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"content": "\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">When a wildfire tore through Briceburg nearly two years ago, the tiny community on the edge of Yosemite National Park lost the only power line connecting it to the electrical grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">Rather than rebuilding poles and wires over increasingly dry hillsides, which could raise the risk of equipment igniting catastrophic fires, the nation’s largest utility decided to give Briceburg a self-reliant power system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">The stand-alone grid made of solar panels, batteries and a backup generator began operating this month. It’s the first of potentially hundreds of its kind as Pacific Gas & Electric works to prevent another deadly fire like the one that forced it to file for bankruptcy in 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">The ramping up of this technology is among a number of strategies to improve energy resilience in California as a cycle of extreme heat, drought and wildfires hammers the U.S. West, triggering massive blackouts and threatening the power supply in the country’s most populous state. Other tactics include raising the cost of electricity during high-demand hours — when it’s most expensive to provide it — and offering cash and prizes to conserve energy when the grid is strained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">“I don’t think anyone in the world anticipated how quickly the changes brought on by climate change would manifest. We’re all scrambling to deal with that,” said Peter Lehman, the founding director of the Schatz Energy Research Center, a clean energy institute in Arcata.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">The response follows widespread blackouts in California in the past two years that exposed the power grid’s vulnerability to weather. Fierce windstorms led utilities to deliberately shut off power to large swaths of the state to keep high-voltage transmission lines from sparking fire. Then last summer, an oppressive heat wave triggered the first rolling outages in 20 years. More than 800,000 homes and businesses lost power over two days in August.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">During both crises, a Native American reservation on California’s far northern coast kept the electricity flowing with the help of two microgrids that can disconnect from the larger electrical grid and switch to using solar energy generated and stored in battery banks near its hotel casino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">As most of rural Humboldt County sat in the dark during a planned shutoff in October 2019, the Blue Lake Rancheria became a lifeline for thousands of its neighbors: The gas station and convenience store provided fuel and supplies, the hotel housed patients who needed a place to plug in medical devices, the local newspaper used the conference room to put out the next day’s edition, and a hatchery continued pumping water to keep its fish alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">“We’ve had outages before, but they were not severe. This one lasted almost three days for us,” said Shad Overton, a manager at Mad River Hatchery. “The electricity from the microgrid pumped the diesel fuel we needed for our generator.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">During a few hours of rolling blackouts last August, the reservation’s microgrids went into “island mode” to help ease stress on the state’s maxed-out grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">“We seemed to arrive just in time to handle these emergencies, but it’s about good governance over the last decades that paid attention to … what tribal elders were saying about how the conditions were changing, and taking that information and planning for it,” said Jana Ganion, the tribe’s director of sustainability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">Energy experts said the tribe’s $8 million microgrids highlight the technology’s potential in providing reliable power to hospitals, fire stations and other small-scale operations that can provide emergency services during a disaster, and to remote communities vulnerable to power loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">“Anything that can give you a little bit of electricity, charge your phone or keep the fridge running when it’s dark is enormously valuable. Microgrids can play a huge part in that,” said Severin Borenstein, an energy economist at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">The state’s energy commission has funded dozens of projects, serving as test beds for policies that might lead to commercialization of microgrids. Regulators are trying to resolve a longstanding rule that prohibits private microgrids from selling their excess electricity “over the fence” because they are not regulated by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">In Briceburg, PG&E determined the cost of installing and maintaining the remote grid outweighed the long-term expense and risk of replacing power lines, utility spokesman Paul Doherty said. The five customers who draw power from it will pay the same rate as they did before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">Meanwhile, the state’s grid managers are grappling with the same challenge they faced last year. California routinely buys electricity from neighboring states when it is short on power, but imports are hard to come by when other states are hit by the same heat wave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">Bracing for another summer of heat waves, utilities across the U.S. West have been signing contracts for more emergency power supplies and are trying to make sure they aren’t relying on the same suppliers as everyone else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">The grid needs to be balanced at all times between electricity supply and demand. On hot days, it is stressed in the late afternoon and early evening, when solar power generation tails off after dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">The California Independent System Operator said there have been upgrades in power storage and transmission since last summer, including four times the amount of battery storage from the current 500 megawatts on its system to 2,000 megawatts by August. In all, there will be about 3,500 megawatts of capacity — enough to power some 2.6 million homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">There are setbacks too: \u003ca class=\"\" href=\"http://leads.ap.org/best-of-the-states/drought-saps-california-reservoirs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">An intensifying drought is weakening the state’s hydroelectric facilities\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">Officials warned power shortages could still happen this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">“We just don’t know how hot it’s going to get and we don’t know how much demand will be,” said Borenstein, who also sits on ISO’s board of governors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">To encourage utility customers to shift some energy use to times when renewable resources are most plentiful, utilities are moving customers to new rate plans where they pay less in the daytime and more during peak demand hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">One company is offering incentives, in the form of cash and gift cards, to people who reduce their household consumption at key times. 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This one lasted almost three days for us,” said Shad Overton, a manager at Mad River Hatchery. “The electricity from the microgrid pumped the diesel fuel we needed for our generator.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">During a few hours of rolling blackouts last August, the reservation’s microgrids went into “island mode” to help ease stress on the state’s maxed-out grid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">“We seemed to arrive just in time to handle these emergencies, but it’s about good governance over the last decades that paid attention to … what tribal elders were saying about how the conditions were changing, and taking that information and planning for it,” said Jana Ganion, the tribe’s director of sustainability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">Energy experts said the tribe’s $8 million microgrids highlight the technology’s potential in providing reliable power to hospitals, fire stations and other small-scale operations that can provide emergency services during a disaster, and to remote communities vulnerable to power loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">“Anything that can give you a little bit of electricity, charge your phone or keep the fridge running when it’s dark is enormously valuable. Microgrids can play a huge part in that,” said Severin Borenstein, an energy economist at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">The state’s energy commission has funded dozens of projects, serving as test beds for policies that might lead to commercialization of microgrids. Regulators are trying to resolve a longstanding rule that prohibits private microgrids from selling their excess electricity “over the fence” because they are not regulated by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">In Briceburg, PG&E determined the cost of installing and maintaining the remote grid outweighed the long-term expense and risk of replacing power lines, utility spokesman Paul Doherty said. The five customers who draw power from it will pay the same rate as they did before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">Meanwhile, the state’s grid managers are grappling with the same challenge they faced last year. California routinely buys electricity from neighboring states when it is short on power, but imports are hard to come by when other states are hit by the same heat wave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">Bracing for another summer of heat waves, utilities across the U.S. West have been signing contracts for more emergency power supplies and are trying to make sure they aren’t relying on the same suppliers as everyone else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">The grid needs to be balanced at all times between electricity supply and demand. On hot days, it is stressed in the late afternoon and early evening, when solar power generation tails off after dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">The California Independent System Operator said there have been upgrades in power storage and transmission since last summer, including four times the amount of battery storage from the current 500 megawatts on its system to 2,000 megawatts by August. In all, there will be about 3,500 megawatts of capacity — enough to power some 2.6 million homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">There are setbacks too: \u003ca class=\"\" href=\"http://leads.ap.org/best-of-the-states/drought-saps-california-reservoirs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">An intensifying drought is weakening the state’s hydroelectric facilities\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">Officials warned power shortages could still happen this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">“We just don’t know how hot it’s going to get and we don’t know how much demand will be,” said Borenstein, who also sits on ISO’s board of governors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">To encourage utility customers to shift some energy use to times when renewable resources are most plentiful, utilities are moving customers to new rate plans where they pay less in the daytime and more during peak demand hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">One company is offering incentives, in the form of cash and gift cards, to people who reduce their household consumption at key times. OhmConnect, a regulated participant on the electricity market, said during a four-day period last summer when ISO issued “FlexAlerts” urging conservation, customers who agreed to let the company manage their smart thermostats and appliances helped take off almost 1 gigawatt-hour of energy — the equivalent of San Francisco’s typical hourly use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">Cisco DeVries, CEO of the Oakland-based startup, joked that the opportunity to earn money by saving energy seems too good to be true so the company enlisted \u003ca class=\"\" href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abiB9oBgHZE&t=12s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">actress Kristen Bell to win over skeptics\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"Component-root-0-2-188 Component-p-0-2-179\">“Blackouts feel like a thing that happens that you have no control over, when the reality is that if we work together we actually can prevent it,” DeVries said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Behind the Push to Make Ecocide an International Crime",
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"content": "\u003cp>Mass environmental destruction, known as ecocide, would become an international crime similar to genocide and war crimes under a proposed new legal definition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The definition’s unveiling last week by a panel of 12 lawyers from around the world marks a big first step in the global campaign’s efforts to prevent future environmental disasters like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/11/18/780408594/amazon-rainforest-sees-biggest-spike-in-deforestation-in-over-a-decade\">deforestation of the Amazon\u003c/a> or actions that contribute to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/tags/125938077/climate-change\">climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are currently four core international crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. These crimes are dealt with by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide spent six months preparing the 165-word definition, working with outside experts along the way. In a \u003ca href=\"https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ca2608ab914493c64ef1f6d/t/60d1e6e604fae2201d03407f/1624368879048/SE+Foundation+Commentary+and+core+text+rev+6.pdf\">draft of the definition\u003c/a> by the Stop Ecocide Foundation, a Netherlands-based coalition, panelists said they hoped the proposed definition could provide a basis for the consideration of a new international crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So, What’s The Proposed Definition?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The draft defines ecocide as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975627\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975627\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/ecocide-definition1_enl-c53abe07f93fb94eda0310ad3dfa64f52a8af6b5-800x525.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/ecocide-definition1_enl-c53abe07f93fb94eda0310ad3dfa64f52a8af6b5-800x525.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/ecocide-definition1_enl-c53abe07f93fb94eda0310ad3dfa64f52a8af6b5-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/ecocide-definition1_enl-c53abe07f93fb94eda0310ad3dfa64f52a8af6b5-768x504.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/ecocide-definition1_enl-c53abe07f93fb94eda0310ad3dfa64f52a8af6b5.jpg 838w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Proposed definition of ecocide. \u003ccite>(Stop Ecocide Foundation/Screenshot by NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unlike the existing four international crimes, ecocide would be the only crime in which human harm is not a prerequisite for prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are elements of human harm that can be included in (the definition), but it also extends to damage, per se, to ecosystems,” said Jojo Mehta, chair and co-founder of the Stop Ecocide Foundation. “So effectively you’re looking at something that has, at least in part, potential to be a crime against nature, not just a crime against people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Original Ecocide Proposal is Almost 50 Years Old\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The intent to make ecocide an international crime isn’t new. The idea was brought up by then-\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/0dGIsMEQYgI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme \u003c/a>at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. In his speech, he warned that rapid industrial progress could deplete natural resources at unsustainable levels. But even before that biologist and bioethicist Arthur Galston used the word “ecocide” at the 1970 Conference on War and National Responsibility in Washington, D.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several other attempts at formalizing ecocide as an international crime have emerged since then. Ecocide was considered and then dropped during the formal establishment of the ICC in 1998. For 10 years until her death in 2019, Scottish barrister Polly Higgins campaigned for ecocide to be recognized as a crime against humanity. The Stop Ecocide Foundation took up the challenge in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Proposed Definition is Just the Start of a Long Process\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What would it take for the ICC to adopt the ecocide definition and amend the Rome Statute? A lot. Here are the steps that would need to happen:\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>One of the International Criminal Court’s 123-member countries (which do not include the U.S., China or India) would have to submit a definition to the United Nations secretary-general.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The proposal must then be voted on by a majority of members of the ICC at the annual assembly in December in order to be considered.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Once the final text for an amendment is discussed and agreed upon, two-thirds of member countries must vote in favor.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The vote is ratified and must be enforced in countries a year later. While it will become a criminal offense in the countries where it is ratified, ratifying nations may arrest non-nationals on their own soil for ecocide crimes committed elsewhere. This means citizens of countries that are not members of the ICC could still be affected.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>Between the formal proposal of an ecocide crime by a member country and ratification, however, an amendment process could take years to decades. The court would hold a vote at their annual meeting in December to take up the proposal, and after that, debates would begin to finalize the crime’s definition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite this, Mehta says that rapidly growing conversations and support around the subject have given the panel confidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t see any likelihood of it disappearing. The likelihood is it will actually get proposed,” she said. “However, even if it takes longer than we would like … just the fact that this conversation is happening is already making a difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The International Crime Court has not yet commented on the panel’s proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Josie Fischels is an intern on NPR’s News Desk. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=How+165+Words+Could+Make+Mass+Environmental+Destruction+An+International+Crime+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Mass environmental destruction, known as ecocide, would become an international crime similar to genocide and war crimes under a proposed new legal definition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The definition’s unveiling last week by a panel of 12 lawyers from around the world marks a big first step in the global campaign’s efforts to prevent future environmental disasters like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/11/18/780408594/amazon-rainforest-sees-biggest-spike-in-deforestation-in-over-a-decade\">deforestation of the Amazon\u003c/a> or actions that contribute to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/tags/125938077/climate-change\">climate change\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are currently four core international crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. These crimes are dealt with by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide spent six months preparing the 165-word definition, working with outside experts along the way. In a \u003ca href=\"https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ca2608ab914493c64ef1f6d/t/60d1e6e604fae2201d03407f/1624368879048/SE+Foundation+Commentary+and+core+text+rev+6.pdf\">draft of the definition\u003c/a> by the Stop Ecocide Foundation, a Netherlands-based coalition, panelists said they hoped the proposed definition could provide a basis for the consideration of a new international crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So, What’s The Proposed Definition?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The draft defines ecocide as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975627\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975627\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/ecocide-definition1_enl-c53abe07f93fb94eda0310ad3dfa64f52a8af6b5-800x525.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/ecocide-definition1_enl-c53abe07f93fb94eda0310ad3dfa64f52a8af6b5-800x525.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/ecocide-definition1_enl-c53abe07f93fb94eda0310ad3dfa64f52a8af6b5-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/ecocide-definition1_enl-c53abe07f93fb94eda0310ad3dfa64f52a8af6b5-768x504.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/ecocide-definition1_enl-c53abe07f93fb94eda0310ad3dfa64f52a8af6b5.jpg 838w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Proposed definition of ecocide. \u003ccite>(Stop Ecocide Foundation/Screenshot by NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Unlike the existing four international crimes, ecocide would be the only crime in which human harm is not a prerequisite for prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are elements of human harm that can be included in (the definition), but it also extends to damage, per se, to ecosystems,” said Jojo Mehta, chair and co-founder of the Stop Ecocide Foundation. “So effectively you’re looking at something that has, at least in part, potential to be a crime against nature, not just a crime against people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Original Ecocide Proposal is Almost 50 Years Old\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The intent to make ecocide an international crime isn’t new. The idea was brought up by then-\u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/0dGIsMEQYgI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme \u003c/a>at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. In his speech, he warned that rapid industrial progress could deplete natural resources at unsustainable levels. But even before that biologist and bioethicist Arthur Galston used the word “ecocide” at the 1970 Conference on War and National Responsibility in Washington, D.C.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several other attempts at formalizing ecocide as an international crime have emerged since then. Ecocide was considered and then dropped during the formal establishment of the ICC in 1998. For 10 years until her death in 2019, Scottish barrister Polly Higgins campaigned for ecocide to be recognized as a crime against humanity. The Stop Ecocide Foundation took up the challenge in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Proposed Definition is Just the Start of a Long Process\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What would it take for the ICC to adopt the ecocide definition and amend the Rome Statute? A lot. Here are the steps that would need to happen:\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>One of the International Criminal Court’s 123-member countries (which do not include the U.S., China or India) would have to submit a definition to the United Nations secretary-general.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The proposal must then be voted on by a majority of members of the ICC at the annual assembly in December in order to be considered.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Once the final text for an amendment is discussed and agreed upon, two-thirds of member countries must vote in favor.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The vote is ratified and must be enforced in countries a year later. While it will become a criminal offense in the countries where it is ratified, ratifying nations may arrest non-nationals on their own soil for ecocide crimes committed elsewhere. This means citizens of countries that are not members of the ICC could still be affected.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>Between the formal proposal of an ecocide crime by a member country and ratification, however, an amendment process could take years to decades. The court would hold a vote at their annual meeting in December to take up the proposal, and after that, debates would begin to finalize the crime’s definition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite this, Mehta says that rapidly growing conversations and support around the subject have given the panel confidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t see any likelihood of it disappearing. The likelihood is it will actually get proposed,” she said. “However, even if it takes longer than we would like … just the fact that this conversation is happening is already making a difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The International Crime Court has not yet commented on the panel’s proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Josie Fischels is an intern on NPR’s News Desk. