KCETLinks New EAR FOCUS Episode Uncovers Critical Ocean Iues

Burbank, Calif. - September 4, 2014 - Oceans support life, yet they are overfished, polluted and, due to global climate change, increasingly acidic. KCETLink, the national independent public transmedia organization, presents Tackling Ocean Challenges, a compelling, new EARTH FOCUS investigation that explores some of the critical threats to ocean health. The new episode premieres Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 8:30 p.m. Pacific time on KCET (Southern California) and nationally on Thursday, Sept. 11 at 9 p.m. ET on Link TV (DirecTV 375, DISH Network 9410).

After the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, there was extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats in the Gulf of Mexico, severely affecting the fishing and tourism industries in the region. The emergency response was hampered by outdated clean-up technology, which had not been improved since the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska 20 years earlier.

In Tackling Ocean Challenges, viewers explore the communities that were affected by the oil spill and learn about the Oil Cleanup XCHALLENGE, a contest presented by the XPRIZE Foundation, a global leader in incentivized prize competitions, and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt, which encouraged teams from around the world to develop new clean-up technologies. In 2011, $1.4 million was awarded to the winning team that demonstrated an oil recovery clean-up rate four times greater than the industrys previous best recovery rate.

Currently, a new Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE is encouraging innovators to deepen our understanding of ocean acidification, which threatens the growth of shellfish and coral reef. More than 20 teams are competing for $2 million in prizes to develop accurate and affordable pH sensors that will help measure the changes in ocean chemistry as a result of pollution, and the warming of the sea due to climate change.

EARTH FOCUS is weekly half-hour program that is the longest-running environmental series on American television. The groundbreaking series features investigative reports on the state of our planets environment and its impact on people around the world. Funding for EARTH FOCUS is provided by grants from the Marisla Fund, Wallace Genetic Foundation, Park Foundation and individual donors.

For more information about EARTH FOCUS and to watch episodes online, visit: www.linktv.org/earthfocus or www.kcet.org/earthfocus.

ABOUT KCETLINK

KCETLink, formed by the merger between KCET and Link Media, is a national independent, nonprofit, digital and broadcast network that provides high-quality, culturally diverse programming designed to engage the public in innovative, entertaining and transformative ways. With a commitment to independent perspectives, smart global entertainment, local communities, and opportunities for engagement and social action, KCETLink depicts people and the world through a lens unavailable elsewhere in U.S. media. A viewer-supported 501(c)(3) organization based in Burbank, CA, KCETLink content is distributed nationally via satellite on Link TV - DIRECTV channel 375 and DISH Network channel 9410 - and on KCET in Southern and Central California via broadcast and cable, as well as through various digital delivery systems.

For additional information about KCET and Link TV productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit www.kcet.org or www.linktv.org.

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LINK:	http://www.kcet.org/about/pressroom/kcetlink-press-releases/kcetlinks-...
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