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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s been a winter for the books in the Arctic. Capping off a season of sustained, mind-boggling warm weather and \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/arctic-sea-ice-record-low-again-20044\">stunted sea ice growth\u003c/a>, the annual Arctic sea ice maximum hit its lowest level ever recorded. That marks the second straight year that the winter maximum ice extent set a record low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve never seen such a warm, crazy winter in the Arctic,” Mark Serreze, director of the \u003ca href=\"https://nsidc.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Snow and Ice Data Center\u003c/a>, said in a statement. “The heat was relentless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with other indicators like global average temperature and sea level rise, the record-setting sea ice cover is a key example of how much climate change is affecting the planet. Diminished sea ice can impact the ability of Arctic species like polar bears and walruses to find food, and could \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/polar-vortex-whats-the-role-of-warming-18654\">impact the weather\u003c/a> across North America, Europe and Asia, though that connection is still contentious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Arctic is in crisis. Year by year, it’s slipping into a new state, and it’s hard to see how that won’t have an effect on weather throughout the Northern Hemisphere,” Ted Scambos, an NSIDC lead scientist, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"http://nsidc.org/news/newsroom/arctic-sets-yet-another-record-low-maximum-extent\">NSIDC announced on Monday\u003c/a> that Arctic sea ice hit its maximum extent for the winter on March 24, when it averaged 5.607 million square miles. That beat \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/arctic-sea-hits-record-low-winter-peak-18795\">last year’s record low\u003c/a> of 5.612 million square miles, set on Feb. 25, 2015, by 5,000 square miles or just a bit smaller than the area of Connecticut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/ferqrZi4WF4?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year’s peak came earlier than is typical, while this year’s was later than the average peak time. That late peak date sets up a shorter-than-normal ice melt season this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The record low maximum doesn’t necessarily guarantee a record-low summer sea ice minimum, though, as ice melt depends heavily on Arctic weather patterns through the spring and summer months. Last year’s minimum was the\u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/arctic-ice-4th-lowest-record-19455\">fourth lowest on record\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, though, Arctic sea ice has seen \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/video-old-arctic-sea-ice-20112\">a clear decline\u003c/a> since satellites first began monitoring it in 1979. Since that time, winter sea ice extent has dropped 3.2 percent per decade, while the summer minimum has seen an even steeper drop of 13.7 percent per decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That decline is linked to the rapid warming of the region, which is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the globe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This winter, that warmth reached astounding levels, with air temperatures over the Arctic Ocean ranging from 4°F to 11°F (2°C to 6°C) above average in nearly every region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That incredible warmth helped contribute to January and February successively setting the record for the \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/february-winter-record-warm-for-planet-20150\">most anomalously warm months\u003c/a> globally in more than 130 years of record keeping.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"headTitle": "Pacific Ocean Pattern Could Predict U.S. Heat Waves | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>In the summer of 2012, a series of punishing heat waves roasted a large portion of the U.S. with \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/2012-heat-wave-rolls-on-as-July-warmest-month-on-record-14773\">record-breaking temperatures\u003c/a> that helped spawn one of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/2012-drought-inches-up-in-us-historical-rankings-14818\">most widespread and costliest droughts\u003c/a> to hit the country in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combined, the blistering temperatures and drought cost some $31.5 billion and led to dozens of deaths. The heat was so intense that it melted roads and airport runways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”55yb5ocAOi72b5skbecQTqbNo12PsiS8″]In May of that year, when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued its forecast for the summer, it had \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/lack-of-warning-on-2012-us-drought-reflects-flaws-in-forecasting-14823\">predicted normal temperatures\u003c/a> for the Midwest and Northeast — a forecast that clearly fell short.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such seasonal forecasting is notoriously difficult, but a new study detailed Monday in the journal \u003ca href=\"http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/ngeo2687\">Nature Geoscience\u003c/a> points to a way to potentially better predict the type of \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/extreme-heat-climate-change-19641\">extreme heat\u003c/a> that engulfed the country that summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By identifying a pattern of Pacific Ocean temperatures that seems to precede major heat events in the eastern U.S., the study could help forecasters give farmers, cities and utilities more time to prepare. Such early warnings will become more and more critical as the world continues to warm and heat waves become more frequent and more intense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been very hard to get accurate, long lead-time prediction,” \u003ca href=\"https://earth.stanford.edu/noah-diffenbaugh\">Noah Diffenbaugh\u003c/a>, a climate scientist at Stanford University who wasn’t involved with the research, said. “This paper is kind of extending our potential to have this longer time-scale predictability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Ocean Pattern Pops Up\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://staff.ucar.edu/users/mckinnon\">Karen McKinnon\u003c/a> and her colleagues found the connection to Pacific Ocean temperatures by first looking at daily temperature data for the period from late June to late August from 1,613 weather stations across the U.S. going back to 1982. They divided the country into broad regions that tend to experience extreme heat at the same time. (A day with extreme heat was defined as one where the warmest 5 percent of weather stations in the region had temperatures at least 11.7°F, or 6.5°C, above average.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They focused on the largest grouping to emerge, which spanned from the Midwest down into the Southeast and up the coast to the Northeast. That area coincides with major population centers, as well as key farmland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers then looked to see if those days of extreme heat tended to correspond with any particular patterns of sea surface temperatures in the North Pacific. One pattern “just popped up super clearly,” McKinnon, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., said. In an area spanning the breadth of the ocean basin and roughly the same latitudes as the U.S., they found cooler-than-normal waters to the north butted up against warmer-than-normal waters to the south.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And not only did the pattern show up at the same time as the extreme heat in the eastern U.S., the team could trace it back in time to before the heat wave hit and use it to predict the likelihood of the extreme hot weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers found the ocean pattern could be used to predict increased odds for extreme heat in the broad region up to 50 days out, with the skill of the predictions increasing closer to the event as the ocean pattern evolved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team used the pattern to do a “hindcast” of the punishing summer of 2012, and were able to predict increased odds of extreme heat for the end of June as early as mid-May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pattern could also be used to predict extreme heat for some individual stations, the team found, mostly in a region in the middle of the country. The clearer connection there is likely due to the fact that the domes of hot air associated with heat waves tend to be centered on that area, McKinnon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Exactly why the ocean pattern and extreme eastern U.S. heat are connected isn’t yet clear. The two main ideas, McKinnon said, are that the ocean pattern is influencing the atmosphere in a way that leads to the eventual heat dome buildup, or that both the ocean pattern and the heat dome are caused by some other third factor. McKinnon and her colleagues are working now with computer models to “try and tease apart a little bit more” what’s happening, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Good Case Study’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>One of the clearest implications of the \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/climate-change/climate-indicators/global-temperature\">overall warming of the planet\u003c/a> as greenhouse gases trap more and more heat in the atmosphere is that heat waves will \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/searing-heat-waves-could-become-annual-threat-20066\">become more common and more intense\u003c/a>, raising concerns about future impacts to agriculture, infrastructure and vulnerable populations. Such concerns could make long-term predictions particularly valuable in the future because “we can make decisions about how to manage risk,” Diffenbaugh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One hurdle to jump, though, is to try to use this ocean pattern to make forecasts in real-time “to see if it really works,”\u003ca href=\"http://mikeventrice.weebly.com/\">Michael Ventrice\u003c/a>, an operational meteorologist with the Weather Company, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McKinnon and her team are planning to do just that this year, possibly starting sometime in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, the models that Ventrice and other seasonal forecasters use are predicting one of the hottest summers in recent years. The ocean pattern that McKinnon and her colleagues identified, though, is flipped, which would tend to suggest cooler summer weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a good case study,” Ventrice, who was not involved with the research, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Obviously it’s a little bit scary,” McKinnon said of doing real-time forecasts, because even if their forecast track record is good across many years, it could be off for a particular year. Other myriad climate factors play a role in the weather, and any one of them could overwhelm the Pacific Ocean connection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there’s still work to do to understand and firm up the link between extreme heat and Pacific Ocean temperature patterns, the possibility is intriguing because “we’re always looking for better ways” to extend seasonal predictions, Ventrice said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the summer of 2012, a series of punishing heat waves roasted a large portion of the U.S. with \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/2012-heat-wave-rolls-on-as-July-warmest-month-on-record-14773\">record-breaking temperatures\u003c/a> that helped spawn one of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/2012-drought-inches-up-in-us-historical-rankings-14818\">most widespread and costliest droughts\u003c/a> to hit the country in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Combined, the blistering temperatures and drought cost some $31.5 billion and led to dozens of deaths. The heat was so intense that it melted roads and airport runways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>In May of that year, when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued its forecast for the summer, it had \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/lack-of-warning-on-2012-us-drought-reflects-flaws-in-forecasting-14823\">predicted normal temperatures\u003c/a> for the Midwest and Northeast — a forecast that clearly fell short.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such seasonal forecasting is notoriously difficult, but a new study detailed Monday in the journal \u003ca href=\"http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/ngeo2687\">Nature Geoscience\u003c/a> points to a way to potentially better predict the type of \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/extreme-heat-climate-change-19641\">extreme heat\u003c/a> that engulfed the country that summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By identifying a pattern of Pacific Ocean temperatures that seems to precede major heat events in the eastern U.S., the study could help forecasters give farmers, cities and utilities more time to prepare. Such early warnings will become more and more critical as the world continues to warm and heat waves become more frequent and more intense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been very hard to get accurate, long lead-time prediction,” \u003ca href=\"https://earth.stanford.edu/noah-diffenbaugh\">Noah Diffenbaugh\u003c/a>, a climate scientist at Stanford University who wasn’t involved with the research, said. “This paper is kind of extending our potential to have this longer time-scale predictability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Ocean Pattern Pops Up\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://staff.ucar.edu/users/mckinnon\">Karen McKinnon\u003c/a> and her colleagues found the connection to Pacific Ocean temperatures by first looking at daily temperature data for the period from late June to late August from 1,613 weather stations across the U.S. going back to 1982. They divided the country into broad regions that tend to experience extreme heat at the same time. (A day with extreme heat was defined as one where the warmest 5 percent of weather stations in the region had temperatures at least 11.7°F, or 6.5°C, above average.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They focused on the largest grouping to emerge, which spanned from the Midwest down into the Southeast and up the coast to the Northeast. That area coincides with major population centers, as well as key farmland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers then looked to see if those days of extreme heat tended to correspond with any particular patterns of sea surface temperatures in the North Pacific. One pattern “just popped up super clearly,” McKinnon, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., said. In an area spanning the breadth of the ocean basin and roughly the same latitudes as the U.S., they found cooler-than-normal waters to the north butted up against warmer-than-normal waters to the south.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And not only did the pattern show up at the same time as the extreme heat in the eastern U.S., the team could trace it back in time to before the heat wave hit and use it to predict the likelihood of the extreme hot weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers found the ocean pattern could be used to predict increased odds for extreme heat in the broad region up to 50 days out, with the skill of the predictions increasing closer to the event as the ocean pattern evolved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team used the pattern to do a “hindcast” of the punishing summer of 2012, and were able to predict increased odds of extreme heat for the end of June as early as mid-May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pattern could also be used to predict extreme heat for some individual stations, the team found, mostly in a region in the middle of the country. The clearer connection there is likely due to the fact that the domes of hot air associated with heat waves tend to be centered on that area, McKinnon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Exactly why the ocean pattern and extreme eastern U.S. heat are connected isn’t yet clear. The two main ideas, McKinnon said, are that the ocean pattern is influencing the atmosphere in a way that leads to the eventual heat dome buildup, or that both the ocean pattern and the heat dome are caused by some other third factor. McKinnon and her colleagues are working now with computer models to “try and tease apart a little bit more” what’s happening, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Good Case Study’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>One of the clearest implications of the \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/climate-change/climate-indicators/global-temperature\">overall warming of the planet\u003c/a> as greenhouse gases trap more and more heat in the atmosphere is that heat waves will \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/searing-heat-waves-could-become-annual-threat-20066\">become more common and more intense\u003c/a>, raising concerns about future impacts to agriculture, infrastructure and vulnerable populations. Such concerns could make long-term predictions particularly valuable in the future because “we can make decisions about how to manage risk,” Diffenbaugh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One hurdle to jump, though, is to try to use this ocean pattern to make forecasts in real-time “to see if it really works,”\u003ca href=\"http://mikeventrice.weebly.com/\">Michael Ventrice\u003c/a>, an operational meteorologist with the Weather Company, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McKinnon and her team are planning to do just that this year, possibly starting sometime in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, the models that Ventrice and other seasonal forecasters use are predicting one of the hottest summers in recent years. The ocean pattern that McKinnon and her colleagues identified, though, is flipped, which would tend to suggest cooler summer weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a good case study,” Ventrice, who was not involved with the research, said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Obviously it’s a little bit scary,” McKinnon said of doing real-time forecasts, because even if their forecast track record is good across many years, it could be off for a particular year. Other myriad climate factors play a role in the weather, and any one of them could overwhelm the Pacific Ocean connection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there’s still work to do to understand and firm up the link between extreme heat and Pacific Ocean temperature patterns, the possibility is intriguing because “we’re always looking for better ways” to extend seasonal predictions, Ventrice said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Was March the Rainfall Miracle We'd Hoped For?",
"headTitle": "Was March the Rainfall Miracle We’d Hoped For? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Yes, the Bay Area got a lot of rain this winter. But was it enough to end the drought?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadly, no. But there’s good news—this winter was the best we’ve had in five years in terms of precipitation. Rainfall in most Bay Area cities is about 100 percent of normal. San Francisco has received \u003ca href=\"http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/cnrfc/rsa_getprod.php?prod=RNORR4RSA&wfo=cnrfc&version=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">21 inches of rain this winter\u003c/a>, up from \u003ca href=\"http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/cnrfc/rsa_getprod.php?prod=RNORR4RSA&wfo=cnrfc&version=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">16 inches last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘We’re not in an emergency in northern California anymore in terms of drought.’\u003ccite>Paul Rogers,\u003cbr>KQED and the San Jose Mercury News\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>And the state’s two biggest reservoirs, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oroville and Shasta, are now more than \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">80 percent full\u003c/a>. Last March, they hovered between \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/50-percent-of-average_reservoirs.jpg\">50 and 59 percent\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really been kind of a wonderful last few months,” says \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/PaulRogersSJMN?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul Rogers\u003c/a>, San Jose Mercury News Environment Reporter and KQED Science Managing Editor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>El Niño’s warm ocean waters fueled storms across the state, and northern California got most of the benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re not in an emergency in northern California anymore in terms of drought,” Rogers says. “The soaking storms that we got in March really delivered their biggest punch in the most important watersheds in the state.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to Oroville and Shasta, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pardee reservoir, the biggest reservoir that serves the East Bay, is \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebmud.com/water-and-drought/about-your-water/water-supply/water-supply-reports/daily-water-supply-report/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">99 percent full\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_596537\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1006px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-596537\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought.jpg\" alt=\"This map shows precipitation as a percentage of average for March. Areas in maroon are at less than 5 percent of average for this time of year while magenta areas are at more than 300 percent of average. \" width=\"1006\" height=\"1392\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought.jpg 1006w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought-400x553.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought-800x1107.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought-768x1063.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought-960x1328.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1006px) 100vw, 1006px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This map shows precipitation as a percentage of average for March. Areas in maroon are at less than 5 percent of average for this time of year while magenta areas are at more than 300 percent of average. \u003ccite>(NOAA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Rogers says southern California wasn’t as lucky. Some cities, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">like Los Angeles, are only at \u003ca href=\"http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/cnrfc/rsa_getprod.php?prod=RNORR4RSA&wfo=cnrfc&version=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">50 percent of normal rainfall\u003c/a> for this time of year.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And farther south, say in Long Beach and Riverside, rainfall totals are at \u003ca href=\"http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/cnrfc/rsa_getprod.php?prod=RNORR4RSA&wfo=cnrfc&version=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">44 percent of average\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really is a tale of two droughts,” Rogers says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mandatory water cutbacks Governor Jerry Brown enacted last April have been extended \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/emergency_regulation.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">through October\u003c/a>, but some of those restrictions may be lifted in parts of northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felicia Marcus, who chairs the \u003ca href=\"http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">State Water Resources Control Board\u003c/a>, has already \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article66078267.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hinted at this\u003c/a>, Rogers noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“What you’re going to probably see,” he says, “is that, in northern California, particularly the further north you go, where we had a lot of rain, they’re going to have few or no mandatory rules. The further south you go, their rules are going to look pretty similar to what they had this past summer.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And although relaxed restriction are a positive sign—\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/01/11/when-will-californias-drought-end/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the drought isn’t legally over\u003c/a> until Brown says so and lifts his executive order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That probably won’t happen this year.