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=How+165+Words+Could+Make+Mass+Environmental+Destruction+An+International+Crime+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"headTitle": "Record-Shattering Heat Waves Are an ‘Alarm System for the Climate Emergency’ | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The latest in a seemingly \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29082020/climate-extremes-record-heat-wildfires-hurricane-laura-floods/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">endless series of heat waves\u003c/a> around the world hit the Pacific Northwest last weekend and will continue through the week, showing that even regions with cool coastlines and lush forests cannot avoid the blistering extremes of global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Temperatures across most of Oregon and Washington spiked 20 to 30 degrees Celsius above normal, with even hotter conditions expected through Tuesday, driving concerns about impacts to human health, infrastructure and ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BenNollWeather/status/1409513163750580229\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter thread\u003c/a> over the weekend, Ben Noll, a meteorologist with the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/niwa_nz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research\u003c/a>, reported that Portland, Oregon, would be hotter than 99.9% of the rest of the planet on Sunday. “The only places expected to be hotter: Africa’s Sahara Desert, Persian Gulf, California’s deserts,” he tweeted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Sunday, the heat \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/wspd7pio/status/1409353691287592970\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">buckled roads\u003c/a> as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington reached a record temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, 12 degrees hotter than its previous record of 92, which was set in 2015. And the western Canadian community of Lytton reached 116 on Sunday, an \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57634700\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">all-time record\u003c/a> for the nation and one of 40 records set in British Columbia that day, according to the BBC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, in Washington and Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains, the heat was expected to endure through the week, after reaching a projected high of 117 on Tuesday. At least \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NWSPortland/status/1409378393678774274\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">11 towns\u003c/a> in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington state recorded all-time high temperatures, many surging past the previous maximums by 4 or 5 degrees Fahrenheit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Excessive heat warnings covered western maps from British Columbia, Canada, to Montana in the east, and south to the U.S.-Mexico border. The heat wave shattered all-time temperature records on Saturday and Sunday with triple-digit temperatures, according to the National Weather Service. But still higher temperatures were forecast for Monday and Tuesday, as the “unprecedented event” continued to scorch the landscape and put health at risk through the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dangerously hot conditions today with temperatures lingering in the upper 90s on Tuesday with potentially dangerously hot heat index values up to 111,” said the NWS excessive heat warning that remained in place \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=pqr&wwa=excessive%20heat%20warning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">through Monday\u003c/a> and, in some areas, extended into \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=ORZ507&warncounty=ORC059&firewxzone=ORZ641&local_place1=Pendleton%20OR&product1=Excessive+Heat+Warning&lat=45.6722&lon=-118.787\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thursday\u003c/a>. “Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities.” Health officials on Monday advised people to reschedule outdoor activities, The Seattle Times reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The intensity of the heat wave, measured by how far temperatures are spiking above normal, is among the greatest ever measured globally. The extremes are on par with a 2003 European heat wave that killed about 70,000 people, and a 2013 heat wave in Australia, when meteorologists \u003ca href=\"https://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/temperatures-off-the-charts-as-australia-turns-deep-purple-20130108-2ce33.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">added new shades of dark purple\u003c/a> to their maps to show unprecedented temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the more extreme the temperature records, climate scientists said, the more obvious the fingerprint of global warming will be on the heat wave. But even among climate scientists, the biggest concern was the immediate impacts of the record shattering temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I shudder to think what the mortality rate will be from this event,” said Phil Mote, a climate scientist with the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OSUCEOAS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University\u003c/a>. Research shows that early season heat waves like this one are deadlier than those happening later in the year because people haven’t acclimatized yet, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local weather service offices warned people to cool themselves with a reminder that heat was the leading cause of weather-related fatalities between 1991 and 2020. But experts and officials warned that people in the region, where there are fewer people with air conditioning than without it, are ill-equipped to protect themselves from persistent triple-digit temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Seattle, University of Washington climate scientist \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/huprice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Heather Price\u003c/a> taped aluminum foil inside her windows to try and protect her family of four as temperatures reached the 90s early Sunday morning. She \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/huprice/status/1409302753264824322\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">used a handheld thermometer\u003c/a> to check how much it cooled their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This really is a public health emergency,” she said. “Of all disasters, heat kills the most people. The data is out there, and it’s worse in cool climates.” Even though Seattle has opened wading pools and spray parks that have been closed since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, some public water fountains are still turned off to prevent spread of the coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Residents are not happy about the failure of access to public water with this heat,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Where There’s Unprecedented Heat, There’s Fire\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire meteorologist John Saltenberger of the Northwest Coordination Center in Portland, keeps an eye on the risk of wildfire across Oregon and Washington.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not only the historic temperatures increasing the wildfire potential, but also what might follow, with winds kicking up across the rangelands east of the Cascade Mountains as the heat wave extends for another week, he said. But Saltenberger’s concerns also extend beyond the current weather patterns to some troubling long-term trends that he was following through the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Never have the three months from March to May been drier in 125 years of record-keeping, he said. He also recalled a climate study that showed how, over four decades, the number of rainy days during the fire season is declining in the Northwest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Heat alone isn’t really sufficient to trigger the risk of large costly, fires,” he said. “Heat, overlaid with lightning or heat overlaid with a strong wind event — now that’s a different matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Less rain during fire season means more hot, dry days, which means higher fire danger and more fires and more burned areas,” he added. “And 2021 appears to be going right along with that trend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon had just \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/nfn#Oregon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">two large fires\u003c/a> burning Monday totaling less than 8,000 acres, and Washington had none, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Saltenberger’s latest seven-day outlook for Washington and Oregon projected that wildfire risk is rising for the drier, inland landscapes in both states east of the Cascade Range. Beginning Wednesday, the probability of large fires triggered by lightning and fueled by a “critical burn environment,” rises to high risk levels, his Monday wildfire forecast said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fire danger indices continue rising as the heat wave amplifies over the entire region,” it said. “Significant fire potential ramps up starting today due to the combination of heat, rising fire danger indices and easterly winds that will eventually switch as a thermal trough moves across the Cascades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Drought Monitor \u003ca href=\"https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?West\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">map\u003c/a> showed the entire state of Oregon experiencing some form of dryness last week, with more than three quarters of the state in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought. In Washington state, about one fourth of the land appeared in the “extreme” drought category.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biologists are hoping to protect Snake River \u003ca href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2021/06/27/hot-salmon-heat-wave-brings-concern-over-river-water-temperatures/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sockeye salmon\u003c/a>, which are just beginning to head upstream to spawn, by releasing cooler water from the Dworshak Dam, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The heat wave, following a year of deadly wildfires and a spring dry enough to put 91% of the West in drought, is triggering conversations about the ways climate change has already set the stage for more record-smashing weather disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>An Underestimated and Underreported Threat\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current Western heat wave is remarkable by almost any standard, said University of Reading climate scientist \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ChloBrim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chloe Brimicombe\u003c/a>. But such events are becoming more common, to a large degree because of the 1.2 degree Celsius global average temperature increase since the industrial revolution has pushed the heat wave needle into the red zone, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Heat waves are our alarm system for the climate emergency,” she said. “If there are more heat waves, our emergency is getting worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of her recent research shows heat threats are underestimated and underreported, and that poor, vulnerable communities suffer the most, with developing countries taking the biggest hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Arizona Republic reported earlier this month on the steep increase in people suffering severe burns from surfaces like pavement during heat waves. Over the summer of 2020, the Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health reported 104 people being admitted with burns from hot pavement, almost all of whom required surgery for their injuries, a fact that shocked Brimicombe. “I hadn’t fathomed the idea of (third-degree) burns (during a heat wave),” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Globally, extreme heat killed at least \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/health-topics/heatwaves#tab=tab_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">166,000 people between 1998 and 2017\u003c/a>, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, the EPA cites studies estimating 1,300 heat deaths occurred annually in recent decades. \u003ca href=\"https://www.globalchange.gov/browse/indicators/us-heat-waves\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Federal research shows\u003c/a> the heat wave season in Portland and Seattle is 40 to 60 days longer than in the 1960s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heat waves threaten food crops and are already triggering mass migration. They also have ecosystem impacts, such as widespread fish die-offs in dried-out streams and potentially harmful algal blooms in lakes and coastal areas. Extreme heat can drive sudden forest mortality, killing trees already weakened by drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karin Bumbaco, assistant Washington state climatologist, called climate change attribution “a really great question, and it is one that’s hard to answer.” She said it won’t be possible to tease apart how much natural variability and how much man-made warming can be blamed for the current Northwest heat wave until scientific studies examine what happened, which typically takes months or years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But, you know, even without that being done, it’s a safe assumption, in my view, to blame increasing greenhouse gases for some portion of this event — Washington state is warming, the Pacific Northwest is warming, globally we’re warming,” she said. “As we shift that baseline, we’re going to see more and more of these extreme events.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For climate scientist Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the Pacific Northwest extreme heat is shocking. He said on Twitter that scientists will find a clear global warming fingerprint on the heat wave, with the exact influence of global warming linked with how hot it gets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the hotter it gets,” he said, “the larger the attribution will be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists with World Weather Attribution have already launched a study to identify how global warming intensified the Pacific Northwest heat wave, with initial results expected in early July, said \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/gjvoldenborgh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Geert Jan van Oldenborgh\u003c/a>, a climate scientist with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, who has co-authored several previous \u003ca href=\"https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/analysis/heatwave/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">climate attribution studies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That research could help explain a worrying trend. In some regions, like northwestern Europe, heat waves in the last 20 years have become warmer about twice as fast\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>as many climate models project, “and we don’t know why,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larry O’Neill, Oregon’s state climatologist and associate professor at Oregon State University, agreed the trend in the Northwest is for more extreme heat events and even higher temperatures, based on a growing body of climate research. Temperature records, shorter winters, drought, the doggedness of a heat dome over the West and even tropical cyclone data from the western Pacific — they all point to what’s come to be called the “fingerprint” of global warming on weather, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are things that were all projected by climate models 20 years ago, and we’re experiencing them now,” O’Neill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some climate scientists actually feeling the heat, the fact that climate models have been predicting events like the current heat wave for decades means their discomfort is matched by frustration over the \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05062019/heat-deaths-cities-climate-change-paris-agreement-half-degree/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">unheeded warnings\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m hoping this heat wave is going to wake some folks up,” Price, the University of Washington climate scientist, said. “People think they are living in the climate they grew up in, but it’s gone. The best we can do now is soften our landing in a heated world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">InsideClimate News\u003c/a> is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Scientists see a heavy climate change fingerprint in a series of recent U.S. heat waves. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The latest in a seemingly \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29082020/climate-extremes-record-heat-wildfires-hurricane-laura-floods/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">endless series of heat waves\u003c/a> around the world hit the Pacific Northwest last weekend and will continue through the week, showing that even regions with cool coastlines and lush forests cannot avoid the blistering extremes of global warming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Temperatures across most of Oregon and Washington spiked 20 to 30 degrees Celsius above normal, with even hotter conditions expected through Tuesday, driving concerns about impacts to human health, infrastructure and ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BenNollWeather/status/1409513163750580229\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter thread\u003c/a> over the weekend, Ben Noll, a meteorologist with the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/niwa_nz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research\u003c/a>, reported that Portland, Oregon, would be hotter than 99.9% of the rest of the planet on Sunday. “The only places expected to be hotter: Africa’s Sahara Desert, Persian Gulf, California’s deserts,” he tweeted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Sunday, the heat \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/wspd7pio/status/1409353691287592970\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">buckled roads\u003c/a> as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington reached a record temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, 12 degrees hotter than its previous record of 92, which was set in 2015. And the western Canadian community of Lytton reached 116 on Sunday, an \u003ca href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57634700\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">all-time record\u003c/a> for the nation and one of 40 records set in British Columbia that day, according to the BBC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, in Washington and Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains, the heat was expected to endure through the week, after reaching a projected high of 117 on Tuesday. At least \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NWSPortland/status/1409378393678774274\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">11 towns\u003c/a> in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington state recorded all-time high temperatures, many surging past the previous maximums by 4 or 5 degrees Fahrenheit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Excessive heat warnings covered western maps from British Columbia, Canada, to Montana in the east, and south to the U.S.-Mexico border. The heat wave shattered all-time temperature records on Saturday and Sunday with triple-digit temperatures, according to the National Weather Service. But still higher temperatures were forecast for Monday and Tuesday, as the “unprecedented event” continued to scorch the landscape and put health at risk through the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dangerously hot conditions today with temperatures lingering in the upper 90s on Tuesday with potentially dangerously hot heat index values up to 111,” said the NWS excessive heat warning that remained in place \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=pqr&wwa=excessive%20heat%20warning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">through Monday\u003c/a> and, in some areas, extended into \u003ca href=\"https://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=ORZ507&warncounty=ORC059&firewxzone=ORZ641&local_place1=Pendleton%20OR&product1=Excessive+Heat+Warning&lat=45.6722&lon=-118.787\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thursday\u003c/a>. “Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities.” Health officials on Monday advised people to reschedule outdoor activities, The Seattle Times reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The intensity of the heat wave, measured by how far temperatures are spiking above normal, is among the greatest ever measured globally. The extremes are on par with a 2003 European heat wave that killed about 70,000 people, and a 2013 heat wave in Australia, when meteorologists \u003ca href=\"https://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/temperatures-off-the-charts-as-australia-turns-deep-purple-20130108-2ce33.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">added new shades of dark purple\u003c/a> to their maps to show unprecedented temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the more extreme the temperature records, climate scientists said, the more obvious the fingerprint of global warming will be on the heat wave. But even among climate scientists, the biggest concern was the immediate impacts of the record shattering temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I shudder to think what the mortality rate will be from this event,” said Phil Mote, a climate scientist with the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OSUCEOAS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University\u003c/a>. Research shows that early season heat waves like this one are deadlier than those happening later in the year because people haven’t acclimatized yet, he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local weather service offices warned people to cool themselves with a reminder that heat was the leading cause of weather-related fatalities between 1991 and 2020. But experts and officials warned that people in the region, where there are fewer people with air conditioning than without it, are ill-equipped to protect themselves from persistent triple-digit temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Seattle, University of Washington climate scientist \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/huprice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Heather Price\u003c/a> taped aluminum foil inside her windows to try and protect her family of four as temperatures reached the 90s early Sunday morning. She \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/huprice/status/1409302753264824322\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">used a handheld thermometer\u003c/a> to check how much it cooled their home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This really is a public health emergency,” she said. “Of all disasters, heat kills the most people. The data is out there, and it’s worse in cool climates.” Even though Seattle has opened wading pools and spray parks that have been closed since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, some public water fountains are still turned off to prevent spread of the coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Residents are not happy about the failure of access to public water with this heat,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Where There’s Unprecedented Heat, There’s Fire\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire meteorologist John Saltenberger of the Northwest Coordination Center in Portland, keeps an eye on the risk of wildfire across Oregon and Washington.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not only the historic temperatures increasing the wildfire potential, but also what might follow, with winds kicking up across the rangelands east of the Cascade Mountains as the heat wave extends for another week, he said. But Saltenberger’s concerns also extend beyond the current weather patterns to some troubling long-term trends that he was following through the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Never have the three months from March to May been drier in 125 years of record-keeping, he said. He also recalled a climate study that showed how, over four decades, the number of rainy days during the fire season is declining in the Northwest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Heat alone isn’t really sufficient to trigger the risk of large costly, fires,” he said. “Heat, overlaid with lightning or heat overlaid with a strong wind event — now that’s a different matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Less rain during fire season means more hot, dry days, which means higher fire danger and more fires and more burned areas,” he added. “And 2021 appears to be going right along with that trend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oregon had just \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/nfn#Oregon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">two large fires\u003c/a> burning Monday totaling less than 8,000 acres, and Washington had none, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Saltenberger’s latest seven-day outlook for Washington and Oregon projected that wildfire risk is rising for the drier, inland landscapes in both states east of the Cascade Range. Beginning Wednesday, the probability of large fires triggered by lightning and fueled by a “critical burn environment,” rises to high risk levels, his Monday wildfire forecast said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fire danger indices continue rising as the heat wave amplifies over the entire region,” it said. “Significant fire potential ramps up starting today due to the combination of heat, rising fire danger indices and easterly winds that will eventually switch as a thermal trough moves across the Cascades.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Drought Monitor \u003ca href=\"https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?West\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">map\u003c/a> showed the entire state of Oregon experiencing some form of dryness last week, with more than three quarters of the state in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought. In Washington state, about one fourth of the land appeared in the “extreme” drought category.