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"title": "James Webb Telescope Captures Cosmic 'Question Mark' in Deep Space",
"headTitle": "James Webb Telescope Captures Cosmic ‘Question Mark’ in Deep Space | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The James Webb Space Telescope recently captured a stunning new image of what scientists call a pair of actively forming stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But eagle-eyed viewers were quick to seize on an even tinier — and to some, more intriguing — detail at the very bottom of the frame: an orange formation in the unmistakable shape of a question mark, tail and all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/07/Herbig-Haro_46_47_NIRCam_image_annotated\">The photo\u003c/a> — which is actually a composite of a half-dozen infrared images — went viral on social media sites like \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/latestinspace/status/1688563643762233344\">X (formerly Twitter\u003c/a>) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/15ktn5d/nasas_james_webb_telescope_has_spotted_a_giant/\">Reddit \u003c/a>after the European Space Agency (one of the three agencies behind the telescope) shared it late last month, prompting the \u003ca href=\"https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/08/11/23/james-webb-space-telescope-finds-question-mark-in-space\">ESA to clarify\u003c/a> weeks later that “it’s not a hoax.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The aliens know we’ve found them and now they’re just messing with us,” one Reddit user wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The photo shows a tightly bound pair of young stars known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, surrounded by a disc of gas and dust, and dotted by distant galaxies and stars in the background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983969\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983969\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/screenshot-2023-08-16-at-21.15.43-26af1c5c8f40ea765418b617974d3c8c771a5aae-800x600.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/screenshot-2023-08-16-at-21.15.43-26af1c5c8f40ea765418b617974d3c8c771a5aae-800x600.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/screenshot-2023-08-16-at-21.15.43-26af1c5c8f40ea765418b617974d3c8c771a5aae-160x120.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/screenshot-2023-08-16-at-21.15.43-26af1c5c8f40ea765418b617974d3c8c771a5aae-768x576.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/screenshot-2023-08-16-at-21.15.43-26af1c5c8f40ea765418b617974d3c8c771a5aae.png 945w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new photo from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a tightly bound pair of actively forming stars (at the center of the red spikes). But many people are more curious about the question mark-shaped structure highlighted at the bottom middle of the frame. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA, J. DePasquale (STScI))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>ESA says Herbig-Haro 46/47 is important to study because it’s “only a few thousand years old” — and since stars take millions of years to form, its young age offers researchers a chance to observe how stars gather mass over time (and to potentially model the formation of one of the most famous stars, the sun).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, scientists acknowledge, it’s not the only notable formation in the photo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Macarena Garcia Marin, a Webb project scientist with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore (which manages the telescope’s science operations), told NPR in an email that the question mark is “a great example of how, with Webb, no matter what you are looking at, you can have surprises in the background.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she has at least one theory for why it’s resonating so much with people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we all enjoy finding familiar shapes in the sky; that creates a deep connection between our human-experience and language in this case (a question mark!) and the beauty of the Universe surrounding us,” Garcia Marin writes. “I think this exemplifies the human need for exploration and wonder, and to me it brings the question of how many other interesting objects are out there waiting to be explored with Webb!”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>So what exactly is it?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists say the punctuation-shaped object appears to be two or more \u003ca href=\"https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/topic/galaxies-merging-and-interacting\">galaxies merging\u003c/a> — the \u003ca href=\"https://academic-accelerator.com/encyclopedia/galaxy-merger\">intense process\u003c/a> through which galaxies collide (the Milky Way itself is the byproduct of one such merger).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It looks like a group or a chance alignment of 2 or 3 galaxies,” Kai Noeske, ESA communication program officer, said over email. “The upper part of the question mark looks like a distorted spiral galaxy, maybe merging with a second galaxy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ESA study scientist Nora Luetzgendorf says that while it’s too far away to say for sure, the arc of the question mark likely comes from the tidal interaction between the galaxies, “and the dot might as well be just a smaller spherical galaxy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Galaxy mergers are actually a very common astrophysical phenomenon, she adds — even our own galaxy is interacting with its neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy. Garcia Marin similarly calls them “a normal phase in the life and evolution of galaxies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn’t mean we see them very often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s “all about projection,” Garcia Marin explains. She says the reason we see the galaxies in a question mark shape is a result of both the angle with which they have encountered each other and our own point of view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This ‘question mark’ shape figure perfectly exemplifies projection effects when looking at the sky,” she adds. “What we measure is a 2D image of a Universe that is filled with objects spanning time and space. We see their projection; that ?-shaped object is much further away from us than HH 46/47 and it does not have a direct impact on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she does note one interesting connection between the two phenomena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, she says, the process of galaxies interacting with each other can trigger the formation of stars — “and objects like HH 46/47, the main subject of the image, could be born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What can it teach us?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983970 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-800x764.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"764\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-800x764.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-1020x974.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-160x153.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-768x733.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-1536x1466.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-2048x1955.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-1920x1833.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An image released by NASA last summer shows Stephan’s Quintet as captured by the Webb telescope. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Galaxy mergers generate “all kinds of beautiful shapes and structures,” Garcia Marin says — especially depending on the angle from which they are perceived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One example is \u003ca href=\"https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/034/01G7F6AWJNTF1G0ZWP5ESGSFXF\">Stephan’s Quintet\u003c/a>, a visual grouping of five close-together galaxies located in the constellation Pegasus. It was one of the first \u003ca href=\"https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/034/01G7DA5ADA2WDSK1JJPQ0PTG4A\">images released from the Webb telescope\u003c/a> last summer, showing a swirling cluster of stars and sweeping tails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luetzgendorf says images of some of the interacting galaxies closer by (relatively speaking), like the Whirlpool galaxy and Antennae galaxies, bear some resemblance to the structure people are talking about now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can see the similarities and how from a different perspective and from farther away, this might look like a question mark,” she adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983971\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983971\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-800x794.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"794\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-800x794.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-1020x1012.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-768x762.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-1536x1524.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-2048x2032.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-1920x1905.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This image made by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the Antennae galaxies, formerly separate galaxies that have spent the last few hundred million years intertwining with one another. \u003ccite>(AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Given that mergers are relatively common, and the new photos are really focused on the growing stars, is there anything new we can learn from the question mark hidden within? Garcia Marin thinks so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If this is a galaxy merger,” she says, “its relevance would be to see how it fits in what we know about mergers and their importance for galaxy evolution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=People+are+freaking+out+over+a+question+mark+seen+in+space.+Scientists+can+explain&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The James Webb Space Telescope recently captured a stunning new image of what scientists call a pair of actively forming stars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But eagle-eyed viewers were quick to seize on an even tinier — and to some, more intriguing — detail at the very bottom of the frame: an orange formation in the unmistakable shape of a question mark, tail and all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/07/Herbig-Haro_46_47_NIRCam_image_annotated\">The photo\u003c/a> — which is actually a composite of a half-dozen infrared images — went viral on social media sites like \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/latestinspace/status/1688563643762233344\">X (formerly Twitter\u003c/a>) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/15ktn5d/nasas_james_webb_telescope_has_spotted_a_giant/\">Reddit \u003c/a>after the European Space Agency (one of the three agencies behind the telescope) shared it late last month, prompting the \u003ca href=\"https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/08/11/23/james-webb-space-telescope-finds-question-mark-in-space\">ESA to clarify\u003c/a> weeks later that “it’s not a hoax.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The aliens know we’ve found them and now they’re just messing with us,” one Reddit user wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The photo shows a tightly bound pair of young stars known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, surrounded by a disc of gas and dust, and dotted by distant galaxies and stars in the background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983969\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983969\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/screenshot-2023-08-16-at-21.15.43-26af1c5c8f40ea765418b617974d3c8c771a5aae-800x600.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/screenshot-2023-08-16-at-21.15.43-26af1c5c8f40ea765418b617974d3c8c771a5aae-800x600.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/screenshot-2023-08-16-at-21.15.43-26af1c5c8f40ea765418b617974d3c8c771a5aae-160x120.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/screenshot-2023-08-16-at-21.15.43-26af1c5c8f40ea765418b617974d3c8c771a5aae-768x576.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/screenshot-2023-08-16-at-21.15.43-26af1c5c8f40ea765418b617974d3c8c771a5aae.png 945w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new photo from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a tightly bound pair of actively forming stars (at the center of the red spikes). But many people are more curious about the question mark-shaped structure highlighted at the bottom middle of the frame. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA, J. DePasquale (STScI))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>ESA says Herbig-Haro 46/47 is important to study because it’s “only a few thousand years old” — and since stars take millions of years to form, its young age offers researchers a chance to observe how stars gather mass over time (and to potentially model the formation of one of the most famous stars, the sun).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even so, scientists acknowledge, it’s not the only notable formation in the photo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Macarena Garcia Marin, a Webb project scientist with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore (which manages the telescope’s science operations), told NPR in an email that the question mark is “a great example of how, with Webb, no matter what you are looking at, you can have surprises in the background.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she has at least one theory for why it’s resonating so much with people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we all enjoy finding familiar shapes in the sky; that creates a deep connection between our human-experience and language in this case (a question mark!) and the beauty of the Universe surrounding us,” Garcia Marin writes. “I think this exemplifies the human need for exploration and wonder, and to me it brings the question of how many other interesting objects are out there waiting to be explored with Webb!”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>So what exactly is it?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists say the punctuation-shaped object appears to be two or more \u003ca href=\"https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/topic/galaxies-merging-and-interacting\">galaxies merging\u003c/a> — the \u003ca href=\"https://academic-accelerator.com/encyclopedia/galaxy-merger\">intense process\u003c/a> through which galaxies collide (the Milky Way itself is the byproduct of one such merger).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It looks like a group or a chance alignment of 2 or 3 galaxies,” Kai Noeske, ESA communication program officer, said over email. “The upper part of the question mark looks like a distorted spiral galaxy, maybe merging with a second galaxy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ESA study scientist Nora Luetzgendorf says that while it’s too far away to say for sure, the arc of the question mark likely comes from the tidal interaction between the galaxies, “and the dot might as well be just a smaller spherical galaxy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Galaxy mergers are actually a very common astrophysical phenomenon, she adds — even our own galaxy is interacting with its neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy. Garcia Marin similarly calls them “a normal phase in the life and evolution of galaxies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn’t mean we see them very often.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s “all about projection,” Garcia Marin explains. She says the reason we see the galaxies in a question mark shape is a result of both the angle with which they have encountered each other and our own point of view.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This ‘question mark’ shape figure perfectly exemplifies projection effects when looking at the sky,” she adds. “What we measure is a 2D image of a Universe that is filled with objects spanning time and space. We see their projection; that ?-shaped object is much further away from us than HH 46/47 and it does not have a direct impact on it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But she does note one interesting connection between the two phenomena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In general, she says, the process of galaxies interacting with each other can trigger the formation of stars — “and objects like HH 46/47, the main subject of the image, could be born.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What can it teach us?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983970\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983970 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-800x764.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"764\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-800x764.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-1020x974.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-160x153.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-768x733.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-1536x1466.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-2048x1955.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22193546501073_custom-3adf5f7fe104fd24d17698c09feb39e227780f4b-1920x1833.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An image released by NASA last summer shows Stephan’s Quintet as captured by the Webb telescope. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Galaxy mergers generate “all kinds of beautiful shapes and structures,” Garcia Marin says — especially depending on the angle from which they are perceived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One example is \u003ca href=\"https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/034/01G7F6AWJNTF1G0ZWP5ESGSFXF\">Stephan’s Quintet\u003c/a>, a visual grouping of five close-together galaxies located in the constellation Pegasus. It was one of the first \u003ca href=\"https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2022/034/01G7DA5ADA2WDSK1JJPQ0PTG4A\">images released from the Webb telescope\u003c/a> last summer, showing a swirling cluster of stars and sweeping tails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luetzgendorf says images of some of the interacting galaxies closer by (relatively speaking), like the Whirlpool galaxy and Antennae galaxies, bear some resemblance to the structure people are talking about now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can see the similarities and how from a different perspective and from farther away, this might look like a question mark,” she adds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983971\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983971\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-800x794.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"794\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-800x794.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-1020x1012.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-768x762.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-1536x1524.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-2048x2032.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap22488019950_custom-5939419ee7fadb303ec3726ffbf4d3cdd66dae80-1920x1905.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This image made by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the Antennae galaxies, formerly separate galaxies that have spent the last few hundred million years intertwining with one another. \u003ccite>(AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Given that mergers are relatively common, and the new photos are really focused on the growing stars, is there anything new we can learn from the question mark hidden within? Garcia Marin thinks so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If this is a galaxy merger,” she says, “its relevance would be to see how it fits in what we know about mergers and their importance for galaxy evolution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=People+are+freaking+out+over+a+question+mark+seen+in+space.+Scientists+can+explain&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Bay Area Red Tide Crisis Ends, Watchdog Group Declares Algae Bloom Over",
"headTitle": "Bay Area Red Tide Crisis Ends, Watchdog Group Declares Algae Bloom Over | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The red tide that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1983631/last-summers-fish-killing-algae-bloom-is-back-in-the-bay\">gave East Bay waters a light brown sheen\u003c/a> earlier this month is likely over, declared the environmental watchdog group San Francisco Baykeeper Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would say this bloom is done for now,” said the group’s staff scientist \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Ian__Wren\">Ian Wren\u003c/a> on a boat under the eastern half of the Bay Bridge, where the water was olive green instead of a murky tea color brought on by the bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Almost overnight the bloom died and the water was crystal clear,” he added.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Eileen White, executive officer, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board\"]‘We don’t have enough knowledge of the species. Warmer weather could bring it back and we will continue to monitor the situation.’[/pullquote]Even though the red tide has dissipated, Eileen White, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, is hesitant “to declare victory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is still summertime and at this time I am cautiously optimistic,” she said. “We don’t have enough knowledge of the species. Warmer weather could bring it back and we will continue to monitor the situation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year the red tide — literally billions of tiny algae called \u003ca href=\"https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/toxicity-toxic-alga-heterosigma-akashiwo-puget-sound/\">Heterosigma akashiwo\u003c/a> — killed an immeasurable amount of fish. This year, the algae killed fewer than 100, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sf-bay-harmful-algae-bloom-2023\">a state-run citizen science project\u003c/a>. Sitings of important Bay Area species, including sturgeons, bat rays and crabs, were among the dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983935\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983935\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The wake of a boat on the water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Waves from the San Francisco Baykeeper splash in Oakland, on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I am so happy it’s only 85 fish and I am glad it didn’t spread to the South Bay,” White said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last week, Wren said citizen scientists monitoring the bloom looked at bay water “under the microscope and couldn’t find any of the problem algae.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The microscopic critter looks like a swimming potato chip with a tail, said Raphael Kudela, a phytoplankton ecologist at UC Santa Cruz. He said the organism thrives in the bay because the shallow water warms up quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just really happy when it’s in the bay,” he said. “As long as it’s happy, it’s just going to keep going, and going, and going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wren, with SF Baykeeper, isn’t exactly sure what cut the bloom short this year. Still, he said there are a few theories as to why the algae didn’t return in force: it could have been too cloudy decreasing light, it wasn’t warm enough, the bay waters mixed causing the algae to die off or there weren’t enough concentrations of tiny particles in the water that the algae like to dine on.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Ian Wren, staff scientist, SF Baykeeper\"]‘With the bloom getting so big and widespread last year, it is highly likely a lot more cysts are present throughout the bay, ready to spark again.’[/pullquote]Wren said output from the region’s 37 regional wastewater treatments is a big part of why the algae blooms can get so bad. The wastewater includes nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, which the algae go to town on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There could have been a lower level of nutrients to start with and this bloom could have just fizzled out naturally, eating what it could and never having the chance to take off,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists like Wren and Peter Roopnarine, curator of invertebrate zoology and geology at the California Academy of Sciences, said humans are the main reason why this algae bloom got so bad. He blames wastewater agencies almost continually pumping nutrient-filled water into the bay and a warming world because of the burning of fossil fuels globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983936\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983936\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Small boats and buildings along a waterfront.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Francisco Baykeeper is seen in the Oakland Marina in Oakland on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost all about us to blame,” said Roopnarine. “The bay is kind of a gigantic laboratory flask in some ways where you can put in ingredients, can mix them and it’s not easy for those to have an outside influence from the ocean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wren said the tide is unlikely to return this year, but just because the red tide has disappeared doesn’t mean it won’t come back next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When under stress, the algae can create little cysts, like seeds, and plant themselves at the bottom of the bay, lying dormant until the right conditions for the organisms to proliferate return. Conditions include light, warmth and calm water.[aside tag=\"algae, algal bloom\" label=\"More Related Stories\"]“With the bloom getting so big and widespread last year, it is highly likely a lot more cysts are present throughout the bay, ready to spark again,” Wren said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s sort of like a long-term easter egg hunt with potentially deadly consequences for fish, Wren said. The idea is that when the algae are present, the water holds less oxygen, killing the fish. The algae are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1983775/as-algal-bloom-returns-to-the-bay-is-swimming-safe-for-humans-and-pets\">not known to have any direct harmful effects on humans or mammals\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given that we have had two back-to-back years of blooms, this likely could be the new normal,” he said. “We might see small, medium and large blooms on an annual basis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new normal because Wren said climate change likely means more algae blooms — and not just the lesser toxic bloom this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are other harmful algae in the bay that could just as easily have taken off with more lethal consequences to wildfire and humans,” he said. “These algae are just waiting to go nuts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The red tide that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1983631/last-summers-fish-killing-algae-bloom-is-back-in-the-bay\">gave East Bay waters a light brown sheen\u003c/a> earlier this month is likely over, declared the environmental watchdog group San Francisco Baykeeper Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would say this bloom is done for now,” said the group’s staff scientist \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Ian__Wren\">Ian Wren\u003c/a> on a boat under the eastern half of the Bay Bridge, where the water was olive green instead of a murky tea color brought on by the bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Almost overnight the bloom died and the water was crystal clear,” he added.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We don’t have enough knowledge of the species. Warmer weather could bring it back and we will continue to monitor the situation.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Even though the red tide has dissipated, Eileen White, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, is hesitant “to declare victory.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is still summertime and at this time I am cautiously optimistic,” she said. “We don’t have enough knowledge of the species. Warmer weather could bring it back and we will continue to monitor the situation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year the red tide — literally billions of tiny algae called \u003ca href=\"https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/toxicity-toxic-alga-heterosigma-akashiwo-puget-sound/\">Heterosigma akashiwo\u003c/a> — killed an immeasurable amount of fish. This year, the algae killed fewer than 100, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sf-bay-harmful-algae-bloom-2023\">a state-run citizen science project\u003c/a>. Sitings of important Bay Area species, including sturgeons, bat rays and crabs, were among the dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983935\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983935\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"The wake of a boat on the water.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67934_20230814-SFBaykeeper-04-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Waves from the San Francisco Baykeeper splash in Oakland, on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I am so happy it’s only 85 fish and I am glad it didn’t spread to the South Bay,” White said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last week, Wren said citizen scientists monitoring the bloom looked at bay water “under the microscope and couldn’t find any of the problem algae.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The microscopic critter looks like a swimming potato chip with a tail, said Raphael Kudela, a phytoplankton ecologist at UC Santa Cruz. He said the organism thrives in the bay because the shallow water warms up quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just really happy when it’s in the bay,” he said. “As long as it’s happy, it’s just going to keep going, and going, and going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wren, with SF Baykeeper, isn’t exactly sure what cut the bloom short this year. Still, he said there are a few theories as to why the algae didn’t return in force: it could have been too cloudy decreasing light, it wasn’t warm enough, the bay waters mixed causing the algae to die off or there weren’t enough concentrations of tiny particles in the water that the algae like to dine on.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘With the bloom getting so big and widespread last year, it is highly likely a lot more cysts are present throughout the bay, ready to spark again.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Wren said output from the region’s 37 regional wastewater treatments is a big part of why the algae blooms can get so bad. The wastewater includes nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, which the algae go to town on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There could have been a lower level of nutrients to start with and this bloom could have just fizzled out naturally, eating what it could and never having the chance to take off,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists like Wren and Peter Roopnarine, curator of invertebrate zoology and geology at the California Academy of Sciences, said humans are the main reason why this algae bloom got so bad. He blames wastewater agencies almost continually pumping nutrient-filled water into the bay and a warming world because of the burning of fossil fuels globally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983936\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983936\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Small boats and buildings along a waterfront.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67935_20230814-SFBaykeeper-06-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Francisco Baykeeper is seen in the Oakland Marina in Oakland on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost all about us to blame,” said Roopnarine. “The bay is kind of a gigantic laboratory flask in some ways where you can put in ingredients, can mix them and it’s not easy for those to have an outside influence from the ocean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wren said the tide is unlikely to return this year, but just because the red tide has disappeared doesn’t mean it won’t come back next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When under stress, the algae can create little cysts, like seeds, and plant themselves at the bottom of the bay, lying dormant until the right conditions for the organisms to proliferate return. Conditions include light, warmth and calm water.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“With the bloom getting so big and widespread last year, it is highly likely a lot more cysts are present throughout the bay, ready to spark again,” Wren said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s sort of like a long-term easter egg hunt with potentially deadly consequences for fish, Wren said. The idea is that when the algae are present, the water holds less oxygen, killing the fish. The algae are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1983775/as-algal-bloom-returns-to-the-bay-is-swimming-safe-for-humans-and-pets\">not known to have any direct harmful effects on humans or mammals\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given that we have had two back-to-back years of blooms, this likely could be the new normal,” he said. “We might see small, medium and large blooms on an annual basis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A new normal because Wren said climate change likely means more algae blooms — and not just the lesser toxic bloom this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are other harmful algae in the bay that could just as easily have taken off with more lethal consequences to wildfire and humans,” he said. “These algae are just waiting to go nuts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Maui Fires Now Among Deadliest US Wildfires Ever. Here Are Some Others",
