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"content": "\u003cp>The Bay Area could get “a December’s worth of rain” over the next week, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999678/bay-area-you-just-might-have-yourself-a-soggy-rainy-christmas\">a rainy Christmas Day \u003c/a>and a Sierra Nevada \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066608/lake-tahoe-things-to-do-that-arent-skiing-or-snowboarding-weather-snow-sierra\">blanketed with white\u003c/a>, the National Weather Service said Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters said they expect a weeklong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1935067/rivers-in-the-sky-what-you-need-to-know-about-atmospheric-river-storms\">atmospheric river\u003c/a> with three distinct storms to move over Northern California next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Merchant, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office, said the first wave of precipitation will begin Friday afternoon and last through Saturday, bringing much-needed rain after around six weeks of mostly dry conditions, especially in the North Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re seeing now is just sort of setting the stage for potential problems later in the latter half of next week, which unfortunately does include Christmas Day,” Merchant said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second wave is set to crash over the Bay Area between Saturday and next Tuesday, potentially bringing 1 to 3 inches of rain in the North Bay and the possibility of flash flooding in low-lying areas. San Francisco could receive several inches by Sunday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters wrote in their daily weather \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=mtr&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD\">discussion\u003c/a> that they expect the heaviest rain on Sunday into Monday along the North Bay coast, Santa Cruz mountains and the Big Sur coast, with winds up to 40 mph and a 15% chance of thunderstorms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999213\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999213\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" data-wp-editing=\"1\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People wait at a Muni stop on Mission Street in the rain on Dec. 13, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The weather service has not yet issued a flood watch, warning or advisory. Flooding depends heavily on where the storm stalls or moves over the region, but meteorologists said urban areas and low-lying areas with poor drainage are most at risk. Flashy streams, such as Mark West Creek in Sonoma County, are also susceptible to flooding, especially as soils become saturated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters said they expect the third and potentially most potent wave to make landfall on Tuesday afternoon and last through next Friday. The storm is likely to bring moderate to heavy rain, which could cause larger rivers to flood late next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not going to be raining steadily for seven days straight or anything like that,” Merchant said. “But you will have to pay attention and know when these rounds of more impactful rainfall come through your area.”[aside postID=news_12066736 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/TuleFogGetty.jpg']While it is unclear where, or even if, the atmospheric river will stall over the Bay Area, these weather systems can act like a fire hose, absolutely drenching wherever they park. In recent history, they’ve \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994168/the-pajaro-flood-forced-them-to-flee-californias-high-rents-forced-them-to-return\">caused significant flooding\u003c/a> from Guerneville to San Francisco to Watsonville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Merchant said the first two waves of rain are progressive and don’t look like they’ll stick around, but it is too early to say what the third storm will bring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By Thursday, that’s where we’re going to have a little more concern about possibly more widespread impacts like fallen trees and power lines,” Merchant said. “But to be honest, it’s too far out at this point to know exactly the timing of those impacts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of all the wind and rain, people should allow “more time to travel through our area basically over the next week,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the moment, the massive river in the sky headed towards us is building from Hawaii to the Pacific Coast. Weather experts measure the intensity of atmospheric rivers on a scale from 0 to 5. This system could reach a 3 across the North Bay and a 4 across the San Francisco peninsula and South Bay, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cw3e.ucsd.edu/arscale/\">atmospheric river-scale modeling\u003c/a> by the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984920\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984920 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/10/GettyImages-1482972333-scaled-e1766179697716.jpg\" alt=\"Snow storm falls on the Sierras.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Snow blows in the Sierra Nevada after yet another storm brought heavy snowfall, raising the snowpack on March 29, 2023, in Mammoth Lakes, California. \u003ccite>(Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As for the Sierra Nevada, forecasters said the first two waves will bring mostly rain at elevations lower than 8,000 feet. But they expect the snowline to drop to around 6,000 feet during the third system, starting Tuesday afternoon. Heavy snow will likely complicate travel on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re talking multiple feet of snow above pass level and even at pass level for the Christmas holiday,” said Scott Rowe, senior service hydrologist and meteorologist with the weather service’s Sacramento office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The determination of whether mountain residents or visitors will have a white Christmas depends on elevation, Rowe said. People staying in cabins above 6,000 feet in elevation will likely see snow, while those staying below about 5,500 feet will likely experience rain all week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Bay Area could get “a December’s worth of rain” over the next week, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999678/bay-area-you-just-might-have-yourself-a-soggy-rainy-christmas\">a rainy Christmas Day \u003c/a>and a Sierra Nevada \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066608/lake-tahoe-things-to-do-that-arent-skiing-or-snowboarding-weather-snow-sierra\">blanketed with white\u003c/a>, the National Weather Service said Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters said they expect a weeklong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1935067/rivers-in-the-sky-what-you-need-to-know-about-atmospheric-river-storms\">atmospheric river\u003c/a> with three distinct storms to move over Northern California next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Merchant, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office, said the first wave of precipitation will begin Friday afternoon and last through Saturday, bringing much-needed rain after around six weeks of mostly dry conditions, especially in the North Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re seeing now is just sort of setting the stage for potential problems later in the latter half of next week, which unfortunately does include Christmas Day,” Merchant said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second wave is set to crash over the Bay Area between Saturday and next Tuesday, potentially bringing 1 to 3 inches of rain in the North Bay and the possibility of flash flooding in low-lying areas. San Francisco could receive several inches by Sunday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters wrote in their daily weather \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=mtr&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD\">discussion\u003c/a> that they expect the heaviest rain on Sunday into Monday along the North Bay coast, Santa Cruz mountains and the Big Sur coast, with winds up to 40 mph and a 15% chance of thunderstorms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999213\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999213\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" data-wp-editing=\"1\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People wait at a Muni stop on Mission Street in the rain on Dec. 13, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The weather service has not yet issued a flood watch, warning or advisory. Flooding depends heavily on where the storm stalls or moves over the region, but meteorologists said urban areas and low-lying areas with poor drainage are most at risk. Flashy streams, such as Mark West Creek in Sonoma County, are also susceptible to flooding, especially as soils become saturated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters said they expect the third and potentially most potent wave to make landfall on Tuesday afternoon and last through next Friday. The storm is likely to bring moderate to heavy rain, which could cause larger rivers to flood late next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not going to be raining steadily for seven days straight or anything like that,” Merchant said. “But you will have to pay attention and know when these rounds of more impactful rainfall come through your area.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While it is unclear where, or even if, the atmospheric river will stall over the Bay Area, these weather systems can act like a fire hose, absolutely drenching wherever they park. In recent history, they’ve \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994168/the-pajaro-flood-forced-them-to-flee-californias-high-rents-forced-them-to-return\">caused significant flooding\u003c/a> from Guerneville to San Francisco to Watsonville.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Merchant said the first two waves of rain are progressive and don’t look like they’ll stick around, but it is too early to say what the third storm will bring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By Thursday, that’s where we’re going to have a little more concern about possibly more widespread impacts like fallen trees and power lines,” Merchant said. “But to be honest, it’s too far out at this point to know exactly the timing of those impacts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of all the wind and rain, people should allow “more time to travel through our area basically over the next week,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the moment, the massive river in the sky headed towards us is building from Hawaii to the Pacific Coast. Weather experts measure the intensity of atmospheric rivers on a scale from 0 to 5. This system could reach a 3 across the North Bay and a 4 across the San Francisco peninsula and South Bay, according to \u003ca href=\"https://cw3e.ucsd.edu/arscale/\">atmospheric river-scale modeling\u003c/a> by the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1984920\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1984920 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/10/GettyImages-1482972333-scaled-e1766179697716.jpg\" alt=\"Snow storm falls on the Sierras.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1330\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Snow blows in the Sierra Nevada after yet another storm brought heavy snowfall, raising the snowpack on March 29, 2023, in Mammoth Lakes, California. \u003ccite>(Mario Tama/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As for the Sierra Nevada, forecasters said the first two waves will bring mostly rain at elevations lower than 8,000 feet. But they expect the snowline to drop to around 6,000 feet during the third system, starting Tuesday afternoon. Heavy snow will likely complicate travel on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re talking multiple feet of snow above pass level and even at pass level for the Christmas holiday,” said Scott Rowe, senior service hydrologist and meteorologist with the weather service’s Sacramento office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The determination of whether mountain residents or visitors will have a white Christmas depends on elevation, Rowe said. People staying in cabins above 6,000 feet in elevation will likely see snow, while those staying below about 5,500 feet will likely experience rain all week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Bay Area: You Just Might Have Yourself a Soggy, Rainy Christmas",
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"content": "\u003cp>It’s beginning to look a lot like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area-weather\">rain\u003c/a> this Christmas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As wet weather returns to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> and persists throughout the week, there’s a 60% chance the pattern will last through Dec. 25, and a slightly lower chance it will linger through the end of the month, National Weather Service meteorologists wrote in their \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=mtr&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD\">daily forecast discussion\u003c/a> on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, if you’re getting grandpa a drone this year, or some other flying gadget or gizmo to fly around the tree, see if you can find a waterproof one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our dry spell looks like it is ending,” said Rachel Kennedy, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meteorologists said they expect two light systems from the Gulf of Alaska this week to bring much-needed rain across the region starting Tuesday. The North Bay could get the most rainfall, with up to a quarter of an inch of rain, during the first storm. More showers arrive late Thursday and could drop up to an inch and a half in the North Bay and up to half an inch for the rest of the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066736/bay-area-stuck-with-unusually-cold-weather-thanks-to-this-naturally-occurring-culprit\">frigid temperatures\u003c/a> Bay Area residents have experienced over the past week are forecast to warm up to the mid- to upper 50s and low 60s across most of the region as the storms roll in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999213\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999213\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People wait at a Muni stop on Mission Street in the rain on Dec. 13, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A third system, potentially a moderate-to-strong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1935067/rivers-in-the-sky-what-you-need-to-know-about-atmospheric-river-storms\">atmospheric river\u003c/a> fueled by tropical moisture, could arrive from the north on Sunday. These weather models are beginning to align, Kennedy said, suggesting the atmospheric river could last through the holidays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking at a moderate to strong atmospheric river next week, and it could be impactful to holiday travel like flight delays and slick roads,” Kennedy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The NWS’s Climate Prediction Center expects a high risk, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/threats/threats.php\">greater than 60% chance\u003c/a> of heavy rain between Dec. 23 and 25, for all of coastal California, with the possibility of flooding. The center also predicts a high risk of heavy snow across the Sierra Nevada next Tuesday through Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/nwscpc/status/2000678364504277467?s=12&t=zgyOPOqDqd_FEcUp9l4Z0g\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sara Purdue, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Sacramento office, said the storm, as of now, looks like it will be “fairly warm” and said heavier snow tends to fall at higher elevations during atmospheric rivers, and in lesser amounts than what you might think of in a typical winter storm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters suggest Californians prepare for the rain by cleaning out gutters and securing outdoor items, such as Christmas inflatables.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would be prepared to get that done before Thursday,” Kennedy said. “The earlier you prepare, the better time you’re going to have when we get that potentially impactful holiday travel, as the stronger system moves in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s beginning to look a lot like \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area-weather\">rain\u003c/a> this Christmas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As wet weather returns to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\">Bay Area\u003c/a> and persists throughout the week, there’s a 60% chance the pattern will last through Dec. 25, and a slightly lower chance it will linger through the end of the month, National Weather Service meteorologists wrote in their \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=mtr&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD\">daily forecast discussion\u003c/a> on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, if you’re getting grandpa a drone this year, or some other flying gadget or gizmo to fly around the tree, see if you can find a waterproof one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our dry spell looks like it is ending,” said Rachel Kennedy, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meteorologists said they expect two light systems from the Gulf of Alaska this week to bring much-needed rain across the region starting Tuesday. The North Bay could get the most rainfall, with up to a quarter of an inch of rain, during the first storm. More showers arrive late Thursday and could drop up to an inch and a half in the North Bay and up to half an inch for the rest of the region.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12066736/bay-area-stuck-with-unusually-cold-weather-thanks-to-this-naturally-occurring-culprit\">frigid temperatures\u003c/a> Bay Area residents have experienced over the past week are forecast to warm up to the mid- to upper 50s and low 60s across most of the region as the storms roll in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999213\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999213\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1331\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/007_SanFrancisco_AtmosphericRiver_12132021_qed-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People wait at a Muni stop on Mission Street in the rain on Dec. 13, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A third system, potentially a moderate-to-strong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1935067/rivers-in-the-sky-what-you-need-to-know-about-atmospheric-river-storms\">atmospheric river\u003c/a> fueled by tropical moisture, could arrive from the north on Sunday. These weather models are beginning to align, Kennedy said, suggesting the atmospheric river could last through the holidays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re looking at a moderate to strong atmospheric river next week, and it could be impactful to holiday travel like flight delays and slick roads,” Kennedy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The NWS’s Climate Prediction Center expects a high risk, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/threats/threats.php\">greater than 60% chance\u003c/a> of heavy rain between Dec. 23 and 25, for all of coastal California, with the possibility of flooding. The center also predicts a high risk of heavy snow across the Sierra Nevada next Tuesday through Friday.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Sara Purdue, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Sacramento office, said the storm, as of now, looks like it will be “fairly warm” and said heavier snow tends to fall at higher elevations during atmospheric rivers, and in lesser amounts than what you might think of in a typical winter storm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Forecasters suggest Californians prepare for the rain by cleaning out gutters and securing outdoor items, such as Christmas inflatables.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would be prepared to get that done before Thursday,” Kennedy said. “The earlier you prepare, the better time you’re going to have when we get that potentially impactful holiday travel, as the stronger system moves in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Scientists Say San Ramon’s Latest Earthquake Swarm Is Normal, but Residents Are on Edge",