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Biologists are hoping to protect Snake River \u003ca href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2021/06/27/hot-salmon-heat-wave-brings-concern-over-river-water-temperatures/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sockeye salmon\u003c/a>, which are just beginning to head upstream to spawn, by releasing cooler water from the Dworshak Dam, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The heat wave, following a year of deadly wildfires and a spring dry enough to put 91% of the West in drought, is triggering conversations about the ways climate change has already set the stage for more record-smashing weather disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>An Underestimated and Underreported Threat\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current Western heat wave is remarkable by almost any standard, said University of Reading climate scientist \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ChloBrim\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chloe Brimicombe\u003c/a>. But such events are becoming more common, to a large degree because of the 1.2 degree Celsius global average temperature increase since the industrial revolution has pushed the heat wave needle into the red zone, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Heat waves are our alarm system for the climate emergency,” she said. “If there are more heat waves, our emergency is getting worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of her recent research shows heat threats are underestimated and underreported, and that poor, vulnerable communities suffer the most, with developing countries taking the biggest hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Arizona Republic reported earlier this month on the steep increase in people suffering severe burns from surfaces like pavement during heat waves. Over the summer of 2020, the Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise Health reported 104 people being admitted with burns from hot pavement, almost all of whom required surgery for their injuries, a fact that shocked Brimicombe. “I hadn’t fathomed the idea of (third-degree) burns (during a heat wave),” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Globally, extreme heat killed at least \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/health-topics/heatwaves#tab=tab_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">166,000 people between 1998 and 2017\u003c/a>, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, the EPA cites studies estimating 1,300 heat deaths occurred annually in recent decades. \u003ca href=\"https://www.globalchange.gov/browse/indicators/us-heat-waves\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Federal research shows\u003c/a> the heat wave season in Portland and Seattle is 40 to 60 days longer than in the 1960s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heat waves threaten food crops and are already triggering mass migration. They also have ecosystem impacts, such as widespread fish die-offs in dried-out streams and potentially harmful algal blooms in lakes and coastal areas. Extreme heat can drive sudden forest mortality, killing trees already weakened by drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Karin Bumbaco, assistant Washington state climatologist, called climate change attribution “a really great question, and it is one that’s hard to answer.” She said it won’t be possible to tease apart how much natural variability and how much man-made warming can be blamed for the current Northwest heat wave until scientific studies examine what happened, which typically takes months or years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But, you know, even without that being done, it’s a safe assumption, in my view, to blame increasing greenhouse gases for some portion of this event — Washington state is warming, the Pacific Northwest is warming, globally we’re warming,” she said. “As we shift that baseline, we’re going to see more and more of these extreme events.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For climate scientist Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the Pacific Northwest extreme heat is shocking. He said on Twitter that scientists will find a clear global warming fingerprint on the heat wave, with the exact influence of global warming linked with how hot it gets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the hotter it gets,” he said, “the larger the attribution will be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists with World Weather Attribution have already launched a study to identify how global warming intensified the Pacific Northwest heat wave, with initial results expected in early July, said \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/gjvoldenborgh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Geert Jan van Oldenborgh\u003c/a>, a climate scientist with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, who has co-authored several previous \u003ca href=\"https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/analysis/heatwave/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">climate attribution studies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That research could help explain a worrying trend. In some regions, like northwestern Europe, heat waves in the last 20 years have become warmer about twice as fast\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>as many climate models project, “and we don’t know why,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Larry O’Neill, Oregon’s state climatologist and associate professor at Oregon State University, agreed the trend in the Northwest is for more extreme heat events and even higher temperatures, based on a growing body of climate research. Temperature records, shorter winters, drought, the doggedness of a heat dome over the West and even tropical cyclone data from the western Pacific — they all point to what’s come to be called the “fingerprint” of global warming on weather, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are things that were all projected by climate models 20 years ago, and we’re experiencing them now,” O’Neill said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some climate scientists actually feeling the heat, the fact that climate models have been predicting events like the current heat wave for decades means their discomfort is matched by frustration over the \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05062019/heat-deaths-cities-climate-change-paris-agreement-half-degree/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">unheeded warnings\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m hoping this heat wave is going to wake some folks up,” Price, the University of Washington climate scientist, said. “People think they are living in the climate they grew up in, but it’s gone. The best we can do now is soften our landing in a heated world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">InsideClimate News\u003c/a> is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter \u003ca href=\"https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "russian-river-drought-sonoma-and-mendocino-residents-save-the-little-water-they-have",
"title": "Russian River Drought: Sonoma and Mendocino Residents Save the Little Water They Have",
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"headTitle": "Russian River Drought: Sonoma and Mendocino Residents Save the Little Water They Have | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The genesis of the Russian River estuary begins in two coastal range mountain valleys, the heart of Mendocino County. Both basins are known for what they produce — Redwood Valley for its smooth, full-bodied wine and Potter Valley for the sweetness of its pears and round, plump melons. But the current drought, exacerbated by human-caused climate change, is showcasing the region’s precarious water situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The river, flowing downhill for 110 miles to the ocean, is the lifeblood of farms, and the main source of drinking water for 600,000 people across three counties. But without two reservoirs — Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma — and hundreds of water diversions during wet times, the river would be dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This region is unique in that no water comes from the Sierra Nevada snowmelt. The Russian River watershed sits isolated from the rest of the state, and in dry times, like this second year of drought, communities in the region are on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along this drying watershed are farms, wineries and family homes that rely on water from the managed river. Many of these businesses are concerned that a third year of drought could be in the cards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[This water] is being used by businesses, anybody who has a hotel or a winery, or a tasting room,” said Janet Pauli, a director with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pottervalleywater.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Potter Valley Irrigation District,\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on the east fork of the river. “This is it, and this is what is so frightening this year.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975556\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975556\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Janet Pauli directs the Potter Valley Irrigation District. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Official efforts are now underway to preserve what’s left in both Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma. Water managers are keeping more water in the reservoirs by cutting flows in half and experimenting with updated weather modeling to guide their decisions. Meanwhile, some communities are rationing water, and others are mandating water restrictions. The goal is to have enough water to weather a third, fourth or even fifth year without significant rain. But even with all that work, wells are dry, showers are short and crop yields may be smaller for the foreseeable future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/current-water-supply-levels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lake Mendocino is about 35% full, and Lake Sonoma is around 54% full\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>In April, Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/gov-newsom-highlights-water-supply-woes-in-visit-to-lake-mendocino/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">declared a drought emergency\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> while standing on the cracked surface of Lake Mendocino, north of the town of Ukiah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I should be standing 40 feet underwater,” he said. “This is a historic moment . The hots are getting hotter, the dries are getting dryer.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975557\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975557 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The west fork of the Russian River is all but dry. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>A New Way To Manage Reservoirs\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nick Malasavage\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, chief of operations and readiness division for the San Francisco district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, says Lake Mendocino could go dry by the end of the summer. He hopes 20,000 acre feet of water remains in the reservoir when the rainy season begins in October, but that could prove a challenge if people don’t conserve. By comparison, downstream, Lake Sonoma has enough water in it for a few years.\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1975611 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/KQED_MENDOCINO_TL_B.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"715\">\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“With so little rain in this watershed, our lake levels here at Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma are the lowest they’ve ever been for this time in the year,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Malasavage says his agency is changing how it manages Lake Mendocino. In the past, water was let out of the reservoir whether or not storms were in the forecast to make room for rainwater. The dam was built to help prevent flooding. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Increasingly, California’s rainy season is more concentrated and its dry season prolonged, a result of climate change. The state now relies on big, soaking atmospheric rivers to make up the difference.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Lake Mendocino, water managers used to regularly release water, independent of any forecasted storms. Now, they are piloting a new method. Conserve, wait until a major rainstorm is coming, and then let water out of the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Army Corps is experimenting with this program, called \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/news/post/11357/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations,\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on other lakes across the West, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We can sit on this water, watch the forecast and then when we see that big boomer of a storm coming, make the decision to put water into the river,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It seems simple, hold the water in the lake until a storm is somewhat guaranteed, but the feds will need to change their rule book for reservoir management, updating policies established more than half a century ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Malasavage says the program works. A trial run last year allowed the reservoir to hold 20% more water during 2020 than would have previously been allowed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://cw3e.ucsd.edu/FIRO_docs/LakeMendocino_FIRO_FVA.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">assessment\u003c/a>, Sonoma and other agencies say the FIRO program should also be implemented at Lake Sonoma, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But funding for revamping water management here depends in part on whether President Biden’s budget proposal passes in September. During an infrastructure committee hearing last week, Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, indicated it “should be complete within a year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier this month, the California State Water Resources Control Board granted a request from \u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sonoma Water\u003c/a> to cut flows out of Lake Sonoma by more than half to preserve water.\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1975613 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/KQED_SONOMA_TL_B.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"715\">\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We’re not going to run out of water in Lake Sonoma this year,” said \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/management\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jay Jasperse\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a chief engineer for Sonoma Water. “But if we don’t watch it, and it’s dry next year, or the year after, it’ll be extremely rough. “\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The board also approved emergency regulations to halt diversions for up to 2,400 ranchers, grape growers and other rural residents who pull water out of the river. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“F\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">armers call me and say, ‘What do I do? I’ve put tens and thousands of dollars into planting this new vineyard last year, and now I’m not going to have water to irrigate it,” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">s\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">aid \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.rrfc.net/about-us/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Elizabeth \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salomone\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, general manager for the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>A Valley Adjusts To Drought\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Potter Valley surrounds the eastern fork of the Russian River. The riverbed is all but dry with a 2 to 3 inch dribbling flow — thanks to water piped through a mountain from the Eel River, which is also in drought.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pauli, a director for the Potter Valley Irrigation District, says without that water, the riverbed would be nothing but dust. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s the lifeblood of this valley,” she said. “We couldn’t grow the crops we do without this water supply.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This drought is going to stress the system in a way that it has never been stressed before,” she says. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That stress is being felt in Potter Valley, where businesses, farms, wineries and family homes rely on the managed river. Pauli says everyone is wondering if the drought will persist for another year. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“If we can’t adjust to a long-term drought, I’m not sure how people will end up thriving here,” she said. “The idea of a long-term drought is really frightening.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One solution in Pauli’s district is to ration water for growers, depending on their acreage and crop. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“When you’ve used it all, you have no more water for this season,” she said. “Does it mean that everybody’s going to have a normal year here in Potter Valley? Absolutely not. There will be long stretches of time in between irrigations depending on where you are in the valley.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975559\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975559\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Warm Springs Creek Bridge from the Lake Sonoma overlook on the southeastern coast of the lake on June 11, 2021. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Beth LeBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The Story in Redwood Valley\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A sign in the middle of the town’s four-way stop reads, if not begs, residents to be on “ALERT! SAVE WATER NOW.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The riverbed is dry except for a few lonely ponds. Water is severely limited, and people must rely on a water supply that’s not guaranteed. The Redwood Valley County Water District limits water use to 55 gallons per person, per day — or about two loads of laundry in a new washing machine. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is not the first water shortage in the area. The district imposed similar restrictions during the last drought and regularly purchases water from other water agencies, or wherever it’s available and affordable. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975554\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975554 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-800x572.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"572\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-800x572.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-1020x729.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-768x549.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-1536x1098.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-2048x1464.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-1920x1373.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Last year, dry conditions limited the crop yield at Russian River Vineyards by 20 percent. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water rights for many growers who pull from the river have been eliminated this year in the valley, known for its superior wine grapes. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.barraofmendocino.com/Our-Family/Martha\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Martha Barra\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, owner of Barra wines is thankful her farm stores rainwater in ponds on her 350 acres, where she grows award-winning wine grapes. The water trickles down the mountains above her property and collects in ponds.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says she has enough stored water to irrigate sparingly, but her most-prized Petite Sirah on a mountain nearby has no water. She’s purchasing $14,000 worth of water to be trucked from a nearby mine to water those grapes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s growing the same variety lower down along the valley floor, but these vines have less fruit because of two years of dry conditions and an untimely frost last fall.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“[They] just doesn’t look as healthy as all the rest of the ranch,” she said. “There’ll be a crop. It just won’t be four-ton to the acre like it usually is.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975555\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975555\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-800x551.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"551\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-800x551.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-768x529.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-1536x1057.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-2048x1410.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-1920x1322.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Martha Barra, 79, says this drought is hotter, drier, and worse than her previous experiences. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Barra’s family has been making wine since 1999. The little rain last year meant that some of her vines produced fewer grapes. She ended up watering the vines less to stretch out the water in her ponds. As a result, her grape harvest shrunk by 20%.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The roots of the vines just didn’t get that good soaking that would make the healthy vines,” she said. “This is a second year. Now, if we go into our third year, it’s gonna be really, really critical.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>An Emotional Roller Coaster\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Russian River Watershed is stressed. Cities along the river either have mandatory water restrictions or are ramping them up. Healdsburg has a mandatory 40% water restriction, while \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/mandatory-water-conservation-orders-in-place-across-a-wider-swath-of-sonoma/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Petaluma and Sonoma both have a 25% mandatory restriction\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Santa Rosa has a voluntary 20% restriction. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A majority of Santa Rosa’s water comes from the Russian River via Sonoma Water. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-martin-b138b06/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Peter Martin\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, deputy director of water resources for Santa Rosa, says the city’s voluntary restrictions will likely become mandatory as the drought worsens.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Certain activities are definitely gonna be prohibited — water upon request at restaurants, requirements on when you can irrigate and we’re going to be out there messaging,” he said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the last drought and deadly wildfires in recent memory, Martin says residents are taking this drought seriously. His department is inundated with requests for help on how to make homes and yards water efficient. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Over 500 calls a month for folks requesting services,” he said. “Typically, that’s around 80.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975551\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975551\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crews go out daily in Santa Rosa looking for people wasting water. The goal is preserve water in case of a third year of drought. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The city already pays overtime for about 10 staff members, like Jason Leef, to catch water wasters. They drive around looking for oversaturated lawns and water running down streets. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a recent shift, Leef spotted five water wasters. So far, he says crews have inspected about 30% of the city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’m looking for any kind of water running off hard surfaces, coming down the sidewalk into the gutter pan, broken sprinkler heads, just any kind of excessive watering,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every time he spots a water waster, he fills out a warning, what he describes as an “oops ticket.” Later, the city reaches out to the homeowner to help them fix any leaks. But if the homeowner doesn’t respond, as a last resort the city can turn their water off.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We don’t want to see that,” Leef said. “We’re just trying to help this customer, because that’s excessive.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Preventing water waste is critical because a quarter-inch pipe can leak as much as 30 gallons a minute, he adds. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It can add up very quickly, especially if you don’t know about it,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Leef says wasting water isn’t an option when what’s being wasted could be saved in case a third year of drought happens. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975552\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975552\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Restaurants like Dierk’s Parkside Cafe in Santa Rosa are requiring customers to serve their own water in an effort to save water. (Ezra David Romero/KQED) \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For server Varina Richter, encouraging patrons to save water is now part of her job. Dierk’s Parkside Cafe in Santa Rosa requires customers to fill their own glasses using a water jug in the middle of the restaurant.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’ve noticed a big difference in the water that we’re saving from people getting up to get their own,” she said. “I have had a few people yell at me. One guy thought it was absolutely ridiculous that I could get him a coffee and a mimosa, but not a water.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Richter has lived in the area her whole life and says she is doing as much as she can to conserve because dry times aren’t just about less water, it’s also about the risk of fires.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Last year, my dad almost lost his home four times,” she said. “It’s definitely like an emotional roller coaster, and seeing how bad things are right now is very scary.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Russian River Drought: Sonoma and Mendocino Residents Save the Little Water They Have | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The genesis of the Russian River estuary begins in two coastal range mountain valleys, the heart of Mendocino County. Both basins are known for what they produce — Redwood Valley for its smooth, full-bodied wine and Potter Valley for the sweetness of its pears and round, plump melons. But the current drought, exacerbated by human-caused climate change, is showcasing the region’s precarious water situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The river, flowing downhill for 110 miles to the ocean, is the lifeblood of farms, and the main source of drinking water for 600,000 people across three counties. But without two reservoirs — Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma — and hundreds of water diversions during wet times, the river would be dry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This region is unique in that no water comes from the Sierra Nevada snowmelt. The Russian River watershed sits isolated from the rest of the state, and in dry times, like this second year of drought, communities in the region are on their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along this drying watershed are farms, wineries and family homes that rely on water from the managed river. Many of these businesses are concerned that a third year of drought could be in the cards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[This water] is being used by businesses, anybody who has a hotel or a winery, or a tasting room,” said Janet Pauli, a director with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pottervalleywater.