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"title": "After Their Son Was Swept Into The Ocean, This Fremont Family Turned Their Grief Into Advocacy",
"headTitle": "After Their Son Was Swept Into The Ocean, This Fremont Family Turned Their Grief Into Advocacy | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Find tips for staying safe at the beach this winter at the \u003ca href=\"#question\">bottom of this post\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last January, Sharmistha Chakraborty and Tarun Pruthi lost their 12-year-old son, Arunay Pruthi, after he was swept off the beach by a wave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with the help of other beachgoers “we couldn’t get to him because there was no device or equipment to throw at him,” Sharmistha said. “They were trying to make ropes out of tents, pulling them apart, trying to make a long line so they could throw it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort proved unsuccessful. Arunay drifted away too quickly, after being dragged into the ocean by a sneaker wave — a dangerous surge of ocean water that suddenly pushes high on the beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since that tragic day, the Fremont couple has funneled their grief into a mission to protect others from living the same tragedy. Their advocacy resulted in the installation of permanent lifesaving stations and ring buoys at three local Bay Area beaches last November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978070\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1978070 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach.jpg\" alt=\"A women with a beige trenchcoat and a man with a gray fleece stand on a bluff looking over the ocean. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharmistha Chakraborty and Tarun Pruthi, parents of 12-year-old Arunay Pruthi, who drowned at Cowell Ranch State Beach in Half Moon Bay, Calif. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The family hopes that warning signs and the rings, which are attached to 100 feet of rope, will alert people to the danger of the ocean and help those who are drowning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arunay was one of at least 11 people who died or nearly drowned at Bay Area beaches last fall and winter, according to the National Weather Service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drew Peterson, a meteorologist with the agency, says the public is increasingly aware of this once little-known coastal hazard, in part because of tragic stories like Arunay’s. And that’s critical, he says, to prevent more people\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>from being involved in ocean-related deaths and accidents each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sneaker waves claimed so many lives last year, in part, because people flocked to the beach to enjoy unseasonably warm weather at a safe outlet during the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, Bay Area officials are warning the public to be extra cautious, especially now as we enter the winter months, prime season for sneaker waves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peterson says the number of beach hazard events is already higher than at this time last year, when beaches were pummeled by huge swells. He attributes the increase to La Niña conditions and a high-pressure ridge that creates unseasonable, dry weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The weather pattern also allows offshore storms to transfer energy to the ocean’s surface and spawn long, powerful waves that fan out along the California coastline, surprising beachgoers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978071\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1978071 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10.jpg\" alt=\"White ocean water rises up along brown sand. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">High tide waves at Mavericks Beach in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Dec. 5, 2021. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>The season for sneaker waves\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>A sneaker wave, sometimes referred to as a “sleeper wave,” is a large, unusual train of waves that can surge up powerfully on a beach with no apparent warning. They often arrive after lengthy periods of gentle, lapping waves, knocking people off their feet into the cold water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The season for sneaker waves can begin as early as September and continue to April, though they are most likely from December to February, Peterson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For much of the West Coast, sneaker waves kill more people than all other weather hazards combined, according to the National Weather Service’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/safety/ripcurrent-waves\">website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area’s coastline was active early this year, with three reported drownings in mid-September due to sneaker waves and associated rip currents, Peterson said. The drownings occurred along the craggy, winding shoreline between Davenport and Santa Cruz. Two people drowned at Panther Beach and another — a 17-year-old swimmer and cross-country athlete — at Laguna Creek State Beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ocean is a very powerful force of nature,” Peterson said. “People should understand that any day on the coast can be a dangerous or deadly day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘How can we not know?’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Before their son died, Sharmistha and Tarun had never heard of sneaker waves, although they’d visited beaches all over the world. Now, Sharmistha wonders why more people haven’t either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We thought: ‘How can we not know?’” she said. “And if we did not know, that means hundreds of other families don’t know either —maybe even thousands more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sneaker waves not only sweep away unsuspecting beachgoers, said Tuba Özkan-Haller, a professor of ocean science at Oregon State University. They can also knock them off of rocks and logs, or wash them out of beachside caves and pocket beaches with high-walled bluffs, like those at Cowell Ranch State Beach, where Arunay drowned. Once a person is in the ocean, the cold water can cause hypothermia within minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does not look like a curling wave,” she said. “It looks like the tide is rising fast over the course of a few minutes, and it just keeps coming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conditions need to be right for sneaker waves to push up along Bay Area beaches. They are generated by storms offshore in the northern Pacific Ocean and arrive only if there’s no local storm to disrupt or weaken them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They often can hit on a beautiful day that basically invites people to come right out to the beach,” Özkan-Haller said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most years, sneaker waves are responsible for several drownings or near drownings from Northern California to southern Washington, but many are unreported, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So often the stories of people being affected by sneaker waves are tragic,” she said. “It’s a split second, and your life can change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Tragedy strikes\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It seemed the perfect day for a beach outing, sunny and unseasonably warm, Sharmistha recalled. It was the family’s first time visiting Cowell Ranch State Beach in Half Moon Bay. They were joined by a group of other families on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They hadn’t been there long, when a powerful sneaker wave ran up the beach, knocking their younger son, 8-year-old Siddhant, off his feet as he was playing at the water’s edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tarun dashed into the water after him, with Sharmistha following, both desperately trying to grab hold of their younger son. But they were rocked about and flung in all directions by a set of turbulent waves, the sand shifting underneath their feet with each step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, Sharmistha lost consciousness, but awoke with relief when she saw Tarun and Siddhant on the beach beside her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then they realized that their older son, Arunay, who they’d last seen higher up on the beach playing frisbee, was missing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He knew he was the best swimmer of all of us in the family,” she said. “Maybe that’s the reason he thought he needed to jump into the water to save us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water “looked deceptively calm that day,” Tarun said. “In a matter of a minute, no one was able to hold their ground, the wave was just way too strong. It created a churn. I remember going up and down, just like a washing machine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then “someone grabbed my hand and pulled me out,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Throwing a lifeline\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>A couple dozen people formed several long lines — human chains with linked arms — and were able to save Tarun, Sharmistha and their youngest son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chain of people tried to reach Arunay, too, but he had drifted past their reach. They tried to tie tents together to throw out to him, but weren’t able to do so in time. By the time first responders arrived, he was no longer visible from the shore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s where the idea of installing ring buoys on beaches came from, and that’s how our journey started,” Sharmistha said, adding that she believes Arunay might be alive today if one had been nearby that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The right tools for beach safety\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In May, the couple started the \u003ca href=\"https://www.arunayfoundation.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arunay Foundation\u003c/a>, in their son’s name, to advocate for beach safety. They worked with Eric Jones of \u003ca href=\"https://www.seavalor.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sea Valor\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that teaches sailing to veterans with PTSD and kids from underserved communities, to build and install the emergency buoy stations. He played a key role in the more than six-week search for their son’s body, which was not recovered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They hope that the buoy stations at Mavericks Beach, Pillar Point Harbor and Surfers Beach in Half Moon Bay are just the beginning, the couple said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their organization has advocated for more lifeguards and better warning systems, and designed a beach safety class — similar to those for earthquakes and fires — that they hope will be taught across California to schoolchildren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are more exposed to the beach than they are exposed to a fire or earthquake, so beach safety should be a part of the curriculum, too,” Tarun said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978072\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1978072\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling mother holds her young son. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1282\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut-1536x1026.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arunay Pruthi with his mother, Sharmistha Chakraborty, photographed on May 29, 2017. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of family)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>‘Still searching’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It was less than a year ago that they lost their son. Yet, the couple quickly realized that they needed to spring into action to prevent other tragedies, even at times when they felt more like staying at home under a blanket, Sharmistha said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something has to be done so that tomorrow this doesn’t happen to anyone else’s child,” she said. “But the sadness doesn’t go away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tarun used to love the beach, but he says he no longer enjoys it. And when he does go, it’s no longer to relax, but to advocate for beach safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, they attended a dedication ceremony for the buoy station at Pillar Point Harbor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last May, they went to a dedication for a memorial picnic table for their son at Cowell Ranch State Beach. The ceremony occurred on what would have been his 13th birthday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tarun says that he and his wife still hope to see a sign of Arunay, when they walk the half-mile trek past the coyote brush and thistles to the beach where they lost him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every time I come here, I’m always searching,” he said. “Still looking for him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978073\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1978073 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharmistha Chakraborty and Tarun Pruthi look out at the beach where they lost their son. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"question\">\u003c/a>Tips for staying safe at the beach:\u003c/h3>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Check the National Weather Service Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/mtr/\">website \u003c/a>and social media for coastal hazard advisories and warnings. Arrive knowing the weather, tide and surf forecast.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Never turn your back on the ocean. Examine wave activity for 20 minutes from higher ground. Check for wet or dark sand before deciding where to sit. Build in a buffer between you and the surf. Stay further back than you think is necessary and expand the buffer if the beach is low or sloping.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Always have an exit plan. Are you able to get to higher ground easily? Or is it difficult to scramble up the rocks or dunes behind you? If waves do swamp the beach, you should be able to get to higher ground quickly — within 20 seconds — and take into account how able-bodied you are.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Use caution around logs near the water, which can float away or could roll on top of you.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Avoid walking or standing on rock jetties, as waves can knock you off, as well as caves and high-walled bluffs, as tides rise fast and can prevent escape.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Put children in a life vest and dogs on a leash, whenever they play close to the water.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\u003cem>Sources: Tuba Özkan-Haller and the National Weather Service\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Bay Area officials are warning the public to be extra cautious when at the beach this winter. Here are tips for staying safe. ",
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"description": "Bay Area officials are warning the public to be extra cautious when at the beach this winter. Here are tips for staying safe. ",
"title": "After Their Son Was Swept Into The Ocean, This Fremont Family Turned Their Grief Into Advocacy | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Find tips for staying safe at the beach this winter at the \u003ca href=\"#question\">bottom of this post\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last January, Sharmistha Chakraborty and Tarun Pruthi lost their 12-year-old son, Arunay Pruthi, after he was swept off the beach by a wave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with the help of other beachgoers “we couldn’t get to him because there was no device or equipment to throw at him,” Sharmistha said. “They were trying to make ropes out of tents, pulling them apart, trying to make a long line so they could throw it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The effort proved unsuccessful. Arunay drifted away too quickly, after being dragged into the ocean by a sneaker wave — a dangerous surge of ocean water that suddenly pushes high on the beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since that tragic day, the Fremont couple has funneled their grief into a mission to protect others from living the same tragedy. Their advocacy resulted in the installation of permanent lifesaving stations and ring buoys at three local Bay Area beaches last November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978070\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1978070 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach.jpg\" alt=\"A women with a beige trenchcoat and a man with a gray fleece stand on a bluff looking over the ocean. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52772_CowellRanchStateBeach-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharmistha Chakraborty and Tarun Pruthi, parents of 12-year-old Arunay Pruthi, who drowned at Cowell Ranch State Beach in Half Moon Bay, Calif. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The family hopes that warning signs and the rings, which are attached to 100 feet of rope, will alert people to the danger of the ocean and help those who are drowning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Arunay was one of at least 11 people who died or nearly drowned at Bay Area beaches last fall and winter, according to the National Weather Service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drew Peterson, a meteorologist with the agency, says the public is increasingly aware of this once little-known coastal hazard, in part because of tragic stories like Arunay’s. And that’s critical, he says, to prevent more people\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>from being involved in ocean-related deaths and accidents each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sneaker waves claimed so many lives last year, in part, because people flocked to the beach to enjoy unseasonably warm weather at a safe outlet during the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, Bay Area officials are warning the public to be extra cautious, especially now as we enter the winter months, prime season for sneaker waves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peterson says the number of beach hazard events is already higher than at this time last year, when beaches were pummeled by huge swells. He attributes the increase to La Niña conditions and a high-pressure ridge that creates unseasonable, dry weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The weather pattern also allows offshore storms to transfer energy to the ocean’s surface and spawn long, powerful waves that fan out along the California coastline, surprising beachgoers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978071\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1978071 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10.jpg\" alt=\"White ocean water rises up along brown sand. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52919_PillarPointMavericksBeaches-10-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">High tide waves at Mavericks Beach in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Dec. 5, 2021. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>The season for sneaker waves\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>A sneaker wave, sometimes referred to as a “sleeper wave,” is a large, unusual train of waves that can surge up powerfully on a beach with no apparent warning. They often arrive after lengthy periods of gentle, lapping waves, knocking people off their feet into the cold water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The season for sneaker waves can begin as early as September and continue to April, though they are most likely from December to February, Peterson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For much of the West Coast, sneaker waves kill more people than all other weather hazards combined, according to the National Weather Service’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/safety/ripcurrent-waves\">website\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area’s coastline was active early this year, with three reported drownings in mid-September due to sneaker waves and associated rip currents, Peterson said. The drownings occurred along the craggy, winding shoreline between Davenport and Santa Cruz. Two people drowned at Panther Beach and another — a 17-year-old swimmer and cross-country athlete — at Laguna Creek State Beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ocean is a very powerful force of nature,” Peterson said. “People should understand that any day on the coast can be a dangerous or deadly day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘How can we not know?’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Before their son died, Sharmistha and Tarun had never heard of sneaker waves, although they’d visited beaches all over the world. Now, Sharmistha wonders why more people haven’t either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We thought: ‘How can we not know?’” she said. “And if we did not know, that means hundreds of other families don’t know either —maybe even thousands more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sneaker waves not only sweep away unsuspecting beachgoers, said Tuba Özkan-Haller, a professor of ocean science at Oregon State University. They can also knock them off of rocks and logs, or wash them out of beachside caves and pocket beaches with high-walled bluffs, like those at Cowell Ranch State Beach, where Arunay drowned. Once a person is in the ocean, the cold water can cause hypothermia within minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does not look like a curling wave,” she said. “It looks like the tide is rising fast over the course of a few minutes, and it just keeps coming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conditions need to be right for sneaker waves to push up along Bay Area beaches. They are generated by storms offshore in the northern Pacific Ocean and arrive only if there’s no local storm to disrupt or weaken them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They often can hit on a beautiful day that basically invites people to come right out to the beach,” Özkan-Haller said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most years, sneaker waves are responsible for several drownings or near drownings from Northern California to southern Washington, but many are unreported, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So often the stories of people being affected by sneaker waves are tragic,” she said. “It’s a split second, and your life can change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Tragedy strikes\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It seemed the perfect day for a beach outing, sunny and unseasonably warm, Sharmistha recalled. It was the family’s first time visiting Cowell Ranch State Beach in Half Moon Bay. They were joined by a group of other families on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They hadn’t been there long, when a powerful sneaker wave ran up the beach, knocking their younger son, 8-year-old Siddhant, off his feet as he was playing at the water’s edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tarun dashed into the water after him, with Sharmistha following, both desperately trying to grab hold of their younger son. But they were rocked about and flung in all directions by a set of turbulent waves, the sand shifting underneath their feet with each step.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At one point, Sharmistha lost consciousness, but awoke with relief when she saw Tarun and Siddhant on the beach beside her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then they realized that their older son, Arunay, who they’d last seen higher up on the beach playing frisbee, was missing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He knew he was the best swimmer of all of us in the family,” she said. “Maybe that’s the reason he thought he needed to jump into the water to save us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The water “looked deceptively calm that day,” Tarun said. “In a matter of a minute, no one was able to hold their ground, the wave was just way too strong. It created a churn. I remember going up and down, just like a washing machine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then “someone grabbed my hand and pulled me out,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Throwing a lifeline\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>A couple dozen people formed several long lines — human chains with linked arms — and were able to save Tarun, Sharmistha and their youngest son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chain of people tried to reach Arunay, too, but he had drifted past their reach. They tried to tie tents together to throw out to him, but weren’t able to do so in time. By the time first responders arrived, he was no longer visible from the shore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s where the idea of installing ring buoys on beaches came from, and that’s how our journey started,” Sharmistha said, adding that she believes Arunay might be alive today if one had been nearby that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The right tools for beach safety\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In May, the couple started the \u003ca href=\"https://www.arunayfoundation.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arunay Foundation\u003c/a>, in their son’s name, to advocate for beach safety. They worked with Eric Jones of \u003ca href=\"https://www.seavalor.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sea Valor\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that teaches sailing to veterans with PTSD and kids from underserved communities, to build and install the emergency buoy stations. He played a key role in the more than six-week search for their son’s body, which was not recovered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They hope that the buoy stations at Mavericks Beach, Pillar Point Harbor and Surfers Beach in Half Moon Bay are just the beginning, the couple said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their organization has advocated for more lifeguards and better warning systems, and designed a beach safety class — similar to those for earthquakes and fires — that they hope will be taught across California to schoolchildren.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are more exposed to the beach than they are exposed to a fire or earthquake, so beach safety should be a part of the curriculum, too,” Tarun said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978072\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1978072\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A smiling mother holds her young son. \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1282\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52951_Arunay-Pruthi-3-qut-1536x1026.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arunay Pruthi with his mother, Sharmistha Chakraborty, photographed on May 29, 2017. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of family)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>‘Still searching’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It was less than a year ago that they lost their son. Yet, the couple quickly realized that they needed to spring into action to prevent other tragedies, even at times when they felt more like staying at home under a blanket, Sharmistha said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Something has to be done so that tomorrow this doesn’t happen to anyone else’s child,” she said. “But the sadness doesn’t go away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tarun used to love the beach, but he says he no longer enjoys it. And when he does go, it’s no longer to relax, but to advocate for beach safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, they attended a dedication ceremony for the buoy station at Pillar Point Harbor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last May, they went to a dedication for a memorial picnic table for their son at Cowell Ranch State Beach. The ceremony occurred on what would have been his 13th birthday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tarun says that he and his wife still hope to see a sign of Arunay, when they walk the half-mile trek past the coyote brush and thistles to the beach where they lost him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every time I come here, I’m always searching,” he said. “Still looking for him.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978073\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1978073 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS52773_CowellRanchStateBeach-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharmistha Chakraborty and Tarun Pruthi look out at the beach where they lost their son. \u003ccite>(Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"question\">\u003c/a>Tips for staying safe at the beach:\u003c/h3>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Check the National Weather Service Bay Area’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/mtr/\">website \u003c/a>and social media for coastal hazard advisories and warnings. Arrive knowing the weather, tide and surf forecast.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Never turn your back on the ocean. Examine wave activity for 20 minutes from higher ground. Check for wet or dark sand before deciding where to sit. Build in a buffer between you and the surf. Stay further back than you think is necessary and expand the buffer if the beach is low or sloping.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Always have an exit plan. Are you able to get to higher ground easily? Or is it difficult to scramble up the rocks or dunes behind you? If waves do swamp the beach, you should be able to get to higher ground quickly — within 20 seconds — and take into account how able-bodied you are.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Use caution around logs near the water, which can float away or could roll on top of you.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Avoid walking or standing on rock jetties, as waves can knock you off, as well as caves and high-walled bluffs, as tides rise fast and can prevent escape.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Put children in a life vest and dogs on a leash, whenever they play close to the water.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none\">\u003cem>Sources: Tuba Özkan-Haller and the National Weather Service\u003c/em>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "2022 Promises Continued Climate Extremes, But Also A Glimmer of Hope for Californians",
"headTitle": "2022 Promises Continued Climate Extremes, But Also A Glimmer of Hope for Californians | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>It’s a brand new year, and perhaps you have hopeful resolutions in mind—losing weight, getting politically active, leaving your house more often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when you look over your shoulder, the demon that was 2021 is lurking behind you. In its eyes is the pandemic that kept you in your house for way too long, on its breath are the flames that nearly burned down your favorite part of the Sierra, the sweltering heat from last summer, and the wildfire smoke choking out the space in your lungs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Kristina Hill, UC Berkeley']“We should be planning now while things are stable, instead of running around treating it as a disaster in 20 years.”[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can’t promise 2022 will be that much better, but we can let you in on a little secret: There’s a lot of work happening and billions of dollars available to help Californians withstand the worst of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/staff/AssignmentDetail/223\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rachel Ehlers\u003c/a>, principal fiscal and policy analyst for the Legislative Analyst’s Office, says billions are set aside in the state budget over three years for adapting to climate change, including money for drought, wildfire, and environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What got climate on the front of everyone’s mind is that we had so many climate disasters last summer,” she said. “The silver lining is it is being taken as a big priority, to help avoid some of the bad impacts on the horizon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there are impacts on the horizon. Stanford climate scientist \u003ca href=\"https://earth.stanford.edu/people/noah-diffenbaugh#gs.kvl2oc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Noah Diffenbaugh\u003c/a> says Californians should get used to climate extremes like flooding, minimal snowpacks, and extreme heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are in a climate where we’ve had so much warming already that some of these factors are becoming much more reliable predictions,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With years of inclement weather and climate events, Ehlers says Californians know what’s coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What can we do now to prepare,” she asked. “So, we don’t have people losing their homes in big wildfires or have significant health impacts because it’s too hot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Michael Méndez, UC Irvine']‘If we really want to tackle climate change and our dependence on fossil fuel as an economy, directly addressing our oil production and oil imports is a key factor for our state.’[/pullquote] Ehlers says billions of dollars in the federal infrastructure bill could \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CALIFORNIA_The-Infrastructure-Investment-and-Jobs-Act-State-Fact-Sheet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">infuse California\u003c/a> with money to ready roads and bridges for a changing climate. There are also millions to protect infrastructure against wildfires, deliver clean drinking water to communities, and expand an electric vehicle charging network across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with the infusion of cash, Ehlers cautions that throwing money at climate impacts isn’t a cure for the root cause of atmospheric warming — burning fossil fuels. And just because we have the dollars doesn’t preclude \u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1977844/im-ready-to-act-on-climate-do-i-start-big-or-small\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1977844/im-ready-to-act-on-climate-do-i-start-big-or-small\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\" data-remove-tab-index=\"true\">actions each of us can take to calm the storm ahead of us\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.michaelanthonymendez.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Méndez\u003c/a>, author of the book “\u003ca href=\"https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300232158/climate-change-streets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Climate Change from the Streets\u003c/a>,” says people can vote and pressure local, state and federal leaders to act on climate change and phasing out fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If people care about climate change and environmental issues, it’s important, they stay active and educated about who’s running for office,” he said. “Many people think that their vote doesn’t count, but we see it does count.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a glimpse of what 2022 holds for California climate-wise, click the links below.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"backtotop\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"#question1\">Weather\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question2\">Drought\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question3\">Wildfire\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question4\">Environmental Justice\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question5\">Oil & Gas\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question6\">Energy\u003c/a>| \u003ca href=\"#question7\">Electric Cars\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question8\">Sea Level Rise\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Weather\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978125\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1978125\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-800x529.jpg\" alt=\"Curtains of water spray up on both sides of a truck driving on a flooded street in October 2021 in Mill Valley. \" width=\"800\" height=\"529\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-800x529.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-1020x675.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-768x508.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-1536x1016.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-2048x1355.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-1920x1270.