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"content": "\u003cp>Two \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1936949/do-little-quakes-mean-the-big-one-is-close-at-hand\">earthquakes\u003c/a> shook Mona Epstein awake in the middle of the night, long before she crawled out of bed on the morning of Dec. 8.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it was the rocking from the magnitude 3.6 quake just after 9 a.m. that caused the San Ramon resident to scream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was a loud rumble,” said Epstein, who lives about a mile from where the quake hit. “The cupboard doors opened, my armoire door popped open and things popped out of the closet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epstein said she hesitated to even shower afterward for fear of another earthquake. “If it was the big one,” then she didn’t want to “be naked and have to run out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly 1,600 people as far away as San José reported they felt the quake, which occurred along the Calaveras Fault, the United States Geological Survey \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75276661/impact\">reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last month, more than 150 earthquakes jolted the San Ramon area — including \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?currentFeatureId=nc75276661&extent=37.73196,-121.97116&extent=37.77139,-121.91623&range=week&settings=true\">10 earthquakes at or above a magnitude 2.5\u003c/a> on Dec. 8, according to Amy Williamson, a research seismologist at the \u003ca href=\"https://earthquakes.berkeley.edu/seismo.real.time.map.html\">UC Berkeley Seismology Lab\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999667\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999667\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-15-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-15-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-15-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-15-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-15-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mona Epstein stands in her apartment in San Ramon on Dec. 15, 2025. She experienced a recent swarm of small earthquakes in the area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This part of Contra Costa County is prone to earthquake swarms and has experienced these events a handful of times since the 1970s, due to a complex system of faults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve had these sorts of swarms for decades now,” Williamson said. “For San Ramon to the Danville area, it’s really common.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epstein experienced an earlier swarm back in 2018 while living in San Ramon, a city with a population of nearly 80,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While these earthquake clusters aren’t out of the ordinary, they can still come as a surprise, especially if you live right above the jolt, like Rachael Heys, whose street in San Ramon is located right over the epicenter of last week’s swarm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999657\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999657\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-16-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mona Epstein keeps a weather radio and flashlight on her kitchen counter in her apartment in San Ramon on Dec. 15, 2025. A recent swarm of small earthquakes in the area motivated her to prepare for emergencies. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She credits her cat, Marshall — named after rapper Eminem — for warning her that an earthquake was about to hit in the middle of the night. He made “weird little noises” and hid under a table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Within seconds of him yelling this big loud meow, there was a big earthquake,” Heys said. “It really shook me. It sounded like a dresser hit the wall. It was like this one big bang.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heys and her boyfriend felt at least two other quakes that morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had all of these mini ones mostly in that one day,” Heys said. “This is insane.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999655\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999655\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-04-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rachael Heys holds her cat Marshall outside her apartment building in San Ramon on Dec. 15, 2025. The area recently experienced a sequence of small earthquakes that residents reported feeling over several days. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earthquake swarms differ from a typical earthquake sequence, where there’s one main shock and then a series of small aftershocks, Williamson said. Swarms don’t usually have a dominant earthquake. Instead, a cluster of tiny or minor earthquakes takes place over a more extended period of time, and then the fault quiets down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that there’s a swarm here doesn’t make it any more or less likely for the big one that people are always talking about in the Bay Area,” Williamson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earthquake swarms typically occur due to changes in the liquid around a fault. They’re common in places near volcanoes and geothermal areas. But Williamson said what makes the San Ramon area “a little bit unique” is that the area isn’t volcanic or hydrothermal.[aside postID=news_12060130 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/SFFireDeptLomaPrieta1.jpg']San Ramon sits over a complex geologic environment, which is one theory, Williamson said, for why the area gets swarms every few years. The Calaveras Fault runs underneath the city in a transition zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is part of the San Andreas Fault system and is \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/fs20153009\">capable of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake\u003c/a>. To the east, the Mount Diablo Thrust Fault begins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All these earthquakes happen in that transition area,” Williamson said. “Any small changes kind of cause that area to preferentially get more earthquakes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last big quake the Calaveras Fault produced was in 1984 in Morgan Hill with a magnitude of 6.2. But if the Hayward Fault and the Calaveras Fault, which UC Berkeley scientists found are \u003ca href=\"https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/calaveras-hayward-fault-link-means-potentially-larger-quakes\">connected\u003c/a>, rock simultaneously, that could result in a magnitude 7.3 earthquake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Faults contain liquid that lubricates the earth, making it easier to move and causing earthquakes. Similar to a person wetting their hands and sliding them together, the fluid reduces the friction, and the rock “can slide more freely,” Williamson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williamson said the liquid is usually a mix of water and minerals, and that there isn’t a “great model” to say exactly how it moves through cracks within the fault system. That movement can cause the quakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williamson said the “constant rattle” should serve as a reminder that Bay Area residents live in a “really seismically active area.” She recommended \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949019/its-about-time-how-to-get-ready-for-the-next-emergency\">preparing a go bag\u003c/a> with clothes, food and water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999661\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-19-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-19-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-19-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-19-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-19-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for apartments on Deerwood Road in San Ramon on Dec. 15, 2025. The area sits near the Calaveras Fault, an active fault that runs underground through the East Bay. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Epstein, who is retired, said she’s started to prepare for a larger earthquake, collecting masks, gloves, water, tools, and canned food — although she needs to double-check the expiration dates to make sure the food is still good to eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not to the point where I’m gonna sleep with my shoes on or anything,” Epstein said. “I just hope if the worst happens that I can get to the bag in the closet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heys, who works as a server in Danville, on the other hand, is very prepared. She has a supply of perishable food, flashlights, portable chargers that also act as flashlights, mini candles, gallons of water and a case of water in her car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s talked with her friends and neighbors about the quakes and how they’ve prepared, but they don’t seem as concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody really has any major concerns as of now,” Heys said. “I think that’s because none of us has experienced a huge one yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epstein said she hesitated to even shower afterward for fear of another earthquake. “If it was the big one,” then she didn’t want to “be naked and have to run out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly 1,600 people as far away as San José reported they felt the quake, which occurred along the Calaveras Fault, the United States Geological Survey \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc75276661/impact\">reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last month, more than 150 earthquakes jolted the San Ramon area — including \u003ca href=\"https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?currentFeatureId=nc75276661&extent=37.73196,-121.97116&extent=37.77139,-121.91623&range=week&settings=true\">10 earthquakes at or above a magnitude 2.5\u003c/a> on Dec. 8, according to Amy Williamson, a research seismologist at the \u003ca href=\"https://earthquakes.berkeley.edu/seismo.real.time.map.html\">UC Berkeley Seismology Lab\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999667\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999667\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-15-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-15-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-15-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-15-BL_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EarthquakeSwarms-15-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mona Epstein stands in her apartment in San Ramon on Dec. 15, 2025. She experienced a recent swarm of small earthquakes in the area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This part of Contra Costa County is prone to earthquake swarms and has experienced these events a handful of times since the 1970s, due to a complex system of faults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve had these sorts of swarms for decades now,” Williamson said. “For San Ramon to the Danville area, it’s really common.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Epstein experienced an earlier swarm back in 2018 while living in San Ramon, a city with a population of nearly 80,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While these earthquake clusters aren’t out of the ordinary, they can still come as a surprise, especially if you live right above the jolt, like Rachael Heys, whose street in San Ramon is located right over the epicenter of last week’s swarm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999657\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999657\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-16-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mona Epstein keeps a weather radio and flashlight on her kitchen counter in her apartment in San Ramon on Dec. 15, 2025. A recent swarm of small earthquakes in the area motivated her to prepare for emergencies. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She credits her cat, Marshall — named after rapper Eminem — for warning her that an earthquake was about to hit in the middle of the night. He made “weird little noises” and hid under a table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Within seconds of him yelling this big loud meow, there was a big earthquake,” Heys said. “It really shook me. It sounded like a dresser hit the wall. It was like this one big bang.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heys and her boyfriend felt at least two other quakes that morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had all of these mini ones mostly in that one day,” Heys said. “This is insane.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999655\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999655\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-04-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-04-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-04-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-04-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-04-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rachael Heys holds her cat Marshall outside her apartment building in San Ramon on Dec. 15, 2025. The area recently experienced a sequence of small earthquakes that residents reported feeling over several days. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Earthquake swarms differ from a typical earthquake sequence, where there’s one main shock and then a series of small aftershocks, Williamson said. Swarms don’t usually have a dominant earthquake. Instead, a cluster of tiny or minor earthquakes takes place over a more extended period of time, and then the fault quiets down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The fact that there’s a swarm here doesn’t make it any more or less likely for the big one that people are always talking about in the Bay Area,” Williamson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earthquake swarms typically occur due to changes in the liquid around a fault. They’re common in places near volcanoes and geothermal areas. But Williamson said what makes the San Ramon area “a little bit unique” is that the area isn’t volcanic or hydrothermal.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>San Ramon sits over a complex geologic environment, which is one theory, Williamson said, for why the area gets swarms every few years. The Calaveras Fault runs underneath the city in a transition zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is part of the San Andreas Fault system and is \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/fs20153009\">capable of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake\u003c/a>. To the east, the Mount Diablo Thrust Fault begins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All these earthquakes happen in that transition area,” Williamson said. “Any small changes kind of cause that area to preferentially get more earthquakes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The last big quake the Calaveras Fault produced was in 1984 in Morgan Hill with a magnitude of 6.2. But if the Hayward Fault and the Calaveras Fault, which UC Berkeley scientists found are \u003ca href=\"https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/calaveras-hayward-fault-link-means-potentially-larger-quakes\">connected\u003c/a>, rock simultaneously, that could result in a magnitude 7.3 earthquake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Faults contain liquid that lubricates the earth, making it easier to move and causing earthquakes. Similar to a person wetting their hands and sliding them together, the fluid reduces the friction, and the rock “can slide more freely,” Williamson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williamson said the liquid is usually a mix of water and minerals, and that there isn’t a “great model” to say exactly how it moves through cracks within the fault system. That movement can cause the quakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williamson said the “constant rattle” should serve as a reminder that Bay Area residents live in a “really seismically active area.” She recommended \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949019/its-about-time-how-to-get-ready-for-the-next-emergency\">preparing a go bag\u003c/a> with clothes, food and water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999661\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999661\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-19-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-19-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-19-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-19-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251215-EARTHQUAKESWARMS-19-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign for apartments on Deerwood Road in San Ramon on Dec. 15, 2025. The area sits near the Calaveras Fault, an active fault that runs underground through the East Bay. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Epstein, who is retired, said she’s started to prepare for a larger earthquake, collecting masks, gloves, water, tools, and canned food — although she needs to double-check the expiration dates to make sure the food is still good to eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not to the point where I’m gonna sleep with my shoes on or anything,” Epstein said. “I just hope if the worst happens that I can get to the bag in the closet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heys, who works as a server in Danville, on the other hand, is very prepared. She has a supply of perishable food, flashlights, portable chargers that also act as flashlights, mini candles, gallons of water and a case of water in her car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s talked with her friends and neighbors about the quakes and how they’ve prepared, but they don’t seem as concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody really has any major concerns as of now,” Heys said. “I think that’s because none of us has experienced a huge one yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California’s\u003c/a> planet-warming pollution shrank by 3% in 2023, one of the largest year-over-year reductions the state has seen, according to a report by nonprofit Next 10. The state’s use of cleaner fuels in heavy-duty transportation, like big rigs, and its deployment of battery storage and solar energy drove this climate progress, in large part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report found that fossil fuels supplied just 36.3% of the state’s electricity in 2024, an all-time low, and renewables surpassed 50% of the energy that powers California’s grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is doing extremely well in reducing our carbon emissions and moving towards a low-carbon economy,” said F. Noel Perry, founder of Next 10, a nonprofit that aims to educate the public and policymakers on economic, environmental, and quality of life issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the transportation sector comprised the state’s largest category of emissions, accounting for roughly 38% of emissions in 2023, it also saw the largest percentage decrease in emissions of any other sector, falling by 4.6%. Heavy-duty trucks relied more on biofuels, which are made from plants or other organic materials instead of fossil fuels, which account for the majority of the drop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a dip in pollution from cars, too, although it was far smaller.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999624\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999624\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251021-I-580-MD-02_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251021-I-580-MD-02_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251021-I-580-MD-02_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251021-I-580-MD-02_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251021-I-580-MD-02_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 580 freeway in Oakland on Oct. 