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Potter Valley Irrigation District,\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on the east fork of the river. “This is it, and this is what is so frightening this year.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975556\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975556\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3530-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Janet Pauli directs the Potter Valley Irrigation District. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Official efforts are now underway to preserve what’s left in both Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma. Water managers are keeping more water in the reservoirs by cutting flows in half and experimenting with updated weather modeling to guide their decisions. Meanwhile, some communities are rationing water, and others are mandating water restrictions. The goal is to have enough water to weather a third, fourth or even fifth year without significant rain. But even with all that work, wells are dry, showers are short and crop yields may be smaller for the foreseeable future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/current-water-supply-levels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lake Mendocino is about 35% full, and Lake Sonoma is around 54% full\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>In April, Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/gov-newsom-highlights-water-supply-woes-in-visit-to-lake-mendocino/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">declared a drought emergency\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> while standing on the cracked surface of Lake Mendocino, north of the town of Ukiah. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I should be standing 40 feet underwater,” he said. “This is a historic moment . The hots are getting hotter, the dries are getting dryer.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975557\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975557 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4211-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The west fork of the Russian River is all but dry. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>A New Way To Manage Reservoirs\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nick Malasavage\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, chief of operations and readiness division for the San Francisco district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, says Lake Mendocino could go dry by the end of the summer. He hopes 20,000 acre feet of water remains in the reservoir when the rainy season begins in October, but that could prove a challenge if people don’t conserve. By comparison, downstream, Lake Sonoma has enough water in it for a few years.\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1975611 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/KQED_MENDOCINO_TL_B.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"715\">\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“With so little rain in this watershed, our lake levels here at Lake Mendocino and Lake Sonoma are the lowest they’ve ever been for this time in the year,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Malasavage says his agency is changing how it manages Lake Mendocino. In the past, water was let out of the reservoir whether or not storms were in the forecast to make room for rainwater. The dam was built to help prevent flooding. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Increasingly, California’s rainy season is more concentrated and its dry season prolonged, a result of climate change. The state now relies on big, soaking atmospheric rivers to make up the difference.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Lake Mendocino, water managers used to regularly release water, independent of any forecasted storms. Now, they are piloting a new method. Conserve, wait until a major rainstorm is coming, and then let water out of the reservoir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Army Corps is experimenting with this program, called \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/news/post/11357/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations,\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on other lakes across the West, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We can sit on this water, watch the forecast and then when we see that big boomer of a storm coming, make the decision to put water into the river,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It seems simple, hold the water in the lake until a storm is somewhat guaranteed, but the feds will need to change their rule book for reservoir management, updating policies established more than half a century ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Malasavage says the program works. A trial run last year allowed the reservoir to hold 20% more water during 2020 than would have previously been allowed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://cw3e.ucsd.edu/FIRO_docs/LakeMendocino_FIRO_FVA.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">assessment\u003c/a>, Sonoma and other agencies say the FIRO program should also be implemented at Lake Sonoma, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But funding for revamping water management here depends in part on whether President Biden’s budget proposal passes in September. During an infrastructure committee hearing last week, Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, indicated it “should be complete within a year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Earlier this month, the California State Water Resources Control Board granted a request from \u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sonoma Water\u003c/a> to cut flows out of Lake Sonoma by more than half to preserve water.\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1975613 alignright\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/KQED_SONOMA_TL_B.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"715\">\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We’re not going to run out of water in Lake Sonoma this year,” said \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sonomawater.org/management\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jay Jasperse\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a chief engineer for Sonoma Water. “But if we don’t watch it, and it’s dry next year, or the year after, it’ll be extremely rough. “\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The board also approved emergency regulations to halt diversions for up to 2,400 ranchers, grape growers and other rural residents who pull water out of the river. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“F\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">armers call me and say, ‘What do I do? I’ve put tens and thousands of dollars into planting this new vineyard last year, and now I’m not going to have water to irrigate it,” \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">s\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">aid \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.rrfc.net/about-us/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Elizabeth \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Salomone\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, general manager for the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>A Valley Adjusts To Drought\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Potter Valley surrounds the eastern fork of the Russian River. The riverbed is all but dry with a 2 to 3 inch dribbling flow — thanks to water piped through a mountain from the Eel River, which is also in drought.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pauli, a director for the Potter Valley Irrigation District, says without that water, the riverbed would be nothing but dust. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s the lifeblood of this valley,” she said. “We couldn’t grow the crops we do without this water supply.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This drought is going to stress the system in a way that it has never been stressed before,” she says. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That stress is being felt in Potter Valley, where businesses, farms, wineries and family homes rely on the managed river. Pauli says everyone is wondering if the drought will persist for another year. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“If we can’t adjust to a long-term drought, I’m not sure how people will end up thriving here,” she said. “The idea of a long-term drought is really frightening.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One solution in Pauli’s district is to ration water for growers, depending on their acreage and crop. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“When you’ve used it all, you have no more water for this season,” she said. “Does it mean that everybody’s going to have a normal year here in Potter Valley? Absolutely not. There will be long stretches of time in between irrigations depending on where you are in the valley.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975559\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975559\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49895_011_SonomaCounty_LakeSonomaDrought_06112021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Warm Springs Creek Bridge from the Lake Sonoma overlook on the southeastern coast of the lake on June 11, 2021. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Beth LeBerge)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The Story in Redwood Valley\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A sign in the middle of the town’s four-way stop reads, if not begs, residents to be on “ALERT! SAVE WATER NOW.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The riverbed is dry except for a few lonely ponds. Water is severely limited, and people must rely on a water supply that’s not guaranteed. The Redwood Valley County Water District limits water use to 55 gallons per person, per day — or about two loads of laundry in a new washing machine. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is not the first water shortage in the area. The district imposed similar restrictions during the last drought and regularly purchases water from other water agencies, or wherever it’s available and affordable. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975554\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975554 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-800x572.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"572\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-800x572.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-1020x729.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-768x549.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-1536x1098.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-2048x1464.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4177-1920x1373.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Last year, dry conditions limited the crop yield at Russian River Vineyards by 20 percent. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Water rights for many growers who pull from the river have been eliminated this year in the valley, known for its superior wine grapes. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.barraofmendocino.com/Our-Family/Martha\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Martha Barra\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, owner of Barra wines is thankful her farm stores rainwater in ponds on her 350 acres, where she grows award-winning wine grapes. The water trickles down the mountains above her property and collects in ponds.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says she has enough stored water to irrigate sparingly, but her most-prized Petite Sirah on a mountain nearby has no water. She’s purchasing $14,000 worth of water to be trucked from a nearby mine to water those grapes. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She’s growing the same variety lower down along the valley floor, but these vines have less fruit because of two years of dry conditions and an untimely frost last fall.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“[They] just doesn’t look as healthy as all the rest of the ranch,” she said. “There’ll be a crop. It just won’t be four-ton to the acre like it usually is.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975555\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975555\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-800x551.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"551\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-800x551.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-1020x702.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-160x110.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-768x529.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-1536x1057.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-2048x1410.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_4093-1920x1322.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Martha Barra, 79, says this drought is hotter, drier, and worse than her previous experiences. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Barra’s family has been making wine since 1999. The little rain last year meant that some of her vines produced fewer grapes. She ended up watering the vines less to stretch out the water in her ponds. As a result, her grape harvest shrunk by 20%.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The roots of the vines just didn’t get that good soaking that would make the healthy vines,” she said. “This is a second year. Now, if we go into our third year, it’s gonna be really, really critical.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>An Emotional Roller Coaster\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Russian River Watershed is stressed. Cities along the river either have mandatory water restrictions or are ramping them up. Healdsburg has a mandatory 40% water restriction, while \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/mandatory-water-conservation-orders-in-place-across-a-wider-swath-of-sonoma/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Petaluma and Sonoma both have a 25% mandatory restriction\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Santa Rosa has a voluntary 20% restriction. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A majority of Santa Rosa’s water comes from the Russian River via Sonoma Water. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-martin-b138b06/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Peter Martin\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, deputy director of water resources for Santa Rosa, says the city’s voluntary restrictions will likely become mandatory as the drought worsens.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Certain activities are definitely gonna be prohibited — water upon request at restaurants, requirements on when you can irrigate and we’re going to be out there messaging,” he said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the last drought and deadly wildfires in recent memory, Martin says residents are taking this drought seriously. His department is inundated with requests for help on how to make homes and yards water efficient. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Over 500 calls a month for folks requesting services,” he said. “Typically, that’s around 80.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975551\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975551\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3899-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crews go out daily in Santa Rosa looking for people wasting water. The goal is preserve water in case of a third year of drought. \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The city already pays overtime for about 10 staff members, like Jason Leef, to catch water wasters. They drive around looking for oversaturated lawns and water running down streets. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">On a recent shift, Leef spotted five water wasters. So far, he says crews have inspected about 30% of the city.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’m looking for any kind of water running off hard surfaces, coming down the sidewalk into the gutter pan, broken sprinkler heads, just any kind of excessive watering,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every time he spots a water waster, he fills out a warning, what he describes as an “oops ticket.” Later, the city reaches out to the homeowner to help them fix any leaks. But if the homeowner doesn’t respond, as a last resort the city can turn their water off.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We don’t want to see that,” Leef said. “We’re just trying to help this customer, because that’s excessive.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Preventing water waste is critical because a quarter-inch pipe can leak as much as 30 gallons a minute, he adds. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It can add up very quickly, especially if you don’t know about it,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Leef says wasting water isn’t an option when what’s being wasted could be saved in case a third year of drought happens. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975552\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975552\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/IMG_3942-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Restaurants like Dierk’s Parkside Cafe in Santa Rosa are requiring customers to serve their own water in an effort to save water. (Ezra David Romero/KQED) \u003ccite>(Ezra David Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For server Varina Richter, encouraging patrons to save water is now part of her job. Dierk’s Parkside Cafe in Santa Rosa requires customers to fill their own glasses using a water jug in the middle of the restaurant.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I’ve noticed a big difference in the water that we’re saving from people getting up to get their own,” she said. “I have had a few people yell at me. One guy thought it was absolutely ridiculous that I could get him a coffee and a mimosa, but not a water.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Richter has lived in the area her whole life and says she is doing as much as she can to conserve because dry times aren’t just about less water, it’s also about the risk of fires.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Last year, my dad almost lost his home four times,” she said. “It’s definitely like an emotional roller coaster, and seeing how bad things are right now is very scary.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "'Bottom of the Barrel' California Oil Can Be Far More Carbon Intensive Than What State Imports",
"headTitle": "‘Bottom of the Barrel’ California Oil Can Be Far More Carbon Intensive Than What State Imports | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>A new analysis from an environmental advocacy group highlights a dirty secret about California-produced oil: It is responsible for higher carbon emissions than the oil the state imports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists with the Center for Biological Diversity examined the carbon intensity of the crude oil supplied to California refineries and released their \u003ca href=\"https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/pdfs/June-2021-Killer-Crude-Rpt.pdf\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">analysis\u003c/span>\u003c/a> on Monday, which shows that producing gasoline from heavy crude oil drilled in places like Kern County takes a lot of energy and creates tons of pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They found that the carbon intensity of oil produced in California has climbed by 22% since 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s oil is getting dirtier and heavier, heating the planet more and requiring more polluting methods to extract it,” said John Fleming, the report’s lead author, in a statement. “The idea that California oil is somehow cleaner or climate-friendly is ludicrous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/classic//fuels/lcfs/crude-oil/2019_crude_average_ci_value_final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tracks\u003c/a> with similar statistics released by California regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dave Clegern, a spokesperson for the California Air Resources Board, said agency staff haven’t yet read the environmentalists’ report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he said California and its regulators are working to drive down consumer demand for gasoline with its policies, like incentivizing the use of electric vehicles. Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969807/california-to-halt-sales-of-new-gas-cars-by-2035\">announced\u003c/a> last September that California will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by the year 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"John Fleming, Center for Biological Diversity\"]‘The idea that California oil is somehow cleaner or climate-friendly is ludicrous.’[/pullquote]“We know that as you get to the bottom of the barrel, more and more unconventional fuels, from light sweet crude to heavy crude — which California produces a lot off — to tar sands, it takes more effort to make gasoline,” said Dan Kammen, an energy professor at UC Berkeley who helped the state craft its fuel standard more than a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More effort means more energy. It means more pollution. It also typically means removing more impurities, all of that adds up to a dirtier and dirtier product,” he said. “This report really calls that out. California produces in Kern County some very sour, high-toxics fuels. It is not a surprise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kammen was not involved in the center’s report, but he helped design the methodology behind California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The environmentalists used equations from that state regulation in their report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proponents of California oil drilling have \u003ca href=\"https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2021/03/08/californias-big-oil-wins-okay-40-500-wells-farmer-vows-sue/4629935001/\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">argued\u003c/span>\u003c/a> that California-produced oil products are cleaner than the imported alternatives. These statistics undercut that argument — at least, in part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the production of California oil could contribute more planet-warming gas emissions, industry groups and labor groups have \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-04/newsom-california-fracking-ban-vision-exceeds-original-scope\">argued\u003c/a> that California oil is preferable to imported alternatives because it is produced under strict environmental and labor regulations. Limiting drilling here could hurt jobs, they say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Coverage' tag='oil-drilling']“Foreign oil is not produced with the same environmental protections or humanitarian values that we have here in California; nor do they pay billions in California taxes or hundreds of millions of dollars in fees that are reinvested to advance California’s climate goals,” Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association, told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-04/newsom-california-fracking-ban-vision-exceeds-original-scope\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Los Angeles Times\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The environmentalists are using the report to call on California to swiftly stop approving new oil and gas wells, ban fracking and “immediately implement a health-and-safety buffer to prevent oil and gas drilling in communities and protect public health and safety from the air pollution and other harms of oil and gas extraction,” they wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators with the California Geologic Energy Management Division, known as CalGEM, have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1975538/california-oil-regulators-delay-health-safety-rules-again\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">delayed\u003c/a>, for the second time, the release of draft rules that could require oil and gas drilling sites be set back from homes and schools in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A new analysis from an environmental advocacy group suggests some California-produced oil is responsible for higher carbon emissions than the oil the state imports.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A new analysis from an environmental advocacy group highlights a dirty secret about California-produced oil: It is responsible for higher carbon emissions than the oil the state imports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists with the Center for Biological Diversity examined the carbon intensity of the crude oil supplied to California refineries and released their \u003ca href=\"https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/pdfs/June-2021-Killer-Crude-Rpt.pdf\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">analysis\u003c/span>\u003c/a> on Monday, which shows that producing gasoline from heavy crude oil drilled in places like Kern County takes a lot of energy and creates tons of pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They found that the carbon intensity of oil produced in California has climbed by 22% since 2012.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California’s oil is getting dirtier and heavier, heating the planet more and requiring more polluting methods to extract it,” said John Fleming, the report’s lead author, in a statement. “The idea that California oil is somehow cleaner or climate-friendly is ludicrous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/classic//fuels/lcfs/crude-oil/2019_crude_average_ci_value_final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tracks\u003c/a> with similar statistics released by California regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dave Clegern, a spokesperson for the California Air Resources Board, said agency staff haven’t yet read the environmentalists’ report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he said California and its regulators are working to drive down consumer demand for gasoline with its policies, like incentivizing the use of electric vehicles. Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969807/california-to-halt-sales-of-new-gas-cars-by-2035\">announced\u003c/a> last September that California will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by the year 2035.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We know that as you get to the bottom of the barrel, more and more unconventional fuels, from light sweet crude to heavy crude — which California produces a lot off — to tar sands, it takes more effort to make gasoline,” said Dan Kammen, an energy professor at UC Berkeley who helped the state craft its fuel standard more than a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More effort means more energy. It means more pollution. It also typically means removing more impurities, all of that adds up to a dirtier and dirtier product,” he said. “This report really calls that out. California produces in Kern County some very sour, high-toxics fuels. It is not a surprise.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kammen was not involved in the center’s report, but he helped design the methodology behind California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The environmentalists used equations from that state regulation in their report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proponents of California oil drilling have \u003ca href=\"https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2021/03/08/californias-big-oil-wins-okay-40-500-wells-farmer-vows-sue/4629935001/\">\u003cspan class=\"s2\">argued\u003c/span>\u003c/a> that California-produced oil products are cleaner than the imported alternatives. These statistics undercut that argument — at least, in part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the production of California oil could contribute more planet-warming gas emissions, industry groups and labor groups have \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-04/newsom-california-fracking-ban-vision-exceeds-original-scope\">argued\u003c/a> that California oil is preferable to imported alternatives because it is produced under strict environmental and labor regulations. Limiting drilling here could hurt jobs, they say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Foreign oil is not produced with the same environmental protections or humanitarian values that we have here in California; nor do they pay billions in California taxes or hundreds of millions of dollars in fees that are reinvested to advance California’s climate goals,” Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association, told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-04/newsom-california-fracking-ban-vision-exceeds-original-scope\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Los Angeles Times\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The environmentalists are using the report to call on California to swiftly stop approving new oil and gas wells, ban fracking and “immediately implement a health-and-safety buffer to prevent oil and gas drilling in communities and protect public health and safety from the air pollution and other harms of oil and gas extraction,” they wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regulators with the California Geologic Energy Management Division, known as CalGEM, have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1975538/california-oil-regulators-delay-health-safety-rules-again\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">delayed\u003c/a>, for the second time, the release of draft rules that could require oil and gas drilling sites be set back from homes and schools in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Bone Dry Bay Area Forests Portend Fierce Fire Season",
