oil and gas drilling boom in south texas. that boom has been good for the family restaurant run by daisy barajas. she's one of many people drawn to an area where spanish is heard nearly as often as english. [ speaking spanish ] >> we have benefited quite a bit, because we have a lot of oil companies and they have helped us, as well as other businesses in nixon. a lot of people are moving here from all over texas. >> reporter: it's been more than a century since texas saw the first oil crusher, making america the first leading producer, until it was eclipsed by the middle east. with new hydraulic fracturing, they are exploiting the deep shale oil and gas deposits as never before. in just the past three years, texas has doubled the crude

production, a sharp reduction. if it was considered an independent nation, texas would inc. are a just behind kuwait and venezuela in the global list of oil producing states. it's a big reason that texas was able to escape the worst of the great recession. while u.s. jobs grew only by 1% in the last five years, the oil and the gas industry increased by 40%. those pay checks are nourishing the local economy in one of the historically poorest regions of the country. >> all of a sudden, you are seeing jobs in south texas that are averaging $70,000, $80,000 a year, plus benefits. and the region just has not seen that kind of multiplier effect. it will change south texas. >> reporter: after previous oil booms, texas has gone through bursts. but as america's thirst for fossil fuels go, they expect a

long ride. fire crews battling the massive rim fire in yosemite national park are taking advantage of the cooler temperatures to slow the flames. so far the fire has burned over 300 square miles and is about 32% contained. the crews have cleared vegetation along key roads to prepare for controlled burning in advance of labor day holiday weekend travelers, who are still expected this holiday weekend, although in smaller numbers. the white house quietly announced that two new executive orders to limit access and the resale of guns. the first will make it harder for people to avoid background checks. a current loophole allows anyone, even with people with a criminal record to get a gun if the weapon is registered by a corporation. the second order will prevent gun buyers from importing u.s. made military weapons if other countries for their private use. science is looking to give mother nature a helping hand. coming up on al-jazeera, details on a so-called bee sperm bank that promises to

keep the bee population up. and the college football season kicked off last night. michael lees will have a preview of the season with a full slate of games on the docket for saturday. . can you say stocktopussy?

components of the aljazz mission. >> there's more to america, more stories, more voices, more points of view. now there's are news channel with more of what americans want to know. >> i'm ali velshi and this is "real money." this is "america tonight."

sglovrjs our -- >> our news coverage reveal more of america's stories. you know, they may be tiny, but they have a huge impact on the food we eat, and the world we live in. honeybees are a critical link in the food chain, but the bee population is shrinking at an alarming rate. and scientists have been scrambling to keep the numbers up. allen schauffler has more from washington state. >> yes, you can. >> one drone produces one microlevel of semen.

>> with the right tools and expertise, which this student has. >> the tip is about 60-microns in diameter. >> you can collect semen from individual male bees. >> it takes about 100 mature male drones to fill this tube. >> and then freeze it with liquid nitrogen and keep it chilling in the corner of the lab. >> we are establishing a genetic repository for honeybee germ plasm. >> it is a sperm bank for bees, the first of its kind on this scale anywhere. honeybees aren't native to north america. they were brought here from europe, nearly 400 years ago. this technology gives researchers more options for preserving old bee species and cross breeding new ones. >> this allows us to go to europe, to the original first population of honeybees, collect germ plasm, bring them in, bring it back in and in a safe way and then store it for posterity and use it for years or decades. >> and almost right next door,

there's proof it can work, a salmon and steelhead bank operating at the college for the last 20 years. gary thorguard calls it a long-term policy. >> and a lot of the principles have been worked out previously with cattle and with humans and there's evidence that samples like this could literally last for centuries. >> hopkins demonstrates the artificial insemination of an anesthetized queen bee. she could produce more than a quarter million eggs a year. this is where all the lab work really counts, of course, the real world with real apples that the bees pollenate for us. bees that are under a lot of stress. there's not a single reason for this says shepherd. it's likely a combination of modern and natural ills. >> stress-related to, you know, nutrition, loss of habitat for bees, you know, pesticides. >> reporter: so just in case, back in the lab, they are

freezing the future, one bee at a time. >> that's what we are hoping to do, make a better bee. >> reporter: and hoping to provide solutions to problems in the world of bees that haven't come up yet. allen schauffler. >> the college kids are playing football! >> and it's becoming a huge business. revenues are raking in the billions of dollars for schools and universities but only the players good enough to make it to the nfl can really cash in. and that's why there's a growing trend to take out insurance policies and such is the case for southern california receiver, and heisman trophy contender, marquis lee, who recently took out a policy that will pay him $10 million if he suffers a career-ending injury. lee and the rest of the 24th 24th ranked trojans opened the season last night in hawaii and lee hauled in eight catches for 104 yards, but failed to score a touchdown. the trojans easily handled the warriors, 30-13.