"headTitle": "Maui Fires Now Among Deadliest US Wildfires Ever. Here Are Some Others | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The wildfires that tore through western Maui last week have already earned the tragic distinction of being among the deadliest in modern U.S. history — and the death toll is only expected to climb as recovery efforts continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hawaii officials confirmed 99 fatalities as of late Monday, and have warned that number is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/08/12/1193614596/death-toll-on-maui-climbs-to-80-as-questions-over-islands-emergency-response-gro\">likely to keep rising\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the largest natural disaster we’ve ever experienced,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/14/us/maui-wildfires-what-we-know/index.html#:~:text=The%20Maui%20wildfires%20are%20the,the%20National%20Fire%20Protection%20Association.\">over the weekend\u003c/a>. “It’s going to also be a natural disaster that’s going to take an incredible amount of time to recover from.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week’s wildfires — which destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and left thousands of residents without homes — also constitute the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. They surpass the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif., which killed 85 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://apps.npr.org/datawrapper/henz5/1/?initialWidth=953&childId=responsive-embed-henz5&parentTitle=Maui%20joins%20the%20list%20of%20deadliest%20wildfires%20in%20recorded%20U.S.%20history%20%3A%20NPR&parentUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2023%2F08%2F15%2F1193710165%2Fmaui-wildfires-deadliest-us-history\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Maui fire now ranks among the top 10 deadliest U.S. wildfires on record since 1871, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/WUI/Wildland-Fires-in-the-US-history-with-10-or-more-deaths.ashx\">National Fire Protection Association\u003c/a> (NFPA), a global nonprofit focused on eliminating loss due to fire hazards. Four of them — Maui included — have happened in the years since 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate change is increasing the risk of major wildfires across the U.S., and more people are moving to fire-prone areas without realizing it, as \u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/us-wildfires-impact-environment-climate-change/\">NPR has reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the most devastating wildfires in U.S. history ravaged western states. But others — including the 1871 Peshtigo Fire, the deadliest on record — have struck elsewhere, including in the Midwest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s a look at some of the other tragedies on that list, and some lessons learned.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Peshtigo Fire, 1871\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983911\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983911\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-800x595.jpg\" alt=\"An illustration shows people trying to flee a fire.\" width=\"800\" height=\"595\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-800x595.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-1020x759.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-768x571.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-1536x1143.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-2048x1524.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-1920x1429.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An illustration shows people trying to flee the fire of Peshtigo in Wisconsin in 1871. \u003ccite>(Bettmann/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The deadliest \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/grb/peshtigofire\">wildfire in U.S. history\u003c/a> tore through northeastern Wisconsin in October 1871 — the exact same day as, and only about 250 miles away from, the better known \u003ca href=\"https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/10/08/great-chicago-fire\">Great Chicago Fire\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Peshtigo fire scorched about 1.5 million acres, leaving only one building standing. It killed at least 1,152 people, injured about 1,500 and left another 3,000 homeless, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS1750\">Wisconsin Historical Society\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, Peshtigo was home to many immigrants working in the lumbering and railroad industries — and a lot of wood, according to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.peshtigofiremuseum.com/fire/\">Peshtigo Fire Museum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It boasted the world’s largest woodenware factory, as well as one of the country’s largest sawmills. The town was surrounded by pine forests, most of its structures and sidewalks were made of wood and the streets were covered in sawdust from the factory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lumberjacks and railroad construction crews regularly set fires in the area to clear debris, the museum explains, so it wasn’t unusual for the air to be filled with smoke (or for ships to navigate by compass during the day, or for schools to close, or for people to get sick).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The citizens of Peshtigo had become used to the smell of ashes and thought nothing amiss when they retired on the night of October 8, 1871,” reads the historical society’s website. “Suddenly ‘all hell rode into town on the back of a wind.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the fire spread, some people hid in water wells while others rushed to the river, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/07/1013898724/the-deadliest-fire-in-american-history-happened-in-a-place-you-wouldnt-expect\">as NPR has reported\u003c/a>. Of those that survived the initial fire, many died of drowning and hypothermia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/grb/peshtigofire2#:~:text=Fire%20reached%20Peshtigo%20during%20the,the%20fire%20(Figure%201).\">National Weather Service\u003c/a> attributes the fire to several factors, including prolonged drought, a strong autumn storm system, logging and clearing of land for agriculture and the “ignorance and indifference of the population,” as timber was often discarded with little regard for its flammability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tragedy, it adds, was an important wake-up call about land-use practices of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Thumb Fire, 1881\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Thumb Fire swept through central Michigan in September 1881. It burned a million acres in Sanilac and Huron Counties alone, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=160706\">historical marker\u003c/a> near Bay Port.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Small fires were burning in the forests of the Thumb, tinder-dry after a long, hot summer, when a gale swept in from the southwest on Sept. 5, 1881,” it reads. “Fanned into an inferno, the fires raged for three days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://news.umich.edu/fires-ravaged-michigans-thumb-in-1871-1881/\">University of Michigan\u003c/a> says the fire killed at least 300 people (NFPA puts the death toll at 282), destroyed 1,521 dwellings and left more than 14,000 people dependent on public aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many residents were left either temporarily or permanently blinded by the smoke and flying ashes that “traveled faster than a whirlwind and blotted out the sun for days,” according to \u003ca href=\"https://thumbwind.com/2021/09/04/1881-michigan-fire/\">Thumbwind.com\u003c/a>. It adds that yellow smoke made its way east, where it darkened the skies over all six New England states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Red Cross, which had been founded earlier that year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/enterprise-assets/about-us/history/history-clara-barton-v5-4-19-23.pdf\">collected funds and clothing (PDF)\u003c/a> to support victims — marking its first-ever official disaster relief effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Great Fire, 1910\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983912\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983912\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-800x588.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white photograph of a town destroyed by fires. \" width=\"800\" height=\"588\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-800x588.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-1020x750.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-160x118.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-768x564.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-1536x1129.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-2048x1505.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-1920x1411.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Wallace, Idaho, destroyed by forest fires in 1910. \u003ccite>(HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Great Fire of 1910 was a \u003ca href=\"https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/policy-and-law/fire-u-s-forest-service/famous-fires/the-1910-fires/\">series of forest fires\u003c/a> that burned through Idaho, Montana and Washington between April and August, culminating in the so-called “Big Blowup.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hurricane-force winds arrived on Aug. 20, whipping the small fires into flames hundreds of feet high. Forester Edward Stahl \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalforests.org/our-forests/your-national-forests-magazine/blazing-battles-the-1910-fire-and-its-legacy\">described them\u003c/a> as being “fanned by a tornado wind so violent that the flames flattened out ahead, swooping to earth in great darting curves, truly a veritable red demon from hell.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire lasted for \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5444731.pdf\">two days and two nights (PDF)\u003c/a>, devastating more than 3 million acres of timberland in the Northern Rockies. The exact death toll varies, with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5444731.pdf\">U.S. Forest Service (PDF)\u003c/a> putting it at 86, saying most were firefighters on the front lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, the Forest Service had only existed for five years by this point. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalforests.org/our-forests/your-national-forests-magazine/blazing-battles-the-1910-fire-and-its-legacy\">National Forest Foundation\u003c/a> says the fire “left not only scars on the land, but also lasting and fervent opinions about how forests and wildfire should be managed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cloquet and Moose Lake Fires, 1918\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Cloquet and Moose Lake fires of 1918 (which were actually made up of \u003ca href=\"https://mndigital.org/projects/primary-source-sets/natural-disasters-minnesota#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20worst%20natural,provided%20fuel%20for%20the%20fires.\">50 blazes\u003c/a>) remain one of the deadliest natural disasters in Minnesota history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Records from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/dlh/MooseLake_Cloquet_1918Fires\">National Weather Service\u003c/a> show Northeast Minnesota was experiencing its “driest season in 48 years” when sparks from a passing train, fueled by gusty winds, ignited fires that lasted for several days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire consumed approximately 1,500 square miles and killed more than 450 people, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://mndigital.org/projects/primary-source-sets/natural-disasters-minnesota#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20worst%20natural,provided%20fuel%20for%20the%20fires.\">Minnesota Digital Library\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly half of the victims were from the Moose Lake area. Many of them died trying to escape in cars or suffocating in root cellars and wells, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/10/12/moose-lake-fire-no-less-horrible-100-years-later\">MPR News\u003c/a> reported on the 100th anniversary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Natalie Frohrip, the vice president of the Moose Lake Area Historical Society, told the station that her mother-in-law, a teenager at the time, had survived the fire by wading into the lake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She said that when she had been in Sunday school, she had learned that when the end of the world came, the stars were going to fall out of the sky,” Frohrip said. “And so when they came down the hill and saw all the sparks, she was sure this was going to be the end.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Griffith Park Fire, 1933\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983913\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983913\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-800x531.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people plant a pine tree. \" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-1536x1019.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-2048x1359.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-1920x1274.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Loa (right), a survivor of the 1933 Griffith Park fire, helped plant a pine tree in memoriam in 2007, at the age of 96. \u003ccite>(Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Griffith Park fire was once the deadliest fire in California history, killing 29 people in 1933. But it burned a relatively small 47 acres and damaged no property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of the victims of the fire were civilians who had been doing cleanup and assistance work in the Los Angeles park for 40 cents an hour through a Depression-era government program, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11705774/remembering-l-a-s-1933-griffith-park-fire-the-states-deadliest-fire-until-now\">member station KQED reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were 3,784 workers in the park when a brush fire broke out on the afternoon of Oct. 3.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Accounts differ on whether workers were ordered by their foremen to head down into Mineral Wells Canyon to fight the fire or whether they were simply asked to help put out the flames,” KQED reported. “Either way, into the canyon they went, with only shovels, their hands and the earth at their feet to work with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire department had arrived relatively quickly but was \u003ca href=\"https://friendsofgriffithpark.org/griffith-parks-1933-fire/\">reportedly overwhelmed\u003c/a> by the thousands of amateurs crowding the scene. Then a sudden change in the winds sent the fire up the canyon, \u003ca href=\"https://lafire.com/famous_fires/1933-1003_GriffithParkFire/1933-1003_GriffithParkFire.htm\">killing 29 workers\u003c/a> of thermal burns and injuring more than 150 others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reporter Caroline Walker \u003ca href=\"https://lafire.com/famous_fires/1933-1003_GriffithParkFire/1933-1003_GriffithParkFire.htm\">wrote in the Oct. 4, 1933 issue\u003c/a> of the \u003cem>Los Angeles Herald-Express\u003c/em> of the men, that “in their hearts a little candle of hope had been burning again because they had a chance to earn a little money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was only a brush fire that they were asked to extinguish. It was the sort that skilled fireworkers know how to handle. But the men in the park weren’t fire fighters. They did not know that canyons become flutes in a brush fire, or that flames travel with such deadly swiftness over grass and trees grown brittle with the summer drought. It was work. That was all that mattered.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Camp Fire, 2018\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983915\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983915\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Crosses are seen lined up at a memorial.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crosses line the road to remember the people who died as a result of the Camp Fire in Paradise, Butte County. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Camp Fire broke out in Northern California in November 2018, sweeping through the towns of Paradise and Concow — which each lost about 95% of their structures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It spanned an area of 153,336 acres, and eventually killed at least 85 people, injuring 12 civilians and five firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A yearlong investigation found that the fire had been ignited by outdated power lines. Pacific Gas & Electric \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/06/16/879008760/pg-e-pleads-guilty-on-2018-california-camp-fire-our-equipment-started-that-fire\">pleaded guilty\u003c/a> in 2020 to 84 separate counts of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of unlawfully starting a fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has been blamed for more than 30 wildfires, which have killed \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/12/1092259419/california-wildfires-pacific-gas-electric-55-million\">more than 100 people since 2017\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California Fire Siege, 2020\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>More than 8,600 wildfires burned across California in 2020, scorching some 4.2 million acres — a state record — and killing 33 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The 2020 California wildfire year was characterized by record-setting wildfires that burned across the state of California as measured during the modern era of wildfire management and record keeping,” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020\">California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The years 2020 and 2021 together burned more area than the previous seven years combined, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/californias-2020-wildfire-season-numbers\">University of California, Davis\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials described 2020 as a “fire siege” because it saw 18 of the state’s 20 most destructive fires on record, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/californias-2020-wildfires-negated-years-of-emission-cuts/\">\u003cem>Scientific American\u003c/em>\u003c/a> explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among them was the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mendocino/home/?cid=FSEPRD860382\">August Complex\u003c/a> fire, which officials called the first “gigafire” since it burned more than 1 million acres. It was ignited by lightning in mid-August and burned for four months, scorching an area larger than the state of Rhode Island to become the largest fire in California history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Maui%27s+wildfires+are+among+the+deadliest+on+record+in+the+U.S.+Here+are+some+others&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The wildfires that killed at least 99 people in Maui are the deadliest to hit the US in more than a century. Here's a look back at some of the country's most lethal blazes and lessons learned.",
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"description": "The wildfires that killed at least 99 people in Maui are the deadliest to hit the US in more than a century. Here's a look back at some of the country's most lethal blazes and lessons learned.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The wildfires that tore through western Maui last week have already earned the tragic distinction of being among the deadliest in modern U.S. history — and the death toll is only expected to climb as recovery efforts continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hawaii officials confirmed 99 fatalities as of late Monday, and have warned that number is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/08/12/1193614596/death-toll-on-maui-climbs-to-80-as-questions-over-islands-emergency-response-gro\">likely to keep rising\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the largest natural disaster we’ve ever experienced,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/14/us/maui-wildfires-what-we-know/index.html#:~:text=The%20Maui%20wildfires%20are%20the,the%20National%20Fire%20Protection%20Association.\">over the weekend\u003c/a>. “It’s going to also be a natural disaster that’s going to take an incredible amount of time to recover from.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week’s wildfires — which destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and left thousands of residents without homes — also constitute the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. They surpass the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif., which killed 85 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://apps.npr.org/datawrapper/henz5/1/?initialWidth=953&childId=responsive-embed-henz5&parentTitle=Maui%20joins%20the%20list%20of%20deadliest%20wildfires%20in%20recorded%20U.S.%20history%20%3A%20NPR&parentUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2023%2F08%2F15%2F1193710165%2Fmaui-wildfires-deadliest-us-history\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Maui fire now ranks among the top 10 deadliest U.S. wildfires on record since 1871, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/WUI/Wildland-Fires-in-the-US-history-with-10-or-more-deaths.ashx\">National Fire Protection Association\u003c/a> (NFPA), a global nonprofit focused on eliminating loss due to fire hazards. Four of them — Maui included — have happened in the years since 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate change is increasing the risk of major wildfires across the U.S., and more people are moving to fire-prone areas without realizing it, as \u003ca href=\"https://apps.npr.org/us-wildfires-impact-environment-climate-change/\">NPR has reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the most devastating wildfires in U.S. history ravaged western states. But others — including the 1871 Peshtigo Fire, the deadliest on record — have struck elsewhere, including in the Midwest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s a look at some of the other tragedies on that list, and some lessons learned.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Peshtigo Fire, 1871\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983911\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983911\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-800x595.jpg\" alt=\"An illustration shows people trying to flee a fire.\" width=\"800\" height=\"595\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-800x595.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-1020x759.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-768x571.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-1536x1143.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-2048x1524.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-517220336_custom-36b3960e4206c18876faf4e6df40069608991ea9-1920x1429.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An illustration shows people trying to flee the fire of Peshtigo in Wisconsin in 1871. \u003ccite>(Bettmann/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The deadliest \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/grb/peshtigofire\">wildfire in U.S. history\u003c/a> tore through northeastern Wisconsin in October 1871 — the exact same day as, and only about 250 miles away from, the better known \u003ca href=\"https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/10/08/great-chicago-fire\">Great Chicago Fire\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Peshtigo fire scorched about 1.5 million acres, leaving only one building standing. It killed at least 1,152 people, injured about 1,500 and left another 3,000 homeless, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS1750\">Wisconsin Historical Society\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, Peshtigo was home to many immigrants working in the lumbering and railroad industries — and a lot of wood, according to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.peshtigofiremuseum.com/fire/\">Peshtigo Fire Museum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It boasted the world’s largest woodenware factory, as well as one of the country’s largest sawmills. The town was surrounded by pine forests, most of its structures and sidewalks were made of wood and the streets were covered in sawdust from the factory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lumberjacks and railroad construction crews regularly set fires in the area to clear debris, the museum explains, so it wasn’t unusual for the air to be filled with smoke (or for ships to navigate by compass during the day, or for schools to close, or for people to get sick).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The citizens of Peshtigo had become used to the smell of ashes and thought nothing amiss when they retired on the night of October 8, 1871,” reads the historical society’s website. “Suddenly ‘all hell rode into town on the back of a wind.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the fire spread, some people hid in water wells while others rushed to the river, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/07/07/1013898724/the-deadliest-fire-in-american-history-happened-in-a-place-you-wouldnt-expect\">as NPR has reported\u003c/a>. Of those that survived the initial fire, many died of drowning and hypothermia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/grb/peshtigofire2#:~:text=Fire%20reached%20Peshtigo%20during%20the,the%20fire%20(Figure%201).\">National Weather Service\u003c/a> attributes the fire to several factors, including prolonged drought, a strong autumn storm system, logging and clearing of land for agriculture and the “ignorance and indifference of the population,” as timber was often discarded with little regard for its flammability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tragedy, it adds, was an important wake-up call about land-use practices of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Thumb Fire, 1881\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Thumb Fire swept through central Michigan in September 1881. It burned a million acres in Sanilac and Huron Counties alone, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=160706\">historical marker\u003c/a> near Bay Port.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Small fires were burning in the forests of the Thumb, tinder-dry after a long, hot summer, when a gale swept in from the southwest on Sept. 5, 1881,” it reads. “Fanned into an inferno, the fires raged for three days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://news.umich.edu/fires-ravaged-michigans-thumb-in-1871-1881/\">University of Michigan\u003c/a> says the fire killed at least 300 people (NFPA puts the death toll at 282), destroyed 1,521 dwellings and left more than 14,000 people dependent on public aid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many residents were left either temporarily or permanently blinded by the smoke and flying ashes that “traveled faster than a whirlwind and blotted out the sun for days,” according to \u003ca href=\"https://thumbwind.com/2021/09/04/1881-michigan-fire/\">Thumbwind.com\u003c/a>. It adds that yellow smoke made its way east, where it darkened the skies over all six New England states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Red Cross, which had been founded earlier that year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.redcross.org/content/dam/redcross/enterprise-assets/about-us/history/history-clara-barton-v5-4-19-23.pdf\">collected funds and clothing (PDF)\u003c/a> to support victims — marking its first-ever official disaster relief effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Great Fire, 1910\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983912\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983912\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-800x588.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white photograph of a town destroyed by fires. \" width=\"800\" height=\"588\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-800x588.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-1020x750.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-160x118.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-768x564.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-1536x1129.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-2048x1505.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1354519558_custom-2150f760df2bd256c6bd8f7a8842f848f4107737-1920x1411.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Wallace, Idaho, destroyed by forest fires in 1910. \u003ccite>(HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Great Fire of 1910 was a \u003ca href=\"https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/policy-and-law/fire-u-s-forest-service/famous-fires/the-1910-fires/\">series of forest fires\u003c/a> that burned through Idaho, Montana and Washington between April and August, culminating in the so-called “Big Blowup.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hurricane-force winds arrived on Aug. 20, whipping the small fires into flames hundreds of feet high. Forester Edward Stahl \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalforests.org/our-forests/your-national-forests-magazine/blazing-battles-the-1910-fire-and-its-legacy\">described them\u003c/a> as being “fanned by a tornado wind so violent that the flames flattened out ahead, swooping to earth in great darting curves, truly a veritable red demon from hell.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire lasted for \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5444731.pdf\">two days and two nights (PDF)\u003c/a>, devastating more than 3 million acres of timberland in the Northern Rockies. The exact death toll varies, with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5444731.pdf\">U.S. Forest Service (PDF)\u003c/a> putting it at 86, saying most were firefighters on the front lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, the Forest Service had only existed for five years by this point. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalforests.org/our-forests/your-national-forests-magazine/blazing-battles-the-1910-fire-and-its-legacy\">National Forest Foundation\u003c/a> says the fire “left not only scars on the land, but also lasting and fervent opinions about how forests and wildfire should be managed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cloquet and Moose Lake Fires, 1918\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Cloquet and Moose Lake fires of 1918 (which were actually made up of \u003ca href=\"https://mndigital.org/projects/primary-source-sets/natural-disasters-minnesota#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20worst%20natural,provided%20fuel%20for%20the%20fires.\">50 blazes\u003c/a>) remain one of the deadliest natural disasters in Minnesota history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Records from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.weather.gov/dlh/MooseLake_Cloquet_1918Fires\">National Weather Service\u003c/a> show Northeast Minnesota was experiencing its “driest season in 48 years” when sparks from a passing train, fueled by gusty winds, ignited fires that lasted for several days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire consumed approximately 1,500 square miles and killed more than 450 people, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://mndigital.org/projects/primary-source-sets/natural-disasters-minnesota#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20worst%20natural,provided%20fuel%20for%20the%20fires.