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Northern California's winter rains weren't enough to end the drought, but it's the most precipitation we’ve had in five years.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Yes, the Bay Area got a lot of rain this winter. But was it enough to end the drought?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadly, no. But there’s good news—this winter was the best we’ve had in five years in terms of precipitation. Rainfall in most Bay Area cities is about 100 percent of normal. San Francisco has received \u003ca href=\"http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/cnrfc/rsa_getprod.php?prod=RNORR4RSA&wfo=cnrfc&version=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">21 inches of rain this winter\u003c/a>, up from \u003ca href=\"http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/cnrfc/rsa_getprod.php?prod=RNORR4RSA&wfo=cnrfc&version=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">16 inches last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘We’re not in an emergency in northern California anymore in terms of drought.’\u003ccite>Paul Rogers,\u003cbr>KQED and the San Jose Mercury News\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>And the state’s two biggest reservoirs, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oroville and Shasta, are now more than \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">80 percent full\u003c/a>. Last March, they hovered between \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/50-percent-of-average_reservoirs.jpg\">50 and 59 percent\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really been kind of a wonderful last few months,” says \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/PaulRogersSJMN?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul Rogers\u003c/a>, San Jose Mercury News Environment Reporter and KQED Science Managing Editor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>El Niño’s warm ocean waters fueled storms across the state, and northern California got most of the benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">We’re not in an emergency in northern California anymore in terms of drought,” Rogers says. “The soaking storms that we got in March really delivered their biggest punch in the most important watersheds in the state.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to Oroville and Shasta, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pardee reservoir, the biggest reservoir that serves the East Bay, is \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebmud.com/water-and-drought/about-your-water/water-supply/water-supply-reports/daily-water-supply-report/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">99 percent full\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_596537\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1006px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-596537\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought.jpg\" alt=\"This map shows precipitation as a percentage of average for March. Areas in maroon are at less than 5 percent of average for this time of year while magenta areas are at more than 300 percent of average. \" width=\"1006\" height=\"1392\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought.jpg 1006w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought-400x553.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought-800x1107.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought-768x1063.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/CA-map_drought-960x1328.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1006px) 100vw, 1006px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This map shows precipitation as a percentage of average for March. Areas in maroon are at less than 5 percent of average for this time of year while magenta areas are at more than 300 percent of average. \u003ccite>(NOAA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But Rogers says southern California wasn’t as lucky. Some cities, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">like Los Angeles, are only at \u003ca href=\"http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/cnrfc/rsa_getprod.php?prod=RNORR4RSA&wfo=cnrfc&version=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">50 percent of normal rainfall\u003c/a> for this time of year.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And farther south, say in Long Beach and Riverside, rainfall totals are at \u003ca href=\"http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/cnrfc/rsa_getprod.php?prod=RNORR4RSA&wfo=cnrfc&version=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">44 percent of average\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really is a tale of two droughts,” Rogers says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mandatory water cutbacks Governor Jerry Brown enacted last April have been extended \u003ca href=\"http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/emergency_regulation.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">through October\u003c/a>, but some of those restrictions may be lifted in parts of northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felicia Marcus, who chairs the \u003ca href=\"http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">State Water Resources Control Board\u003c/a>, has already \u003ca href=\"http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article66078267.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hinted at this\u003c/a>, Rogers noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“What you’re going to probably see,” he says, “is that, in northern California, particularly the further north you go, where we had a lot of rain, they’re going to have few or no mandatory rules. The further south you go, their rules are going to look pretty similar to what they had this past summer.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And although relaxed restriction are a positive sign—\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/01/11/when-will-californias-drought-end/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the drought isn’t legally over\u003c/a> until Brown says so and lifts his executive order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That probably won’t happen this year.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Get Used to Skimpier Snows in the Sierra",
"headTitle": "Get Used to Skimpier Snows in the Sierra | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>When the numbers come in for the closely watched April 1 survey of \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action\">snow in the Sierra Nevada\u003c/a>, California is likely to fall short of an average year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a major disappointment in a winter that featured one of the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/02/01/why-this-el-nino-is-one-for-the-books/\">strongest El Niño events on record\u003c/a>—warm ocean conditions that were widely expected to produce torrents of precipitation. It’s also a source of concern since the state has historically counted on runoff from accumulated mountain snows for about a third of its water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week, the northern Sierra snowpack briefly nudged the long-term average for April 1, while measurements from the southern Sierra were lagging badly, at just 75 percent of normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be sure, both numbers are \u003ca href=\"http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=86838\">a huge improvement\u003c/a> over last year at this time, when the Sierra Nevada range was virtually barren. But this year, almost-average isn’t going to cut it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_594396\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 561px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-594396 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/No-SnowSurvey_150401.png\" alt=\"Governor Jerry Brown looks on as last April's snow survey is conducted on barren ground along Highway 50, near Echo Summit.\" width=\"561\" height=\"381\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/No-SnowSurvey_150401.png 561w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/No-SnowSurvey_150401-400x272.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 561px) 100vw, 561px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Governor Jerry Brown looks on as last April’s snow survey is conducted on barren ground along Highway 50, near Echo Summit. \u003ccite>(Calif. Dept. of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We really needed more than average—a lot more than average,” says Peter Gleick, a hydrologist and co-founder of the Oakland-based \u003ca href=\"http://pacinst.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pacific Institute\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Average snowpack wouldn’t solve the hole we’re in from four years of dry soil moistures and low reservoirs and overpumped groundwater,” he says. “I think a fifth year of drought is now pretty inevitable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, El Niño conjured up enough rain and snow to slightly dampen Californians’ worries over water. In a survey just released by the Public Policy Institute of California, while 57 percent of respondents still consider water supply to be a “big problem,” water and drought slipped from the top spot among residents’ biggest concerns, yielding once again to jobs and the economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Long-Term Outlook Not Encouraging\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gleick attended this week’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/22/fact-sheet-working-together-build-sustainable-water-future\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">White House Water Summit\u003c/a>, a confab designed to assess threats to future water security and seek solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coinciding with that event, federal water managers issued some sobering projections for the continuing impact of California’s changing climate on key watersheds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins:\u003cbr>\nMean annual runoff is projected to increase as much as 5.4% in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers Delta by the 2050s. Moisture falling as rain instead of snow at lower elevations will increase wintertime runoff by 22% (December through March) and decrease springtime runoff by 27% (April through July).\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>And moving uphill toward Lake Tahoe, the outlook does not improve:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Truckee River Basin:\u003cbr>\nMean annual runoff is projected to increase by from [sic] 5.7% by the 2050s. Warmer conditions are projected to transition wintertime snow into rain, increasing December–March runoff and decreasing April–July runoff. The median date of peak runoff is expected to be 19 days earlier by the end of the century.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Those increases in runoff might sound like a good thing. More water is more water, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘We don’t just care about how much water we get, we also care about when we get it’\u003ccite>Peter Gleick, hydrologist\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t bank on that,” says Gleick, citing both the uncertainty inherent in precipitation models for California and rising temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t just care about how much water we get, we also care about when we get it,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More wintertime and less springtime runoff is a sign that winter storms are dropping more rain and less snow, depleting the state’s “frozen reservoir” and leaving less water during the summer growing season, when farms and cities most need it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As John Upton \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/california-snowpack-returns-fears-future-20166\">writes for Climate Central\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The low snowpack experienced last year is expected to become more common during the decades ahead — even though storminess in the region is \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/west-likely-stormier-with-climate-change-20009\">projected to increase\u003c/a>. Last year’s was the \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action\">smallest snowpack on record\u003c/a>, caused primarily by a shortfall in large winter storms, fueling a withering drought \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/global-warming-fueled-heat-calif-drought-18719\">exacerbated by high temperatures\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within 50 years, snowpacks as diminutive as last year’s could occur on average more than once every decade, said \u003ca href=\"https://profile.usgs.gov/mddettin\">Michael Dettinger\u003c/a>, a U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we have to do is a combination of smarter storage and better management of reservoirs, and much more efficient water use,” says Gleick. “There is no one solution to Cailfornia’s water problems.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When the numbers come in for the closely watched April 1 survey of \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action\">snow in the Sierra Nevada\u003c/a>, California is likely to fall short of an average year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a major disappointment in a winter that featured one of the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/02/01/why-this-el-nino-is-one-for-the-books/\">strongest El Niño events on record\u003c/a>—warm ocean conditions that were widely expected to produce torrents of precipitation. It’s also a source of concern since the state has historically counted on runoff from accumulated mountain snows for about a third of its water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week, the northern Sierra snowpack briefly nudged the long-term average for April 1, while measurements from the southern Sierra were lagging badly, at just 75 percent of normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be sure, both numbers are \u003ca href=\"http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=86838\">a huge improvement\u003c/a> over last year at this time, when the Sierra Nevada range was virtually barren. But this year, almost-average isn’t going to cut it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_594396\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 561px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-594396 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/No-SnowSurvey_150401.png\" alt=\"Governor Jerry Brown looks on as last April's snow survey is conducted on barren ground along Highway 50, near Echo Summit.\" width=\"561\" height=\"381\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/No-SnowSurvey_150401.png 561w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/No-SnowSurvey_150401-400x272.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 561px) 100vw, 561px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Governor Jerry Brown looks on as last April’s snow survey is conducted on barren ground along Highway 50, near Echo Summit. \u003ccite>(Calif. Dept. of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We really needed more than average—a lot more than average,” says Peter Gleick, a hydrologist and co-founder of the Oakland-based \u003ca href=\"http://pacinst.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pacific Institute\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Average snowpack wouldn’t solve the hole we’re in from four years of dry soil moistures and low reservoirs and overpumped groundwater,” he says. “I think a fifth year of drought is now pretty inevitable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, El Niño conjured up enough rain and snow to slightly dampen Californians’ worries over water. In a survey just released by the Public Policy Institute of California, while 57 percent of respondents still consider water supply to be a “big problem,” water and drought slipped from the top spot among residents’ biggest concerns, yielding once again to jobs and the economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Long-Term Outlook Not Encouraging\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gleick attended this week’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/22/fact-sheet-working-together-build-sustainable-water-future\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">White House Water Summit\u003c/a>, a confab designed to assess threats to future water security and seek solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coinciding with that event, federal water managers issued some sobering projections for the continuing impact of California’s changing climate on key watersheds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Sacramento and San Joaquin River Basins:\u003cbr>\nMean annual runoff is projected to increase as much as 5.4% in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers Delta by the 2050s. Moisture falling as rain instead of snow at lower elevations will increase wintertime runoff by 22% (December through March) and decrease springtime runoff by 27% (April through July).\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>And moving uphill toward Lake Tahoe, the outlook does not improve:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>Truckee River Basin:\u003cbr>\nMean annual runoff is projected to increase by from [sic] 5.7% by the 2050s. Warmer conditions are projected to transition wintertime snow into rain, increasing December–March runoff and decreasing April–July runoff. The median date of peak runoff is expected to be 19 days earlier by the end of the century.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Those increases in runoff might sound like a good thing. More water is more water, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘We don’t just care about how much water we get, we also care about when we get it’\u003ccite>Peter Gleick, hydrologist\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“I wouldn’t bank on that,” says Gleick, citing both the uncertainty inherent in precipitation models for California and rising temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t just care about how much water we get, we also care about when we get it,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More wintertime and less springtime runoff is a sign that winter storms are dropping more rain and less snow, depleting the state’s “frozen reservoir” and leaving less water during the summer growing season, when farms and cities most need it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As John Upton \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/california-snowpack-returns-fears-future-20166\">writes for Climate Central\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>The low snowpack experienced last year is expected to become more common during the decades ahead — even though storminess in the region is \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/west-likely-stormier-with-climate-change-20009\">projected to increase\u003c/a>. Last year’s was the \u003ca href=\"http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action\">smallest snowpack on record\u003c/a>, caused primarily by a shortfall in large winter storms, fueling a withering drought \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/global-warming-fueled-heat-calif-drought-18719\">exacerbated by high temperatures\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within 50 years, snowpacks as diminutive as last year’s could occur on average more than once every decade, said \u003ca href=\"https://profile.usgs.gov/mddettin\">Michael Dettinger\u003c/a>, a U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we have to do is a combination of smarter storage and better management of reservoirs, and much more efficient water use,” says Gleick. “There is no one solution to Cailfornia’s water problems.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "With Bees in Trouble, Almond Farmers Try Trees That Don't Need 'Em",
"headTitle": "With Bees in Trouble, Almond Farmers Try Trees That Don’t Need ‘Em | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Beekeepers flock from all over the country to California every February and March to watch billions of honeybees buzz around the state’s almond trees. Eighty percent of the country’s commercial bees visit the Golden State each spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I went to check out the scene at an almond orchard at \u003ca href=\"http://www.fresnostate.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fresno State\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Really, the key is to stay calm around bees, because if you’re afraid, then your body physiologically changes and they can sense that,” beekeeper Brian Hiatt tells me. “They literally can smell fear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He should know: In this orchard alone, Hiatt has about 1.5 million bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spring is usually a really busy time for beekeepers. But this year, Hiatt says he’s worried that a relatively new variety of almonds called \u003ca href=\"http://www.davewilson.com/commercial-orchards/featured-products/independence-almond\">Independence\u003c/a> could harm the longevity of his business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Independence almond trees are easy to harvest, and they make tasty almonds. But what really sets them apart is the fact that they’re self-fertile — meaning they technically don’t need bees to pollinate their flowers because they’re pollinating themselves (though some farmers say if you use just a few bees, you’ll get an even bigger crop.) That’s a boon for farmers, who spend lots of money hiring bees to pollinate their crop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of these old almonds that still need bees,” Hiatt notes. But as Independence almonds become more popular, he thinks he’d lose profits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_594083\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-594083\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/almond-bee.jpg\" alt=\"Ben Barra guesses there are a couple thousand acres of the Independence almond variety in California. He says there is a growing waiting list for new sprigs of the tree. \" width=\"800\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/almond-bee.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/almond-bee-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/almond-bee-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ben Barra guesses there are a couple thousand acres of the Independence almond variety in California. He says there is a growing waiting list for new sprigs of the tree. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/Valley Public Radio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Others in the industry — including Gene Brandi with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.abfnet.org/\">American Beekeeping Federation\u003c/a> — see things differently, especially since a colony collapse disorder has killed as much as 40 percent of the honeybees in the West. “I know how difficult it has been for our industry to supply the bees that are needed,” Brandi says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And farmers like \u003ca href=\"http://pitiglianofarms.com/\">Josh Pitgliano\u003c/a> from Tulare County are loving Independence almonds. Pitgliano has several hundred acres of the self-fertile variety — he first started planting Independence trees six years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says he likes that with Independence almond trees, he has to use less than half the number of bees. Whereas most farmers place two hives per acre, Pitgliano scrapes by with half a hive per acre on his orchards of Independence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That translates to big savings: An average hive of bees costs around $180 to hire for the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, Independence almond trees comes with another perk — easy harvest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I come in here once and I harvest all the nuts, all at one time,” Pitgliano says. In contrast, traditional almond orchards have several varieties of the tree planted in each field and are harvested multiple times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the nuts these trees make are just as good, says farmer Ben Barra. When he realized he didn’t have to hire any bees at all with the Independence variety, he was hooked. (When I visited his farm, there were some wild bees buzzing around.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barra has farmed everything from sugar beets to eggplant to potatoes. He tore out his peaches and plums after he had a really bad season, losing over $100,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So he latched onto the idea of a crop that didn’t require many bees, that he’d only have to harvest once. And it seems to be working out: Barra says the Independence trees have produced more than he originally expected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t believe it,” Barra says. “The first year we did 6,000 [pounds], and then we did 17,000 [pounds]. Last year we did 31,000 [pounds].