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tv   News  Al Jazeera  February 18, 2016 10:00am-11:01am EST

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stay with us. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, i'm jane dunton, you are watching al jazeera's news hour. turkey blames kurdish groups for a bomb attack in ankara, and says bashar al-assad is behind it. 16 more isil members are sentenced to death. claims of voting irregularities in uganda, as the president seeks to extend his 30-year rule.
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plus squinting at your screens, we'll tell you how electronic devices could be damaging your eyesight. ♪ turkey's blaming kurdish rebels for wednesday's car bomb attack in the capitol, ankara, but the syria-based ypg group has denied any responsibility. jamal reports from ankara. >> reporter: it took the turkish government just a few hours to identify those it believes carried out wednesday's deadly bomb attack. they are blaming the ypg, though it denies any involvement in the explosion. ankara, says the ypg is an offshoot of the pkk, a separatists group.
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the investigation continues so far nine people linked to the ankara bombing have been taken into custody, and others have been identified. there will be other arrests in due course. >> reporter: security as become more and more of a concern in turkey in recent months. in october a twin bomb attack killed close to 100 people outside of the main strain station in the capitol ankara. and just a few weeks ago, isil claimed responsibility after a man blew himself up in istanbul. all of these attacks are linked to the war in syria. turkey has been saying that its allies need to support it in its fight against those it calls terrorists, but as far as the u.s. and other western powers are concerned the ypg is its ally in the fight against isil. >> translator: they are linked
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with the pkk in turkey. we have said repeatedly there is a strong link between them, but this attack obviously will help our allies to understand. we have been saying this. we have evidence of those links and one day these terrorist organizations and those that support them will be judged. >> reporter: earlier on thursday turkey bombed sites of the ypg. it wants to send in group troops to create a buffer zone but so long as syria and its russian allies control the sky, that appears to be off of the table. with wednesday's attack comes increased anger from turkey towards its allies, the government here clearly feel it is being let down by the u.s. and nato. this attack could provide justification for turkey to send
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troops across the border, but it continues to be at odds with that of its allies. that difference of opinion looks likemy to remain a problem. relations between the turkish government and kurdish armed groups have been rapidly deteriorating over the last year. turkey's army resumed attacks on the separatists worker's party or pkk after a two and a half year ceasefire ended last year. in november, an offensive against the rebels and itself supporters began in five turkish cities but turkey's campaign has expanded to include syria. the government believes their allied to the pkk. zana hoda joining me live now from southern turkey. zana, i hope you -- all right. i don't think you can hear me there, zana. we'll come back to you at a
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later stage. a senior scholar at the istanbul privacy center. >> the turkish authorities were never so quick to identify a culprit. we had three major bombings the last 12 months. never we had -- we had, you know, in less than 24 hours, you know, identification of the culprits and -- and its actually its affiliation, which was bluntly denied by the ypg, the kurds in syria. i mean, there are two questions which are in my mind. why ypg, who never attacked turkey, should attack turkey now? this is an important question that we should bare in mind.