\">Minnesota Digital Library\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly half of the victims were from the Moose Lake area. Many of them died trying to escape in cars or suffocating in root cellars and wells, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/10/12/moose-lake-fire-no-less-horrible-100-years-later\">MPR News\u003c/a> reported on the 100th anniversary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Natalie Frohrip, the vice president of the Moose Lake Area Historical Society, told the station that her mother-in-law, a teenager at the time, had survived the fire by wading into the lake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She said that when she had been in Sunday school, she had learned that when the end of the world came, the stars were going to fall out of the sky,” Frohrip said. “And so when they came down the hill and saw all the sparks, she was sure this was going to be the end.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Griffith Park Fire, 1933\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983913\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983913\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-800x531.jpg\" alt=\"A group of people plant a pine tree. \" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-800x531.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-1020x677.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-1536x1019.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-2048x1359.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-564024413_custom-46d66869284461412635fcaa8442688a9cc40b97-1920x1274.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Loa (right), a survivor of the 1933 Griffith Park fire, helped plant a pine tree in memoriam in 2007, at the age of 96. \u003ccite>(Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Griffith Park fire was once the deadliest fire in California history, killing 29 people in 1933. But it burned a relatively small 47 acres and damaged no property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of the victims of the fire were civilians who had been doing cleanup and assistance work in the Los Angeles park for 40 cents an hour through a Depression-era government program, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11705774/remembering-l-a-s-1933-griffith-park-fire-the-states-deadliest-fire-until-now\">member station KQED reported\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were 3,784 workers in the park when a brush fire broke out on the afternoon of Oct. 3.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Accounts differ on whether workers were ordered by their foremen to head down into Mineral Wells Canyon to fight the fire or whether they were simply asked to help put out the flames,” KQED reported. “Either way, into the canyon they went, with only shovels, their hands and the earth at their feet to work with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fire department had arrived relatively quickly but was \u003ca href=\"https://friendsofgriffithpark.org/griffith-parks-1933-fire/\">reportedly overwhelmed\u003c/a> by the thousands of amateurs crowding the scene. Then a sudden change in the winds sent the fire up the canyon, \u003ca href=\"https://lafire.com/famous_fires/1933-1003_GriffithParkFire/1933-1003_GriffithParkFire.htm\">killing 29 workers\u003c/a> of thermal burns and injuring more than 150 others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reporter Caroline Walker \u003ca href=\"https://lafire.com/famous_fires/1933-1003_GriffithParkFire/1933-1003_GriffithParkFire.htm\">wrote in the Oct. 4, 1933 issue\u003c/a> of the \u003cem>Los Angeles Herald-Express\u003c/em> of the men, that “in their hearts a little candle of hope had been burning again because they had a chance to earn a little money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was only a brush fire that they were asked to extinguish. It was the sort that skilled fireworkers know how to handle. But the men in the park weren’t fire fighters. They did not know that canyons become flutes in a brush fire, or that flames travel with such deadly swiftness over grass and trees grown brittle with the summer drought. It was work. That was all that mattered.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Camp Fire, 2018\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983915\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983915\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Crosses are seen lined up at a memorial.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1177682049-26f322515b8f907ddecb5aef035dd77b47bd1e33-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crosses line the road to remember the people who died as a result of the Camp Fire in Paradise, Butte County. \u003ccite>(Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Camp Fire broke out in Northern California in November 2018, sweeping through the towns of Paradise and Concow — which each lost about 95% of their structures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It spanned an area of 153,336 acres, and eventually killed at least 85 people, injuring 12 civilians and five firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A yearlong investigation found that the fire had been ignited by outdated power lines. Pacific Gas & Electric \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/06/16/879008760/pg-e-pleads-guilty-on-2018-california-camp-fire-our-equipment-started-that-fire\">pleaded guilty\u003c/a> in 2020 to 84 separate counts of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of unlawfully starting a fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PG&E has been blamed for more than 30 wildfires, which have killed \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/04/12/1092259419/california-wildfires-pacific-gas-electric-55-million\">more than 100 people since 2017\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California Fire Siege, 2020\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>More than 8,600 wildfires burned across California in 2020, scorching some 4.2 million acres — a state record — and killing 33 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The 2020 California wildfire year was characterized by record-setting wildfires that burned across the state of California as measured during the modern era of wildfire management and record keeping,” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020\">California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The years 2020 and 2021 together burned more area than the previous seven years combined, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/californias-2020-wildfire-season-numbers\">University of California, Davis\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials described 2020 as a “fire siege” because it saw 18 of the state’s 20 most destructive fires on record, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/californias-2020-wildfires-negated-years-of-emission-cuts/\">\u003cem>Scientific American\u003c/em>\u003c/a> explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among them was the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mendocino/home/?cid=FSEPRD860382\">August Complex\u003c/a> fire, which officials called the first “gigafire” since it burned more than 1 million acres. It was ignited by lightning in mid-August and burned for four months, scorching an area larger than the state of Rhode Island to become the largest fire in California history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Maui%27s+wildfires+are+among+the+deadliest+on+record+in+the+U.S.+Here+are+some+others&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "how-to-see-this-summers-perseids-and-delta-aquariids-meteor-showers",
"title": "Your Guide to Viewing the Perseids and Delta Aquariids Meteor Showers",
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"headTitle": "Your Guide to Viewing the Perseids and Delta Aquariids Meteor Showers | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update: The Perseids meteor shower will be at its peak this weekend, starting at 1 a.m. on Sunday, August 13. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to \u003ca href=\"#perseidsmeteorshower\">how to spot these meteors, where to see the Perseids this weekend\u003c/a> and how to watch for Delta Aquariids too.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are you ready for another meteor shower to delight your early morning sky watching? How about a two-for-one deal?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the annual Perseids meteor shower grows closer to its peak of activity in mid-August, another, lesser-known shower, called the Delta Aquariids, is already underway, and will continue into late August.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means as you camp out in the early morning on August 13 to watch Perseids, you may see some Delta Aquariids as well!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fun is in figuring out which streaks belong to which shower.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Where and when to see the Delta Aquariids\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/meteors-and-meteorites/delta-aquariids/in-depth/\">Delta Aquariids\u003c/a> shower is active between July 18 and August 21, with peak activity around July 29–31. The shower can produce as many as 20 meteors per hour if viewing conditions are good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delta Aquariids tend to be faint meteors, making them more difficult to spot except when the sky is very dark. This year, the moon approaches its full phase during the Delta Aquariids’ peak, but sets a few hours before dawn, offering an early morning window of moonless sky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the morning of July 29, the moon sets just after 2 a.m., and on July 30 after 3 a.m., allowing for prime meteor-watching conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983528\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1398px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983528 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023.jpg\" alt=\"A night-sky constellation map.\" width=\"1398\" height=\"715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023.jpg 1398w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023-800x409.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023-1020x522.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023-160x82.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023-768x393.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1398px) 100vw, 1398px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Map of the sky looking to the southeast, around 2 a.m., on Aug. 13, 2023. The radiant point for the Perseids meteor shower, the constellation Perseus, rises over the northeastern horizon, while that of the Delta Aquariids (Aquarius) rests high in the south. The planet Saturn punctuates the modest stars of Aquarius, offering a visual guide. \u003ccite>(Chabot Space & Science Center/Image created using Stellarium)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you choose to look for these meteors during the shower peak, pick a safe \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/quest/155/dark-secrets\">dark-sky location\u003c/a> away from city lights and schedule your viewing to begin no earlier than 2 or 3 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll have a good two or three hours of dark, moonless sky before twilight begins to glow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look toward the south, taking in the view of the southern sky with your gaze centered about halfway between the horizon and the zenith point directly overhead to spot the constellation \u003ca href=\"https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/aquarius-constellation/\">Aquarius\u003c/a>. The Delta Aquariids shower is named for one of the constellation’s brighter stars, Delta Aquarii.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of the stars of Aquarius is outstandingly bright, but this year there’s a handy visual reference to guide your eye: The planet Saturn sits right in the middle of the constellation.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"perseidsmeteorshower\">\u003c/a>Where and when to see the Perseids\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you decide to skip viewing the Delta Aquariids during its peak, you still have a shot at seeing some cascading meteors during the more prominent \u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/meteors-and-meteorites/perseids/in-depth/\">Perseids \u003c/a>shower, which will peak on the morning of Sunday, August 13.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watch for meteors anytime after 1 a.m. Perseids tend to be brighter than Delta Aquariids, and this shower reliably produces up to 60 meteors per hour in dark viewing conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The waning crescent moon doesn’t rise until 3:30 a.m., so once again, you will have two or three hours of dark meteor-viewing time — and the moon’s thin crescent won’t put too much light into the sky anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983527\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983527 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan.jpg\" alt=\"A meteor as seen in space from the International Space Station.\" width=\"1280\" height=\"852\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Perseid meteor captured by astronaut Ron Garan from the International Space Station. \u003ccite>(NASA/Ron Garan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At 1 a.m. on August 13, the constellation \u003ca href=\"https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/perseus-constellation/\">Perseus\u003c/a>, for which the Perseids shower is named, will be rising in the northeast. Perseus is this shower’s “radiant,” the point where the meteors appear to streak from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, putting the two overlapping showers together, how do you tell a Delta Aquarid from a Perseid? The game is on!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The answer can be determined by identifying the two showers’ radiant points: where a time-lapse photo would show meteor trails radiating from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After midnight on August 13, Perseus will sit low on the northeastern horizon, while Aquarius will rest higher in the sky to the south.[aside label=\"More astronomy coverage\" tag=\"astronomy\"]Focus your attention toward the east, and your gaze will encompass the radiants of both showers. When you see a meteor streak across the sky, make note of which direction it is traveling. If it’s flying from a more northerly direction, then it’s a Perseid. From the south? Then it’s an Aquariid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it doesn’t really matter. A meteor is a meteor and a sheer thrill to see — no matter what time of the night you see it.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>So, what is a meteor anyway?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/meteor/\">meteor\u003c/a> is a tiny speck of metal or rock from space that enters Earth’s atmosphere and is incinerated in a dazzling flash of incandescence (hopefully) before it can reach Earth’s surface. Before hitting the atmosphere, usually at speeds of multiple miles per second, most meteors are no bigger than a pebble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on the size, speed and composition of a meteor, it may be bright or faint, fast or less so, or even tinted with color — orange, green, yellow. Fainter meteors appear white because they are not bright enough to stimulate our color vision.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>What causes a meteor shower?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/meteor-shower/en/\">meteor shower\u003c/a> happens when the Earth moves through a cloud of dust particles left behind in the wake of a \u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/overview/?page=0&per_page=40&order=name+asc&search=&condition_1=102%3Aparent_id&condition_2=comet%3Abody_type%3Ailike\">comet\u003c/a> (or sometimes an \u003ca href=\"https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/09dec_rockcomet\">asteroid\u003c/a>) that traveled through our part of the solar system at some point in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a comet orbits the sun, it can shed gas and dust along the way, especially when it passes close to the sun and heats up. Then, some of its frozen volatile material (mostly water) evaporates, blowing into space and carrying bits of dust and small rocks with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year when Earth moves through a given stream of comet dust, we enjoy a meteor shower. We always see Perseids, for example, in mid-August because that’s the time of year when Earth returns to that particular trail of dust.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Where do these meteors come from?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most meteor showers can be traced to a specific parent comet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983526\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983526\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/96P_20070403_000500_HI1A-Macholz-STEREO.png\" alt=\"A comet streaking across space.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Comet 96P/Machholz. This image was captured by one of NASA’s twin STEREO spacecraft. \u003ccite>(NASA/STEREO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Delta Aquariids are believed to be the dusty debris left behind by a 4-mile-wide comet named \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/return-of-the-comet-96p-spotted-by-esa-nasa-satellites\">96P/Machholz\u003c/a>, which was discovered by amateur astronomer Donald Machholz in 1986 from the Loma Prieta peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains. \u003ca href=\"https://www.heavens-above.com/comet.aspx?cid=96P\">96P/Machholz orbits the sun\u003c/a> about every five years, coming \u003ca href=\"https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/comet-96p-machholz-observed-nasasoho-instrument\">within 12 million miles of the sun\u003c/a>, three times closer than the planet Mercury. These characteristics have earned 96/Machholz the designation of a “sun-grazing comet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In contrast, the instigating comet of the Perseids meteor shower, \u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/109p-swift-tuttle/in-depth/\">109P/Swift-Tuttle\u003c/a>, takes the long way around the sun, orbiting once every 133 years. Swift-Tuttle was discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Parnell Tuttle. Their independent observations were made only three days apart, earning them a shared comet name. Swift-Tuttle is also larger than 96P/Machholz, with a nucleus diameter of 16 miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983529\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 938px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983529 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/SOHO-LASCO-Macholz-Jan2023-Perihelion-NASA-ESA.jpg\" alt=\"A sequence of three images of a comet grazing the sun.\" width=\"938\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/SOHO-LASCO-Macholz-Jan2023-Perihelion-NASA-ESA.jpg 938w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/SOHO-LASCO-Macholz-Jan2023-Perihelion-NASA-ESA-800x274.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/SOHO-LASCO-Macholz-Jan2023-Perihelion-NASA-ESA-160x55.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/SOHO-LASCO-Macholz-Jan2023-Perihelion-NASA-ESA-768x263.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 938px) 100vw, 938px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sequence of images of the sun-grazing comet 96P/ Machholz as it passed through perihelion last January, coming within only 12 million miles of the sun. Captured by the LASCO instrument aboard the NASA/ESA SOHO spacecraft, the sun’s disk is hidden behind a blackout occulting disk, revealing the bright plasma of the sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona. \u003ccite>(SOHO/NASA/ESA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story originally published on July 19, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The annual Perseids meteor shower, which peaks this year on August 13, is joined by the overlapping Delta Aquariids shower, offering a two-for-one meteor viewing opportunity in a dark sky near you.",
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"title": "Watch the Perseids & Delta Aquariids Meteor Showers | KQED",
"description": "Discover when and where to view the Perseids and Delta Aquariids meteor showers. Learn tips for optimal viewing and how to distinguish between the two.",
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"headline": "Your Guide to Viewing the Perseids and Delta Aquariids Meteor Showers",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update: The Perseids meteor shower will be at its peak this weekend, starting at 1 a.m. on Sunday, August 13. \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to \u003ca href=\"#perseidsmeteorshower\">how to spot these meteors, where to see the Perseids this weekend\u003c/a> and how to watch for Delta Aquariids too.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are you ready for another meteor shower to delight your early morning sky watching? How about a two-for-one deal?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the annual Perseids meteor shower grows closer to its peak of activity in mid-August, another, lesser-known shower, called the Delta Aquariids, is already underway, and will continue into late August.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means as you camp out in the early morning on August 13 to watch Perseids, you may see some Delta Aquariids as well!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fun is in figuring out which streaks belong to which shower.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Where and when to see the Delta Aquariids\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/meteors-and-meteorites/delta-aquariids/in-depth/\">Delta Aquariids\u003c/a> shower is active between July 18 and August 21, with peak activity around July 29–31. The shower can produce as many as 20 meteors per hour if viewing conditions are good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delta Aquariids tend to be faint meteors, making them more difficult to spot except when the sky is very dark. This year, the moon approaches its full phase during the Delta Aquariids’ peak, but sets a few hours before dawn, offering an early morning window of moonless sky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the morning of July 29, the moon sets just after 2 a.m., and on July 30 after 3 a.m., allowing for prime meteor-watching conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983528\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1398px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983528 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023.jpg\" alt=\"A night-sky constellation map.\" width=\"1398\" height=\"715\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023.jpg 1398w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023-800x409.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023-1020x522.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023-160x82.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/perseids-and-delta-aquarids-2023-768x393.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1398px) 100vw, 1398px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Map of the sky looking to the southeast, around 2 a.m., on Aug. 13, 2023. The radiant point for the Perseids meteor shower, the constellation Perseus, rises over the northeastern horizon, while that of the Delta Aquariids (Aquarius) rests high in the south. The planet Saturn punctuates the modest stars of Aquarius, offering a visual guide. \u003ccite>(Chabot Space & Science Center/Image created using Stellarium)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you choose to look for these meteors during the shower peak, pick a safe \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/quest/155/dark-secrets\">dark-sky location\u003c/a> away from city lights and schedule your viewing to begin no earlier than 2 or 3 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll have a good two or three hours of dark, moonless sky before twilight begins to glow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Look toward the south, taking in the view of the southern sky with your gaze centered about halfway between the horizon and the zenith point directly overhead to spot the constellation \u003ca href=\"https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/aquarius-constellation/\">Aquarius\u003c/a>. The Delta Aquariids shower is named for one of the constellation’s brighter stars, Delta Aquarii.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of the stars of Aquarius is outstandingly bright, but this year there’s a handy visual reference to guide your eye: The planet Saturn sits right in the middle of the constellation.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"perseidsmeteorshower\">\u003c/a>Where and when to see the Perseids\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you decide to skip viewing the Delta Aquariids during its peak, you still have a shot at seeing some cascading meteors during the more prominent \u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/meteors-and-meteorites/perseids/in-depth/\">Perseids \u003c/a>shower, which will peak on the morning of Sunday, August 13.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watch for meteors anytime after 1 a.m. Perseids tend to be brighter than Delta Aquariids, and this shower reliably produces up to 60 meteors per hour in dark viewing conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The waning crescent moon doesn’t rise until 3:30 a.m., so once again, you will have two or three hours of dark meteor-viewing time — and the moon’s thin crescent won’t put too much light into the sky anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983527\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983527 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan.jpg\" alt=\"A meteor as seen in space from the International Space Station.\" width=\"1280\" height=\"852\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan.jpg 1280w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/1280px-Swift-Tuttle_Comet_Particles-NASA-Ron-Garan-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Perseid meteor captured by astronaut Ron Garan from the International Space Station. \u003ccite>(NASA/Ron Garan)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At 1 a.m. on August 13, the constellation \u003ca href=\"https://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/perseus-constellation/\">Perseus\u003c/a>, for which the Perseids shower is named, will be rising in the northeast. Perseus is this shower’s “radiant,” the point where the meteors appear to streak from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, putting the two overlapping showers together, how do you tell a Delta Aquarid from a Perseid? The game is on!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The answer can be determined by identifying the two showers’ radiant points: where a time-lapse photo would show meteor trails radiating from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After midnight on August 13, Perseus will sit low on the northeastern horizon, while Aquarius will rest higher in the sky to the south.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Focus your attention toward the east, and your gaze will encompass the radiants of both showers. When you see a meteor streak across the sky, make note of which direction it is traveling. If it’s flying from a more northerly direction, then it’s a Perseid. From the south? Then it’s an Aquariid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it doesn’t really matter. A meteor is a meteor and a sheer thrill to see — no matter what time of the night you see it.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>So, what is a meteor anyway?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/meteor/\">meteor\u003c/a> is a tiny speck of metal or rock from space that enters Earth’s atmosphere and is incinerated in a dazzling flash of incandescence (hopefully) before it can reach Earth’s surface. Before hitting the atmosphere, usually at speeds of multiple miles per second, most meteors are no bigger than a pebble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on the size, speed and composition of a meteor, it may be bright or faint, fast or less so, or even tinted with color — orange, green, yellow. Fainter meteors appear white because they are not bright enough to stimulate our color vision.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>What causes a meteor shower?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/meteor-shower/en/\">meteor shower\u003c/a> happens when the Earth moves through a cloud of dust particles left behind in the wake of a \u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/overview/?page=0&per_page=40&order=name+asc&search=&condition_1=102%3Aparent_id&condition_2=comet%3Abody_type%3Ailike\">comet\u003c/a> (or sometimes an \u003ca href=\"https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/09dec_rockcomet\">asteroid\u003c/a>) that traveled through our part of the solar system at some point in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a comet orbits the sun, it can shed gas and dust along the way, especially when it passes close to the sun and heats up. Then, some of its frozen volatile material (mostly water) evaporates, blowing into space and carrying bits of dust and small rocks with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every year when Earth moves through a given stream of comet dust, we enjoy a meteor shower. We always see Perseids, for example, in mid-August because that’s the time of year when Earth returns to that particular trail of dust.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cb>Where do these meteors come from?\u003c/b>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Most meteor showers can be traced to a specific parent comet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983526\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983526\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/96P_20070403_000500_HI1A-Macholz-STEREO.png\" alt=\"A comet streaking across space.\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Comet 96P/Machholz. This image was captured by one of NASA’s twin STEREO spacecraft. \u003ccite>(NASA/STEREO)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Delta Aquariids are believed to be the dusty debris left behind by a 4-mile-wide comet named \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/return-of-the-comet-96p-spotted-by-esa-nasa-satellites\">96P/Machholz\u003c/a>, which was discovered by amateur astronomer Donald Machholz in 1986 from the Loma Prieta peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains. \u003ca href=\"https://www.heavens-above.com/comet.aspx?cid=96P\">96P/Machholz orbits the sun\u003c/a> about every five years, coming \u003ca href=\"https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/comet-96p-machholz-observed-nasasoho-instrument\">within 12 million miles of the sun\u003c/a>, three times closer than the planet Mercury. These characteristics have earned 96/Machholz the designation of a “sun-grazing comet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In contrast, the instigating comet of the Perseids meteor shower, \u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/109p-swift-tuttle/in-depth/\">109P/Swift-Tuttle\u003c/a>, takes the long way around the sun, orbiting once every 133 years. Swift-Tuttle was discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Parnell Tuttle. Their independent observations were made only three days apart, earning them a shared comet name. Swift-Tuttle is also larger than 96P/Machholz, with a nucleus diameter of 16 miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983529\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 938px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983529 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/SOHO-LASCO-Macholz-Jan2023-Perihelion-NASA-ESA.jpg\" alt=\"A sequence of three images of a comet grazing the sun.\" width=\"938\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/SOHO-LASCO-Macholz-Jan2023-Perihelion-NASA-ESA.jpg 938w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/SOHO-LASCO-Macholz-Jan2023-Perihelion-NASA-ESA-800x274.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/SOHO-LASCO-Macholz-Jan2023-Perihelion-NASA-ESA-160x55.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/07/SOHO-LASCO-Macholz-Jan2023-Perihelion-NASA-ESA-768x263.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 938px) 100vw, 938px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sequence of images of the sun-grazing comet 96P/ Machholz as it passed through perihelion last January, coming within only 12 million miles of the sun. Captured by the LASCO instrument aboard the NASA/ESA SOHO spacecraft, the sun’s disk is hidden behind a blackout occulting disk, revealing the bright plasma of the sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona. \u003ccite>(SOHO/NASA/ESA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story originally published on July 19, 2023.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "as-algal-bloom-returns-to-the-bay-is-swimming-safe-for-humans-and-pets",