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Emissions fell in all other categories the researchers reviewed, with the exception of pollution from residential and commercial sectors, which grew by nearly 7%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The large increase is from grocery stores, commercial and industrial cold storage facilities, and others, that have replaced gases in old refrigeration systems with ones that don’t harm the ozone layer, but can cause a lot of warming if they leak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers said that while the data is encouraging, California policymakers and regulators need to do more to hit the state’s 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1990 levels.[aside postID=news_12052390 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/230928-EAGLE-ROCK-SETTLE-MD-07_qed.jpg']That would require an average annual emissions reduction rate of 4.4%, a number far higher than historic annual reductions. For the state to reach its even more ambitious 2045 emissions goal — of 85% below 1990 levels — California would have to double that reduction rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an encouraging result, especially amid the current federal administration’s hostility toward clean energy and climate change and environmental policies,” said Hoyu Chong, lead researcher on Next 10’s report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is still not quite on track to meet its 2030 goals, but I do think it’s getting closer to within striking distance,” Chong said. “I like to use the analogy of saving money. Even if a person might not reach their savings goal by their deadline, the fact that the person has saved something is still better than nothing, right?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report echoes an oft-touted phrase by Gov. Gavin Newsom: that California’s economy grows while the state reduces emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Authors say further phasing out of fossil fuels and electrifying the grid will be crucial, as well as more cuts to emissions from transportation, buildings and industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next 10 has tracked California’s progress toward its 2030 climate goals since the state adopted the targets in 2006.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California’s\u003c/a> planet-warming pollution shrank by 3% in 2023, one of the largest year-over-year reductions the state has seen, according to a report by nonprofit Next 10. The state’s use of cleaner fuels in heavy-duty transportation, like big rigs, and its deployment of battery storage and solar energy drove this climate progress, in large part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report found that fossil fuels supplied just 36.3% of the state’s electricity in 2024, an all-time low, and renewables surpassed 50% of the energy that powers California’s grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is doing extremely well in reducing our carbon emissions and moving towards a low-carbon economy,” said F. Noel Perry, founder of Next 10, a nonprofit that aims to educate the public and policymakers on economic, environmental, and quality of life issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the transportation sector comprised the state’s largest category of emissions, accounting for roughly 38% of emissions in 2023, it also saw the largest percentage decrease in emissions of any other sector, falling by 4.6%. Heavy-duty trucks relied more on biofuels, which are made from plants or other organic materials instead of fossil fuels, which account for the majority of the drop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a dip in pollution from cars, too, although it was far smaller.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999624\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999624\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251021-I-580-MD-02_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251021-I-580-MD-02_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251021-I-580-MD-02_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251021-I-580-MD-02_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/251021-I-580-MD-02_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 580 freeway in Oakland on Oct. 21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Emissions fell in all other categories the researchers reviewed, with the exception of pollution from residential and commercial sectors, which grew by nearly 7%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The large increase is from grocery stores, commercial and industrial cold storage facilities, and others, that have replaced gases in old refrigeration systems with ones that don’t harm the ozone layer, but can cause a lot of warming if they leak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers said that while the data is encouraging, California policymakers and regulators need to do more to hit the state’s 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1990 levels.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That would require an average annual emissions reduction rate of 4.4%, a number far higher than historic annual reductions. For the state to reach its even more ambitious 2045 emissions goal — of 85% below 1990 levels — California would have to double that reduction rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is an encouraging result, especially amid the current federal administration’s hostility toward clean energy and climate change and environmental policies,” said Hoyu Chong, lead researcher on Next 10’s report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is still not quite on track to meet its 2030 goals, but I do think it’s getting closer to within striking distance,” Chong said. “I like to use the analogy of saving money. Even if a person might not reach their savings goal by their deadline, the fact that the person has saved something is still better than nothing, right?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report echoes an oft-touted phrase by Gov. Gavin Newsom: that California’s economy grows while the state reduces emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Authors say further phasing out of fossil fuels and electrifying the grid will be crucial, as well as more cuts to emissions from transportation, buildings and industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next 10 has tracked California’s progress toward its 2030 climate goals since the state adopted the targets in 2006.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Navy Apologizes for 11-Month Delay in Reporting Radioactive Material at Hunters Point",
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"content": "\u003cp>The U.S. Navy apologized to city leaders during a San Francisco Board of Supervisors hearing on Monday for waiting \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999023/navy-took-11-months-to-alert-sf-to-airborne-plutonium-at-hunters-point-shipyard-site\">11 months\u003c/a> before disclosing to residents that the agency had detected airborne radioactive material at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Navy alerted San Francisco health officials in October that it had discovered elevated levels of plutonium-239 in November of last year. The material is highly radioactive and used to create nuclear weapons. Breathing in tiny particles of the substance is dangerous over time and can cause health issues like lung cancer. Community groups and at least one San Francisco supervisor called the 11-month delay “unacceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Navy found the sample in an area known as Parcel C, adjacent to a hill covered in condo buildings where hundreds of families live, and nearby a public park with a view of the shipyard. The Navy had previously cleared that area for redevelopment two decades ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials with the Navy told the supervisors that the sample posed “no health risk” to the public and said it was a hundredth of the radiation a person might receive during an X-ray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danielle Janda, base closure manager for the Navy at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, said the agency needed extra time to retest the sample and conduct a third-party audit of the laboratory where the test was conducted. She called the sample with a low level of plutonium an “outlier,” and said the Navy plans to improve communication by working with agencies and attending more local meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In this instance, we valued accuracy over timeliness,” Janda said. “It’s obvious that we lost trust in the community and are going to work with the community to get that trust back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anthony Megliola, director of the U.S. Navy’s Base Realignment and Closure Program, acknowledged the delay created “concern and frustration” among regulators and the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979637\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1979637\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings in the Bayview sit behind the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco on March 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I take responsibility for this,” Megliola said. “We recognize this approach did not meet the community’s expectations for timely communication, and the long gap undermined trust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shamman Walton, District 10 supervisor, said he appreciates the apology, but said this is “not the first time the Navy has lost the public’s trust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do appreciate you for coming, for owning up to the mistake, but again, apologies and admissions do not protect our community,” Walton said. “This should not happen, and we want to make sure that this does not happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susan Philip, health officer for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said federal rules require the Navy to notify state and local agencies and the public when a situation may pose a threat to the public. Even though the Navy found the sample posed no immediate public health issues, she said, her “greater concern, of course, is the delay in notifying the regulators, who are the ones who are to make that determination about safety.”[aside postID=science_1999023 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/09/004_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022_qed-1020x680.jpg']Michael Montgomery, director of the EPA’s Superfund and Emergency Management Division, said the Navy should have come to the agency earlier because its staff could have helped with testing and communicating with the public. He said the Navy is supposed to present these sorts of findings within two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately, the lack of transparency created a much bigger concern than it would have if we’d have been engaged early on and been able to do the risk communication,” Montgomery said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within 45 days, Montgomery said his agency will conduct an independent review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Supervisor Walton asked whether there were consequences for the Navy’s delayed reporting, Montgomery said there are generally penalties that could apply. Still, he can’t discuss them in this case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 10 resident Falaofuta Satele told Navy officials during the hearing that she “doesn’t trust” them and feels like officials are trying to “cover up” their findings by not providing direct answers to the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not frustrated, we’re alert,” Satele said. “We are not stupid, and please have some courtesy when you say transparent, please disclose with integrity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979624\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1979624\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard from the Lennar at the Shipyard housing development on Feb. 25, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Joyce Armstrong, vice chair of the Hunters Point Shipyard Citizens Advisory Committee, said it doesn’t matter how low the sample reading was; the community is dissatisfied with how the Navy handled the findings. She called for an independent investigation and said the Navy’s lack of transparency is a “pattern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It appears to us that this is a cover-up,” Armstrong said. “I don’t care how low [the levels are], we still want to know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 866-acre Hunters Point site was home to a shipyard from 1945 to 1974 and the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory from 1948 to 1960. By decontaminating ships after atomic bomb tests and other activities, the Navy contaminated shipyard soil and groundwater — as well as surface water and sediment in the San Francisco Bay — with radioactive chemicals, heavy metals and petroleum fuels. The base was declared one of the nation’s most contaminated sites in 1989.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2022, the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury issued a report\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1980324/sf-supervisors-unhappy-with-citys-lack-of-action-to-protect-bayview-hunters-point-residents-from-toxic-sea-level-rise\"> alerting the public that groundwater rise\u003c/a> — a result of sea levels rising in response to global emissions melting ice caps and expanding oceans — could have significant effects on the site in the coming decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new finding raises fresh questions about the city’s plans to build thousands of homes amid an exceedingly complex and ongoing cleanup effort. When finished, the 693-acre Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard project — which the Superfund site is part of — could have more than 10,000 housing units. The development would include two new waterfront neighborhoods with housing and retail, along with over 340 acres of parks and open space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The U.S. Navy apologized to city leaders on Monday for waiting almost a year before disclosing that the agency found radioactive plutonium at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The U.S. Navy apologized to city leaders during a San Francisco Board of Supervisors hearing on Monday for waiting \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999023/navy-took-11-months-to-alert-sf-to-airborne-plutonium-at-hunters-point-shipyard-site\">11 months\u003c/a> before disclosing to residents that the agency had detected airborne radioactive material at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Navy alerted San Francisco health officials in October that it had discovered elevated levels of plutonium-239 in November of last year. The material is highly radioactive and used to create nuclear weapons. Breathing in tiny particles of the substance is dangerous over time and can cause health issues like lung cancer. Community groups and at least one San Francisco supervisor called the 11-month delay “unacceptable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Navy found the sample in an area known as Parcel C, adjacent to a hill covered in condo buildings where hundreds of families live, and nearby a public park with a view of the shipyard. The Navy had previously cleared that area for redevelopment two decades ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials with the Navy told the supervisors that the sample posed “no health risk” to the public and said it was a hundredth of the radiation a person might receive during an X-ray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Danielle Janda, base closure manager for the Navy at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, said the agency needed extra time to retest the sample and conduct a third-party audit of the laboratory where the test was conducted. She called the sample with a low level of plutonium an “outlier,” and said the Navy plans to improve communication by working with agencies and attending more local meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In this instance, we valued accuracy over timeliness,” Janda said. “It’s obvious that we lost trust in the community and are going to work with the community to get that trust back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anthony Megliola, director of the U.S. Navy’s Base Realignment and Closure Program, acknowledged the delay created “concern and frustration” among regulators and the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979637\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1979637\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/06/RS54632_019_KQED_BaykeeperBayviewHuntersPoint_03082022-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings in the Bayview sit behind the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco on March 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I take responsibility for this,” Megliola said. “We recognize this approach did not meet the community’s expectations for timely communication, and the long gap undermined trust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shamman Walton, District 10 supervisor, said he appreciates the apology, but said this is “not the first time the Navy has lost the public’s trust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do appreciate you for coming, for owning up to the mistake, but again, apologies and admissions do not protect our community,” Walton said. “This should not happen, and we want to make sure that this does not happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susan Philip, health officer for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said federal rules require the Navy to notify state and local agencies and the public when a situation may pose a threat to the public. Even though the Navy found the sample posed no immediate public health issues, she said, her “greater concern, of course, is the delay in notifying the regulators, who are the ones who are to make that determination about safety.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Michael Montgomery, director of the EPA’s Superfund and Emergency Management Division, said the Navy should have come to the agency earlier because its staff could have helped with testing and communicating with the public. He said the Navy is supposed to present these sorts of findings within two weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately, the lack of transparency created a much bigger concern than it would have if we’d have been engaged early on and been able to do the risk communication,” Montgomery said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within 45 days, Montgomery said his agency will conduct an independent review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Supervisor Walton asked whether there were consequences for the Navy’s delayed reporting, Montgomery said there are generally penalties that could apply. Still, he can’t discuss them in this case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District 10 resident Falaofuta Satele told Navy officials during the hearing that she “doesn’t trust” them and feels like officials are trying to “cover up” their findings by not providing direct answers to the community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not frustrated, we’re alert,” Satele said. “We are not stupid, and please have some courtesy when you say transparent, please disclose with integrity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1979624\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1979624\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/06/RS53937_003_KQED_BayviewBloodTesting_02252022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard from the Lennar at the Shipyard housing development on Feb. 25, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Joyce Armstrong, vice chair of the Hunters Point Shipyard Citizens Advisory Committee, said it doesn’t matter how low the sample reading was; the community is dissatisfied with how the Navy handled the findings. She called for an independent investigation and said the Navy’s lack of transparency is a “pattern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It appears to us that this is a cover-up,” Armstrong said. “I don’t care how low [the levels are], we still want to know.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 866-acre Hunters Point site was home to a shipyard from 1945 to 1974 and the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory from 1948 to 1960. By decontaminating ships after atomic bomb tests and other activities, the Navy contaminated shipyard soil and groundwater — as well as surface water and sediment in the San Francisco Bay — with radioactive chemicals, heavy metals and petroleum fuels. The base was declared one of the nation’s most contaminated sites in 1989.