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and secondly, even if it was the ypg, i mean, is -- is it enough reason for turkey to go into war with syria? so everyone has these sort of questions in mind, and people are also asking, whether this operation which hits directly the turkish military, which is very, you know, unconvinced about a move towards syria, is -- is -- is done to convince the turkish military to go ahead. >> the united nations says aid trucks have reached several besieged towns in syria. it's part of an agreement with the syrian government to allow aid into areas where people are trapped. >> reporter: a ray of hope in the midst of war, over 100 trucks carrying humanitarian aid spreading out towards some of syria's besieged towns. in madaya, they are bringing
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medical supplies and food. aid workers say at least 40 people have died of malnutrition in the town since october. >> we will have people who are able to bring the medical support kits and make assessments for people in need who have often been in extreme nutritional and food shortage. >> reporter: this convoy is heading for towns in the north. around 20,000 people here have been cut off by armed rebel groups. heavy gunfires rattles close to damascus. rebels guard the entrance to the city where trucks line up, carrying supplies for at least 30,000 people trapped here. more aid is expected to arrive in the east, parts of which are held by isil. the convoys are part of an agreement reached last week in munich by over a dozen
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countries, including the u.s. and russia, but there is no deal to make sure the supplies keep coming. >> translator: why doesn't the northern countryside of homs get aid? u.n. resolutions call for aid to reach all areas? is the u.n. waiting for this regime to force rebels to surrender before aid can enter. >> reporter: the countryside of homs has been a battleground for months. the u.n. says food shortages could get worse for the 120,000 who live here. the last u.n. aid convoy to reach this part of the countryside was in october. now the opposition controlled area east of aleppo city is close to being besieged. a pause in the fighting has been agreed for the end of this week, but there is still no sign it will happen. an international task force will hold its first meeting on friday
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to discuss the practicalities of ending the war in syria. first they need to agree on who is on the international list of so-called terrorists groups. more than 60 clinics and hospitals run by doctors without boarders in syria were damaged in attacks last year. syria's whole health infrastructure has suffered widespread destruction with services disrupted. the head of programs at doctors without borders in this london, and spoke to us. [ no audio ] >> all right. sorry for losing that sound there. we'll try to get it back a little bit later if we can. the good news is we have zana hoda back. she is live in southeastern turkey. zana, i'm going to ask you about aid first, seeing has the has been our focus for the last couple of minutes. what are you hearing about aid
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getting into syria? >> reporter: well, jane, like we mentioned, aid reached five besieged areas in syria yesterday according to the united nations it reached 80,000 people. but we have to remember that there are other besieged communities in syria which did not receive aid, a total of more than half a million people live in those areas, so the united nations calling this progress, but saying this is not enough. now we understand that the u.n. humanitarian task force will be holding a meeting in the next few days in order to try to see whether aid deliveries can reach those other areas. the united nations is also calling for the sieges, really, to be lifted, saying this is the way to solve the problem, simply because civilians are trapped inside and are suffering. as part of an agreement reached the day before yesterday, aid is to reach the besieged districts
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in the east of the country. those areas are controlled by the government, but are surrounded by isil. it's a complicated operation, because there are no land routes, and what we understand from the united nations that a plan is now in place to air-drop food supplies in the coming days. they did not mention when this will happen, but undoubtedly it will help the 200,000 people there who have been suffering. >> what are you seeing as far as refugees are concerned at the moment, considering we have seen an increase in fighting from so many different camps now? >> reporter: well, jane, yes, there are different estimates, really, the last thing we heard was from doctors without borders, they are saying that a hundred thousand people are now in border areas close to turkey. these people have not crossed into turkey, but are living, some out in the open, some have been provided with shelter, with tents by aid agencies.
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there is an an ongoing offense nif -- in the north of the country, not just in aleppo, but also in the province of lattakia in the west. they are advancing against rebel groups, and as they advance, more and more people are displaced and more and more people seeking shelter near the turkey border. but the border remains closed. undoubtedly tens of thousands of people have been displaced in recent weeks because of this ongoing offensive, and as the war rages on the ground. >> if we can go back to the fighting and the deadly attack we saw in ankara. he was saying earlier he will do whatever he can to put a stop to this. he said he will take the fight to syria. what realistically can turkey now do? >> yes, turkish officials saying