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year he’s hopes the acreage’s yield is over 40,000 pounds, but he realizes he’s taking a chance on new tree variety that hasn’t stood the test of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I gambled with this,” Barra says, “this was the last shot that I was making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=With+Bees+In+Trouble%2C+Almond+Farmers+Try+Trees+That+Don%27t+Need+%27Em&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\" alt=\"\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Beekeepers flock from all over the country to California every February and March to watch billions of honeybees buzz around the state’s almond trees. Eighty percent of the country’s commercial bees visit the Golden State each spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I went to check out the scene at an almond orchard at \u003ca href=\"http://www.fresnostate.edu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fresno State\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Really, the key is to stay calm around bees, because if you’re afraid, then your body physiologically changes and they can sense that,” beekeeper Brian Hiatt tells me. “They literally can smell fear.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He should know: In this orchard alone, Hiatt has about 1.5 million bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spring is usually a really busy time for beekeepers. But this year, Hiatt says he’s worried that a relatively new variety of almonds called \u003ca href=\"http://www.davewilson.com/commercial-orchards/featured-products/independence-almond\">Independence\u003c/a> could harm the longevity of his business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Independence almond trees are easy to harvest, and they make tasty almonds. But what really sets them apart is the fact that they’re self-fertile — meaning they technically don’t need bees to pollinate their flowers because they’re pollinating themselves (though some farmers say if you use just a few bees, you’ll get an even bigger crop.) That’s a boon for farmers, who spend lots of money hiring bees to pollinate their crop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are a lot of these old almonds that still need bees,” Hiatt notes. But as Independence almonds become more popular, he thinks he’d lose profits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_594083\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-594083\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/almond-bee.jpg\" alt=\"Ben Barra guesses there are a couple thousand acres of the Independence almond variety in California. He says there is a growing waiting list for new sprigs of the tree. \" width=\"800\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/almond-bee.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/almond-bee-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/almond-bee-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ben Barra guesses there are a couple thousand acres of the Independence almond variety in California. He says there is a growing waiting list for new sprigs of the tree. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/Valley Public Radio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Others in the industry — including Gene Brandi with the \u003ca href=\"http://www.abfnet.org/\">American Beekeeping Federation\u003c/a> — see things differently, especially since a colony collapse disorder has killed as much as 40 percent of the honeybees in the West. “I know how difficult it has been for our industry to supply the bees that are needed,” Brandi says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And farmers like \u003ca href=\"http://pitiglianofarms.com/\">Josh Pitgliano\u003c/a> from Tulare County are loving Independence almonds. Pitgliano has several hundred acres of the self-fertile variety — he first started planting Independence trees six years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says he likes that with Independence almond trees, he has to use less than half the number of bees. Whereas most farmers place two hives per acre, Pitgliano scrapes by with half a hive per acre on his orchards of Independence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That translates to big savings: An average hive of bees costs around $180 to hire for the season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plus, Independence almond trees comes with another perk — easy harvest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I come in here once and I harvest all the nuts, all at one time,” Pitgliano says. In contrast, traditional almond orchards have several varieties of the tree planted in each field and are harvested multiple times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the nuts these trees make are just as good, says farmer Ben Barra. When he realized he didn’t have to hire any bees at all with the Independence variety, he was hooked. (When I visited his farm, there were some wild bees buzzing around.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barra has farmed everything from sugar beets to eggplant to potatoes. He tore out his peaches and plums after he had a really bad season, losing over $100,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So he latched onto the idea of a crop that didn’t require many bees, that he’d only have to harvest once. And it seems to be working out: Barra says the Independence trees have produced more than he originally expected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can’t believe it,” Barra says. “The first year we did 6,000 [pounds], and then we did 17,000 [pounds]. Last year we did 31,000 [pounds].”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year he’s hopes the acreage’s yield is over 40,000 pounds, but he realizes he’s taking a chance on new tree variety that hasn’t stood the test of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I gambled with this,” Barra says, “this was the last shot that I was making.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=With+Bees+In+Trouble%2C+Almond+Farmers+Try+Trees+That+Don%27t+Need+%27Em&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\" alt=\"\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "What Californians Need to Know About Zika Virus",
"headTitle": "What Californians Need to Know About Zika Virus | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>You’ve seen a burst of headlines in Bay Area news since January about Zika virus in California. This year, state health officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/Zika.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have confirmed\u003c/a> 11 cases, three of them recently in the Bay Area. The good news is, all of those people contracted the bug while traveling abroad. The question now is whether that could change.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘Zika virus presents a pregnant woman’s worst possible nightmare.’\u003ccite>Kirsten Salmeen, UCSF\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Not likely, say most public health officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the headline could be: Here in California, we are privileged that we don’t have the conditions for transmission of Zika,” says UCSF epidemiologist Jaime Sepulveda, who spoke recently at a Zika symposium hosted by the university.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before we elaborate on why he says you don’t need to worry about the disease, let’s review a few basics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s Zika?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zika was discovered in 1947, and until now human outbreaks were contained and infrequent. It’s found in the same family as yellow fever, chikungunya, and dengue and is now spreading rapidly in Central and South America and the Caribbean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_585629\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 451px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/ZikaFinalGraphic.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-585629\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-585629\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/ZikaFinalGraphic.jpg\" alt=\"SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION \" width=\"451\" height=\"803\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/ZikaFinalGraphic.jpg 750w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/ZikaFinalGraphic-400x711.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION \u003ccite>(Graphics by Teodros Hailye/KQED Science)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Until last fall, Zika was thought to be a mild tropical disease that caused flu-like symptoms like a rash or red eyes, maybe a fever. It’s generally so mild people often don’t know they have it; 80 percent of Zika patients don’t have any symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How Does It Spread?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The disease is spread primarily by \u003ci>Aedes aegypti\u003c/i> or \u003ci>Aedes albopictus \u003c/i>mosquitoes, when one bites an infected human and then bites another human.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal \u003ca href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/zika/transmission/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says\u003c/a> there are three secondary ways people can get Zika: it can be transmitted by a blood transfusion, a man can pass it along during sex, or a woman can pass it to her fetus. You can’t get Zika through smooching or casual touch such as shaking hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why Are We Having an Outbreak Now?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, an unusual number of babies in Brazil and other countries were born with a neurological condition called microcephaly, a rare disease causing an infant’s head to be abnormally small.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The link between microcephaly and Zika is not scientifically proven yet, but the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909%2816%2900106-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">evidence\u003c/a> is mounting. The rate of babies born with the condition is 30 times higher right now in Brazil than previous years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On February 1, the World Health Organization declared Zika virus a public health emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Zika virus presents a pregnant woman’s worst possible nightmare,” says Kirsten Salmeen, a perinatologist at UCSF medical center. “She might not know if she was infected. She might not be able to avoid infection. And, if there is an impact on her fetus it might not be diagnosed until the late third trimester.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public health officials are warning pregnant women to avoid traveling to more than three dozen \u003ca href=\"http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-information\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">countries\u003c/a>, and if they \u003cem>do\u003c/em> visit, the recommended protocol is to lather on bug spray and wear long sleeves. There’s no vaccine for Zika virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists also recently discovered Zika in the blood of 42 people suffering from \u003ca href=\"http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/gbs/detail_gbs.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Guillain-Barré syndrome\u003c/a> — an autoimmune disorder that causes nerve damage and often severe, if impermanent, paralysis.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nHere’s Where Zika Mosquitoes Are Likely Found in California\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"520\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https://kqednews.cartodb.com/viz/a482a6ba-39a1-11e6-8dd6-0e674067d321/embed_map\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Map from\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2016/06/30/map-where-zika-mosquitoes-are-likely-found-in-california/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> KQED State of Health\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zika Mosquitoes Are Different\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The non-native insects look different from California mosquitoes, and don’t behave the same way. The Zika carriers bite people during the day, and they don’t travel; they’ll stay within about a quarter mile of where they’re born. They might spend their whole life behind your bedroom curtain, or in your closet, if they were able to get there in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They really need to be spread by human activity,” says Megan Caldwell, spokesperson for the \u003ca href=\"http://www.smcmvcd.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Mateo County Mosquito Vector Control District\u003c/a>\u003cb>.\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts think the Zika mosquitoes hitched a ride to California on a shipping container from Asia in 2011. They thrive in tropical weather, and have spread mostly in southern California. But, there are a few isolated pockets in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_583928\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-583928\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Entomologist Nayer Zahiri points to mosquito larvae under a microscope at the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District's lab. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-960x720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Entomologist Nayer Zahiri points to mosquito larvae under a microscope at the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District’s lab. \u003ccite>(Lesley McClurg/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“To date it’s only been found in San Mateo county in a small area of Menlo Park and Atherton,” Caldwell says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she emphasizes that eradication efforts are working. The county hasn’t found an \u003ci>Aedes aegypti\u003c/i> or \u003ci>Aedes albopictus\u003c/i> since May of 2015. Vector Control District officials will consider the mosquito eradicated in the county if they go a full two years without spotting one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How to Keep the Pests Away\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vector ecologists advise homeowners to remove all standing water from their yards. Every drop of it. The Zika mosquito can develop in as little as a millimeter of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, scrub \u003cem>and dry\u003c/em> buckets every week, tighten screens on rain barrels, and check for leaky faucets. Don’t let water stand in plant saucers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What Officials Are Doing\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eradication programs include house-to-house inspections, mosquito population surveillance, and elimination of standing water where mosquitoes may breed. Officials are setting traps anywhere Zika mosquitoes have been found. The traps can be as simple as a wooden tongue depressor wrapped in a coffee filter and then placed in a cup filled with water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_583929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-583929\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A simple trap to attract mosquitoes. The lure is a tongue depressor wrapped in a coffee filter. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-960x720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A simple trap to attract mosquitoes. The lure is a tongue depressor wrapped in a coffee filter. \u003ccite>(Lesley McClurg/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Will Zika Spread Here?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California winters ordinarily get cold enough to kill off the non-native insects, but the last few years have been unusually warm. Health officials warn hotter weather could bring more mosquito-borne diseases to California. But scientists add that many factors influence whether and when diseases like Zika could break out here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think globalization and the movement of people and the movement of cargo is probably more of the story,” says Chris Barker, an entomologist at UC Davis. “So any effects of climate change are going to be very difficult to tease out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barker says even if this summer is unusually hot he doesn’t predict a large mosquito-triggered outbreak in California because most people have either window screens or air conditioning. Plus, he says the state’s pest control is one of the best in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_583562\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-583562\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-800x530.png\" alt=\"Many U.S. cities face potential risk in summer of low, moderate, or high populations of the mosquito species that transmits Zika virus (colored circles). The mosquito has been observed in parts of the United States (shaded portion of map) and can establish populations in additional cities because of favorable summertime meteorological conditions. In addition, Zika risk may be elevated in cities with more air travelers arriving from Latin America and the Caribbean (larger circles).\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-800x530.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-400x265.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-768x508.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-1440x953.png 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-1180x781.png 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-960x636.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500.png 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many U.S. cities face potential risk in summer of low, moderate, or high populations of the mosquito species that transmits Zika virus (colored circles). The mosquito has been observed in parts of the United States (shaded portion of map) and can establish populations in additional cities because of favorable summertime meteorological conditions. In addition, Zika risk may be elevated in cities with more air travelers arriving from Latin America and the Caribbean (larger circles). \u003ccite>(Image based on data mapped by Olga Wilhelmi, NCAR GIS program)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Californians have gotten Zika only while traveling abroad, say public health officials, but there's plenty else to know about prevention.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>You’ve seen a burst of headlines in Bay Area news since January about Zika virus in California. This year, state health officials \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/Zika.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have confirmed\u003c/a> 11 cases, three of them recently in the Bay Area. The good news is, all of those people contracted the bug while traveling abroad. The question now is whether that could change.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘Zika virus presents a pregnant woman’s worst possible nightmare.’\u003ccite>Kirsten Salmeen, UCSF\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Not likely, say most public health officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think the headline could be: Here in California, we are privileged that we don’t have the conditions for transmission of Zika,” says UCSF epidemiologist Jaime Sepulveda, who spoke recently at a Zika symposium hosted by the university.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before we elaborate on why he says you don’t need to worry about the disease, let’s review a few basics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What’s Zika?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zika was discovered in 1947, and until now human outbreaks were contained and infrequent. It’s found in the same family as yellow fever, chikungunya, and dengue and is now spreading rapidly in Central and South America and the Caribbean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_585629\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 451px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/ZikaFinalGraphic.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-585629\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-585629\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/ZikaFinalGraphic.jpg\" alt=\"SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION \" width=\"451\" height=\"803\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/ZikaFinalGraphic.jpg 750w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/ZikaFinalGraphic-400x711.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 451px) 100vw, 451px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION \u003ccite>(Graphics by Teodros Hailye/KQED Science)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Until last fall, Zika was thought to be a mild tropical disease that caused flu-like symptoms like a rash or red eyes, maybe a fever. It’s generally so mild people often don’t know they have it; 80 percent of Zika patients don’t have any symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How Does It Spread?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The disease is spread primarily by \u003ci>Aedes aegypti\u003c/i> or \u003ci>Aedes albopictus \u003c/i>mosquitoes, when one bites an infected human and then bites another human.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal \u003ca href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/zika/transmission/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says\u003c/a> there are three secondary ways people can get Zika: it can be transmitted by a blood transfusion, a man can pass it along during sex, or a woman can pass it to her fetus. You can’t get Zika through smooching or casual touch such as shaking hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why Are We Having an Outbreak Now?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, an unusual number of babies in Brazil and other countries were born with a neurological condition called microcephaly, a rare disease causing an infant’s head to be abnormally small.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The link between microcephaly and Zika is not scientifically proven yet, but the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909%2816%2900106-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">evidence\u003c/a> is mounting. The rate of babies born with the condition is 30 times higher right now in Brazil than previous years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On February 1, the World Health Organization declared Zika virus a public health emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Zika virus presents a pregnant woman’s worst possible nightmare,” says Kirsten Salmeen, a perinatologist at UCSF medical center. “She might not know if she was infected. She might not be able to avoid infection. And, if there is an impact on her fetus it might not be diagnosed until the late third trimester.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public health officials are warning pregnant women to avoid traveling to more than three dozen \u003ca href=\"http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-information\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">countries\u003c/a>, and if they \u003cem>do\u003c/em> visit, the recommended protocol is to lather on bug spray and wear long sleeves. There’s no vaccine for Zika virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists also recently discovered Zika in the blood of 42 people suffering from \u003ca href=\"http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/gbs/detail_gbs.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Guillain-Barré syndrome\u003c/a> — an autoimmune disorder that causes nerve damage and often severe, if impermanent, paralysis.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nHere’s Where Zika Mosquitoes Are Likely Found in California\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"520\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"https://kqednews.cartodb.com/viz/a482a6ba-39a1-11e6-8dd6-0e674067d321/embed_map\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Map from\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2016/06/30/map-where-zika-mosquitoes-are-likely-found-in-california/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> KQED State of Health\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zika Mosquitoes Are Different\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The non-native insects look different from California mosquitoes, and don’t behave the same way. The Zika carriers bite people during the day, and they don’t travel; they’ll stay within about a quarter mile of where they’re born. They might spend their whole life behind your bedroom curtain, or in your closet, if they were able to get there in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They really need to be spread by human activity,” says Megan Caldwell, spokesperson for the \u003ca href=\"http://www.smcmvcd.