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water kicks up as a truck drives on a flooded street in October 2021 in Mill Valley. A category 5 atmospheric river brought heavy precipitation, high winds and power outages to the San Francisco Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>2021 has been a year: A dry winter, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-09/california-records-hottest-summer-amid-heat-wave-flex-alert\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hottest summer on record\u003c/a>, wildfires, and atmospheric rivers. Brian Garcia, a warning meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bay Area\u003c/a> office, says he’s excited to see California start the year soggy and wet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For 2022, I would expect much more normal conditions than we’ve seen over the past few years, but also expect a warmer-than-normal summer,” Garcia said. He also says long-term climate models signal a dry-out in late January or February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there may be less time to prepare for storms and heat waves. A \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/2021/12/14/warming-makes-weather-less-predictable/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recent study\u003c/a> from Stanford professor \u003ca href=\"https://profiles.stanford.edu/aditi-sheshadri\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aditi Sheshadri\u003c/a> found warming is making it harder to predict 10-day forecasts accurately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, if we know that the window of accurate predictability is going to reduce as we go forward, that is valuable knowledge for anyone who has to respond to changing weather conditions, whether it’s extreme or not,” she said.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question2\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Drought\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975263\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1975263\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/oroville-drought_custom-21f30a6c6bd7d461408a015ffe94746ec6b5cd7e-1020x679.jpg\" alt=\"In an aerial view, low water levels are visible at Lake Oroville on April 27, 2021 in Oroville, California.\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Low water levels were visible at Lake Oroville on April 27, 2021. \u003ccite>(Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While 2022 is starting as wet and balmy, California needs \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1977196/newsom-declares-drought-emergency-across-california\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">140% of average rain\u003c/a> and snow to get reservoir levels back to average. Even with recent rains, large reservoirs the state relies on for water supply, such as Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville, are still below average. But the rain has filled some small reservoirs to above-average levels; for example, Marin’s reservoir levels noticeably rise with each storm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One person who’d like to see stricter drought restrictions this year is \u003ca href=\"https://waterinthewest.stanford.edu/about/people/newsha-ajami\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newsha Ajami\u003c/a>. She’s the director of urban water policy for Stanford University’s Water in the West initiative. She says all the bouncing between weather extremes is just not working for California’s aging water system, built for a climate that does not exist anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s concerned heat waves will melt the Sierra Nevada snowpack and dry out wildlands early. That’s a large part of what exacerbated the scale of the drought and wildfires in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m looking into 2022, thinking, this is great, we are seeing another atmospheric river, lots of rain, some snow in the mountains, but I’m hoping and praying that we are not going to be hit with another heatwave that would melt all of this,” she said.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question3\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Wildfire\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975975\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1975975\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-1020x671.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"421\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-768x505.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-1536x1010.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A home burns as flames from the Dixie fire tear through the Indian Falls neighborhood of unincorporated Plumas County, California on July 24, 2021. Rising temperatures are drying out forests, priming them for big fires. \u003ccite>(JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 2021 fire season was truly ferocious, and over the past year, the sheer scale of the fires shifted the public consciousness. Californians realized how we fight wildfires isn’t working. As a result, state leaders created policy goals and \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/09/16/prescribed-burns-could-help-reduce-californias-wildfires-a-new-bill-could-help-make-planned-fires-more-frequent/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">laws\u003c/a> to make it easier for fire experts to light controlled \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11887158/in-california-restoring-our-relationship-with-fire-is-possible\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">good fires\u003c/a> that clear excess vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfire experts are still concerned that large, impossible-to-control wildfires will ignite again in the early summer months through the fall. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eri.ucsb.edu/people/leila-m-v-carvalho\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Leila Carvalho\u003c/a>, a UC Santa Barbara professor of meteorology and climatology, says long-term climate trends—like heat waves drying out vegetation early in the year or drier springs—will continue throughout 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Major fires will happen,” she said. “The cycles tend to repeat when we have the right conditions of winds and ignitions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Carvalho is hopeful for two significant reasons. First, the state has set aside more than a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-health-fires-climate-california-eec48e6279099449851b3c7f150cda33\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">billion dollars\u003c/a> to strategically remove brush and trees to rescue catastrophic wildfires. Second, so many scientists are studying the effects climate change and historic fire suppression has on drying wildland areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are trying to find solutions to mitigate and adapt because we have to deal with these swinging extremes in climate,” she said. “I’m hopeful that we are perhaps dealing with problems in ways we haven’t been doing before.”\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question4\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Environmental Justice\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Communities already dealing with the effects of climate change stand to benefit from $100 million in state funds to establish community resilience hubs where people can go when climate emergencies strike. The hubs will be permanent neighborhood-based facilities — youth centers, churches, senior centers — that can provide emergency response, including backup power, food, economic assistance, internet services and a respite from smoke-filled air.[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Alvaro Sanchez, Greenlining Institute']“The fact that we’re still hitting up against political barriers to make the progress that we need to make just indicates how hard this is and how much growth we still need to have when it comes to addressing these challenges head-on.”[/pullquote]Still, \u003ca href=\"https://greenlining.org/about/our-team/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alvaro Sanchez\u003c/a>, policy director for the Greenlining Institute, says the funds only “scratch the surface” of what’s needed for low-income communities as swings in weather increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the legislature failed to advance a bill that would have sped up meeting California’s climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that we’re still hitting up against political barriers to make the progress that we need to make just indicates how hard this is and how much growth we still need to have when it comes to addressing these challenges head-on,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez is excited that the state and two environmental justice-oriented groups are collaborating to develop a mapping platform that identifies the places most likely to flood, burn, dry out, etc. The maps will consider socioeconomic status, a factor that puts some populations at a greater risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to take some time to develop, but it’s going to be what keeps California in the forefront on the way that we’re addressing climate change and bringing intersectional perspectives into the climate conversation,” he said.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question5\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Oil & Gas\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1946654\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1946654\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-1020x701.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-1200x824.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Smoke drifts away from a Shell Oil refinery April 1, 2004 in Martinez, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There were two milestones in 2021 for phasing out fossil fuels in California: Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/04/newsom-ban-new-oil-fracking/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">banned new oil fracking by 2024\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.com/2021/12/06/oil-rig-setback-rule-doesnt-go-far-enough/%3famp=1\">drafted\u003c/a> a ban on new oil and gas wells sometime after 2023 within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, or healthcare facilities. Even so, Michael Méndez, an assistant professor of environmental planning and policy at UC Irvine, says California isn’t doing enough. The state is the 7th largest crude oil producer in the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we really want to tackle climate change and our dependence on fossil fuel as an economy, directly addressing our oil production and oil imports is a key factor for our state,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Méndez is also looking forward to California beginning a conversation about updating its climate roadmap this year. He says a crucial part of the plan will be ensuring that California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972789/california-says-it-will-review-cap-and-trade-amid-growing-criticism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cap-and-trade\u003c/a> system, which puts a price on carbon, actually lowers carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not sure if we should totally scrap the cap-and-trade program, but it needs a thorough public reevaluation in the legislature,” he said. “Are these market based systems happening at the expense of immediate public health outcomes and improvements for low-income communities of color?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Méndez says there’s a growing concern that the cap-and-trade is an insufficient policy because it allows “polluting industries to pay to pollute in communities without changing their practices.” And a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1975164/california-not-doing-as-well-as-it-thinks-in-reducing-carbon-investigation-finds\">report\u003c/a> last summer found that millions of carbon credits from the program do not represent real reductions in planet-warming gas emissions.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question6\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Energy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Decisions that both eased and further complicated renewable energy marked 2021—think of plans for offshore wind and reducing the rate at which homeowners can sell extra electricity from rooftop solar panels—and lots of work around holding PG&E accountable for starting wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Meredith Fowlie Energy Institute, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business']‘More and more people are coming to understand the urgency of climate action, but we’re coming to terms with deep divides and social inequalities. The choices we make are going to determine how much it costs and who pays the prices.’[/pullquote]Energy experts say there will be a ramping up of greening the grid this year. California is also hosting an in-person offshore wind industry \u003ca href=\"https://www.offshorewindca.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">conference\u003c/a> in March in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.meredithfowlie.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Meredith Fowlie\u003c/a>, faculty director of the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, says as the electricity sector further decarbonizes and renewable energy options expand in 2022, California needs to make sure the clean energy transition is equitable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More and more people are coming to understand the urgency of climate action, but we’re coming to terms with deep divides and social inequalities,” she said. “The choices we make are going to determine how much it costs and who pays the prices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As companies like PG&E put transmission lines underground to prevent catastrophic wildfires, the cost will likely extend to ratepayers, says \u003ca href=\"https://erg.berkeley.edu/people/callaway-duncan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Duncan Callaway\u003c/a>, an associate professor of Energy and Resources at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It will be harder for customers to justify purchasing that new electrified appliance or car because the cost to charge or run their electric heat pump will be too high,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last piece of exciting energy news to start off 2022 is that California is beginning to work on a Fifth Climate Assessment. \u003ca href=\"https://erg.berkeley.edu/people/andrew-d-jones/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andy Jones\u003c/a>, an earth scientist in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley, is helping build a tool to take the terabytes of data electricity companies and agencies have “about the future climate and extract useful knowledge from all of that.”\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question7\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Electric Cars\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931178\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1931178\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Electric cars are growing in the Bay Area but are only 6 percent of new vehicle sales statewide. \u003ccite>(Anne Wernikoff)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Petty much no one’s trying to kill the electric car these days— at least, not in California — and in 2022, Ford is even releasing an \u003ca href=\"https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/05/19/all-electric-ford-f-150-lightning.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">electric version\u003c/a> of the popular Ford F-150.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the US, where we love trucks, it’s really important that people who drive those vehicles really want to drive the electric versions of them,” said \u003ca href=\"https://faculty.engineering.ucdavis.edu/kendall/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alissa Kendall\u003c/a>. She studies electric cars as chair of the Energy Graduate Group at UC Davis. “I think that’s what we’re going to see in 2022, a positive and exciting shift.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Kendall says what’s missing from the zero-emission vehicle conversation are ways to make electric vehicles accessible, affordable, and convenient for low-income people. A \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2021/11/california-must-ensure-ev-charging-access-for-all/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">coalition\u003c/a> of elected officials, companies, and advocacy groups want all new multi-unit family housing to come with electric vehicle charging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kendall thinks 2022 could be a year where there’s increased investment in charging stations in areas accessible to all Californians, not just for homeowners or businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We still have a big access issue,” she said of both electrified public transportation and electric cars. “How do we deliver transit that actually decreases the burdens of pollution on communities already experiencing disproportionate burdens?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kendall says California has a few big things to figure out in 2022, including what to do with car batteries at the end of their lives and how to source and produce materials to make batteries instate.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question8\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Sea Level Rise\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955614\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1955614\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-1020x679.jpg\" alt=\"King Tide along San Francisco's Embarcadero, in February 2011.\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-1200x799.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">King Tide along San Francisco’s Embarcadero, in February 2011. \u003ccite>(Dave R/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rising tides resulting from warming temperatures globally is a major climate impact the state can prepare for—even with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/14/world/noaa-climate-change-arctic-report/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news\u003c/a> late last year that the Arctic is rapidly losing ice—because the worst effects won’t come for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ced.berkeley.edu/ced/faculty-staff/kristina-hill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kristina Hill\u003c/a>, director of the Institute for Urban and Regional Development at UC Berkeley, says it’s essential to plan now for sea-level rise; otherwise, the Bay Area will undergo similar devastation mountain communities are enduring from wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should be planning now while things are stable, instead of running around treating it as a disaster in 20 years, which it will be if we don’t plan ahead, because the rate of change is accelerating,” she said. “This is the last period when it’s going to feel slow. After this, it’s going to be fast for hundreds of years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Bay Area is beginning to prepare for rising tides. Counties, agencies, nonprofits and cities are collaborating \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayadapt.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to prepare for sea level rise as one region\u003c/a>. San Mateo County is planning an entire \u003ca href=\"https://oneshoreline.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shoreline protection project\u003c/a>, and university scientists are researching how to prepare the most vulnerable residents for \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rising water levels\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides\"> \u003c/a>(groundwater and the sea).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The one area Hill says needs to be taken seriously this year is that sea level rise can cause groundwater flooding and make existing contamination worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re already seeing evidence of that water coming up out of manholes and Alameda and San Leandro,” she said. “That water is rising with the high tides, under contaminated sites. It’s entering sewer pipes, it’s going to cause impacts to infrastructure, and it’s going to expose people to more health risks, from contaminants that are moving in the groundwater.”\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Take a look back at big climate and environmental events of 2021, and some hopeful forecasts for 2022. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s a brand new year, and perhaps you have hopeful resolutions in mind—losing weight, getting politically active, leaving your house more often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when you look over your shoulder, the demon that was 2021 is lurking behind you. In its eyes is the pandemic that kept you in your house for way too long, on its breath are the flames that nearly burned down your favorite part of the Sierra, the sweltering heat from last summer, and the wildfire smoke choking out the space in your lungs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "“We should be planning now while things are stable, instead of running around treating it as a disaster in 20 years.”",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We can’t promise 2022 will be that much better, but we can let you in on a little secret: There’s a lot of work happening and billions of dollars available to help Californians withstand the worst of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/staff/AssignmentDetail/223\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rachel Ehlers\u003c/a>, principal fiscal and policy analyst for the Legislative Analyst’s Office, says billions are set aside in the state budget over three years for adapting to climate change, including money for drought, wildfire, and environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What got climate on the front of everyone’s mind is that we had so many climate disasters last summer,” she said. “The silver lining is it is being taken as a big priority, to help avoid some of the bad impacts on the horizon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there are impacts on the horizon. Stanford climate scientist \u003ca href=\"https://earth.stanford.edu/people/noah-diffenbaugh#gs.kvl2oc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Noah Diffenbaugh\u003c/a> says Californians should get used to climate extremes like flooding, minimal snowpacks, and extreme heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are in a climate where we’ve had so much warming already that some of these factors are becoming much more reliable predictions,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With years of inclement weather and climate events, Ehlers says Californians know what’s coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What can we do now to prepare,” she asked. “So, we don’t have people losing their homes in big wildfires or have significant health impacts because it’s too hot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘If we really want to tackle climate change and our dependence on fossil fuel as an economy, directly addressing our oil production and oil imports is a key factor for our state.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Ehlers says billions of dollars in the federal infrastructure bill could \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CALIFORNIA_The-Infrastructure-Investment-and-Jobs-Act-State-Fact-Sheet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">infuse California\u003c/a> with money to ready roads and bridges for a changing climate. There are also millions to protect infrastructure against wildfires, deliver clean drinking water to communities, and expand an electric vehicle charging network across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even with the infusion of cash, Ehlers cautions that throwing money at climate impacts isn’t a cure for the root cause of atmospheric warming — burning fossil fuels. And just because we have the dollars doesn’t preclude \u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1977844/im-ready-to-act-on-climate-do-i-start-big-or-small\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1977844/im-ready-to-act-on-climate-do-i-start-big-or-small\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\" data-remove-tab-index=\"true\">actions each of us can take to calm the storm ahead of us\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.michaelanthonymendez.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Méndez\u003c/a>, author of the book “\u003ca href=\"https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300232158/climate-change-streets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Climate Change from the Streets\u003c/a>,” says people can vote and pressure local, state and federal leaders to act on climate change and phasing out fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If people care about climate change and environmental issues, it’s important, they stay active and educated about who’s running for office,” he said. “Many people think that their vote doesn’t count, but we see it does count.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a glimpse of what 2022 holds for California climate-wise, click the links below.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"backtotop\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"#question1\">Weather\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question2\">Drought\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question3\">Wildfire\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question4\">Environmental Justice\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question5\">Oil & Gas\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question6\">Energy\u003c/a>| \u003ca href=\"#question7\">Electric Cars\u003c/a> | \u003ca href=\"#question8\">Sea Level Rise\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Weather\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1978125\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1978125\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-800x529.jpg\" alt=\"Curtains of water spray up on both sides of a truck driving on a flooded street in October 2021 in Mill Valley. \" width=\"800\" height=\"529\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-800x529.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-1020x675.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-768x508.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-1536x1016.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-2048x1355.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/GettyImages-1348746012-1920x1270.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water kicks up as a truck drives on a flooded street in October 2021 in Mill Valley. A category 5 atmospheric river brought heavy precipitation, high winds and power outages to the San Francisco Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>2021 has been a year: A dry winter, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-09-09/california-records-hottest-summer-amid-heat-wave-flex-alert\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hottest summer on record\u003c/a>, wildfires, and atmospheric rivers. Brian Garcia, a warning meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bay Area\u003c/a> office, says he’s excited to see California start the year soggy and wet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For 2022, I would expect much more normal conditions than we’ve seen over the past few years, but also expect a warmer-than-normal summer,” Garcia said. He also says long-term climate models signal a dry-out in late January or February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there may be less time to prepare for storms and heat waves. A \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/2021/12/14/warming-makes-weather-less-predictable/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recent study\u003c/a> from Stanford professor \u003ca href=\"https://profiles.stanford.edu/aditi-sheshadri\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aditi Sheshadri\u003c/a> found warming is making it harder to predict 10-day forecasts accurately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, if we know that the window of accurate predictability is going to reduce as we go forward, that is valuable knowledge for anyone who has to respond to changing weather conditions, whether it’s extreme or not,” she said.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question2\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Drought\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975263\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1975263\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/oroville-drought_custom-21f30a6c6bd7d461408a015ffe94746ec6b5cd7e-1020x679.jpg\" alt=\"In an aerial view, low water levels are visible at Lake Oroville on April 27, 2021 in Oroville, California.\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Low water levels were visible at Lake Oroville on April 27, 2021. \u003ccite>(Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While 2022 is starting as wet and balmy, California needs \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1977196/newsom-declares-drought-emergency-across-california\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">140% of average rain\u003c/a> and snow to get reservoir levels back to average. Even with recent rains, large reservoirs the state relies on for water supply, such as Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville, are still below average. But the rain has filled some small reservoirs to above-average levels; for example, Marin’s reservoir levels noticeably rise with each storm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One person who’d like to see stricter drought restrictions this year is \u003ca href=\"https://waterinthewest.stanford.edu/about/people/newsha-ajami\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newsha Ajami\u003c/a>. She’s the director of urban water policy for Stanford University’s Water in the West initiative. She says all the bouncing between weather extremes is just not working for California’s aging water system, built for a climate that does not exist anymore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s concerned heat waves will melt the Sierra Nevada snowpack and dry out wildlands early. That’s a large part of what exacerbated the scale of the drought and wildfires in 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m looking into 2022, thinking, this is great, we are seeing another atmospheric river, lots of rain, some snow in the mountains, but I’m hoping and praying that we are not going to be hit with another heatwave that would melt all of this,” she said.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question3\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Wildfire\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975975\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1975975\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-1020x671.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"421\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-768x505.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut-1536x1010.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/RS50400_GettyImages-1234171316-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A home burns as flames from the Dixie fire tear through the Indian Falls neighborhood of unincorporated Plumas County, California on July 24, 2021. Rising temperatures are drying out forests, priming them for big fires. \u003ccite>(JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The 2021 fire season was truly ferocious, and over the past year, the sheer scale of the fires shifted the public consciousness. Californians realized how we fight wildfires isn’t working. As a result, state leaders created policy goals and \u003ca href=\"https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/09/16/prescribed-burns-could-help-reduce-californias-wildfires-a-new-bill-could-help-make-planned-fires-more-frequent/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">laws\u003c/a> to make it easier for fire experts to light controlled \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11887158/in-california-restoring-our-relationship-with-fire-is-possible\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">good fires\u003c/a> that clear excess vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wildfire experts are still concerned that large, impossible-to-control wildfires will ignite again in the early summer months through the fall. \u003ca href=\"https://www.eri.ucsb.edu/people/leila-m-v-carvalho\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Leila Carvalho\u003c/a>, a UC Santa Barbara professor of meteorology and climatology, says long-term climate trends—like heat waves drying out vegetation early in the year or drier springs—will continue throughout 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Major fires will happen,” she said. “The cycles tend to repeat when we have the right conditions of winds and ignitions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Carvalho is hopeful for two significant reasons. First, the state has set aside more than a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-health-fires-climate-california-eec48e6279099449851b3c7f150cda33\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">billion dollars\u003c/a> to strategically remove brush and trees to rescue catastrophic wildfires. Second, so many scientists are studying the effects climate change and historic fire suppression has on drying wildland areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are trying to find solutions to mitigate and adapt because we have to deal with these swinging extremes in climate,” she said. “I’m hopeful that we are perhaps dealing with problems in ways we haven’t been doing before.”\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question4\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Environmental Justice\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Communities already dealing with the effects of climate change stand to benefit from $100 million in state funds to establish community resilience hubs where people can go when climate emergencies strike. The hubs will be permanent neighborhood-based facilities — youth centers, churches, senior centers — that can provide emergency response, including backup power, food, economic assistance, internet services and a respite from smoke-filled air.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "“The fact that we’re still hitting up against political barriers to make the progress that we need to make just indicates how hard this is and how much growth we still need to have when it comes to addressing these challenges head-on.”",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Still, \u003ca href=\"https://greenlining.org/about/our-team/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alvaro Sanchez\u003c/a>, policy director for the Greenlining Institute, says the funds only “scratch the surface” of what’s needed for low-income communities as swings in weather increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the legislature failed to advance a bill that would have sped up meeting California’s climate goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that we’re still hitting up against political barriers to make the progress that we need to make just indicates how hard this is and how much growth we still need to have when it comes to addressing these challenges head-on,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez is excited that the state and two environmental justice-oriented groups are collaborating to develop a mapping platform that identifies the places most likely to flood, burn, dry out, etc. The maps will consider socioeconomic status, a factor that puts some populations at a greater risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to take some time to develop, but it’s going to be what keeps California in the forefront on the way that we’re addressing climate change and bringing intersectional perspectives into the climate conversation,” he said.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question5\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Oil & Gas\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1946654\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1946654\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-1020x701.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-1020x701.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-800x550.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-768x528.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut-1200x824.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/08/RS23868_GettyImages-3188665-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Smoke drifts away from a Shell Oil refinery April 1, 2004 in Martinez, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There were two milestones in 2021 for phasing out fossil fuels in California: Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/04/newsom-ban-new-oil-fracking/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">banned new oil fracking by 2024\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.com/2021/12/06/oil-rig-setback-rule-doesnt-go-far-enough/%3famp=1\">drafted\u003c/a> a ban on new oil and gas wells sometime after 2023 within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, or healthcare facilities. Even so, Michael Méndez, an assistant professor of environmental planning and policy at UC Irvine, says California isn’t doing enough. The state is the 7th largest crude oil producer in the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we really want to tackle climate change and our dependence on fossil fuel as an economy, directly addressing our oil production and oil imports is a key factor for our state,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Méndez is also looking forward to California beginning a conversation about updating its climate roadmap this year. He says a crucial part of the plan will be ensuring that California’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1972789/california-says-it-will-review-cap-and-trade-amid-growing-criticism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cap-and-trade\u003c/a> system, which puts a price on carbon, actually lowers carbon emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not sure if we should totally scrap the cap-and-trade program, but it needs a thorough public reevaluation in the legislature,” he said. “Are these market based systems happening at the expense of immediate public health outcomes and improvements for low-income communities of color?