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they will deal a heavy blow to what they call terrorists. a few hours after the bombing in ankara, we saw turkish planes bomb kurdish strong holds in iraq. they have been bombing pkk targets since the ceasefire stopped in july. it has been a battleground for months, towns and villages, and this morning there were two attacks against the turkish military. in one incident a roadside bomb was detonated while a convoy was passing, killing up to six soldiers. turkey as of late has been targeting the ypg inside syria, targeting their positions, shelling their positions, but turkey has been trying to pressure its western allies. but there's no appetite from the west, and russia making it very clear that any ground operation will be seen as a violation of
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international law. so at the moment turkey's hands are tied in syria, but at the same time, the opposition group supported by turkey in this northern corridor, where the ypg has been trying to make advances is putting up a fight. we understand that they are receiving reinforcements, and they are promising to put up a fight and to prevent the ypg from taking more territory, close to the turkish border, particularly the strategic town of azaz. >> all right. let's leave it there. we're going to talk a pause now, take a short break on this news hour. ♪
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♪ hello again, i'm going to give you a quick reminder of our top story on al jazeera. turkey says kurdish rebels were behind an attack that killed 28 people in ankara. the suicide car bomber has been confirmed as a syrian national, but the ypg has denied any responsibility. the blast on wednesday targeted military buses. uganda is casting their votes in the presidential elections. the president is looking to extend his 30-year rule. his main challenges are both former allies of the president. three decades in power started well, but in recent years his leadership has come under criticism. he began to rebuild the economy
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damaged after years of civil war, restrictions were lifted and he cut rates of hiv infections. but his critics accuse him of cracking down on the opposition and the media. he signed into law an anti homosexuality law. the decision was condemned by western leaders. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says increasing military evidence by china in the south china sea is a serious concern. beijing is down playing reports it deployed surface to air missiles. several countries lay claim to territory in the resource-rich region. thousands of people have
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gathered in kosovo's capitol demanding for the government to resign. the demonstrations took place as the country marked eight years of independence from serbia. the opposition has been blocking all parliament activity since october with a series of protests. the government has accused the opposition of trying to come to power through violence. israel's high court has rejected a request by a hunger striking palestinian journalist to be moved from an israeli hospital to one in the west bank. demonstrations have been held to support him. he was arrested in november and held under administrative detention. now protests that rocked a new delhi university this week, have spread to other parts of india. students and teachers are joining demands for the release of a student leader.
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he faces trial for demonstrating against the execution of a man convicted of a 2001 attack on india's parliament. on wednesday hindu nationalists, including many lawyers, [ inaudible ] demonstrators who they accused of being andy indi indian. >> reporter: people from all walks of life have joined this protest. we have the university students from universities across the state. there are also professionals, activists, and the average citizen who say they are worried about the events that have taken place. at the heart of this protest is the issue of the man still in detention. many are shouting to free him. they are saying we are friends of his, but other people we spoke to said this is more than just an issue about the student. this is an issue about free speech and a growing intolerance under this government.
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>> to think that a student can be just picked up, and he can be branded, and he can be slapped with sedition charges when there is no evidence. i'm so outraged. >> reporter: he is in judicial custody and will remain in jail until march 2nd. his appeal for a bail will be heard by the courts. he was arrested last week at his university for allegedly holding an event in which anti-india slogans were used. he denies the charges. >> let's talk about this more with a journalist who has written a book on the prime minister. and joins us now from new delhi. good to see you. what do you make about modi, and what he is doing, and the clamping down on so many? >> i think mr. modi is going in
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a terribly wrong conflict with the students, with the teachers, writers, artists, the entire [ inaudible ] community. more an issue that [ inaudible ] survival of his government's policies, as well as the [ inaudible ] agenda of this government. this government [ inaudible ] and this is a very bad time for him to get into the conflict with all sections of society, which is opposed to the viewpoint of his party. he has got into conflict with the democratic groups, the communist groups and even the [ inaudible ]. even has got together and [ inaudible ] mr. modi, and his party, the [ inaudible ].