"title": "Algal Blooms in the Bay Area: What You Need to Know About Swimming Safety",
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"content": "\u003cp>The red tide that killed an immeasurable number of fish in San Francisco Bay last year has again emerged, covering parts of the bay in a light brown sheen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state agency in charge of regulating flows into the bay held a press conference in early August alerting the public about the return of the tea-colored water. This alert came after an environmental watchdog group, San Francisco Baykeeper, received a series of calls at the end of July about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1983631/last-summers-fish-killing-algae-bloom-is-back-in-the-bay\">a reddish-brown film floating on the surface of the water in places like Berkeley, Emeryville, Albany and Tiburon\u003c/a>.[aside postID=science_1983631 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Environmental scientists believe the algal bloom, while a natural occurrence and likely not harmful to human health, is fueled by treated sewage put out by wastewater treatment plants across the Bay Area — and could be worsened by climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists aren’t sure how large this bloom will grow or how many fish will die, but they are examining the organism closely. Still, scientists are sure of one thing: Humans are a big part of the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#algaebloomsafepets\">Is the red tide harmful to humans or pets?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#reportalgaebloom\">What should I do if I find a red tide or a dead fish?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#algaesafetofish\">Can I still fish in the bay?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#redtideclimatechange\">How is the red tide related to climate change?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost all about us to blame,” said Peter Roopnarine, curator of invertebrate zoology & geology at the California Academy of Sciences. “The bay is kind of a gigantic laboratory flask in some ways where you can put in ingredients, can mix them and it’s not easy for those to have an outside influence from the ocean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what you need to know about this latest algal bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is red tide?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ominous sounding, the term red tide is broadly defined. It typically means anytime a bloom of phytoplankton — microscopic plant-like organisms that are the base of the marine food web — discolor a body of water to the point it is visible to the human eye.[aside postID='news_11910495,science_1983522,news_11953853,news_11953794' label='More Outdoor Guides From KQED']Red tides aren’t always red. They can in fact range from rusty orange to brown to green, but millions (if not billions or trillions) of these little creatures are needed for a red tide to be visible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not every red tide, or algal bloom, is toxic — although they can be. The species behind the recurring algal bloom in San Francisco Bay is called \u003ca href=\"https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/toxicity-toxic-alga-heterosigma-akashiwo-puget-sound/\">Heterosigma akashiwo\u003c/a> and \u003cem>isn’t\u003c/em> known at this time to be toxic to humans (see more below). The microscopic critter looks like a swimming potato chip with a tail, said Raphael Kudela, a phytoplankton ecologist at UC Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the organism thrives in the bay because the shallow water warms up quickly. Plus, it’s full of tasty treats it likes to fill up on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just really happy when it’s in the bay,” he said. “As long as it’s happy, it’s just going to keep going, and going, and going. And that’s basically what a red tide is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983659\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"White sailboats float in reddish brown water.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reddish-brown water due to an algae bloom can be seen in the Berkeley Marina on July 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"algaebloomsafepets\">\u003c/a>Is the red tide harmful to humans or pets??\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists don’t think the red tide in the bay harms human health or pets, but they are hesitant to say that for certain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For that reason, experts do not recommend swimming in — or otherwise coming into contact with — murky water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Senn, senior scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute, (SFEI) said there’s very little information available about the toxicity of the algae on people when they come in contact with it. That’s why the general guidance is: Don’t take a dip into areas of the bay where blooms are present.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes sense to avoid discolored water in general, particularly in this case,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What is known is that an algae bloom of this nature often kills fish by eliminating the oxygen they need to breathe in the water. (Jump to more information about \u003ca href=\"#reportalgaebloom\">what to do if you find a dead fish or other organism near a red tide.\u003c/a>)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983788\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983788\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"961\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray-800x400.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray-1020x511.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray-160x80.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray-768x384.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray-1536x769.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo submitted by Damon Tighe to inaturalist.org, showing a dead bat ray found in Emeryville. \u003ccite>(Damon Tighe via inaturalist.org)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But there is a caveat for humans, said Kudela at UC Santa Cruz. Dense red tides are often accompanied by organic material and bacteria, which \u003cem>can\u003c/em> harm human health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Heterosigma is not going to harm humans or dogs. But just being in that organic soup, you could be exposed to pathogenic bacteria or other things,” he said. “If the water is super thick and red, you probably don’t want to be in it anyway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In short: While the risks are probably low, it’s just a good idea to keep yourself — and your pets — out of a body of water that has a red tide.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"reportalgaebloom\">\u003c/a>What do I do if I spot a red tide??\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To report a red tide or algae bloom you can reach SF Baykeeper’s pollution hotline by:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Calling 1-800-KEEP-Bay.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Emailing \u003ca href=\"mailto:hotline@baykeeper.org\">hotline@baykeeper.org.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://baykeeper.org/content/report-pollution\">Filling out a form online\u003c/a> to submit a confidential pollution tip.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Algal blooms can also be reported to the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Freshwater and Estuarine Harmful Algal Bloom (FHAB) Program. You can reach the agency hotline by:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Calling 1-844-729-6466.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Emailing \u003ca href=\"mailto:CyanoHAB.Reports@waterboards.ca.gov\">CyanoHAB.Reports@waterboards.ca.gov.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Filling out\u003ca href=\"https://mywaterquality.ca.gov/habs/do/bloomreport.html\"> a digital form to submit an algal bloom report\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If you’re reporting a red tide, be sure to include the time, date, location and a description of what you saw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Spotted a dead fish near a red tide?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To report a dead fish in an area where there is red tide present, you can \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/\">download the app iNaturalist\u003c/a>. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is collecting \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sf-bay-harmful-algae-bloom-2023\">these observations of dead organisms related to the algae bloom\u003c/a> in San Francisco Bay, so make sure you log a photo, location and (if possible) species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/08/03/harmful-algae-bloom-red-tide-bay-area-lake-merritt-inaturalist-project-research/\">Read more about how to report dead fish using iNaturalist from The Oaklandside\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983783\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983783\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1062\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-800x443.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-1020x564.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-160x89.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-768x425.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-1536x850.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-672x372.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A map of the Bay Area on inaturalist.org showing user reports of dead organisms around a red tide \u003ccite>(inaturalist.org)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"algaesafetofish\">\u003c/a>Can I continue fishing in the bay with the algae present?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>UC Santa Cruz’s Kudela said it’s perfectly fine to continue fishing in the bay, even in areas where the algae bloom is present because the algae do not contaminate the meat of the fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>‘While it can kill the fish, if you’re eating the meat and cleaning it, there’s no risk,” Kudela said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s up to you whether you want to fish or eat stressed fish, but there’s nothing wrong with fishing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for more background on the 2023 algal bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is causing this year’s algal bloom?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Heterosigma akashiwo got lucky in 2023 — for the second year in a row.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A series of environmental conditions are allowing this minuscule creature to show up en masse. This organism needs four things to flourish: light, warm water, relatively calm water and oodles of food. It got all four this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists think the organism deposited itself in sediment under the bay after it died off last year, acting like a dormant seed until the right conditions allow it to grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board has confirmed the organism in bay waters near Emeryville, Albany, the Berkeley Marina, Richardson Bay and Belvedere Cove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the bay’s east side is often shallow — water heats up faster there than in other parts of the region — the red tide was first spotted there, likely because it’s an ideal place for the algae to thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: Is there another guide to something you’d like to read?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“It’s definitely responding to warm temperatures,” said UC Santa Cruz’s Kudela. The organisms swim near the water’s surface during daytime hours to gather more light and swim toward nutrients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With winter storms long in the rearview mirror, tides in the bay also are at their mellowest point of the year, which decreases ocean water circulation into the bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The algae also have a lot to eat for several reasons. They munch on tiny particles, nutrients of nitrogen and phosphorus. While naturally occurring, there is an influx of these nutrients into the bay from 37 wastewater treatment plants that discharge treated sewage into the bay. This rush of nutrients provides a buffet for the algae to feast upon, allowing them to grow voraciously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco Bay has some of the highest levels of nutrient pollution of any estuary in the world,” said Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist with SF Baykeeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983657\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983657\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Dark reddish-orange looking water splashes agains rocks in the foreground with the San Francisco skyline in the distance.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An algae bloom in the San Francisco Bay near the Berkeley Marina on July 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>When will the red tide go away?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the near term, scientists say nothing can be done to stop a red tide once it shows up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You just have to wait for conditions to change,” said Kudela.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The options are limited. The algae can consume all the nutrients like PAC-MAN eating dots in a video game until there isn’t enough left to support the organism. Or a heavy rain storm or a wind event can churn up the bay, altering the water’s temperature, and reversing the conditions that can support it. Some scientists think that’s what caused the red tide to dissipate last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had some really big wind events, and it was gone,” said William Cochlan, a marine biologist and an emeritus professor at San Francisco State University. “The winds stir up the whole system, they don’t get enough light and that’s usually the end of the bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the algae, in this case, are tricksters. Scientists believe that when their conditions change, they produce a cyst and embed themselves into the sediment at the bottom of the bay, not emerging again until the right conditions persist for them to grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFEI’s Senn said they don’t yet know what triggers the cysts to hatch. His team is testing the bay’s water and monitoring satellite imagery to see if the bloom is expanding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What struck the match last year was a mystery. But once the match was struck, it was enough for this organism to get a toehold and then it had fuel to continue to grow,” said Senn.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What are scientists and officials doing to address the red tide?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the long term, the region’s 37 wastewater treatment plants can limit the nutrient pollution they dump into the San Francisco Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These plants regularly discharge treated sewage water full of tiny particles, which algae love to devour. Cochlan said these plants contribute “the vast majority” of the nutrients (or algae food) into the bay, especially during the summer when the water is warmer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next year, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board will consider changing its rules for these plants, when their permits are up for renewal. This is an opportunity for regulators to clamp down on the nutrient load the plants are allowed to release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While these plants treat the sewage, most do not filter out all the nutrients before discharging the water into the bay. Fixing the problem could cost at least $12 billion and maybe twice that much, according to Bay Area Clean Water Agencies, which represent local water districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some plants are already redesigning their facilities to reduce the amount of nutrients released into the bay, said Eileen White, the water board executive officer. But not all plants are doing that — and there is currently no formal requirement for plant operators to reduce the discharged nutrient loads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate scientists also say red tides will likely occur more often as the climate warms and raises water temperatures. The even bigger fix is addressing climate change at its root by ending the burning of fossil fuels that cause global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"redtideclimatechange\">\u003c/a>What does climate change have to do with red tides?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Climate change will likely increase the frequency of red tides because the bay and ocean will be warmer. The bay could also absorb more runoff during significant wet years and less water during periods of drought. This off-and-on cycle could accentuate the warm and relatively calm conditions the algae proliferate in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could expect more unpredictable and more frequent algal blooms of all kinds,” said Kudela at UC Santa Cruz. “It’s not surprising that we’re seeing bigger and longer-lasting blooms as the climate shifts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The increasing water temperature is critical to the algae’s lifespan, and a warming climate only increases the odds of the species thriving in the bay, said San Francisco State University’s Cochlan.\u003cbr>\n“We may be exacerbating these plumes, making them more frequent, of greater duration and more intense by increasing temperature through climate change,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to expect to see these changes in the bay or the coast with climate change,” Cochlan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cleaning up what the treatment plants dump into the bay and warming water is “like a one-two punch — and we really need to tackle both of the problems,” said Emily Jeffers, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But the one that we can address more readily and more quickly is the nutrient loads from the wastewater-treatment facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is the Bay Area red tide related to the algal bloom off the Southern California coast?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The red tide in San Francisco Bay is unrelated to \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-07/as-toxic-algae-bloom-afflicts-california-coast-wildlife-care-center-calls-for-aid\">the algal bloom in the Pacific Ocean, currently off the coast of Southern California\u003c/a>. The organism causing the death of dolphins and sea lions is \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/toxic-algal-bloom-suspected-dolphin-and-sea-lion-deaths-southern-california\">a different type of algae, Pseudo-nitzschia\u003c/a>, that causes the production of a neurotoxin called domoic acid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That toxin is transmitted via the complex food web. Birds and marine mammals can die when ingesting the toxin in animals and fish that they eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They get a big dose of domoic acid; it causes brain damage,” said Kudela. “Humans can get the same thing, but almost nobody in California gets sick because it’s super well regulated. But it can get into the shellfish and things like spiny lobster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The algae bloom in the bay and in the Pacific Ocean are similar because they’re both phytoplankton blooms and flourish in relatively warmer water, although at somewhat different temperatures. The more dangerous algae currently circulating in the Pacific Ocean could spread into the bay if the conditions are right. But Kudela said the likelihood of that happening is slim because the bay is consistently too warm for the species.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2023. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, practical explainers and guides about COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken id=\"10483\" src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/10483.js\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "That 'red tide' is back in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. Here's what you need to know about swimming near it, pet safety and how this 2023 algae is related to climate change.",
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"title": "Algal Blooms and Swimming Safety in the Bay Area | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The red tide that killed an immeasurable number of fish in San Francisco Bay last year has again emerged, covering parts of the bay in a light brown sheen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state agency in charge of regulating flows into the bay held a press conference in early August alerting the public about the return of the tea-colored water. This alert came after an environmental watchdog group, San Francisco Baykeeper, received a series of calls at the end of July about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1983631/last-summers-fish-killing-algae-bloom-is-back-in-the-bay\">a reddish-brown film floating on the surface of the water in places like Berkeley, Emeryville, Albany and Tiburon\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Environmental scientists believe the algal bloom, while a natural occurrence and likely not harmful to human health, is fueled by treated sewage put out by wastewater treatment plants across the Bay Area — and could be worsened by climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists aren’t sure how large this bloom will grow or how many fish will die, but they are examining the organism closely. Still, scientists are sure of one thing: Humans are a big part of the problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#algaebloomsafepets\">Is the red tide harmful to humans or pets?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#reportalgaebloom\">What should I do if I find a red tide or a dead fish?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#algaesafetofish\">Can I still fish in the bay?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#redtideclimatechange\">How is the red tide related to climate change?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“It’s almost all about us to blame,” said Peter Roopnarine, curator of invertebrate zoology & geology at the California Academy of Sciences. “The bay is kind of a gigantic laboratory flask in some ways where you can put in ingredients, can mix them and it’s not easy for those to have an outside influence from the ocean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what you need to know about this latest algal bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is red tide?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ominous sounding, the term red tide is broadly defined. It typically means anytime a bloom of phytoplankton — microscopic plant-like organisms that are the base of the marine food web — discolor a body of water to the point it is visible to the human eye.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Red tides aren’t always red. They can in fact range from rusty orange to brown to green, but millions (if not billions or trillions) of these little creatures are needed for a red tide to be visible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not every red tide, or algal bloom, is toxic — although they can be. The species behind the recurring algal bloom in San Francisco Bay is called \u003ca href=\"https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/toxicity-toxic-alga-heterosigma-akashiwo-puget-sound/\">Heterosigma akashiwo\u003c/a> and \u003cem>isn’t\u003c/em> known at this time to be toxic to humans (see more below). The microscopic critter looks like a swimming potato chip with a tail, said Raphael Kudela, a phytoplankton ecologist at UC Santa Cruz.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the organism thrives in the bay because the shallow water warms up quickly. Plus, it’s full of tasty treats it likes to fill up on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just really happy when it’s in the bay,” he said. “As long as it’s happy, it’s just going to keep going, and going, and going. And that’s basically what a red tide is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983659\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"White sailboats float in reddish brown water.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reddish-brown water due to an algae bloom can be seen in the Berkeley Marina on July 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"algaebloomsafepets\">\u003c/a>Is the red tide harmful to humans or pets??\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists don’t think the red tide in the bay harms human health or pets, but they are hesitant to say that for certain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For that reason, experts do not recommend swimming in — or otherwise coming into contact with — murky water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Senn, senior scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute, (SFEI) said there’s very little information available about the toxicity of the algae on people when they come in contact with it. That’s why the general guidance is: Don’t take a dip into areas of the bay where blooms are present.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It makes sense to avoid discolored water in general, particularly in this case,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What is known is that an algae bloom of this nature often kills fish by eliminating the oxygen they need to breathe in the water. (Jump to more information about \u003ca href=\"#reportalgaebloom\">what to do if you find a dead fish or other organism near a red tide.\u003c/a>)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983788\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983788\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"961\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray-800x400.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray-1020x511.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray-160x80.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray-768x384.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/bat-ray-1536x769.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo submitted by Damon Tighe to inaturalist.org, showing a dead bat ray found in Emeryville. \u003ccite>(Damon Tighe via inaturalist.org)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But there is a caveat for humans, said Kudela at UC Santa Cruz. Dense red tides are often accompanied by organic material and bacteria, which \u003cem>can\u003c/em> harm human health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Heterosigma is not going to harm humans or dogs. But just being in that organic soup, you could be exposed to pathogenic bacteria or other things,” he said. “If the water is super thick and red, you probably don’t want to be in it anyway.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In short: While the risks are probably low, it’s just a good idea to keep yourself — and your pets — out of a body of water that has a red tide.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"reportalgaebloom\">\u003c/a>What do I do if I spot a red tide??\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>To report a red tide or algae bloom you can reach SF Baykeeper’s pollution hotline by:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Calling 1-800-KEEP-Bay.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Emailing \u003ca href=\"mailto:hotline@baykeeper.org\">hotline@baykeeper.org.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://baykeeper.org/content/report-pollution\">Filling out a form online\u003c/a> to submit a confidential pollution tip.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Algal blooms can also be reported to the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Freshwater and Estuarine Harmful Algal Bloom (FHAB) Program. You can reach the agency hotline by:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Calling 1-844-729-6466.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Emailing \u003ca href=\"mailto:CyanoHAB.Reports@waterboards.ca.gov\">CyanoHAB.Reports@waterboards.ca.gov.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Filling out\u003ca href=\"https://mywaterquality.ca.gov/habs/do/bloomreport.html\"> a digital form to submit an algal bloom report\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If you’re reporting a red tide, be sure to include the time, date, location and a description of what you saw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Spotted a dead fish near a red tide?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To report a dead fish in an area where there is red tide present, you can \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/\">download the app iNaturalist\u003c/a>. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is collecting \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sf-bay-harmful-algae-bloom-2023\">these observations of dead organisms related to the algae bloom\u003c/a> in San Francisco Bay, so make sure you log a photo, location and (if possible) species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/08/03/harmful-algae-bloom-red-tide-bay-area-lake-merritt-inaturalist-project-research/\">Read more about how to report dead fish using iNaturalist from The Oaklandside\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983783\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983783\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1062\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-800x443.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-1020x564.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-160x89.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-768x425.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-1536x850.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/algal-bloom-map-672x372.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A map of the Bay Area on inaturalist.org showing user reports of dead organisms around a red tide \u003ccite>(inaturalist.org)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"algaesafetofish\">\u003c/a>Can I continue fishing in the bay with the algae present?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>UC Santa Cruz’s Kudela said it’s perfectly fine to continue fishing in the bay, even in areas where the algae bloom is present because the algae do not contaminate the meat of the fish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>‘While it can kill the fish, if you’re eating the meat and cleaning it, there’s no risk,” Kudela said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s up to you whether you want to fish or eat stressed fish, but there’s nothing wrong with fishing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for more background on the 2023 algal bloom.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is causing this year’s algal bloom?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Heterosigma akashiwo got lucky in 2023 — for the second year in a row.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A series of environmental conditions are allowing this minuscule creature to show up en masse. This organism needs four things to flourish: light, warm water, relatively calm water and oodles of food. It got all four this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists think the organism deposited itself in sediment under the bay after it died off last year, acting like a dormant seed until the right conditions allow it to grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board has confirmed the organism in bay waters near Emeryville, Albany, the Berkeley Marina, Richardson Bay and Belvedere Cove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the bay’s east side is often shallow — water heats up faster there than in other parts of the region — the red tide was first spotted there, likely because it’s an ideal place for the algae to thrive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: Is there another guide to something you’d like to read?