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Mateo County Mosquito Vector Control District\u003c/a>\u003cb>.\u003ci>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts think the Zika mosquitoes hitched a ride to California on a shipping container from Asia in 2011. They thrive in tropical weather, and have spread mostly in southern California. But, there are a few isolated pockets in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_583928\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-583928\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Entomologist Nayer Zahiri points to mosquito larvae under a microscope at the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District's lab. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18808_IMG_0032.JPG-qut-960x720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Entomologist Nayer Zahiri points to mosquito larvae under a microscope at the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District’s lab. \u003ccite>(Lesley McClurg/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“To date it’s only been found in San Mateo county in a small area of Menlo Park and Atherton,” Caldwell says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she emphasizes that eradication efforts are working. The county hasn’t found an \u003ci>Aedes aegypti\u003c/i> or \u003ci>Aedes albopictus\u003c/i> since May of 2015. Vector Control District officials will consider the mosquito eradicated in the county if they go a full two years without spotting one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How to Keep the Pests Away\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vector ecologists advise homeowners to remove all standing water from their yards. Every drop of it. The Zika mosquito can develop in as little as a millimeter of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, scrub \u003cem>and dry\u003c/em> buckets every week, tighten screens on rain barrels, and check for leaky faucets. Don’t let water stand in plant saucers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What Officials Are Doing\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eradication programs include house-to-house inspections, mosquito population surveillance, and elimination of standing water where mosquitoes may breed. Officials are setting traps anywhere Zika mosquitoes have been found. The traps can be as simple as a wooden tongue depressor wrapped in a coffee filter and then placed in a cup filled with water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_583929\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-583929\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A simple trap to attract mosquitoes. The lure is a tongue depressor wrapped in a coffee filter. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/RS18812_IMG_0055.JPG-qut-960x720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A simple trap to attract mosquitoes. The lure is a tongue depressor wrapped in a coffee filter. \u003ccite>(Lesley McClurg/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Will Zika Spread Here?\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California winters ordinarily get cold enough to kill off the non-native insects, but the last few years have been unusually warm. Health officials warn hotter weather could bring more mosquito-borne diseases to California. But scientists add that many factors influence whether and when diseases like Zika could break out here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think globalization and the movement of people and the movement of cargo is probably more of the story,” says Chris Barker, an entomologist at UC Davis. “So any effects of climate change are going to be very difficult to tease out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Barker says even if this summer is unusually hot he doesn’t predict a large mosquito-triggered outbreak in California because most people have either window screens or air conditioning. Plus, he says the state’s pest control is one of the best in the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_583562\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-583562\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-800x530.png\" alt=\"Many U.S. cities face potential risk in summer of low, moderate, or high populations of the mosquito species that transmits Zika virus (colored circles). The mosquito has been observed in parts of the United States (shaded portion of map) and can establish populations in additional cities because of favorable summertime meteorological conditions. In addition, Zika risk may be elevated in cities with more air travelers arriving from Latin America and the Caribbean (larger circles).\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-800x530.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-400x265.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-768x508.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-1440x953.png 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-1180x781.png 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500-960x636.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/zika_riskmap_US_ncar_ucar2016_1500.png 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many U.S. cities face potential risk in summer of low, moderate, or high populations of the mosquito species that transmits Zika virus (colored circles). The mosquito has been observed in parts of the United States (shaded portion of map) and can establish populations in additional cities because of favorable summertime meteorological conditions. In addition, Zika risk may be elevated in cities with more air travelers arriving from Latin America and the Caribbean (larger circles). \u003ccite>(Image based on data mapped by Olga Wilhelmi, NCAR GIS program)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "State Water Project Eases Water Cutbacks After March Rains",
"headTitle": "State Water Project Eases Water Cutbacks After March Rains | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>California further \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/news/newsreleases/2016/031716.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">eased some water cutbacks Thursday\u003c/a> as a rainy March lessens the state’s five-year drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state Department of Water Resources announced it would be able to give its client water agencies 45 percent of their water allocations this year. That’s up from as low as 5 percent in 2014, in the middle of California’s driest four-year stretch on record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January and again in March, winter storms have been bringing vital snowpack to the Sierra Nevada and rain to Northern and Central California reservoirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the third such increase in recent months. The easing of cutbacks could affect up to two-thirds of California’s nearly 40 million people, and just under a million acres of irrigated farmland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_585462\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2321px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels.jpg\" alt=\"California reservoir levels on March 18, 2016 12:45 p.m. PST.\" width=\"2321\" height=\"2620\" class=\"size-full wp-image-585462\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels.jpg 2321w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-400x452.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-800x903.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-768x867.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-1440x1626.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-1920x2167.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-1180x1332.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-960x1084.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2321px) 100vw, 2321px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California reservoir levels on March 18, 2016 12:45 p.m. PST. \u003ccite>(California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite Thursday’s easing, the state’s cities and towns will remain under a mandatory conservation order of 20 percent and up, for now, state water officials say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Drought Monitor said Thursday that almost all of California—99.5 percent—remains in some level of drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with a rainy March for the northern half and center of the state, the weekly drought monitor found 74 percent of the state was in severe drought or worse, down from 83 percent a week earlier.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California further \u003ca href=\"http://www.water.ca.gov/news/newsreleases/2016/031716.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">eased some water cutbacks Thursday\u003c/a> as a rainy March lessens the state’s five-year drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state Department of Water Resources announced it would be able to give its client water agencies 45 percent of their water allocations this year. That’s up from as low as 5 percent in 2014, in the middle of California’s driest four-year stretch on record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January and again in March, winter storms have been bringing vital snowpack to the Sierra Nevada and rain to Northern and Central California reservoirs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the third such increase in recent months. The easing of cutbacks could affect up to two-thirds of California’s nearly 40 million people, and just under a million acres of irrigated farmland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_585462\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2321px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels.jpg\" alt=\"California reservoir levels on March 18, 2016 12:45 p.m. PST.\" width=\"2321\" height=\"2620\" class=\"size-full wp-image-585462\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels.jpg 2321w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-400x452.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-800x903.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-768x867.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-1440x1626.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-1920x2167.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-1180x1332.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/march18_reservoir-levels-960x1084.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2321px) 100vw, 2321px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California reservoir levels on March 18, 2016 12:45 p.m. PST. \u003ccite>(California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Despite Thursday’s easing, the state’s cities and towns will remain under a mandatory conservation order of 20 percent and up, for now, state water officials say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Drought Monitor said Thursday that almost all of California—99.5 percent—remains in some level of drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But with a rainy March for the northern half and center of the state, the weekly drought monitor found 74 percent of the state was in severe drought or worse, down from 83 percent a week earlier.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How a Monster El Niño Transforms the World’s Weather",
"headTitle": "How a Monster El Niño Transforms the World’s Weather | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>From crippling drought in southern Africa to a record number of February tornadoes in the U.S. Southeast, an exceptionally strong El Niño has been making headlines around the globe as it tampers with the world’s weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the event has begun its slow decline, those wide-ranging impacts will continue to be felt for weeks and months to come — good news for those in California, who need El Niño-fueled rains, but bad news for the many areas, like Indonesia, which is suffering from deep drought, food and water shortages, and wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Already this year, El Niño-related weather has cost billions of dollars in damage and left some 100 million people \u003ca href=\"http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/feb/17/el-nino-leaves-100-million-people-hungry-short-of-water-droughts-floods-worldwide\">facing food and water shortages\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through the interactive graphic below, Climate Central takes a look at how this major climate pattern typically influences the world’s weather, what it can mean for societies in the areas it affects, and what has actually been happening with this particular event, which ranks amongst the strongest on record. After all, \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/comparing-el-nino-to-1997-19278\">no two El Niños are the same\u003c/a>. For instance, while Southern California was drenched during the 1997-1998 El Niño, it has remained disconcertingly dry this time around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"571\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/wgts/el-nino-impacts/index.html?utm_source=ext&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=2016ElNinoImpacts\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, the big picture: El Niño is most known for \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/why-do-we-care-so-much-about-el-nino-17806\">shifting a large pool of warm ocean waters\u003c/a> from the western to the central and eastern tropical Pacific. That shift changes where heat is pumped into the tropical atmosphere, disrupting its typical circulation patterns. Those local disruptions cause a domino effect through the global atmosphere that can alter weather thousands of miles away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are two main circulation patterns that are affected. All around the tropics is a pattern of rising and sinking air — like a vertical loop — called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/walker-circulation-ensos-atmospheric-buddy\">Walker Circulation\u003c/a>. The rising air corresponds to areas of unsettled, rainy weather, while the sinking air creates a stable, dry clime. Normally in the tropical Pacific, a major area of rising air is found over the western portions, where the warmest waters are found. With the eastward shift from El Niño, that rising air (and its sinking counterpart) move eastward as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This displacement shifts the other branches of the Walker Circulation around the tropics, pushing wetter weather over areas that might normally be dry and vice versa. These areas typically see some of the strongest impacts from El Niño because they are in a region more directly linked to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes in the Walker Circulation in turn cause shifts in another looping pattern called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/how-enso-leads-cascade-global-impacts\">Hadley Circulation\u003c/a> that runs north-to-south to the Walker’s east-to-west. And those changes in the Hadley Circulation can affect the subtropical jet stream — an area of fast-moving air that guides storms — in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. This is how El Niño can affect regions far from the tropics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes in these main circulation patterns interact with other factors, like seasonal monsoons and other major climate patterns, which is why none of the typical impacts associated with El Niño are guaranteed. It merely shifts the odds in their favor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s dive in for a closer look at some of the local and regional impacts and what has actually played out this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_581808\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 450px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-581808\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic.jpg\" alt=\"How the Walker Circulation changes from neutral to El Niño conditions.\" width=\"450\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic.jpg 450w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-400x401.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">How the Walker Circulation changes from neutral to El Niño conditions. \u003ccite>(Fiona Martin)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Southeast Asia\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Indonesia, and Southeast Asia more broadly, is one of the areas most directly impacted by El Niño. The eastward shift in the Walker Circulation means the normal area of rising air and rainy weather is shifted eastward as well, leaving the Indonesian area high and dry during much of the year. This can lead to drought that can cause water shortages and crop and livestock losses from dried up fields. Those losses then lead to food shortages and rising prices, and can also increase the odds of large wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year has seen major drought grip Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and much of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/drought/201601#det-reg-pacis-usapi\">U.S. Pacific Island territories\u003c/a>. In Indonesia there were \u003ca href=\"https://www.irinnews.org/report/102140/el-nino-brings-drought-hunger-indonesia-and-south-pacific\">major delays\u003c/a> in the planting of the rice crop, leading to concerns over food shortages. And when farmers set their usual fires to clear brush for planting, the dry conditions caused many to burn out of control, causing one of the biggest burn years on record and leading to \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/indonesias-fires-climate-public-health-19601\">a pall of smoke\u003c/a> over the region. In Vietnam, drought has led to \u003ca href=\"http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/vietnam-hit-by-worst/2562802.html\">salinization issues in the Mekong Delta\u003c/a> region, home to some 20 million people and a major rice growing area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drought has caused the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia to \u003ca href=\"http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/cmb/sotc/drought/2016/01/RMI-Proclamation-Declaring-State-of-Emergency-160203.pdf\">declare states of emergency\u003c/a>, with some islands enacting water rationing and having to have water shipped in.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Australia\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>That same eastward shift of storm activity tends to bring drier conditions to northern Australia during the Southern Hemisphere summer and more broadly to the east in the winter. It also tends to bring warmer summer weather to southeast Australia because of the larger mass of stable, subsiding air in place. During El Niño years, drought and wildfires also become a concern here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_581810\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 550px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-581810\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Australia_CC_image.jpg\" alt=\"A wildfire burns along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia in December 2015.\" width=\"550\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Australia_CC_image.jpg 550w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Australia_CC_image-400x288.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A wildfire burns along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia in December 2015. \u003ccite>(Victoria County Fire Authority)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So far this year, Australia has seen a mixed bag of El Niño impacts. While dry conditions have been in place in much of the usual areas, some of the inland regions of the eastern part of the country actually had fairly normal rains. That may be due to exceptionally warm Indian Ocean waters providing more moisture to storm systems. The southeast has seen some\u003ca href=\"http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/10/perth-heatwave-temperatures-climb-above-40c-for-fourth-day-in-a-row\">major heat waves\u003c/a>, though, with temperatures sometimes climbing above 100°F (40°C). The hot and dry conditions have helped create more favorable wildfire conditions, with several burning in Victoria this year. One of the worst \u003ca href=\"http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-25/great-ocean-road-fire-destroys-dozens-of-homes/7054028\">destroyed 116 houses\u003c/a> around Christmas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>India\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>India also tends to see drier weather during the Northern Hemisphere summer because the changes to atmospheric circulation patterns delay the onset of the seasonal monsoons. Monsoon rains are critical to supplying water for drinking and agriculture, and El Niño years tend to see drought develop in parts of India.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, rainfall in India was 14 percent below normal and reservoirs were down by 30 percent, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/El%20Nino%20Advisory%20Note%20Dec%202015%20Final.pdf\">a United Nations report\u003c/a>. That led to shortages of drinking water in some areas and caused rice, corn and soybean fields to dry up, setting off worries for food shortages and \u003ca href=\"http://profit.ndtv.com/news/economy/article-rising-food-prices-to-hit-rural-india-in-2016-1242073\">inflated food prices\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>El Niño can lead to wetter weather in southern India, which also happened this year, with torrential rains that caused \u003ca href=\"http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/india-tamil-nadu-chennai-flooding-continues-wet-november/53943597\">major flooding\u003c/a> in the area around Chennai.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Pacific Ocean\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Moving back out into the Pacific Ocean, the warmer ocean waters can cause bleaching of coral reefs, killing them. This event has seen one of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/longest-global-coral-bleaching-20062\">longest global bleaching events\u003c/a> ever recorded, according to experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Warmer ocean waters in that area also provide more fuel for hurricanes in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean basins. The atmospheric changes El Niño brings also mean more favorable winds for storm formation. This year saw\u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/a-tale-of-two-hurricane-seasons\">above-normal hurricane activity\u003c/a> in the region, including the strongest storm ever directly measured in the Western Hemisphere. \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/patricia-record-setting-monster-beeline-for-mexico-19595\">Hurricane Patricia\u003c/a>, which had winds that clocked in at 200 mph, hit the west coast of Mexico, though its effects were mostly confined to less populated areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>South America\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Parts of South America are also more directly affected by El Niño. The warmer ocean waters off its west coast tend to bring warmer weather to coastal areas during the Southern Hemisphere winter. Those waters also make more moisture available to storms. Combined with changes to storm tracks linked to atmospheric circulation changes, this can mean wetter winter weather for central Chile. Several rounds of storms during this event had some benefits, bringing moisture to a region in drought and \u003ca href=\"http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-weather-idUSKCN0S127O20151007\">snows to ski resorts\u003c/a>. But the rains also brought flooding and mudslides. A rare storm event in March saw parts of the bone dry Atacama Desert receive a \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/flooding-chile%E2%80%99s-atacama-desert-after-years%E2%80%99-worth-rain-one-day\">year’s worth of rain\u003c/a> in just one day. The Copiapó River — dry for nearly 17 years — filled to overflowing and flash floods swept through several towns. Come spring, that influx of water led to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/10/29/the-driest-place-on-earth-is-covered-in-pink-flowers-after-a-crazy-year-of-rain/\">surreal bloom of flowers\u003c/a> across the desert that tends to coincide with rainy El Niño years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chain of changes to the Walker and Hadley circulations also tends to bring rainier weather to an area that includes Paraguay, northern Argentina, part of southern Brazil and Uruguay during the Southern Hemisphere summer. In December and January, heavy rains caused the \u003ca href=\"http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=87334\">worst flooding in the region\u003c/a> in 50 years, displacing more than 200,000 people. The Paraguay River in Asunción reached more than 16 feet above its normal level in December. Thousands of acres of cropland were inundated and concerns were heightened for the spread of mosquito-borne disease like dengue fever and the Zika virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In northern Brazil and other countries in the north of South America, the eastward shift of the Walker Circulation brings sinking air and drier conditions. Those come with the usual tendency toward drought, water shortages and crop and livestock losses. Drought and those follow-on impacts \u003ca href=\"http://news.trust.org//item/20151125082700-93r0x/?source=leadCarousel\">have been recorded\u003c/a> in northeastern Brazil, an area already vulnerable due to poverty and remoteness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some \u003ca href=\"http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2016-02-05/record-heat-drought-may-explain-zika-outbreak-in-brazil-research\">recent research\u003c/a> has suggested that the exceptional heat and drought in the area may actually have helped fuel the rise of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/zika-virus-climate-change-19970\">Zika virus epidemic\u003c/a> in the region. Heat promotes the growth of the mosquito that carries the disease, and during drought, residents tend to store water in containers in which the mosquitoes can breed.