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[ audio lost ] [ technical difficulties ]
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[ technical difficulties ] >> and why -- entering into a conflict with students, teachers and [ inaudible ]. >> all right. very good to have you talking to us. >> thank you. now voting has been extended in uganda after long delays and some polling irregularities, in the presidential and parliamently elections. the president is seeking another
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term to extend his 30-year rule. his main challenger is a former ally who is running against him for the fourth time. let's bring in malcolm webb. he is in the capitol, and joins us on the phone from there. so voting has been extended. i hear it's not going too easily. what are the problems there? what are the problems on the ground? >> well, there is confusion as to exactly how it has been extended and for how long. but we have been brought with some other journalists by the opposition leader and some of his supports to a house, where they say they have monitored and documented what they say is a rigging process going on inside this house. they say a secret [ inaudible ] which will be used to doctor and alter results from polling stations throughout the country to the final tally. they just a few minutes ago
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knocked on the door and demanded entry. the people ran out the back, but were app pr-- apprehended. there is now a standoff outside of this house, the opposition leader and his supporters demanding to know what was going on inside. it is a tense situation that is unravelling here. >> the tense mood there -- i spoke to somebody from amnesty international just before the elections, very worried about the impact this election is going to have, whatever way it goes. are you getting a sense of how it will go? >> reporter: at this stage we really know the opposition [ inaudible ] rigging the electoral commissions deny it. a lot of people are complaining
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about the late start. they say -- the electoral commission says it is because of a lock of vehicles, but a lot of people living in this area, are opposition supporters, and they say it is a deliberate attempt to let the opposition supporters cast votes. >> thank you for that malcolm webb on the phone. half of the world's population will be shortsided by 2050, with my at risk of blindness. it mie openia, the leading cause of distance vision impairment globally. nearly 50% of the world's population will be shortsighted in 30 years, up to one-fifth of
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them will have a significantly increased risk of blindness if current trends continue. the rapid increase of mie openia is considered to be largely driven by environmental factors, such as people spending more time in doors with electronic devises. for the first time in 30 years, venezuela has raised petrol prices. people queued to buy cheap fuel before prices go up on friday. government revenues have fallen sharply because of lower global oil prices. let's bring in virginia lopez. she's in caracas, i believe. tell us about why this petrol price has been put up to such a degree, and the response there. >> reporter: well, like you said, it was hiked almost
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6,000%. and part of the reason is because it was being sold at less than what it cost to produce. it's cheaper to buy a shot of express sew here than it is to fill up a 40-liter tank. but also because the country's economy has been in freefall since the price of oil started dropping so precipitously. the streets seem to be quite calm. yesterday before the president had even finished his speech, we could see people outside petrol stations wanting to fill up. some of them said almost jokingly that they wanted to take advantage of this one last full tank of the cheapest petrol in the world, but others were quite concerned, because a similar measure in 1989 lead to a wave of -- of violence, rioting that pretty much marked
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the country to this day. >> virginia lopez with that update from car rauk kas. that's then of this bulletin, just to remind you, you can always find out about what is going on around the world by going to our website, the address, aljazeera.com. >> this is a show about science by scientists. tonight -- >> don't worry. keep moving. >> technoin search of the great
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american prairie. farming and overdevelopment killed it. now get ready for this. an explosion of color and the return of these native animals. >> how many plant species do you have in here? >> volunteers trying to bring back one of the planet's most complex ecosystems ran into trouble. why a certain animal from america's past was needed to pull off the impossible. >> we have just arrived and i am seeing these bison for the first time. >> tonight a trip to the heartland. >> oh, there's a baby. >> i'm phil ittner, i'm an entomologist. the epic drought of 2015 takes a toll. >> here we see something that is dramatically different. >> now the technology that can
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see what we can't. that's our team -- >> i'm a prairie barber. >> now let's do some science. ♪ >> hey, guys, welcome to techno, i'm fill torres. today we're going to talk two environmental stories, and to start off, the great american prairies. it's one of those iconic images of how the u.s. used to be. unfortunately now it is almost entirely just a part of our history. >> yeah, there has been a lot of overdevelopment of farming and a suberb ban explosion that has taken its toll on the prairies. >> yeah, and this is happening across the united states, but i got to say what i really love about this story is it's a bit of a twist.
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>> the nature conservancy is rolling back time. to restore a prairie that was almost effects tint. at the time of european settlement, about two-thirds of the state.
