India is Running Out of Water

Guest: Upmanu Lall, Director, Columbia Water Center, Chair of the Department of Earth & Environmental Engineering, Columbia University

India is in the midst of an historic water crisis. Chennai –the sixth largest city in the country -is already relying on trucks and trains to deliver water to its 10million residents. A government report estimates 21 major Indian cities, including Delhi and Bangalore, will completely exhaust their groundwater by next year. India is not alone. Last year, Cape Town, South Africa was days away from becoming the first major city on the planet to run entirely dry. Massive cuts to water use kept the city going until the rains came. Mexico City, Miami, Cairo, Sao Paolo, Tokyo, London, Los Angeles are all at risk of running out of water in the coming decade or two because of population growth, pollution and changing weather patterns. What lessons does the water crisis in India offer?

 

The Income Gap’s Effect on Health

Guest: Frederick Zimmerman, Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate your overall health? How many healthy days have you had in the last month? More than five million people have answered those questions on surveys from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the last 25 years. The trend is not encouraging. Wealthy Americans are pretty stagnant, health wise. Among the poor, health is declining.

 

Limited Regulation in Service Dog Industry Makes People Susceptible to Fraud

Guest: David Favre, Law Professor, Michigan State University, Editor of Animal Legal and Historical Center Website

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, service animals must be trained to help a person with a disability, and can go pretty much anywhere with them. But service dogs aren’t required to be registered and don’t have to wear any special vest or anything to identify them as a service animal. They do have to be trained, but not by a professional.

 

Your Scream is Special

Guest: Harold Gouzoules, Professor of Psychology, Emory College

You know how at a neighborhood party, every mom knows immediately if the kid screaming from the other room is hers? And she can usually tell right away if it’s a scream of pain or anger or excitement, right? It’s uncanny. But also, apparently, second nature. Humans turn out to be really good at reading screams.

 

Fighting Fires with Science!

Guest: Albert Simeoni, Department Head of Fire Protection Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

The next month will be critical for wildfires in the West. Late spring rains gave grasses a big boost, which now become fuel in hot, dry, windy weather. California has already given power companies permission to shut off electricity when things get really hot and windy, hoping to avoid another massive burn like the Camp Fire last year. It was caused by aging power lines. While California braces to burn, Alaska has borne the brunt of the fire season so far.

 

Motivating Your Kids to Read in the Last Days of Summer

Guest: Rachel Wadham, Host, Worlds Awaiting on BYUradio, Education and Juvenile Collections Librarian, BYU