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Central America and the Caribbean\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Further north, drier weather also tends to grip Central America and the Caribbean for the same reasons as northern South America. The area that spans Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador is experiencing one of its worst droughts in decades, according to the \u003ca href=\"http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ECHO%20Crisis%20Report%20no%201-%20World%20El%20Nino.pdf\">European Commission\u003c/a>. Major crop losses have caused huge financial hits to farmers and left some 3.5 million people facing food shortages, the agency reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the eastern Caribbean, 2015 was the driest year on record and led to water restrictions on many islands, including St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Barbados and \u003ca href=\"http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/how-puerto-rico-is-coping-with-the-worst-drought-in-decades/\">Puerto Rico\u003c/a>. Diminished water supplies also led to crop losses in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and other areas. As of August,\u003ca href=\"https://anumetservice.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/antigua-is-out-of-surface-water-again/\">Antigua had no surface water\u003c/a> supplies, and by October it was using 100 percent desalinated water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The subsiding air that leads to drought also tends to help tamp down on hurricane formation in the region. This year saw a \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/a-tale-of-two-hurricane-seasons\">below-average Atlantic hurricane season\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>United States\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Not far away, though, El Niño brings the opposite conditions to Florida. The shifts in the Hadley Circulation affect the subtropical jet stream that crosses the U.S., pushing it southward and making it extend further eastward. This puts Florida in a prime location for storms during the winter months, which is normally its dry season. It also ups the odds for tornadoes thanks to the added energy from the jet stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Florida did have a \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/el-nino-boosting-south-floridas-wild-winter-rains\">wetter than normal winter\u003c/a> this year, and its southern tip had its wettest year on record. It also \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/record-high-number-of-tornadoes-hit-southeast-in-february\">saw 18 tornadoes\u003c/a> in January and February, compared to the seven it usually sees during those months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While tornado activity may typically rise in Florida in El Niño years, it is usually tamped down in the area of the central U.S. known as Tornado Alley. The more southward jet blocks the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico that is key to fueling spring storms there. An experimental seasonal tornado forecast \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/el-nino-tornado-season-19910\">favors a below-average tornado season\u003c/a> there this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tweak to the jet stream also tends to favor wetter weather over Southern California — much needed this year after four years of deep drought. While \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/el-nino-helps-fuel-string-of-california-storms\">storms have been hitting California\u003c/a>, they have mostly affected the northern portions of the state because the jet stream has been slightly further north than is typical during an El Niño. The rains shut off almost completely in February, \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/warm-west-cold-east-pattern-re-emerges-cuts-off-california-snows\">bringing hot and dry weather\u003c/a> to the state, though storms \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/march-miracle-el-nino-fueled-storms-return-to-california\">have since returned\u003c/a>and look to bring at least some rain to Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the northern tier of the U.S., from the Northeast all the way up into eastern Alaska, El Niño tends to favor warmer than normal conditions. That has indeed been the case this year, with nearly all northern states recording one of their top 10 warmest winters. Alaska saw its \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/news/winter-warmest-on-record-for-us-20110\">second-warmest winter\u003c/a> in the books, which has contributed to a \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/winter-snow-a-no-show-in-parts-of-alaska\">lack of snow\u003c/a> in varied locations there. That dearth of snow can have ecological impacts and promote the spread of invasive species. El Niño wasn’t the only reason Alaska was warm, though, as the Arctic more broadly was exceptionally warm this winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Africa\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>And, finally, across the Atlantic in Africa, some of the populations most vulnerable to El Niño’s impacts are found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Southern Hemisphere summer, the eastward shift of the Walker Circulation leads to rising air over Kenya, southern Somalia and southern Ethiopia, which can enhance seasonal rains. Increased rains can lead to flooding, mudslides and outbreaks of diseases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.kenyaredcross.org/PDF/El%20NinoSituationReport28.pdf\">Heavy rains\u003c/a> in the area began in late October, inundating villages and agricultural lands. By January, more than 100,000 people had been displaced and 112 killed, according to the \u003ca href=\"http://floodlist.com/africa/kenya-3-months-of-flooding-leaves-112-dead-and-over-100000-displaced\">International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies\u003c/a>. Authorities are concerned about the spread of both waterborne diseases, such as cholera, and mosquito-borne ones, particularly \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/el-ni%C3%B1o-east-africa-and-rift-valley-fever\">Rift Valley Fever\u003c/a>, which tends to occur in years with unusually heavy rainfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just to the north, in Ethiopia and Somalia, El Niño has brought dry conditions that have exacerbated a drought and led to crop failures and widespread livestock deaths, according to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53381#.VucLz4wrKRs\">United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drought has also gripped \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/not-so-rainy-season-drought-southern-africa-january-2016\">large parts of southern Africa\u003c/a>, particularly the northeast of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The changes to the Walker and Hadley circulations interact with the normal monsoon there and tend to suppress monsoon rains, leading to drought, crop losses and food and water shortages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Severe rainfall deficits this year have lead to widespread drought that has decimated the maize crop, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Zimbabwe \u003ca href=\"http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/zimbabwean-president-robert-mugabe-declares-state-of-disaster-as-drought-means-24m-need-food-aid-a6857046.html\">declared a state of disaster\u003c/a> as some 2.5 million people are in need of food aid. South Africa, normally an exporter of corn, is expected to have to import it this year to feed its citizens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drought has also severely reduced the flow of rivers that feed hydropower dams, leading to power rationing and even blackouts in the region. The flow down the majestic Victoria Falls has \u003ca href=\"http://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-drought-victoriafalls-idUSKCN0W340I?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews\">reached a 30-year low\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While El Niño has shown signs in recent weeks that it is beginning to weaken, it will likely be late summer or early fall before it fully dissipates. Its weather affects around the world are expected to continue for several more months, and the impacts of that weather could reverberate for years to come, making it one for the record books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/\">Climate Central\u003c/a> \u003cem>is an independent organization that researches and reports on climate change.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "An exceptionally strong El Niño has tampered with the world’s weather, bringing drought, floods and heat waves",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>From crippling drought in southern Africa to a record number of February tornadoes in the U.S. Southeast, an exceptionally strong El Niño has been making headlines around the globe as it tampers with the world’s weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the event has begun its slow decline, those wide-ranging impacts will continue to be felt for weeks and months to come — good news for those in California, who need El Niño-fueled rains, but bad news for the many areas, like Indonesia, which is suffering from deep drought, food and water shortages, and wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Already this year, El Niño-related weather has cost billions of dollars in damage and left some 100 million people \u003ca href=\"http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/feb/17/el-nino-leaves-100-million-people-hungry-short-of-water-droughts-floods-worldwide\">facing food and water shortages\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through the interactive graphic below, Climate Central takes a look at how this major climate pattern typically influences the world’s weather, what it can mean for societies in the areas it affects, and what has actually been happening with this particular event, which ranks amongst the strongest on record. After all, \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/comparing-el-nino-to-1997-19278\">no two El Niños are the same\u003c/a>. For instance, while Southern California was drenched during the 1997-1998 El Niño, it has remained disconcertingly dry this time around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"571\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/wgts/el-nino-impacts/index.html?utm_source=ext&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=2016ElNinoImpacts\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, the big picture: El Niño is most known for \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/why-do-we-care-so-much-about-el-nino-17806\">shifting a large pool of warm ocean waters\u003c/a> from the western to the central and eastern tropical Pacific. That shift changes where heat is pumped into the tropical atmosphere, disrupting its typical circulation patterns. Those local disruptions cause a domino effect through the global atmosphere that can alter weather thousands of miles away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are two main circulation patterns that are affected. All around the tropics is a pattern of rising and sinking air — like a vertical loop — called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/walker-circulation-ensos-atmospheric-buddy\">Walker Circulation\u003c/a>. The rising air corresponds to areas of unsettled, rainy weather, while the sinking air creates a stable, dry clime. Normally in the tropical Pacific, a major area of rising air is found over the western portions, where the warmest waters are found. With the eastward shift from El Niño, that rising air (and its sinking counterpart) move eastward as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This displacement shifts the other branches of the Walker Circulation around the tropics, pushing wetter weather over areas that might normally be dry and vice versa. These areas typically see some of the strongest impacts from El Niño because they are in a region more directly linked to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes in the Walker Circulation in turn cause shifts in another looping pattern called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/how-enso-leads-cascade-global-impacts\">Hadley Circulation\u003c/a> that runs north-to-south to the Walker’s east-to-west. And those changes in the Hadley Circulation can affect the subtropical jet stream — an area of fast-moving air that guides storms — in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. This is how El Niño can affect regions far from the tropics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes in these main circulation patterns interact with other factors, like seasonal monsoons and other major climate patterns, which is why none of the typical impacts associated with El Niño are guaranteed. It merely shifts the odds in their favor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s dive in for a closer look at some of the local and regional impacts and what has actually played out this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_581808\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 450px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-581808\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic.jpg\" alt=\"How the Walker Circulation changes from neutral to El Niño conditions.\" width=\"450\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic.jpg 450w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-400x401.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/NOAA_el-Nino-graphic-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">How the Walker Circulation changes from neutral to El Niño conditions. \u003ccite>(Fiona Martin)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Southeast Asia\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Indonesia, and Southeast Asia more broadly, is one of the areas most directly impacted by El Niño. The eastward shift in the Walker Circulation means the normal area of rising air and rainy weather is shifted eastward as well, leaving the Indonesian area high and dry during much of the year. This can lead to drought that can cause water shortages and crop and livestock losses from dried up fields. Those losses then lead to food shortages and rising prices, and can also increase the odds of large wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year has seen major drought grip Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and much of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/drought/201601#det-reg-pacis-usapi\">U.S. Pacific Island territories\u003c/a>. In Indonesia there were \u003ca href=\"https://www.irinnews.org/report/102140/el-nino-brings-drought-hunger-indonesia-and-south-pacific\">major delays\u003c/a> in the planting of the rice crop, leading to concerns over food shortages. And when farmers set their usual fires to clear brush for planting, the dry conditions caused many to burn out of control, causing one of the biggest burn years on record and leading to \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/indonesias-fires-climate-public-health-19601\">a pall of smoke\u003c/a> over the region. In Vietnam, drought has led to \u003ca href=\"http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/vietnam-hit-by-worst/2562802.html\">salinization issues in the Mekong Delta\u003c/a> region, home to some 20 million people and a major rice growing area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drought has caused the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia to \u003ca href=\"http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/cmb/sotc/drought/2016/01/RMI-Proclamation-Declaring-State-of-Emergency-160203.pdf\">declare states of emergency\u003c/a>, with some islands enacting water rationing and having to have water shipped in.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Australia\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>That same eastward shift of storm activity tends to bring drier conditions to northern Australia during the Southern Hemisphere summer and more broadly to the east in the winter. It also tends to bring warmer summer weather to southeast Australia because of the larger mass of stable, subsiding air in place. During El Niño years, drought and wildfires also become a concern here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_581810\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 550px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-581810\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Australia_CC_image.jpg\" alt=\"A wildfire burns along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia in December 2015.\" width=\"550\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Australia_CC_image.jpg 550w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Australia_CC_image-400x288.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A wildfire burns along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia in December 2015. \u003ccite>(Victoria County Fire Authority)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>So far this year, Australia has seen a mixed bag of El Niño impacts. While dry conditions have been in place in much of the usual areas, some of the inland regions of the eastern part of the country actually had fairly normal rains. That may be due to exceptionally warm Indian Ocean waters providing more moisture to storm systems. The southeast has seen some\u003ca href=\"http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/10/perth-heatwave-temperatures-climb-above-40c-for-fourth-day-in-a-row\">major heat waves\u003c/a>, though, with temperatures sometimes climbing above 100°F (40°C). The hot and dry conditions have helped create more favorable wildfire conditions, with several burning in Victoria this year. One of the worst \u003ca href=\"http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-25/great-ocean-road-fire-destroys-dozens-of-homes/7054028\">destroyed 116 houses\u003c/a> around Christmas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>India\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>India also tends to see drier weather during the Northern Hemisphere summer because the changes to atmospheric circulation patterns delay the onset of the seasonal monsoons. Monsoon rains are critical to supplying water for drinking and agriculture, and El Niño years tend to see drought develop in parts of India.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, rainfall in India was 14 percent below normal and reservoirs were down by 30 percent, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/El%20Nino%20Advisory%20Note%20Dec%202015%20Final.pdf\">a United Nations report\u003c/a>. That led to shortages of drinking water in some areas and caused rice, corn and soybean fields to dry up, setting off worries for food shortages and \u003ca href=\"http://profit.ndtv.com/news/economy/article-rising-food-prices-to-hit-rural-india-in-2016-1242073\">inflated food prices\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>El Niño can lead to wetter weather in southern India, which also happened this year, with torrential rains that caused \u003ca href=\"http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/india-tamil-nadu-chennai-flooding-continues-wet-november/53943597\">major flooding\u003c/a> in the area around Chennai.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Pacific Ocean\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Moving back out into the Pacific Ocean, the warmer ocean waters can cause bleaching of coral reefs, killing them. This event has seen one of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/longest-global-coral-bleaching-20062\">longest global bleaching events\u003c/a> ever recorded, according to experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Warmer ocean waters in that area also provide more fuel for hurricanes in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean basins. The atmospheric changes El Niño brings also mean more favorable winds for storm formation. This year saw\u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/a-tale-of-two-hurricane-seasons\">above-normal hurricane activity\u003c/a> in the region, including the strongest storm ever directly measured in the Western Hemisphere. \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/patricia-record-setting-monster-beeline-for-mexico-19595\">Hurricane Patricia\u003c/a>, which had winds that clocked in at 200 mph, hit the west coast of Mexico, though its effects were mostly confined to less populated areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>South America\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Parts of South America are also more directly affected by El Niño. The warmer ocean waters off its west coast tend to bring warmer weather to coastal areas during the Southern Hemisphere winter. Those waters also make more moisture available to storms. Combined with changes to storm tracks linked to atmospheric circulation changes, this can mean wetter winter weather for central Chile. Several rounds of storms during this event had some benefits, bringing moisture to a region in drought and \u003ca href=\"http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-weather-idUSKCN0S127O20151007\">snows to ski resorts\u003c/a>. But the rains also brought flooding and mudslides. A rare storm event in March saw parts of the bone dry Atacama Desert receive a \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/flooding-chile%E2%80%99s-atacama-desert-after-years%E2%80%99-worth-rain-one-day\">year’s worth of rain\u003c/a> in just one day. The Copiapó River — dry for nearly 17 years — filled to overflowing and flash floods swept through several towns. Come spring, that influx of water led to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/10/29/the-driest-place-on-earth-is-covered-in-pink-flowers-after-a-crazy-year-of-rain/\">surreal bloom of flowers\u003c/a> across the desert that tends to coincide with rainy El Niño years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chain of changes to the Walker and Hadley circulations also tends to bring rainier weather to an area that includes Paraguay, northern Argentina, part of southern Brazil and Uruguay during the Southern Hemisphere summer. In December and January, heavy rains caused the \u003ca href=\"http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=87334\">worst flooding in the region\u003c/a> in 50 years, displacing more than 200,000 people. The Paraguay River in Asunción reached more than 16 feet above its normal level in December. Thousands of acres of cropland were inundated and concerns were heightened for the spread of mosquito-borne disease like dengue fever and the Zika virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In northern Brazil and other countries in the north of South America, the eastward shift of the Walker Circulation brings sinking air and drier conditions. Those come with the usual tendency toward drought, water shortages and crop and livestock losses. Drought and those follow-on impacts \u003ca href=\"http://news.trust.org//item/20151125082700-93r0x/?source=leadCarousel\">have been recorded\u003c/a> in northeastern Brazil, an area already vulnerable due to poverty and remoteness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some \u003ca href=\"http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2016-02-05/record-heat-drought-may-explain-zika-outbreak-in-brazil-research\">recent research\u003c/a> has suggested that the exceptional heat and drought in the area may actually have helped fuel the rise of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/zika-virus-climate-change-19970\">Zika virus epidemic\u003c/a> in the region. Heat promotes the growth of the mosquito that carries the disease, and during drought, residents tend to store water in containers in which the mosquitoes can breed.