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[ technical difficulties ] >> has been virtually eliminated and turned into the corn belt. >> but illinois isn't alone. since the late 1800s, prairie grasslands across the united states have been steadily vanishing. >> i have heard grasslands in general referred to as the unheralded counterparts of the rain forest, and grasslands have a critical role in terms of
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climate change as well. in essence the plants absorb carbon dioxide. the restoration began in 1986, growing from a small plot of prairie, land that had never been farmed. ♪ >> and starting with fire, the process hasn't changed much in 30 years. >> it's completely fire dependant. without fire, we could not have prairie. most species of plant have a season of more intense blooming right after either the first year or second year after a fire. >> no one knows that better than restoration ecologist. what happened here? >> yeah, we're right on the line
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of two different prairie restorations. the one right here was planted two years ago, and the one behind us was planted three years ago, so what we're seeing is as these prairie restorations get older, more plants emerge, they get more mature. they are flowering. so they are quite dynamic. >> how many species do you have here? >> i believe 130 species, ranging from this sunflower, rattlesnake master here, grass leaf golden rod here. an echinacea here. >> all of those bloomers started here. all right. so this is the seed room. >> yep. >> the project director. >> you might think that the prairie seed would find its way out into these former corn fields, but it doesn't walk very fast. so we would have to wait a
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millennia. >> do you have a sense of how many seeds you and the volunteers here have planted over the years? >> about 250 species a year, so it's -- it's millions and millions of seeds. ♪ >> conventional wisdom is to plant ten pounds of seed per acre, but bill ordered 50 pounds and the fields blossomed. none of this would be possible without a corps of engineers. >> this is called prairie core opsis. >> how long have you been doing this? >> this is my 21st year. ♪ >> i'm a prairie barber. >> all of the tall grass planting was a little too successful. ♪ >> we just needed something to
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help to level the playing field. >> what they needed was something to thin out the grass. like an enormous vacuum. the solution? not a dieson, but a herd of bison, a possy of 800-pound grazing machines. ♪ >> we have just arrived at the grassland, and i'm seeing these bison for the first time, and i feel like i have just been transported back 150, 200 years. it's pretty remarkable to see the enormous animals that were almost wiped out from north america. oh, there is a baby. a little one. oh, a couple of them. >> bison have been part of the vision for the project since the beginning, but it taken us close to 30 years to put together enough of the landscape where it was a practical consideration
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for us. >> reporter: it's the first mating season, and coming up on techno, the arduous journey they took to get here. >> we want to hear what you think about these stories. join the conversation, by following us on twitter and aljazeera.com/techno.
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♪ they are living large on the grassland preserve in franklin grove, illinois, the first herd of american bison in these parts for two centuries. ♪ >> these iconic bison were the missing link for a massive restoration of this endangered tall-grass prairie run by the nature conservancy. would you say that they have
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been a game-changing factor here? >> oh, yeah, these animals are going to make a difference on this prairie. ♪ >> i hitched a ride with the project director, and restoration ecologist to track down the bison in their 500-acre grazing area. why are the bison so important to the restoration process? >> bison eat grass and the disturbances they are creating puts diversity in the area. you are getting a very quick nutrient cycling on the prairie. >> those bison patties are spreading seeds and fertilizing the soil. what is a the average weight. >> the cows can range from 1100,
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to 1200 pounds. and the bulls can get up to 2,000. >> how many do we have? >> 30 adults, and 16 calves. it is pretty exciting to think about the calf being born on illinois prairie. in that hasn't happened for probably 200 years. >> what happened to bison here? >> there was a tremendous slaughter of bison in the 1880s. it's estimated by the turn of the 1900s, there were probably 400 to 1,000 animals that persisted out of that massive herd of 30 to 60 million. there was a market for the hides and meats, and it was encouraged by the u.s. government as a strategy to help reduce the food supply for the native americans. it is estimated there are about
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400,000 bison now in north america. >> but most of those were bred with cattle for meat production. only about 20,000 are pure american bison. that genetic line dates back to 1913, when 14 bison from the bronx zoo were trucked to south dakota at the behest of teddy roosevelt. so when it was time to bring bison here, they look for a possy with the wind cave linage. >> reporter: we went to northwestern iowa, and brought back 20 animals with us. we separated off the animals that we were going to bring back to illinois, made sure they had a clean bill of health. ♪ >> come on out.