"headTitle": "Bone Dry Bay Area Forests Portend Fierce Fire Season | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Blackberry Hill has a panoramic vista of the South Bay, the stuff of bucolic, real estate fantasies. Serene, nothing but birds and chaparral and oaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alan Huston appreciates the view, but he’s much more interested in the chamise bushes that dot the sun-drenched hillside above Los Gatos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twice a month, Huston, a meteorology grad student at San Jose State University, comes here, snipping new growth off of the native chamise plant. On a sunny afternoon, he took part in a data collection project to measure how much water plants have lost to heat and drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Up here at \u003ca href=\"https://www.wfas.net/nfmd/public/site.php?site_fuel=Blackberry%20Hill&gacc=NOCC&state=CA&grup=CalFire%20Santa%20Clara%20Unit&sitefuel=site&display_type=Graph%20With%20Tables%20Bi\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Blackberry Hill\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, you can tell the plants are struggling,” Huston said, pruning twigs off the bushes and placing them in tin cans. “A ton of chaparral, chamise plants that are just dead.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975518\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975518 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose State’s Alan Huston, a grad student studying meteorology, snips new growth from a chamise bush on a hill outside of Los Gatos on May 14, 2021. (Raquel Maria Dillon/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In mid-May, the chamise had taken advantage of a late spring sprinkle of rain to send out tender new shoots in between gray, dead branches — a valiant, last-ditch attempt to grow during a dry winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Seeing the plants slowly creep out of winter when we didn’t have a lot of rain — it’s the most hopeful time because you see the new growth come out. This is supposed to be the brightest point of the year in terms of fuel moisture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not this year. Researchers started tracking vegetation moisture at the Blackberry Hill site eight years ago. This year, fuel moisture levels in the forest and chaparral of the Santa Cruz Mountains are lower than they’ve ever seen. That means trees and shrubs of the Santa Cruz Mountains are drier than the peak of the last major California drought, and any other moment since researchers began collecting records about a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research \u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/22106/the-connection-between-californias-drought-and-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/22106/the-connection-between-californias-drought-and-climate-change\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">suggests\u003c/a> that climate change is making weather patterns responsible for drought conditions in California more likely. Warming is also a \u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1944993/study-climate-change-a-leading-driver-of-californias-wildfires\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1944993/study-climate-change-a-leading-driver-of-californias-wildfires\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">key driver\u003c/a> of more frequent wildfires in the state. One \u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab83a7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab83a7\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">study \u003c/a>found the number of extreme fire-weather days has already doubled due to rising temperatures and will continue to increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huston collects enough tiny twigs to add up to about 30 grams. Later, he’ll analyze the samples in the lab by baking them in tin containers for 24 hours in an oven and measuring how much moisture is lost to determine the precise moisture content of the chamise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huston’s boss, professor Craig Clements, summed up these findings in April, when he posted a line graph of the fuel moisture content at this monitoring site, along with a rough prediction about this fire season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/FireWeatherLab/status/1379117042897391621\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tweet caught on well beyond his usual followers in the fire and weather research community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clements regularly posts wonky, data-rich tweets about vegetation moisture, as part of his job as the director of San Jose State’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjsu.edu/wildfire/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But until this spring, only scientists and firefighters seemed to notice. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “fuel” in what academics like Clements call “fuel moisture” is basically just plants or buildings that could burn in a wildfire. Fuel moisture content is a measure of how much moisture is in the vegetation, which influences how fast it can ignite and burn. (It’s expressed as percentage, which indicates the ratio of moisture to combustible plant material.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was shocking because usually when we go up in April to these sites, it’s full of new growth and the plants are growing,” Clements said. “I tweet out fuel moistures all the time, nobody really cared until this year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year is different because Northern California is in the second year of a punishing drought that’s hurt even native plants like chamise and manzanita, which are adapted to thrive in the Bay Area with winter rain and almost no moisture during summer months. But the low vegetation moisture is another data point reminding researchers and the public that the forests around the Bay Area are bone dry. These graphs indicate precisely how dangerous wildfire conditions are right now along the coastal mountains in the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measurements are collected at \u003ca href=\"http://www.wfas.net/nfmd/public/states_map.php?state=CA\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more than a hundred sites\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> across California. San Jose State’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fireweather.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fire Weather Research Lab\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which is part of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center, manages three sampling sites in the hills around the South Bay. Cal Fire and other agencies and researchers manage \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.wfas.net/nfmd/public/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">others\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The data informs a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.wfas.net/nfmd/public/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">national database\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that helps scientists understand how wildfires burn, along with topography and weather, the other two factors that determine fire behavior.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chamise and other native chaparral plants have evolved to go without water for months through hot summers, but they still are ignitable, Clements said. Later in the season as the soil dries out, the plant moisture content falls, and the fuel becomes easier to burn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Low fuel moisture content “sets the stage for fires being able to spread a lot easier and earlier in the season than [is typical],” Clements said. “These data are really critical [to our understanding of wildfire] because of the new modeling and forecasting tools that we’re developing at San Jose State, where we’re actually developing very high-resolution prediction systems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vegetation moisture is one parameter that goes into the fire danger rating system. Think of those Smokey the Bear signs, with colors that indicate fire danger. Predictions based on this vegetation moisture data allow fire officials to pre-position crews and allocate resources to respond quickly and put out fires while they’re still small. The information also helps park officials and land managers decide whether or not to keep a park open or close it during hot, windy weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patrick McIntyre, a fire captain with the East Bay Regional Park District, is one of those decision-makers. The park district samples for fuel moisture at four remote weather stations around the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975519\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975519 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrick McIntyre, a fire captain with the East Bay Regional Parks District, points out signs of drought stress in a cluster of Monterey pines in Tilden Park on May 17, 2021. (Raquel Maria Dillon/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But for him — a trained forester, outdoorsman, and veteran firefighter — vegetation moisture isn’t just a number. His senses provide other data points that tell the story without graphs or charts. The foliage in the parks he patrolled last spring looked more washed out instead of brilliant green.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brush crunched underfoot earlier this year because it dried out sooner. As he drives through Tilden Park, he points out trees — eucalyptus from Australia, Monterey pines from just across the bay, Ponderosa pines from the Sierra — native and non-native alike, all showing signs of drought stress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaning out his department-issued pickup truck, he points across a grassy swale at a copse of majestic redwoods. “The health of these giant sequoias is definitely declining,” he said. “Some of them might not even make it. The plants that look the healthiest are the native trees: coast live oaks, California bays, poison oak.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He sees signs of drought and the ominous wildfire season all over: a pine tree “flagging” a branch of dead needles, eucalyptus bark peeling more than usual, a hardy bay laurel dropping yellow leaves, or the puffs of dry dirt and brittleness of the brush underfoot. He says those symptoms are shocking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everywhere — freeway, roadside trees, up in Oakland Hills there’s just massive swaths [of forest] that’re just looking peakish,” he said, describing it as a “visible kind of sadness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t seem as though there’s enough soil moisture to keep the trees happy and alive right now,” he said. “It’s worrisome.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district is working to clear the brush, especially the fallen bark and leaves in eucalyptus groves near buildings and infrastructure. McIntyre surveyed a crew from the Conservation Corps clearing a small grove of trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975520\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975520 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A work crew builds a fire break by clearing overgrown eucalyptus saplings from along a trail in Tilden Park on May 17, 2021. (Raquel Maria Dillon/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of the smaller diameter eucalyptus, less than 8 to 12 inches, we’ll remove and get out of there and then we’ll leave the larger diameter to still provide shade habitat,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The winding trail by Tilden Park’s public golf course will still be shady and cool, but there will be less dry fuels — vegetation that could catch and spread fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These symptoms of drought won’t go away until rain returns in the fall — if it returns. Those record low vegetation moisture readings aren’t likely to get any better until then either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Firefighters and scientists agree: this kind of dryness sets the table for earlier, bigger wildfires this season. One errant firecracker, one spark from an unlucky vehicle, is all it takes. The data and the look of the landscape point in the same, grim direction.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "It’s dry, but how dry? Fire researchers say some vegetation is drier now than at the peak of California's last major drought.",
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"description": "It’s dry, but how dry? Fire researchers say some vegetation is drier now than at the peak of California's last major drought.",
"title": "Bone Dry Bay Area Forests Portend Fierce Fire Season | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Blackberry Hill has a panoramic vista of the South Bay, the stuff of bucolic, real estate fantasies. Serene, nothing but birds and chaparral and oaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alan Huston appreciates the view, but he’s much more interested in the chamise bushes that dot the sun-drenched hillside above Los Gatos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Twice a month, Huston, a meteorology grad student at San Jose State University, comes here, snipping new growth off of the native chamise plant. On a sunny afternoon, he took part in a data collection project to measure how much water plants have lost to heat and drought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Up here at \u003ca href=\"https://www.wfas.net/nfmd/public/site.php?site_fuel=Blackberry%20Hill&gacc=NOCC&state=CA&grup=CalFire%20Santa%20Clara%20Unit&sitefuel=site&display_type=Graph%20With%20Tables%20Bi\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Blackberry Hill\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, you can tell the plants are struggling,” Huston said, pruning twigs off the bushes and placing them in tin cans. “A ton of chaparral, chamise plants that are just dead.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975518\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975518 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50131_Huston-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose State’s Alan Huston, a grad student studying meteorology, snips new growth from a chamise bush on a hill outside of Los Gatos on May 14, 2021. (Raquel Maria Dillon/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In mid-May, the chamise had taken advantage of a late spring sprinkle of rain to send out tender new shoots in between gray, dead branches — a valiant, last-ditch attempt to grow during a dry winter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Seeing the plants slowly creep out of winter when we didn’t have a lot of rain — it’s the most hopeful time because you see the new growth come out. This is supposed to be the brightest point of the year in terms of fuel moisture.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not this year. Researchers started tracking vegetation moisture at the Blackberry Hill site eight years ago. This year, fuel moisture levels in the forest and chaparral of the Santa Cruz Mountains are lower than they’ve ever seen. That means trees and shrubs of the Santa Cruz Mountains are drier than the peak of the last major California drought, and any other moment since researchers began collecting records about a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research \u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/22106/the-connection-between-californias-drought-and-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/22106/the-connection-between-californias-drought-and-climate-change\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">suggests\u003c/a> that climate change is making weather patterns responsible for drought conditions in California more likely. Warming is also a \u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1944993/study-climate-change-a-leading-driver-of-californias-wildfires\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1944993/study-climate-change-a-leading-driver-of-californias-wildfires\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">key driver\u003c/a> of more frequent wildfires in the state. One \u003ca class=\"c-link\" href=\"https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab83a7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab83a7\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">study \u003c/a>found the number of extreme fire-weather days has already doubled due to rising temperatures and will continue to increase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huston collects enough tiny twigs to add up to about 30 grams. Later, he’ll analyze the samples in the lab by baking them in tin containers for 24 hours in an oven and measuring how much moisture is lost to determine the precise moisture content of the chamise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Huston’s boss, professor Craig Clements, summed up these findings in April, when he posted a line graph of the fuel moisture content at this monitoring site, along with a rough prediction about this fire season.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The tweet caught on well beyond his usual followers in the fire and weather research community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clements regularly posts wonky, data-rich tweets about vegetation moisture, as part of his job as the director of San Jose State’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sjsu.edu/wildfire/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But until this spring, only scientists and firefighters seemed to notice. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “fuel” in what academics like Clements call “fuel moisture” is basically just plants or buildings that could burn in a wildfire. Fuel moisture content is a measure of how much moisture is in the vegetation, which influences how fast it can ignite and burn. (It’s expressed as percentage, which indicates the ratio of moisture to combustible plant material.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was shocking because usually when we go up in April to these sites, it’s full of new growth and the plants are growing,” Clements said. “I tweet out fuel moistures all the time, nobody really cared until this year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year is different because Northern California is in the second year of a punishing drought that’s hurt even native plants like chamise and manzanita, which are adapted to thrive in the Bay Area with winter rain and almost no moisture during summer months. But the low vegetation moisture is another data point reminding researchers and the public that the forests around the Bay Area are bone dry. These graphs indicate precisely how dangerous wildfire conditions are right now along the coastal mountains in the South Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measurements are collected at \u003ca href=\"http://www.wfas.net/nfmd/public/states_map.php?state=CA\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">more than a hundred sites\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> across California. San Jose State’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.fireweather.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fire Weather Research Lab\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which is part of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center, manages three sampling sites in the hills around the South Bay. Cal Fire and other agencies and researchers manage \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.wfas.net/nfmd/public/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">others\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The data informs a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.wfas.net/nfmd/public/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">national database\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that helps scientists understand how wildfires burn, along with topography and weather, the other two factors that determine fire behavior.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chamise and other native chaparral plants have evolved to go without water for months through hot summers, but they still are ignitable, Clements said. Later in the season as the soil dries out, the plant moisture content falls, and the fuel becomes easier to burn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Low fuel moisture content “sets the stage for fires being able to spread a lot easier and earlier in the season than [is typical],” Clements said. “These data are really critical [to our understanding of wildfire] because of the new modeling and forecasting tools that we’re developing at San Jose State, where we’re actually developing very high-resolution prediction systems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vegetation moisture is one parameter that goes into the fire danger rating system. Think of those Smokey the Bear signs, with colors that indicate fire danger. Predictions based on this vegetation moisture data allow fire officials to pre-position crews and allocate resources to respond quickly and put out fires while they’re still small. The information also helps park officials and land managers decide whether or not to keep a park open or close it during hot, windy weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patrick McIntyre, a fire captain with the East Bay Regional Park District, is one of those decision-makers. The park district samples for fuel moisture at four remote weather stations around the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975519\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975519 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50128_McIntyre-tight-1-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patrick McIntyre, a fire captain with the East Bay Regional Parks District, points out signs of drought stress in a cluster of Monterey pines in Tilden Park on May 17, 2021. (Raquel Maria Dillon/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But for him — a trained forester, outdoorsman, and veteran firefighter — vegetation moisture isn’t just a number. His senses provide other data points that tell the story without graphs or charts. The foliage in the parks he patrolled last spring looked more washed out instead of brilliant green.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brush crunched underfoot earlier this year because it dried out sooner. As he drives through Tilden Park, he points out trees — eucalyptus from Australia, Monterey pines from just across the bay, Ponderosa pines from the Sierra — native and non-native alike, all showing signs of drought stress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaning out his department-issued pickup truck, he points across a grassy swale at a copse of majestic redwoods. “The health of these giant sequoias is definitely declining,” he said. “Some of them might not even make it. The plants that look the healthiest are the native trees: coast live oaks, California bays, poison oak.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He sees signs of drought and the ominous wildfire season all over: a pine tree “flagging” a branch of dead needles, eucalyptus bark peeling more than usual, a hardy bay laurel dropping yellow leaves, or the puffs of dry dirt and brittleness of the brush underfoot. He says those symptoms are shocking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everywhere — freeway, roadside trees, up in Oakland Hills there’s just massive swaths [of forest] that’re just looking peakish,” he said, describing it as a “visible kind of sadness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t seem as though there’s enough soil moisture to keep the trees happy and alive right now,” he said. “It’s worrisome.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district is working to clear the brush, especially the fallen bark and leaves in eucalyptus groves near buildings and infrastructure. McIntyre surveyed a crew from the Conservation Corps clearing a small grove of trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975520\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975520 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS50130_ThinningEBRPD-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A work crew builds a fire break by clearing overgrown eucalyptus saplings from along a trail in Tilden Park on May 17, 2021. (Raquel Maria Dillon/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of the smaller diameter eucalyptus, less than 8 to 12 inches, we’ll remove and get out of there and then we’ll leave the larger diameter to still provide shade habitat,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The winding trail by Tilden Park’s public golf course will still be shady and cool, but there will be less dry fuels — vegetation that could catch and spread fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These symptoms of drought won’t go away until rain returns in the fall — if it returns. Those record low vegetation moisture readings aren’t likely to get any better until then either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Firefighters and scientists agree: this kind of dryness sets the table for earlier, bigger wildfires this season. One errant firecracker, one spark from an unlucky vehicle, is all it takes. The data and the look of the landscape point in the same, grim direction.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "NASA Prepares to Return to Venus for the First Time in Decades",