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“It’s definitely responding to warm temperatures,” said UC Santa Cruz’s Kudela. The organisms swim near the water’s surface during daytime hours to gather more light and swim toward nutrients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With winter storms long in the rearview mirror, tides in the bay also are at their mellowest point of the year, which decreases ocean water circulation into the bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The algae also have a lot to eat for several reasons. They munch on tiny particles, nutrients of nitrogen and phosphorus. While naturally occurring, there is an influx of these nutrients into the bay from 37 wastewater treatment plants that discharge treated sewage into the bay. This rush of nutrients provides a buffet for the algae to feast upon, allowing them to grow voraciously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco Bay has some of the highest levels of nutrient pollution of any estuary in the world,” said Jon Rosenfield, senior scientist with SF Baykeeper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983657\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983657\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Dark reddish-orange looking water splashes agains rocks in the foreground with the San Francisco skyline in the distance.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67422_230731-RedTideAlgae-18-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An algae bloom in the San Francisco Bay near the Berkeley Marina on July 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>When will the red tide go away?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the near term, scientists say nothing can be done to stop a red tide once it shows up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You just have to wait for conditions to change,” said Kudela.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The options are limited. The algae can consume all the nutrients like PAC-MAN eating dots in a video game until there isn’t enough left to support the organism. Or a heavy rain storm or a wind event can churn up the bay, altering the water’s temperature, and reversing the conditions that can support it. Some scientists think that’s what caused the red tide to dissipate last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had some really big wind events, and it was gone,” said William Cochlan, a marine biologist and an emeritus professor at San Francisco State University. “The winds stir up the whole system, they don’t get enough light and that’s usually the end of the bloom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the algae, in this case, are tricksters. Scientists believe that when their conditions change, they produce a cyst and embed themselves into the sediment at the bottom of the bay, not emerging again until the right conditions persist for them to grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFEI’s Senn said they don’t yet know what triggers the cysts to hatch. His team is testing the bay’s water and monitoring satellite imagery to see if the bloom is expanding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What struck the match last year was a mystery. But once the match was struck, it was enough for this organism to get a toehold and then it had fuel to continue to grow,” said Senn.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What are scientists and officials doing to address the red tide?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the long term, the region’s 37 wastewater treatment plants can limit the nutrient pollution they dump into the San Francisco Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These plants regularly discharge treated sewage water full of tiny particles, which algae love to devour. Cochlan said these plants contribute “the vast majority” of the nutrients (or algae food) into the bay, especially during the summer when the water is warmer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next year, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board will consider changing its rules for these plants, when their permits are up for renewal. This is an opportunity for regulators to clamp down on the nutrient load the plants are allowed to release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While these plants treat the sewage, most do not filter out all the nutrients before discharging the water into the bay. Fixing the problem could cost at least $12 billion and maybe twice that much, according to Bay Area Clean Water Agencies, which represent local water districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some plants are already redesigning their facilities to reduce the amount of nutrients released into the bay, said Eileen White, the water board executive officer. But not all plants are doing that — and there is currently no formal requirement for plant operators to reduce the discharged nutrient loads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate scientists also say red tides will likely occur more often as the climate warms and raises water temperatures. The even bigger fix is addressing climate change at its root by ending the burning of fossil fuels that cause global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"redtideclimatechange\">\u003c/a>What does climate change have to do with red tides?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Climate change will likely increase the frequency of red tides because the bay and ocean will be warmer. The bay could also absorb more runoff during significant wet years and less water during periods of drought. This off-and-on cycle could accentuate the warm and relatively calm conditions the algae proliferate in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We could expect more unpredictable and more frequent algal blooms of all kinds,” said Kudela at UC Santa Cruz. “It’s not surprising that we’re seeing bigger and longer-lasting blooms as the climate shifts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The increasing water temperature is critical to the algae’s lifespan, and a warming climate only increases the odds of the species thriving in the bay, said San Francisco State University’s Cochlan.\u003cbr>\n“We may be exacerbating these plumes, making them more frequent, of greater duration and more intense by increasing temperature through climate change,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to expect to see these changes in the bay or the coast with climate change,” Cochlan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cleaning up what the treatment plants dump into the bay and warming water is “like a one-two punch — and we really need to tackle both of the problems,” said Emily Jeffers, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But the one that we can address more readily and more quickly is the nutrient loads from the wastewater-treatment facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Is the Bay Area red tide related to the algal bloom off the Southern California coast?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The red tide in San Francisco Bay is unrelated to \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-07/as-toxic-algae-bloom-afflicts-california-coast-wildlife-care-center-calls-for-aid\">the algal bloom in the Pacific Ocean, currently off the coast of Southern California\u003c/a>. The organism causing the death of dolphins and sea lions is \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/toxic-algal-bloom-suspected-dolphin-and-sea-lion-deaths-southern-california\">a different type of algae, Pseudo-nitzschia\u003c/a>, that causes the production of a neurotoxin called domoic acid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That toxin is transmitted via the complex food web. Birds and marine mammals can die when ingesting the toxin in animals and fish that they eat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They get a big dose of domoic acid; it causes brain damage,” said Kudela. “Humans can get the same thing, but almost nobody in California gets sick because it’s super well regulated. But it can get into the shellfish and things like spiny lobster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The algae bloom in the bay and in the Pacific Ocean are similar because they’re both phytoplankton blooms and flourish in relatively warmer water, although at somewhat different temperatures. The more dangerous algae currently circulating in the Pacific Ocean could spread into the bay if the conditions are right. But Kudela said the likelihood of that happening is slim because the bay is consistently too warm for the species.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2023. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, practical explainers and guides about COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Opioid Settlement Cash Intended to Fight Addiction Fills California County Budget Gap",
"headTitle": "Opioid Settlement Cash Intended to Fight Addiction Fills California County Budget Gap | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Over the past two years, as state attorneys general agreed to more than $50 billion in legal settlements with companies that made or sold opioids, they vowed the money would be spent on addiction treatment and prevention. They were determined to avoid the misdirection of the tobacco settlement of the 1990s, in which billions of dollars from cigarette companies went to plug budget gaps instead of funding programs to stop or prevent smoking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in at least one California county, history is repeating itself. And across the country, there are concerns about the \u003ca href=\"https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/opioid-drugmakers-settlement-funds-50-billion-dollars-khn-investigation-payback/\">lack of transparency\u003c/a> regarding how this money will be used. Many local leaders are \u003ca href=\"https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/rural-greene-county-opioid-settlement-funds-debt-treatment/\">finding themselves\u003c/a> in difficult positions: choosing between paying bills due today or investing in the fight against an ongoing crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mendocino County in rural Northern California has reported the \u003ca href=\"https://skylab.cdph.ca.gov/ODdash/?tab=CA\">highest rate of overdose deaths\u003c/a> in the state. Yet, its board of supervisors decided to use more than $63,000 of opioid settlement funds — about 6.5% of all the settlement cash \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/List-of-Subdivision-PaymentsCA042023.xlsx\">the county has received (XLS)\u003c/a> in the first two years of distribution — to help fill a general budget shortfall of about $6 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Specifically, the money has been allotted to cover employee health insurance premiums, wage increases, and cost-of-living adjustments. County officials plan to use that amount as a recurring source of payment, since opioid settlements are scheduled to arrive annually till 2038.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board also used retirement reserves and delayed repair projects and equipment purchases to plug the gap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to balance our budget by law,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.mendocinocounty.org/government/board-of-supervisors/board-members/all-board-members\">Glenn McGourty\u003c/a>, chair of the board of supervisors. “You find money where you can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vice Chair Mo Mulheren added that health insurance deficits were caused, in part, by the overprescribing of opioids and the costs of addiction treatment for county employees or their family members. Now the settlement dollars can make the county “whole again,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983758\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983758 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Mo Mulheren, vice chair of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, is seen in this screenshot. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-1920x1279.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e.jpg 2023w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At a December 2022 meeting, Mo Mulheren, vice chair of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, raised concerns about using opioid settlement funds to cover a budget shortfall. But she later told KFF Health News that the use was appropriate because it made the county ‘whole again’ after years of paying for opioid-related health insurance claims. \u003ccite>(Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting screengrab via KFF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But many people with substance use disorders and their loved ones want the money to be used to make their communities whole again in a different way — by supporting people in recovery and preventing opioid-related deaths. More than 100,000 Americans \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/18/1176830906/overdose-death-2022-record\">died of drug overdoses\u003c/a> last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The settlement funds are the result of thousands of lawsuits filed against a host of health care companies, including Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, CVS Health, and Walmart, for aggressively promoting and distributing painkillers. The money should remediate the effects of that corporate behavior, say attorneys general, treatment providers, and those directly affected by the crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Mendocino County, McGourty said, “we certainly expend a lot of money on substance abuse.” But tourism and tax revenues, which were boosted at the height of the pandemic as Bay Area residents escaped to the rural county, have recently decreased. Meanwhile, costs for the sheriff’s office, jail, and behavioral health programs often run over budget, partly due to the opioid epidemic, he said.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Matthew Myers, former president, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids\"]‘If states don’t start spending money for the designated purpose effectively and build it into the DNA of the budget process, the risks down the road only grow.’[/pullquote]The story is all too familiar to \u003ca href=\"https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/about/our-team\">Matthew Myers\u003c/a>, former president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which monitors how states spend money from the tobacco master settlement agreement of 1998.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, states won more than $240 billion to be distributed over the first 25 years and continued annual payments for as long as the companies are selling cigarettes. In theory, the money was to be used to help people stop smoking, but there were no legal restrictions on how it was spent. In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-07-534t.pdf\">2007 report (PDF)\u003c/a>, the Government Accountability Office reported states had allocated $16.8 billion, or 30% of the money they’d received, to health care and $12.8 billion, or 23%, to budget shortfalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Almost from the beginning, a significant number of states used the tobacco settlement money for anything but tobacco,” Myers said. “What’s most concerning, though, is that over time the track record of the states has gotten worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who made the original agreements left office, budget needs arose — especially during recessions — and oversight from the public and nonprofit organizations waned. Tobacco settlement money flowed to transportation departments to fill potholes, support corporate tax breaks, and even subsidize tobacco farmers. Today, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/what-we-do/us/statereport/\">less than 3%\u003c/a> of the annual payouts is used for smoking cessation or prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a sobering statistic that many attorneys general kept in mind when negotiating the opioid settlements. To avoid the same scenarios, they set restrictions: At least 85% of the money has to be spent on opioid remediation, with a menu of \u003ca href=\"https://nationalopioidsettlement.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Final_Distributor_Settlement_Agreement_3.25.22_Final.pdf#page=116\">suggested strategies (PDF)\u003c/a>. The balance can be used freely, but to some advocates that’s a slippery slope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some states are stricter than others. In California, for example, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/provgovpart/Pages/California-Opioid-Settlements.aspx\">70% of the settlement funds\u003c/a> funnel into an abatement account from which the state doles it out to counties and cities. All money from that account must be spent on future opioid remediation efforts, with at least half for creating treatment infrastructure, diverting people from the criminal justice system, preventing youth addiction, or other activities the state \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/CA-OSF-Allowable-Expenses.pdf\">identified as high-impact (PDF)\u003c/a>. The state Department of Health Care Services has issued \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/CA-OSF-Guiding-Principles.pdf\">written guidance (PDF)\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/DHCS-Considerations-for-Allocatin-OSF.pdf\">held webinars (PDF)\u003c/a>, and offered \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/Janssen-and-Distributor-Settlement-Technical-Assistance-Form.pdf\">customized assistance (PDF)\u003c/a> to local governments to ensure the money is used appropriately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really want to make sure that all of this funding is for opioid remediation,” said Marlies Perez, who oversees opioid settlement funding at the department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If her team finds examples of misspending, they can take local governments to court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there’s a caveat: The department has authority only over money that comes from the abatement fund and an additional 15% the state receives directly. The final 15% of the state’s settlement money goes straight to local governments and can be used for anything the localities define as opioid-related.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why Mendocino County was able to use $63,000 to plug its budget hole and plan to spend a chunk of future funds similarly. (It has received roughly $780,000 more through the state abatement fund, which must be spent on opioid remediation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if that use of funds is legal, some people question whether it is appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983759\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983759 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-800x533.jpe\" alt='A woman in a white long-sleeved shirt stands in front of a sign that reads \"The Ford Street Project. 139 Ford St.\" ' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-800x533.jpe 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-1020x680.jpe 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-160x107.jpe 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-768x512.jpe 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-1536x1024.jpe 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-1920x1280.jpe 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09.jpe 2046w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jacqueline Williams is executive director of the Ford Street Project, a nonprofit that runs Mendocino County’s only adult residential addiction treatment program. ‘It’s disheartening that the need is so great,’ she says, yet some of the county’s opioid settlement money is being spent on a budget shortfall instead of going directly to the crisis. \u003ccite>(JT Williams)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jacqueline Williams is executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://fordstreet.org/\">Ford Street Project\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that runs a food bank, homeless shelter, and Mendocino County’s only adult residential addiction treatment program. “It’s disheartening that the need is so great,” she said, yet some of the settlement money is not going directly to the crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She has asked the county for $4 million to build a 24-bed sober-living facility, where clients — many of whom are homeless — can stay after completing residential treatment. “The hardest thing is when somebody asks for help if you don’t have a bed,” said Williams, who hasn’t received a final response to her request.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jenine Miller, Mendocino County’s behavioral health director, said the county is \u003ca href=\"https://www.mendocinocounty.org/community/mental-health-oversight-committee/projects\">using revenue\u003c/a> from a local sales tax increase to build a psychiatric hospital, crisis respite facilities, and mobile response teams, but there is still a need for more residential treatment for addiction specifically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can never say I have enough funds to do everything we need to do,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miller \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalopioidofficialsettlement.com/Home/DownloadDoc?docpath=https%3A%2F%2Fpstoragenationalopioid.blob.core.windows.net%2Fprod%2F2224%2FRemediationForm%2FSysGen%2F2100%2F2224_96464.pdf&docname=Non%20Opioid%20Remediation%20Uses%20Form\">signed off on a report\u003c/a> the county is required to file with administrators of the settlement, saying it spent $63,000 on purposes that do not qualify as opioid remediation. She told KFF Health News that she understands the county’s need to recuperate costs to its health insurance plan, “but the largest amount of the money needs to be in our community doing prevention, early intervention, and treatment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mulheren, the vice chair of the board of supervisors, said if the county has savings in future years, it may be able to put some of the recurring $63,000 toward addiction initiatives. The county recently switched from being self-insured to a group health insurance plan for its roughly 900 employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to constantly figure out how we can save money, especially when it comes to the health insurance premiums,” Mulheren said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Myers, of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said his experience with the tobacco settlement suggests the first few years of spending set the tone for the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If states don’t start spending money for the designated purpose effectively and build it into the DNA of the budget process, the risks down the road only grow,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us/\">\u003cem>KFF Health News\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/about-us/\">\u003cem>KFF\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 KFF Health News. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/\">KFF Health News\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+wasted+chance+to+fight+addiction%3F+Opioid+settlement+cash+fills+a+local+budget+gap&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "State attorneys general vowed the funds would go toward tackling the addiction crisis. But as with the tobacco payouts of the 1990s, local officials have started using them to fill budget shortfalls.",
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"description": "State attorneys general vowed the funds would go toward tackling the addiction crisis. But as with the tobacco payouts of the 1990s, local officials have started using them to fill budget shortfalls.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Over the past two years, as state attorneys general agreed to more than $50 billion in legal settlements with companies that made or sold opioids, they vowed the money would be spent on addiction treatment and prevention. They were determined to avoid the misdirection of the tobacco settlement of the 1990s, in which billions of dollars from cigarette companies went to plug budget gaps instead of funding programs to stop or prevent smoking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in at least one California county, history is repeating itself. And across the country, there are concerns about the \u003ca href=\"https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/opioid-drugmakers-settlement-funds-50-billion-dollars-khn-investigation-payback/\">lack of transparency\u003c/a> regarding how this money will be used. Many local leaders are \u003ca href=\"https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/rural-greene-county-opioid-settlement-funds-debt-treatment/\">finding themselves\u003c/a> in difficult positions: choosing between paying bills due today or investing in the fight against an ongoing crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mendocino County in rural Northern California has reported the \u003ca href=\"https://skylab.cdph.ca.gov/ODdash/?tab=CA\">highest rate of overdose deaths\u003c/a> in the state. Yet, its board of supervisors decided to use more than $63,000 of opioid settlement funds — about 6.5% of all the settlement cash \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/List-of-Subdivision-PaymentsCA042023.xlsx\">the county has received (XLS)\u003c/a> in the first two years of distribution — to help fill a general budget shortfall of about $6 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Specifically, the money has been allotted to cover employee health insurance premiums, wage increases, and cost-of-living adjustments. County officials plan to use that amount as a recurring source of payment, since opioid settlements are scheduled to arrive annually till 2038.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board also used retirement reserves and delayed repair projects and equipment purchases to plug the gap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to balance our budget by law,” said \u003ca href=\"https://www.mendocinocounty.org/government/board-of-supervisors/board-members/all-board-members\">Glenn McGourty\u003c/a>, chair of the board of supervisors. “You find money where you can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vice Chair Mo Mulheren added that health insurance deficits were caused, in part, by the overprescribing of opioids and the costs of addiction treatment for county employees or their family members. Now the settlement dollars can make the county “whole again,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983758\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983758 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Mo Mulheren, vice chair of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, is seen in this screenshot. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e-1920x1279.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/boardofsupervisors_mendocino_121322_screengrab_03_slide-b8e83e3afd137a1f4d7e092e175106907af3927e.jpg 2023w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">At a December 2022 meeting, Mo Mulheren, vice chair of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, raised concerns about using opioid settlement funds to cover a budget shortfall. But she later told KFF Health News that the use was appropriate because it made the county ‘whole again’ after years of paying for opioid-related health insurance claims. \u003ccite>(Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting screengrab via KFF)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But many people with substance use disorders and their loved ones want the money to be used to make their communities whole again in a different way — by supporting people in recovery and preventing opioid-related deaths. More than 100,000 Americans \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/05/18/1176830906/overdose-death-2022-record\">died of drug overdoses\u003c/a> last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The settlement funds are the result of thousands of lawsuits filed against a host of health care companies, including Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, CVS Health, and Walmart, for aggressively promoting and distributing painkillers. The money should remediate the effects of that corporate behavior, say attorneys general, treatment providers, and those directly affected by the crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Mendocino County, McGourty said, “we certainly expend a lot of money on substance abuse.” But tourism and tax revenues, which were boosted at the height of the pandemic as Bay Area residents escaped to the rural county, have recently decreased. Meanwhile, costs for the sheriff’s office, jail, and behavioral health programs often run over budget, partly due to the opioid epidemic, he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The story is all too familiar to \u003ca href=\"https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/about/our-team\">Matthew Myers\u003c/a>, former president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which monitors how states spend money from the tobacco master settlement agreement of 1998.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back then, states won more than $240 billion to be distributed over the first 25 years and continued annual payments for as long as the companies are selling cigarettes. In theory, the money was to be used to help people stop smoking, but there were no legal restrictions on how it was spent. In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-07-534t.pdf\">2007 report (PDF)\u003c/a>, the Government Accountability Office reported states had allocated $16.8 billion, or 30% of the money they’d received, to health care and $12.8 billion, or 23%, to budget shortfalls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Almost from the beginning, a significant number of states used the tobacco settlement money for anything but tobacco,” Myers said. “What’s most concerning, though, is that over time the track record of the states has gotten worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who made the original agreements left office, budget needs arose — especially during recessions — and oversight from the public and nonprofit organizations waned. Tobacco settlement money flowed to transportation departments to fill potholes, support corporate tax breaks, and even subsidize tobacco farmers. Today, \u003ca href=\"https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/what-we-do/us/statereport/\">less than 3%\u003c/a> of the annual payouts is used for smoking cessation or prevention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a sobering statistic that many attorneys general kept in mind when negotiating the opioid settlements. To avoid the same scenarios, they set restrictions: At least 85% of the money has to be spent on opioid remediation, with a menu of \u003ca href=\"https://nationalopioidsettlement.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Final_Distributor_Settlement_Agreement_3.25.22_Final.pdf#page=116\">suggested strategies (PDF)\u003c/a>. The balance can be used freely, but to some advocates that’s a slippery slope.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some states are stricter than others. In California, for example, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/provgovpart/Pages/California-Opioid-Settlements.aspx\">70% of the settlement funds\u003c/a> funnel into an abatement account from which the state doles it out to counties and cities. All money from that account must be spent on future opioid remediation efforts, with at least half for creating treatment infrastructure, diverting people from the criminal justice system, preventing youth addiction, or other activities the state \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/CA-OSF-Allowable-Expenses.pdf\">identified as high-impact (PDF)\u003c/a>. The state Department of Health Care Services has issued \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/CA-OSF-Guiding-Principles.pdf\">written guidance (PDF)\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/DHCS-Considerations-for-Allocatin-OSF.pdf\">held webinars (PDF)\u003c/a>, and offered \u003ca href=\"https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/Janssen-and-Distributor-Settlement-Technical-Assistance-Form.pdf\">customized assistance (PDF)\u003c/a> to local governments to ensure the money is used appropriately.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We really want to make sure that all of this funding is for opioid remediation,” said Marlies Perez, who oversees opioid settlement funding at the department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If her team finds examples of misspending, they can take local governments to court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there’s a caveat: The department has authority only over money that comes from the abatement fund and an additional 15% the state receives directly. The final 15% of the state’s settlement money goes straight to local governments and can be used for anything the localities define as opioid-related.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s why Mendocino County was able to use $63,000 to plug its budget hole and plan to spend a chunk of future funds similarly. (It has received roughly $780,000 more through the state abatement fund, which must be spent on opioid remediation.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if that use of funds is legal, some people question whether it is appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983759\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983759 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-800x533.jpe\" alt='A woman in a white long-sleeved shirt stands in front of a sign that reads \"The Ford Street Project. 139 Ford St.\" ' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-800x533.jpe 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-1020x680.jpe 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-160x107.jpe 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-768x512.jpe 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-1536x1024.jpe 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09-1920x1280.jpe 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/jacque_williams_slide-0e32c9dbd1124c819c21ae1797a09108d7f84f09.jpe 2046w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jacqueline Williams is executive director of the Ford Street Project, a nonprofit that runs Mendocino County’s only adult residential addiction treatment program. ‘It’s disheartening that the need is so great,’ she says, yet some of the county’s opioid settlement money is being spent on a budget shortfall instead of going directly to the crisis. \u003ccite>(JT Williams)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jacqueline Williams is executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://fordstreet.org/\">Ford Street Project\u003c/a>, a nonprofit that runs a food bank, homeless shelter, and Mendocino County’s only adult residential addiction treatment program. “It’s disheartening that the need is so great,” she said, yet some of the settlement money is not going directly to the crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She has asked the county for $4 million to build a 24-bed sober-living facility, where clients — many of whom are homeless — can stay after completing residential treatment. “The hardest thing is when somebody asks for help if you don’t have a bed,” said Williams, who hasn’t received a final response to her request.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jenine Miller, Mendocino County’s behavioral health director, said the county is \u003ca href=\"https://www.mendocinocounty.org/community/mental-health-oversight-committee/projects\">using revenue\u003c/a> from a local sales tax increase to build a psychiatric hospital, crisis respite facilities, and mobile response teams, but there is still a need for more residential treatment for addiction specifically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can never say I have enough funds to do everything we need to do,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miller \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalopioidofficialsettlement.com/Home/DownloadDoc?docpath=https%3A%2F%2Fpstoragenationalopioid.blob.core.windows.net%2Fprod%2F2224%2FRemediationForm%2FSysGen%2F2100%2F2224_96464.pdf&docname=Non%20Opioid%20Remediation%20Uses%20Form\">signed off on a report\u003c/a> the county is required to file with administrators of the settlement, saying it spent $63,000 on purposes that do not qualify as opioid remediation. She told KFF Health News that she understands the county’s need to recuperate costs to its health insurance plan, “but the largest amount of the money needs to be in our community doing prevention, early intervention, and treatment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mulheren, the vice chair of the board of supervisors, said if the county has savings in future years, it may be able to put some of the recurring $63,000 toward addiction initiatives. The county recently switched from being self-insured to a group health insurance plan for its roughly 900 employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re trying to constantly figure out how we can save money, especially when it comes to the health insurance premiums,” Mulheren said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Myers, of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said his experience with the tobacco settlement suggests the first few years of spending set the tone for the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If states don’t start spending money for the designated purpose effectively and build it into the DNA of the budget process, the risks down the road only grow,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us/\">\u003cem>KFF Health News\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kff.org/about-us/\">\u003cem>KFF\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 KFF Health News. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/\">KFF Health News\u003c/a>.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=A+wasted+chance+to+fight+addiction%3F+Opioid+settlement+cash+fills+a+local+budget+gap&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "From Sewage to Drinking Glass: California's Plan to Recycle Water",