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Méndez says there’s a growing concern that the cap-and-trade is an insufficient policy because it allows “polluting industries to pay to pollute in communities without changing their practices.” And a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1975164/california-not-doing-as-well-as-it-thinks-in-reducing-carbon-investigation-finds\">report\u003c/a> last summer found that millions of carbon credits from the program do not represent real reductions in planet-warming gas emissions.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question6\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Energy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Decisions that both eased and further complicated renewable energy marked 2021—think of plans for offshore wind and reducing the rate at which homeowners can sell extra electricity from rooftop solar panels—and lots of work around holding PG&E accountable for starting wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘More and more people are coming to understand the urgency of climate action, but we’re coming to terms with deep divides and social inequalities. The choices we make are going to determine how much it costs and who pays the prices.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Energy experts say there will be a ramping up of greening the grid this year. California is also hosting an in-person offshore wind industry \u003ca href=\"https://www.offshorewindca.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">conference\u003c/a> in March in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.meredithfowlie.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Meredith Fowlie\u003c/a>, faculty director of the Energy Institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, says as the electricity sector further decarbonizes and renewable energy options expand in 2022, California needs to make sure the clean energy transition is equitable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More and more people are coming to understand the urgency of climate action, but we’re coming to terms with deep divides and social inequalities,” she said. “The choices we make are going to determine how much it costs and who pays the prices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As companies like PG&E put transmission lines underground to prevent catastrophic wildfires, the cost will likely extend to ratepayers, says \u003ca href=\"https://erg.berkeley.edu/people/callaway-duncan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Duncan Callaway\u003c/a>, an associate professor of Energy and Resources at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It will be harder for customers to justify purchasing that new electrified appliance or car because the cost to charge or run their electric heat pump will be too high,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last piece of exciting energy news to start off 2022 is that California is beginning to work on a Fifth Climate Assessment. \u003ca href=\"https://erg.berkeley.edu/people/andrew-d-jones/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andy Jones\u003c/a>, an earth scientist in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley, is helping build a tool to take the terabytes of data electricity companies and agencies have “about the future climate and extract useful knowledge from all of that.”\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question7\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Electric Cars\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1931178\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1931178\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-1020x574.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/09/ElectricCars_AW_06-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Electric cars are growing in the Bay Area but are only 6 percent of new vehicle sales statewide. \u003ccite>(Anne Wernikoff)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Petty much no one’s trying to kill the electric car these days— at least, not in California — and in 2022, Ford is even releasing an \u003ca href=\"https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/05/19/all-electric-ford-f-150-lightning.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">electric version\u003c/a> of the popular Ford F-150.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the US, where we love trucks, it’s really important that people who drive those vehicles really want to drive the electric versions of them,” said \u003ca href=\"https://faculty.engineering.ucdavis.edu/kendall/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alissa Kendall\u003c/a>. She studies electric cars as chair of the Energy Graduate Group at UC Davis. “I think that’s what we’re going to see in 2022, a positive and exciting shift.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Kendall says what’s missing from the zero-emission vehicle conversation are ways to make electric vehicles accessible, affordable, and convenient for low-income people. A \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2021/11/california-must-ensure-ev-charging-access-for-all/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">coalition\u003c/a> of elected officials, companies, and advocacy groups want all new multi-unit family housing to come with electric vehicle charging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kendall thinks 2022 could be a year where there’s increased investment in charging stations in areas accessible to all Californians, not just for homeowners or businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We still have a big access issue,” she said of both electrified public transportation and electric cars. “How do we deliver transit that actually decreases the burdens of pollution on communities already experiencing disproportionate burdens?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kendall says California has a few big things to figure out in 2022, including what to do with car batteries at the end of their lives and how to source and produce materials to make batteries instate.\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"question8\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Sea Level Rise\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1955614\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1955614\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-1020x679.jpg\" alt=\"King Tide along San Francisco's Embarcadero, in February 2011.\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides-1200x799.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/kingtides.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">King Tide along San Francisco’s Embarcadero, in February 2011. \u003ccite>(Dave R/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rising tides resulting from warming temperatures globally is a major climate impact the state can prepare for—even with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/14/world/noaa-climate-change-arctic-report/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news\u003c/a> late last year that the Arctic is rapidly losing ice—because the worst effects won’t come for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ced.berkeley.edu/ced/faculty-staff/kristina-hill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kristina Hill\u003c/a>, director of the Institute for Urban and Regional Development at UC Berkeley, says it’s essential to plan now for sea-level rise; otherwise, the Bay Area will undergo similar devastation mountain communities are enduring from wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should be planning now while things are stable, instead of running around treating it as a disaster in 20 years, which it will be if we don’t plan ahead, because the rate of change is accelerating,” she said. “This is the last period when it’s going to feel slow. After this, it’s going to be fast for hundreds of years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Bay Area is beginning to prepare for rising tides. Counties, agencies, nonprofits and cities are collaborating \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayadapt.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to prepare for sea level rise as one region\u003c/a>. San Mateo County is planning an entire \u003ca href=\"https://oneshoreline.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shoreline protection project\u003c/a>, and university scientists are researching how to prepare the most vulnerable residents for \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rising water levels\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/berkeley.edu/toxictides\"> \u003c/a>(groundwater and the sea).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The one area Hill says needs to be taken seriously this year is that sea level rise can cause groundwater flooding and make existing contamination worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re already seeing evidence of that water coming up out of manholes and Alameda and San Leandro,” she said. “That water is rising with the high tides, under contaminated sites. It’s entering sewer pipes, it’s going to cause impacts to infrastructure, and it’s going to expose people to more health risks, from contaminants that are moving in the groundwater.”\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"#backtotop\">Back to top\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Build Back Better Is in Peril. What Losing Biden's Plan Would Mean for Climate Change",
"headTitle": "Build Back Better Is in Peril. What Losing Biden’s Plan Would Mean for Climate Change | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>With billions of dollars for clean energy, the Build Back Better legislation has the potential to substantially and rapidly cut heat-trapping emissions in the U.S. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/19/1065636709/joe-manchin-says-he-cannot-support-bidens-build-back-better-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., rejected the bill\u003c/a> on Sunday, and that means Build Back Better is effectively dead at a time when scientists say the world can’t afford to wait on climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really disheartening,” said Leah Stokes, associate professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “We don’t have any more decades left to waste, and failure is not an option.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation earmarked $555 billion for renewable energy and clean transportation incentives over a decade in the country’s largest climate change investment ever. The policies are crucial for President Biden’s goal of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/988051091/biden-makes-new-pledge-for-u-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions-a-50-cut\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cutting greenhouse gas emissions 50%-52% by 2030\u003c/a>, compared with 2005 levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even that goal may not be enough to avoid climate change’s most destructive impacts, scientists warn. The U.S. is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases worldwide, and the planet has already warmed by almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.1 degrees Celsius.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The stakes are rising quickly\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>By the end of the century, temperatures are currently on track for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/08/1052198840/1-5-degrees-warming-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">almost 5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming\u003c/a>, setting the stage for more dangerous hurricanes and droughts, rising seas that would inundate coastal cities around the world, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/08/1052198840/1-5-degrees-warming-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">disappearance of entire ecosystems such as coral reefs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past year alone, deadly floods and heat waves took lives across the U.S. — extreme weather events that are only expected to intensify on a hotter planet. Over the summer, record-breaking heat killed more than 200 people in the Pacific Northwest. The temperatures, reaching 116 degrees in some places, would be \u003ca href=\"https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/western-north-american-extreme-heat-virtually-impossible-without-human-caused-climate-change/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“virtually impossible” without climate change\u003c/a>, according to scientists with the World Weather Attribution collaborative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worldwide, scientists have found emissions need \u003ca href=\"https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/updated-climate-commitments-ahead-cop26-summit-fall-far-short-net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to fall 55% by 2030\u003c/a> to limit warming to a crucial threshold: 1.5 degrees Celsius. The majority of fossil fuels, like coal and oil, would also \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/09/1035250142/to-avoid-extreme-disasters-most-fossil-fuels-should-stay-underground-scientists-\">need to stay underground by 2050\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What the Biden administration wants\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Programs in the Build Back Better plan are designed to tackle the country’s two largest sources of emissions: transportation and electric power. Homeowners would get incentives to install rooftop solar and insulate their homes to become more energy efficient. Electric car rebates would grow to $12,500 for a middle class family. Clean energy companies would receive tax rebates for manufacturing in the U.S., since China currently produces the majority of solar panels worldwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manchin, whose family profits from a coal business in West Virginia, has taken issue with several climate provisions in Build Back Better over months of negotiations. Earlier this year, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/15/1036954961/congress-is-debating-its-biggest-climate-change-bill-ever-heres-whats-at-stake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pushed to strip another clean energy program\u003c/a> from the bill. The $150 billion Clean Electricity Performance Program would have used carrots and sticks to get electric utilities to use carbon-free power sources, but it was removed from the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Withdrawing his support altogether on Sunday, Manchin singled out the climate policies as one reason. “The energy transition my colleagues seek is already well underway in the United States of America,” he said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.manchin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/manchin-statement-on-build-back-better-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">statement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Devastating,” Princeton energy professor Jesse Jenkins \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/JesseJenkins/status/1472594981990895621?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tweeted\u003c/a> in response. “Utter nonsense.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While solar and wind power are growing rapidly in the U.S. due to their falling cost, scientists warn that trend isn’t happening fast enough on its own to achieve the emissions cuts that are needed. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03787-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Several analyses\u003c/a> of the Build Back Better bill show that while it alone is not enough to cut emissions half, it could put the goal within striking distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to be moving two times faster than we ever have before,” Stokes says. “So we need the federal government to invest in climate action to make it cheaper for everyday Americans to put solar panels on their roofs, to insulate their homes, to get an electric vehicle if they want one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Climate experts warn against the cost of inaction\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Manchin, as well as Republicans, have argued against the overall cost of Build Back Better. But climate experts warn that the\u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/19/costs-climate-change-are-getting-lost-capitol-hill/\"> long-term cost of increasing disasters\u003c/a> and damaged infrastructure could be dramatically higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stakes for the country are too high,” said Manish Bapna, president and chief executive of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Inaction would cripple our economy, as climate costs and dangers rise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without legislation, the Biden administration could rely on new regulations, like limiting power plant emissions through the Environmental Protection Agency or putting tougher mileage standards on cars and trucks, which are \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-15/biden-to-toughen-auto-emissions-limits-to-counter-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expected to be announced shortly\u003c/a>. Those kinds of rules can be reversed by future presidents and lack the major financial incentives that Biden was counting on in Build Back Better to ease the country into a clean energy transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=What+losing+Build+Back+Better+means+for+climate+change&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Climate scientists warn that emissions need to fall quickly. Those cuts will be even tougher with the Build Back Better legislation shelved for the foreseeable future.",
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"title": "Build Back Better Is in Peril. What Losing Biden's Plan Would Mean for Climate Change | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With billions of dollars for clean energy, the Build Back Better legislation has the potential to substantially and rapidly cut heat-trapping emissions in the U.S. But \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/12/19/1065636709/joe-manchin-says-he-cannot-support-bidens-build-back-better-plan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., rejected the bill\u003c/a> on Sunday, and that means Build Back Better is effectively dead at a time when scientists say the world can’t afford to wait on climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really disheartening,” said Leah Stokes, associate professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “We don’t have any more decades left to waste, and failure is not an option.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation earmarked $555 billion for renewable energy and clean transportation incentives over a decade in the country’s largest climate change investment ever. The policies are crucial for President Biden’s goal of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/988051091/biden-makes-new-pledge-for-u-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions-a-50-cut\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cutting greenhouse gas emissions 50%-52% by 2030\u003c/a>, compared with 2005 levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even that goal may not be enough to avoid climate change’s most destructive impacts, scientists warn. The U.S. is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases worldwide, and the planet has already warmed by almost 2 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.1 degrees Celsius.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The stakes are rising quickly\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>By the end of the century, temperatures are currently on track for \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/08/1052198840/1-5-degrees-warming-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">almost 5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming\u003c/a>, setting the stage for more dangerous hurricanes and droughts, rising seas that would inundate coastal cities around the world, and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/08/1052198840/1-5-degrees-warming-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">disappearance of entire ecosystems such as coral reefs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past year alone, deadly floods and heat waves took lives across the U.S. — extreme weather events that are only expected to intensify on a hotter planet. Over the summer, record-breaking heat killed more than 200 people in the Pacific Northwest. The temperatures, reaching 116 degrees in some places, would be \u003ca href=\"https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/western-north-american-extreme-heat-virtually-impossible-without-human-caused-climate-change/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">“virtually impossible” without climate change\u003c/a>, according to scientists with the World Weather Attribution collaborative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worldwide, scientists have found emissions need \u003ca href=\"https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/updated-climate-commitments-ahead-cop26-summit-fall-far-short-net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to fall 55% by 2030\u003c/a> to limit warming to a crucial threshold: 1.5 degrees Celsius. The majority of fossil fuels, like coal and oil, would also \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/09/1035250142/to-avoid-extreme-disasters-most-fossil-fuels-should-stay-underground-scientists-\">need to stay underground by 2050\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What the Biden administration wants\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Programs in the Build Back Better plan are designed to tackle the country’s two largest sources of emissions: transportation and electric power. Homeowners would get incentives to install rooftop solar and insulate their homes to become more energy efficient. Electric car rebates would grow to $12,500 for a middle class family. Clean energy companies would receive tax rebates for manufacturing in the U.S., since China currently produces the majority of solar panels worldwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manchin, whose family profits from a coal business in West Virginia, has taken issue with several climate provisions in Build Back Better over months of negotiations. Earlier this year, he \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/15/1036954961/congress-is-debating-its-biggest-climate-change-bill-ever-heres-whats-at-stake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pushed to strip another clean energy program\u003c/a> from the bill. The $150 billion Clean Electricity Performance Program would have used carrots and sticks to get electric utilities to use carbon-free power sources, but it was removed from the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Withdrawing his support altogether on Sunday, Manchin singled out the climate policies as one reason. “The energy transition my colleagues seek is already well underway in the United States of America,” he said in a \u003ca href=\"https://www.manchin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/manchin-statement-on-build-back-better-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">statement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Devastating,” Princeton energy professor Jesse Jenkins \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/JesseJenkins/status/1472594981990895621?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tweeted\u003c/a> in response. “Utter nonsense.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While solar and wind power are growing rapidly in the U.S. due to their falling cost, scientists warn that trend isn’t happening fast enough on its own to achieve the emissions cuts that are needed. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03787-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Several analyses\u003c/a> of the Build Back Better bill show that while it alone is not enough to cut emissions half, it could put the goal within striking distance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to be moving two times faster than we ever have before,” Stokes says. “So we need the federal government to invest in climate action to make it cheaper for everyday Americans to put solar panels on their roofs, to insulate their homes, to get an electric vehicle if they want one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Climate experts warn against the cost of inaction\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Manchin, as well as Republicans, have argued against the overall cost of Build Back Better. But climate experts warn that the\u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/19/costs-climate-change-are-getting-lost-capitol-hill/\"> long-term cost of increasing disasters\u003c/a> and damaged infrastructure could be dramatically higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stakes for the country are too high,” said Manish Bapna, president and chief executive of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Inaction would cripple our economy, as climate costs and dangers rise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without legislation, the Biden administration could rely on new regulations, like limiting power plant emissions through the Environmental Protection Agency or putting tougher mileage standards on cars and trucks, which are \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-15/biden-to-toughen-auto-emissions-limits-to-counter-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expected to be announced shortly\u003c/a>. Those kinds of rules can be reversed by future presidents and lack the major financial incentives that Biden was counting on in Build Back Better to ease the country into a clean energy transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=What+losing+Build+Back+Better+means+for+climate+change&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Bay Is Rising. Newark Residents Wonder Why The City Plans to Develop Its Shoreline",
"headTitle": "The Bay Is Rising. Newark Residents Wonder Why The City Plans to Develop Its Shoreline | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Newark Vice Mayor Mike Bucci sat behind a wood-paneled council dais, a sinking feeling growing in his gut as he scribbled notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council was discussing \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/departments/community-development/specific-plans-master-plans/area-3-and-4-specific-plan-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sanctuary West\u003c/a>, a nearly three-decade-old plan from Mountain View-based The Sobrato Organization to bring badly needed housing to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Jana Sokale, Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge']“You build here now, and I’m not sure you’ll have a house to leave to your kids. I’m not sure you’ll be able to get flood insurance because it’s going to be the front-line property at risk.” [/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newark — a Bay Area enclave of fewer than 50,000 people — is located on the east side of the Dumbarton Bridge near Fremont in Alameda County, a place that has \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/housing-production#chart-1\">struggled\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/housing-production#chart-1\">mightily\u003c/a> to build new housing even as costs have skyrocketed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could help by adding hundreds of new tract homes, but the project is controversial because they would be built within a federal flood zone along fragile wetlands on the city’s western shore. Climate models show this area underwater in just a few decades as warming temperatures push bay water higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bucci supported the project in the past, but at this City Council meeting late in 2019, dozens of residents pressed him to reconsider, saying the land should be preserved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have concerns about houses being out there and what may happen to them thirty, forty or fifty years down the road,” Bucci said in a recent interview with KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1977896\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1020x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Dec. 2019 Newark residents and environmental advocates asked the city council to further review the potential housing. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge Spokesperson Josh Sonnenfeld)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/agenda_items/20180314/Item3_Exhibit-A_OPC_SLR_Guidance-rd3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scientists project \u003c/a>seas could rise by at least 1 foot by 2030 and as much as 7 feet by 2100 because global emissions are still increasing — the higher level could overwhelm the homes with water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have a unique opportunity here to become a beacon, a shining light to show how local planning can adapt to the new, very real, and very dangerous threat of global warming,” longtime resident Mari Miller said during the standing-room-only winter public meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the gathering, Bucci urged the city to further examine the new climate projections (his fellow council members argued the issue had already been reviewed and litigated, and the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/11/15/newark-approves-469-homes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">approved\u003c/a> the project).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘There’s nothing that we could do’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Usually, the state oversees development along the San Francisco Bay shoreline. But Larry Goldzband, executive director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or BCDC, says the developers found a loophole to avoid these regulations, strategically moving the project outside the agency’s purview: 100 feet from the water’s edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The developer looked at BCDC and said, ‘I’m going to move the project out of your jurisdiction.’ There’s nothing that [we] can do with regard to that development project,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the city approved the project, the \u003ca href=\"https://savenewarkwetlands.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge\u003c/a> and other environmentalists sued, arguing the sea level rise protections weren’t strong enough; the lawsuit created the latest wrinkle in the circuitous planning process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You build here now, and I’m not sure you’ll have a house to leave to your kids,” said Jana Sokale, a committee member. “I’m not sure you’ll be able to get flood insurance because it’s going to be the frontline property at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s 1st District Court of Appeal heard arguments on Dec. 7 and will make a determination within the next 90 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Newark’s plan\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If built, Sanctuary West will add 469 single-family market-rate homes on four elevated peninsulas adjacent to a wetland near the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Each house would range between 3,600 to 5,000 square feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developers plan to drive in around 100,000 truckloads of dirt to raise the homes above potential stormwaters. Then line the banks with rocks to protect houses from waves, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.sobrato.com/people/tim-steele/\">Tim\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.sobrato.com/people/tim-steele/\">Steele\u003c/a>, senior vice president for real estate for The Sobrato Organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West will be “higher than a lot of homes that are currently built in the city” and “not be the first ones that will be impacted by any kind of sea level rise,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977933\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977933 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/SLR2100_Newark_V05.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flood estimates are approximations — 2050/1.6 ft rise plus a 20-year storm; 2100/4.9 ft rise plus a 20-year storm. More information about the flood data is found in this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973624/maps-see-which-bay-area-locations-are-at-risk-from-rising-seas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">post\u003c/a>. Development layout derived from city planning \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5267/637037295441930000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents\u003c/a> and doesn’t show potential future elevation changes.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The city declined an interview on the proposal because of the active lawsuit. In an emailed statement, Newark Mayor Alan L. Nagy said the city is committed to protecting its shoreline from sea level rise. Their planning documents consider a 50-year life for Sanctuary West, and say it will have “sufficient protection from 100-year flood events” within that time frame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West “will not be adversely impacted by predicted global climate change and sea level rise,” Nagy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City staff examined the project several times. A 2014 \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/4773/636863371395100000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">draft environmental review\u003c/a> shows the entire development flooding with a foot of water in high sea level rise scenarios that assume global emissions continue increasing. Another \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/182/636502333562270000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">review\u003c/a> in 2015 mined multiple state and global climate modeling surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, the city reexamined the project again, running it through a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5267/637037295441930000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">checklist\u003c/a> to considered flooding and a range of sea level rise projections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all that, the city settled on what its \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5281/637037297707300000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents\u003c/a> describe as a “low risk aversion” and “adaptive” strategy to protect the homes from rising tides. Newark assumes emissions will continue climbing and the bay will rise up to 1.9 feet by the year 2070 and plans to elevate the homes above this level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city will wait and see how to protect the homes beyond then, or if bay waters rise higher, faster — while statistically less likely, model scenarios show sea level rise could be more than twice as much by then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its documents do suggest punting the protective work onto the region, noting that an “earthen levee or structural floodwall” could be “more appropriate” as part of a “area-wide” solution, although it doesn’t say who’d pay for this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steele, with the developer, says he’s confident in a plan that raises the homes up — protecting them for now — and that leaves a door open to future engineering work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not suggesting sea level rise is not going to happen, or it’s not going to impact the way we live,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Studies warn of extreme flooding and the danger of poor planning\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Use your mouse to move different directions on the map. Use the + and – signs to zoom in and out. Click on the magnifying glass at the bottom to search for a specific address. Click on the down arrow top right of the legend to remove it. Sources: USGS, OCOF, Pacific Institute\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://kqed.carto.com/u/kqednews/builder/f31503f8-3f13-48ef-bcff-2c2db612ae2c/embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office’s \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4261\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2020 analysis\u003c/a> of sea level rise studies explained that cities like Newark need to consider storms, king tides, or El Niño events pushing water levels even higher than rising tides alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the most recent United Nations climate report published last summer, scientists \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/\">noted\u003c/a> that low-lying cities like Newark will see “more frequent and severe flooding.” Plus, bad storms that used to occur occasionally could happen every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08471\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Model studies\u003c/a> show a more extreme scenario: ice sheets collapsing at the poles. That could mean “the California coast could experience over 10 feet of SLR by 2100,” according to the state’s analysis. These extreme scenarios are uncertain, but scientists say they are possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This goes beyond the scope of what we’ve thought about in planning horizons in terms of the magnitude of change that we’d be facing as a region,” said \u003ca href=\"https://ce.