"headTitle": "NASA Prepares to Return to Venus for the First Time in Decades | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Venus is back on the menu for space exploration! \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NASA \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-2-missions-to-study-lost-habitable-world-of-venus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">announced \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the selection of not one, but two new missions to Earth’s closest planetary neighbor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first mission — Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging, or just \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-goddard-team-selected-to-design-concept-for-probe-of-mysterious-venus-atmosphere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">DAVINCI+\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — will investigate Venus’s atmosphere, and launch a probe into its thick, hot, acidic clouds to measure their composition and conditions directly. DAVINCI+ will also capture the highest resolution images ever taken of Venus’s surface, including an unusual feature called “tesserae.” Some scientists believe these “tesserae” might be a Venusian version of Earth’s continents, minus the bordering oceans that define them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975407\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975407\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-800x838.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"838\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-800x838.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-1020x1068.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-160x168.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-768x804.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-1467x1536.jpg 1467w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic.jpg 1478w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Composite image of Venus taken by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft. \u003ccite>(JAXA/ISAS/DARTS/Damia Bouic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The second mission — Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, inSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy, or \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/veritas-exploring-the-deep-truths-of-venus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">VERITAS\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — will examine Venus’s surface, using radar to penetrate the planet’s thick clouds and create a detailed global geologic map. VERITAS will search for active volcanoes, and investigate a long-standing mystery. Venus appears to have suffered a global cataclysmic event that completely reshaped its surface in the past, but we don’t yet know why or what happened. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-2-missions-to-study-lost-habitable-world-of-venus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Both missions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are expected to launch sometime around 2028 to 2030. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>A Long Awaited Return\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The last mission NASA sent to Venus was \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/magellan/in-depth/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Magellan\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, over 30 years ago. Since that time, only spacecraft bound for other destinations, such as the Mercury explorer MESSENGER and the solar deep-dive Parker Solar Probe, have swung briefly by Venus, using the planet’s gravity to steer their course. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975405\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1975405\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venus-magellan.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"449\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venus-magellan.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venus-magellan-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venus-magellan-768x431.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Digital model of a volcano on Venus’s surface created from radar measurements made by NASA’s Magellan spacecraft. \u003ccite>(NASA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The intensely hot, high-pressure environment on Venus is one reason for the dearth of active exploration there. Also, researchers believed that it is not a world where they could hope to find life — unlike Mars, where the missions Curiosity and Perseverance are intensely examining that possibility. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/in-depth/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Venus \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">is a very different planet than Earth, and its harsh environment makes exploring its surface a huge technological challenge. Global surface temperatures hold constant around 470 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt lead, and its atmospheric pressure is equal to the water pressure a kilometer deep under Earth’s oceans. The few spacecraft that have ever landed there did not last long before succumbing to the hellish conditions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975406\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 509px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1975406\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venera13surfacecomposite-Roscosmos.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"509\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venera13surfacecomposite-Roscosmos.jpg 509w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venera13surfacecomposite-Roscosmos-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 509px) 100vw, 509px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image taken from the surface of Venus by the USSR’s Venera 13 spacecraft. This is one of the few images ever taken from Venus’s surface. \u003ccite>(Roscosmos)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Is Venus Earth’s ‘Evil Twin’?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there are striking similarities between Venus and Earth. Venus is almost the same size as Earth, unlike Mars, which has received so much attention from NASA and other space agencies over the decades even though it’s about half the size of Earth. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And though Venus is closer to the sun, the extreme temperature of its atmosphere can be attributed in large part to a dominance of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps solar energy in the form of heat. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Observations of Venus’s atmospheric chemistry have fueled a hypothesis that the hell-world of today may have once been more temperate, with a cooler atmosphere, oceans of water, and possibly life-friendly conditions. What happened to change Venus’s environment so profoundly is a question NASA hopes its two new missions will help answer. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Was There Ever Life on Venus? Does Life Exist There Now?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969688/is-there-life-in-the-clouds-above-venus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">detection of the molecule phosphine\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> high in Venus’s atmosphere by a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.washington.edu/news/2021/01/27/phosphine-venus-so2/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">team of researchers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the United Kingdom has raised new questions about the possibility of life on what was once thought to be an inhospitable world. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Phosphine is a chemical found on Earth in association with certain biological processes, such as some anaerobic microbes (ones that do not need oxygen to live), the decomposition of organic matter, as well as human industrial activity, so its presence on Venus is an eye-opening surprise. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975403\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975403\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Infrared image of the night side of Venus, captured by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft. \u003ccite>(JAXA/ISAS/DARTS/Damia Bouic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Given Venus’s crushing surface pressure and roasting temperature, it’s hard to imagine any form of life existing there, but conditions at higher altitudes are more forgiving. At heights of 30 to 40 miles above Venus’s surface, the pressure and temperature in the atmosphere are similar to those on Earth’s surface. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If oceans once existed on Venus, they likely evaporated as temperatures soared. But what happened to turn up the heat? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Was there life on Earth’s closest sibling-planet? What was it like? Could life of some form still thrive there today, high up in the atmosphere, a safe distance away from Venus’s punishing surface? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Venus holds many tantalizing mysteries, and NASA is doubling down on solving them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Venus is back on the menu for space exploration! \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NASA \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-2-missions-to-study-lost-habitable-world-of-venus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">announced \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the selection of not one, but two new missions to Earth’s closest planetary neighbor. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first mission — Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging, or just \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-goddard-team-selected-to-design-concept-for-probe-of-mysterious-venus-atmosphere\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">DAVINCI+\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — will investigate Venus’s atmosphere, and launch a probe into its thick, hot, acidic clouds to measure their composition and conditions directly. DAVINCI+ will also capture the highest resolution images ever taken of Venus’s surface, including an unusual feature called “tesserae.” Some scientists believe these “tesserae” might be a Venusian version of Earth’s continents, minus the bordering oceans that define them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975407\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975407\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-800x838.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"838\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-800x838.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-1020x1068.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-160x168.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-768x804.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-1467x1536.jpg 1467w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_uvi_20160723_084730_365_l2b_v10_PRGB_composite-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic.jpg 1478w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Composite image of Venus taken by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft. \u003ccite>(JAXA/ISAS/DARTS/Damia Bouic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The second mission — Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, inSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy, or \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/veritas-exploring-the-deep-truths-of-venus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">VERITAS\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — will examine Venus’s surface, using radar to penetrate the planet’s thick clouds and create a detailed global geologic map. VERITAS will search for active volcanoes, and investigate a long-standing mystery. Venus appears to have suffered a global cataclysmic event that completely reshaped its surface in the past, but we don’t yet know why or what happened. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-2-missions-to-study-lost-habitable-world-of-venus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Both missions\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are expected to launch sometime around 2028 to 2030. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>A Long Awaited Return\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The last mission NASA sent to Venus was \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/magellan/in-depth/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Magellan\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, over 30 years ago. Since that time, only spacecraft bound for other destinations, such as the Mercury explorer MESSENGER and the solar deep-dive Parker Solar Probe, have swung briefly by Venus, using the planet’s gravity to steer their course. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975405\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1975405\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venus-magellan.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"449\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venus-magellan.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venus-magellan-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venus-magellan-768x431.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Digital model of a volcano on Venus’s surface created from radar measurements made by NASA’s Magellan spacecraft. \u003ccite>(NASA)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The intensely hot, high-pressure environment on Venus is one reason for the dearth of active exploration there. Also, researchers believed that it is not a world where they could hope to find life — unlike Mars, where the missions Curiosity and Perseverance are intensely examining that possibility. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/in-depth/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Venus \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">is a very different planet than Earth, and its harsh environment makes exploring its surface a huge technological challenge. Global surface temperatures hold constant around 470 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt lead, and its atmospheric pressure is equal to the water pressure a kilometer deep under Earth’s oceans. The few spacecraft that have ever landed there did not last long before succumbing to the hellish conditions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975406\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 509px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1975406\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venera13surfacecomposite-Roscosmos.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"509\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venera13surfacecomposite-Roscosmos.jpg 509w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/venera13surfacecomposite-Roscosmos-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 509px) 100vw, 509px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image taken from the surface of Venus by the USSR’s Venera 13 spacecraft. This is one of the few images ever taken from Venus’s surface. \u003ccite>(Roscosmos)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Is Venus Earth’s ‘Evil Twin’?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But there are striking similarities between Venus and Earth. Venus is almost the same size as Earth, unlike Mars, which has received so much attention from NASA and other space agencies over the decades even though it’s about half the size of Earth. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And though Venus is closer to the sun, the extreme temperature of its atmosphere can be attributed in large part to a dominance of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps solar energy in the form of heat. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Observations of Venus’s atmospheric chemistry have fueled a hypothesis that the hell-world of today may have once been more temperate, with a cooler atmosphere, oceans of water, and possibly life-friendly conditions. What happened to change Venus’s environment so profoundly is a question NASA hopes its two new missions will help answer. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Was There Ever Life on Venus? Does Life Exist There Now?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1969688/is-there-life-in-the-clouds-above-venus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">detection of the molecule phosphine\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> high in Venus’s atmosphere by a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.washington.edu/news/2021/01/27/phosphine-venus-so2/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">team of researchers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the United Kingdom has raised new questions about the possibility of life on what was once thought to be an inhospitable world. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Phosphine is a chemical found on Earth in association with certain biological processes, such as some anaerobic microbes (ones that do not need oxygen to live), the decomposition of organic matter, as well as human industrial activity, so its presence on Venus is an eye-opening surprise. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975403\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975403\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/20180113_ir2_20161030_080333_226_l2b_v10_PRGB-JAXA-ISAS-DARTS-Damia-Bouic.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Infrared image of the night side of Venus, captured by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft. \u003ccite>(JAXA/ISAS/DARTS/Damia Bouic)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Given Venus’s crushing surface pressure and roasting temperature, it’s hard to imagine any form of life existing there, but conditions at higher altitudes are more forgiving. At heights of 30 to 40 miles above Venus’s surface, the pressure and temperature in the atmosphere are similar to those on Earth’s surface. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If oceans once existed on Venus, they likely evaporated as temperatures soared. But what happened to turn up the heat? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Was there life on Earth’s closest sibling-planet? What was it like? Could life of some form still thrive there today, high up in the atmosphere, a safe distance away from Venus’s punishing surface? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Venus holds many tantalizing mysteries, and NASA is doubling down on solving them. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Millions of Calif. Homes Are in Fire-Prone Areas. Researchers Say It's Time To Reimagine Where People Live",
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"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">Millions of Californians are at risk of losing their homes to wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When tragedy strikes, people often rebuild in the same risky places, according to researchers at UC Berkeley and \u003ca href=\"https://www.next10.org/about\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Next 10,\u003c/span>\u003c/a> a nonprofit think tank, who are urging California policymakers to rethink how communities are rebuilt after destructive wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The academics want state policymakers to encourage rebuilding efforts away from fire-prone areas, many of which are increasingly risky places to live as warming temperatures bake forests across California, priming them to burn. \u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“This is really important in a state where the focus has been on specific [wildfire] mitigation measures such as hardening homes, prescribed burns, fuel breaks, and not on land use planning, not on making more sustainable settlement patterns around the state,” said report co-author Karen Chapple, an \u003cspan class=\"s2\">urban planning professor and \u003c/span>director of UC Berkeley’s \u003ca href=\"https://communityinnovation.berkeley.edu/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Center for Community Innovation\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. “It’s about thinking about what our post-fire communities look like before the fire happens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">More than 11 million Californians, roughly a quarter of the state’s population, live in high-risk wildfire areas known as the wildland-urban interface, or as its often referred to in academic circles, the WUI (pronounced woo-eee). Chapple says California’s housing crisis threatens to drive that number even higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“We have a housing crisis that is pushing housing out to the periphery of our urban areas. We’re building on peripheral land, on exurban land,” she said, “And that’s putting much more housing at risk than we’ve ever had before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Chapple adds that when wildfire hits, the state loses a portion of that housing stock, putting more pressure on the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cb>Alternatives to ‘Rebuilding as Usual’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\">In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.next10.org/publications/rebuilding-resilient\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">new report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, \u003c/span>Chapple and a group of Berkeley graduate students looked at rebuilding alternatives for three California communities that were hit hard by catastrophic fires over the last five years: Santa Rosa, Ventura and Paradise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Following the Tubbs Fire in 2017, Chapple says, Santa Rosa’s planning division mobilized to help homeowners rebuild the homes they lost. But, she said, “They helped them rebuild right in place, right back in the wildland-urban interface. And what if they had instead looked at building in an alternative way?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">In one scenario, fire survivors would be given incentives to relocate to cities and other lower-risk areas (researchers call this “managed retreat”) and found it was the most effective way to pull people out of the path of destructive wildfires, potentially reducing the number of housing units in fire zones by more than 50% in Santa Rosa and Ventura, and to a lesser extent, Paradise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second scenario drives survivors toward\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>pockets of development in rural areas with robust wildfire mitigation features, neighborhoods surrounded by defensible space to act as a fire break. Chapple describes these communities — what she calls “resilience nodes” — as mini villages or stand alone neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“This is a scenario where you would rebuild partly in the exurban areas or in the suburban areas, in the wildland-urban interface. But you would build with more density,” she said. “You would create dense, walkable nodes with small protective green buffers around them so people wouldn’t have to move totally out of their areas and into downtown, which a lot of people don’t want to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Researchers compared these scenarios against what it labeled the typical “rebuilding as usual” strategy, noting that encouraging people to relocate to cities has added climate benefits.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>Urbanites typically drive less and consume less energy (not to mention, have lower costs for transportation, power and water).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conserving forested areas is beneficial, too. Trees sequester carbon dioxide, a planet warming gas contributing to climate change, which is a \u003ca href=\"https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab83a7?ftag=MSF0951a18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">driver of extreme wildfire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cb>.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cb>A Costly Problem\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Building in fire-prone regions comes with financial risk. An analysis from \u003ca href=\"https://urbanfootprint.com/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Urban Footprint\u003c/span>\u003c/a> , a sustainability-focussed urban planning site, estimates the cost of rebuilding all of the 1.4 million homes located in California’s highest-risk fire zones to be around $600 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">These costs threaten to send insurance rates skyrocketing.