"headTitle": "From Sewage to Drinking Glass: California’s Plan to Recycle Water | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Californians could drink highly purified sewage water that is piped directly into drinking water supplies for the first time under proposed rules unveiled by state water officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drought-prone state has turned to recycled water for \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/documents/direct_potable_reuse/dprframewkseced.pdf\">more than 60 years (PDF)\u003c/a> to bolster its scarce supplies, but the current regulations require it to first make a pit stop in a reservoir or an aquifer before it can flow to taps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules, \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/documents/direct_potable_reuse/dprframewkseced.pdf\">mandated by state law (PDF)\u003c/a>, would require extensive treatment and monitoring before wastewater can be piped to taps or mingled with raw water upstream of a drinking water treatment plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Toilet-to-tap” this is not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between flush and faucet, a slew of steps are designed to remove chemicals and pathogens that remain in sewage after it has already undergone \u003ca href=\"https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/bastre.pdf\">traditional primary, secondary and sometimes tertiary treatment (PDF).\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is bubbled with ozone, chewed by bacteria, filtered through activated carbon, pushed at high pressures through reverse osmosis membranes multiple times, cleansed with an oxidizer like hydrogen peroxide and beamed with high-intensity UV light. Valuable minerals such as calcium, that were filtered out, are restored. And then, finally, the wastewater is subjected to the regular treatment that all drinking water \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/water_treatment.html\">currently undergoes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Quite honestly, it’ll be the cleanest drinking water around,” said Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the state’s Division of Drinking Water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/docs/rulemaking/dpr_draft_reg_text.pdf\">62 pages of proposed rules (PDF)\u003c/a>, more than \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100SB918\">a decade in the making\u003c/a>, are not triggering much, if any, debate among health or water experts. A panel of engineering and water quality scientists \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/docs/2022/nwri-ep-finalmemoprelimfind.pdf\">deemed an earlier version of the regulations protective of public health (PDF)\u003c/a>, although they raised concerns that the treatment process would be energy-intensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would have no hesitation drinking this water my whole life,” said \u003ca href=\"https://viterbi.usc.edu/directory/faculty/McCurry/Daniel\">Daniel McCurry\u003c/a>, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This water is expected to be more expensive than imported water, but also provide a more renewable and reliable supply for California as climate change continues. Most treated sewage — \u003ca href=\"https://www.lacsd.org/services/wastewater-sewage/facilities/wastewater-treatment-facilities#:~:text=Through%20the%20operation%20of%2011,MGD%20are%20available%20for%20reuse.\">about 400 million gallons a day in Los Angeles County alone\u003c/a> — is released into rivers, streams and the deep ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983705\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983705 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a protective mask and gear is injecting a form of liquid into water. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luis Canela, a water quality technician, injects chemicals to chlorinate water at the Pure Water Southern California Demonstration Plant in Carson. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The draft rules, \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/dpr-regs.html\">released on July 21st\u003c/a>, still face a gauntlet of public comment, a hearing and peer review by another panel of experts, before being finalized. The State Water Resources Control Board is required by law to vote on them by the end of December, though they can extend the deadline if necessary. They would likely go into effect next April and it will take many years to reach people’s taps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heather Collins, water treatment manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said the regulations will give the district more certainty about how to design a massive, multi-billion dollar water recycling project with the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. The district imports water that is provided to 19 million Southern Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The joint effort, called \u003ca href=\"https://www.mwdh2o.com/building-local-supplies/pure-water-southern-california/\">Pure Water Southern California\u003c/a>, has\u003ca href=\"https://www.mwdh2o.com/press-releases/state-presents-80-million-check-to-advance-development-of-pure-water-southern-california\"> already received $80 million\u003c/a> from the state. The first phase of the project, which could be completed by 2032, is expected to produce about 115 million gallons of recycled water a day, enough for 385,000 Southern California households.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most is planned to go toward recharging local water agencies’ groundwater stores, but about 20% could be added to drinking water supplies upstream of Metropolitan’s existing treatment plant for imported water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re excited,” Collins said. “It helps better inform us on what our project needs to include, so that we can have a climate-resistant supply for our agencies in Southern California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules come as endless cycles of drought leave California’s water \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-water-solutions/\">suppliers scrambling for new sources of water\u003c/a>, like purified sewage. In 2021, Californians used about \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/recycled_water/docs/2022/volumetric-infographic-2021.pdf\">732,000 acre feet of recycled water (PDF)\u003c/a>, equivalent to the amount used by roughly 2.6 million households, though much of it goes to non-drinking purposes, like irrigating landscapes, golf courses and crops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for increasing recycled water use in California, \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Water-Resilience/CA-Water-Supply-Strategy.pdf\">roughly 9% by 2030 (PDF)\u003c/a> and more than doubling it by 2040.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Water recycling is about finding new water, not just accepting the scarcity mindset — being more resourceful in terms of our approach,” Newsom said last \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/efEvnNna6kc?feature=share\">May in front of Metropolitan’s Pure Water Southern California\u003c/a> demonstration plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://calmatters-graphics-water-recycling.netlify.app/?initialWidth=780&childId=pym-parent&parentTitle=Not%20%E2%80%98toilet%20to%20tap%3A%E2%80%99%20CA%20will%20turn%20sewage%20into%20drinking%20water%20-%20CalMatters&parentUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fcalmatters.org%2Fenvironment%2F2023%2F08%2Fcalifornia-toilet-to-tap-water%2F\" width=\"800\" height=\"1000\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some recycled water is already used to refill underground stores that provide drinking water, a process called indirect potable reuse, employed beginning in \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/documents/direct_potable_reuse/dprframewkseced.pdf\">the 1960s in Los Angeles (PDF) \u003c/a>and Orange counties. But a water agency must have a clean and convenient place to store the expensive, highly-purified water. “You don’t want to inject this recycled wastewater that you’ve spent all this effort cleaning into a dirty, polluted aquifer just to ruin it again,” McCurry said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To expand these uses, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100SB918\">state lawmakers in 2010 tasked the water board\u003c/a> with investigating the possibility of adding recycled water either directly into a public water system or just upstream of a water treatment plant. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB574\">In 2017, they set a deadline\u003c/a> to develop the regulations by the end of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California won’t be the first; Colorado \u003ca href=\"https://cdphe.colorado.gov/Regulation_11_Direct_Potable_Reuse\">already has regulations\u003c/a> and the nation’s first direct potable reuse plant \u003ca href=\"https://www.crmwd.org/water-sources/reuse/\">was built in Texas in 2013\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://floridadep.gov/water/domestic-wastewater/content/water-reuse-news-rulemaking-information\">Florida\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://azdeq.gov/awp-rulemaking\">Arizona\u003c/a> have rules in the works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s statewide rules, however, are expected to be the most stringent, said Andrew Salveson, water reuse chief technologist at Carollo Engineers, an environmental engineering consulting firm that specializes in water treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are more conservative than anywhere else,” he said. “And I’m not being critical. In the state of California, because we’re in the early days of (direct potable reuse) implementation, they’re taking measured and conservative steps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Removing viruses and chemicals\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The water that flushes down toilets, whirls down sinks, runs from industrial facilities and flows off agricultural fields is teeming with viruses, parasites and other pathogens that can make people sick. Chemicals also contaminate this sewage, everything from industrial \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/projects/california-water-contaminated-forever-chemicals/#\">perfluorinated “forever chemicals”\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b05592\">drugs excreted in urine\u003c/a>. Bypassing groundwater stores or reservoirs to funnel purified sewage directly into pipes means \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/documents/direct_potable_reuse/dprframewkseced.pdf\">that there’s less room for error (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new regulations would ramp up restrictions on pathogens, calling for scrubbing away more than 99.9999% of diarrhea-causing viruses and certain parasites. Also a series of treatments are designed to break down chemical contaminants like anti-seizure drugs, pain relievers, antidepressants and other pharmaceuticals. \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/pharmaceuticals-water\">Medications can bypass traditional sewage treatment\u003c/a> so they are found in low concentrations in recycled sewage and groundwater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983703\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983703\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An image of three levels of big blue pipes.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water makes its way to the first step of the water purification process, membrane bioreactors, at the Pure Water Southern California Demonstration Plant in Carson, on July 28, 2023. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The added technologies are good at washing away pharmaceuticals, McCurry said, so having them “back-to-back introduces a ton of redundancy,” he said. “Any pharmaceutical you could think of, if you tried to measure it in the product water of one of these plants, is going to be below the detection limit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules call for extensive monitoring to ensure the treatment is working. Some harmful chemicals, such as lead and nitrates, which are dangerous to babies and young children, will be tested for weekly; others, monthly. And water providers must also monitor the sewage itself before it even reaches treatment for any chemical spikes that could indicate illegal dumping or spills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think we’ve got the chemical classes covered in the treatment processes, so that we’re removing materials that we don’t even know are there,” the water board’s Polhemus said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer West, managing director of WateReuse California, a trade association for water recycling, said she was happy to finally see California’s regulations, though she hopes the state will build in more flexibility for water providers to alter the suite of treatments as technologies change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0Pt4C/7/\" width=\"800\" height=\"300\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://publichealth.sdsu.edu/people/richard-gersberg/\">Richard Gersberg\u003c/a>, San Diego State University professor emeritus of environmental health, said he supports using highly treated waste for drinking water. But he suggests that the state fund long-term studies comparing health effects in people who drink it to those whose drinking water comes from another source, such as rivers, “which might end up being worse. Probably is,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given the vast and changing cocktail of chemicals constantly in use, “we don’t know what we don’t know,” Gersberg said. “If this becomes huge in California, and it will, I believe … we should at least spend a little money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who will be first?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>All this treatment and monitoring is likely to be pricey, which is why Polhemus expects to see it largely limited to large urban areas that produce a lot of wastewater, such as Los Angeles County. The Metropolitan Water District’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.mwdh2o.com/media/16859/program-brochure-2021.pdf\">$3.4 billion estimate for building the project (PDF) \u003c/a>dates back to 2018, and has likely increased since then, according to spokesperson Rebecca Kimitch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For small and medium communities, Polhemus said, “it doesn’t pencil out in a small-scale type of arrangement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Orange County Water District, which has long been a leader in purifying recycled water, has concluded that piping it directly to customers doesn’t pencil out for them either, because they’ve already invested so heavily in refilling their carefully tended aquifer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would “require adding more treatment processes and increasing operating expenses,” board president Cathy Green said in a statement. “Local water agencies are currently well-equipped to continue to supply drinking water to customers in our service area at a low cost using the Orange County Groundwater Basin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For other regions like Silicon Valley, though, the costs may be worth it as climate change continues to shrink state supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this point, it’s more expensive than water we might import during a drought. But who knows what will happen in the future,” said Kirsten Struve, assistant officer in the water supply division at the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which serves approximately 2 million people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why we need to get prepared.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983704\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983704 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-800x533.jpg\" alt='Multiple pipes are seen in a laboratory. A sign that says \"Pure Water Southern California Demonstration Plant\" is displayed. ' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Pure Water Southern California Demonstration Plant showcases technology that may provide drinking water to Southern Californians by 2032. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Santa Clara water agency, known as Valley Water, is planning a $1.2 billion project in Palo Alto to produce about 10 million gallons a day of water for groundwater recharge, but Struve said she hopes the plant also will be used for direct potable reuse in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The timing of the regulations has butted up against the realities of planning for Monterey One Water on the Monterey Peninsula as well. The utility has been injecting purified wastewater into the seaside aquifer for three years, producing about a third of the local supply, said General Manager Paul Sciuto. It is working on expanding the project by 2025, Sciuto said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I get that question of, ‘This water is so pure, why do you put it in the ground? Why can’t you just serve it?’” he said. “And I always fall back on, well, there’s no regulations that allow us to do that at this point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that the state is closer to finalizing them, he said, “there’s a point on the horizon to shoot for.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Waste would undergo extensive treatment and testing before it's piped directly to taps, providing a new, costly but renewable water supply. The state's new draft rules are more than a decade in the making.",
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"description": "Waste would undergo extensive treatment and testing before it's piped directly to taps, providing a new, costly but renewable water supply. The state's new draft rules are more than a decade in the making.",
"title": "From Sewage to Drinking Glass: California's Plan to Recycle Water | KQED",
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"headline": "From Sewage to Drinking Glass: California's Plan to Recycle Water",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Californians could drink highly purified sewage water that is piped directly into drinking water supplies for the first time under proposed rules unveiled by state water officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drought-prone state has turned to recycled water for \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/documents/direct_potable_reuse/dprframewkseced.pdf\">more than 60 years (PDF)\u003c/a> to bolster its scarce supplies, but the current regulations require it to first make a pit stop in a reservoir or an aquifer before it can flow to taps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules, \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/documents/direct_potable_reuse/dprframewkseced.pdf\">mandated by state law (PDF)\u003c/a>, would require extensive treatment and monitoring before wastewater can be piped to taps or mingled with raw water upstream of a drinking water treatment plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Toilet-to-tap” this is not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between flush and faucet, a slew of steps are designed to remove chemicals and pathogens that remain in sewage after it has already undergone \u003ca href=\"https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/bastre.pdf\">traditional primary, secondary and sometimes tertiary treatment (PDF).\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is bubbled with ozone, chewed by bacteria, filtered through activated carbon, pushed at high pressures through reverse osmosis membranes multiple times, cleansed with an oxidizer like hydrogen peroxide and beamed with high-intensity UV light. Valuable minerals such as calcium, that were filtered out, are restored. And then, finally, the wastewater is subjected to the regular treatment that all drinking water \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/water_treatment.html\">currently undergoes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Quite honestly, it’ll be the cleanest drinking water around,” said Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the state’s Division of Drinking Water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/docs/rulemaking/dpr_draft_reg_text.pdf\">62 pages of proposed rules (PDF)\u003c/a>, more than \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100SB918\">a decade in the making\u003c/a>, are not triggering much, if any, debate among health or water experts. A panel of engineering and water quality scientists \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/docs/2022/nwri-ep-finalmemoprelimfind.pdf\">deemed an earlier version of the regulations protective of public health (PDF)\u003c/a>, although they raised concerns that the treatment process would be energy-intensive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would have no hesitation drinking this water my whole life,” said \u003ca href=\"https://viterbi.usc.edu/directory/faculty/McCurry/Daniel\">Daniel McCurry\u003c/a>, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This water is expected to be more expensive than imported water, but also provide a more renewable and reliable supply for California as climate change continues. Most treated sewage — \u003ca href=\"https://www.lacsd.org/services/wastewater-sewage/facilities/wastewater-treatment-facilities#:~:text=Through%20the%20operation%20of%2011,MGD%20are%20available%20for%20reuse.\">about 400 million gallons a day in Los Angeles County alone\u003c/a> — is released into rivers, streams and the deep ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983705\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983705 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person wearing a protective mask and gear is injecting a form of liquid into water. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-05.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luis Canela, a water quality technician, injects chemicals to chlorinate water at the Pure Water Southern California Demonstration Plant in Carson. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The draft rules, \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/dpr-regs.html\">released on July 21st\u003c/a>, still face a gauntlet of public comment, a hearing and peer review by another panel of experts, before being finalized. The State Water Resources Control Board is required by law to vote on them by the end of December, though they can extend the deadline if necessary. They would likely go into effect next April and it will take many years to reach people’s taps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heather Collins, water treatment manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said the regulations will give the district more certainty about how to design a massive, multi-billion dollar water recycling project with the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. The district imports water that is provided to 19 million Southern Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The joint effort, called \u003ca href=\"https://www.mwdh2o.com/building-local-supplies/pure-water-southern-california/\">Pure Water Southern California\u003c/a>, has\u003ca href=\"https://www.mwdh2o.com/press-releases/state-presents-80-million-check-to-advance-development-of-pure-water-southern-california\"> already received $80 million\u003c/a> from the state. The first phase of the project, which could be completed by 2032, is expected to produce about 115 million gallons of recycled water a day, enough for 385,000 Southern California households.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most is planned to go toward recharging local water agencies’ groundwater stores, but about 20% could be added to drinking water supplies upstream of Metropolitan’s existing treatment plant for imported water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re excited,” Collins said. “It helps better inform us on what our project needs to include, so that we can have a climate-resistant supply for our agencies in Southern California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules come as endless cycles of drought leave California’s water \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/explainers/california-water-solutions/\">suppliers scrambling for new sources of water\u003c/a>, like purified sewage. In 2021, Californians used about \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/recycled_water/docs/2022/volumetric-infographic-2021.pdf\">732,000 acre feet of recycled water (PDF)\u003c/a>, equivalent to the amount used by roughly 2.6 million households, though much of it goes to non-drinking purposes, like irrigating landscapes, golf courses and crops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for increasing recycled water use in California, \u003ca href=\"https://resources.ca.gov/-/media/CNRA-Website/Files/Initiatives/Water-Resilience/CA-Water-Supply-Strategy.pdf\">roughly 9% by 2030 (PDF)\u003c/a> and more than doubling it by 2040.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Water recycling is about finding new water, not just accepting the scarcity mindset — being more resourceful in terms of our approach,” Newsom said last \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/efEvnNna6kc?feature=share\">May in front of Metropolitan’s Pure Water Southern California\u003c/a> demonstration plant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://calmatters-graphics-water-recycling.netlify.app/?initialWidth=780&childId=pym-parent&parentTitle=Not%20%E2%80%98toilet%20to%20tap%3A%E2%80%99%20CA%20will%20turn%20sewage%20into%20drinking%20water%20-%20CalMatters&parentUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fcalmatters.org%2Fenvironment%2F2023%2F08%2Fcalifornia-toilet-to-tap-water%2F\" width=\"800\" height=\"1000\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some recycled water is already used to refill underground stores that provide drinking water, a process called indirect potable reuse, employed beginning in \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/documents/direct_potable_reuse/dprframewkseced.pdf\">the 1960s in Los Angeles (PDF) \u003c/a>and Orange counties. But a water agency must have a clean and convenient place to store the expensive, highly-purified water. “You don’t want to inject this recycled wastewater that you’ve spent all this effort cleaning into a dirty, polluted aquifer just to ruin it again,” McCurry said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To expand these uses, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=200920100SB918\">state lawmakers in 2010 tasked the water board\u003c/a> with investigating the possibility of adding recycled water either directly into a public water system or just upstream of a water treatment plant. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB574\">In 2017, they set a deadline\u003c/a> to develop the regulations by the end of 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California won’t be the first; Colorado \u003ca href=\"https://cdphe.colorado.gov/Regulation_11_Direct_Potable_Reuse\">already has regulations\u003c/a> and the nation’s first direct potable reuse plant \u003ca href=\"https://www.crmwd.org/water-sources/reuse/\">was built in Texas in 2013\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://floridadep.gov/water/domestic-wastewater/content/water-reuse-news-rulemaking-information\">Florida\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://azdeq.gov/awp-rulemaking\">Arizona\u003c/a> have rules in the works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s statewide rules, however, are expected to be the most stringent, said Andrew Salveson, water reuse chief technologist at Carollo Engineers, an environmental engineering consulting firm that specializes in water treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are more conservative than anywhere else,” he said. “And I’m not being critical. In the state of California, because we’re in the early days of (direct potable reuse) implementation, they’re taking measured and conservative steps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Removing viruses and chemicals\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The water that flushes down toilets, whirls down sinks, runs from industrial facilities and flows off agricultural fields is teeming with viruses, parasites and other pathogens that can make people sick. Chemicals also contaminate this sewage, everything from industrial \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/projects/california-water-contaminated-forever-chemicals/#\">perfluorinated “forever chemicals”\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b05592\">drugs excreted in urine\u003c/a>. Bypassing groundwater stores or reservoirs to funnel purified sewage directly into pipes means \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/drinkingwater/documents/direct_potable_reuse/dprframewkseced.pdf\">that there’s less room for error (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new regulations would ramp up restrictions on pathogens, calling for scrubbing away more than 99.9999% of diarrhea-causing viruses and certain parasites. Also a series of treatments are designed to break down chemical contaminants like anti-seizure drugs, pain relievers, antidepressants and other pharmaceuticals. \u003ca href=\"https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/pharmaceuticals-water\">Medications can bypass traditional sewage treatment\u003c/a> so they are found in low concentrations in recycled sewage and groundwater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983703\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983703\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"An image of three levels of big blue pipes.