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Central America and the Caribbean\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Further north, drier weather also tends to grip Central America and the Caribbean for the same reasons as northern South America. The area that spans Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador is experiencing one of its worst droughts in decades, according to the \u003ca href=\"http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ECHO%20Crisis%20Report%20no%201-%20World%20El%20Nino.pdf\">European Commission\u003c/a>. Major crop losses have caused huge financial hits to farmers and left some 3.5 million people facing food shortages, the agency reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the eastern Caribbean, 2015 was the driest year on record and led to water restrictions on many islands, including St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Barbados and \u003ca href=\"http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/how-puerto-rico-is-coping-with-the-worst-drought-in-decades/\">Puerto Rico\u003c/a>. Diminished water supplies also led to crop losses in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and other areas. As of August,\u003ca href=\"https://anumetservice.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/antigua-is-out-of-surface-water-again/\">Antigua had no surface water\u003c/a> supplies, and by October it was using 100 percent desalinated water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The subsiding air that leads to drought also tends to help tamp down on hurricane formation in the region. This year saw a \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/a-tale-of-two-hurricane-seasons\">below-average Atlantic hurricane season\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>United States\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Not far away, though, El Niño brings the opposite conditions to Florida. The shifts in the Hadley Circulation affect the subtropical jet stream that crosses the U.S., pushing it southward and making it extend further eastward. This puts Florida in a prime location for storms during the winter months, which is normally its dry season. It also ups the odds for tornadoes thanks to the added energy from the jet stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Florida did have a \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/el-nino-boosting-south-floridas-wild-winter-rains\">wetter than normal winter\u003c/a> this year, and its southern tip had its wettest year on record. It also \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/record-high-number-of-tornadoes-hit-southeast-in-february\">saw 18 tornadoes\u003c/a> in January and February, compared to the seven it usually sees during those months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While tornado activity may typically rise in Florida in El Niño years, it is usually tamped down in the area of the central U.S. known as Tornado Alley. The more southward jet blocks the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico that is key to fueling spring storms there. An experimental seasonal tornado forecast \u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/news/el-nino-tornado-season-19910\">favors a below-average tornado season\u003c/a> there this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tweak to the jet stream also tends to favor wetter weather over Southern California — much needed this year after four years of deep drought. While \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/el-nino-helps-fuel-string-of-california-storms\">storms have been hitting California\u003c/a>, they have mostly affected the northern portions of the state because the jet stream has been slightly further north than is typical during an El Niño. The rains shut off almost completely in February, \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/warm-west-cold-east-pattern-re-emerges-cuts-off-california-snows\">bringing hot and dry weather\u003c/a> to the state, though storms \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/march-miracle-el-nino-fueled-storms-return-to-california\">have since returned\u003c/a>and look to bring at least some rain to Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the northern tier of the U.S., from the Northeast all the way up into eastern Alaska, El Niño tends to favor warmer than normal conditions. That has indeed been the case this year, with nearly all northern states recording one of their top 10 warmest winters. Alaska saw its \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/news/winter-warmest-on-record-for-us-20110\">second-warmest winter\u003c/a> in the books, which has contributed to a \u003ca href=\"http://wxshift.com/news/winter-snow-a-no-show-in-parts-of-alaska\">lack of snow\u003c/a> in varied locations there. That dearth of snow can have ecological impacts and promote the spread of invasive species. El Niño wasn’t the only reason Alaska was warm, though, as the Arctic more broadly was exceptionally warm this winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Africa\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>And, finally, across the Atlantic in Africa, some of the populations most vulnerable to El Niño’s impacts are found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Southern Hemisphere summer, the eastward shift of the Walker Circulation leads to rising air over Kenya, southern Somalia and southern Ethiopia, which can enhance seasonal rains. Increased rains can lead to flooding, mudslides and outbreaks of diseases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.kenyaredcross.org/PDF/El%20NinoSituationReport28.pdf\">Heavy rains\u003c/a> in the area began in late October, inundating villages and agricultural lands. By January, more than 100,000 people had been displaced and 112 killed, according to the \u003ca href=\"http://floodlist.com/africa/kenya-3-months-of-flooding-leaves-112-dead-and-over-100000-displaced\">International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies\u003c/a>. Authorities are concerned about the spread of both waterborne diseases, such as cholera, and mosquito-borne ones, particularly \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/el-ni%C3%B1o-east-africa-and-rift-valley-fever\">Rift Valley Fever\u003c/a>, which tends to occur in years with unusually heavy rainfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just to the north, in Ethiopia and Somalia, El Niño has brought dry conditions that have exacerbated a drought and led to crop failures and widespread livestock deaths, according to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53381#.VucLz4wrKRs\">United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drought has also gripped \u003ca href=\"https://www.climate.gov/news-features/event-tracker/not-so-rainy-season-drought-southern-africa-january-2016\">large parts of southern Africa\u003c/a>, particularly the northeast of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The changes to the Walker and Hadley circulations interact with the normal monsoon there and tend to suppress monsoon rains, leading to drought, crop losses and food and water shortages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Severe rainfall deficits this year have lead to widespread drought that has decimated the maize crop, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Zimbabwe \u003ca href=\"http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/zimbabwean-president-robert-mugabe-declares-state-of-disaster-as-drought-means-24m-need-food-aid-a6857046.html\">declared a state of disaster\u003c/a> as some 2.5 million people are in need of food aid. South Africa, normally an exporter of corn, is expected to have to import it this year to feed its citizens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drought has also severely reduced the flow of rivers that feed hydropower dams, leading to power rationing and even blackouts in the region. The flow down the majestic Victoria Falls has \u003ca href=\"http://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-drought-victoriafalls-idUSKCN0W340I?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews\">reached a 30-year low\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While El Niño has shown signs in recent weeks that it is beginning to weaken, it will likely be late summer or early fall before it fully dissipates. Its weather affects around the world are expected to continue for several more months, and the impacts of that weather could reverberate for years to come, making it one for the record books.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.climatecentral.org/\">Climate Central\u003c/a> \u003cem>is an independent organization that researches and reports on climate change.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Catching Storm Runoff Could Ease Droughts, But It's No Quick Fix",
"headTitle": "Catching Storm Runoff Could Ease Droughts, But It’s No Quick Fix | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to the Story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nhttp://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio//2016/03/WEBStormwaterPeterson160314.mp3\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stormwater is starting to get some \u003ca href=\"http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/12/17/48734/drought-four-things-southern-california-is-doing-t/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">serious attention\u003c/a> in California, as the state’s drought enters a fifth year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks in part to El Niño, rain has been surging through downspouts and gutters lately. And a lot of it: one storm in Los Angeles County, packing one inch of rainfall, means 10 billion gallons of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘When you look at climate change and the other pressures we have … there’s gonna be less water available. And so you want to plan for that future.’\u003ccite>Dick Luthy, Stanford University\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The Oakland-based Pacific Institute \u003ca href=\"http://www.nrdc.org/water/files/ca-water-supply-solutions-stormwater-IB.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">estimates\u003c/a> that rainfall captured in the San Francisco Bay Area and metro Southern California could, in a strong year, provide enough water to supply the entire city of Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of that usually runs out to the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But concerns about the state’s water supply, heightened by drought conditions, are one obvious reason that’s changing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you look at climate change and the other pressures we have, including keeping water in streams and rivers for environmental needs, there’s gonna be less water available,” says Stanford University environmental engineering professor Dick Luthy. “And so you want to plan for that future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Walnut Creek, behind a ranch-style home, landscape designer Ryan Kelsey is helping people do that—at least in the short term, and on their own properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one recent day, Kelsey is teaching a handful of people how to harvest water from the sky by connecting plastic pipe to three barrels. The system will serve a half-acre yard scattered with chickens, fruit trees, and vegetable beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shows student Zekeisha Plummer how to slice up the pipe with a cutting tool. Setting up rain barrels is a lot of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One trick I use, is that I put my palms on either side,” he begins, as Plummer sighs with frustration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_573555\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3264px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-573555\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613.jpg\" alt=\"Landscape designer Ryan Kelsey shows Zakeisha Plummer how to cut PVC piping for a backyard rainwater capture system in Walnut Creek.\" width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613.jpg 3264w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-960x720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3264px) 100vw, 3264px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Landscape designer Ryan Kelsey shows Zakeisha Plummer how to cut PVC piping at a rainwater capture workshop in Walnut Creek, sponsored by Sustainable Contra Costa. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a hard rain, those barrels will top off at 165 gallons combined: that’s a literal drop in the bucket compared to the yard’s water needs, let alone the state’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flood control also has long driven interest in stormwater. It’s increasing in importance, especially where flash storms may become more frequent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For 75 years, the Orange County Water District (OCWD) has \u003ca href=\"http://www.ocwd.com/what-we-do/groundwater-management/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">added to its supplies\u003c/a> while it controlled rushing storm water, trapping it along the Santa Ana River and slowing it down so that the water can be infiltrated into an aquifer below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re pretty good water accountants here,” says Scott Nygren, OCWD’s operations manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an average year, the OCWD captures around 80,000 acre-feet of stormwater, an amount it says is enough to serve a quarter of a million households – once it’s cleaned up in the district’s state-of-the-art treatment system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nygren shows me a massive field he calls an infiltration gallery, near the district’s Anaheim office. Buried here are massive slotted pipes, covered by a fine mesh cloth.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>BIOSWALE STORMWATER CAPTURE\u003c/h2>\n\u003ch4>Bioswales are landscape features designed to capture and filter rainwater runoff, usually installed in medians or urban parks. The water is used to recharge aquifers or is sent to water treatment plants.\u003c/h4>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_573547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1250px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-573547\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-573547\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic.jpg\" alt=\"Graphics by Teodros Haily/KQED Science\" width=\"1250\" height=\"1040\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic.jpg 1250w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic-400x333.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic-800x666.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic-768x639.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic-1180x982.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic-960x799.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Graphics by Teodros Haily/KQED Science\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The slots allow the water to flow in, and then the cloth traps the fine particles outside of the pipe,” he says. “So that particles stay out but the water flows through.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A third reason to control stormwater is to control its associated pollution. Rainfall in urban areas that hits pavement picks up oil, chemicals, dirt, viruses, and bacteria and carries them into water bodies. Since the turn of the century, the threat of penalties associated with runoff pollution has increased the urgency of controlling stormwater in Los Angeles County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the city of Los Angeles, the Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has \u003ca href=\"http://www.ladwp.com/scmp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">set a goal\u003c/a> to quadruple its stormwater “harvest.” The core of the plan is to collect rainfall in natural basins or washes, and let it slowly fill up underground aquifers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”Hn8PGrhzRPa4yVUl0SnYAQII76hqn0WG”]Around the state, it’s common for stormwater capture projects to serve multiple benefits simultaneously. But large plots of land that can soak up water in urban areas are scarce and growing scarcer. And around the state, so is money for potential projects. Proposition 1, a water bond passed two years ago, created a $200 million pool of grants for stormwater capture. But the Public Policy Institute of California estimates that meeting \u003ca href=\"http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/06/16/52453/stormwater-capture-rules-gain-new-urgency-as-droug/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stormwater rules\u003c/a> already on the books could require an investment of five times that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More likely, the future is in smaller local and regional projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’ve learned over time is people want to do some of these things anyway,” says Greg Gearheart, an engineer for the State Water Resources Control Board. “This is just what I see as a bigger trend of citizens wanting to have more control, more understanding of options they have available to them, instead of just trusting that when they turn the tap on, they’re going to get water to make the lawn green.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some regional-sized plans are moving forward. In Los Angeles, the LADWP is converting a former quarry to a wetlands park with trails and a playground. In Central California, UC Santa Cruz researchers have \u003ca href=\"http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/parched-california-tries-to-grab-storm-water-before-it-escapes/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tested a pilot project\u003c/a> for stormwater capture, and regional water managers are considering expanding the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_573632\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-573632\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-573632\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Jeanette Vosberg wants captures rain water for her own use, and aims to restore the water table.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-960x720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeanette Vosberg wants captures rain water for her own use, and aims to restore the water table. \u003ccite>(Molly Peterson/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>West Los Angeles resident Jeannete Vosburg isn’t waiting for someone else to take action. Along the wide street in front of her two-story home, she’s using guerilla tactics to intercept stormwater speeding by. She’s even tunneled under the sidewalk to snare curbside runoff, and connected the pipe to a cistern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My goal is two-fold, one is to capture and reuse, and the other is just to restore the water table,” Vosburg says. “It’s not all one or the other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In three cisterns buried around her property, Vosburg can store almost a thousand gallons. Her property now is fat with fruit trees, and thick with vegetables and vines. She has even built rock-lined pits to capture water her neighbors were letting go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our neighbor was draining their roof of their garage into our yard, ” Vosburg says, “and some people would say, ‘Oh my God, that’s a terrible thing.’ I looked at it and said, ‘Oh my God, that’s wonderful.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vosburg’s vision is to see her yard-sized model scaled up to catch runoff statewide. That’s a vision that will take years of planning and billions of dollars to fully realize.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Catching Storm Runoff Could Ease Droughts, But It's No Quick Fix | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Listen to the Story:\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Stormwater is starting to get some \u003ca href=\"http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/12/17/48734/drought-four-things-southern-california-is-doing-t/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">serious attention\u003c/a> in California, as the state’s drought enters a fifth year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks in part to El Niño, rain has been surging through downspouts and gutters lately. And a lot of it: one storm in Los Angeles County, packing one inch of rainfall, means 10 billion gallons of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘When you look at climate change and the other pressures we have … there’s gonna be less water available. And so you want to plan for that future.’\u003ccite>Dick Luthy, Stanford University\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>The Oakland-based Pacific Institute \u003ca href=\"http://www.nrdc.org/water/files/ca-water-supply-solutions-stormwater-IB.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">estimates\u003c/a> that rainfall captured in the San Francisco Bay Area and metro Southern California could, in a strong year, provide enough water to supply the entire city of Los Angeles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of that usually runs out to the ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But concerns about the state’s water supply, heightened by drought conditions, are one obvious reason that’s changing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you look at climate change and the other pressures we have, including keeping water in streams and rivers for environmental needs, there’s gonna be less water available,” says Stanford University environmental engineering professor Dick Luthy. “And so you want to plan for that future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Walnut Creek, behind a ranch-style home, landscape designer Ryan Kelsey is helping people do that—at least in the short term, and on their own properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one recent day, Kelsey is teaching a handful of people how to harvest water from the sky by connecting plastic pipe to three barrels. The system will serve a half-acre yard scattered with chickens, fruit trees, and vegetable beds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He shows student Zekeisha Plummer how to slice up the pipe with a cutting tool. Setting up rain barrels is a lot of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One trick I use, is that I put my palms on either side,” he begins, as Plummer sighs with frustration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_573555\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 3264px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-573555\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613.jpg\" alt=\"Landscape designer Ryan Kelsey shows Zakeisha Plummer how to cut PVC piping for a backyard rainwater capture system in Walnut Creek.\" width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613.jpg 3264w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_4613-960x720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3264px) 100vw, 3264px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Landscape designer Ryan Kelsey shows Zakeisha Plummer how to cut PVC piping at a rainwater capture workshop in Walnut Creek, sponsored by Sustainable Contra Costa. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a hard rain, those barrels will top off at 165 gallons combined: that’s a literal drop in the bucket compared to the yard’s water needs, let alone the state’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flood control also has long driven interest in stormwater. It’s increasing in importance, especially where flash storms may become more frequent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For 75 years, the Orange County Water District (OCWD) has \u003ca href=\"http://www.ocwd.com/what-we-do/groundwater-management/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">added to its supplies\u003c/a> while it controlled rushing storm water, trapping it along the Santa Ana River and slowing it down so that the water can be infiltrated into an aquifer below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re pretty good water accountants here,” says Scott Nygren, OCWD’s operations manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an average year, the OCWD captures around 80,000 acre-feet of stormwater, an amount it says is enough to serve a quarter of a million households – once it’s cleaned up in the district’s state-of-the-art treatment system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nygren shows me a massive field he calls an infiltration gallery, near the district’s Anaheim office. Buried here are massive slotted pipes, covered by a fine mesh cloth.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>BIOSWALE STORMWATER CAPTURE\u003c/h2>\n\u003ch4>Bioswales are landscape features designed to capture and filter rainwater runoff, usually installed in medians or urban parks. The water is used to recharge aquifers or is sent to water treatment plants.\u003c/h4>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_573547\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1250px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-573547\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-573547\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic.jpg\" alt=\"Graphics by Teodros Haily/KQED Science\" width=\"1250\" height=\"1040\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic.jpg 1250w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic-400x333.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic-800x666.