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“Ultimately, rates that adequately insure property that is endangered by wildfire will simply be too high for customers to pay, which means insurers may choose to get out of the market entirely, leaving homes in the WUI uninsurable,” Robert Olshansky, an urban and regional planning researcher at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, wrote in a statement. “If we continue with rebuilding as usual, it’s almost inevitable that a major insurance crisis lies ahead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">\u003cspan class=\"s3\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/climate/climate-California-wildfires-insurance.html#click=https://t.co/JilE2jWg19\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">New York Times\u003c/span>\u003c/a> reported earlier this month that California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara \u003c/span>endorsed a list of \u003ca href=\"http://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/180-climate-change/upload/Draft-Climate-Insurance-Recommendations.pdf\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">policy recommendations\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, floated by a state working group,\u003cbr>\naimed at curtailing development in wildfire hazard zones. Some insurers have already pulled out of regions prone to wildfire, making it harder for Californians to secure financial protection from potential home damage or loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cb>Rebuilding Safer With ‘Carrots and Sticks’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Imagining what alternative rebuilding strategies could look like is one thing, finding feasible ways to implement them is another. Officials also have to ask people who’ve just endured the trauma of losing their homes and possessions to move away from their communities, potentially disrupting jobs, school and family — and that’s all the more difficult if a person lost a childhood home or their dream house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Chapple says a couple solutions that might work could be a combination of new local zoning policies that would enable denser housing and statewide financial incentives to encourage residents to relocate. The state could also reserve funds to support subsidized housing when disaster strikes.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">She notes that renters, disadvantaged communities, communities of color and immigrants are more vulnerable to the displacement caused by wildfire; another set of policies could be necessary to support these people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“How do you rethink your hazard mitigation and fire recovery policies to help people so they’re not doubly vulnerable?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">The report recommends California policymakers discourage risky development, while incentivizing the development of more affordable housing in lower-risk areas. Prohibitively expensive fire insurance rates may also drive an exodus of people leaving forested, fire-prone areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Jim Thorne, a UC Davis landscape ecologist with no connection to the new report, says the idea of managed retreat is gaining traction for another climate-related crisis the state is facing: sea level rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“Many California cities are looking at that,” he said. “But this report is talking about managed retreat from areas in the WUI.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the study could capture the attention of people who are living in these areas and “grappling with that insecurity of, ‘Wow, it’s really difficult to be sure that we’re going to be able maintain things here\u003ci>.’” \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Incentivizing residents to relocate away from wildfire-prone areas could help, Thorne adds, but the lack of affordable housing in urban areas is still a concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“If you moved 500,000 units out of the WUI, where are you going to move them?” he said. Some research suggests the most effective strategy would be the creation of more \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169204616301669\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">infill housing\u003c/span>\u003c/a> units in urban areas around existing housing developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Thorne calls resilience nodes a “great idea,” even if it might not be all together practical\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong> A more realistic idea might be more akin to the ways in which the \u003cspan class=\"s4\">California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection\u003c/span> has begun prioritizing wildfire-prone communities for vegetation removal and fire breaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“Even though those [areas] might not be planned as urban pods,” he said, “There’s already a recognition of, ‘hey, we need to do that.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Thorne says there is no single, magic solution. Solving this problem will be a process, a policy combination of “some carrots and sticks” along with “some ways of moving people around.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“It won’t be a clean break where you just go, ‘Okay, now from here on out all the housing is going to go over here,'” he said. “We need to implement these types of resiliency measures, but how we go about it? That’s one of the current challenges.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">Millions of Californians are at risk of losing their homes to wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When tragedy strikes, people often rebuild in the same risky places, according to researchers at UC Berkeley and \u003ca href=\"https://www.next10.org/about\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Next 10,\u003c/span>\u003c/a> a nonprofit think tank, who are urging California policymakers to rethink how communities are rebuilt after destructive wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The academics want state policymakers to encourage rebuilding efforts away from fire-prone areas, many of which are increasingly risky places to live as warming temperatures bake forests across California, priming them to burn. \u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“This is really important in a state where the focus has been on specific [wildfire] mitigation measures such as hardening homes, prescribed burns, fuel breaks, and not on land use planning, not on making more sustainable settlement patterns around the state,” said report co-author Karen Chapple, an \u003cspan class=\"s2\">urban planning professor and \u003c/span>director of UC Berkeley’s \u003ca href=\"https://communityinnovation.berkeley.edu/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Center for Community Innovation\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. “It’s about thinking about what our post-fire communities look like before the fire happens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">More than 11 million Californians, roughly a quarter of the state’s population, live in high-risk wildfire areas known as the wildland-urban interface, or as its often referred to in academic circles, the WUI (pronounced woo-eee). Chapple says California’s housing crisis threatens to drive that number even higher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“We have a housing crisis that is pushing housing out to the periphery of our urban areas. We’re building on peripheral land, on exurban land,” she said, “And that’s putting much more housing at risk than we’ve ever had before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Chapple adds that when wildfire hits, the state loses a portion of that housing stock, putting more pressure on the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cb>Alternatives to ‘Rebuilding as Usual’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\">In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.next10.org/publications/rebuilding-resilient\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">new report\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, \u003c/span>Chapple and a group of Berkeley graduate students looked at rebuilding alternatives for three California communities that were hit hard by catastrophic fires over the last five years: Santa Rosa, Ventura and Paradise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Following the Tubbs Fire in 2017, Chapple says, Santa Rosa’s planning division mobilized to help homeowners rebuild the homes they lost. But, she said, “They helped them rebuild right in place, right back in the wildland-urban interface. And what if they had instead looked at building in an alternative way?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">In one scenario, fire survivors would be given incentives to relocate to cities and other lower-risk areas (researchers call this “managed retreat”) and found it was the most effective way to pull people out of the path of destructive wildfires, potentially reducing the number of housing units in fire zones by more than 50% in Santa Rosa and Ventura, and to a lesser extent, Paradise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second scenario drives survivors toward\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>pockets of development in rural areas with robust wildfire mitigation features, neighborhoods surrounded by defensible space to act as a fire break. Chapple describes these communities — what she calls “resilience nodes” — as mini villages or stand alone neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“This is a scenario where you would rebuild partly in the exurban areas or in the suburban areas, in the wildland-urban interface. But you would build with more density,” she said. “You would create dense, walkable nodes with small protective green buffers around them so people wouldn’t have to move totally out of their areas and into downtown, which a lot of people don’t want to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Researchers compared these scenarios against what it labeled the typical “rebuilding as usual” strategy, noting that encouraging people to relocate to cities has added climate benefits.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>Urbanites typically drive less and consume less energy (not to mention, have lower costs for transportation, power and water).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Conserving forested areas is beneficial, too. Trees sequester carbon dioxide, a planet warming gas contributing to climate change, which is a \u003ca href=\"https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab83a7?ftag=MSF0951a18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">driver of extreme wildfire\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cb>.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cb>A Costly Problem\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Building in fire-prone regions comes with financial risk. An analysis from \u003ca href=\"https://urbanfootprint.com/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">Urban Footprint\u003c/span>\u003c/a> , a sustainability-focussed urban planning site, estimates the cost of rebuilding all of the 1.4 million homes located in California’s highest-risk fire zones to be around $600 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">These costs threaten to send insurance rates skyrocketing.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“Ultimately, rates that adequately insure property that is endangered by wildfire will simply be too high for customers to pay, which means insurers may choose to get out of the market entirely, leaving homes in the WUI uninsurable,” Robert Olshansky, an urban and regional planning researcher at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, wrote in a statement. “If we continue with rebuilding as usual, it’s almost inevitable that a major insurance crisis lies ahead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">\u003cspan class=\"s3\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/climate/climate-California-wildfires-insurance.html#click=https://t.co/JilE2jWg19\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">New York Times\u003c/span>\u003c/a> reported earlier this month that California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara \u003c/span>endorsed a list of \u003ca href=\"http://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/180-climate-change/upload/Draft-Climate-Insurance-Recommendations.pdf\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">policy recommendations\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, floated by a state working group,\u003cbr>\naimed at curtailing development in wildfire hazard zones. Some insurers have already pulled out of regions prone to wildfire, making it harder for Californians to secure financial protection from potential home damage or loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cb>Rebuilding Safer With ‘Carrots and Sticks’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Imagining what alternative rebuilding strategies could look like is one thing, finding feasible ways to implement them is another. Officials also have to ask people who’ve just endured the trauma of losing their homes and possessions to move away from their communities, potentially disrupting jobs, school and family — and that’s all the more difficult if a person lost a childhood home or their dream house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Chapple says a couple solutions that might work could be a combination of new local zoning policies that would enable denser housing and statewide financial incentives to encourage residents to relocate. The state could also reserve funds to support subsidized housing when disaster strikes.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">She notes that renters, disadvantaged communities, communities of color and immigrants are more vulnerable to the displacement caused by wildfire; another set of policies could be necessary to support these people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“How do you rethink your hazard mitigation and fire recovery policies to help people so they’re not doubly vulnerable?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">The report recommends California policymakers discourage risky development, while incentivizing the development of more affordable housing in lower-risk areas. Prohibitively expensive fire insurance rates may also drive an exodus of people leaving forested, fire-prone areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Jim Thorne, a UC Davis landscape ecologist with no connection to the new report, says the idea of managed retreat is gaining traction for another climate-related crisis the state is facing: sea level rise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“Many California cities are looking at that,” he said. “But this report is talking about managed retreat from areas in the WUI.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says the study could capture the attention of people who are living in these areas and “grappling with that insecurity of, ‘Wow, it’s really difficult to be sure that we’re going to be able maintain things here\u003ci>.’” \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Incentivizing residents to relocate away from wildfire-prone areas could help, Thorne adds, but the lack of affordable housing in urban areas is still a concern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“If you moved 500,000 units out of the WUI, where are you going to move them?” he said. Some research suggests the most effective strategy would be the creation of more \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169204616301669\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">infill housing\u003c/span>\u003c/a> units in urban areas around existing housing developments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Thorne calls resilience nodes a “great idea,” even if it might not be all together practical\u003cstrong>.\u003c/strong> A more realistic idea might be more akin to the ways in which the \u003cspan class=\"s4\">California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection\u003c/span> has begun prioritizing wildfire-prone communities for vegetation removal and fire breaks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“Even though those [areas] might not be planned as urban pods,” he said, “There’s already a recognition of, ‘hey, we need to do that.'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Thorne says there is no single, magic solution. Solving this problem will be a process, a policy combination of “some carrots and sticks” along with “some ways of moving people around.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“It won’t be a clean break where you just go, ‘Okay, now from here on out all the housing is going to go over here,'” he said. “We need to implement these types of resiliency measures, but how we go about it? That’s one of the current challenges.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>It might be tempting to shrug at the scorching weather across large swaths of the West. This just in: It gets hot in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this record-setting heat wave’s remarkable power, size and unusually early appearance is giving meteorologists and climate experts yet more cause for concern about the routinization of extreme weather in an era of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These sprawling, persistent high-pressure zones popularly called “heat domes” are relatively common in later summer months. This current system is different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not only unusual for June, but it is pretty extreme even in absolute terms,” said Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “It would be a pretty extreme event for August,” Swain says, when these typically occur.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Even in Coastal California, Cities Are Setting Record Temps\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This heat dome’s reach is remarkable, too: It has set record highs stretching from the Great Plains to coastal California. And these aren’t just records for that specific date or month, but in a few spots, they are records for the singularly hottest day in the entire period of record, sometimes stretching back 100 to 150 years. “That’s a pretty big deal,” Swain says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unusual in that it’s more intense in terms of the maximum temperature,” said Alison Bridger, a professor in the Meteorology and Climate Science Department at San Jose State University. “And how widespread the impact is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, Palm Springs, California, recently hit 123 degrees, equaling its highest recorded temperature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Las Vegas set a daily record of 114 degrees. Phoenix \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NWSPhoenix/status/1405654514141589505\">reached a record 118\u003c/a> degrees, the earliest the city has hit that high a mark. It broke the previous record of 114 set in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento, California, set a new daily record of 109 degrees. The National Weather Service \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NWSSacramento/status/1405989947912376326/photo/1\">extended its excessive heat warning through Sunday\u003c/a> night in the Central Valley and parts of Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Denver this week hit 100 for three straight days, the earliest date of such a streak on record, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/bhensonweather/status/1405619186538139649\">tweeted meteorologist Bob Henson. \u003c/a>He noted that all of the 100-degree streaks in Denver’s 150 years of climate record keeping have occurred in the last three decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in the Great Plains, several cities including Omaha, Nebraska, set records, including a daily \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NWSOmaha/status/1405679809053614080\">record high of 105 degrees\u003c/a>. That breaks an Omaha daily record set in 1918.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just last year, several cities in the West also hit record highs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This current heat dome “fits with climate change ideas, global warming, meaning that it’s just a little bit warmer than it would have been last year,” Bridger says. “And if we have this next year, it’ll be just a little bit warmer again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The ‘Heat Dome’ is Making Droughts Even Worse\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also coinciding with and worsening record drought across big parts of the West. These two things, Swain says, are now making each other worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The drought is leading to extremely low soil moisture, which is making it easier for these high pressure systems to generate extreme heat waves because more of the sun’s energy is going into heating the atmosphere rather than evaporating nonexistent water in the soil.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that is only making things hotter and drier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s sort of the vicious cycle of drought and extreme heat in a warming climate,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It’s More Evidence of Human-Caused Climate Change\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The excessive heat and widening drought continues to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/05/06/993172298/deepening-drought-holds-ominous-signs-for-wildfire-threat-in-the-west\">elevate wildfire risk across\u003c/a> much of the West. New federal data show that the number of new wildfires in the U.S. so far this year is at \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/nfn\">a 10-year high\u003c/a>, signaling a long, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1007784176/new-wildfires-10-year-high-western-u-s\">potentially dangerous summer and fall for wildfires.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say this current heat dome is yet more evidence of the impact of human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bridger at San Jose State says while that is most likely the case, “it takes a lot of work to figure that out. A lot of hard scientific work in order to be statistically sure that it’s associated with climate change,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others are more certain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just so clear at this point,” says climate scientist Swain, “when it comes to record-breaking heat events, the study has been run for event after event after event in region after region after region in year after year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the answer is almost always the same, he says: “There’s a crystal clear human fingerprint on extreme heat and extreme heat events … climate change is making these sorts of things worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what was historically rare is now becoming almost commonplace: Forecasters say there’s a chance of yet another heat wave of similar magnitude in the West about 10 days from now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That sounds crazy, except that last summer we saw like three to five of these, you know, ‘unprecedented events’ in different regions of the West,” Swain points out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+Record+Temperatures+Enveloping+The+West+Are+Not+Your+Average+Heat+Wave&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It might be tempting to shrug at the scorching weather across large swaths of the West. This just in: It gets hot in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this record-setting heat wave’s remarkable power, size and unusually early appearance is giving meteorologists and climate experts yet more cause for concern about the routinization of extreme weather in an era of climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These sprawling, persistent high-pressure zones popularly called “heat domes” are relatively common in later summer months. This current system is different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not only unusual for June, but it is pretty extreme even in absolute terms,” said Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “It would be a pretty extreme event for August,” Swain says, when these typically occur.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Even in Coastal California, Cities Are Setting Record Temps\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This heat dome’s reach is remarkable, too: It has set record highs stretching from the Great Plains to coastal California. And these aren’t just records for that specific date or month, but in a few spots, they are records for the singularly hottest day in the entire period of record, sometimes stretching back 100 to 150 years. “That’s a pretty big deal,” Swain says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s unusual in that it’s more intense in terms of the maximum temperature,” said Alison Bridger, a professor in the Meteorology and Climate Science Department at San Jose State University. “And how widespread the impact is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, Palm Springs, California, recently hit 123 degrees, equaling its highest recorded temperature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Las Vegas set a daily record of 114 degrees. Phoenix \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NWSPhoenix/status/1405654514141589505\">reached a record 118\u003c/a> degrees, the earliest the city has hit that high a mark. It broke the previous record of 114 set in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sacramento, California, set a new daily record of 109 degrees. The National Weather Service \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NWSSacramento/status/1405989947912376326/photo/1\">extended its excessive heat warning through Sunday\u003c/a> night in the Central Valley and parts of Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Denver this week hit 100 for three straight days, the earliest date of such a streak on record, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/bhensonweather/status/1405619186538139649\">tweeted meteorologist Bob Henson. \u003c/a>He noted that all of the 100-degree streaks in Denver’s 150 years of climate record keeping have occurred in the last three decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in the Great Plains, several cities including Omaha, Nebraska, set records, including a daily \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NWSOmaha/status/1405679809053614080\">record high of 105 degrees\u003c/a>. That breaks an Omaha daily record set in 1918.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just last year, several cities in the West also hit record highs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This current heat dome “fits with climate change ideas, global warming, meaning that it’s just a little bit warmer than it would have been last year,” Bridger says. “And if we have this next year, it’ll be just a little bit warmer again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The ‘Heat Dome’ is Making Droughts Even Worse\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also coinciding with and worsening record drought across big parts of the West. These two things, Swain says, are now making each other worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The drought is leading to extremely low soil moisture, which is making it easier for these high pressure systems to generate extreme heat waves because more of the sun’s energy is going into heating the atmosphere rather than evaporating nonexistent water in the soil.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that is only making things hotter and drier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s sort of the vicious cycle of drought and extreme heat in a warming climate,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>It’s More Evidence of Human-Caused Climate Change\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The excessive heat and widening drought continues to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/05/06/993172298/deepening-drought-holds-ominous-signs-for-wildfire-threat-in-the-west\">elevate wildfire risk across\u003c/a> much of the West. New federal data show that the number of new wildfires in the U.S. so far this year is at \u003ca href=\"https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/nfn\">a 10-year high\u003c/a>, signaling a long, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1007784176/new-wildfires-10-year-high-western-u-s\">potentially dangerous summer and fall for wildfires.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say this current heat dome is yet more evidence of the impact of human-caused climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bridger at San Jose State says while that is most likely the case, “it takes a lot of work to figure that out. A lot of hard scientific work in order to be statistically sure that it’s associated with climate change,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others are more certain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just so clear at this point,” says climate scientist Swain, “when it comes to record-breaking heat events, the study has been run for event after event after event in region after region after region in year after year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the answer is almost always the same, he says: “There’s a crystal clear human fingerprint on extreme heat and extreme heat events … climate change is making these sorts of things worse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what was historically rare is now becoming almost commonplace: Forecasters say there’s a chance of yet another heat wave of similar magnitude in the West about 10 days from now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That sounds crazy, except that last summer we saw like three to five of these, you know, ‘unprecedented events’ in different regions of the West,” Swain points out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+Record+Temperatures+Enveloping+The+West+Are+Not+Your+Average+Heat+Wave&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'Communities Know Best': Climate Solutions in The South Bay Start With Listening",