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in 2022, the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury issued a report\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1980324/sf-supervisors-unhappy-with-citys-lack-of-action-to-protect-bayview-hunters-point-residents-from-toxic-sea-level-rise\"> alerting the public that groundwater rise\u003c/a> — a result of sea levels rising in response to global emissions melting ice caps and expanding oceans — could have significant effects on the site in the coming decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new finding raises fresh questions about the city’s plans to build thousands of homes amid an exceedingly complex and ongoing cleanup effort. When finished, the 693-acre Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard project — which the Superfund site is part of — could have more than 10,000 housing units. The development would include two new waterfront neighborhoods with housing and retail, along with over 340 acres of parks and open space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Winter may seem like a season of stillness, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science\">science\u003c/a> tells us a different story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in the quiet winter months, the natural world buzzes with activity. Insect migration patterns shift, animal survival tactics kick in, and tiny engineering feats unfold as snowflakes form in the sky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These five Deep Look videos bring that hidden winter world to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The sex lives of Christmas trees\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When forests grow quiet in winter, pine cones emerge as the reproductive engines of conifers, with male and female cones playing distinct roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The male cones release clouds of pollen in spring, but the female cones do the real winter magic: they hold the seeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/xEji9I4Tcjo?si=tMiVkVmoDQlAHI0R\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their armor-like scales act like tiny gates, opening just wide enough to catch pollen spread by the wind, then sealing shut for months as the seeds develop inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When conditions are just right, often during crisp, dry weather, the cones flex open again and let the seeds whirl out into the cold air, find a home in the ground and grow into the next generation of trees. Conifers survived ice ages, fires, and everything in between with this ancient system, as old as 300 million years.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why reindeer and their cousins are total boneheads\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Every year, male reindeer grow an entirely new set of antlers, essentially full bones that sprout from their heads in a process fueled by testosterone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In summer, these antlers are wrapped in velvet, a dense skin rich in blood vessels that nourish the fast-growing bone. Come fall, the velvet sheds, revealing the smooth, polished antlers, the reindeer use to spar with rivals and impress potential mates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/b7LINcDwl3o?si=p8EK1dhR4O_Es6WO\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But after this courtship season ends and hormone levels drop, the antlers simply fall off. Squirrels, mice and other winter scavengers gnaw on the cast-off antlers for calcium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within weeks, the reindeer begin growing the next set. They may not fly, but they’re winter’s most impressive bone-builders.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Identical snowflakes? Scientist ruins winter for everyone\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Each snowflake starts as a tiny water-vapor speck freezing into an icy hexagon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it tumbles through clouds, temperature and humidity shape its branches, making each one’s journey and pattern unique.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/Gojddrb70N8?si=T4ovTy3xaVspnedy\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in a lab, physicist Ken Libbrecht can actually make identical snowflakes by precisely controlling the conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nature may be unpredictable, but science proves it can be repeatable, at least under the right conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>You’d never guess what an acorn woodpecker eats\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the oak woodlands of the West, acorn woodpeckers spend the colder months guarding something very valuable: thousands of acorns meticulously stored in their communal granaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/XvPaiDX_3JM?si=8mqRxV7jE2ARXW5R\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These birds drill hole after hole into trees, sometimes over generations, to create a kind of pantry wall where they can tap acorns in like a wooden peg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acorn woodpeckers live in family groups and spend winter tending their stash and defending it from thieves. Come spring, they’ll shift to insects and oak flowers, but in winter, acorns fuel their lively, noisy, and highly social world.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Loveliness of ladybugs\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Did you know that a cluster of these insects is known as a “loveliness of ladybugs”?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just when the cold sets in and their favorite foods, like aphids, disappear, ladybugs join one of the most surprising winter gatherings in nature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/c-Z6xRexbIU?si=YBA80Nkml6wYNxAX\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These usually solitary insects take to the air, riding wind currents toward mountain slopes where their ancestors have clustered for years. They’re guided by pheromone trails that act like tiny chemical breadcrumbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When they arrive, they pile together in rust-colored heaps, sometimes thousands strong. This communal hibernation is their best chance of surviving winter, and since most only live a year, it’s also their one shot at reproducing in spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "How do snowflakes form? Do pine cones have seeds? What are those antlers on elk for? Dive into this and more in Deep Look’s Winter playlist.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Winter may seem like a season of stillness, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science\">science\u003c/a> tells us a different story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in the quiet winter months, the natural world buzzes with activity. Insect migration patterns shift, animal survival tactics kick in, and tiny engineering feats unfold as snowflakes form in the sky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These five Deep Look videos bring that hidden winter world to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The sex lives of Christmas trees\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When forests grow quiet in winter, pine cones emerge as the reproductive engines of conifers, with male and female cones playing distinct roles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The male cones release clouds of pollen in spring, but the female cones do the real winter magic: they hold the seeds.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/xEji9I4Tcjo'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/xEji9I4Tcjo'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Their armor-like scales act like tiny gates, opening just wide enough to catch pollen spread by the wind, then sealing shut for months as the seeds develop inside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When conditions are just right, often during crisp, dry weather, the cones flex open again and let the seeds whirl out into the cold air, find a home in the ground and grow into the next generation of trees. Conifers survived ice ages, fires, and everything in between with this ancient system, as old as 300 million years.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why reindeer and their cousins are total boneheads\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Every year, male reindeer grow an entirely new set of antlers, essentially full bones that sprout from their heads in a process fueled by testosterone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In summer, these antlers are wrapped in velvet, a dense skin rich in blood vessels that nourish the fast-growing bone. Come fall, the velvet sheds, revealing the smooth, polished antlers, the reindeer use to spar with rivals and impress potential mates.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/b7LINcDwl3o'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/b7LINcDwl3o'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>But after this courtship season ends and hormone levels drop, the antlers simply fall off. Squirrels, mice and other winter scavengers gnaw on the cast-off antlers for calcium.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within weeks, the reindeer begin growing the next set. They may not fly, but they’re winter’s most impressive bone-builders.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Identical snowflakes? Scientist ruins winter for everyone\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Each snowflake starts as a tiny water-vapor speck freezing into an icy hexagon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it tumbles through clouds, temperature and humidity shape its branches, making each one’s journey and pattern unique.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/Gojddrb70N8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/Gojddrb70N8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>But in a lab, physicist Ken Libbrecht can actually make identical snowflakes by precisely controlling the conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nature may be unpredictable, but science proves it can be repeatable, at least under the right conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>You’d never guess what an acorn woodpecker eats\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the oak woodlands of the West, acorn woodpeckers spend the colder months guarding something very valuable: thousands of acorns meticulously stored in their communal granaries.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/XvPaiDX_3JM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/XvPaiDX_3JM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>These birds drill hole after hole into trees, sometimes over generations, to create a kind of pantry wall where they can tap acorns in like a wooden peg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acorn woodpeckers live in family groups and spend winter tending their stash and defending it from thieves. Come spring, they’ll shift to insects and oak flowers, but in winter, acorns fuel their lively, noisy, and highly social world.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Loveliness of ladybugs\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Did you know that a cluster of these insects is known as a “loveliness of ladybugs”?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just when the cold sets in and their favorite foods, like aphids, disappear, ladybugs join one of the most surprising winter gatherings in nature.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/c-Z6xRexbIU'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/c-Z6xRexbIU'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>These usually solitary insects take to the air, riding wind currents toward mountain slopes where their ancestors have clustered for years. They’re guided by pheromone trails that act like tiny chemical breadcrumbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When they arrive, they pile together in rust-colored heaps, sometimes thousands strong. This communal hibernation is their best chance of surviving winter, and since most only live a year, it’s also their one shot at reproducing in spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "monarch-butterflies-now-wear-tiny-tags-for-scientists-to-track-them-in-real-time",
"title": "Monarch Butterflies Now Wear Tiny Tags — for Scientists to Track Them in Real Time",
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"headTitle": "Monarch Butterflies Now Wear Tiny Tags — for Scientists to Track Them in Real Time | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Thanks to \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/press/new-ultralight-radio-tags-are-tracking-monarch-butterflies-in-santa-cruz\">tiny new ultralight radio tags\u003c/a> small enough for a fragile butterfly to carry, scientists are getting a rare, real-time look at how western monarchs move through their winter habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s part of a breakthrough tracking effort reshaping what we know about one of North America’s most iconic migrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, the \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/\">Xerces Society\u003c/a> for Invertebrate Conservation joined with scientific collaborators to deploy roughly 100 ultra-light Bluetooth tags along the Central Coast, offering an unprecedented look at how Western monarchs move through their fragmented winter habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eyelash glue was delicately applied to each monarch’s thorax and used to attach the tiny tag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The solar-powered tag, developed by \u003ca href=\"https://celltracktech.com/\">Cellular Tracking Technologies\u003c/a>, weighs about 60 milligrams, which works out to only about a tenth of the weight of a monarch. By broadcasting its signals to billions of Bluetooth-enabled devices, the system allows researchers to follow individual butterflies through an app called \u003ca href=\"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/project-monarch-science/id6460006970\">Project Monarch Science\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public can follow along on the monarch’s journey, too. If you want to participate in tracking monarch populations, you can download the Project Monarch App, where you can log any sightings, and the Bluetooth technology in your phone will also help triangulate other butterflies that might be in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999596\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999596\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/monarchTagging_overhead_cCapeMayPointArtsAndScienceCenter.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1647\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/monarchTagging_overhead_cCapeMayPointArtsAndScienceCenter.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/monarchTagging_overhead_cCapeMayPointArtsAndScienceCenter-160x132.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/monarchTagging_overhead_cCapeMayPointArtsAndScienceCenter-768x632.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/monarchTagging_overhead_cCapeMayPointArtsAndScienceCenter-1536x1265.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A monarch butterfly wearing one of Cellular Tracking Technologies’ transmitters. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cellular Tracking Technologies)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In late 2024, a tagged monarch named Lionel migrated from New Jersey to Florida, logging thousands of detections along the way. “For the first time, we got a full southbound track of a monarch for over a thousand miles along that track,” said Dr. David La Puma, director of global market development at CTT.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 400 monarchs like Lionel have since been tagged, revealing detailed flight paths, unexpected detours and long-distance movements never documented before.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The monarch picture in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In California, the project tagged over 40 monarchs in Santa Cruz County, covering Natural Bridges, Lighthouse Field, and Moran Lake. Additional researchers tagged monarchs in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, bringing the West Coast total to about 100 individual butterflies. The effort required more than a year of preparation and buy-in from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early detections already hint at butterfly behavior that scientists had previously only theorized about. “We knew they moved between overwintering sites, but the frequency we’re seeing is just very quick,” said Ashley Fisher, conservation biologist at the Xerces Society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985061\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2121px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985061\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505.jpg\" alt=\"A number of brightly colored monarch butterflies in hues of orange and yellow against a bright blue backdrop\" width=\"2121\" height=\"1414\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505.jpg 2121w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2121px) 100vw, 2121px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monarch butterfly photos flying in the sky near Santa Cruz, California, during migration. \u003ccite>(Mark Miller Photos/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the Bluetooth tracking, one monarch traveled more than 100 miles in just two days, passing several known winter sites and surprising researchers with long-distance movement during the overwintering season — when butterflies are hibernating, conserving energy for the upcoming spring migration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1995508/monarch-butterflies-are-on-the-decline-in-california-heres-why\">Western monarch population has plummeted \u003c/a>by more than 99% since the 1980s due to habitat loss, pesticide use and human-caused climate change affecting migration and nectar sources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Protecting the coastal groves where they overwinter is a cornerstone of recovery — but scientists have long lacked a clear view of how individual butterflies travel during the season.[aside postID=science_1995508 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/01/025_KQEDScience_IntCommunitySchoolOakland_10202022_qed-1020x680.jpg']This California deployment is key for understanding how Western monarchs use coastal habitat, especially as populations remain low, with a preliminary estimate of about \u003ca href=\"https://westernmonarchcount.org/mid-season-western-monarch-count-tally-reaches-8000/\">8,000 butterflies counted\u003c/a> so far this winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By revealing which sites monarchs rely on, how often they leave to forage and where they disperse in early spring, the data will help California agencies and conservation groups identify critical habitat, guide restoration and reduce threats like pesticide exposure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The detailed day-to-day movements are blowing the lid off our understanding” of these creatures, Fisher said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tagged butterflies will also help researchers understand when and where monarchs move \u003cem>among \u003c/em>overwintering sites and the surrounding areas, said Emma Pelton, senior conservation biologist with the Xerces Society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These details will help us identify where to prioritize conservation of western monarch habitat, as well as provide the most accurate picture of their home range to date,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Where can I see monarchs in and around the Bay Area?