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/stacey\">Mark Stacey\u003c/a>, a UC Berkeley environmental engineer. He says such a large increase would require a “complete rethinking” of life along the San Francisco Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could help fill in the gap for much-needed housing in the Bay Area, but scientists like\u003ca href=\"http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/lubell/\"> Mark Lubell\u003c/a>, who studies sea level rise and governance at UC Davis, say the proposed site “is a terrible place to put a development.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we should definitely be looking at alternative locations for regional economic development that are not in hazard areas, wetland areas or watersheds,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Marshes aren’t static\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could harm one of the only natural flood protections left in the Bay Area: wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only about \u003ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0027388\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">10% of the original marsh\u003c/a> area remains in San Francisco Bay. \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/about/staff/laura-feinstein\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Laura Feinstein\u003c/a>, sustainability and resilience policy director for the urban think tank SPUR, says upland areas are even more rare. That’s because cities like Newark have built right up to the border of sensitive marsh ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977918\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977918 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"Green marsh in the distance, foregrounded by water and yellowing marshland. A white bird sits on a fence post. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The wetlands near Newark, photographed in the afternoon on August 13, 2021. (Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Feinstein says cities should preserve upland areas because these spaces will become the wetlands of the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we let marshes do their thing, and they have the right conditions and enough sediment available, as sea level rises, they will gradually move uphill,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/spur-report/2021-10-21/water-growing-bay-area\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study\u003c/a>, her group concluded that by maximizing infill, converting homes into duplexes, triplexes and adding accessory dwelling units, the Bay Area could address the housing crisis without building in areas vulnerable to flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is room in Newark and other adjacent cities to add new housing, it’s just that it should be put in the existing urban footprint,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A regulatory marsh\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The first avenue for people who have reservations about projects like Sanctuary West is to contest projects publicly at City Council meetings and public hearings. Since public outreach by environmental groups hasn’t had the desired effect in Newark, residents and advocates can sue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if lawsuits prove futile in preventing Sanctuary West from becoming a reality, advocates against the housing development will have to trust the permitting process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977912\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 540px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977912 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with gray, shoulder-length hair wears a green sweater and silver binoculars around her neck. A wetland and powerlines are in the background against blue skies. \" width=\"540\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi.jpg 540w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jana Sokale is a Newark resident and leader of the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge. (Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While BCDC no longer has jurisdiction over Sanctuary West, officials at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/\">San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board\u003c/a> say they will make it difficult for developers to build on the wetlands in Newark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to the developer from May 2020, the board said the 1.6 million cubic yards of dirt needed to raise the potential homes out of the floodplain will impact the wetlands and “alter the existing wetland hydrology.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board is also concerned over “repeated claims the project does not have the potential to impact water quality or to result in discharges” of everything from fill to heavy metals to oil, and says the city used “out of date or inadequate information to minimize” Sanctuary West’s environmental impact. In the letter to the developer, board officials said the project would have direct and indirect water impacts. They said the project would disrupt endangered species, recreation and wildlife habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though the agency has significant concerns over how the project will alter the ecosystem, it can’t altogether reject it, said \u003ca href=\"https://agency.calepa.ca.gov/StaffDirectory/detail.asp?UID=63534&BDO=7&VW=DET\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Xavier Fernandez\u003c/a>, planning manager for the board. He says the agency can make permitting very costly from a developer’s point of view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we would like them to do is to move it back as far as possible or not build it at all, and coordinate with adjacent communities in order to collectively come up with a plan for protecting that region,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Grappling with climate change in real time\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-hummel-531a2458/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michelle Hummel,\u003c/a> an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington who studies the impact of sea level rise on the bay extensively, says cities, agencies, and developers are paying mind to the outcome of the Newark debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There needs to be clear guidelines about how we want to move forward locally and regionally,” she said, especially for development in vulnerable coastal margins between the bay and existing development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not really a clear understanding of whether or not this project can go through, and people are kind of just stalling right now,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Mike Bucci']“It’s scary to think that a small town like ours is on the frontline of that battle.”” [/pullquote]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hummel says if the region’s piecemeal approach to addressing sea level rise continues on a development by development basis, eventually, the bay could see cumulative impacts as water floods neighborhoods, businesses and infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says what happens in Newark could “set the stage for how these types of projects are visualized and approved in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977913\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1977913\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The area Sanctuary West would sit within is a mosaic of wetlands and upland habitat. A slough runs through the area connecting it to the bay. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge's Derell Licht/Creative Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The state wants to close regulatory gaps, like the one Sanctuary West exposed. BCDC’s new regional sea level rise adaptation plan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayadapt.org/\">Bay Adapt,\u003c/a> includes a potential fix and is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayadapt.org/jointplatform/\">road map\u003c/a> for agencies and cities to create new policies to interpret the effects of climate change better. This could include expanding BCDC’s jurisdiction beyond 100 feet from the shoreline. But that requires regional collaboration and legislation, which could take years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s part of a bigger conversation; it’s assessing sort of the whole web of regulation and then seeing what the solutions are for filling that in,” said \u003ca href=\"http://www.adaptingtorisingtides.org/help-desk/\">Dana Brechwald\u003c/a>, BCDC’s Adapting to Rising Tides Program manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And among all the regulatory confusion is a question: Should the Bay Area further develop its shoreline when climate models show the water will continually rise?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Newark’s youngest City Council member, the answer is simple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s no,” Bucci said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is apprehensive a catastrophic flood could happen in Newark because he lived through a flood in the ’90s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My entire street flooded up to the lawns,” he remembered. “What happens when those events come around again, and how bad is it going to be? It’s scary to think that a small town like ours is on the frontline of that battle.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The city of Newark is clashing with environmentalists over a housing plan that would develop along its wetlands, a natural protection from rising seas. ",
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"title": "The Bay Is Rising. Newark Residents Wonder Why The City Plans to Develop Its Shoreline | KQED",
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"headline": "The Bay Is Rising. Newark Residents Wonder Why The City Plans to Develop Its Shoreline",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Newark Vice Mayor Mike Bucci sat behind a wood-paneled council dais, a sinking feeling growing in his gut as he scribbled notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council was discussing \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/departments/community-development/specific-plans-master-plans/area-3-and-4-specific-plan-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sanctuary West\u003c/a>, a nearly three-decade-old plan from Mountain View-based The Sobrato Organization to bring badly needed housing to the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newark — a Bay Area enclave of fewer than 50,000 people — is located on the east side of the Dumbarton Bridge near Fremont in Alameda County, a place that has \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/housing-production#chart-1\">struggled\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.vitalsigns.mtc.ca.gov/housing-production#chart-1\">mightily\u003c/a> to build new housing even as costs have skyrocketed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could help by adding hundreds of new tract homes, but the project is controversial because they would be built within a federal flood zone along fragile wetlands on the city’s western shore. Climate models show this area underwater in just a few decades as warming temperatures push bay water higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bucci supported the project in the past, but at this City Council meeting late in 2019, dozens of residents pressed him to reconsider, saying the land should be preserved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have concerns about houses being out there and what may happen to them thirty, forty or fifty years down the road,” Bucci said in a recent interview with KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977896\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1977896\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1020x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Council-2019.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In Dec. 2019 Newark residents and environmental advocates asked the city council to further review the potential housing. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge Spokesperson Josh Sonnenfeld)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://opc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/agenda_items/20180314/Item3_Exhibit-A_OPC_SLR_Guidance-rd3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scientists project \u003c/a>seas could rise by at least 1 foot by 2030 and as much as 7 feet by 2100 because global emissions are still increasing — the higher level could overwhelm the homes with water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have a unique opportunity here to become a beacon, a shining light to show how local planning can adapt to the new, very real, and very dangerous threat of global warming,” longtime resident Mari Miller said during the standing-room-only winter public meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the gathering, Bucci urged the city to further examine the new climate projections (his fellow council members argued the issue had already been reviewed and litigated, and the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/11/15/newark-approves-469-homes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">approved\u003c/a> the project).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘There’s nothing that we could do’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Usually, the state oversees development along the San Francisco Bay shoreline. But Larry Goldzband, executive director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or BCDC, says the developers found a loophole to avoid these regulations, strategically moving the project outside the agency’s purview: 100 feet from the water’s edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The developer looked at BCDC and said, ‘I’m going to move the project out of your jurisdiction.’ There’s nothing that [we] can do with regard to that development project,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the city approved the project, the \u003ca href=\"https://savenewarkwetlands.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge\u003c/a> and other environmentalists sued, arguing the sea level rise protections weren’t strong enough; the lawsuit created the latest wrinkle in the circuitous planning process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You build here now, and I’m not sure you’ll have a house to leave to your kids,” said Jana Sokale, a committee member. “I’m not sure you’ll be able to get flood insurance because it’s going to be the frontline property at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s 1st District Court of Appeal heard arguments on Dec. 7 and will make a determination within the next 90 days.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Newark’s plan\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If built, Sanctuary West will add 469 single-family market-rate homes on four elevated peninsulas adjacent to a wetland near the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Each house would range between 3,600 to 5,000 square feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developers plan to drive in around 100,000 truckloads of dirt to raise the homes above potential stormwaters. Then line the banks with rocks to protect houses from waves, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.sobrato.com/people/tim-steele/\">Tim\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.sobrato.com/people/tim-steele/\">Steele\u003c/a>, senior vice president for real estate for The Sobrato Organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West will be “higher than a lot of homes that are currently built in the city” and “not be the first ones that will be impacted by any kind of sea level rise,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977933\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977933 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/SLR2100_Newark_V05.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flood estimates are approximations — 2050/1.6 ft rise plus a 20-year storm; 2100/4.9 ft rise plus a 20-year storm. More information about the flood data is found in this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973624/maps-see-which-bay-area-locations-are-at-risk-from-rising-seas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">post\u003c/a>. Development layout derived from city planning \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5267/637037295441930000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents\u003c/a> and doesn’t show potential future elevation changes.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The city declined an interview on the proposal because of the active lawsuit. In an emailed statement, Newark Mayor Alan L. Nagy said the city is committed to protecting its shoreline from sea level rise. Their planning documents consider a 50-year life for Sanctuary West, and say it will have “sufficient protection from 100-year flood events” within that time frame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West “will not be adversely impacted by predicted global climate change and sea level rise,” Nagy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City staff examined the project several times. A 2014 \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/4773/636863371395100000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">draft environmental review\u003c/a> shows the entire development flooding with a foot of water in high sea level rise scenarios that assume global emissions continue increasing. Another \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/182/636502333562270000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">review\u003c/a> in 2015 mined multiple state and global climate modeling surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, the city reexamined the project again, running it through a state \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5267/637037295441930000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">checklist\u003c/a> to considered flooding and a range of sea level rise projections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After all that, the city settled on what its \u003ca href=\"https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5281/637037297707300000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">documents\u003c/a> describe as a “low risk aversion” and “adaptive” strategy to protect the homes from rising tides. Newark assumes emissions will continue climbing and the bay will rise up to 1.9 feet by the year 2070 and plans to elevate the homes above this level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city will wait and see how to protect the homes beyond then, or if bay waters rise higher, faster — while statistically less likely, model scenarios show sea level rise could be more than twice as much by then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its documents do suggest punting the protective work onto the region, noting that an “earthen levee or structural floodwall” could be “more appropriate” as part of a “area-wide” solution, although it doesn’t say who’d pay for this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steele, with the developer, says he’s confident in a plan that raises the homes up — protecting them for now — and that leaves a door open to future engineering work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not suggesting sea level rise is not going to happen, or it’s not going to impact the way we live,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Studies warn of extreme flooding and the danger of poor planning\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: small\">\u003cem>Use your mouse to move different directions on the map. Use the + and – signs to zoom in and out. Click on the magnifying glass at the bottom to search for a specific address. Click on the down arrow top right of the legend to remove it. Sources: USGS, OCOF, Pacific Institute\u003c/em>\u003c/span>\u003cbr>\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://kqed.carto.com/u/kqednews/builder/f31503f8-3f13-48ef-bcff-2c2db612ae2c/embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office’s \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4261\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2020 analysis\u003c/a> of sea level rise studies explained that cities like Newark need to consider storms, king tides, or El Niño events pushing water levels even higher than rising tides alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the most recent United Nations climate report published last summer, scientists \u003ca href=\"https://www.ipcc.ch/2021/08/09/ar6-wg1-20210809-pr/\">noted\u003c/a> that low-lying cities like Newark will see “more frequent and severe flooding.” Plus, bad storms that used to occur occasionally could happen every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08471\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Model studies\u003c/a> show a more extreme scenario: ice sheets collapsing at the poles. That could mean “the California coast could experience over 10 feet of SLR by 2100,” according to the state’s analysis. These extreme scenarios are uncertain, but scientists say they are possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This goes beyond the scope of what we’ve thought about in planning horizons in terms of the magnitude of change that we’d be facing as a region,” said \u003ca href=\"https://ce.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/stacey\">Mark Stacey\u003c/a>, a UC Berkeley environmental engineer. He says such a large increase would require a “complete rethinking” of life along the San Francisco Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could help fill in the gap for much-needed housing in the Bay Area, but scientists like\u003ca href=\"http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/lubell/\"> Mark Lubell\u003c/a>, who studies sea level rise and governance at UC Davis, say the proposed site “is a terrible place to put a development.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we should definitely be looking at alternative locations for regional economic development that are not in hazard areas, wetland areas or watersheds,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Marshes aren’t static\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sanctuary West could harm one of the only natural flood protections left in the Bay Area: wetlands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only about \u003ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0027388\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">10% of the original marsh\u003c/a> area remains in San Francisco Bay. \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/about/staff/laura-feinstein\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Laura Feinstein\u003c/a>, sustainability and resilience policy director for the urban think tank SPUR, says upland areas are even more rare. That’s because cities like Newark have built right up to the border of sensitive marsh ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977918\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977918 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"Green marsh in the distance, foregrounded by water and yellowing marshland. A white bird sits on a fence post. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51303_IMG_8912_Edit-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The wetlands near Newark, photographed in the afternoon on August 13, 2021. (Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Feinstein says cities should preserve upland areas because these spaces will become the wetlands of the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we let marshes do their thing, and they have the right conditions and enough sediment available, as sea level rises, they will gradually move uphill,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/spur-report/2021-10-21/water-growing-bay-area\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study\u003c/a>, her group concluded that by maximizing infill, converting homes into duplexes, triplexes and adding accessory dwelling units, the Bay Area could address the housing crisis without building in areas vulnerable to flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is room in Newark and other adjacent cities to add new housing, it’s just that it should be put in the existing urban footprint,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A regulatory marsh\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The first avenue for people who have reservations about projects like Sanctuary West is to contest projects publicly at City Council meetings and public hearings. Since public outreach by environmental groups hasn’t had the desired effect in Newark, residents and advocates can sue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if lawsuits prove futile in preventing Sanctuary West from becoming a reality, advocates against the housing development will have to trust the permitting process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977912\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 540px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1977912 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with gray, shoulder-length hair wears a green sweater and silver binoculars around her neck. A wetland and powerlines are in the background against blue skies. \" width=\"540\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi.jpg 540w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/RS51305_IMG_8820_Edit-sfi-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jana Sokale is a Newark resident and leader of the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge. (Joyce Tsai/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While BCDC no longer has jurisdiction over Sanctuary West, officials at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/\">San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board\u003c/a> say they will make it difficult for developers to build on the wetlands in Newark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter to the developer from May 2020, the board said the 1.6 million cubic yards of dirt needed to raise the potential homes out of the floodplain will impact the wetlands and “alter the existing wetland hydrology.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board is also concerned over “repeated claims the project does not have the potential to impact water quality or to result in discharges” of everything from fill to heavy metals to oil, and says the city used “out of date or inadequate information to minimize” Sanctuary West’s environmental impact. In the letter to the developer, board officials said the project would have direct and indirect water impacts. They said the project would disrupt endangered species, recreation and wildlife habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though the agency has significant concerns over how the project will alter the ecosystem, it can’t altogether reject it, said \u003ca href=\"https://agency.calepa.ca.gov/StaffDirectory/detail.asp?UID=63534&BDO=7&VW=DET\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Xavier Fernandez\u003c/a>, planning manager for the board. He says the agency can make permitting very costly from a developer’s point of view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we would like them to do is to move it back as far as possible or not build it at all, and coordinate with adjacent communities in order to collectively come up with a plan for protecting that region,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Grappling with climate change in real time\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-hummel-531a2458/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michelle Hummel,\u003c/a> an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington who studies the impact of sea level rise on the bay extensively, says cities, agencies, and developers are paying mind to the outcome of the Newark debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There needs to be clear guidelines about how we want to move forward locally and regionally,” she said, especially for development in vulnerable coastal margins between the bay and existing development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s not really a clear understanding of whether or not this project can go through, and people are kind of just stalling right now,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "“It’s scary to think that a small town like ours is on the frontline of that battle.”” ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hummel says if the region’s piecemeal approach to addressing sea level rise continues on a development by development basis, eventually, the bay could see cumulative impacts as water floods neighborhoods, businesses and infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says what happens in Newark could “set the stage for how these types of projects are visualized and approved in the future.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1977913\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1977913\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/12/Newark-Second-Aerial-Photo-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The area Sanctuary West would sit within is a mosaic of wetlands and upland habitat. A slough runs through the area connecting it to the bay. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge's Derell Licht/Creative Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The state wants to close regulatory gaps, like the one Sanctuary West exposed. BCDC’s new regional sea level rise adaptation plan, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayadapt.org/\">Bay Adapt,\u003c/a> includes a potential fix and is a \u003ca href=\"https://www.bayadapt.org/jointplatform/\">road map\u003c/a> for agencies and cities to create new policies to interpret the effects of climate change better. This could include expanding BCDC’s jurisdiction beyond 100 feet from the shoreline. But that requires regional collaboration and legislation, which could take years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s part of a bigger conversation; it’s assessing sort of the whole web of regulation and then seeing what the solutions are for filling that in,” said \u003ca href=\"http://www.adaptingtorisingtides.org/help-desk/\">Dana Brechwald\u003c/a>, BCDC’s Adapting to Rising Tides Program manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And among all the regulatory confusion is a question: Should the Bay Area further develop its shoreline when climate models show the water will continually rise?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Newark’s youngest City Council member, the answer is simple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s no,” Bucci said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is apprehensive a catastrophic flood could happen in Newark because he lived through a flood in the ’90s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My entire street flooded up to the lawns,” he remembered. “What happens when those events come around again, and how bad is it going to be? It’s scary to think that a small town like ours is on the frontline of that battle.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "I'm Ready to Act on Climate. Do I Start Big or Small?",
"headTitle": "I’m Ready to Act on Climate. Do I Start Big or Small? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>It’s an all-hands-on-deck decade for the climate. But before you roll up your sleeves, you may be wondering just where to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do you begin at home, by reducing your personal contributions to global warming, like flying less, driving less or eating less meat? Or do you start on the larger, systems level, by pushing for better public transit options, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and other policy changes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The debate is active in the climate community, too, so let’s go through the arguments on both sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The argument for systems change: Climate change is a math problem\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Many of the causes of greenhouse gases are outside of individual control, like where your energy comes from, how good public transit is where you live or how much housing is available near where you work, potentially forcing you into a car for a long commute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s say you want to bike to work instead of driving, but your city has unsafe streets for bikes, and no bike lanes. You’ll make the safe choice and drive. The work is to push the city to create more bike accessibility — a change at a systems level — so you can then make a change individually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As climate writer and activist Bill McKibben said on the podcast \u003ca href=\"https://www.degreespod.com/episodes/episode-01\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Matter of Degrees\u003c/a>, “Climate change is a math problem, and the numbers are very large.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. emitted the equivalent of \u003ca href=\"https://cfpub.epa.gov/ghgdata/inventoryexplorer/#allsectors/allsectors/allgas/gas/all\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">6.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2019\u003c/a>, roughly 11% of global emissions, and equal to the annual output of \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1,653 coal-fired power plants\u003c/a>. The average American \u003ca href=\"https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/11/1783/2019/essd-11-1783-2019.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emits about 16 metric tons a year\u003c/a>. Changing your behavior, even if done perfectly, is just a drop in the bucket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also the question of time. Gradual, individual behavior change would have been helpful if we had decades, advocates say, but our timeline to avert the worst impacts of climate change is short. Organizations like the World Resources Institute argue that the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.wri.org/insights/5-reasons-us-should-cut-its-ghg-emissions-half-2030\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">must reduce emissions by half by 2030\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So job one is to organize, job two is to organize your friends and neighbors and job three is to organize. And if you have some energy left over after that, by all means, check out every light bulb in your house,” McKibben said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Keep big polluters on the hook, activists say\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Climate activists argue that a fixation on individual actions alone lets major polluters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09644016.2020.1863703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">who obscured the threat of warming for decades\u003c/a>, off the hook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An investigation from \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/project/exxon-the-road-not-taken/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Inside Climate News\u003c/a> found that the Exxon Mobil Corp. pioneered climate change research and warned top executives of possible catastrophe from global warming, but that the company later funded climate change denial groups that led efforts to block solutions (\u003ca href=\"http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/2015/10/21/when-it-comes-to-climate-change-read-the-documents/\">the company pushed back on the investigation\u003c/a>, saying the reporters “cherry-picked” statements from documents).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil and gas company \u003ca href=\"https://mashable.com/feature/carbon-footprint-pr-campaign-sham\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BP circulated the phrase “carbon footprint” in the 2000s\u003c/a>, according to reporting from Mark Kaufman in Mashable. He writes that the company “popularized the term” with a calculator that could “assess how their normal daily life — going to work, buying food, and (gasp) traveling — is largely responsible for heating the globe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Science historian \u003ca href=\"https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/09/oil-companies-discourage-climate-action-study-says/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Geoffrey Supran\u003c/a> argues this was a strategy to turn the blame away from the company, and onto individuals (the company disagrees; spokesperson Josh Hicks told KQED in a statement that BP takes responsibility for their emissions and plans to hit a net zero emissions target by 2050).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>This is not a game of who’s more righteous\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Focusing on individual actions can quickly turn into a holier-than-thou competition with others, and who wants to feel judged?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as Michael Mann argues in his book “\u003ca href=\"https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/michael-e-mann/the-new-climate-war/9781541758223/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The New Climate War\u003c/a>,” the idea of what some see as personal sacrifice may further push moderates and conservatives away from climate action.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The argument for individual changes\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“If you live in a rich country, and especially the richer you are, your individual actions really matter,” climate scientist Kimberly Nicholas writes in her book “\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/665274/under-the-sky-we-make-by-kimberly-nicholas-phd/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Under the Sky We Make\u003c/a>.” They matter both in reducing carbon, and in changing the perception of the good life from one that uses excessive carbon to one that does not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es803496a\">70% of global greenhouse gas pollution can be traced\u003c/a> to how people get around, their diet, and the heating and cooling of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The richest 10% of Americans, who have annual household incomes of above $201,000, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kch.tul.cz/sedlbauer/clanek15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emitted 50 metric tons of carbon in 2015, according to a study from European economists\u003c/a>; that’s roughly equivalent to the energy needed to power nine standard homes for a year. Much of these planet-warming gases came from travel by plane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep warming in check at 1.5 degrees Celsius, each person’s carbon emissions would need to fall to \u003ca href=\"https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-design/15-degree-lifestyles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2.5 metric tons\u003c/a> by 2030. And research shows \u003ca href=\"https://www.sitra.fi/en/publications/pathways-to-1-5-degree-lifestyles-by-2030/#towards-1-5-degree-lifestyles\">this is an achievable goal\u003c/a> with a \u003ca href=\"https://theconversation.com/how-10-billion-people-could-live-well-by-2050-using-as-much-energy-as-we-did-60-years-ago-146896\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">good standard of living \u003c/a>for people (meaning decently sized homes with heating and cooling, hot water, washing machines, refrigerators and access to health care and public transit).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Aligning your actions and values\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Environmental psychologist Renée Lertzman says most people participate in a system that worsens climate change, and are aware of the impact of those changes, and that can create stress, or “psychological pain” (even if your contribution to the problem is far less than an executive at a fossil fuel company, for example). That pain, she says, can lead a person to step away from taking action on climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aligning your actions with your climate values can help to reduce that pain, and build momentum to catalyze you into larger actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you couple individual action with \u003cem>talking \u003c/em>about why you’re doing what you’re doing, you have the potential to create a change larger than yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research from Yale’s climate change and communication program shows that the majority of people who care about climate change \u003ca href=\"https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-spiral-silence-america/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rarely or never talk about it with family and friends\u003c/a>, often assuming there are more people who deny climate change than there actually are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When changes become a social norm, it becomes more attractive for politicians and companies to take action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research shows \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aas8827\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">just 25% of a population is needed to create a “tipping point”\u003c/a> change in popular opinion. \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aas8827\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>So which side wins? Well, both\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Larger greenhouse gas emission reductions are possible through changing systems, but it’s valuable for individuals to make personal changes, too, especially in wealthy countries like the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it matters which actions you take, as research shows that some actions, like calling your representative and cutting down on driving, are far more effective than others, like fretting about your plastic straw. Read more about\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1977314/climate-change-is-here-its-bad-heres-what-you-can-do\"> how to take the most effective actions to address climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate scientist Mann writes in his book that the debate between systems vs. individual change is being exploited by companies to create a rift among those with a common goal: reducing greenhouse gas emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s important is to remember that everyone who is working to make a change is on the same team, regardless of where they start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/8818.js\"]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Here are the arguments for just where to focus your climate-conscious energy: systems change or individual action.",