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823-Pure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-22.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Water makes its way to the first step of the water purification process, membrane bioreactors, at the Pure Water Southern California Demonstration Plant in Carson, on July 28, 2023. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The added technologies are good at washing away pharmaceuticals, McCurry said, so having them “back-to-back introduces a ton of redundancy,” he said. “Any pharmaceutical you could think of, if you tried to measure it in the product water of one of these plants, is going to be below the detection limit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rules call for extensive monitoring to ensure the treatment is working. Some harmful chemicals, such as lead and nitrates, which are dangerous to babies and young children, will be tested for weekly; others, monthly. And water providers must also monitor the sewage itself before it even reaches treatment for any chemical spikes that could indicate illegal dumping or spills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think we’ve got the chemical classes covered in the treatment processes, so that we’re removing materials that we don’t even know are there,” the water board’s Polhemus said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer West, managing director of WateReuse California, a trade association for water recycling, said she was happy to finally see California’s regulations, though she hopes the state will build in more flexibility for water providers to alter the suite of treatments as technologies change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0Pt4C/7/\" width=\"800\" height=\"300\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://publichealth.sdsu.edu/people/richard-gersberg/\">Richard Gersberg\u003c/a>, San Diego State University professor emeritus of environmental health, said he supports using highly treated waste for drinking water. But he suggests that the state fund long-term studies comparing health effects in people who drink it to those whose drinking water comes from another source, such as rivers, “which might end up being worse. Probably is,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Given the vast and changing cocktail of chemicals constantly in use, “we don’t know what we don’t know,” Gersberg said. “If this becomes huge in California, and it will, I believe … we should at least spend a little money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who will be first?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>All this treatment and monitoring is likely to be pricey, which is why Polhemus expects to see it largely limited to large urban areas that produce a lot of wastewater, such as Los Angeles County. The Metropolitan Water District’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.mwdh2o.com/media/16859/program-brochure-2021.pdf\">$3.4 billion estimate for building the project (PDF) \u003c/a>dates back to 2018, and has likely increased since then, according to spokesperson Rebecca Kimitch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For small and medium communities, Polhemus said, “it doesn’t pencil out in a small-scale type of arrangement.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Orange County Water District, which has long been a leader in purifying recycled water, has concluded that piping it directly to customers doesn’t pencil out for them either, because they’ve already invested so heavily in refilling their carefully tended aquifer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would “require adding more treatment processes and increasing operating expenses,” board president Cathy Green said in a statement. “Local water agencies are currently well-equipped to continue to supply drinking water to customers in our service area at a low cost using the Orange County Groundwater Basin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For other regions like Silicon Valley, though, the costs may be worth it as climate change continues to shrink state supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this point, it’s more expensive than water we might import during a drought. But who knows what will happen in the future,” said Kirsten Struve, assistant officer in the water supply division at the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which serves approximately 2 million people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s why we need to get prepared.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983704\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1983704 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-800x533.jpg\" alt='Multiple pipes are seen in a laboratory. A sign that says \"Pure Water Southern California Demonstration Plant\" is displayed. ' width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/072823bPure-Water-Treatment-LJ-CM-23.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Pure Water Southern California Demonstration Plant showcases technology that may provide drinking water to Southern Californians by 2032. \u003ccite>(Lauren Justice/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Santa Clara water agency, known as Valley Water, is planning a $1.2 billion project in Palo Alto to produce about 10 million gallons a day of water for groundwater recharge, but Struve said she hopes the plant also will be used for direct potable reuse in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The timing of the regulations has butted up against the realities of planning for Monterey One Water on the Monterey Peninsula as well. The utility has been injecting purified wastewater into the seaside aquifer for three years, producing about a third of the local supply, said General Manager Paul Sciuto. It is working on expanding the project by 2025, Sciuto said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I get that question of, ‘This water is so pure, why do you put it in the ground? Why can’t you just serve it?’” he said. “And I always fall back on, well, there’s no regulations that allow us to do that at this point.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now that the state is closer to finalizing them, he said, “there’s a point on the horizon to shoot for.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Sturgeon Supermoon 2023: See Photos From Around the World",
"headTitle": "Sturgeon Supermoon 2023: See Photos From Around the World | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Photographers from all over the world caught the sturgeon supermoon in all of its splendor last night. Earth’s satellite appeared bigger and brighter because its orbit brought it a little closer to home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you missed the show, no worries. Last night’s lunar event was the first of two supermoons taking place this month. The next will be a rare blue supermoon, on Aug. 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, enjoy these pictures from across the globe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983730\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A bright orange full moon is seen in the background. In the foreground, a tower is lit up.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A supermoon rises over the West End Tower at Vanderbilt University, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. The Sturgeon moon is the second of 4 supermoons to appear in 2023. \u003ccite>(George Walker IV/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983731\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983731\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-800x537.jpg\" alt=\"A bright white full moon is seen behind a silhouette of a cable car.\" width=\"800\" height=\"537\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-800x537.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-1020x684.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-768x515.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-1536x1031.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-1920x1288.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cable car moves toward Sugar Loaf mountain as a supermoon rises on the night sky in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Tuesday. \u003ccite>(Silvia Izquierdo/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983732\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983732\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"A bright full moon is seen in the sky while a group of people are playing soccer on the field. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With the city of Johannesburg and a rising supermoon in the background, young football players practice in Johannesburg, South Africa. The moon appears slightly brighter and bigger than normal because it is closer than usual, just 222,159 miles away, thus the supermoon label. \u003ccite>(Jerome Delay/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983733\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983733\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A bright full moon shines in the background of a city skyline. Clouds gather in front of the moon. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The moon shines through clouds over the lower Manhattan skyline, as seen from New Jersey. \u003ccite>(Seth Wenig/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983734\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983734\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A bright full moon appears in the dark sky. Bright lights from a stadium are also seen in this photo. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The second supermoon of 2023, also known as the sturgeon supermoon, rises before the start of the Copa Libertadores soccer match at the Mâs Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires. \u003ccite>(Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983735\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983735\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A bright orange full moon is seen in a blue background with hills and mountain silhouette. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The supermoon ascends into the sky with Isle au Haut in the distance and North Haven Island in the middle ground, as viewed from Camden, Maine. \u003ccite>(Robert F. Bukaty/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983736\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983736\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A bright full moon is seen here with a silhouette of angel statues.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first supermoon of the month rises behind angel sculptures on St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia. The next lunar spectacle, a blue supermoon, will take place on Aug. 30. \u003ccite>(Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983737\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983737\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A bright full moon is seen rising behind the mountains. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The supermoon rises over the Andes in Santiago, Chile, on Tuesday. \u003ccite>(Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983738\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983738\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Behind a temple, a bright full moon is shining amongst dark clouds. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-1920x1079.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The full moon rises behind the Korean Bell of Friendship pavilion in Angel’s Gate Park in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Richard Vogel/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Missed+last+night%27s+supermoon%3F+Check+out+these+stellar+images+from+around+the+world&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Photographers across the globe capitalized on the lunar event, delivering out-of-this-world images of the sturgeon supermoon.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Photographers from all over the world caught the sturgeon supermoon in all of its splendor last night. Earth’s satellite appeared bigger and brighter because its orbit brought it a little closer to home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you missed the show, no worries. Last night’s lunar event was the first of two supermoons taking place this month. The next will be a rare blue supermoon, on Aug. 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, enjoy these pictures from across the globe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983730\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A bright orange full moon is seen in the background. In the foreground, a tower is lit up.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214148536937-95294a20e9c6a1f65967a3e60032d4f44ff83a19-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A supermoon rises over the West End Tower at Vanderbilt University, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. The Sturgeon moon is the second of 4 supermoons to appear in 2023. \u003ccite>(George Walker IV/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983731\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983731\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-800x537.jpg\" alt=\"A bright white full moon is seen behind a silhouette of a cable car.\" width=\"800\" height=\"537\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-800x537.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-1020x684.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-768x515.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-1536x1031.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef-1920x1288.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213829147992_custom-c737f14ad0fff7da67943e9709003c972cd5f2ef.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cable car moves toward Sugar Loaf mountain as a supermoon rises on the night sky in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Tuesday. \u003ccite>(Silvia Izquierdo/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983732\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983732\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"A bright full moon is seen in the sky while a group of people are playing soccer on the field. \" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213627596225_vert-219ae8b9da55e5b46a3cee021359f175b4837683-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With the city of Johannesburg and a rising supermoon in the background, young football players practice in Johannesburg, South Africa. The moon appears slightly brighter and bigger than normal because it is closer than usual, just 222,159 miles away, thus the supermoon label. \u003ccite>(Jerome Delay/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983733\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983733\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A bright full moon shines in the background of a city skyline. Clouds gather in front of the moon. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214055524934_wide-a34bd6748bc1f5f030444fb9e2107b3ba422bd55-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The moon shines through clouds over the lower Manhattan skyline, as seen from New Jersey. \u003ccite>(Seth Wenig/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983734\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983734\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A bright full moon appears in the dark sky. Bright lights from a stadium are also seen in this photo. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570208724_custom-076843ea4df8c63f87872560d064a1b3bba7d485-1920x1279.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The second supermoon of 2023, also known as the sturgeon supermoon, rises before the start of the Copa Libertadores soccer match at the Mâs Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires. \u003ccite>(Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983735\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983735\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"A bright orange full moon is seen in a blue background with hills and mountain silhouette. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214030892298-1-_wide-7bba9151b01c026f65e040ae9416fa5ae62933bf-1920x1080.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The supermoon ascends into the sky with Isle au Haut in the distance and North Haven Island in the middle ground, as viewed from Camden, Maine. \u003ccite>(Robert F. Bukaty/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983736\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983736\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A bright full moon is seen here with a silhouette of angel statues.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23213828535186-c5dec6ce9845c03a0f5f887728f451f1f0a0bdff-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first supermoon of the month rises behind angel sculptures on St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia. The next lunar spectacle, a blue supermoon, will take place on Aug. 30. \u003ccite>(Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983737\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983737\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A bright full moon is seen rising behind the mountains. \" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/gettyimages-1570381595_slide-3d4c95018942b14c67eb25fc962e5e20abc9bfc5-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The supermoon rises over the Andes in Santiago, Chile, on Tuesday. \u003ccite>(Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983738\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1983738\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Behind a temple, a bright full moon is shining amongst dark clouds. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-1020x573.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-2048x1151.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/ap23214160429895_wide-883b4e800ee9a02857a142f0beb027a49eb281f4-1920x1079.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The full moon rises behind the Korean Bell of Friendship pavilion in Angel’s Gate Park in Los Angeles. \u003ccite>(Richard Vogel/AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Missed+last+night%27s+supermoon%3F+Check+out+these+stellar+images+from+around+the+world&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Climate Change Is Creating Bigger Waves on California Coasts",
"headTitle": "Climate Change Is Creating Bigger Waves on California Coasts | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Earlier this year, California was pummeled by what local surfer’s described as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/homeless-hollywood-storms/rain-surf-swells\">the best swell\u003c/a> in decades: massive waves that damaged piers, crumbled sea cliffs and flooded coastlines. A new study finds that wave heights are getting bigger along the California coast as global temperatures have warmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study, published Tuesday in the \u003cem>Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, \u003c/em>looked at nearly a century’s worth of data, and found that the average height of winter waves have grown by about a foot since 1969. The number of storm events that produced waves greater than 13 feet in height has also increased, the study found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that same time, the burning of fossil fuels has contributed to an increase in average global temperatures by \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/global/time-series/globe/land_ocean/ytd/1/1970-2023\">more than 1 degree\u003c/a> Fahrenheit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is just another indication that overall average wave heights have increased significantly since 1970 — since the advent of the upward trend in global warming,” said Peter Bromirski, researcher emeritus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the study’s author.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Global climate-warming carbon dioxide has \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data#:~:text=Global%20carbon%20emissions%20from%20fossil,increase%20from%201970%20to%202011.\">increased by about 90%\u003c/a> since 1970, federal data show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While bigger waves may be a boon to surfers, they can also be damaging to California’s already climate-vulnerable coast.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Peter Bromirski, researcher emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography']‘Higher waves with higher sea levels allows more wave energy to reach vulnerable sea cliffs and also enhances coastal flooding as well as damage to coastal infrastructure.’[/pullquote]\u003c/span>Warmer ocean temperatures and inflows of freshwater from the world’s melting ice caps have caused sea levels to \u003ca href=\"https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/d0c1df224a97418bb4dad129ea4c6d17\">rise roughly 8 inches\u003c/a> along California’s 1,200 mile coastline in the last century, according to the California Coastal Commission. Without rapid cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, they could rise by feet in the coming decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the turn of this century, federal estimates warn nearly three-quarters of California’s picturesque beaches may be\u003ca href=\"https://d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net/documents/publicationstatus/129901/preprint_pdf/f3f45324f53298f515110452a3077f58.pdf\"> completely eroded (PDF)\u003c/a> by rising seas. A report by California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office found that between $8 and $10 billion worth of existing property is \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4261#:~:text=Impacts%20of%20SLR%20Could%20Be%20Both%20Extensive%20and%20Expensive.&text=Some%20key%20findings%20from%20existing,at%20risk%20during%20high%20tides.\">likely to be underwater\u003c/a> within the next few decades, with an additional $6 to $10 billion worth of property at risk during high tides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Higher waves with higher sea levels allows more wave energy to reach vulnerable sea cliffs and also enhances coastal flooding as well as damage to coastal infrastructure,” said Bromirski.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new study adds to a growing body of research that suggests storm activity in the Northern Pacific Ocean — the main source of California’s winter swells — has increased as human activities have caused the world’s temperature to warm. A 2019 study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, found that\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1974937/warming-oceans-stronger-swells-big-wave-surfers-ride-more-powerful-waves\"> the energy in ocean waves\u003c/a> have increased over most of the last century because of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another study, published by a team of international researchers in 2021, found that climate change is causing wave power — the energy transferred from winds to waves — to \u003ca href=\"https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL093622\">increase globally\u003c/a>, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The areas where we see the most warming in the global oceans is where we tend to see the most significant increases in wave power,” said Tom Mortlock, one of the study’s authors and an Australian-based senior analyst at the insurer Aon. “The reason for this is that as oceans warm, they intensify the circulation of winds over the ocean, and stronger winds drive higher waves.”\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside label='related coverage' postID=science_1978061,science_1974937]\u003c/span>Bromirski used seismic records dating back to 1931 to get a sense of how much wave heights had changed off California’s coasts during the winter months. When waves ricochet off of the coast, they send energy back towards the sea. When that energy hits incoming waves, it pushes energy downward, creating a seismic signal that can be detected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bromirski, who got a Ph.D. in seismology in 1993, knew that those wave to wave interactions caused seismic signals that could be detected underwater and on land, “but nobody had tried to invert the seismic signals for wave height,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interpreting the seismic data was crucial to understanding how wave heights had changed over most of the last century, Bromirski said. Buoys that measure wave height along the West Coast had only been collecting data since 1980, after the rapid intensification of greenhouse gas emissions had already begun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By using seismic data, Bromirski could look for patterns in a longer window of time. Two notable periods stood out. From 1939 to 1947 and 1957 to 1965 there were extended periods of “exceptionally low winter wave activity,” Bromirski said. “There’s been nothing like that since 1970.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Surf%27s+up%21+Wave+heights+increase+on+California%27s+coasts+as+climate+warms&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Earlier this year, California was pummeled by what local surfer’s described as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/homeless-hollywood-storms/rain-surf-swells\">the best swell\u003c/a> in decades: massive waves that damaged piers, crumbled sea cliffs and flooded coastlines. A new study finds that wave heights are getting bigger along the California coast as global temperatures have warmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study, published Tuesday in the \u003cem>Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, \u003c/em>looked at nearly a century’s worth of data, and found that the average height of winter waves have grown by about a foot since 1969. The number of storm events that produced waves greater than 13 feet in height has also increased, the study found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In that same time, the burning of fossil fuels has contributed to an increase in average global temperatures by \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/global/time-series/globe/land_ocean/ytd/1/1970-2023\">more than 1 degree\u003c/a> Fahrenheit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is just another indication that overall average wave heights have increased significantly since 1970 — since the advent of the upward trend in global warming,” said Peter Bromirski, researcher emeritus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the study’s author.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Global climate-warming carbon dioxide has \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data#:~:text=Global%20carbon%20emissions%20from%20fossil,increase%20from%201970%20to%202011.\">increased by about 90%\u003c/a> since 1970, federal data show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While bigger waves may be a boon to surfers, they can also be damaging to California’s already climate-vulnerable coast.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Higher waves with higher sea levels allows more wave energy to reach vulnerable sea cliffs and also enhances coastal flooding as well as damage to coastal infrastructure.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Warmer ocean temperatures and inflows of freshwater from the world’s melting ice caps have caused sea levels to \u003ca href=\"https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/d0c1df224a97418bb4dad129ea4c6d17\">rise roughly 8 inches\u003c/a> along California’s 1,200 mile coastline in the last century, according to the California Coastal Commission. Without rapid cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, they could rise by feet in the coming decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the turn of this century, federal estimates warn nearly three-quarters of California’s picturesque beaches may be\u003ca href=\"https://d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net/documents/publicationstatus/129901/preprint_pdf/f3f45324f53298f515110452a3077f58.pdf\"> completely eroded (PDF)\u003c/a> by rising seas. A report by California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office found that between $8 and $10 billion worth of existing property is \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4261#:~:text=Impacts%20of%20SLR%20Could%20Be%20Both%20Extensive%20and%20Expensive.&text=Some%20key%20findings%20from%20existing,at%20risk%20during%20high%20tides.\">likely to be underwater\u003c/a> within the next few decades, with an additional $6 to $10 billion worth of property at risk during high tides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Higher waves with higher sea levels allows more wave energy to reach vulnerable sea cliffs and also enhances coastal flooding as well as damage to coastal infrastructure,” said Bromirski.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new study adds to a growing body of research that suggests storm activity in the Northern Pacific Ocean — the main source of California’s winter swells — has increased as human activities have caused the world’s temperature to warm. A 2019 study by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, found that\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1974937/warming-oceans-stronger-swells-big-wave-surfers-ride-more-powerful-waves\"> the energy in ocean waves\u003c/a> have increased over most of the last century because of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another study, published by a team of international researchers in 2021, found that climate change is causing wave power — the energy transferred from winds to waves — to \u003ca href=\"https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021GL093622\">increase globally\u003c/a>, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The areas where we see the most warming in the global oceans is where we tend to see the most significant increases in wave power,” said Tom Mortlock, one of the study’s authors and an Australian-based senior analyst at the insurer Aon. “The reason for this is that as oceans warm, they intensify the circulation of winds over the ocean, and stronger winds drive higher waves.”\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Bromirski used seismic records dating back to 1931 to get a sense of how much wave heights had changed off California’s coasts during the winter months. When waves ricochet off of the coast, they send energy back towards the sea. When that energy hits incoming waves, it pushes energy downward, creating a seismic signal that can be detected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bromirski, who got a Ph.D. in seismology in 1993, knew that those wave to wave interactions caused seismic signals that could be detected underwater and on land, “but nobody had tried to invert the seismic signals for wave height,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interpreting the seismic data was crucial to understanding how wave heights had changed over most of the last century, Bromirski said. Buoys that measure wave height along the West Coast had only been collecting data since 1980, after the rapid intensification of greenhouse gas emissions had already begun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By using seismic data, Bromirski could look for patterns in a longer window of time. Two notable periods stood out. From 1939 to 1947 and 1957 to 1965 there were extended periods of “exceptionally low winter wave activity,” Bromirski said. “There’s been nothing like that since 1970.