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic-768x639.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic-1180x982.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stormwater_FinalGraphic-960x799.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Graphics by Teodros Haily/KQED Science\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The slots allow the water to flow in, and then the cloth traps the fine particles outside of the pipe,” he says. “So that particles stay out but the water flows through.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A third reason to control stormwater is to control its associated pollution. Rainfall in urban areas that hits pavement picks up oil, chemicals, dirt, viruses, and bacteria and carries them into water bodies. Since the turn of the century, the threat of penalties associated with runoff pollution has increased the urgency of controlling stormwater in Los Angeles County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the city of Los Angeles, the Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has \u003ca href=\"http://www.ladwp.com/scmp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">set a goal\u003c/a> to quadruple its stormwater “harvest.” The core of the plan is to collect rainfall in natural basins or washes, and let it slowly fill up underground aquifers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>Around the state, it’s common for stormwater capture projects to serve multiple benefits simultaneously. But large plots of land that can soak up water in urban areas are scarce and growing scarcer. And around the state, so is money for potential projects. Proposition 1, a water bond passed two years ago, created a $200 million pool of grants for stormwater capture. But the Public Policy Institute of California estimates that meeting \u003ca href=\"http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/06/16/52453/stormwater-capture-rules-gain-new-urgency-as-droug/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stormwater rules\u003c/a> already on the books could require an investment of five times that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More likely, the future is in smaller local and regional projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’ve learned over time is people want to do some of these things anyway,” says Greg Gearheart, an engineer for the State Water Resources Control Board. “This is just what I see as a bigger trend of citizens wanting to have more control, more understanding of options they have available to them, instead of just trusting that when they turn the tap on, they’re going to get water to make the lawn green.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some regional-sized plans are moving forward. In Los Angeles, the LADWP is converting a former quarry to a wetlands park with trails and a playground. In Central California, UC Santa Cruz researchers have \u003ca href=\"http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/parched-california-tries-to-grab-storm-water-before-it-escapes/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tested a pilot project\u003c/a> for stormwater capture, and regional water managers are considering expanding the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_573632\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-573632\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-573632\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Jeanette Vosberg wants captures rain water for her own use, and aims to restore the water table.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-1440x1080.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/IMG_6314-960x720.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeanette Vosberg wants captures rain water for her own use, and aims to restore the water table. \u003ccite>(Molly Peterson/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>West Los Angeles resident Jeannete Vosburg isn’t waiting for someone else to take action. Along the wide street in front of her two-story home, she’s using guerilla tactics to intercept stormwater speeding by. She’s even tunneled under the sidewalk to snare curbside runoff, and connected the pipe to a cistern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My goal is two-fold, one is to capture and reuse, and the other is just to restore the water table,” Vosburg says. “It’s not all one or the other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In three cisterns buried around her property, Vosburg can store almost a thousand gallons. Her property now is fat with fruit trees, and thick with vegetables and vines. She has even built rock-lined pits to capture water her neighbors were letting go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our neighbor was draining their roof of their garage into our yard, ” Vosburg says, “and some people would say, ‘Oh my God, that’s a terrible thing.’ I looked at it and said, ‘Oh my God, that’s wonderful.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vosburg’s vision is to see her yard-sized model scaled up to catch runoff statewide. That’s a vision that will take years of planning and billions of dollars to fully realize.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Oil Gears Up for Another Climate Fight",
"headTitle": "Oil Gears Up for Another Climate Fight | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>A Harvard economist known globally for his work on climate change policy sat in the Sacramento office of the oil industry’s lobbying firm recently, making the case that California is fighting global warming the wrong way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has a good \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/cap-and-trade-is-california-a-leader-or-a-loner/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cap and trade system\u003c/a>, Robert Stavins said, but some of its other environmental policies are weakening it. He pointed to a rule known as the low carbon fuel standard, which is supposed to increase production of clean fuels. Environmental advocates consider it a complement to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/atom/cap-and-trade-in-two-and-half-minutes-video\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cap and trade\u003c/a> program that makes industry pay for emitting carbon; Stavins had other words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s contradictory. It’s counter productive. It’s perverse,” he said. “I would recommend eliminating it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s low carbon fuel policy is shaping up as a major fight this year for the state’s oil industry, an influential behemoth that spent more than $10.9 million lobbying Sacramento last year, more than any other interest group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a storm coming,” biofuels lobbyist Chris Hessler told a roomful of clean energy advocates at a recent conference on low carbon fuels. “If we don’t meet this attack vigorously, we’re all going to be in a lot of trouble.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The oil industry was front and center in the biggest fight to hit the state Capitol last year: a proposal to cut California’s petroleum consumption in half over the next 15 years to slow the pace of climate change. The industry won its battle when lawmakers \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/despite-setbacks-california-climate-push-accelerates/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stripped the oil provision\u003c/a> from Senate Bill 350. But California’s larger oil war is far from over, and the newest battle lines are beginning to emerge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_560491\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-560491\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-560491\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Harvard economist Robert Stavins.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harvard economist Robert Stavins. \u003ccite>(Laurel Rosenhall/CALmatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gov. Jerry Brown is plowing ahead with plans to cut vehicle oil use in half through executive orders and regulations like the low carbon fuel standard. The standard requires producers to cut the carbon intensity of their fuels 10 percent by 2020. To reach the standard, refineries will have to make a blend that uses more alternative fuels – like ethanol – and less oil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program was adopted in 2009 but was locked in a court battle for years. California regulators prevailed, and took action last year to \u003ca href=\"http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2c27a7e0387b483bbc739b833898df51/california-regulators-restore-emissions-cutting-fuel-rule\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">resume the program\u003c/a>. Now producers must start changing the way they formulate their fuel or buy credits if their product is over the limit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s led to higher costs for fuel makers, which they are passing on to consumers at a rate of about 4 cents per gallon, according to the California Energy Commission. At that rate, oil companies are paying about $750 million per year for the fuel standard. But the price is likely to keep increasing, the oil industry warns, as it gets tougher to meet the standard that increases over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is where Stavins’ argument comes in. It goes like this: the cleaner fuels required by the low carbon fuel standard will emit less greenhouse gas. That will reduce the need for fuel producers to buy permits in the cap and trade system (which makes industry pay for emitting climate-warming pollution) and create additional emissions by allowing other manufacturers to buy the pollution permits. Less demand will also depress prices on the cap and trade market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”Lk2E4GoDAWfNmHIH7oYj6jIjlcHzHDKs”]Stavins is the director of Harvard’s Environmental Economics Program and part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a prestigious group of experts who review research for the United Nations. He’s also an advisor to the Western States Petroleum Association, which paid him to make the trip to Sacramento, where he talked with reporters before a day of meetings with lawmakers and business leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental advocates and California clean air regulators reject his view. They say the fuel standard works in harmony with other carbon-reducing programs and it’s an important piece of California’s effort to achieve its climate change goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the major goals of the low carbon fuel standard… is to drive innovation of new and alternative low carbon fuels,” said Stanley Young, spokesman for the California Air Resources Board. “The cap and trade program on its own cannot do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alternative fuel producers gathered in a ballroom near the Capitol days after Stavins’ visit to Sacramento. During a presentation on the rising price of low carbon fuel credits, Hessler, the biofuels lobbyist, warned that the program is coming under “political attack.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He defended the fuel standard by saying the regulation limits the price of the credits, and the cost to consumers will be kept down as some fuel producers make money by selling credits to others. He urged conference participants to share his information with California policymakers to counter opposition to the low carbon fuel standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got to be ready for this,” Hessler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A fight last year over a low carbon fuel standard in the state of Washington may provide some clues about how things could go down here. There, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee proposed a low carbon fuel standard but failed to earn enough support for it in the Legislature. The fuel standard became a bargaining chip for Republicans in negotiations about funding for transportation infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here in California, lawmakers and Gov. Brown are also negotiating a plan to pay for a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/long-neglected-road-maintenance-is-now-urgent-and-expensive/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">backlog of repairs\u003c/a> to state roads and highways. Brown has pitched spending $36 billion over the next decade with a mix of taxes and other revenue sources. Republican votes are necessary to reach the two-thirds threshold for approving new taxes. So far, Republicans have balked at the plan, with some suggesting that the fuel standard should be included in the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As we’re having the discussions about transportation funding in general in California, and transportation taxes in particular, this ought to be part of the discussion,” said Assemblyman Jay Obernolte (R-Hesperia).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a message echoed by the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, which advocated against the low carbon fuel standard in Washington. Catherine Reheis-Boyd said she wants California lawmakers to “take a very hard look” at the low carbon fuel standard as they consider the future of climate change policies and the desire to repair the state’s roads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All those things interplay,” Reheis-Boyd said. “That’s a big conversation. I think people across the state are willing to have it, and I think we’re at a pivotal point to have it this year.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Clean energy advocates are bracing for a battle over the state's low carbon fuel standard and other climate issues.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A Harvard economist known globally for his work on climate change policy sat in the Sacramento office of the oil industry’s lobbying firm recently, making the case that California is fighting global warming the wrong way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has a good \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/cap-and-trade-is-california-a-leader-or-a-loner/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cap and trade system\u003c/a>, Robert Stavins said, but some of its other environmental policies are weakening it. He pointed to a rule known as the low carbon fuel standard, which is supposed to increase production of clean fuels. Environmental advocates consider it a complement to the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/atom/cap-and-trade-in-two-and-half-minutes-video\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cap and trade\u003c/a> program that makes industry pay for emitting carbon; Stavins had other words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s contradictory. It’s counter productive. It’s perverse,” he said. “I would recommend eliminating it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s low carbon fuel policy is shaping up as a major fight this year for the state’s oil industry, an influential behemoth that spent more than $10.9 million lobbying Sacramento last year, more than any other interest group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a storm coming,” biofuels lobbyist Chris Hessler told a roomful of clean energy advocates at a recent conference on low carbon fuels. “If we don’t meet this attack vigorously, we’re all going to be in a lot of trouble.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The oil industry was front and center in the biggest fight to hit the state Capitol last year: a proposal to cut California’s petroleum consumption in half over the next 15 years to slow the pace of climate change. The industry won its battle when lawmakers \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/despite-setbacks-california-climate-push-accelerates/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stripped the oil provision\u003c/a> from Senate Bill 350. But California’s larger oil war is far from over, and the newest battle lines are beginning to emerge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_560491\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-560491\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-560491\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Harvard economist Robert Stavins.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-400x300.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/Stavins.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harvard economist Robert Stavins. \u003ccite>(Laurel Rosenhall/CALmatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Gov. Jerry Brown is plowing ahead with plans to cut vehicle oil use in half through executive orders and regulations like the low carbon fuel standard. The standard requires producers to cut the carbon intensity of their fuels 10 percent by 2020. To reach the standard, refineries will have to make a blend that uses more alternative fuels – like ethanol – and less oil.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program was adopted in 2009 but was locked in a court battle for years. California regulators prevailed, and took action last year to \u003ca href=\"http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2c27a7e0387b483bbc739b833898df51/california-regulators-restore-emissions-cutting-fuel-rule\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">resume the program\u003c/a>. Now producers must start changing the way they formulate their fuel or buy credits if their product is over the limit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s led to higher costs for fuel makers, which they are passing on to consumers at a rate of about 4 cents per gallon, according to the California Energy Commission. At that rate, oil companies are paying about $750 million per year for the fuel standard. But the price is likely to keep increasing, the oil industry warns, as it gets tougher to meet the standard that increases over time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is where Stavins’ argument comes in. It goes like this: the cleaner fuels required by the low carbon fuel standard will emit less greenhouse gas. That will reduce the need for fuel producers to buy permits in the cap and trade system (which makes industry pay for emitting climate-warming pollution) and create additional emissions by allowing other manufacturers to buy the pollution permits. Less demand will also depress prices on the cap and trade market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>Stavins is the director of Harvard’s Environmental Economics Program and part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a prestigious group of experts who review research for the United Nations. He’s also an advisor to the Western States Petroleum Association, which paid him to make the trip to Sacramento, where he talked with reporters before a day of meetings with lawmakers and business leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental advocates and California clean air regulators reject his view. They say the fuel standard works in harmony with other carbon-reducing programs and it’s an important piece of California’s effort to achieve its climate change goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the major goals of the low carbon fuel standard… is to drive innovation of new and alternative low carbon fuels,” said Stanley Young, spokesman for the California Air Resources Board. “The cap and trade program on its own cannot do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alternative fuel producers gathered in a ballroom near the Capitol days after Stavins’ visit to Sacramento. During a presentation on the rising price of low carbon fuel credits, Hessler, the biofuels lobbyist, warned that the program is coming under “political attack.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He defended the fuel standard by saying the regulation limits the price of the credits, and the cost to consumers will be kept down as some fuel producers make money by selling credits to others. He urged conference participants to share his information with California policymakers to counter opposition to the low carbon fuel standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got to be ready for this,” Hessler said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A fight last year over a low carbon fuel standard in the state of Washington may provide some clues about how things could go down here. There, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee proposed a low carbon fuel standard but failed to earn enough support for it in the Legislature. The fuel standard became a bargaining chip for Republicans in negotiations about funding for transportation infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here in California, lawmakers and Gov. Brown are also negotiating a plan to pay for a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/long-neglected-road-maintenance-is-now-urgent-and-expensive/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">backlog of repairs\u003c/a> to state roads and highways. Brown has pitched spending $36 billion over the next decade with a mix of taxes and other revenue sources. Republican votes are necessary to reach the two-thirds threshold for approving new taxes. So far, Republicans have balked at the plan, with some suggesting that the fuel standard should be included in the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As we’re having the discussions about transportation funding in general in California, and transportation taxes in particular, this ought to be part of the discussion,” said Assemblyman Jay Obernolte (R-Hesperia).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a message echoed by the president of the Western States Petroleum Association, which advocated against the low carbon fuel standard in Washington. Catherine Reheis-Boyd said she wants California lawmakers to “take a very hard look” at the low carbon fuel standard as they consider the future of climate change policies and the desire to repair the state’s roads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All those things interplay,” Reheis-Boyd said. “That’s a big conversation. I think people across the state are willing to have it, and I think we’re at a pivotal point to have it this year.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "March Miracle? El Niño Kicks Back in With Soaking Storms on the Way",