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For the best Western monarch butterfly viewing, head south along the coast to groves in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo. Some exceptional viewing sites include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pgmuseum.org/monarch-viewing/\">Pacific Grove’s butterfly grove\u003c/a> near Monterey\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541\">Natural Bridges State Beach\u003c/a> in Santa Cruz\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=550\">Lighthouse Field State Beach\u003c/a> in Santa Cruz\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=595\">Pismo State Beach\u003c/a> in San Luis Obispo\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>There have also been reports of monarchs in the East Bay, at spots like:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/parks/ardenwood\">The Ardenwood Historic Farm\u003c/a> in Fremont\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation/parks/aquatic-park\">Berkeley Aquatic Park\u003c/a> in Berkeley\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/parks/oyster-bay\">Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/parks/point-pinole\">Point Pinole Regional Shoreline\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.albanyca.gov/Residents/Parks-Open-Space/Albany-Hill\">Albany Hill Park\u003c/a> in Albany\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Xerces has a \u003ca href=\"https://westernmonarchcount.org/map-of-overwintering-sites/\">map of all the monarch butterfly overwintering sites in California\u003c/a>, but please note that some of these locations might not be open to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What attracts monarch butterflies to a certain spot?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Monarch butterflies gravitate toward coastal areas, said Natalie Johnston, education manager at Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, and the largest population in the state this year was recorded in Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martha Nitzberg, an interpreter at \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541\">Natural Bridges State Beach\u003c/a> in Santa Cruz, said their location is an apt example of how a particular place can offer up a welcoming, attractive environment for migrating butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985064\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2124px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985064\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2124\" height=\"1411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669.jpg 2124w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-2048x1361.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1920x1275.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2124px) 100vw, 2124px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) resting on a tree branch in its winter nesting area. Taken in Santa Cruz, California. \u003ccite>(GomezDavid/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>First, like many other top viewing spots in the state, it’s by the ocean, where winter temperatures are moderate and frost can’t permeate the ground and vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Natural Bridges, monarchs find extra protection from the elements, too. Located in a canyon, a series of concentric rings of trees helps block wind and protect the monarchs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They find a microclimate, as they don’t like wind,” Nitzberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nitzberg said they even have owls living nearby that scare off other birds that could be potential predators for these butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When is peak monarch butterfly viewing season?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nitzberg said the butterflies start to become more numerous in the middle of October, and their visit tends to peak in Santa Cruz right around Thanksgiving. This year’s peak count at Natural Bridges, Nitzberg said, was 1,700 on Nov. 28.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Pacific Grove, by contrast, Johnston said they \u003ca href=\"https://www.pgmuseum.org/monarchs\">recorded fewer than 200 butterflies\u003c/a> at their peak this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994688\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994688\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1.jpg\" alt=\"Orange and black-colored butterflies flutter around white-petaled flower plants. The backdrop is the blue sky.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Western monarchs feed on Pacific aster nectar while overwintering in the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Pacific Grove, California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Barry Bergman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fall is also the best time to visit if you’re hoping to see a lot of action, as they’re actively hunting for flowers and nectar to build up stores for winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But keep in mind: Monarch butterflies can’t actually fly if it’s under 56 degrees Fahrenheit. So in the colder months or times of day, it’s unlikely you’ll see any fluttering around at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What should you know about viewing monarchs?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nitzberg said it’s best to bring binoculars, although many state parks like Natural Bridges also set up spotting scopes and hand out some binoculars to visitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without binoculars, monarchs can admittedly sometimes be hard to spot, she said. Visitors might be more likely to mistake their dark “clumps” high up in the eucalyptus trees for pinecones, until they get a closer look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re hoping to see them flying about, Johnston recommends visiting in the afternoon, when the sun has had time to warm their tiny bodies up a touch.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why do monarch butterflies migrate?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“The sun is the key to their migration,” Nitzberg said. “The butterflies are always looking for spring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On their migration path, the butterflies are looking for milkweed and flowers. And as the seasons turn and plants dry up, the monarchs continue northward, inland, and, oftentimes, to higher elevations, in search of places where they’re most likely to find springtime conditions into summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999598\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999598\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">When monarch butterflies overwinter, they cluster on trees, making them look like orange and black chandeliers. \u003ccite>(JHVEPhoto/iStock)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But because butterflies live only a handful of weeks, the journey north and east can see up to four generations of monarchs passing the baton to each other as the season progresses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their short lifespan makes them “like little flitting beauties,” Johnston said. ”You get a glimpse of them, and then they’re gone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reverse is also true: In the fall, the monarchs head south, following the sun toward warmer temperatures.[aside postID=science_1985049 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2022/10/DEEP_914_This_Parasite_Is_Cramping_the_Monarch_Butterflys_Style_V2_KQED.jpg']These butterflies, Nitzberg explained, experience a hormone shift on their travels south that allows them to accumulate fat and live longer. This can extend a monarch’s lifespan to as many as 9 months: a “super generation,” Johnston said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of just going dormant like most insects do when it gets cold, they all migrate down and become social, and hang out in these beautiful clusters,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s also what makes them prime for tagging, Johnston explained – not only because they live long enough to get useful tracking information, but also because one butterfly’s location can reveal that of a cluster of monarchs, which can then be counted and interpreted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By tracking the monarch butterfly population, we can essentially use that to extrapolate how other important pollinators like other species of butterflies or even bumblebees, which require the same similar conditions, how they’re doing,” she said. “We can study them and learn from them in a way that we can’t with other insects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What can you do to aid monarchs’ migration?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In your own garden, if you have \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/19-004.pdf\">milkweed plants native to your area\u003c/a>, planting them can help the butterflies find food. However, Nitzberg warned against planting \u003ca href=\"https://www.nwf.org/-/media/Documents/PDFs/Garden-for-Wildlife/Tip-Sheets/Native-vs-Tropical-Milkweed.pdf\">non-native milkweed\u003c/a>, as it remains active in winter and can therefore aid in the spread of disease and confuse monarchs’ migrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And don’t forget that protecting the caterpillar is the first step to a healthy monarch — so if you have a lot of yellow jackets or wasps, removing those can create a haven for caterpillar populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s not just monarchs at risk, stressed Nitzberg, so creating a garden without pesticides can benefit all species of butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Poisons are really hard on all butterflies, especially these migrating monarchs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Thanks to \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/press/new-ultralight-radio-tags-are-tracking-monarch-butterflies-in-santa-cruz\">tiny new ultralight radio tags\u003c/a> small enough for a fragile butterfly to carry, scientists are getting a rare, real-time look at how western monarchs move through their winter habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s part of a breakthrough tracking effort reshaping what we know about one of North America’s most iconic migrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, the \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/\">Xerces Society\u003c/a> for Invertebrate Conservation joined with scientific collaborators to deploy roughly 100 ultra-light Bluetooth tags along the Central Coast, offering an unprecedented look at how Western monarchs move through their fragmented winter habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eyelash glue was delicately applied to each monarch’s thorax and used to attach the tiny tag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The solar-powered tag, developed by \u003ca href=\"https://celltracktech.com/\">Cellular Tracking Technologies\u003c/a>, weighs about 60 milligrams, which works out to only about a tenth of the weight of a monarch. By broadcasting its signals to billions of Bluetooth-enabled devices, the system allows researchers to follow individual butterflies through an app called \u003ca href=\"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/project-monarch-science/id6460006970\">Project Monarch Science\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The public can follow along on the monarch’s journey, too. If you want to participate in tracking monarch populations, you can download the Project Monarch App, where you can log any sightings, and the Bluetooth technology in your phone will also help triangulate other butterflies that might be in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999596\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999596\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/monarchTagging_overhead_cCapeMayPointArtsAndScienceCenter.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1647\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/monarchTagging_overhead_cCapeMayPointArtsAndScienceCenter.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/monarchTagging_overhead_cCapeMayPointArtsAndScienceCenter-160x132.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/monarchTagging_overhead_cCapeMayPointArtsAndScienceCenter-768x632.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/monarchTagging_overhead_cCapeMayPointArtsAndScienceCenter-1536x1265.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A monarch butterfly wearing one of Cellular Tracking Technologies’ transmitters. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cellular Tracking Technologies)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In late 2024, a tagged monarch named Lionel migrated from New Jersey to Florida, logging thousands of detections along the way. “For the first time, we got a full southbound track of a monarch for over a thousand miles along that track,” said Dr. David La Puma, director of global market development at CTT.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 400 monarchs like Lionel have since been tagged, revealing detailed flight paths, unexpected detours and long-distance movements never documented before.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The monarch picture in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In California, the project tagged over 40 monarchs in Santa Cruz County, covering Natural Bridges, Lighthouse Field, and Moran Lake. Additional researchers tagged monarchs in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, bringing the West Coast total to about 100 individual butterflies. The effort required more than a year of preparation and buy-in from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early detections already hint at butterfly behavior that scientists had previously only theorized about. “We knew they moved between overwintering sites, but the frequency we’re seeing is just very quick,” said Ashley Fisher, conservation biologist at the Xerces Society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985061\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2121px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985061\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505.jpg\" alt=\"A number of brightly colored monarch butterflies in hues of orange and yellow against a bright blue backdrop\" width=\"2121\" height=\"1414\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505.jpg 2121w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-460036505-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2121px) 100vw, 2121px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monarch butterfly photos flying in the sky near Santa Cruz, California, during migration. \u003ccite>(Mark Miller Photos/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the Bluetooth tracking, one monarch traveled more than 100 miles in just two days, passing several known winter sites and surprising researchers with long-distance movement during the overwintering season — when butterflies are hibernating, conserving energy for the upcoming spring migration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1995508/monarch-butterflies-are-on-the-decline-in-california-heres-why\">Western monarch population has plummeted \u003c/a>by more than 99% since the 1980s due to habitat loss, pesticide use and human-caused climate change affecting migration and nectar sources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Protecting the coastal groves where they overwinter is a cornerstone of recovery — but scientists have long lacked a clear view of how individual butterflies travel during the season.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This California deployment is key for understanding how Western monarchs use coastal habitat, especially as populations remain low, with a preliminary estimate of about \u003ca href=\"https://westernmonarchcount.org/mid-season-western-monarch-count-tally-reaches-8000/\">8,000 butterflies counted\u003c/a> so far this winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By revealing which sites monarchs rely on, how often they leave to forage and where they disperse in early spring, the data will help California agencies and conservation groups identify critical habitat, guide restoration and reduce threats like pesticide exposure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The detailed day-to-day movements are blowing the lid off our understanding” of these creatures, Fisher said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tagged butterflies will also help researchers understand when and where monarchs move \u003cem>among \u003c/em>overwintering sites and the surrounding areas, said Emma Pelton, senior conservation biologist with the Xerces Society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These details will help us identify where to prioritize conservation of western monarch habitat, as well as provide the most accurate picture of their home range to date,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Where can I see monarchs in and around the Bay Area?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For the best Western monarch butterfly viewing, head south along the coast to groves in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo. Some exceptional viewing sites include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pgmuseum.org/monarch-viewing/\">Pacific Grove’s butterfly grove\u003c/a> near Monterey\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541\">Natural Bridges State Beach\u003c/a> in Santa Cruz\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=550\">Lighthouse Field State Beach\u003c/a> in Santa Cruz\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=595\">Pismo State Beach\u003c/a> in San Luis Obispo\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>There have also been reports of monarchs in the East Bay, at spots like:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/parks/ardenwood\">The Ardenwood Historic Farm\u003c/a> in Fremont\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/community-recreation/parks-recreation/parks/aquatic-park\">Berkeley Aquatic Park\u003c/a> in Berkeley\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/parks/oyster-bay\">Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/parks/point-pinole\">Point Pinole Regional Shoreline\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.albanyca.gov/Residents/Parks-Open-Space/Albany-Hill\">Albany Hill Park\u003c/a> in Albany\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Xerces has a \u003ca href=\"https://westernmonarchcount.org/map-of-overwintering-sites/\">map of all the monarch butterfly overwintering sites in California\u003c/a>, but please note that some of these locations might not be open to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What attracts monarch butterflies to a certain spot?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Monarch butterflies gravitate toward coastal areas, said Natalie Johnston, education manager at Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, and the largest population in the state this year was recorded in Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Martha Nitzberg, an interpreter at \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541\">Natural Bridges State Beach\u003c/a> in Santa Cruz, said their location is an apt example of how a particular place can offer up a welcoming, attractive environment for migrating butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1985064\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2124px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1985064\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2124\" height=\"1411\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669.jpg 2124w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-2048x1361.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/11/GettyImages-184945669-1920x1275.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2124px) 100vw, 2124px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) resting on a tree branch in its winter nesting area. Taken in Santa Cruz, California. \u003ccite>(GomezDavid/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>First, like many other top viewing spots in the state, it’s by the ocean, where winter temperatures are moderate and frost can’t permeate the ground and vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Natural Bridges, monarchs find extra protection from the elements, too. Located in a canyon, a series of concentric rings of trees helps block wind and protect the monarchs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They find a microclimate, as they don’t like wind,” Nitzberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nitzberg said they even have owls living nearby that scare off other birds that could be potential predators for these butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When is peak monarch butterfly viewing season?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nitzberg said the butterflies start to become more numerous in the middle of October, and their visit tends to peak in Santa Cruz right around Thanksgiving. This year’s peak count at Natural Bridges, Nitzberg said, was 1,700 on Nov. 28.