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>> seven of the females we strapped gps collars on to, so we can get near real time movement. >> tracking that movement is a bison researcher at southern illinois university. >> we're getting location information, a gps point on a map every hour, 24 hours a day. >> can you show me what you have been seeing. >> sure. these are the bison locations for yesterday. they seem to be spending a lot of time along their corral last year. >> and i can cooperate because that we were there and ah them. >> having this amount of data really helps us to understand what they will likely look for in the future. >> reporter: among the two dozen scientists doing researcher here
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is dr. holly jones. with her team, she is trapping and tagging small mammals to assess the impact of the big bison. >> i get so excited about this site. let's see if someone is in there. there is. small mammals are food for things like hawks, and owls. so it's really important to know how they are doing to be able to say how the prairie is doing as a whole. >> and that is because if the small mammals are tasty enough to feed prey they are feasting on healthy plants. >> the line of evidence is pointing towards a shift in community composition. there are different plots of lands that have been restored at different times, all the way back to 20 years ago, we can look at a plot of land like this
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that was restored 20 years ago and a land over there that was restored six years ago, and in one season look at the changes. >> okay. buddy, there you go. ♪ >> less than a year since the bison's arrival, the environmental impact is subtle. some changes to plant growth and small animal populations, but the biggest change may be on humans. ♪ >> i feel really connected to this herd. they still feel like these are their bison. this is such a cool thing that we have returned this iconic mammal to illinois. it's exciting. ♪ >> i got to say i love when you guys bring stuff back from the field, especially from someplace as iconic as tall grass prairie. so what did you bring us? >> you have to stand up. how tall are you?
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>> about 6'2". >> okay. so here is a tall grass from the tall grass prairie. >> this is amazing. and this is what the bison munch on. >> this is what the bison were brought in to help control. >> i could use some of this. [ laughter ] >> these are little seed pods. they look like musical instruments, but they are seed pods of some of the vegetation on the prairie. >> i like it. >> and this is what they have been using to replant some of the native vegetation. and this is the last piece of the puzzle. this is bison fur. >> it is surprisingly soft. >> and you can see there is stuff in there. >> a lot of stuff in there. >> so you can see how they would be dispersing these seeds across the prairie. >> when i was looking at that footage, i was blown away by the
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color in the prairie. the biodiversity, and i wonder if a lot of people have that preconceived notion that nothing grows out there. >> if i told you that among with tropical rain forests, prairie lands and other grass lands are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world , would you believe me? >> i would believe you, because you are an expert. >> it's true. >> but it's important for this big climate change problem that we are all facing. these grasses and plants act as a carbon sync don't they? >> they really do. they actually are a big factor in storing carbons. >> and that really does feed into the next story. you guys tag teamed a little bit, right? both from the sky and from the
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ground. >> yeah, i got to see california forests from an airplane like no other. >> and i was on the ground seeing the reality of trees and what is taking them down. >> we're coming back right here on "techknow." ♪
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>> mdma helps with the therapeutic connection. >> exclusive access to the... >> our fears are dancing between us. >> techknows team of experts show you how the miracles of science... >> this is what innovation looks like. >>...can affect and surprise us. >> i feel like we're making an impact. >> awesome. >> techknow, where technology meets humanity. >> only on al jazeera america. >> al jazeera america brings you independent reporting without spin. >> not everybody is asking the questions you're asking me today. >> we give you more perspectives >> the separatists took control a few days ago. >> and a global view. >> now everybody in this country can hear them. >> getting the story first-hand. >> they have travelled for weeks, sometimes months. >> what's your message then? >> we need help now. >> you're watching al jazeera america.