"headTitle": "March Miracle? El Niño Kicks Back in With Soaking Storms on the Way | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>February was an extremely warm month (once again) across California, with temperature records falling on a daily basis. February was also quite dry across the state, with the only precipitation event of any note occurring around the middle of the month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sierra Nevada snowpack — which had been hovering slightly above average through the end of January — started to fall behind by mid-month, and the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/03/01/sierra-snow-survey-offers-no-boost-for-drought-busting/\">March 1 snow survey\u003c/a> showed statewide snowpack slightly above 80 percent of average for the date. This number is decidedly better than \u003ca href=\"http://www.livescience.com/52265-california-snowpack-shrinking.html\">during recent winters\u003c/a>, but that’s really only a testament to the abysmal snowpack accumulations during the reign of the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/01/23/ridiculous-ridge-may-be-back-to-prolong-california-drought/\">Ridiculously Resilient Ridge\u003c/a> (of high pressure along the coast).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change in the Wind\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An abrupt change in the prevailing weather pattern is now at California’s doorstep, however. The persistent ridging of the past month or so is rapidly being displaced by a series of powerful storm systems, driven by a remarkable enhancement and consolidation of the Pacific jet stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_560640\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-560640\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3.png\" alt=\"The jet stream will be in a favorable position for active weather across California this weekend.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3.png 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3-400x279.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3-800x559.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3-768x536.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3-960x670.png 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The jet stream will be in a favorable position for active weather across California this weekend. \u003ccite>(NCEP via tropicaltidbits.com)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rain has already begun across the northernmost portion of California, and will continue more or less continuously through Monday. Precipitation will gradually spread farther south on Friday and intensify on Saturday as a very strong cold front approaches the California coast. A robust \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/11/23/flying-into-the-heart-of-the-wests-biggest-storms/\">atmospheric river\u003c/a> (arguably of the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Express\">Pineapple Express\u003c/a> variety, given its subtropical origins near Hawaii) will be in place in advance of the front itself, providing plenty of moisture for the impressive larger-scale dynamics to act upon. The nose of a strong jet streak will move inland over Central California before sagging southward over time, adding lift as this storm system sweeps across the state from northwest to southeast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thar She Blows\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The very moist atmosphere combined with a fairly impressive frontal structure will likely lead to a period of very heavy rainfall across much of California. This setup would likely be cause for significant concern if conditions had been very wet, or if the front was expected to hang up over a given location. Right now, the whole system appears to be fast-moving enough to prevent severe flood concerns — especially given our dry February. But given the high intensity of the expected precipitation, it will be worth watching closely to see if a frontal wave develops on Saturday and stalls the front more than expected. Should that occur, flood concerns would increase considerably.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_560645\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 909px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-560645\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f4.png\" alt=\"Water vapor fluxes associated with this weekend’s atmospheric river will be impressive.\" width=\"909\" height=\"984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f4.png 909w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f4-400x433.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f4-800x866.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f4-768x831.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 909px) 100vw, 909px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water vapor fluxes associated with this weekend’s atmospheric river will be impressive. \u003ccite>(NCEP via Scripps)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to impressive upper-level dynamics for this part of the world, a substantial reservoir of cold air behind the cold front will provide quite a bit of instability during and after frontal passage — leading to a decent chance of at least isolated thunderstorms across much of the state beginning later on Saturday. Strong and gusty winds — potentially 40 to 50 mph in some places — will also occur as surface pressure gradients strengthen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A secondary system will develop rapidly late Saturday and early Sunday over the Pacific just west of California as the jet stream remains situated in an unusually favorable low-latitude position. While this surface low won’t have much time to develop before hitting the coast, it could still pack a substantial punch, particularly in Southern California. In fact, this second system could bring at least a brief burst of widespread heavy precipitation and perhaps thunderstorms to much of Southern California (focused from the Bay Area southward). There are some early indications that stronger surface-based instability could develop later Sunday or Monday across portions of Southern California, which could lead to the development of some severe thunderstorm activity near the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_560646\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-560646\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5.png\" alt=\"The GFS is suggesting widespread heavy precipitation though Monday evening.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5.png 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5-400x279.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5-800x559.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5-768x536.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5-960x670.png 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This forecast model suggests widespread heavy precipitation though Monday evening. \u003ccite>(NCEP via tropicaltidbits.com)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rainfall totals through Monday across Northern California will be in the 2-4 inch range in most places (including San Francisco and Sacramento), possibly more than double that (5-8+ inches) in the coastal hills and the northern Sierra Nevada foothills. Most of Southern California will probably see rainfall more on the order of 1-2 inches, with double that in the coastal mountains. Notably, however, this precipitation will fall rather quickly, and may cause more problems that would typically be the case with precipitation of this magnitude. In the Sierra Nevada, snow levels will start out quite high as the warm atmospheric river moves ashore but will plummet later in the weekend as much colder air arrives. Several (2-4) feet of new snowfall is likely above 7000 feet, and lesser accumulations down to 4000 feet or so are likely by Monday as the secondary system moves inland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Models Waffle\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California weather (model) watchers got quite the show a couple of days ago when simulations started pointing toward an extreme precipitation event to develop next week, following this weekend’s still very heavy rainfall. The setup was one strongly reminiscent of that which makes California water wonks nervous: the occurrence of a very persistent and strong atmospheric river event focused upon a narrow stretch of the West Coast. Several model cycles were hinting at the potential for \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Weather_West/status/704897495432884224\">truly incredible amounts of rain\u003c/a> and high-elevation snow between March 4 and March 12.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, however, it now seems that those really extreme numbers are unlikely to come to pass. While a very impressive atmospheric river is still expected to develop across the eastern Pacific next week and eventually make it to California, it is not presently expected to be nearly as persistent as had been simulated a few days ago. Present models still suggest a storm that would be quite impressive by the low standards set during recent drought winters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘March Miracle:’ a Relative Term\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the longer run, it seems likely that a fairly active weather pattern will continue across California for much of March. It’s hard to say at this point whether precipitation this month might approach the remarkable late-season levels of the “Miracle March” in 1991, but it does at least appear likely that California’s snowpack will recover, possibly back to above-average levels in the coming weeks. It’s less clear whether Southern California will be able to make up the seasonal precipitation deficit that has accumulated this year despite the near record-strength El Niño event in the tropical Pacific. Still, it appears increasingly likely that March will at least be able to make a dent — even though it’s quite clear that California’s multi-year drought will persist through the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Daniel Swain is an atmospheric scientist at Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. A version of this post also appears on his \u003ca href=\"http://www.weatherwest.com/\">California Weather blog\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>February was an extremely warm month (once again) across California, with temperature records falling on a daily basis. February was also quite dry across the state, with the only precipitation event of any note occurring around the middle of the month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sierra Nevada snowpack — which had been hovering slightly above average through the end of January — started to fall behind by mid-month, and the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2016/03/01/sierra-snow-survey-offers-no-boost-for-drought-busting/\">March 1 snow survey\u003c/a> showed statewide snowpack slightly above 80 percent of average for the date. This number is decidedly better than \u003ca href=\"http://www.livescience.com/52265-california-snowpack-shrinking.html\">during recent winters\u003c/a>, but that’s really only a testament to the abysmal snowpack accumulations during the reign of the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/01/23/ridiculous-ridge-may-be-back-to-prolong-california-drought/\">Ridiculously Resilient Ridge\u003c/a> (of high pressure along the coast).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Change in the Wind\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An abrupt change in the prevailing weather pattern is now at California’s doorstep, however. The persistent ridging of the past month or so is rapidly being displaced by a series of powerful storm systems, driven by a remarkable enhancement and consolidation of the Pacific jet stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_560640\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-560640\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3.png\" alt=\"The jet stream will be in a favorable position for active weather across California this weekend.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3.png 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3-400x279.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3-800x559.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3-768x536.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f3-960x670.png 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The jet stream will be in a favorable position for active weather across California this weekend. \u003ccite>(NCEP via tropicaltidbits.com)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rain has already begun across the northernmost portion of California, and will continue more or less continuously through Monday. Precipitation will gradually spread farther south on Friday and intensify on Saturday as a very strong cold front approaches the California coast. A robust \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/11/23/flying-into-the-heart-of-the-wests-biggest-storms/\">atmospheric river\u003c/a> (arguably of the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Express\">Pineapple Express\u003c/a> variety, given its subtropical origins near Hawaii) will be in place in advance of the front itself, providing plenty of moisture for the impressive larger-scale dynamics to act upon. The nose of a strong jet streak will move inland over Central California before sagging southward over time, adding lift as this storm system sweeps across the state from northwest to southeast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Thar She Blows\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The very moist atmosphere combined with a fairly impressive frontal structure will likely lead to a period of very heavy rainfall across much of California. This setup would likely be cause for significant concern if conditions had been very wet, or if the front was expected to hang up over a given location. Right now, the whole system appears to be fast-moving enough to prevent severe flood concerns — especially given our dry February. But given the high intensity of the expected precipitation, it will be worth watching closely to see if a frontal wave develops on Saturday and stalls the front more than expected. Should that occur, flood concerns would increase considerably.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_560645\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 909px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-560645\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f4.png\" alt=\"Water vapor fluxes associated with this weekend’s atmospheric river will be impressive.\" width=\"909\" height=\"984\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f4.png 909w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f4-400x433.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f4-800x866.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f4-768x831.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 909px) 100vw, 909px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water vapor fluxes associated with this weekend’s atmospheric river will be impressive. \u003ccite>(NCEP via Scripps)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to impressive upper-level dynamics for this part of the world, a substantial reservoir of cold air behind the cold front will provide quite a bit of instability during and after frontal passage — leading to a decent chance of at least isolated thunderstorms across much of the state beginning later on Saturday. Strong and gusty winds — potentially 40 to 50 mph in some places — will also occur as surface pressure gradients strengthen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A secondary system will develop rapidly late Saturday and early Sunday over the Pacific just west of California as the jet stream remains situated in an unusually favorable low-latitude position. While this surface low won’t have much time to develop before hitting the coast, it could still pack a substantial punch, particularly in Southern California. In fact, this second system could bring at least a brief burst of widespread heavy precipitation and perhaps thunderstorms to much of Southern California (focused from the Bay Area southward). There are some early indications that stronger surface-based instability could develop later Sunday or Monday across portions of Southern California, which could lead to the development of some severe thunderstorm activity near the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_560646\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-560646\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5.png\" alt=\"The GFS is suggesting widespread heavy precipitation though Monday evening.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5.png 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5-400x279.png 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5-800x559.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5-768x536.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/03/f5-960x670.png 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This forecast model suggests widespread heavy precipitation though Monday evening. \u003ccite>(NCEP via tropicaltidbits.com)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rainfall totals through Monday across Northern California will be in the 2-4 inch range in most places (including San Francisco and Sacramento), possibly more than double that (5-8+ inches) in the coastal hills and the northern Sierra Nevada foothills. Most of Southern California will probably see rainfall more on the order of 1-2 inches, with double that in the coastal mountains. Notably, however, this precipitation will fall rather quickly, and may cause more problems that would typically be the case with precipitation of this magnitude. In the Sierra Nevada, snow levels will start out quite high as the warm atmospheric river moves ashore but will plummet later in the weekend as much colder air arrives. Several (2-4) feet of new snowfall is likely above 7000 feet, and lesser accumulations down to 4000 feet or so are likely by Monday as the secondary system moves inland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Models Waffle\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California weather (model) watchers got quite the show a couple of days ago when simulations started pointing toward an extreme precipitation event to develop next week, following this weekend’s still very heavy rainfall. The setup was one strongly reminiscent of that which makes California water wonks nervous: the occurrence of a very persistent and strong atmospheric river event focused upon a narrow stretch of the West Coast. Several model cycles were hinting at the potential for \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Weather_West/status/704897495432884224\">truly incredible amounts of rain\u003c/a> and high-elevation snow between March 4 and March 12.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, however, it now seems that those really extreme numbers are unlikely to come to pass. While a very impressive atmospheric river is still expected to develop across the eastern Pacific next week and eventually make it to California, it is not presently expected to be nearly as persistent as had been simulated a few days ago. Present models still suggest a storm that would be quite impressive by the low standards set during recent drought winters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>‘March Miracle:’ a Relative Term\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the longer run, it seems likely that a fairly active weather pattern will continue across California for much of March. It’s hard to say at this point whether precipitation this month might approach the remarkable late-season levels of the “Miracle March” in 1991, but it does at least appear likely that California’s snowpack will recover, possibly back to above-average levels in the coming weeks. It’s less clear whether Southern California will be able to make up the seasonal precipitation deficit that has accumulated this year despite the near record-strength El Niño event in the tropical Pacific. Still, it appears increasingly likely that March will at least be able to make a dent — even though it’s quite clear that California’s multi-year drought will persist through the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Daniel Swain is an atmospheric scientist at Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. A version of this post also appears on his \u003ca href=\"http://www.weatherwest.com/\">California Weather blog\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Sierra Snowpack Shrinking -- But More Is on the Way",
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"content": "\u003cp>There’s still plenty up there for skiers but Tuesday’s manual survey of the Sierra Snowpack didn’t do much to raise hopes for an imminent end to the drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And time is running out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Statewide, the Sierra snowpack stands at just 83 percent of normal levels for this date — the southern Sierra is even skimpier at 75 percent, based on estimates of the snow’s water content.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a series of cold storms off the northern Pacific gave an encouraging start to the snow season, accumulations briefly surged ahead of long-term averages — but February’s meager rain and temperatures in record-high territory quickly started shrinking the snowpack (Locations from Sacramento to San Diego recorded their hottest February on record). That’s a major source of anxiety for the state’s water managers, who traditionally count on the so-called “frozen reservoir” for about a third of California’s water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now, we’re obviously better than last year,” said Frank Gehrke, who heads the state’s snow surveys, “but still way below what would be considered adequate for any reasonable level of recovery at this point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because the rain and snow season is also shrinking rapidly. California’s precipitation tends to drop off abruptly in April, and while the rains are forecast to return later this week, rising spring temperatures will make it hard to catch up on snow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_555620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 476px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-555620\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/TahoeCityClimateGraph.png\" alt=\"Climate Graph for Tahoe City shows how starkly precipitation declines and temperatures start to rise during the month of April.\" width=\"476\" height=\"339\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/TahoeCityClimateGraph.png 476w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/TahoeCityClimateGraph-400x285.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 476px) 100vw, 476px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Climate Graph for Tahoe City shows how starkly precipitation declines and temperatures start to rise during the month of April. \u003ccite>(U.S. Climate Data)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A closely-watched indicator is the current snowpack compared to the average on April 1, when it’s generally at its peak for the season. Statewide, it’s currently just 73 percent of the April 1 average. That means the mountains need to add a quarter of one entire season’s average snow in the next four weeks, just to make it to average before the spring melt begins in earnest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re hoping for a miracle March and an awesome April,” the state’s top water regulator, Felicia Marcus told reporters last week. We might be getting a down payment over the next 10 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters at the National Weather Service describe the first Northern California system to arrive in March as “moisture-starved” with snowfall unlikely below 7,000 feet. But Stanford climate scientist Daniel Swain says the stronger series of storms lined up behind it could “add tremendously to the snowpack.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The Sierra will need one quarter of an entire season's snow -- just to reach average before the spring melt.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There’s still plenty up there for skiers but Tuesday’s manual survey of the Sierra Snowpack didn’t do much to raise hopes for an imminent end to the drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And time is running out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Statewide, the Sierra snowpack stands at just 83 percent of normal levels for this date — the southern Sierra is even skimpier at 75 percent, based on estimates of the snow’s water content.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After a series of cold storms off the northern Pacific gave an encouraging start to the snow season, accumulations briefly surged ahead of long-term averages — but February’s meager rain and temperatures in record-high territory quickly started shrinking the snowpack (Locations from Sacramento to San Diego recorded their hottest February on record). That’s a major source of anxiety for the state’s water managers, who traditionally count on the so-called “frozen reservoir” for about a third of California’s water supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now, we’re obviously better than last year,” said Frank Gehrke, who heads the state’s snow surveys, “but still way below what would be considered adequate for any reasonable level of recovery at this point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because the rain and snow season is also shrinking rapidly. California’s precipitation tends to drop off abruptly in April, and while the rains are forecast to return later this week, rising spring temperatures will make it hard to catch up on snow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_555620\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 476px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-555620\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/TahoeCityClimateGraph.png\" alt=\"Climate Graph for Tahoe City shows how starkly precipitation declines and temperatures start to rise during the month of April.\" width=\"476\" height=\"339\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/TahoeCityClimateGraph.png 476w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/02/TahoeCityClimateGraph-400x285.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 476px) 100vw, 476px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Climate Graph for Tahoe City shows how starkly precipitation declines and temperatures start to rise during the month of April. \u003ccite>(U.S. Climate Data)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A closely-watched indicator is the current snowpack compared to the average on April 1, when it’s generally at its peak for the season. Statewide, it’s currently just 73 percent of the April 1 average. That means the mountains need to add a quarter of one entire season’s average snow in the next four weeks, just to make it to average before the spring melt begins in earnest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re hoping for a miracle March and an awesome April,” the state’s top water regulator, Felicia Marcus told reporters last week. We might be getting a down payment over the next 10 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters at the National Weather Service describe the first Northern California system to arrive in March as “moisture-starved” with snowfall unlikely below 7,000 feet. But Stanford climate scientist Daniel Swain says the stronger series of storms lined up behind it could “add tremendously to the snowpack.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"link": "/californiareport",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
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},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
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},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"here-and-now": {
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
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