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"title": "I'm Ready to Act on Climate. Do I Start Big or Small? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s an all-hands-on-deck decade for the climate. But before you roll up your sleeves, you may be wondering just where to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do you begin at home, by reducing your personal contributions to global warming, like flying less, driving less or eating less meat? Or do you start on the larger, systems level, by pushing for better public transit options, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and other policy changes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The debate is active in the climate community, too, so let’s go through the arguments on both sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The argument for systems change: Climate change is a math problem\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Many of the causes of greenhouse gases are outside of individual control, like where your energy comes from, how good public transit is where you live or how much housing is available near where you work, potentially forcing you into a car for a long commute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s say you want to bike to work instead of driving, but your city has unsafe streets for bikes, and no bike lanes. You’ll make the safe choice and drive. The work is to push the city to create more bike accessibility — a change at a systems level — so you can then make a change individually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As climate writer and activist Bill McKibben said on the podcast \u003ca href=\"https://www.degreespod.com/episodes/episode-01\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A Matter of Degrees\u003c/a>, “Climate change is a math problem, and the numbers are very large.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. emitted the equivalent of \u003ca href=\"https://cfpub.epa.gov/ghgdata/inventoryexplorer/#allsectors/allsectors/allgas/gas/all\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">6.6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2019\u003c/a>, roughly 11% of global emissions, and equal to the annual output of \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1,653 coal-fired power plants\u003c/a>. The average American \u003ca href=\"https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/11/1783/2019/essd-11-1783-2019.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emits about 16 metric tons a year\u003c/a>. Changing your behavior, even if done perfectly, is just a drop in the bucket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also the question of time. Gradual, individual behavior change would have been helpful if we had decades, advocates say, but our timeline to avert the worst impacts of climate change is short. Organizations like the World Resources Institute argue that the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://www.wri.org/insights/5-reasons-us-should-cut-its-ghg-emissions-half-2030\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">must reduce emissions by half by 2030\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So job one is to organize, job two is to organize your friends and neighbors and job three is to organize. And if you have some energy left over after that, by all means, check out every light bulb in your house,” McKibben said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Keep big polluters on the hook, activists say\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Climate activists argue that a fixation on individual actions alone lets major polluters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09644016.2020.1863703\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">who obscured the threat of warming for decades\u003c/a>, off the hook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An investigation from \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/project/exxon-the-road-not-taken/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Inside Climate News\u003c/a> found that the Exxon Mobil Corp. pioneered climate change research and warned top executives of possible catastrophe from global warming, but that the company later funded climate change denial groups that led efforts to block solutions (\u003ca href=\"http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/2015/10/21/when-it-comes-to-climate-change-read-the-documents/\">the company pushed back on the investigation\u003c/a>, saying the reporters “cherry-picked” statements from documents).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil and gas company \u003ca href=\"https://mashable.com/feature/carbon-footprint-pr-campaign-sham\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BP circulated the phrase “carbon footprint” in the 2000s\u003c/a>, according to reporting from Mark Kaufman in Mashable. He writes that the company “popularized the term” with a calculator that could “assess how their normal daily life — going to work, buying food, and (gasp) traveling — is largely responsible for heating the globe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Science historian \u003ca href=\"https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/09/oil-companies-discourage-climate-action-study-says/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Geoffrey Supran\u003c/a> argues this was a strategy to turn the blame away from the company, and onto individuals (the company disagrees; spokesperson Josh Hicks told KQED in a statement that BP takes responsibility for their emissions and plans to hit a net zero emissions target by 2050).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>This is not a game of who’s more righteous\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Focusing on individual actions can quickly turn into a holier-than-thou competition with others, and who wants to feel judged?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as Michael Mann argues in his book “\u003ca href=\"https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/michael-e-mann/the-new-climate-war/9781541758223/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The New Climate War\u003c/a>,” the idea of what some see as personal sacrifice may further push moderates and conservatives away from climate action.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The argument for individual changes\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“If you live in a rich country, and especially the richer you are, your individual actions really matter,” climate scientist Kimberly Nicholas writes in her book “\u003ca href=\"https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/665274/under-the-sky-we-make-by-kimberly-nicholas-phd/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Under the Sky We Make\u003c/a>.” They matter both in reducing carbon, and in changing the perception of the good life from one that uses excessive carbon to one that does not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es803496a\">70% of global greenhouse gas pollution can be traced\u003c/a> to how people get around, their diet, and the heating and cooling of homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The richest 10% of Americans, who have annual household incomes of above $201,000, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kch.tul.cz/sedlbauer/clanek15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">emitted 50 metric tons of carbon in 2015, according to a study from European economists\u003c/a>; that’s roughly equivalent to the energy needed to power nine standard homes for a year. Much of these planet-warming gases came from travel by plane.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To keep warming in check at 1.5 degrees Celsius, each person’s carbon emissions would need to fall to \u003ca href=\"https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-design/15-degree-lifestyles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2.5 metric tons\u003c/a> by 2030. And research shows \u003ca href=\"https://www.sitra.fi/en/publications/pathways-to-1-5-degree-lifestyles-by-2030/#towards-1-5-degree-lifestyles\">this is an achievable goal\u003c/a> with a \u003ca href=\"https://theconversation.com/how-10-billion-people-could-live-well-by-2050-using-as-much-energy-as-we-did-60-years-ago-146896\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">good standard of living \u003c/a>for people (meaning decently sized homes with heating and cooling, hot water, washing machines, refrigerators and access to health care and public transit).\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Aligning your actions and values\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Environmental psychologist Renée Lertzman says most people participate in a system that worsens climate change, and are aware of the impact of those changes, and that can create stress, or “psychological pain” (even if your contribution to the problem is far less than an executive at a fossil fuel company, for example). That pain, she says, can lead a person to step away from taking action on climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aligning your actions with your climate values can help to reduce that pain, and build momentum to catalyze you into larger actions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you couple individual action with \u003cem>talking \u003c/em>about why you’re doing what you’re doing, you have the potential to create a change larger than yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research from Yale’s climate change and communication program shows that the majority of people who care about climate change \u003ca href=\"https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-spiral-silence-america/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rarely or never talk about it with family and friends\u003c/a>, often assuming there are more people who deny climate change than there actually are.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When changes become a social norm, it becomes more attractive for politicians and companies to take action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research shows \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aas8827\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">just 25% of a population is needed to create a “tipping point”\u003c/a> change in popular opinion. \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aas8827\"> \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>So which side wins? Well, both\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Larger greenhouse gas emission reductions are possible through changing systems, but it’s valuable for individuals to make personal changes, too, especially in wealthy countries like the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it matters which actions you take, as research shows that some actions, like calling your representative and cutting down on driving, are far more effective than others, like fretting about your plastic straw. Read more about\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1977314/climate-change-is-here-its-bad-heres-what-you-can-do\"> how to take the most effective actions to address climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate scientist Mann writes in his book that the debate between systems vs. individual change is being exploited by companies to create a rift among those with a common goal: reducing greenhouse gas emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s important is to remember that everyone who is working to make a change is on the same team, regardless of where they start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "'Rolling Deep': Here's How Latinos Are Reshaping California Environmentalism",
"headTitle": "‘Rolling Deep’: Here’s How Latinos Are Reshaping California Environmentalism | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Latino power players stacked the California delegation at this month’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-business-europe-united-kingdom-scotland-459b7ca49f7a55736db4ff0206c42d60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.N. climate meeting in Glasgow\u003c/a>, which concluded last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is rolling deep, as they say,” said Assemblyman Eddie Garcia, who represents the Coachella Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was one of the state’s Latino elected officials high on the state’s delegate list, along with Lauren Sanchez, the governor’s senior climate adviser and Senate Majority Whip Lena Gonzalez; many Latino researchers like Michael Méndez, an environmental planner from UC Irvine, attended, as well as, activists, organizers and protesters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is not your abuelita’s environmental movement, attendees of the conference told KQED. Young Latino climate activists demand swift action, while leaders of organizations embrace a broader definition of environmentalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The focus of this movement, they say, is on how the planet impacts people — especially health, opportunities and environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As an immigrant and a person of Mexican heritage, I felt really proud,” said Alvaro Sanchez, vice president of policy at the Greenlining Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Rings of power\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The setup at the U.N.’s annual Conference of the Parties is organized around concentric circles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the center of this year’s gathering, countries hashed out details of a new climate change agreement. While some countries committed to more ambitious cuts to heat-trapping pollution, others did not agree to rein in emissions fast enough for the world to avoid the worst damage from climate-driven disasters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/13/1055542738/cop26-climate-summit-final-decision\">NPR reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States like California were not involved in those negotiations. But credentialed insiders were allowed access to an inner circle, what attendees call the “blue zone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next circle is the “green zone.” It’s designed to provide limited access and is where experts and advocates lobby and network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the official conference and outside the secure area, protesters demonstrate to be heard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea is that when people are coming in through the blue zone, they see all this advocacy,” said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, COP veteran and founder of the San Francisco-based ocean conservation group \u003ca href=\"https://azul.org/en/who-are-we/\">Azul.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view from the blue zone\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Legislators, scientists and big names in the climate world are in the blue zone — as are thousands of people who want to get close to them for some face time. State policymakers are always much in demand by their counterparts from municipal and regional governments at these meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garcia had access to the blue zone as a member of the state’s official delegation. He said California is an international model for climate policy, adding that the state’s “role at this conference is to continue to be a global leader in climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon makes the case that California is where new ideas get tested in the real world, proof positive that cutting emissions won’t destroy the economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state generates climate solutions, like electric vehicles, regulations on power plant emissions and original research into the consequences of a warming climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, Rendon said, the California model is not perfect and needs improvement. Millions of Californians drive cars and run air conditioners, producing planet-warming emissions just like other industrialized economies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to tell the story of what we’ve done,” Rendon said. “But I think we need to do more. [California’s emissions reductions] have not been as as aggressive as I would like them to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view from the green zone\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sure, California has lots of ideas to share, the Greenlining Institute’s Sanchez said, but it’s also an oil-producing state where some residents — especially working-class people of color — suffer from extreme heat and air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see over and over again that people of color are very concerned about climate, that people of color want government to take action on climate,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez attended previous COPs as a guest of the state delegation, but watched this one from home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and other environmental groups are working with a new generation of climate activists who value rules to protect public health and equal access to nature over traditional conversation priorities, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1956446/state-park-plan-is-conservationists-dream-but-reformers-want-focus-on-park-poor-neighborhoods\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expanded wilderness protections.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we talk about climate, we’re also talking about access to technology and economic opportunity,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez emigrated from Mexico City as a child. He and Gutiérrez-Graudiņš both described being shaped by the experience of coming up as the only person of color in the room in California’s traditional environmental organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so frustrating when I’m in environmental spaces where it’s mostly dominated by white people,” Sanchez said. “It feels isolating to me as a Latino. Often still to this day I’m one of very few people of color in the space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gutiérrez-Graudiņš said the environmental movement will have failed if Latinos, who are 40% of the state’s population, continue to feel this way. But some movement organizers just don’t get it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks would have meetings in a yacht club in Orange County and wonder why no more people came in,” she said. “There was a lot of like, Hey Marcela, can you bring some like Latinos for this? As if I had baskets of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view outside the rings from the streets\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Marco Lemus, a food justice organizer with Richmond’s \u003ca href=\"https://urbantilth.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Urban Tilth\u003c/a>, attended a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894453/youth-environmental-activists-call-out-funders-of-climate-chaos\"> recent climate protest\u003c/a> in San Francisco. He also attended the Glasgow meeting, demonstrating in the streets\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His goal was to “highlight that the climate crisis is a product of our systems” and to make a point that “it’s not something that we can just grow our way out of.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lemus grew up in the shadow of Richmond’s refineries. He said he doesn’t trust that anyone at COP had his interests in mind. That’s why he preferred to get involved in climate justice through direct action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Lemus, California is not the model. It’s where city kids get asthma and farmworkers die of heat exhaustion. He worries that his generation will spend their whole lives dealing with climate-driven disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why Lemus got on his first international plane trip to protest at COP26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Violeta Vasquez, 24, has no interest in international climate conferences. She said the diplomats, politicians and experts at COP should go back to their hometowns and look at what helps the communities, including Latinos most affected by climate change and the fossil fuel industries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her activism lives closer to her San Francisco home, at \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/event/crocker-farm-collective-gardening/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hummingbird Farm\u003c/a>, a project of \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PODER\u003c/a> in the Crocker-Amazon neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, she and a friend moved mulch there, bundling stalks of \u003ca href=\"https://www.britannica.com/plant/teosinte\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">teosinte\u003c/a>, a wild ancestor of maize that native peoples of Southern Mexico \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/subjects/plant-domestication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">domesticated\u003c/a> many years ago. She looks to Indigenous peoples who built civilizations around corn, and whose traditions are still celebrated by Mexican Americans,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Indigenous peoples since before colonization have always been very acutely aware of our relationship between humans and Earth, of needing to live in a harmonious way,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says whether it’s through direct action or community gardening, the most effective strategy is one that builds a constituency and demands urgent action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez agrees: “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Sacramento or at COP. It’s the political capital that you have behind your advocacy that’s going to make a difference,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He appreciates the energy of young organizers because it keeps the pressure on the decision-makers. And that’s the goal that Latino climate activists all share.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "'Rolling Deep': Here's How Latinos Are Reshaping California Environmentalism | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Latino power players stacked the California delegation at this month’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-business-europe-united-kingdom-scotland-459b7ca49f7a55736db4ff0206c42d60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.N. climate meeting in Glasgow\u003c/a>, which concluded last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is rolling deep, as they say,” said Assemblyman Eddie Garcia, who represents the Coachella Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was one of the state’s Latino elected officials high on the state’s delegate list, along with Lauren Sanchez, the governor’s senior climate adviser and Senate Majority Whip Lena Gonzalez; many Latino researchers like Michael Méndez, an environmental planner from UC Irvine, attended, as well as, activists, organizers and protesters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is not your abuelita’s environmental movement, attendees of the conference told KQED. Young Latino climate activists demand swift action, while leaders of organizations embrace a broader definition of environmentalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The focus of this movement, they say, is on how the planet impacts people — especially health, opportunities and environmental justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As an immigrant and a person of Mexican heritage, I felt really proud,” said Alvaro Sanchez, vice president of policy at the Greenlining Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Rings of power\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The setup at the U.N.’s annual Conference of the Parties is organized around concentric circles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the center of this year’s gathering, countries hashed out details of a new climate change agreement. While some countries committed to more ambitious cuts to heat-trapping pollution, others did not agree to rein in emissions fast enough for the world to avoid the worst damage from climate-driven disasters, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/13/1055542738/cop26-climate-summit-final-decision\">NPR reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States like California were not involved in those negotiations. But credentialed insiders were allowed access to an inner circle, what attendees call the “blue zone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next circle is the “green zone.” It’s designed to provide limited access and is where experts and advocates lobby and network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the official conference and outside the secure area, protesters demonstrate to be heard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea is that when people are coming in through the blue zone, they see all this advocacy,” said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, COP veteran and founder of the San Francisco-based ocean conservation group \u003ca href=\"https://azul.org/en/who-are-we/\">Azul.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view from the blue zone\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Legislators, scientists and big names in the climate world are in the blue zone — as are thousands of people who want to get close to them for some face time. State policymakers are always much in demand by their counterparts from municipal and regional governments at these meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garcia had access to the blue zone as a member of the state’s official delegation. He said California is an international model for climate policy, adding that the state’s “role at this conference is to continue to be a global leader in climate change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon makes the case that California is where new ideas get tested in the real world, proof positive that cutting emissions won’t destroy the economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state generates climate solutions, like electric vehicles, regulations on power plant emissions and original research into the consequences of a warming climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, Rendon said, the California model is not perfect and needs improvement. Millions of Californians drive cars and run air conditioners, producing planet-warming emissions just like other industrialized economies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to tell the story of what we’ve done,” Rendon said. “But I think we need to do more. [California’s emissions reductions] have not been as as aggressive as I would like them to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view from the green zone\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Sure, California has lots of ideas to share, the Greenlining Institute’s Sanchez said, but it’s also an oil-producing state where some residents — especially working-class people of color — suffer from extreme heat and air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We see over and over again that people of color are very concerned about climate, that people of color want government to take action on climate,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez attended previous COPs as a guest of the state delegation, but watched this one from home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and other environmental groups are working with a new generation of climate activists who value rules to protect public health and equal access to nature over traditional conversation priorities, like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1956446/state-park-plan-is-conservationists-dream-but-reformers-want-focus-on-park-poor-neighborhoods\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expanded wilderness protections.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When we talk about climate, we’re also talking about access to technology and economic opportunity,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez emigrated from Mexico City as a child. He and Gutiérrez-Graudiņš both described being shaped by the experience of coming up as the only person of color in the room in California’s traditional environmental organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so frustrating when I’m in environmental spaces where it’s mostly dominated by white people,” Sanchez said. “It feels isolating to me as a Latino. Often still to this day I’m one of very few people of color in the space.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gutiérrez-Graudiņš said the environmental movement will have failed if Latinos, who are 40% of the state’s population, continue to feel this way. But some movement organizers just don’t get it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks would have meetings in a yacht club in Orange County and wonder why no more people came in,” she said. “There was a lot of like, Hey Marcela, can you bring some like Latinos for this? As if I had baskets of people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The view outside the rings from the streets\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Marco Lemus, a food justice organizer with Richmond’s \u003ca href=\"https://urbantilth.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Urban Tilth\u003c/a>, attended a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894453/youth-environmental-activists-call-out-funders-of-climate-chaos\"> recent climate protest\u003c/a> in San Francisco. He also attended the Glasgow meeting, demonstrating in the streets\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His goal was to “highlight that the climate crisis is a product of our systems” and to make a point that “it’s not something that we can just grow our way out of.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lemus grew up in the shadow of Richmond’s refineries. He said he doesn’t trust that anyone at COP had his interests in mind. That’s why he preferred to get involved in climate justice through direct action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Lemus, California is not the model. It’s where city kids get asthma and farmworkers die of heat exhaustion. He worries that his generation will spend their whole lives dealing with climate-driven disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why Lemus got on his first international plane trip to protest at COP26.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Violeta Vasquez, 24, has no interest in international climate conferences. She said the diplomats, politicians and experts at COP should go back to their hometowns and look at what helps the communities, including Latinos most affected by climate change and the fossil fuel industries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her activism lives closer to her San Francisco home, at \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/event/crocker-farm-collective-gardening/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hummingbird Farm\u003c/a>, a project of \u003ca href=\"https://www.podersf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PODER\u003c/a> in the Crocker-Amazon neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, she and a friend moved mulch there, bundling stalks of \u003ca href=\"https://www.britannica.com/plant/teosinte\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">teosinte\u003c/a>, a wild ancestor of maize that native peoples of Southern Mexico \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/subjects/plant-domestication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">domesticated\u003c/a> many years ago. She looks to Indigenous peoples who built civilizations around corn, and whose traditions are still celebrated by Mexican Americans,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Indigenous peoples since before colonization have always been very acutely aware of our relationship between humans and Earth, of needing to live in a harmonious way,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says whether it’s through direct action or community gardening, the most effective strategy is one that builds a constituency and demands urgent action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez agrees: “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Sacramento or at COP. It’s the political capital that you have behind your advocacy that’s going to make a difference,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He appreciates the energy of young organizers because it keeps the pressure on the decision-makers. And that’s the goal that Latino climate activists all share.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "COP26 Negotiators Debating Agreement Calling For an End to Coal and Fossil Fuel Subsidies",