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Surf%27s+up%21+Wave+heights+increase+on+California%27s+coasts+as+climate+warms&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dl_subscribe]\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>A “bee fly” looks a bit like a bee, but it’s a freeloader that takes advantage of a bindweed turret bee’s hard work. The bees dig underground nests and fill them with pollen they collect in the form of stylish “pollen pants.” As the bees are toiling on their nests, the flies drop their *own* eggs into them from the air. But the bees employ a tricky defense against the flies.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>TRANSCRIPT\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Life for bindweed turret bees is violent and unfair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s spring in California, and these male bees are in an all-out brawl, desperate to mate with the female trapped at the bottom of this pile.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the fight is so intense that the female they’re going after gets crushed to death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if she survives, she and the winner steal away and mate … until another male wants in. Buzz kill!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now she starts an epic dig, prepping a place to lay her eggs underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She tirelessly scoops earth with her mandibles, dousing it with nectar she collected earlier to soften it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of the world’s bee species – 70% – nest in the ground. These ones chose a dirt parking lot. Some nice folks cordoned it off to protect the bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Females work side by side. Each is “queen” of her own funky little castle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They build turrets, but only some of them are vertical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many are tunnel-like, with a sideways entrance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others curve down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll see why that’s important in a bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the bees are done digging, they head off on another mission. They gather pollen from one plant only: morning glories, also known as bindweeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She rubs her shaggy legs all over that pollen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And down she goes with her haul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pollen pants!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside her nest, she packs the pollen into neat balls – each one in its own chamber – and lays an egg on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the egg hatches into a larva, it will live off the pollen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she toils, freeloaders show up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They look like a bee, but their huge eyes give them away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re called … wait for it … bee flies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fly doesn’t dig or gather pollen for her young. She just hovers over a bee’s nest and … yup, she’s dropping her own eggs in there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’ll drop 200 eggs over her lifetime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is where those tunnels and curved turrets are useful. They make it harder for the flies to drop their eggs in from the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when the fly does succeed, the fly’s egg hatches into a larva that digs tiny hooks into the bee larva.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the bee eats the pollen and grows, the fly larva sucks it dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the flies are so successful, they can nearly wipe out a population of bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But these bees don’t give up. Two or three months of mating, foraging and warding off parasites come to an end when they seal up their nests with dirt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below ground, babies will grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following spring, if the bees are lucky, a new tiny city will burst to life, full of bees persevering just as their mothers did before them.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now she starts an epic dig, prepping a place to lay her eggs underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She tirelessly scoops earth with her mandibles, dousing it with nectar she collected earlier to soften it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The majority of the world’s bee species – 70% – nest in the ground. These ones chose a dirt parking lot. Some nice folks cordoned it off to protect the bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Females work side by side. Each is “queen” of her own funky little castle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They build turrets, but only some of them are vertical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many are tunnel-like, with a sideways entrance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others curve down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll see why that’s important in a bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the bees are done digging, they head off on another mission. They gather pollen from one plant only: morning glories, also known as bindweeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She rubs her shaggy legs all over that pollen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And down she goes with her haul.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pollen pants!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside her nest, she packs the pollen into neat balls – each one in its own chamber – and lays an egg on top.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the egg hatches into a larva, it will live off the pollen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As she toils, freeloaders show up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They look like a bee, but their huge eyes give them away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’re called … wait for it … bee flies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fly doesn’t dig or gather pollen for her young. She just hovers over a bee’s nest and … yup, she’s dropping her own eggs in there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’ll drop 200 eggs over her lifetime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is where those tunnels and curved turrets are useful. They make it harder for the flies to drop their eggs in from the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when the fly does succeed, the fly’s egg hatches into a larva that digs tiny hooks into the bee larva.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the bee eats the pollen and grows, the fly larva sucks it dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes the flies are so successful, they can nearly wipe out a population of bees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But these bees don’t give up. Two or three months of mating, foraging and warding off parasites come to an end when they seal up their nests with dirt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below ground, babies will grow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following spring, if the bees are lucky, a new tiny city will burst to life, full of bees persevering just as their mothers did before them.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Last Summer's Fish-Killing Algae Bloom Is Back in the Bay",
"headTitle": "Last Summer’s Fish-Killing Algae Bloom Is Back in the Bay | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>A red tide that has left a light-brown sheen on the water along parts of the East Bay shoreline is the same type of toxic algae bloom that killed thousands of fish in the San Francisco Bay last summer, a local environmental group warned on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have confirmed with our partners that it’s the same species as last year,” Eileen White, executive officer of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/\">San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board\u003c/a>, said at a Monday afternoon press conference. She said the organism has so far been found in the bay waters near Emeryville, Albany, the Berkeley Marina, Richardson Bay and Belvedere Cove, as well as off the Marin County coast, near Muir Beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The good news is we have not seen any marine animal deaths as a result of this algae bloom,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://baykeeper.org/\">San Francisco Baykeeper\u003c/a>’s pollution hotline lit up late last week with calls about the tea-colored water seen stretching from Emeryville to Albany, said Jon Rosenfield, the group’s senior scientist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Two years in a row is quite alarming,” he said, noting that it remained unclear how bad the bloom will get. “There’s really nothing that people can do to stop a bloom like this once it’s started. It just has to burn itself out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Red tides are fueled by elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus expelled into the water as a byproduct of treated sewage from wastewater treatment plants — leaving nutrients that algae love to nibble on. Such conditions can cause the algae to grow out of control and sometimes form a rust-colored hue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"White sailboats float in reddish brown water.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reddish-brown water due to an algae bloom can be seen in the Berkeley Marina on July 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Not every algal bloom is harmful, some can even be beneficial to marine habitats. But others produce deadly blooms — as did the one \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11923920/dead-fish-are-piling-up-across-shores-of-san-francisco-bay-lake-merritt-as-algal-bloom-grows\">that emerged last August\u003c/a>. That algae species, identified as \u003ca href=\"https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/toxicity-toxic-alga-heterosigma-akashiwo-puget-sound/\">Heterosigma akashiwo\u003c/a>, and also believed to be the cause of the current bloom, killed an untold number fish over a matter of weeks, their rotting, fetid carcasses littered across Bay Area shorelines, including the banks of Lake Merritt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The algae species emits a toxin that’s especially harmful to fish. It can also spur a biological reaction that depletes oxygen levels in the water, acerbating the marine death toll.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Senn, a senior scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute, said that while it’s too soon to tell, the current bloom may be the result of algae from last year that lay dormant in sediment over the winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not all that surprising that we’re seeing a reemergence of this again this summer,” said Senn, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfei.org/\">whose group\u003c/a> is using satellite imagery to track the bloom in real time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield, with SF Baykeeper, blames this and other recent harmful algal blooms on the region’s 37 wastewater plants that regularly discharge treated sewage into the bay. He said the regional water board has an opportunity next year to change permitting rules — when permits go up for renewal — to clamp down on the nutrient load the plants are allowed to release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco Bay has some of the highest levels of nutrient pollution of any estuary in the world,” he said. “The solution is to remove the fuel load, which means keeping those nutrients out of the bay waters\u003cem>.\u003c/em>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although local wastewater treatment plants remove sewage, most do not filter out all the nutrients before discharging water back into the bay. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11926046/as-dead-fish-pile-up-the-economic-and-environmental-impact-of-the-red-tide-becomes-apparent\">Fixing the problem could cost at least $12 billion\u003c/a> and maybe twice that much, according to Bay Area Clean Water Agencies, which represent local water districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"More on red tides\" postID=\"news_11926046,news_11923920,news_11924660\"]White, with the regional water board, said some local wastewater plants are already redesigning their facilities to reduce the amount of nutrients released into the bay. But she said the push is not uniform and, although it could ramp up next year, there is currently no formal requirement for plant operators to reduce the nutrient loads that are discharged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of the wastewater agencies have already started planning, but knowing that it’s not like switching on a light switch, it’s going to take time to plan, design and construct,” said White, who formerly served as East Bay Municipal Utility District’s wastewater director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists also say red tides are likely to occur more often as the climate warms and raises water temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>High nutrient loads and warming water is “like a one-two punch, and we really need to tackle both of the problems,” said Emily Jeffers, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “But the one that we can address more readily and more quickly is the nutrient loads from the wastewater-treatment facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jeffers said she learned about the current algal bloom from her 8-year-old daughter, who attended summer camp at the Berkeley Marina last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She said some kids might go in the water and that she didn’t think that was a good idea,” Jeffers said of her daughter. “I told her that was smart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Local agencies are closely monitoring a brown stretch of water that first appeared along parts of the East Bay shoreline last week and is confirmed to be the same type of algae bloom that killed thousands of fish in and around the bay last year. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A red tide that has left a light-brown sheen on the water along parts of the East Bay shoreline is the same type of toxic algae bloom that killed thousands of fish in the San Francisco Bay last summer, a local environmental group warned on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have confirmed with our partners that it’s the same species as last year,” Eileen White, executive officer of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/\">San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board\u003c/a>, said at a Monday afternoon press conference. She said the organism has so far been found in the bay waters near Emeryville, Albany, the Berkeley Marina, Richardson Bay and Belvedere Cove, as well as off the Marin County coast, near Muir Beach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The good news is we have not seen any marine animal deaths as a result of this algae bloom,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://baykeeper.org/\">San Francisco Baykeeper\u003c/a>’s pollution hotline lit up late last week with calls about the tea-colored water seen stretching from Emeryville to Albany, said Jon Rosenfield, the group’s senior scientist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Two years in a row is quite alarming,” he said, noting that it remained unclear how bad the bloom will get. “There’s really nothing that people can do to stop a bloom like this once it’s started. It just has to burn itself out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Red tides are fueled by elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus expelled into the water as a byproduct of treated sewage from wastewater treatment plants — leaving nutrients that algae love to nibble on. Such conditions can cause the algae to grow out of control and sometimes form a rust-colored hue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1983659\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1983659\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut.jpg\" alt=\"White sailboats float in reddish brown water.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2023/08/RS67416_230731-RedTideAlgae-08-BL-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reddish-brown water due to an algae bloom can be seen in the Berkeley Marina on July 31, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Not every algal bloom is harmful, some can even be beneficial to marine habitats. But others produce deadly blooms — as did the one \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11923920/dead-fish-are-piling-up-across-shores-of-san-francisco-bay-lake-merritt-as-algal-bloom-grows\">that emerged last August\u003c/a>. That algae species, identified as \u003ca href=\"https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/toxicity-toxic-alga-heterosigma-akashiwo-puget-sound/\">Heterosigma akashiwo\u003c/a>, and also believed to be the cause of the current bloom, killed an untold number fish over a matter of weeks, their rotting, fetid carcasses littered across Bay Area shorelines, including the banks of Lake Merritt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The algae species emits a toxin that’s especially harmful to fish. It can also spur a biological reaction that depletes oxygen levels in the water, acerbating the marine death toll.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Senn, a senior scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute, said that while it’s too soon to tell, the current bloom may be the result of algae from last year that lay dormant in sediment over the winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not all that surprising that we’re seeing a reemergence of this again this summer,” said Senn, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfei.org/\">whose group\u003c/a> is using satellite imagery to track the bloom in real time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rosenfield, with SF Baykeeper, blames this and other recent harmful algal blooms on the region’s 37 wastewater plants that regularly discharge treated sewage into the bay. He said the regional water board has an opportunity next year to change permitting rules — when permits go up for renewal — to clamp down on the nutrient load the plants are allowed to release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco Bay has some of the highest levels of nutrient pollution of any estuary in the world,” he said. “The solution is to remove the fuel load, which means keeping those nutrients out of the bay waters\u003cem>.\u003c/em>”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although local wastewater treatment plants remove sewage, most do not filter out all the nutrients before discharging water back into the bay. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11926046/as-dead-fish-pile-up-the-economic-and-environmental-impact-of-the-red-tide-becomes-apparent\">Fixing the problem could cost at least $12 billion\u003c/a> and maybe twice that much, according to Bay Area Clean Water Agencies, which represent local water districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>White, with the regional water board, said some local wastewater plants are already redesigning their facilities to reduce the amount of nutrients released into the bay. But she said the push is not uniform and, although it could ramp up next year, there is currently no formal requirement for plant operators to reduce the nutrient loads that are discharged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some of the wastewater agencies have already started planning, but knowing that it’s not like switching on a light switch, it’s going to take time to plan, design and construct,” said White, who formerly served as East Bay Municipal Utility District’s wastewater director.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists also say red tides are likely to occur more often as the climate warms and raises water temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>High nutrient loads and warming water is “like a one-two punch, and we really need to tackle both of the problems,” said Emily Jeffers, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “But the one that we can address more readily and more quickly is the nutrient loads from the wastewater-treatment facilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jeffers said she learned about the current algal bloom from her 8-year-old daughter, who attended summer camp at the Berkeley Marina last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She said some kids might go in the water and that she didn’t think that was a good idea,” Jeffers said of her daughter. “I told her that was smart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Why Cities Like San Francisco Get 10 Degrees Hotter Than Rural Areas",
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"content": "\u003cp>Tens of millions of Americans have been living with stifling, dangerous heat this summer. A new analysis shows how much worse it is for people living in urban environments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly 41 million people live in urban areas where temperatures are at least 8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than their more rural surroundings, according to the analysis from the nonprofit research group \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/\">Climate Central\u003c/a>. In some neighborhoods of Washington D.C., Chicago, New York and San Francisco, temperatures are more than 10 degrees hotter, amplifying health risks and cooling costs for millions of residents.[aside label=\"Related coverage\" postID=\"news_11878134\"]Other research shows lower-income areas and communities of color are \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/09/03/754044732/as-rising-heat-bakes-u-s-cities-the-poor-often-feel-it-most\">often worst affected\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate change, supercharged by the burning of fossil fuels, is causing more intense and more frequent heatwaves. A study published earlier this week found that recent heatwaves in Europe and America would be “\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/07/25/1189837347/u-s-european-heat-waves-virtually-impossible-without-climate-change-new-study-fi\">virtually impossible\u003c/a>” without human-caused warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In cities, the heat is amplified by something called the \u003ca href=\"https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/climate-change-impacts/urban-heat-islands\">urban heat island effect\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Urban heat islands are a byproduct of a built environment. Gas-powered cars and air conditioning units generate and radiate heat. Concrete parking lots and buildings absorb the sun’s heat and emit that heat long after the sun sets. Fewer trees mean less shade. Densely built areas essentially become islands where temperatures are hotter than their surroundings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even if you live in the suburbs, there is some relevance when you think maybe [from] your nice shaded house, you go to the shopping plaza by the highway and you feel how much hotter it is there,” said Jen Brady, senior data analyst at Climate Central. “It’s because you have this dense built environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new analysis is essentially a more detailed and tighter focused version of a report Brady helped lead in 2021, which created an index to measure the intensity of urban heat islands and then ranked \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/urban-heat-islands\">the nation’s 159 most-affected cities\u003c/a>. That index generated an intensity score based on several things including population density, building height, and whether a surface reflects sunlight or absorbs and retains heat. Climate Central’s latest examination looked at 44 of the country’s largest cities by population, zoomed in, and applied the same index to nearly 19,000 census tracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was surprised at how far out the urban heat island effect was,” Brady said. “I was thinking once you got out of the city core, [temperature] was just going to jump off a cliff, you know, [from] eight degrees more to two.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In reality, she said, the effects extend fairly far out. “You’re maintaining four to five degrees further and further outside even the city core.”[pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Angel Hsu, a public policy professor at the University of North Carolina']‘Americans in major U.S. cities living two times below the poverty line are exposed to almost a full degree higher Celsius of this urban heat island effect compared to their wealthier counterparts. And the same thing goes with people of color.’[/pullquote]The study did not apply socioeconomic or race data to the findings, but other research shows that some neighborhoods experience even worse heat island effects than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Angel Hsu, a public policy professor at the University of North Carolina, published a study in 2021 looking at \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22799-5\">disproportionate exposures\u003c/a> to heat islands between different communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we found is that within a city, there can be huge differences in those temperatures and the heat exposure that various residents experience depending on their socio-demographic background,” she said. “Americans in major U.S. cities living two times below the poverty line are exposed to almost a full degree higher Celsius of this urban heat island effect compared to their wealthier counterparts. And the same thing goes with people of color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Biden administration is trying to address the discrepancy, announcing earlier this year the availability of \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2023/04/12/biden-harris-administration-announces-historic-funding-expand\">$1 billion in grants\u003c/a> for projects aimed at expanding green space or tree coverage in disadvantaged urban communities. Some cities and states are leading efforts to do the same. In Austin, aluminum shelters are being built over bus stops, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kut.org/transportation/2023-07-19/capmetro-new-bus-shelters-heat\">providing shade\u003c/a> for waiting commuters. In Los Angeles, some streets are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/heat-latinos-la-times-oc/cool-streets#:~:text=Reflective%20gray%20paint%20absorbs%20less,takes%20a%20walk%20every%20day.\">being painted\u003c/a> a bright shade of gray to reflect sunlight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are smaller scale solutions,” Brady said. “It’s not going to take you from ten additional degrees to zero degrees, but they can make it more bearable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=It%27s+hot+out+there.+A+new+analysis+shows+it%27s+much+worse+if+you%27re+in+a+city&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Tens of millions of Americans have been living with stifling, dangerous heat this summer. A new analysis shows how much worse it is for people living in urban environments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly 41 million people live in urban areas where temperatures are at least 8 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than their more rural surroundings, according to the analysis from the nonprofit research group \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/\">Climate Central\u003c/a>. In some neighborhoods of Washington D.C., Chicago, New York and San Francisco, temperatures are more than 10 degrees hotter, amplifying health risks and cooling costs for millions of residents.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Other research shows lower-income areas and communities of color are \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/09/03/754044732/as-rising-heat-bakes-u-s-cities-the-poor-often-feel-it-most\">often worst affected\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Climate change, supercharged by the burning of fossil fuels, is causing more intense and more frequent heatwaves. A study published earlier this week found that recent heatwaves in Europe and America would be “\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/07/25/1189837347/u-s-european-heat-waves-virtually-impossible-without-climate-change-new-study-fi\">virtually impossible\u003c/a>” without human-caused warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In cities, the heat is amplified by something called the \u003ca href=\"https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/climate-change-impacts/urban-heat-islands\">urban heat island effect\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Urban heat islands are a byproduct of a built environment. Gas-powered cars and air conditioning units generate and radiate heat. Concrete parking lots and buildings absorb the sun’s heat and emit that heat long after the sun sets. Fewer trees mean less shade. Densely built areas essentially become islands where temperatures are hotter than their surroundings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even if you live in the suburbs, there is some relevance when you think maybe [from] your nice shaded house, you go to the shopping plaza by the highway and you feel how much hotter it is there,” said Jen Brady, senior data analyst at Climate Central. “It’s because you have this dense built environment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new analysis is essentially a more detailed and tighter focused version of a report Brady helped lead in 2021, which created an index to measure the intensity of urban heat islands and then ranked \u003ca href=\"https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/urban-heat-islands\">the nation’s 159 most-affected cities\u003c/a>. That index generated an intensity score based on several things including population density, building height, and whether a surface reflects sunlight or absorbs and retains heat. Climate Central’s latest examination looked at 44 of the country’s largest cities by population, zoomed in, and applied the same index to nearly 19,000 census tracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was surprised at how far out the urban heat island effect was,” Brady said. “I was thinking once you got out of the city core, [temperature] was just going to jump off a cliff, you know, [from] eight degrees more to two.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In reality, she said, the effects extend fairly far out. “You’re maintaining four to five degrees further and further outside even the city core.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The study did not apply socioeconomic or race data to the findings, but other research shows that some neighborhoods experience even worse heat island effects than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Angel Hsu, a public policy professor at the University of North Carolina, published a study in 2021 looking at \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22799-5\">disproportionate exposures\u003c/a> to heat islands between different communities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we found is that within a city, there can be huge differences in those temperatures and the heat exposure that various residents experience depending on their socio-demographic background,” she said. “Americans in major U.S. cities living two times below the poverty line are exposed to almost a full degree higher Celsius of this urban heat island effect compared to their wealthier counterparts. And the same thing goes with people of color.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Biden administration is trying to address the discrepancy, announcing earlier this year the availability of \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2023/04/12/biden-harris-administration-announces-historic-funding-expand\">$1 billion in grants\u003c/a> for projects aimed at expanding green space or tree coverage in disadvantaged urban communities. Some cities and states are leading efforts to do the same. In Austin, aluminum shelters are being built over bus stops, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kut.org/transportation/2023-07-19/capmetro-new-bus-shelters-heat\">providing shade\u003c/a> for waiting commuters. In Los Angeles, some streets are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/heat-latinos-la-times-oc/cool-streets#:~:text=Reflective%20gray%20paint%20absorbs%20less,takes%20a%20walk%20every%20day.\">being painted\u003c/a> a bright shade of gray to reflect sunlight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are smaller scale solutions,” Brady said. “It’s not going to take you from ten additional degrees to zero degrees, but they can make it more bearable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=It%27s+hot+out+there.+A+new+analysis+shows+it%27s+much+worse+if+you%27re+in+a+city&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"soldout": {
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