u.s.c.'s defense sacked the quarterback three times and picked him off four times. eight more games slated for tonight. for more on the contenders of this year's bcs title, here's al jazeera's henry smith with graham wattton. >> let's start off talking about johnny manzel. he's been in the news a little bit. texas a & m is going to sample life without their heisman trophy winner when they open their season. now, it shouldn't matter. they are playing rice, not a top team but of all the teams in the top ten, is a & m most susceptible to losing a player like johnny manzell. >> texas a & m has already lost a lot of guys and johnny manzell has had a tough off season. so it's going to be interesting to see how a & m gels together and how he shakes off the rough off season and just concentrates on football. can he concentrate on football

after everything he's been through, after the ncaa, after partying, winning the heisman, all of this new celebrity and fame? i think that's what people are most excited to see, is whether johnny manzell can be the excitable player that everybody saw last year, and not be kind of the poster boy for a heisman fail as he has been this off season. >> well, college football's opening night the s.c.c., you could certainly say was the star with south carolina winning and ole miss and vandy playing. a great game. does the s.e.c. look as dominant as ever, specifically, of course, i'm referring to nick saban, and alabama's crimson tide. >> i think what we saw from the s.e.c. already this weekend proves that this is going to be a formidable conference. you saw vandy and ole miss play a nail biter, which was really exciting and those aren't even two of the top teams in the conference. i expect a lot out of alabama out of virginia tech. i think alabama is going to show they are the most dominant

team. they are going to stop frank beamer's guys. it could be kind of violent and kind of exciting to watch if you are a bama fan, if you are a person would wants to see bama threepeat. >> if they threepeat, they will be the first team to do that. we talked about south carolina a minute ago. the ballyhooed heisman candidate made his debut in opening night. how did he look to you? >> he let us all down. you know, he said he was battling a stomach virus but he really looked a little sluggish, a little out of shape and took some plays off. he didn't look like the heisman caliber candidate we all thought we were going to see, the guy with the high motor who had all of this hype going into the off-season. and it was like a mahhh performance. i think we all have the bar set very high for clowny. he didn't live up to the expectations and now people are kind of luke warm on him, on whether or not he will be able to live up to the hype and repeat what he did a year ago.

>> the poor guy had a stomach virus. when i had one, i wanted to stay in bed all day. i applaud him for just being up. graham watson, yahoo! sports, thank you very much. and now the nfl. the league handed down another drug defensive suspension. a bengals defenseman will miss eight games of the upcoming season for violating the nfl's policy on performance enhancing substances. he will not be able to return to the bengals active roster until november 28th. and now we move to tennis. only one u.s. title to show for it. today the number one player in the world faced two set points early in the second round match. but he saved both of them, and then needed less than an hour to close out a victory over 87th ranked benjamin becker of germany, 6-2, 6-2, also scheduled to play this evening in flushing, new york, the defending champs for both the men and the women, andy murray and serena williams. well, the second leg of the fedex cup that teed off today

in boston and featured a deutsche bank championship group of the top three players in the world. tiger woods, adam scott and phil mickelson, and it was mickelson who stood out among the threesome today by shooting an 8 under par 63. the reigning british open champion birdied seven of his first nine holes on the way to grabbing the first round lead by a stroke. tiger woods fires a 3 under 68 and scott carded a 2 over 73. but, you know, that looks pretty good unless you are standing next to a 63. >> exactly. all right, michael, i appreciate it. greenland is hiding a deep secret. now what has been buried underneath the country's massive sheet of ice. gerald tan takes a closer look. >> reporter: the far north covered in white for the past few million years. the ice sheet of greenland has been hiding a secret, a vast canyon. the planet's longest, and, in

fact, gone unnoticed until now. while using ice penetrating radar to measure the thickness of ice in greenland, scientists discovered the existence of the canyon. it starts from about the center of the island, seen here in brown, denoting an area of low elevation, carving a deep scar, it meanders its way north, to this fjord. it's still not known exactly where it pieces out. based on the available data, the great gorge stretches for at least 750 kilometers. that's significantly longer than the grand canyon in the united states. , which is 446 kilometers long. but its deepest point is just about 800 meters. half that of the grand canyon. the discovery has never been seen by human eyes and perhaps never will. it's believed to have been formed before the ice sheet

blanketed greenland some 3 and a half million years ago, before human existence. today, it's entombed under 2 kilometers of ice. should that melt, it will raise global sea levels enough to inundate many cities. a hidden valley that is perhaps best kept under covers. the makers of tylenol say they will place a new warning on the popular painkiller. johnson & johnson says the new red label will alert users to the risk of taking too much extra strength tylenol, the main pain killing ingredient, acetaminophen can cause liver failure. it's under pressure from federal lawsuits. acetaminophen it kills at least 500 people a year in the united states, and check this out, the economy apparently isn't bad for the tooth fairy. a study by credit card company visa finds parents give children an average of $3.70

for a lost tooth. now, that's up 23% from just a year ago. and visa says 6% of kids get $20! wow! or more. and 2% get $50. visa wants a piece of that. to weather now and rebecca. >> let me give you my 5 cents, how is that? >> when it comes to weather. we are looking at smoke in the atmosphere and when the smoke is thick and the sun is setting, it can bend light rays and make for some spectacular sun sets. i have one to show you coming up next.

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