"headTitle": "COP26 Negotiators Debating Agreement Calling For an End to Coal and Fossil Fuel Subsidies | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>As the United Nations climate summit enters its last hours, there is modest progress on reducing reliance on fossil fuels and giving aid to countries most at risk from extreme weather. But stubborn divisions over the details of key issues remain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In what would be a first in decades of such negotiations, nations could call for an end to using coal and subsidizing fossil fuels. Despite some weaker language, those two elements remain in the most recent draft being circulated for consensus agreement among the more than 100 participating countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The summit in Glasgow, Scotland, is scheduled to end Friday, but could extend into the weekend as negotiators try to nail down agreement on a range of thorny issues for their final statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, it appears that the conference, known as COP26, is set to fall far short of its overall goal of keeping global warming from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054772983/antonio-guterres-cop26-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview with the Associated Press\u003c/a>, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that goal is “on life support.” Beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, scientists say the world faces catastrophic and potentially irreversible damage from extreme heat, drought, and flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No COP agreement until now has even mentioned fossil fuels, the main source of climate-warming emissions. Having that in the final text would be a breakthrough. But negotiators have struggled to find language acceptable to all countries, especially those with significant fossil fuel reserves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An earlier version of the agreement called on countries to “accelerate the phasing out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuel.” The new language calls for “the phaseout of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The term “unabated” would make room for carbon capture systems on coal-fired power plants, like \u003ca href=\"https://gizmodo.com/the-only-carbon-capture-plant-in-the-u-s-just-closed-1846177778\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one in Texas\u003c/a>. While that one technically worked, it shut down because it was unprofitable. And “inefficient subsidies” leaves room for countries that subsidize energy for low-income residents, but also countries that want to continue subsidizing fossil fuel companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that we’ve got the phaseout of fossil fuel subsidies and the phaseout of coal in the text is really new and important,” says Helen Mountford with World Resources Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other environmental groups that want to see more dramatic action, including a \u003ca href=\"https://fossilfueltreaty.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty\u003c/a>, are upset by the change. “The credibility of these talks is in question if landmark language around fossil fuels gives them a lifeline through carbon capture technologies and continued subsidies,” says Jean Su with the Center for Biological Diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Activists from developing countries also are critical of how negotiations among the nearly 200 nations are shaping up.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>“Humanity will not be saved by promises”\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>An activist from Uganda gave voice Thursday to the fears many have that the Glasgow summit will amount to just another series of pledges, without urgent action driving them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Humanity will not be saved by promises,” Vanessa Nakate \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuuOts3jL3I&ab_channel=Rappler\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told\u003c/a> political and business leaders gathered at the summit. “We must reduce global CO2 emissions by somewhere between 7% to 11% this year, and next year, and every year after year, until we get to zero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nakate said if countries fail to meet goals set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, heat stress will hurt people where she lives because temperatures will be too hot and extreme, reaching temperatures that “the human body cannot cool itself by sweating,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Secretary-General Guterres also put pressure on countries Thursday, urging them “to pick up the pace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guterres did praise an \u003ca href=\"https://www.state.gov/u-s-china-joint-glasgow-declaration-on-enhancing-climate-action-in-the-2020s/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">agreement\u003c/a> between the U.S. and China to work together on cutting emissions, reaffirming their commitments to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and aiming for 1.5 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That agreement focused on methane, which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, though it does not stay in the atmosphere as long. \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scientists say\u003c/a> reducing methane pollution now could quickly rein in some global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week the Biden administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051302469/biden-proposes-new-rules-to-cut-climate-warming-methane-emissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">proposed stricter regulations\u003c/a> on oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions. Under the new agreement with the US, China says it intends to develop a “National Action Plan on methane, aiming to achieve a significant effect on methane emissions control and reductions in the 2020s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both countries say they’ll meet in the first half of next year to nail down specifics. Guterres called this an important step. But he warned that “promises ring hollow when the fossil fuels industry still receives \u003ca href=\"https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trillions in subsidies\u003c/a>, as measured by the IMF [International Monetary Fund]. Or when countries are still building coal plants,” said Guterres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry defended the agreement in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054648598/u-s-and-china-announce-surprise-climate-agreement-at-cop26-summit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview with NPR\u003c/a>, saying it’s “bigger than some people think.” If the U.S. and China reach their goal of reducing methane emissions 30% by 2030, Kerry says “that is the equivalent of taking all the cars in the world, all of the trucks in the world, all of the airplanes in the world, all ships in the world, down to zero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Calls for wealthier nations to take more responsibility\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The high stakes if countries fail to act boldly was on display in dramatic ways during this summit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The foreign minister of Tuvalu, a Pacific island nation, \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/9EkSrtlapZQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">delivered his speech\u003c/a> knee-deep in water to show how the rising ocean already affects his country. “Climate change and sea level rise are deadly and existential threats to Tuvalu,” said Simon Kofe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the final days of negotiations, nations still aren’t seeing eye to eye on the issue of climate finance, a $100 billion fund for developing countries. Wealthier countries promised to deliver that amount annually by 2020, an acknowledgment that they are responsible for the bulk of climate-warming emissions over the past century and a half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The funds help vulnerable countries reduce their emissions with renewable energy and cleaner transportation, as well as help them prepare communities for climate impacts, like extreme storms and floods. The latest draft agreement expresses “deep regret” that richer countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/11/10/1052926511/this-kenyan-family-got-solar-power-high-level-climate-talks-determine-who-else-w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">so far have fallen short of that goal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several new funding commitments were announced in Glasgow, and wealthier countries say they’ll reach the $100 billion mark in 2022 or 2023. But developing countries say much of that has been in the form of loans instead of grants, putting an added burden on nations to pay it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries estimate climate-related damage will hit $5-to-9 trillion dollars by 2030 and are pushing for more details about what the next funding goal will be. They want to see more transparency about where climate finance is coming from, as well as assurances that much of it will be offered as grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The level of ambition on climate finance required is simply not there yet,” says Fekadu Beyene of Ethiopia, representing a group of the 46 poorest countries at the talks. “Vulnerable countries are already experiencing devastating impacts at 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming and are struggling to recover. We cannot expect to build resilience to the impacts we will feel at 1.5 degrees Celsius without additional resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries are also pushing for compensation for the increasing damage that climate change is already causing. They’re seeking a dedicated “loss and damage” fund, which could be used by countries struggling to rebuild after disasters. \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.scot/news/scotland-to-boost-climate-funding/\">Scotland announced the first contribution\u003c/a>, 2 million pounds, at the Glasgow summit. But other wealthier countries, including the U.S., are wary of being held liable for climate change damages and oppose creating a separate fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Countries are headed toward “catastrophic climate change”\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The modest progress made so far may be the best that can be expected from an international negotiation process where every country must agree on a final statement. But the scientific reality of a warming climate is unforgiving, and demands swifter action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group Climate Action Tracker \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053875461/glasgow-climate-pledges-are-lip-service-without-far-more-aggressive-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">earlier this week\u003c/a> factored in new pledges countries had made so far to cut heat-trapping emissions. It found that even if everyone kept their most ambitious promises, warming would still be 1.8 degrees Celsius, which is above the 1.5 degree goal. When analysts mapped out what countries are actually doing now, the picture was bleaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With all the policies that are currently implemented, our temperature estimate is 2.7 degrees” of warming, said Niklas Höhne, founding partner of NewClimate Institute. “That is catastrophic climate change. It’s a situation that we simply cannot handle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Höhne was among those in Glasgow who said leaders must go back home and put practices in place to meet the promises they’ve made to each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S. President Biden has proposed an aggressive climate plan that aims to meet the goals of the Paris agreement, but much of the legislation needed to implement it is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/05/1052206451/house-is-poised-for-a-vote-on-its-spending-plan-but-hurdles-remain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stalled in Congress\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=In+a+first%2C+U.N.+climate+agreement+could+include+the+words+%27coal%27+and+%27fossil+fuels%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The U.N. Secretary-General warns the main goal of limiting global warming is \"on life support.\" But Glasgow negotiators are making modest progress in their final hours.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As the United Nations climate summit enters its last hours, there is modest progress on reducing reliance on fossil fuels and giving aid to countries most at risk from extreme weather. But stubborn divisions over the details of key issues remain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In what would be a first in decades of such negotiations, nations could call for an end to using coal and subsidizing fossil fuels. Despite some weaker language, those two elements remain in the most recent draft being circulated for consensus agreement among the more than 100 participating countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The summit in Glasgow, Scotland, is scheduled to end Friday, but could extend into the weekend as negotiators try to nail down agreement on a range of thorny issues for their final statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, it appears that the conference, known as COP26, is set to fall far short of its overall goal of keeping global warming from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054772983/antonio-guterres-cop26-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview with the Associated Press\u003c/a>, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that goal is “on life support.” Beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, scientists say the world faces catastrophic and potentially irreversible damage from extreme heat, drought, and flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No COP agreement until now has even mentioned fossil fuels, the main source of climate-warming emissions. Having that in the final text would be a breakthrough. But negotiators have struggled to find language acceptable to all countries, especially those with significant fossil fuel reserves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An earlier version of the agreement called on countries to “accelerate the phasing out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuel.” The new language calls for “the phaseout of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The term “unabated” would make room for carbon capture systems on coal-fired power plants, like \u003ca href=\"https://gizmodo.com/the-only-carbon-capture-plant-in-the-u-s-just-closed-1846177778\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one in Texas\u003c/a>. While that one technically worked, it shut down because it was unprofitable. And “inefficient subsidies” leaves room for countries that subsidize energy for low-income residents, but also countries that want to continue subsidizing fossil fuel companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that we’ve got the phaseout of fossil fuel subsidies and the phaseout of coal in the text is really new and important,” says Helen Mountford with World Resources Institute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But other environmental groups that want to see more dramatic action, including a \u003ca href=\"https://fossilfueltreaty.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty\u003c/a>, are upset by the change. “The credibility of these talks is in question if landmark language around fossil fuels gives them a lifeline through carbon capture technologies and continued subsidies,” says Jean Su with the Center for Biological Diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Activists from developing countries also are critical of how negotiations among the nearly 200 nations are shaping up.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>“Humanity will not be saved by promises”\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>An activist from Uganda gave voice Thursday to the fears many have that the Glasgow summit will amount to just another series of pledges, without urgent action driving them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Humanity will not be saved by promises,” Vanessa Nakate \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuuOts3jL3I&ab_channel=Rappler\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told\u003c/a> political and business leaders gathered at the summit. “We must reduce global CO2 emissions by somewhere between 7% to 11% this year, and next year, and every year after year, until we get to zero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nakate said if countries fail to meet goals set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, heat stress will hurt people where she lives because temperatures will be too hot and extreme, reaching temperatures that “the human body cannot cool itself by sweating,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Secretary-General Guterres also put pressure on countries Thursday, urging them “to pick up the pace.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Guterres did praise an \u003ca href=\"https://www.state.gov/u-s-china-joint-glasgow-declaration-on-enhancing-climate-action-in-the-2020s/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">agreement\u003c/a> between the U.S. and China to work together on cutting emissions, reaffirming their commitments to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius and aiming for 1.5 degrees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That agreement focused on methane, which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, though it does not stay in the atmosphere as long. \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scientists say\u003c/a> reducing methane pollution now could quickly rein in some global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week the Biden administration \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051302469/biden-proposes-new-rules-to-cut-climate-warming-methane-emissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">proposed stricter regulations\u003c/a> on oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions. Under the new agreement with the US, China says it intends to develop a “National Action Plan on methane, aiming to achieve a significant effect on methane emissions control and reductions in the 2020s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both countries say they’ll meet in the first half of next year to nail down specifics. Guterres called this an important step. But he warned that “promises ring hollow when the fossil fuels industry still receives \u003ca href=\"https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trillions in subsidies\u003c/a>, as measured by the IMF [International Monetary Fund]. Or when countries are still building coal plants,” said Guterres.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry defended the agreement in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/11/1054648598/u-s-and-china-announce-surprise-climate-agreement-at-cop26-summit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview with NPR\u003c/a>, saying it’s “bigger than some people think.” If the U.S. and China reach their goal of reducing methane emissions 30% by 2030, Kerry says “that is the equivalent of taking all the cars in the world, all of the trucks in the world, all of the airplanes in the world, all ships in the world, down to zero.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Calls for wealthier nations to take more responsibility\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The high stakes if countries fail to act boldly was on display in dramatic ways during this summit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The foreign minister of Tuvalu, a Pacific island nation, \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/9EkSrtlapZQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">delivered his speech\u003c/a> knee-deep in water to show how the rising ocean already affects his country. “Climate change and sea level rise are deadly and existential threats to Tuvalu,” said Simon Kofe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the final days of negotiations, nations still aren’t seeing eye to eye on the issue of climate finance, a $100 billion fund for developing countries. Wealthier countries promised to deliver that amount annually by 2020, an acknowledgment that they are responsible for the bulk of climate-warming emissions over the past century and a half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The funds help vulnerable countries reduce their emissions with renewable energy and cleaner transportation, as well as help them prepare communities for climate impacts, like extreme storms and floods. The latest draft agreement expresses “deep regret” that richer countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/11/10/1052926511/this-kenyan-family-got-solar-power-high-level-climate-talks-determine-who-else-w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">so far have fallen short of that goal\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several new funding commitments were announced in Glasgow, and wealthier countries say they’ll reach the $100 billion mark in 2022 or 2023. But developing countries say much of that has been in the form of loans instead of grants, putting an added burden on nations to pay it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries estimate climate-related damage will hit $5-to-9 trillion dollars by 2030 and are pushing for more details about what the next funding goal will be. They want to see more transparency about where climate finance is coming from, as well as assurances that much of it will be offered as grants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The level of ambition on climate finance required is simply not there yet,” says Fekadu Beyene of Ethiopia, representing a group of the 46 poorest countries at the talks. “Vulnerable countries are already experiencing devastating impacts at 1.1 degrees Celsius of warming and are struggling to recover. We cannot expect to build resilience to the impacts we will feel at 1.5 degrees Celsius without additional resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries are also pushing for compensation for the increasing damage that climate change is already causing. They’re seeking a dedicated “loss and damage” fund, which could be used by countries struggling to rebuild after disasters. \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.scot/news/scotland-to-boost-climate-funding/\">Scotland announced the first contribution\u003c/a>, 2 million pounds, at the Glasgow summit. But other wealthier countries, including the U.S., are wary of being held liable for climate change damages and oppose creating a separate fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Countries are headed toward “catastrophic climate change”\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The modest progress made so far may be the best that can be expected from an international negotiation process where every country must agree on a final statement. But the scientific reality of a warming climate is unforgiving, and demands swifter action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group Climate Action Tracker \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053875461/glasgow-climate-pledges-are-lip-service-without-far-more-aggressive-plans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">earlier this week\u003c/a> factored in new pledges countries had made so far to cut heat-trapping emissions. It found that even if everyone kept their most ambitious promises, warming would still be 1.8 degrees Celsius, which is above the 1.5 degree goal. When analysts mapped out what countries are actually doing now, the picture was bleaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With all the policies that are currently implemented, our temperature estimate is 2.7 degrees” of warming, said Niklas Höhne, founding partner of NewClimate Institute. “That is catastrophic climate change. It’s a situation that we simply cannot handle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Höhne was among those in Glasgow who said leaders must go back home and put practices in place to meet the promises they’ve made to each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S. President Biden has proposed an aggressive climate plan that aims to meet the goals of the Paris agreement, but much of the legislation needed to implement it is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/05/1052206451/house-is-poised-for-a-vote-on-its-spending-plan-but-hurdles-remain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stalled in Congress\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=In+a+first%2C+U.N.+climate+agreement+could+include+the+words+%27coal%27+and+%27fossil+fuels%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'Everyone Belongs in This Movement': Youth vs. Apocalypse's Lizbeth Ibarra on COP26 and Climate Activism",
"headTitle": "‘Everyone Belongs in This Movement’: Youth vs. Apocalypse’s Lizbeth Ibarra on COP26 and Climate Activism | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The COP26 climate conference is underway in Glasgow, Scotland. Here in the Bay Area, KQED’s climate reporters are talking with locals who are working on solutions.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lizbeth Ibarra says the climate change movement needs to embrace the energy of young people of color who’ve experienced pollution, heat and other impacts of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ibarra is a leader with \u003ca href=\"https://www.youthvsapocalypse.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Youth vs. Apocalypse\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, a Bay Area group founded to fight environmental racism and climate change. She says the environmental movement needs to be more inclusive, and put the needs of vulnerable communities first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 17-year-old learned about the group at school and joined immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the first time, I felt seen, like this was a movement for me,” she said at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894453/youth-environmental-activists-call-out-funders-of-climate-chaos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">recent protest\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in front of the San Francisco headquarters of investment management company BlackRock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED climate reporter Raquel Maria Dillon interviewed Ibarra about how she sees the climate change activists shifting their focus to health and people, and scrutinizing the systems of power that allow the exploitation of nature for profit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Why did you get involved in climate activism?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Growing up, any time I heard about climate change and climate justice on news, social media or any kind of outlet, I never really saw people that looked like me — [people who are] poor, low income, Black, indigenous or people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I saw upper-middle class people. I saw white people who were talking about the planet and the animals, but they weren’t necessarily talking about the people being impacted, like my community of Richmond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate justice is not just about the planet, it’s about all of the people living on the planet. Everything is intersected and interconnected, so you can’t be talking about one issue without talking about all of the others.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How has fossil fuel production affected you personally?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>I live in Richmond, where we have the Chevron refinery right in our backyards, and I’ve lived with this refinery my entire life, and I’m used to consistent flaring, oil spills, explosions, terrible air quality and all of this. It affects me personally.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Are you hopeful about the big conference in Scotland?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>These people are in huge positions of power. They can make the decision on whether people in my community deserve the right to breathe clean air and the right to a better quality of life. They have the power to make a lot of changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate justice is forever a part of my life, and it should be part of everyone’s life. Everyone has a moral obligation to be a part of the movement. [Climate change] is something that impacts everyone and will impact everyone, in one way or another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When thinking about climate justice, you can’t speak on it without speaking on racial justice, economic justice, gender justice and all of these other systems of oppression that have [helped create] the issues that we’re facing, including climate change. Everyone belongs in this movement. Even if you feel like you don’t know [the right] terms, or you feel like you don’t belong. Just know, that you do and it needs to include everyone.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The COP26 climate conference is underway in Glasgow, Scotland. Here in the Bay Area, KQED’s climate reporters are talking with locals who are working on solutions.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lizbeth Ibarra says the climate change movement needs to embrace the energy of young people of color who’ve experienced pollution, heat and other impacts of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ibarra is a leader with \u003ca href=\"https://www.youthvsapocalypse.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Youth vs. Apocalypse\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, a Bay Area group founded to fight environmental racism and climate change. She says the environmental movement needs to be more inclusive, and put the needs of vulnerable communities first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 17-year-old learned about the group at school and joined immediately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For the first time, I felt seen, like this was a movement for me,” she said at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11894453/youth-environmental-activists-call-out-funders-of-climate-chaos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">recent protest\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in front of the San Francisco headquarters of investment management company BlackRock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED climate reporter Raquel Maria Dillon interviewed Ibarra about how she sees the climate change activists shifting their focus to health and people, and scrutinizing the systems of power that allow the exploitation of nature for profit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Why did you get involved in climate activism?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Growing up, any time I heard about climate change and climate justice on news, social media or any kind of outlet, I never really saw people that looked like me — [people who are] poor, low income, Black, indigenous or people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I saw upper-middle class people. I saw white people who were talking about the planet and the animals, but they weren’t necessarily talking about the people being impacted, like my community of Richmond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate justice is not just about the planet, it’s about all of the people living on the planet. Everything is intersected and interconnected, so you can’t be talking about one issue without talking about all of the others.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How has fossil fuel production affected you personally?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>I live in Richmond, where we have the Chevron refinery right in our backyards, and I’ve lived with this refinery my entire life, and I’m used to consistent flaring, oil spills, explosions, terrible air quality and all of this. It affects me personally.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Are you hopeful about the big conference in Scotland?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>These people are in huge positions of power. They can make the decision on whether people in my community deserve the right to breathe clean air and the right to a better quality of life. They have the power to make a lot of changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate justice is forever a part of my life, and it should be part of everyone’s life. Everyone has a moral obligation to be a part of the movement. [Climate change] is something that impacts everyone and will impact everyone, in one way or another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When thinking about climate justice, you can’t speak on it without speaking on racial justice, economic justice, gender justice and all of these other systems of oppression that have [helped create] the issues that we’re facing, including climate change. Everyone belongs in this movement. Even if you feel like you don’t know [the right] terms, or you feel like you don’t belong. Just know, that you do and it needs to include everyone.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "California Deserts Could Hold The Key to a Future With Less Fossil Fuel (Hint: It's Lithium)",