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Pacific Grove, by contrast, Johnston said they \u003ca href=\"https://www.pgmuseum.org/monarchs\">recorded fewer than 200 butterflies\u003c/a> at their peak this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1994688\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1994688\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1.jpg\" alt=\"Orange and black-colored butterflies flutter around white-petaled flower plants. The backdrop is the blue sky.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/10/IMG_1398-2048x1365-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Western monarchs feed on Pacific aster nectar while overwintering in the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Pacific Grove, California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Barry Bergman)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Fall is also the best time to visit if you’re hoping to see a lot of action, as they’re actively hunting for flowers and nectar to build up stores for winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But keep in mind: Monarch butterflies can’t actually fly if it’s under 56 degrees Fahrenheit. So in the colder months or times of day, it’s unlikely you’ll see any fluttering around at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What should you know about viewing monarchs?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nitzberg said it’s best to bring binoculars, although many state parks like Natural Bridges also set up spotting scopes and hand out some binoculars to visitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without binoculars, monarchs can admittedly sometimes be hard to spot, she said. Visitors might be more likely to mistake their dark “clumps” high up in the eucalyptus trees for pinecones, until they get a closer look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re hoping to see them flying about, Johnston recommends visiting in the afternoon, when the sun has had time to warm their tiny bodies up a touch.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why do monarch butterflies migrate?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“The sun is the key to their migration,” Nitzberg said. “The butterflies are always looking for spring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On their migration path, the butterflies are looking for milkweed and flowers. And as the seasons turn and plants dry up, the monarchs continue northward, inland, and, oftentimes, to higher elevations, in search of places where they’re most likely to find springtime conditions into summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999598\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999598\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/Monarch-cluster-1200x675.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">When monarch butterflies overwinter, they cluster on trees, making them look like orange and black chandeliers. \u003ccite>(JHVEPhoto/iStock)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But because butterflies live only a handful of weeks, the journey north and east can see up to four generations of monarchs passing the baton to each other as the season progresses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their short lifespan makes them “like little flitting beauties,” Johnston said. ”You get a glimpse of them, and then they’re gone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reverse is also true: In the fall, the monarchs head south, following the sun toward warmer temperatures.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>These butterflies, Nitzberg explained, experience a hormone shift on their travels south that allows them to accumulate fat and live longer. This can extend a monarch’s lifespan to as many as 9 months: a “super generation,” Johnston said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of just going dormant like most insects do when it gets cold, they all migrate down and become social, and hang out in these beautiful clusters,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s also what makes them prime for tagging, Johnston explained – not only because they live long enough to get useful tracking information, but also because one butterfly’s location can reveal that of a cluster of monarchs, which can then be counted and interpreted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By tracking the monarch butterfly population, we can essentially use that to extrapolate how other important pollinators like other species of butterflies or even bumblebees, which require the same similar conditions, how they’re doing,” she said. “We can study them and learn from them in a way that we can’t with other insects.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What can you do to aid monarchs’ migration?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In your own garden, if you have \u003ca href=\"https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/19-004.pdf\">milkweed plants native to your area\u003c/a>, planting them can help the butterflies find food. However, Nitzberg warned against planting \u003ca href=\"https://www.nwf.org/-/media/Documents/PDFs/Garden-for-Wildlife/Tip-Sheets/Native-vs-Tropical-Milkweed.pdf\">non-native milkweed\u003c/a>, as it remains active in winter and can therefore aid in the spread of disease and confuse monarchs’ migrations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And don’t forget that protecting the caterpillar is the first step to a healthy monarch — so if you have a lot of yellow jackets or wasps, removing those can create a haven for caterpillar populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s not just monarchs at risk, stressed Nitzberg, so creating a garden without pesticides can benefit all species of butterflies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Poisons are really hard on all butterflies, especially these migrating monarchs,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "can-virtual-reality-bring-climate-change-closer-to-home-bay-area-researchers-think-so",
"title": "Can Virtual Reality Bring Climate Change Closer to Home? Bay Area Researchers Think So",
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"headTitle": "Can Virtual Reality Bring Climate Change Closer to Home? Bay Area Researchers Think So | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Imagine the first time you visit Nashville, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/tennessee\">Tennessee\u003c/a>, you commission a private helicopter tour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You gaze down on the gleaming glass buildings of its contemporary skyline, its neighborhood ball fields, the main drags with brick concert venues, and the sparkling blue pools. But then the pilot tells you some of these neighborhoods have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/flooding\">flooded\u003c/a>, which has been getting worse due to climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you go back home, do you think about Nashville? Do you care about the residents there, and how they’re dealing with climate change?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at a lab in Stanford have found, through \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-21098-z\">early experiments\u003c/a>, that most people say yes, regardless of their political orientation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists did not pony up hundreds of thousands to fly people to Nashville and hire private helicopters. Instead, they immersed them in the city by using virtual reality headsets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999016\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999016\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-12-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy N. Bailenson, director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, holds a virtual-reality headset he designed in 1999 during a demonstration at Stanford University on Oct. 29, 2025, in Stanford. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They found people felt more connected to the places where they traveled, even if they weren’t previously familiar with them, and that climate-related impacts like flooding felt more personally relevant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study suggests that instead of trying to engage people in climate change through fear or guilt, giving people agency to explore a place through immersive virtual reality can boost their concern for it, similar to how someone may feel after actually visiting a place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is big,” said Jeremy Bailenson, a Stanford professor who oversaw the study. “There’s lots of things we can start doing now. We can start making you care more about the people in that place. We can just make the Earth a little smaller.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Shrinking ‘psychological’ distance\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For social scientists studying climate change, there’s a reason why people tend to \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21992607/\">avoid\u003c/a> these issues. Researchers call it “psychological distance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It refers to the distance we feel when it comes to climate change. With the exception of increasingly common local extreme weather, we think the impacts of climate change are happening elsewhere or feel different from the people it affects most severely. Some feel the worst effects won’t happen soon, and others are uncertain; they don’t know exactly how bad the results of inaction will be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999017\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999017\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-14-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Augmented-reality headsets from Microsoft, Magic Leap, and XReal sit on display inside the Virtual Human Interaction Lab as a temporary “museum” at Stanford University. Oct. 29, 2025, in Stanford. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To attempt to shrink some of that distance, at least geographically, Stanford researchers outfitted participants with VR headsets. Participants then traveled, virtually, to places they identified as either familiar or unfamiliar to them, like the North Shore of Massachusetts, Miami or Nashville. They hovered above the terrain, as though in an aircraft, as they looked down on the homes, streets, and backyards below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While participants saw these regions as tranquil, sunny places, with no humans or cars disturbing the quiet, they heard a simple news story about the impacts of climate-induced flooding on the locations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterwards, researchers found people cared more about the places they visited, even those that were unfamiliar, and the effects climate change is having on the locations. Concern for distant places carried through regardless of participants’ political orientation.[aside postID=science_1999358 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/CaliforniaLandfillMethaneGetty.jpg']Control groups heard similar news stories about flooding, but were shown still photographs of places both familiar and unfamiliar. They did not report caring in the same way as those who were immersed in VR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bailenson is the founder of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, a research center studying the psychological and behavioral impacts of virtual and augmented reality, the latter of which overlays digital images onto the real world. He’s worked on experiments aimed at increasing people’s focus on climate change for more than a decade, having found some success. His team discovered that when people put on a VR headset and cut down a tree, feeling the vibration of the chainsaw, they use less paper afterward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s also spent years and “hundreds of thousands of dollars” building virtual reality films that place the participant underwater, witnessing ocean acidification. When people put on the headset, these experiences changed their attitudes and behaviors. But when researchers installed the VR in a museum or other exhibit, people chose not to engage: It was too much doom and gloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea to simply travel to a new place through VR, hover above it, and check it out as a way of building a sense of connection came from the mind of Monique Santoso, a third-year doctoral student in Stanford’s communication department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999018\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1999018 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-16-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-16-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-16-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-16-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-16-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monique Santoso, a Ph.D. student in the Communication Department at Stanford, works with Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always been very fascinated with this idea of psychological distance,” Santoso said. “What exactly is it that makes these issues that are actually very important seem super far away from us?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santoso and her team, including her advisor Bailenson, used preexisting tools that are low-cost or free, like Google Earth and Fly, a VR app that allows you to explore the world by flying above it, plus a headset, to send people to another location.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With these tools, “you can poke your head over your neighbor’s fence and see what’s on the other side. You can fly through New York City,” Bailenson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When coral bleaching feels personal\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Santoso’s idea came from her own life experience. She grew up in a small coastal community in Indonesia. Her backyard was a beach, and she spent hours scuba diving. She was deeply aware of ocean acidification and its effects on the coral she loved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when she went abroad to an international high school in Armenia, she was baffled when other people didn’t want to talk about climate change and its consequences, despite studying it in class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999013\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999013\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-4-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-4-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A WorldViz tracking camera mounted in the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab enables precise motion detection for immersive VR experiences. Oct. 29, 2025, in Stanford. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think people just felt like it was not applicable to them,” Santoso said. She got her undergraduate degree from Middlebury College in Vermont, and further realized how far climate change was from people’s minds. Disheartened, Santoso looked for innovative ways to talk about an issue close to her heart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She found storytelling was effective; she’d often tell her own stories of coral. Then she read Bailenson’s book \u003cem>Experience on Demand\u003c/em>. She was so inspired by the central idea that virtual reality can be transformative that she applied to get her PhD at Stanford, focusing on using immersive technologies to foster empathy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought, ‘Wow, if this media could be done in scale, that could really potentially influence how people think and care about climate change,’” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the first of its kind, Santoso’s work still needs to be replicated, and across a much larger spectrum of people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999014\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999014\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-5-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-5-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-5-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-5-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monique Santoso helps adjust a virtual reality headset for KQED reporter Laura Klivans during a demonstration at the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab on Oct. 29, 2025, in Stanford. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The research involved only 163 participants, all of whom are Stanford students. The results, therefore, “are a little bit less generalizable,” said Emiliana Simon Thomas, the science director at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But “it’s really provocative that [the] team can get those systematic changes in kind of people’s feelings of connection to a cause or to an idea,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santoso wants to look at how enduring these effects are, too, or if they would last longer if participants do this type of exercise on a few repeat occasions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the results of the first experiment hold, Santoso sees a future for this kind of VR in school curricula or for policymakers to have a better sense of the communities they represent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Imagine the first time you visit Nashville, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/tennessee\">Tennessee\u003c/a>, you commission a private helicopter tour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You gaze down on the gleaming glass buildings of its contemporary skyline, its neighborhood ball fields, the main drags with brick concert venues, and the sparkling blue pools. But then the pilot tells you some of these neighborhoods have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/flooding\">flooded\u003c/a>, which has been getting worse due to climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you go back home, do you think about Nashville? Do you care about the residents there, and how they’re dealing with climate change?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers at a lab in Stanford have found, through \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-21098-z\">early experiments\u003c/a>, that most people say yes, regardless of their political orientation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The scientists did not pony up hundreds of thousands to fly people to Nashville and hire private helicopters. Instead, they immersed them in the city by using virtual reality headsets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999016\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999016\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-12-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-12-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-12-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-12-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-12-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeremy N. Bailenson, director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, holds a virtual-reality headset he designed in 1999 during a demonstration at Stanford University on Oct. 29, 2025, in Stanford. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They found people felt more connected to the places where they traveled, even if they weren’t previously familiar with them, and that climate-related impacts like flooding felt more personally relevant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study suggests that instead of trying to engage people in climate change through fear or guilt, giving people agency to explore a place through immersive virtual reality can boost their concern for it, similar to how someone may feel after actually visiting a place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is big,” said Jeremy Bailenson, a Stanford professor who oversaw the study. “There’s lots of things we can start doing now. We can start making you care more about the people in that place. We can just make the Earth a little smaller.