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welcome back to "techknow." now, you and phil had a chance to follow some scientists who are focusing in this on the california drought. >> we did. and they are using some really sophisticated equipment. >> i think you may have gotten the better part of the deal here. >> maybe. i mean it was a really fascinating way to see the forest in a way that the naked eye just can't. ♪ >> this drought is so epic, it's so out of the norm, that we actually don't have an answer to what can we expect long term? >> four years into california's epic drought, reservoirs are near empty, farmers hurting, and its forests are under attack by
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opportunistic pests. but in order to understand these changes to forests, scientists must first assess their health. >> we have the most advanced air-born remote sensing package that i know of on earth today. >> for over a decade, this ecologist has been monitoring changes around the world. "techknow" profiled his work mapping the amazon is a previous episode. this time we joined him on his latest effort to map out california forests. in the back of the aircraft are unique sensors designed to make measures of the canopy. >> this instrument is a laser system that fires two lasers at the bottom of the plane in a
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pattern that images the forest canopy in 3-d. what the instruments do is provide a very accurate, very unique way of understanding the amount of carbon stored in california's forests. if you don't put carbon in forests, it ends up in the atmosphere and that contributing to climate change. >> it the nexts the chemical composition of trees. it was time for takeoff. where are we going? >> close to the oregon border. >> and with that, we were off. from the air, we could see reservoirs and rivers clearly depleted of water. >> that is a lot of water missing when you see that much brown. >> but the canopy looks pretty green. >> with the naked eye they looked like they are in pretty good shape. the majority of california's forests are under drought stress
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today. my guess is that most of these forests are in trouble. >> back at the lab, his team got to work analyzing all of the data. that's where "techknow"'s phil torres picks up the story. >> looking out the cockpit it looked green, but this is dramatically different. >> what do you see. >> we see that the forest varies from what we would consider pretty average in the yellows and blues, down to areas that look severely drought stricken in red. >> next we looked at an area where the drought stress was more acute. >> this what it looks like when you fly over. looks like your typical southern-cal forest. this is what it looks like in detail. those trees are doing okay, but everything else is showing severe drought stress. >> now that we have the view from above, we decided to head
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out for a boots on the ground perspective. >> i'm standing in the middle of the forest, and can you can tell, there is plenty of evidence of the impact of a multi-year drought. >> one of the biggest problems, a bug that attacks water-stressed pine trees. >> now we're talking. oh, there's a bunch. >> tom is a entomologist with the forrest service. >> bar beatles kill more trees than any other active disease in northern america. and you see this patch work of dead trees. >> this tree is full of thousands of beetles, does that mean that all of the trees are susceptible. >> right now from what i have seen it is across the entire landscape. >> have you ever seen it this bad? >> not here in california.
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♪ >> so just ten minutes away we were looking at the devastation caused by the pine beetles, and now you can see the damage done by forrest fires. >> so even though the wildfire has gone through an area and called major mortality, we'll still see bar beetles coming in afterwards. >> scientists are concerned about the impact from drought around the world. >> now we're starting to worry about whether these droughts are somehow all interrelated in length on a global scale. we don't know exactly how much of the global forest cover is at risk, but we're in that process now of finally getting the measurements we need to make those predictions. ♪ >> scientists studying these
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things, they can say here is the problem, but their hands are tied. all they can do is wait for the drought to be over, and try to influence management and policy. >> they need to get the data into the right hands. it has to get into the hands of managers and decision makers, so they can implement changes. >> and whether we're talking about managing grasslands or forests, one thing is for certain if we have healthy ecosystems we will have a healthier climate. >> absolutely. one thing is for sure, it's a complex ecosystem out there, but there are a lot of scientists working hard on it. that's it for you. we'll see you next time on "techknow." go behind the scenes at aljazeera.com/techno, follow our expert contributes on facebook,
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police arrest the main challenger to uganda's president, as the opposition alleges vote rigging. ♪ hello for me david foster. you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up in the next 30 minutes. syria's main kurdish armed group, denies turkey's accusation that it planted a car bomb in ankara, killing 28 people. david cameron is in brussels to meet other e.u. leaders with britain's future in