"headTitle": "California Deserts Could Hold The Key to a Future With Less Fossil Fuel (Hint: It’s Lithium) | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The COP26 climate conference is underway in Glasgow, Scotland. Here in the Bay Area, KQED’s climate reporters are talking with locals who are working on solutions.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There could be enough lithium stored across California and the West to supply all the batteries the U.S. demands, researchers \u003ca href=\"https://eesa.lbl.gov/event/media-roundtable-powering-a-sustainable-future-through-lithium-extraction-from-unconventional-sources/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimate\u003c/a>, plus more to export.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that demand for lithium — a crucial part of the batteries that power electric cars and store extra energy from solar and wind — is heading in one direction: \u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jiec.12949\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">up\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is that California’s lithium is trapped in desert sediments, ocean water and deep underground, in natural deposits of saltwater called brine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has a trove of the stuff beneath the Salton Sea in Southern California, but \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/02/california-desert-lithium-valley/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">efforts to extract it are fledgling\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland-based \u003ca href=\"https://lilacsolutions.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lilac Solutions\u003c/a> is one of the companies trying to use domestic lithium to make batteries that could power the U.S. toward a future without fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dave Snydacker, the company’s CEO, says a tricky part is to capture the lithium without damaging the environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The environmental challenges associated with lithium production today relate to land use and water consumption,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lithium extraction in South America and Australia has \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">created serious environmental issues\u003c/a>. Advocates around the Salton Sea have \u003ca href=\"https://holtvilletribune.com/2021/08/06/guest-column-lithium-boom-needs-public-input/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">raised concerns\u003c/a> about harmful impacts and extra waste from extracting and processing lithium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lilac’s solution is vastly limiting the physical footprint of its lithium plant from “10,000 acres down to tens of acres, and that’s limited the surface impacts associated with lithium production,” Snydacker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spoke with KQED climate reporter Laura Klivans during a tour of his manufacturing space in West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following has been lightly edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What climate problem are you trying to solve?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big environmental problem that we’re addressing is gasoline. And to replace gasoline, we need to increase production of batteries, and lithium is now the critical bottleneck to battery production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no way to meet climate targets without lithium, it’s essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What would success of your company mean for California’s economy?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Salton Sea is a very large lithium resource capable of producing billions of dollars per year of lithium. That means hundreds of permanent jobs in the Salton Sea and permanent jobs here in Oakland as we scale up the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What initially inspired you to get into this kind of work?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I grew up in Rhode Island, near the beach, where the ocean was a really important part of the community. Looking at forecasts for sea level rise as we lose the Greenland ice sheet was fairly shocking and horrifying. You think, OK, my entire community will be completely underwater by the time my children or my grandchildren are able to enjoy this place. And that’s just an unacceptable outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How will what happens at COP affect your work?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If COP is successful, this will mean more demand for electric vehicles. But meeting that demand will only be possible with more lithium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Even if things go south at COP, how’s that going to impact your company?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve lost a lot of faith in the ability of the government to deliver solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve seen the private sector really step up, make big commitments to innovate toward electric vehicles, to finance the supply chain and to start new companies capable of making all that happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m confident we will solve climate change and decarbonize the economy, the question in my mind is how fast does that happen? It needs to happen soon.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>The COP26 climate conference is underway in Glasgow, Scotland. Here in the Bay Area, KQED’s climate reporters are talking with locals who are working on solutions.\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There could be enough lithium stored across California and the West to supply all the batteries the U.S. demands, researchers \u003ca href=\"https://eesa.lbl.gov/event/media-roundtable-powering-a-sustainable-future-through-lithium-extraction-from-unconventional-sources/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimate\u003c/a>, plus more to export.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that demand for lithium — a crucial part of the batteries that power electric cars and store extra energy from solar and wind — is heading in one direction: \u003ca href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jiec.12949\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">up\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The problem is that California’s lithium is trapped in desert sediments, ocean water and deep underground, in natural deposits of saltwater called brine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state has a trove of the stuff beneath the Salton Sea in Southern California, but \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2021/02/california-desert-lithium-valley/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">efforts to extract it are fledgling\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland-based \u003ca href=\"https://lilacsolutions.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lilac Solutions\u003c/a> is one of the companies trying to use domestic lithium to make batteries that could power the U.S. toward a future without fossil fuels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dave Snydacker, the company’s CEO, says a tricky part is to capture the lithium without damaging the environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The environmental challenges associated with lithium production today relate to land use and water consumption,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lithium extraction in South America and Australia has \u003ca href=\"https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">created serious environmental issues\u003c/a>. Advocates around the Salton Sea have \u003ca href=\"https://holtvilletribune.com/2021/08/06/guest-column-lithium-boom-needs-public-input/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">raised concerns\u003c/a> about harmful impacts and extra waste from extracting and processing lithium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lilac’s solution is vastly limiting the physical footprint of its lithium plant from “10,000 acres down to tens of acres, and that’s limited the surface impacts associated with lithium production,” Snydacker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He spoke with KQED climate reporter Laura Klivans during a tour of his manufacturing space in West Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following has been lightly edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What climate problem are you trying to solve?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The big environmental problem that we’re addressing is gasoline. And to replace gasoline, we need to increase production of batteries, and lithium is now the critical bottleneck to battery production.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no way to meet climate targets without lithium, it’s essential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What would success of your company mean for California’s economy?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Salton Sea is a very large lithium resource capable of producing billions of dollars per year of lithium. That means hundreds of permanent jobs in the Salton Sea and permanent jobs here in Oakland as we scale up the technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What initially inspired you to get into this kind of work?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I grew up in Rhode Island, near the beach, where the ocean was a really important part of the community. Looking at forecasts for sea level rise as we lose the Greenland ice sheet was fairly shocking and horrifying. You think, OK, my entire community will be completely underwater by the time my children or my grandchildren are able to enjoy this place. And that’s just an unacceptable outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How will what happens at COP affect your work?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If COP is successful, this will mean more demand for electric vehicles. But meeting that demand will only be possible with more lithium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Even if things go south at COP, how’s that going to impact your company?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve lost a lot of faith in the ability of the government to deliver solutions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve seen the private sector really step up, make big commitments to innovate toward electric vehicles, to finance the supply chain and to start new companies capable of making all that happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m confident we will solve climate change and decarbonize the economy, the question in my mind is how fast does that happen? It needs to happen soon.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "If Countries Keep Their Climate Pledges, It Could Limit Global Temperature Rise",
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"content": "\u003cp>If nations honor their latest pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the rise in average global temperatures by the end of the century could be held to 1.8 degrees Celsius, a new analysis by International Energy Agency says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s short of a goal set by world leaders six years ago, but far less than the trajectory that the planet is on today, says the agency, part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.iea.org/commentaries/cop26-climate-pledges-could-help-limit-global-warming-to-1-8-c-but-implementing-them-will-be-the-key\">IEA’s new analysis\u003c/a> includes promises made just this week at the COP26 \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1048515317/cop26\">U.N. climate conference\u003c/a> in Glasgow, Scotland. Many countries at the ongoing conference have pledged to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050 and dozens have said they \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051302469/biden-proposes-new-rules-to-cut-climate-warming-methane-emissions\">will cut releases of methane\u003c/a> — an even more potent greenhouse gas — by nearly a third.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An independent group called Climate Action Tracker \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/global/temperatures/\">estimates\u003c/a> that under current policies, the planet is likely to warm by between 2.7 and 3.1 degrees Celsius (4.8 to 5.6 degrees Fahrenheit), compared to pre-industrial times. That’s higher than the aim of 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) rise agreed to in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and seen as necessary to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahead of the summit in Scotland, known as the Conference of Parties, or COP26, the International Energy Agency had forecast that if countries were able to fulfill their pledges on climate action made up to that point, average global temperatures by the end of the century would rise by 2.1 degrees Celsius (3.8 Fahrenheit) from preindustrial times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since mid-October, however, more countries have been raising their ambitions,” the IEA report says. “Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strengthened the country’s 2030 targets, and pledged to hit net zero emissions by 2070. Several other large economies have also announced pledges to reach net zero emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis also factored in commitments from China — which in recent years has surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest polluter — as well as the commitment by more than 100 countries to cut their emissions of methane by 30%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/fbirol/status/1456186835097501698\">tweet\u003c/a>, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the results signal a “big step forward,” but cautioned that much more is needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Carrying out the climate pledges is key\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The announcement was met with substantial skepticism, though, because for this optimistic scenario to occur, countries would actually have to carry out their pledges. Many of the world’s biggest polluters have failed to honor their past pledges, and carrying out these promises will be a huge challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several big countries, such as Australia and Russia, have yet to say how they will go about cutting their emissions and the Biden administration’s proposals to reduce U.S. output still need approval from a deeply divided Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Kerry, the U.S. presidential special envoy for climate, said he was “surprised” by the IEA estimate. He said it’s encouraging, but shows how important it will be for countries to fulfill their promises. “Implementation, that is the key,” he said at a news conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The World Resources Institute, a nonprofit climate policy think tank, cautions that holding temperature rise to 1.8 C is possible if everything falls into place. But it also suggested that a number of the net-zero carbon emission targets recently pledged lack credibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a separate analysis by Australian scientists which has not yet been peer reviewed, predicts warming of 1.9 degrees C (3.4 degrees Fahrenheit) if current commitments are kept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are now in a slightly more positive outlook for the future,” said University of Melbourne climate scientist Malte Meinshausen, according to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-paris-scotland-glasgow-f981ede6c751f319176267f0123f9602\">The Associated Press.\u003c/a> He said that the more optimistic assessment comes mostly as a result of new long-term pledges made by India and China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s still a long way away from 1.5 degrees,” Meinshausen acknowledged, adding, “We know that some of the ecosystems are going to suffer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is just scraping below 2 degrees. So therefore there’s a lot more to be done,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Latest+climate+pledges+could+limit+global+temperature+rise%2C+a+new+report+says&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If nations honor their latest pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the rise in average global temperatures by the end of the century could be held to 1.8 degrees Celsius, a new analysis by International Energy Agency says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s short of a goal set by world leaders six years ago, but far less than the trajectory that the planet is on today, says the agency, part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.iea.org/commentaries/cop26-climate-pledges-could-help-limit-global-warming-to-1-8-c-but-implementing-them-will-be-the-key\">IEA’s new analysis\u003c/a> includes promises made just this week at the COP26 \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1048515317/cop26\">U.N. climate conference\u003c/a> in Glasgow, Scotland. Many countries at the ongoing conference have pledged to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050 and dozens have said they \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051302469/biden-proposes-new-rules-to-cut-climate-warming-methane-emissions\">will cut releases of methane\u003c/a> — an even more potent greenhouse gas — by nearly a third.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An independent group called Climate Action Tracker \u003ca href=\"https://climateactiontracker.org/global/temperatures/\">estimates\u003c/a> that under current policies, the planet is likely to warm by between 2.7 and 3.1 degrees Celsius (4.8 to 5.6 degrees Fahrenheit), compared to pre-industrial times. That’s higher than the aim of 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) rise agreed to in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and seen as necessary to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahead of the summit in Scotland, known as the Conference of Parties, or COP26, the International Energy Agency had forecast that if countries were able to fulfill their pledges on climate action made up to that point, average global temperatures by the end of the century would rise by 2.1 degrees Celsius (3.8 Fahrenheit) from preindustrial times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since mid-October, however, more countries have been raising their ambitions,” the IEA report says. “Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strengthened the country’s 2030 targets, and pledged to hit net zero emissions by 2070. Several other large economies have also announced pledges to reach net zero emissions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis also factored in commitments from China — which in recent years has surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest polluter — as well as the commitment by more than 100 countries to cut their emissions of methane by 30%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/fbirol/status/1456186835097501698\">tweet\u003c/a>, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the results signal a “big step forward,” but cautioned that much more is needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Carrying out the climate pledges is key\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The announcement was met with substantial skepticism, though, because for this optimistic scenario to occur, countries would actually have to carry out their pledges. Many of the world’s biggest polluters have failed to honor their past pledges, and carrying out these promises will be a huge challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several big countries, such as Australia and Russia, have yet to say how they will go about cutting their emissions and the Biden administration’s proposals to reduce U.S. output still need approval from a deeply divided Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Kerry, the U.S. presidential special envoy for climate, said he was “surprised” by the IEA estimate. He said it’s encouraging, but shows how important it will be for countries to fulfill their promises. “Implementation, that is the key,” he said at a news conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The World Resources Institute, a nonprofit climate policy think tank, cautions that holding temperature rise to 1.8 C is possible if everything falls into place. But it also suggested that a number of the net-zero carbon emission targets recently pledged lack credibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a separate analysis by Australian scientists which has not yet been peer reviewed, predicts warming of 1.9 degrees C (3.4 degrees Fahrenheit) if current commitments are kept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are now in a slightly more positive outlook for the future,” said University of Melbourne climate scientist Malte Meinshausen, according to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-paris-scotland-glasgow-f981ede6c751f319176267f0123f9602\">The Associated Press.\u003c/a> He said that the more optimistic assessment comes mostly as a result of new long-term pledges made by India and China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s still a long way away from 1.5 degrees,” Meinshausen acknowledged, adding, “We know that some of the ecosystems are going to suffer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is just scraping below 2 degrees. So therefore there’s a lot more to be done,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Latest+climate+pledges+could+limit+global+temperature+rise%2C+a+new+report+says&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Straight Talk on Temperature: Here's What 1.5 Degrees C Means",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-160x160.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"160\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1977443\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo.jpg 1069w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/a>We are 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels now. Capping average global temperature at 1.5 degrees C (equivalent to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) is within our grasp, but it will be hard, and the window is closing. As journalists we must get this story right for our audiences. They need to understand that global temperature rise can still be stopped before it reaches a catastrophic level — that doing or not doing so is a choice governments are making. This explainer covers the importance of 1.5 degrees C, the forces standing in the way of achieving it, and what it means to live in a 1.5 degrees C, or even warmer, world. It also includes some questions to prompt story ideas and short resource lists for your reference.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Why is 1.5 degrees C such an important target?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Resources' link1='https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/,IPCC: The Latest Science on Climate Change' link2='https://www.ucsusa.org/climate/solutions,Climate Solutions (from the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit advocating for science in public policy)']Since the Paris Agreement was signed at COP21 in 2015, scientists have become more certain that 2 degrees C of average global temperature rise above pre-industrial levels would be cataclysmic — and that even 1.5 degrees C will be no walk in the park. The record heat that scorched the Pacific Northwest in 2021? Such heat waves are now happening \u003ca href=\"https://www.eenews.net/articles/ipcc-window-closing-to-stop-worst-effects-of-climate-change/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">five times more often\u003c/a> after “only” 1.1 degrees C of temperature rise than they did historically, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Sixth Assessment Report,” released in August 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 2 degrees C, similar heatwaves would occur 14 times more often and the historic ‘Black Summer’ fires that ravaged Australia in 2019 to 2020 would happen four times as often. Hitting 2 degrees C would also mean the loss of 99% of coral reefs — the base of the marine food chain — and assure the irreversible loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet, eventually causing 5 meters (roughly 16 feet) of sea level rise, enough to inundate large portions of many coastal cities around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='forum_2010101886270']So 1.5 degrees C is the essential target. That said, 1.5 degrees C is not a cliff; civilization does not automatically expire if temperatures exceed that threshold. Rather, every tenth of a degree beyond 1.5 degrees C makes climate damages that much greater and the overall crisis harder to contain. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you get above about a degree-and-a-half, these effects start to go non-linear,” said Michael Oppenheimer, the Albert G. Milbank professor of Geosciences and International Affairs at Princeton University. “It becomes very, very difficult for humans to catch up, to adjust. And basically, there’s a risk that the climate spins out of control, beyond our ability to adjust and adapt to it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Resources' link1='https://interactive-atlas.ipcc.ch/,IPCC: Explore Possible Climate Futures at +1.5 C, +2.0 C, and More' link2='https://drawdown.org/solutions/,Climate Solutions (from Project Drawdown, non-profit dedicated to cutting carbon emissions)']\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What will it take to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The good news is that IPCC scientists and most experts say humanity has nearly all the knowledge and tools needed to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C. The challenges are not primarily technological; they are political and economic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To cap global temperature rise there are two chief imperatives, experts have concluded: First, the global economy must quit oil, gas, and coal rapidly and shift to solar, wind, and other non-carbon energy sources. Second, humans must end deforestation, much of which is driven by industrial agriculture’s desire to expand beef, soy, and palm oil production.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Imperative 1: Energy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='science_1976869' label='Here's What's Inside Newsom's Whopping $15 Billion Climate Plan']Coal has been the main driver of global warming since it began fueling the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain 250 years ago. Today, coal must be phased out, starting immediately and around the world, to keep the 1.5 degrees C target within reach. Scientists estimate that 90% of today’s coal reserves must be left in the ground, according to a 2021 study in Nature. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has declared that the 1.5 degrees C temperature limit also requires that no new coal-fired power plants be built. Existing plants should quickly shift to solar and wind, augmented by reducing electricity demand through better energy efficiency in buildings and machinery (which also saves money and produces more jobs). The benefits of energy efficiency are an essential tool for slashing emissions while boosting the economy — and should be explained to the public in more depth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil and gas must follow the same script as coal, though in their case 60% of reserves must be left in the ground. The IEA further emphasizes that point, stating in 2021 that meeting the 1.5 degrees C goal requires that no new fossil fuel infrastructure be built anywhere on Earth. That means no exploring for additional reserves, no new oil fields, no pipelines, no liquid gas export terminals, etc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To prevent the world economy, which currently relies on fossil fuels for 80% of its energy, from collapsing in the process, demand for these fuels must be radically reduced. Transportation in particular must transform: Vehicles must be powered by electricity, not gasoline, and driving needs to become less necessary by redesigning cities and suburbs so residents can meet their needs with mass transit, biking, walking, etc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another way of describing the stages of this energy transition comes from the nonpartisan research agency, Carbon Tracker: “The world needs to decarbonize electricity, electrify everything it can, and use some variant of hydrogen for the rest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Imperative 2: Deforestation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The link between the food and forestry sectors is critical: A major reason the world’s forests are felled at such catastrophic rates is to grow more food products, especially beef, soy, and palm oil. Forests must be left intact so they continue to extract CO2 from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and store it in trees and soil. Alas, so much of the Amazon rainforest has been leveled that much has flipped from being a carbon sink that stores CO2 to a carbon source that emits it. Because deforestation is largely driven by a push to raise cattle and other foods, some scientists suggest that people change their diets to consume less meat. But as with calls to take the bus rather than drive a car, such individual lifestyle changes cannot fix the underlying problem as long as the global economic system demands endless growth and government policies make destroying the climate more profitable than protecting it.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Be cautious about “net zero” pledges\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Resources' link1='https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050,Net Zero By 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector (from the International Energy Agency, an autonomous intergovernmental agency)' link2='https://www.zerotracker.net/,Net Zero Tracker (a collaboration of research institutes and think tanks)']Beware of climate greenwashing about both energy and forests — that is, rhetorical promises by governments, corporations, or banks that claim to solve the crisis but may or may not measure up in practice. The concept of “net zero emissions” demands special attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Net zero” means that a given country or company will reduce emissions but not to absolute zero; rather, some emissions will continue, but they will be “offset” by countervailing measures that extract carbon from the atmosphere so the net result is zero emissions. Examples of these countervailing measures include planting trees and restoring wetlands; both draw CO2 out of the air through photosynthesis. With CO2 atmospheric concentrations currently at 414 parts per million and rising, some CO2 extraction will be needed to return concentrations to the 350 ppm or lower needed to stabilize earth’s climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Net zero” is not necessarily a dodge, but offsets have a spotty record of achievement. For example: Were the promised trees actually planted? Did they survive and for how long? Were those wetlands truly restored, or only slated to be restored? Offsets also raise environmental justice concerns, for even authentic offsets in one part of the world can enable factories to keep operating in another part of the world, polluting the local environment of residents who often are poor or people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many net-zero commitments by governments and businesses cite 2050 as the year when net zero will be reached. Indeed, roughly 80% of the world economy is now covered by commitments of net zero by 2050. It’s important to report those commitments with a degree of skepticism: 2050 is far enough off that bold claims might seem possible, but those claims are only credible if they include real (i.e., non-offsets) and substantial emissions reductions during the next 10 years. To test the validity of net-zero 2050 pledges, journalists should check whether such commitments carry an action plan that credibly cuts emissions in half by 2030. That’s essential, scientists say, to hitting 1.5 degrees C. Promising that emissions will end by 2050 is easy for today’s politicians and corporate leaders, but that goal is only reachable if actual emissions fall by half in the next decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How did we get here?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It will undeniably be difficult to cut emissions as much and as fast as science says is necessary, and the main reason why is that humanity waited so long to start the job. Had we begun 30 years ago, as scientists and advocates were urging, we’d be most of the way there by now. And the main reason we waited so long is that some very rich and powerful economic and political interests knew climate action would interfere with their profits and privilege.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Investigative journalism has documented that Exxon and other fossil fuel companies knew by the late 1970s — because their own scientists were telling them — that climate change was real, caused by burning fossil fuels, and threatened to end civilization as we know it. Nevertheless, the companies chose to lie to the public, policymakers, and the press to thwart climate action. Recently, the companies have shifted from outright climate denial — no longer tenable in the face of so much extreme weather — to its more presentable cousin, climate delay. But climate delay is just as lethal, precisely because 40 years of failing to act has left zero time for further delay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fossil fuel companies now face dozens of lawsuits from governments and civil society groups demanding compensation for the climate damages the companies’ lying helped cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How do we live with 1.5 degrees C?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>As the extreme weather in recent years has shown, climate impacts are punishing even after “only” 1.1 degrees C of temperature rise. This is especially so for the roughly two billion people who live in the (usually poorer) countries most vulnerable to climate change. Temperatures and impacts are bound to increase in the years ahead, if only because humanity can’t halt emissions overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hence, the need for what climate experts call “adaptation”: actions to reduce one’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Examples of adaptation include when a community builds sea walls to protect against hurricanes, when a homeowner plants trees around the house to shade it from extra heat, and when a farmer shifts from growing almonds and alfalfa to less thirsty crops. By contrast, “mitigation” refers to actions to limit global temperature rise, such as replacing a coal-fired power plant with a wind turbine or installing more efficient appliances, windows, and insulation to reduce the amount of energy a household uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adaptation has never gotten the attention mitigation gets, perhaps because it was assumed, wrongly, that the rich could adapt relatively easily to rising temperatures. For example, the British government spent roughly $3 billion dollars to build the Thames Barrier, a set of massive floodgates downriver from central London, to protect the city from North Sea storm surges. But in fact, adaptation and mitigation are twin imperatives: Mitigation is essential to limit temperature rise to an amount humans can survive, but adaptation is no less essential; because we’ve waited so long, stronger climate impacts are now unavoidable, and the only way to survive them is to prepare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the best climate adaptation research and practice happens to be found in two of the most vulnerable countries on earth: The Netherlands and Bangladesh. The former is rich, the latter not, illustrating that wealth alone is not decisive. More important is that a country starts adapting now, rather than waiting until climate impacts engulf it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Examples of successful adaptation abound (see CCNow executive director Mark Hertsgaard’s book “HOT: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth” for specifics), but they all cost money, which is where the contrast between rich and poor does have meaning. A low-income country such as Bangladesh simply does not have the financial means as the wealthy Netherlands to adapt to a changing climate and its worsening impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is why the issue of climate adaptation will arise at COP26 mainly in regards to the $100 billion in annual aid that rich countries have pledged to provide to poor countries. This pledge, enshrined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, is supposed to subsidize both mitigation and adaptation efforts in poor countries. Independent experts calculate that poor countries need much more than that; meanwhile, rich countries have not provided even that much. \u003ca href=\"https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621066/bp-climate-finance-shadow-report-2020-201020-en.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">An analysis\u003c/a> by the anti-poverty NGO Oxfam found that in 2018 (the last year with reliable data), climate aid was roughly $20 to $22 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.devex.com/news/climate-vulnerable-nations-demand-urgent-boost-for-delayed-funds-100331\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">have warned\u003c/a> in the lead-up to COP26 that there will be no deal if rich countries don’t deliver a credible plan to deliver the $100 billion in annual aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Resources' link1='https://unfccc.int/topics/climate-finance/the-big-picture/climate-finance-in-the-negotiations,Climate Finance in the Negotiations (from the United Nations)' link2='https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2021/09/23/Still-Not-Getting-Energy-Prices-Right-A-Global-and-Country-Update-of-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-466004,Still Not Getting Energy Prices Right: A Global and Country Update of Fossil Fuel Subsidies (from the International Monetary Fund)']\u003cstrong>How Do We Pay for 1.5C?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Money is at the heart of the climate emergency and its solutions. This is true both of public money (i.e., government) and private money (i.e., banks and investors). For many years, most public and private money incentivized climate-destructive activities. At the moment, the world’s governments provide roughly $5.9 trillion a year in subsidies for fossil fuels, according to the International Monetary Fund. The vast majority of governments’ stimulus spending to revive Covid-battered economies has reinforced the status quo rather than boosted the zero-carbon activities necessary to ensure a climate-safe future. The challenge now is to halt spending that harms the climate and redirect it to things that help it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judging from the Paris climate summit’s impact, COP26 also could have a profound influence on global money flows. The Paris Agreement’s pledge to transition the global economy to “net zero” emissions by 2050 sent a powerful message that public and private sector leaders have taken to heart. Three quarters of the coal plants planned or being built at the time of the Paris Agreement have been scrapped. That’s partly because solar and other alternative sources were becoming cheaper. But it’s also because government planners and private investors read the writing on the wall after Paris: Coal could only survive with massive state subsidies, and governments facing widespread concerns about climate change were unlikely to keep providing those subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar dynamic is playing out around fossil fuels in general. Mark Carney, the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, was the head of the Bank of England in 2014 when he began warning about a “carbon bubble” that could crash the global economy. Preventing catastrophic climate change, Carney pointed out, required leaving most of fossil fuel reserves in the ground. But those reserves were (and still are) counted as wealth in the stock holdings of investors; leaving them unburned would render trillions of dollars of invested wealth worthless. That could spark a global financial crisis as destructive as the one unleashed when the housing bubble burst in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the world’s richest investors have accordingly begun distancing themselves from fossil fuels. BlackRock, the largest money-manager on earth, said in 2020 that it would shun fossil fuels and assume the world economy was moving towards alignment with the Paris Agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that smart money is abandoning fossil fuels, two big questions are coming into focus: How much of the market will follow? And will enough money flow to the climate-friendly technologies and practices needed to defuse the climate emergency? Again, much will depend on how strong a message emerges from COP26. Journalists should monitor what governments say they will and won’t spend on climate action — not just in fiscal budgets but also through central banks. Also key is what governments will do to encourage private banks and investors to stop funding climate destruction and instead finance climate solutions.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-160x160.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"160\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-1977443\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/ccnow_logo.jpg 1069w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/a>We are 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels now. Capping average global temperature at 1.5 degrees C (equivalent to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) is within our grasp, but it will be hard, and the window is closing. As journalists we must get this story right for our audiences. They need to understand that global temperature rise can still be stopped before it reaches a catastrophic level — that doing or not doing so is a choice governments are making. This explainer covers the importance of 1.5 degrees C, the forces standing in the way of achieving it, and what it means to live in a 1.5 degrees C, or even warmer, world. It also includes some questions to prompt story ideas and short resource lists for your reference.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Why is 1.5 degrees C such an important target?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"link1": "https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/,IPCC: The Latest Science on Climate Change",