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Shrinking ‘psychological’ distance\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For social scientists studying climate change, there’s a reason why people tend to \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21992607/\">avoid\u003c/a> these issues. Researchers call it “psychological distance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It refers to the distance we feel when it comes to climate change. With the exception of increasingly common local extreme weather, we think the impacts of climate change are happening elsewhere or feel different from the people it affects most severely. Some feel the worst effects won’t happen soon, and others are uncertain; they don’t know exactly how bad the results of inaction will be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999017\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999017\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-14-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Augmented-reality headsets from Microsoft, Magic Leap, and XReal sit on display inside the Virtual Human Interaction Lab as a temporary “museum” at Stanford University. Oct. 29, 2025, in Stanford. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To attempt to shrink some of that distance, at least geographically, Stanford researchers outfitted participants with VR headsets. Participants then traveled, virtually, to places they identified as either familiar or unfamiliar to them, like the North Shore of Massachusetts, Miami or Nashville. They hovered above the terrain, as though in an aircraft, as they looked down on the homes, streets, and backyards below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While participants saw these regions as tranquil, sunny places, with no humans or cars disturbing the quiet, they heard a simple news story about the impacts of climate-induced flooding on the locations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Afterwards, researchers found people cared more about the places they visited, even those that were unfamiliar, and the effects climate change is having on the locations. Concern for distant places carried through regardless of participants’ political orientation.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Control groups heard similar news stories about flooding, but were shown still photographs of places both familiar and unfamiliar. They did not report caring in the same way as those who were immersed in VR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bailenson is the founder of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, a research center studying the psychological and behavioral impacts of virtual and augmented reality, the latter of which overlays digital images onto the real world. He’s worked on experiments aimed at increasing people’s focus on climate change for more than a decade, having found some success. His team discovered that when people put on a VR headset and cut down a tree, feeling the vibration of the chainsaw, they use less paper afterward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s also spent years and “hundreds of thousands of dollars” building virtual reality films that place the participant underwater, witnessing ocean acidification. When people put on the headset, these experiences changed their attitudes and behaviors. But when researchers installed the VR in a museum or other exhibit, people chose not to engage: It was too much doom and gloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea to simply travel to a new place through VR, hover above it, and check it out as a way of building a sense of connection came from the mind of Monique Santoso, a third-year doctoral student in Stanford’s communication department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999018\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1999018 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-16-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-16-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-16-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-16-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-16-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monique Santoso, a Ph.D. student in the Communication Department at Stanford, works with Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always been very fascinated with this idea of psychological distance,” Santoso said. “What exactly is it that makes these issues that are actually very important seem super far away from us?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santoso and her team, including her advisor Bailenson, used preexisting tools that are low-cost or free, like Google Earth and Fly, a VR app that allows you to explore the world by flying above it, plus a headset, to send people to another location.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With these tools, “you can poke your head over your neighbor’s fence and see what’s on the other side. You can fly through New York City,” Bailenson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When coral bleaching feels personal\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Santoso’s idea came from her own life experience. She grew up in a small coastal community in Indonesia. Her backyard was a beach, and she spent hours scuba diving. She was deeply aware of ocean acidification and its effects on the coral she loved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when she went abroad to an international high school in Armenia, she was baffled when other people didn’t want to talk about climate change and its consequences, despite studying it in class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999013\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999013\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-4-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-4-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A WorldViz tracking camera mounted in the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab enables precise motion detection for immersive VR experiences. Oct. 29, 2025, in Stanford. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think people just felt like it was not applicable to them,” Santoso said. She got her undergraduate degree from Middlebury College in Vermont, and further realized how far climate change was from people’s minds. Disheartened, Santoso looked for innovative ways to talk about an issue close to her heart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She found storytelling was effective; she’d often tell her own stories of coral. Then she read Bailenson’s book \u003cem>Experience on Demand\u003c/em>. She was so inspired by the central idea that virtual reality can be transformative that she applied to get her PhD at Stanford, focusing on using immersive technologies to foster empathy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I thought, ‘Wow, if this media could be done in scale, that could really potentially influence how people think and care about climate change,’” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the first of its kind, Santoso’s work still needs to be replicated, and across a much larger spectrum of people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999014\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999014\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-5-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-5-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-5-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-5-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/10/20251029_VIRTUAL-REALITY-_GH-5-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Monique Santoso helps adjust a virtual reality headset for KQED reporter Laura Klivans during a demonstration at the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab on Oct. 29, 2025, in Stanford. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The research involved only 163 participants, all of whom are Stanford students. The results, therefore, “are a little bit less generalizable,” said Emiliana Simon Thomas, the science director at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But “it’s really provocative that [the] team can get those systematic changes in kind of people’s feelings of connection to a cause or to an idea,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Santoso wants to look at how enduring these effects are, too, or if they would last longer if participants do this type of exercise on a few repeat occasions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the results of the first experiment hold, Santoso sees a future for this kind of VR in school curricula or for policymakers to have a better sense of the communities they represent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Every day, clinical social worker Ilana Marcucci-Morris talks to her patients about the most private, most vulnerable details of their lives, and she’s not interested in having AI software listen in or sharing any of her responsibilities with\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999388/california-warns-families-to-watch-out-for-teens-as-character-ai-shuts-off-chatbot-access\"> a chatbot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A self-attested millennial and lover of gadgets, Marcucci-Morris knows artificial intelligence is here to stay in health care, but when it comes to therapy, she wants it to be optional and assistive, a tool that will augment human connection, not diminish it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She figured that would be a simple assurance her union could win when they sat down\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/kaiser-permanente-mental-health\"> at the bargaining table\u003c/a> last summer to hash out their next contract with Kaiser Permanente. The therapists with the \u003ca href=\"https://home.nuhw.org/\">National Union of Healthcare Workers\u003c/a> submitted their proposed contract language — that AI would be used to “assist” mental health clinicians, but not “replace” them — never expecting it to be controversial. After all, Kaiser signed a contract with their sister union in Southern California just months earlier that contained the same language.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this time, Kaiser refused, sending back a counterproposal in the fall with that paragraph deleted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>We have asked them point-blank about language to prevent replacing therapists with artificial intelligence, and they have been very clear that they want the ‘flexibility’ to increase AI and reduce their need for us,” Marcucci-Morris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The local contract debate taps into an existential question plaguing American workers across professions: When is AI coming for my job? As health systems embrace the technology to save money and time, and consumers increasingly consult AI chatbots for mental health support, the theoretical question has suddenly turned concrete for Kaiser therapists and they are testing their union power to see if and how they can influence the inevitable transformation of their vocation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999559\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999559\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/HealthCareWorkerKQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/HealthCareWorkerKQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/HealthCareWorkerKQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/HealthCareWorkerKQED-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/HealthCareWorkerKQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kaiser clinician during the previous December 2018 strike. \u003ccite>(April Dembosky/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“AI is not inherently good or bad. It holds promise, but it isn’t without serious risks,” said Maya Sandalow, associate director for health programs at the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/\">Bipartisan Policy Center\u003c/a>. “When we talk about this, we need to be asking, ‘how might this solution improve upon the status quo?’ The status quo is that we are in a mental health crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worldwide prevalence of depression and anxiety\u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-triggers-25-increase-in-prevalence-of-anxiety-and-depression-worldwide\"> spiked 25%\u003c/a> in 2022, and today\u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/article/youth-experience-survey/\"> nearly two-thirds of American youth\u003c/a> regularly experience mental health distress, though fewer than half of them seek professional help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finding a therapist, especially one who accepts insurance,\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/stateofhealth/series/state-of-mind\"> has become notoriously difficult\u003c/a> as the field contends with workforce shortages and low reimbursement rates.[aside postID=news_12063401 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/OpenAiLawsuitsGetty.jpg']Kaiser has been battling these industry dynamics for\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/stateofhealth/21358/kaiser-agrees-to-pay-4-million-fine-over-mental-health-care-drops-lawsuit\"> more than a decade\u003c/a>. California regulators have\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11791527/kaiser-therapists-strike-again-over-long-wait-times\"> cited the company multiple times\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-permanente-california-behavioral-health-settlement/\"> fined it twice\u003c/a> for making patients wait\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11891049/california-bill-would-reduce-wait-times-for-mental-health-appointments\"> too long\u003c/a> for mental health appointments, ordering Kaiser to address understaffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Administrators are actively exploring how AI tools could help expand access to therapists, for example, by helping them spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser declined several requests for an interview, but said in a statement that AI tools don’t make medical decisions or replace human care. Rather, they hold “significant potential to benefit health care by supporting better diagnostics, enhancing patient-clinician relationships, optimizing clinicians’ time, and ensuring fairness in care experiences and health outcomes by addressing individual needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser contracts with mental health workers typically span two to four years. The company did not respond to specific questions about how AI could lead to job losses during that timeframe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Managers told the union during negotiations that they do not “intend” to lay off therapists because of the technology, but when pressed to put that in writing in the contract, several union representatives, including Marcucci-Morris, said Kaiser told them, “We can’t predict the future. We need to maintain flexibility,” and “We want to leave our options open.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How Kaiser uses AI now in mental health care\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Kaiser is already deploying AI note-taking technology in mental health care. Piloted first in medical exam rooms, these digital scribes record interactions between doctors and patients, then generate summaries for the patient’s medical record. Many mental health clinicians are optimistic about this innovation, as they typically spend two and a half hours a day, often in the evenings, writing clinical notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s called pajama time,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999280/ai-safety-expert-warns-parents-to-watch-kids-in-wake-of-chatbot-ban\">Jodi Halpern\u003c/a>, a psychiatrist and professor of bioethics at UC Berkeley. Her research shows that paperwork is the biggest cause of burnout among clinicians. “So the idea that we could replace that so that human care could grow, I love that idea.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999568\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999568\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/029_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/029_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/029_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/029_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/029_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaiser mental health care workers and supporters march from Oakland Kaiser Medical Center to Kaiser’s corporate headquarters on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, the fifth day of an open-ended strike. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The technology is controversial among Kaiser clinicians, though. Some appreciate digital scribe software as a time saver that also allows them to be more present with their clients, making eye contact rather than typing. But many are wary of potential privacy breaches, the ethical implications of using therapy transcripts to train AI models, and whether patients might censor themselves when they’re being recorded. Marcucci-Morris has declined to use it for these reasons, anticipating that only one out of 10 of her patients would consent to it if she asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not the same as talking to your physician about a rash or your vitamin D deficiency,” she said. “I wouldn’t want a recording of my disagreements with a family member or details of the terrible things that have happened to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In light of the unknowns, therapists have asked Kaiser management for a contract clause that stipulates the use of digital scribes will remain optional, or at least “not mandatory,” but Kaiser declined the proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union is also concerned about Kaiser’s recent introduction of electronic mental health triaging, an optional tool where patients are routed into care based on how they answer questions about anxiety and depression in an online questionnaire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999406\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999406\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251124_AIKAISER_GC-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251124_AIKAISER_GC-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251124_AIKAISER_GC-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251124_AIKAISER_GC-4-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251124_AIKAISER_GC-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brittany Beard, a licensed clinical therapist at Kaiser Permanente, poses for a portrait at her home in Vallejo on Nov. 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some patients won’t like this, but some will prefer it, said Merage Ghane, a clinical psychologist and director of responsible AI at the\u003ca href=\"https://www.chai.org/\"> Coalition for Health AI\u003c/a>. “There are people who really don’t like talking to a real person,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vallejo-based therapist Brittany Beard used to do this triage work herself, talking to clients for 15 to 20 minutes on the phone, but after Kaiser outsourced many of those calls to an outside company and developed the e-visit, she was reassigned to a new department. Though still employed at Kaiser, she already feels replaced by an app.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They sell it as accessing care faster, but I’ve seen the opposite,” Beard said. Now, when some of her patients meet her for their first appointment, “They’re frustrated. It was like they were battling just to get to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is AI coming for your therapist?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>How much AI infiltrates mental health care will be determined, in part, by the consumer. Experts have identified a “\u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/article/ai-in-health-care-administration-a-conversation-with-experts/\">trust gap\u003c/a>” between health administrators’ eagerness to roll out AI tools and patient concerns; to bridge the divide, they recommend transparency and involving patients in implementation. Qualitative studies show that patients are optimistic about the technology’s potential to improve diagnosis and treatment, but they remain skeptical of “robots” or “machines” taking over from humans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The prevailing sentiment really was that AI is at its best when it’s a tool that doctors can use to do their jobs better. Once that moved into the realm of replacing human interaction and experience, that was not a good thing,” said Michele Cordoba, a researcher at \u003ca href=\"https://cultureiq.group/\">Culture IQ\u003c/a>, which produced a \u003ca href=\"https://www.chcf.org/resource/patients-say-yes-artificial-intelligence-doctors-stay-charge/\">report\u003c/a> for the California Health Care Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999565\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999565\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/038_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/038_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/038_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/038_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/038_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaiser mental health care workers and supporters march from Oakland Kaiser Medical Center to Kaiser’s corporate headquarters on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, the fifth day of an open-ended strike. