i'm thuy vu. >> i'm scott shafer. thanks for joining us. >> announcer: "a kqed television production." >> it's sort of like old fisherman's wharf. it reminds me of old san francisco. >> and you'd be a little bit like jean valjean, with the teeth, whatever. >> and worth the calories, the cholesterol, and the heart attack you might have. >> it's like an adventure, you know! you gotta put on your miner's helmet. >> it reminds me of oatmeal with a touch of wet dog. >> i did. inhaled it. >> people when they say sommelier or something. you say it, sommelier, som-l-yay!

>>> hello, i'm scott shafer. welcome to kqed newsroom. >> i'm thuy vu. the waters off the monterey are home to otters, seals, sea lions and whales among other creatures. next week, they'll be featured in big blue live, a television special spanning three nights here on kqed. pbs and the bbc are producing the special airing live at 8:00 monday. big blue live will focus on the comeback of monterey bay where decades ago dozens of species of sea life were on the verge of extinction. >> although many of the species are thriving, ocean waters throughout the world are facing a new threat. coral reefs like these, vibrant and teeming with life, may hold clues to the future of the world's oceans. >> coral reefs only make up a fraction of 1% of the ocean, but they hold 25% of the ocean's species. not only that, but they feed hundreds of millions of people and a billion people or more get some income from coral reefs. so this is an ecosystem that is really fundamental to humans on the planet. >> steve polumbi is the director of the hopkins marine station. he's studi

scott shafer spoke with science editor craig miller about the findings. >> craig miller, welcome. >> thanks, scott. >> begin with the study from columbia university. scientists there saying climate change caused by us made our drought worse. how did that happen? what's that connection? >> california had kind of a double whamny. 2013 was the driest year on record. 2014 was the warmest year on record. here we were already two years into drought. any residual moisture just gets baked out of the soil by that excess heat and sucked up by the plants and it's gone. setting the stage for worst wildfires, tougher to grow things, all these drought impacts become that much worse in that situation. in reporting in the past, i've tried to ask the question, yeah, but how much worse does this actually make the drought? nobody really had an answer. >> they say it makes it worse how? there's less water in the ground and all that. but does it make the drought longer, does it make the temperatures -- how is it worse? >> it's sort of a vicious cycle. like hotter means drier. and then it just gets cranked

scott shafer spoke with science editor craig miller about the findings. >> craig miller, welcome. >> thanks, scott. >> begin with the study from columbia university. scientists there saying climate change caused by us made our drought worse. how did that happen? what's that connection? >> california had kind of a double am

. >>> hello, i'm scott shafer. welcome to kqed newsroom. >> i'm thuy vu. the waters off the monterey are home to otters, seals, sea lions and whales among other creatures. next week, they'll be featured in big blue live, a television special spanning three nights here on kqed. pbs and the bbc are producing the special airing live at 8:00 monday. big blue live will focus on the comeback of monterey bay where decades ago dozens of species of sea life were on the verge of extinction. >> although many of the species are thriving, ocean waters throughout the world are facing a new

. >> i'm scott shafer, thanks for joining us. >> i'm twee boo.e a good night. >>> announcer: the following kqed production was produced in high definition. ♪ >> must have soup! >> the pancake is to die for! >> it was a gut-bomb, but i liked it. >> i actually fantasized in private moments about the food i had. >> i didn't like it. >> you didn't like it? >> dining here makes me feel rich. >> and what about dessert? pecan pie? sweet potato pie?

. >> i'm scott shafer, thanks for joining us. >> i'm twee boo. have a good night.tioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, august 9: residents in ferguson, missouri remember michael brown, killed by a police officer one year ago today. how protests in ferguson, and the forceful police response, have affected police tactics nationally. and, from idaho, how rare political cooperation preserved this wilderness area forever. next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designi

as scott shafer from our san francisco station kqed reports, the threat may not be visible to the naked, but it changes the very chemistry of essential parts of the marine ecosystem. >> reporter: coral reefs like these, vibrant and teeming with life, may hold clues to the future of the world's oceans. >> coral reefs make up a fraction of 1% of the ocean, but they hold 25% of the ocean's species. not only that, they feed hundreds of millions of people and a billion people or more get income from coral reefs. so this is an ecosystem that is really fundamental to human on the planet. >> reporter: steve palumbi is the director of stanford university's hopkins marine station. he has studied coral reefs around the world. for decades, warming ocean waters have damaged, even killed coral. but palumbi says reefs are now facing an insidious threat from a chemical change that is making ocean water more acidic. >> ocean acidification affects the entire globe's oceans. it affects organisms by reducing their growth rate, by making it more difficult for them to grow shells. we know that fish actually