"link2": "https://www.ucsusa.org/climate/solutions,Climate Solutions (from the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit advocating for science in public policy)"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Since the Paris Agreement was signed at COP21 in 2015, scientists have become more certain that 2 degrees C of average global temperature rise above pre-industrial levels would be cataclysmic — and that even 1.5 degrees C will be no walk in the park. The record heat that scorched the Pacific Northwest in 2021? Such heat waves are now happening \u003ca href=\"https://www.eenews.net/articles/ipcc-window-closing-to-stop-worst-effects-of-climate-change/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">five times more often\u003c/a> after “only” 1.1 degrees C of temperature rise than they did historically, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Sixth Assessment Report,” released in August 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 2 degrees C, similar heatwaves would occur 14 times more often and the historic ‘Black Summer’ fires that ravaged Australia in 2019 to 2020 would happen four times as often. Hitting 2 degrees C would also mean the loss of 99% of coral reefs — the base of the marine food chain — and assure the irreversible loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet, eventually causing 5 meters (roughly 16 feet) of sea level rise, enough to inundate large portions of many coastal cities around the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So 1.5 degrees C is the essential target. That said, 1.5 degrees C is not a cliff; civilization does not automatically expire if temperatures exceed that threshold. Rather, every tenth of a degree beyond 1.5 degrees C makes climate damages that much greater and the overall crisis harder to contain. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you get above about a degree-and-a-half, these effects start to go non-linear,” said Michael Oppenheimer, the Albert G. Milbank professor of Geosciences and International Affairs at Princeton University. “It becomes very, very difficult for humans to catch up, to adjust. And basically, there’s a risk that the climate spins out of control, beyond our ability to adjust and adapt to it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"link1": "https://interactive-atlas.ipcc.ch/,IPCC: Explore Possible Climate Futures at +1.5 C, +2.0 C, and More",
"link2": "https://drawdown.org/solutions/,Climate Solutions (from Project Drawdown, non-profit dedicated to cutting carbon emissions)"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What will it take to limit average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The good news is that IPCC scientists and most experts say humanity has nearly all the knowledge and tools needed to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C. The challenges are not primarily technological; they are political and economic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To cap global temperature rise there are two chief imperatives, experts have concluded: First, the global economy must quit oil, gas, and coal rapidly and shift to solar, wind, and other non-carbon energy sources. Second, humans must end deforestation, much of which is driven by industrial agriculture’s desire to expand beef, soy, and palm oil production.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Imperative 1: Energy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Coal has been the main driver of global warming since it began fueling the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain 250 years ago. Today, coal must be phased out, starting immediately and around the world, to keep the 1.5 degrees C target within reach. Scientists estimate that 90% of today’s coal reserves must be left in the ground, according to a 2021 study in Nature. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has declared that the 1.5 degrees C temperature limit also requires that no new coal-fired power plants be built. Existing plants should quickly shift to solar and wind, augmented by reducing electricity demand through better energy efficiency in buildings and machinery (which also saves money and produces more jobs). The benefits of energy efficiency are an essential tool for slashing emissions while boosting the economy — and should be explained to the public in more depth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oil and gas must follow the same script as coal, though in their case 60% of reserves must be left in the ground. The IEA further emphasizes that point, stating in 2021 that meeting the 1.5 degrees C goal requires that no new fossil fuel infrastructure be built anywhere on Earth. That means no exploring for additional reserves, no new oil fields, no pipelines, no liquid gas export terminals, etc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To prevent the world economy, which currently relies on fossil fuels for 80% of its energy, from collapsing in the process, demand for these fuels must be radically reduced. Transportation in particular must transform: Vehicles must be powered by electricity, not gasoline, and driving needs to become less necessary by redesigning cities and suburbs so residents can meet their needs with mass transit, biking, walking, etc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another way of describing the stages of this energy transition comes from the nonpartisan research agency, Carbon Tracker: “The world needs to decarbonize electricity, electrify everything it can, and use some variant of hydrogen for the rest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Imperative 2: Deforestation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The link between the food and forestry sectors is critical: A major reason the world’s forests are felled at such catastrophic rates is to grow more food products, especially beef, soy, and palm oil. Forests must be left intact so they continue to extract CO2 from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and store it in trees and soil. Alas, so much of the Amazon rainforest has been leveled that much has flipped from being a carbon sink that stores CO2 to a carbon source that emits it. Because deforestation is largely driven by a push to raise cattle and other foods, some scientists suggest that people change their diets to consume less meat. But as with calls to take the bus rather than drive a car, such individual lifestyle changes cannot fix the underlying problem as long as the global economic system demands endless growth and government policies make destroying the climate more profitable than protecting it.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Be cautious about “net zero” pledges\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"link1": "https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050,Net Zero By 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector (from the International Energy Agency, an autonomous intergovernmental agency)",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Beware of climate greenwashing about both energy and forests — that is, rhetorical promises by governments, corporations, or banks that claim to solve the crisis but may or may not measure up in practice. The concept of “net zero emissions” demands special attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Net zero” means that a given country or company will reduce emissions but not to absolute zero; rather, some emissions will continue, but they will be “offset” by countervailing measures that extract carbon from the atmosphere so the net result is zero emissions. Examples of these countervailing measures include planting trees and restoring wetlands; both draw CO2 out of the air through photosynthesis. With CO2 atmospheric concentrations currently at 414 parts per million and rising, some CO2 extraction will be needed to return concentrations to the 350 ppm or lower needed to stabilize earth’s climate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Net zero” is not necessarily a dodge, but offsets have a spotty record of achievement. For example: Were the promised trees actually planted? Did they survive and for how long? Were those wetlands truly restored, or only slated to be restored? Offsets also raise environmental justice concerns, for even authentic offsets in one part of the world can enable factories to keep operating in another part of the world, polluting the local environment of residents who often are poor or people of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many net-zero commitments by governments and businesses cite 2050 as the year when net zero will be reached. Indeed, roughly 80% of the world economy is now covered by commitments of net zero by 2050. It’s important to report those commitments with a degree of skepticism: 2050 is far enough off that bold claims might seem possible, but those claims are only credible if they include real (i.e., non-offsets) and substantial emissions reductions during the next 10 years. To test the validity of net-zero 2050 pledges, journalists should check whether such commitments carry an action plan that credibly cuts emissions in half by 2030. That’s essential, scientists say, to hitting 1.5 degrees C. Promising that emissions will end by 2050 is easy for today’s politicians and corporate leaders, but that goal is only reachable if actual emissions fall by half in the next decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How did we get here?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It will undeniably be difficult to cut emissions as much and as fast as science says is necessary, and the main reason why is that humanity waited so long to start the job. Had we begun 30 years ago, as scientists and advocates were urging, we’d be most of the way there by now. And the main reason we waited so long is that some very rich and powerful economic and political interests knew climate action would interfere with their profits and privilege.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Investigative journalism has documented that Exxon and other fossil fuel companies knew by the late 1970s — because their own scientists were telling them — that climate change was real, caused by burning fossil fuels, and threatened to end civilization as we know it. Nevertheless, the companies chose to lie to the public, policymakers, and the press to thwart climate action. Recently, the companies have shifted from outright climate denial — no longer tenable in the face of so much extreme weather — to its more presentable cousin, climate delay. But climate delay is just as lethal, precisely because 40 years of failing to act has left zero time for further delay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fossil fuel companies now face dozens of lawsuits from governments and civil society groups demanding compensation for the climate damages the companies’ lying helped cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How do we live with 1.5 degrees C?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>As the extreme weather in recent years has shown, climate impacts are punishing even after “only” 1.1 degrees C of temperature rise. This is especially so for the roughly two billion people who live in the (usually poorer) countries most vulnerable to climate change. Temperatures and impacts are bound to increase in the years ahead, if only because humanity can’t halt emissions overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hence, the need for what climate experts call “adaptation”: actions to reduce one’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Examples of adaptation include when a community builds sea walls to protect against hurricanes, when a homeowner plants trees around the house to shade it from extra heat, and when a farmer shifts from growing almonds and alfalfa to less thirsty crops. By contrast, “mitigation” refers to actions to limit global temperature rise, such as replacing a coal-fired power plant with a wind turbine or installing more efficient appliances, windows, and insulation to reduce the amount of energy a household uses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adaptation has never gotten the attention mitigation gets, perhaps because it was assumed, wrongly, that the rich could adapt relatively easily to rising temperatures. For example, the British government spent roughly $3 billion dollars to build the Thames Barrier, a set of massive floodgates downriver from central London, to protect the city from North Sea storm surges. But in fact, adaptation and mitigation are twin imperatives: Mitigation is essential to limit temperature rise to an amount humans can survive, but adaptation is no less essential; because we’ve waited so long, stronger climate impacts are now unavoidable, and the only way to survive them is to prepare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the best climate adaptation research and practice happens to be found in two of the most vulnerable countries on earth: The Netherlands and Bangladesh. The former is rich, the latter not, illustrating that wealth alone is not decisive. More important is that a country starts adapting now, rather than waiting until climate impacts engulf it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Examples of successful adaptation abound (see CCNow executive director Mark Hertsgaard’s book “HOT: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth” for specifics), but they all cost money, which is where the contrast between rich and poor does have meaning. A low-income country such as Bangladesh simply does not have the financial means as the wealthy Netherlands to adapt to a changing climate and its worsening impacts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is why the issue of climate adaptation will arise at COP26 mainly in regards to the $100 billion in annual aid that rich countries have pledged to provide to poor countries. This pledge, enshrined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, is supposed to subsidize both mitigation and adaptation efforts in poor countries. Independent experts calculate that poor countries need much more than that; meanwhile, rich countries have not provided even that much. \u003ca href=\"https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621066/bp-climate-finance-shadow-report-2020-201020-en.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">An analysis\u003c/a> by the anti-poverty NGO Oxfam found that in 2018 (the last year with reliable data), climate aid was roughly $20 to $22 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Developing countries \u003ca href=\"https://www.devex.com/news/climate-vulnerable-nations-demand-urgent-boost-for-delayed-funds-100331\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">have warned\u003c/a> in the lead-up to COP26 that there will be no deal if rich countries don’t deliver a credible plan to deliver the $100 billion in annual aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"link1": "https://unfccc.int/topics/climate-finance/the-big-picture/climate-finance-in-the-negotiations,Climate Finance in the Negotiations (from the United Nations)",
"link2": "https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2021/09/23/Still-Not-Getting-Energy-Prices-Right-A-Global-and-Country-Update-of-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-466004,Still Not Getting Energy Prices Right: A Global and Country Update of Fossil Fuel Subsidies (from the International Monetary Fund)"
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How Do We Pay for 1.5C?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Money is at the heart of the climate emergency and its solutions. This is true both of public money (i.e., government) and private money (i.e., banks and investors). For many years, most public and private money incentivized climate-destructive activities. At the moment, the world’s governments provide roughly $5.9 trillion a year in subsidies for fossil fuels, according to the International Monetary Fund. The vast majority of governments’ stimulus spending to revive Covid-battered economies has reinforced the status quo rather than boosted the zero-carbon activities necessary to ensure a climate-safe future. The challenge now is to halt spending that harms the climate and redirect it to things that help it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judging from the Paris climate summit’s impact, COP26 also could have a profound influence on global money flows. The Paris Agreement’s pledge to transition the global economy to “net zero” emissions by 2050 sent a powerful message that public and private sector leaders have taken to heart. Three quarters of the coal plants planned or being built at the time of the Paris Agreement have been scrapped. That’s partly because solar and other alternative sources were becoming cheaper. But it’s also because government planners and private investors read the writing on the wall after Paris: Coal could only survive with massive state subsidies, and governments facing widespread concerns about climate change were unlikely to keep providing those subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar dynamic is playing out around fossil fuels in general. Mark Carney, the UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, was the head of the Bank of England in 2014 when he began warning about a “carbon bubble” that could crash the global economy. Preventing catastrophic climate change, Carney pointed out, required leaving most of fossil fuel reserves in the ground. But those reserves were (and still are) counted as wealth in the stock holdings of investors; leaving them unburned would render trillions of dollars of invested wealth worthless. That could spark a global financial crisis as destructive as the one unleashed when the housing bubble burst in 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the world’s richest investors have accordingly begun distancing themselves from fossil fuels. BlackRock, the largest money-manager on earth, said in 2020 that it would shun fossil fuels and assume the world economy was moving towards alignment with the Paris Agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that smart money is abandoning fossil fuels, two big questions are coming into focus: How much of the market will follow? And will enough money flow to the climate-friendly technologies and practices needed to defuse the climate emergency? Again, much will depend on how strong a message emerges from COP26. Journalists should monitor what governments say they will and won’t spend on climate action — not just in fiscal budgets but also through central banks. Also key is what governments will do to encourage private banks and investors to stop funding climate destruction and instead finance climate solutions.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "These 4 Charts Explain Why the Stakes Are So High at the U.N. Climate Summit",
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"content": "\u003cp>Leaders from around the world are gathering in Glasgow, Scotland, to hammer out new pledges to fight climate change. The stakes are high. Scientists warn that heat-trapping emissions must fall dramatically by 2030. Otherwise, the world faces more extreme hurricanes, floods and droughts, likely displacing millions of people. Still, negotiations at the COP26 meeting are expected to be tough. Here are four reasons why. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#1 The world is not on track to avoid extreme climate change\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Countries have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/19/986973263/faq-americas-new-promise-on-climate\">already made pledges\u003c/a> to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by moving away from burning fossil fuels. But added together, those pledges don’t reduce emissions enough to avoid the worst damage from climate change. Current policies put the world on track for around 4.8 degrees of warming by 2100, compared with global average temperatures in the mid-19th century. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Globally, the goal is to limit warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026137992/3-things-to-know-about-what-scientists-say-about-our-future-climate\">scientists say is a crucial difference\u003c/a>. The world would still experience worsening heat waves and storms, but not as intense and dangerous. Coral reefs would have a shot at avoiding a massive die-off. But to achieve that, emissions need to fall about 45% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels. That means countries will need to commit to far more ambitious goals. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1.png\" alt=\"A chart showing the large gap between greenhouse gas emissions under current policies and emissions needed to limit warming to around 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.\" width=\"1637\" height=\"1228\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1.png 1637w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-800x600.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-1020x765.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-160x120.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-768x576.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-1536x1152.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1637px) 100vw, 1637px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#2 Wealthiest nations contribute the most to climate change\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The global goal is to reduce emissions, but questions remain about which countries should enact most of the reductions. Developing countries contribute a small fraction of the emissions from cars and power plants. But they’re enduring some of the worst damage from climate change, like island nations that face being erased by sea level rise. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United Nations is \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/articles/2020-12-11/carbon-neutrality-2050-the-world%E2%80%99s-most-urgent-mission\">calling on countries to be carbon neutral by 2050\u003c/a>, which means if a country is still emitting greenhouse gas emissions, they’re being absorbed by forests or other means to keep them from entering the atmosphere. The world’s largest climate polluter, China, has committed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/21/1039486454/china-coal-power-climate-change\">becoming carbon neutral only by 2060\u003c/a>. The country plans to have emissions rise until 2030. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1850\" height=\"1528\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977413\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM.png 1850w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-800x661.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-1020x842.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-160x132.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-768x634.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-1536x1269.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1850px) 100vw, 1850px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#3 U.S. bears the biggest historic responsibility for climate change \u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>China holds the top spot for highest emissions currently, but history matters. Once emitted, carbon dioxide can \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/981333730/carbon-emissions-could-plummet-the-atmosphere-will-lag-behind\">last in the atmosphere for hundreds of years\u003c/a>, trapping heat that raises global temperatures. That means emissions from burning fossil fuels over the past 150 years are responsible for the warming happening today. Over that period, the U.S. has cumulatively emitted the most of any country. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S has committed to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/988051091/biden-makes-new-pledge-for-u-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions-a-50-cut\">50% to 52% reduction in emissions\u003c/a> by 2030, which would come about through a significant \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/16/987667828/how-the-u-s-could-halve-climate-emissions-by-2030\">shift to renewable energy and electric cars\u003c/a>. Some environmental groups say that \u003ca href=\"https://foe.org/news/civil-society-groups-release-fair-shares-ndc-model-for-revised-u-s-climate-action-pledge-under-the-paris-agreement/\">falls short of the U.S.’s fair share\u003c/a>. Even a 50% cut depends heavily on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/15/1036954961/congress-is-debating-its-biggest-climate-change-bill-ever-heres-whats-at-stake\">policies that Congress is currently hashing out\u003c/a> in a budget deal. If an agreement isn’t reached, the U.S. will arrive at COP26 without a credible path to achieve its emission goals, potentially hurting the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1746\" height=\"1228\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977415\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM.png 1746w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-800x563.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-1020x717.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-160x113.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-768x540.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-1536x1080.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1746px) 100vw, 1746px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#4 Wealthier nations are falling short on promises for climate change funding\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With hundreds of millions of people vulnerable to extreme weather like severe storms and droughts, developing countries secured a promise for $100 billion in climate finance annually from developed nations. The funding goes to projects like sustainable transportation and renewable energy, as well as helping communities prepare for more extreme events. Still, as of 2019, developed countries are still below the goal, which will be a point of contention in the COP26 negotiations. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1802\" height=\"1466\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM.png 1802w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-800x651.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-1020x830.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-160x130.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-768x625.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-1536x1250.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1802px) 100vw, 1802px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=These+4+charts+explain+why+the+stakes+are+so+high+at+the+U.N.+climate+summit&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "How hot will the planet get? What nations negotiate at the international climate summit will help determine that. Here are 4 things to know about what's being decided. ",
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"title": "These 4 Charts Explain Why the Stakes Are So High at the U.N. Climate Summit | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Leaders from around the world are gathering in Glasgow, Scotland, to hammer out new pledges to fight climate change. The stakes are high. Scientists warn that heat-trapping emissions must fall dramatically by 2030. Otherwise, the world faces more extreme hurricanes, floods and droughts, likely displacing millions of people. Still, negotiations at the COP26 meeting are expected to be tough. Here are four reasons why. \u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#1 The world is not on track to avoid extreme climate change\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Countries have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/19/986973263/faq-americas-new-promise-on-climate\">already made pledges\u003c/a> to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by moving away from burning fossil fuels. But added together, those pledges don’t reduce emissions enough to avoid the worst damage from climate change. Current policies put the world on track for around 4.8 degrees of warming by 2100, compared with global average temperatures in the mid-19th century. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Globally, the goal is to limit warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026137992/3-things-to-know-about-what-scientists-say-about-our-future-climate\">scientists say is a crucial difference\u003c/a>. The world would still experience worsening heat waves and storms, but not as intense and dangerous. Coral reefs would have a shot at avoiding a massive die-off. But to achieve that, emissions need to fall about 45% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels. That means countries will need to commit to far more ambitious goals. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1.png\" alt=\"A chart showing the large gap between greenhouse gas emissions under current policies and emissions needed to limit warming to around 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100.\" width=\"1637\" height=\"1228\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1.png 1637w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-800x600.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-1020x765.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-160x120.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-768x576.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/10/cop26-gap-promo-b26e1e03cdad4b761398d2b226d9c77972e3acb5-1-1536x1152.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1637px) 100vw, 1637px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#2 Wealthiest nations contribute the most to climate change\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The global goal is to reduce emissions, but questions remain about which countries should enact most of the reductions. Developing countries contribute a small fraction of the emissions from cars and power plants. But they’re enduring some of the worst damage from climate change, like island nations that face being erased by sea level rise. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United Nations is \u003ca href=\"https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/articles/2020-12-11/carbon-neutrality-2050-the-world%E2%80%99s-most-urgent-mission\">calling on countries to be carbon neutral by 2050\u003c/a>, which means if a country is still emitting greenhouse gas emissions, they’re being absorbed by forests or other means to keep them from entering the atmosphere. The world’s largest climate polluter, China, has committed to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/21/1039486454/china-coal-power-climate-change\">becoming carbon neutral only by 2060\u003c/a>. The country plans to have emissions rise until 2030. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1850\" height=\"1528\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977413\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM.png 1850w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-800x661.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-1020x842.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-160x132.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-768x634.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.50-AM-1536x1269.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1850px) 100vw, 1850px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#3 U.S. bears the biggest historic responsibility for climate change \u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>China holds the top spot for highest emissions currently, but history matters. Once emitted, carbon dioxide can \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/981333730/carbon-emissions-could-plummet-the-atmosphere-will-lag-behind\">last in the atmosphere for hundreds of years\u003c/a>, trapping heat that raises global temperatures. That means emissions from burning fossil fuels over the past 150 years are responsible for the warming happening today. Over that period, the U.S. has cumulatively emitted the most of any country. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S has committed to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/988051091/biden-makes-new-pledge-for-u-s-greenhouse-gas-emissions-a-50-cut\">50% to 52% reduction in emissions\u003c/a> by 2030, which would come about through a significant \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/04/16/987667828/how-the-u-s-could-halve-climate-emissions-by-2030\">shift to renewable energy and electric cars\u003c/a>. Some environmental groups say that \u003ca href=\"https://foe.org/news/civil-society-groups-release-fair-shares-ndc-model-for-revised-u-s-climate-action-pledge-under-the-paris-agreement/\">falls short of the U.S.’s fair share\u003c/a>. Even a 50% cut depends heavily on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/15/1036954961/congress-is-debating-its-biggest-climate-change-bill-ever-heres-whats-at-stake\">policies that Congress is currently hashing out\u003c/a> in a budget deal. If an agreement isn’t reached, the U.S. will arrive at COP26 without a credible path to achieve its emission goals, potentially hurting the negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1746\" height=\"1228\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977415\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM.png 1746w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-800x563.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-1020x717.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-160x113.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-768x540.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.38.56-AM-1536x1080.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1746px) 100vw, 1746px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>#4 Wealthier nations are falling short on promises for climate change funding\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With hundreds of millions of people vulnerable to extreme weather like severe storms and droughts, developing countries secured a promise for $100 billion in climate finance annually from developed nations. The funding goes to projects like sustainable transportation and renewable energy, as well as helping communities prepare for more extreme events. Still, as of 2019, developed countries are still below the goal, which will be a point of contention in the COP26 negotiations. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1802\" height=\"1466\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1977416\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM.png 1802w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-800x651.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-1020x830.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-160x130.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-768x625.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/11/Screen-Shot-2021-11-02-at-10.39.04-AM-1536x1250.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1802px) 100vw, 1802px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=These+4+charts+explain+why+the+stakes+are+so+high+at+the+U.N.+climate+summit&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
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"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
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"order": 8
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},
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"order": 1
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"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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"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.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
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"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 9
},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"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. ",
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"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. ",
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"order": 18
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},
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"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/",
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},
"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": {
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"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": {
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"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"
},
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
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"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>",
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