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the use of commercial AI chatbots for mental health has soared.\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fpri0000292\"> One study\u003c/a> surveyed AI users who have mental health conditions and found nearly half turn to their chatbot for psychological support, and of those, 63% said the advice was helpful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But mental health professionals have questioned the efficacy of such advice, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12063401/openai-faces-legal-storm-over-claims-its-ai-drove-users-to-suicide-delusions\">several families have sued\u003c/a> AI companies, alleging their chatbots encouraged suicidal and self-harming behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, clinical psychologists are developing evidence-based chatbots, like\u003ca href=\"https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/03/first-therapy-chatbot-trial-yields-mental-health-benefits\"> TheraBot\u003c/a>, to deliver tested therapeutic guidance. The Food and Drug Administration acknowledged the broad demand for such apps at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-calendar/november-6-2025-digital-health-advisory-committee-meeting-announcement-11062025#event-information\">November meeting\u003c/a> and is exploring what kind of authority it might have to regulate them, including requiring human mental health professionals to oversee them.[aside postID=news_12066395 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/San-Francisco-General-Hospital-Getty.jpg']Kaiser therapists want to know what all these trends mean for their own job security in the immediate and long term. When one of them asked a panel of AI experts to expound on this during a statewide training webinar in October, the 200 therapists in attendance heard a wide range of answers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would encourage you all not to fear for your profession,” said Nicholas Jacobson, a psychologist at Dartmouth and co-creator of TheraBot. “I think there is no possibility in your lifetime that you all will feel replaced by AI.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But UC Berkeley’s Halpern was much more circumspect, especially in light of chatbots’ popularity among youth. \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/talk-trust-and-trade-offs-how-and-why-teens-use-ai-companions\">A third of teen AI users\u003c/a> said they preferred to have serious conversations with their chatbot rather than a human. “I am not sure we won’t see a tremendous loss of human interactions,” Halpern said. “I’m very worried about that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, patients should have choices, psychologist Ghane told KQED. If they live in rural areas and can’t access a therapist, or they have a neurodevelopmental condition where human communication is more aversive than facilitative, she said it’s important they have AI options. In that version of the future, therapists are right to ask if they will be replaced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The answer is they can be,” Ghane said. “We can all be replaced at some point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Every day, clinical social worker Ilana Marcucci-Morris talks to her patients about the most private, most vulnerable details of their lives, and she’s not interested in having AI software listen in or sharing any of her responsibilities with\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999388/california-warns-families-to-watch-out-for-teens-as-character-ai-shuts-off-chatbot-access\"> a chatbot\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A self-attested millennial and lover of gadgets, Marcucci-Morris knows artificial intelligence is here to stay in health care, but when it comes to therapy, she wants it to be optional and assistive, a tool that will augment human connection, not diminish it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She figured that would be a simple assurance her union could win when they sat down\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/kaiser-permanente-mental-health\"> at the bargaining table\u003c/a> last summer to hash out their next contract with Kaiser Permanente. The therapists with the \u003ca href=\"https://home.nuhw.org/\">National Union of Healthcare Workers\u003c/a> submitted their proposed contract language — that AI would be used to “assist” mental health clinicians, but not “replace” them — never expecting it to be controversial. After all, Kaiser signed a contract with their sister union in Southern California just months earlier that contained the same language.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this time, Kaiser refused, sending back a counterproposal in the fall with that paragraph deleted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>We have asked them point-blank about language to prevent replacing therapists with artificial intelligence, and they have been very clear that they want the ‘flexibility’ to increase AI and reduce their need for us,” Marcucci-Morris said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The local contract debate taps into an existential question plaguing American workers across professions: When is AI coming for my job? As health systems embrace the technology to save money and time, and consumers increasingly consult AI chatbots for mental health support, the theoretical question has suddenly turned concrete for Kaiser therapists and they are testing their union power to see if and how they can influence the inevitable transformation of their vocation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999559\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999559\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/HealthCareWorkerKQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/HealthCareWorkerKQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/HealthCareWorkerKQED-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/HealthCareWorkerKQED-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/HealthCareWorkerKQED-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kaiser clinician during the previous December 2018 strike. \u003ccite>(April Dembosky/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“AI is not inherently good or bad. It holds promise, but it isn’t without serious risks,” said Maya Sandalow, associate director for health programs at the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/\">Bipartisan Policy Center\u003c/a>. “When we talk about this, we need to be asking, ‘how might this solution improve upon the status quo?’ The status quo is that we are in a mental health crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worldwide prevalence of depression and anxiety\u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-triggers-25-increase-in-prevalence-of-anxiety-and-depression-worldwide\"> spiked 25%\u003c/a> in 2022, and today\u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/article/youth-experience-survey/\"> nearly two-thirds of American youth\u003c/a> regularly experience mental health distress, though fewer than half of them seek professional help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finding a therapist, especially one who accepts insurance,\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/stateofhealth/series/state-of-mind\"> has become notoriously difficult\u003c/a> as the field contends with workforce shortages and low reimbursement rates.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Kaiser has been battling these industry dynamics for\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/stateofhealth/21358/kaiser-agrees-to-pay-4-million-fine-over-mental-health-care-drops-lawsuit\"> more than a decade\u003c/a>. California regulators have\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11791527/kaiser-therapists-strike-again-over-long-wait-times\"> cited the company multiple times\u003c/a> and\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-permanente-california-behavioral-health-settlement/\"> fined it twice\u003c/a> for making patients wait\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11891049/california-bill-would-reduce-wait-times-for-mental-health-appointments\"> too long\u003c/a> for mental health appointments, ordering Kaiser to address understaffing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Administrators are actively exploring how AI tools could help expand access to therapists, for example, by helping them spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser declined several requests for an interview, but said in a statement that AI tools don’t make medical decisions or replace human care. Rather, they hold “significant potential to benefit health care by supporting better diagnostics, enhancing patient-clinician relationships, optimizing clinicians’ time, and ensuring fairness in care experiences and health outcomes by addressing individual needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser contracts with mental health workers typically span two to four years. The company did not respond to specific questions about how AI could lead to job losses during that timeframe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Managers told the union during negotiations that they do not “intend” to lay off therapists because of the technology, but when pressed to put that in writing in the contract, several union representatives, including Marcucci-Morris, said Kaiser told them, “We can’t predict the future. We need to maintain flexibility,” and “We want to leave our options open.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How Kaiser uses AI now in mental health care\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Kaiser is already deploying AI note-taking technology in mental health care. Piloted first in medical exam rooms, these digital scribes record interactions between doctors and patients, then generate summaries for the patient’s medical record. Many mental health clinicians are optimistic about this innovation, as they typically spend two and a half hours a day, often in the evenings, writing clinical notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s called pajama time,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1999280/ai-safety-expert-warns-parents-to-watch-kids-in-wake-of-chatbot-ban\">Jodi Halpern\u003c/a>, a psychiatrist and professor of bioethics at UC Berkeley. Her research shows that paperwork is the biggest cause of burnout among clinicians. “So the idea that we could replace that so that human care could grow, I love that idea.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999568\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999568\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/029_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/029_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/029_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/029_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/029_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaiser mental health care workers and supporters march from Oakland Kaiser Medical Center to Kaiser’s corporate headquarters on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, the fifth day of an open-ended strike. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The technology is controversial among Kaiser clinicians, though. Some appreciate digital scribe software as a time saver that also allows them to be more present with their clients, making eye contact rather than typing. But many are wary of potential privacy breaches, the ethical implications of using therapy transcripts to train AI models, and whether patients might censor themselves when they’re being recorded. Marcucci-Morris has declined to use it for these reasons, anticipating that only one out of 10 of her patients would consent to it if she asked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not the same as talking to your physician about a rash or your vitamin D deficiency,” she said. “I wouldn’t want a recording of my disagreements with a family member or details of the terrible things that have happened to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In light of the unknowns, therapists have asked Kaiser management for a contract clause that stipulates the use of digital scribes will remain optional, or at least “not mandatory,” but Kaiser declined the proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union is also concerned about Kaiser’s recent introduction of electronic mental health triaging, an optional tool where patients are routed into care based on how they answer questions about anxiety and depression in an online questionnaire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999406\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999406\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251124_AIKAISER_GC-4-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251124_AIKAISER_GC-4-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251124_AIKAISER_GC-4-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251124_AIKAISER_GC-4-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/11/20251124_AIKAISER_GC-4-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brittany Beard, a licensed clinical therapist at Kaiser Permanente, poses for a portrait at her home in Vallejo on Nov. 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some patients won’t like this, but some will prefer it, said Merage Ghane, a clinical psychologist and director of responsible AI at the\u003ca href=\"https://www.chai.org/\"> Coalition for Health AI\u003c/a>. “There are people who really don’t like talking to a real person,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vallejo-based therapist Brittany Beard used to do this triage work herself, talking to clients for 15 to 20 minutes on the phone, but after Kaiser outsourced many of those calls to an outside company and developed the e-visit, she was reassigned to a new department. Though still employed at Kaiser, she already feels replaced by an app.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They sell it as accessing care faster, but I’ve seen the opposite,” Beard said. Now, when some of her patients meet her for their first appointment, “They’re frustrated. It was like they were battling just to get to me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is AI coming for your therapist?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>How much AI infiltrates mental health care will be determined, in part, by the consumer. Experts have identified a “\u003ca href=\"https://bipartisanpolicy.org/article/ai-in-health-care-administration-a-conversation-with-experts/\">trust gap\u003c/a>” between health administrators’ eagerness to roll out AI tools and patient concerns; to bridge the divide, they recommend transparency and involving patients in implementation. Qualitative studies show that patients are optimistic about the technology’s potential to improve diagnosis and treatment, but they remain skeptical of “robots” or “machines” taking over from humans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The prevailing sentiment really was that AI is at its best when it’s a tool that doctors can use to do their jobs better. Once that moved into the realm of replacing human interaction and experience, that was not a good thing,” said Michele Cordoba, a researcher at \u003ca href=\"https://cultureiq.group/\">Culture IQ\u003c/a>, which produced a \u003ca href=\"https://www.chcf.org/resource/patients-say-yes-artificial-intelligence-doctors-stay-charge/\">report\u003c/a> for the California Health Care Foundation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1999565\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1999565\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/038_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/038_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/038_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/038_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2025/12/038_KQED_KaiserStrikeOakland_08192022_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaiser mental health care workers and supporters march from Oakland Kaiser Medical Center to Kaiser’s corporate headquarters on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, the fifth day of an open-ended strike. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the use of commercial AI chatbots for mental health has soared.\u003ca href=\"https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fpri0000292\"> One study\u003c/a> surveyed AI users who have mental health conditions and found nearly half turn to their chatbot for psychological support, and of those, 63% said the advice was helpful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But mental health professionals have questioned the efficacy of such advice, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12063401/openai-faces-legal-storm-over-claims-its-ai-drove-users-to-suicide-delusions\">several families have sued\u003c/a> AI companies, alleging their chatbots encouraged suicidal and self-harming behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, clinical psychologists are developing evidence-based chatbots, like\u003ca href=\"https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/03/first-therapy-chatbot-trial-yields-mental-health-benefits\"> TheraBot\u003c/a>, to deliver tested therapeutic guidance. The Food and Drug Administration acknowledged the broad demand for such apps at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees/advisory-committee-calendar/november-6-2025-digital-health-advisory-committee-meeting-announcement-11062025#event-information\">November meeting\u003c/a> and is exploring what kind of authority it might have to regulate them, including requiring human mental health professionals to oversee them.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Kaiser therapists want to know what all these trends mean for their own job security in the immediate and long term. When one of them asked a panel of AI experts to expound on this during a statewide training webinar in October, the 200 therapists in attendance heard a wide range of answers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would encourage you all not to fear for your profession,” said Nicholas Jacobson, a psychologist at Dartmouth and co-creator of TheraBot. “I think there is no possibility in your lifetime that you all will feel replaced by AI.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But UC Berkeley’s Halpern was much more circumspect, especially in light of chatbots’ popularity among youth. \u003ca href=\"https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/talk-trust-and-trade-offs-how-and-why-teens-use-ai-companions\">A third of teen AI users\u003c/a> said they preferred to have serious conversations with their chatbot rather than a human. “I am not sure we won’t see a tremendous loss of human interactions,” Halpern said. “I’m very worried about that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, patients should have choices, psychologist Ghane told KQED. If they live in rural areas and can’t access a therapist, or they have a neurodevelopmental condition where human communication is more aversive than facilitative, she said it’s important they have AI options. In that version of the future, therapists are right to ask if they will be replaced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The answer is they can be,” Ghane said. “We can all be replaced at some point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"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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"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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"marketplace": {
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"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.",
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},
"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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"order": 12
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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},
"perspectives": {
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"order": 14
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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