"headTitle": "‘Communities Know Best’: Climate Solutions in The South Bay Start With Listening | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the South Bay grapples with the impacts of climate change, people there are creating solutions by relying on arguably the most fundamental element of conversation: listening.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This process began in East Palo Alto, where community groups and scientists are helping residents understand how warming temperatures are raising water levels in the bay — already half the city lies in a federal flood zone. And the idea is now spreading to nearby communities like North Fair Oaks, a small unincorporated area of mostly neighborhoods. Soon, it will expand into a regional science project where hundreds of residents will document how climate change is altering their lives over the next five years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The listening project is led by \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.climatercommunities.org/staff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Violet Wulf-Saena,\u003c/span>\u003c/a> founder and executive director of the\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> nonprofit \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.climatercommunities.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Climate Resilient Communities\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Her group advocates for climate change solutions that integrate the communities most affected by warming temperatures in the Bay Area. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There’s a lot of power in the community,” she said. “They are the ones who are being impacted. They’re the ones who live in East Palo Alto, they know more than me. They are the experts. … Success is really about bringing the community together and finding ways where they can also be part of the process.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Too often, she says, climate change policies are top-down approaches that forgo meaningful exchanges with the people who are going to have to live with solutions created for \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">them\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wulf-Saena’s primary mode for closing that gap is conversation. It works, she says, because her team looks like the communities they work with. She’s from Samoa and emigrated to the U.S. to be closer to her husband’s family nearly two decades ago.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s easier for me, because I’m a person of color and I do come from the island,” she said. “They see that: ‘Oh, yeah, she’s part of us.’”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973805/climate-solutions-in-east-palo-alto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">I met Wulf-Saena while speaking with residents who came to East Palo Alto after fleeing flooding and sea level rise back home in the Pacific Islands\u003c/a>, only to find that in the coming decades they could be climate migrants for a second time. One of those residents is Appollonia Grey ‘Uhilamoelangi, known as Mama Dee.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The last two floods over here, the question is, where was God?’ she said. “Don’t get me wrong. I believe in prayers. But I lived through so many disasters.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I learned East Palo Alto is ahead of some other Bay Area cities in planning for rising tides — thanks in large part to the community activism of those who emigrated to this small city along the bay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975434\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975434\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Appollonia Grey ‘Uhilamoelangi, known as “Mama Dee,” and her husband, Senita Uhila, at their home in East Palo Alto on March 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>It Began in Samoa\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This idea of listening isn’t new. People likely listened (or, \u003cem>didn’t\u003c/em> listen) \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">before they even learned to write.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But Wulf-Saena experienced an epiphany about the power of listening when she was Samoa’s first climate change officer in the early 2000s.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The government she represented wanted to move the village of Saoluafata, located on the north side of the island Upolu, upland and away from an eroding shoreline — a problem that would be exacerbated as climate change pushed tide levels even higher. Already, residents reported waves washing away the land and encroaching on homes, according to a study titled \u003ca href=\"https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2084&context=isp_collection\">“Seawalls in Samoa\u003c/a>.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While drinking kava — usually sipped to mark important occasions within Samoan society — with elders of the village in Saoluafata, Wulf-Saena quickly learned they didn’t want to move inland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Being able to stay on their ancestral land is more important than adapting or moving to another place where their families can be safe,” she explained. “In the end, we compromised.”\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The solution? A \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/k9WcaStolhY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seawall the length of 22 San Francisco city blocks constructed of boulders\u003c/a> piled on top of sand that allowed the villagers to stay. The coastline was revegetated, the village water tank was upgraded and residents were taught about coral gardening and how to protect the reef. Residents said in the survey that the seawall solved the erosion problem, and a study suggests it was a success because the “villagers made all of the decisions.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The big lesson for Wulf-Saena in Saoluafata was that engaging residents in climate change solutions opens the opportunity for them to thrive despite the ever-increasing climate emergency. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s really about being in their shoes … trying to understand their situations, the conflicts, and the barriers that they’re facing. And also working with them to find a way forward,” she said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975435\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975435\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Climate Resilient Communities Executive Director Violet Wulf-Saena at Cooley Landing Park in East Palo Alto on March 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Listening to People Around the Bay\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wulf-Saena moved to California in 2005. Shortly after she took what she learned in Samoa and began applying it to the community of East Palo Alto in San Mateo County, which out of all the Bay Area counties, is the most at risk from sea level rise. The city is one of the most vulnerable to climate-driven inundation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">About 2.5 square miles, the city is made up of mostly one-story homes. Scientists say in about a decade two-thirds of the city may regularly flood, and by 2050, those areas could be frequently underwater during high tides.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wulf-Saena partnered with Stanford students on a door-to-door climate survey, and she learned that the community did not understand the link between increased flooding and warming temperatures. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“What I found was a lot of the community members didn’t know what climate change was,” she said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Through community meetings and one-on-one peer counseling, local organizations and the county worked to help residents connect the dots. Her team fostered community buy-in for a levee project to protect against future flooding as the bay rises, much like the sea wall in Samoa. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, she understands that there’s a large percentage of the population she hasn’t reached; working with other nonprofit groups, she hopes to “help residents plan and respond [to climate change].”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975432\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975432\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An apartment building in North Fair Oaks on May 10, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>‘The Community Knows Best’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A similar listening session occurred 15 minutes north of East Palo Alto in the community of North Fair Oaks. In 2018, San Mateo County announced the community would receive a $50,000 grant to study climate change-related flooding impacts. The contract was finalized in 2019. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when advocates and Stanford students once again went door to door, they were surprised with what residents like Linda Lopez, who moved to the community in 1959 when she was 9 years old, told them. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their climate concern? Heat and smoke from wildfires, not flooding.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I just wasn’t thinking about [sea level rise] because we’ve never had any degree of flooding,” she said. “We think we live far enough from the (San Francisco) Bay that if it did rise, it’s not going to affect us.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Climate models show water encroaching only on the eastern edge of North Fair Oaks as the seas rise by mid-century. (Although, flooding could block roads and create other transportation problems, cutting off access to food.) \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Smaller than a couple square miles and home to roughly 15,000 people, the main drag of North Fair Oaks is a predominantly Latino area, lined with taquerias, paleterias and joyerias. But what’s noticeably missing are trees, says Ever Rodriguez, chair of the volunteer \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://dev.nfoc.nimbusdesign.com/about-north-fair-oaks/north-fair-oaks-community-council\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">North Fair Oaks Community Council.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">North Fair Oaks borders Menlo Park to the south, which he describes as a “more affluent area” with many “beautiful oaks” and other trees.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here on this side, there aren’t any trees, really. Just all cement and asphalt,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is where that fundamental part of conversation comes in again. The organizers realized they had to listen. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Early research questions were centered around flooding, but the community insisted that the blistering heat was the more imminent problem. Organizers say the community feedback helped them convince the county that the most immediate climate risk for North Fair Oaks was heat. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Community leaders and the county began working with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://canopy.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Canopy\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, to reduce temperatures by planting free trees in people’s yards. Temps in North Fair Oaks, a heat island, are higher than surrounding areas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With little shade from sparse greenery, black asphalt streets and cement sidewalks absorb sunlight, radiating heat out into the neighborhoods.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The community knows best and I think all public servants need to be guided by listening,” Rodriguez said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rodriguez is in the process of helping organize climate change ambassadors on each block of North Fair Oaks. He wants every resident to be prepared for when the effects of climate change — fire, floods, drought, smoke — inevitably worsen. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975438 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new tree planted in front of a home in North Fair Oaks on May 10, 2021. The tree was provided by the not-for-profit Canopy, which plants trees in urban environments in the mid-Peninsula region. (Beth LeBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>‘Partly a Problem of Consent’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But why is it important for scientists and government leaders to listen to communities while creating climate solutions? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.brittwray.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Britt Wray\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> says listening replaces the mindset that the government or scientists know best. She studies the mental health impacts of climate change as a postdoc at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wray says listening to people is about moving past the “dark legacies” that have shaped the climate crisis and figuring out “why it hurts some people more than others,” referring to the world’s dependence on fossil fuels, corporations valuing wealth over people’s health, and how \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/-in-california-extreme-heat-and-ozone-pollution-hit-poor-communities-hardest\">low-income people are more negatively affected by a changing climate\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Domination is the predominant force in this crisis, as compared with true partnership that centers around human values like reciprocity, trust, dignity and respect,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wray says listening empowers people to come up with climate solutions that better life at the neighborhood level. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We can actually start moving towards the world that isn’t the one we’ve been living in, but the one that we want to live in,” she said. “We can’t do that without listening deeply to the people who are most affected.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://seas.umich.edu/research/faculty/kyle-whyte\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kyle Powys Whyte\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, listening to people is about restoring consent. He’s an \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma, and \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">as a University of Michigan professor, he studies the moral and political issues around climate policy, and Indigenous people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says the issue of climate change in the country’s history “was created not just because people were addicted to the benefits of fossil fuels, but they were also addicted to getting away with taking advantage of Indigenous people and other groups without those people’s consent.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says the consent issue hasn’t improved and he’s concerned “that we actually haven’t gotten out of the situation that got us into the climate crisis, and it’s partly a problem of consent,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whyte is on the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/news-updates/2021/03/29/white-house-announces-environmental-justice-advisory-council-members/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> advising the administration on the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">American Jobs Plan\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which calls for 40% of the proposal’s benefits to go to communities affected by environmental justice. He says his role is to remind the team that these projects will take longer to implement because these communities already have an infrastructure deficit because of a lack of federal investment — like, inadequate roads, housing and transmission lines. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“People haven’t listened to tribes for years and they don’t understand the current infrastructure situation that tribes are in,” he said. “They’re about to consider spending billions of dollars and it could just be wasted if our policymakers and legislators aren’t listening to what tribes are going to actually need to be able to use and benefit from the renewable energy and clean water infrastructure being advocated for right now in Washington.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975436\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975436\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A family looks out into the bay from Cooley Landing Park in East Palo Alto on March 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The Wake-Up Call\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wulf-Saena and Stanford lecturer \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://profiles.stanford.edu/derek-ouyang\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Derek Ouyang\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> will soon start recruiting 500 families for a big listening project over the next five years in Redwood City, East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Alviso in San Jose. They’ll routinely check in with participants to see how climate change is challenging their lives. Participants have the option to be contacted through an app, over the phone or in-person. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ouyang had a major realization several years ago that if his research doesn’t help regular people he feels like it’s worthless. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Listening from the bottom up ensures that you’re identifying the most important challenges that communities are facing and the most feasible, and holistic solution,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He hopes the study illuminates blind spots to exactly what impacts floods, heat waves and wildfires can have on the most housing insecure.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The only way to really understand the deep underlying challenges households face is if you can really follow them for the next few years, until those events inevitably occur,” he said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The team of scientists, students and community organizers will lead the five-year study to examine the social and psychological effects of climate exposure, while building relationships with the families as warming alters their lives. The goal is to come up with the best solutions with the families involved.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Our hypothesis is that we’ll find that the things that work are exactly the kinds of things that organizations like Climate Resilient Communities are best poised to offer,” he said. “Because they look like the neighborhood, they’re more trusted and have built those networks already.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He thinks that the impacts of climate change are being felt “much deeper than we like to admit right now” and could “look like [families] increasingly foregoing healthy food and the kinds of care you want to provide for your children,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ouyang wants to examine how vulnerable communities in the South Bay really are, and if they need greater access to mental health services, sandbags for flood times, ventilators for smoky times, and cooling centers for hot times. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wulf-Saena says that she’s involved because she believes it will lead to solutions for people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m also on the other side protecting the interests of the communities,” she said. “I’m there thinking, ‘Okay, Stanford, this is not just a study.’ Whatever the outcome of this project will be, let’s have something that will give back to the communities that we’re going to work with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Leaders in the South Bay are trying out a radical new approach to designing climate solutions. ",
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"description": "Leaders in the South Bay are trying out a radical new approach to designing climate solutions. ",
"title": "'Communities Know Best': Climate Solutions in The South Bay Start With Listening | KQED",
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"headline": "'Communities Know Best': Climate Solutions in The South Bay Start With Listening",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the South Bay grapples with the impacts of climate change, people there are creating solutions by relying on arguably the most fundamental element of conversation: listening.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This process began in East Palo Alto, where community groups and scientists are helping residents understand how warming temperatures are raising water levels in the bay — already half the city lies in a federal flood zone. And the idea is now spreading to nearby communities like North Fair Oaks, a small unincorporated area of mostly neighborhoods. Soon, it will expand into a regional science project where hundreds of residents will document how climate change is altering their lives over the next five years. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The listening project is led by \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.climatercommunities.org/staff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Violet Wulf-Saena,\u003c/span>\u003c/a> founder and executive director of the\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> nonprofit \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.climatercommunities.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Climate Resilient Communities\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Her group advocates for climate change solutions that integrate the communities most affected by warming temperatures in the Bay Area. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There’s a lot of power in the community,” she said. “They are the ones who are being impacted. They’re the ones who live in East Palo Alto, they know more than me. They are the experts. … Success is really about bringing the community together and finding ways where they can also be part of the process.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Too often, she says, climate change policies are top-down approaches that forgo meaningful exchanges with the people who are going to have to live with solutions created for \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">them\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wulf-Saena’s primary mode for closing that gap is conversation. It works, she says, because her team looks like the communities they work with. She’s from Samoa and emigrated to the U.S. to be closer to her husband’s family nearly two decades ago.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s easier for me, because I’m a person of color and I do come from the island,” she said. “They see that: ‘Oh, yeah, she’s part of us.’”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973805/climate-solutions-in-east-palo-alto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">I met Wulf-Saena while speaking with residents who came to East Palo Alto after fleeing flooding and sea level rise back home in the Pacific Islands\u003c/a>, only to find that in the coming decades they could be climate migrants for a second time. One of those residents is Appollonia Grey ‘Uhilamoelangi, known as Mama Dee.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The last two floods over here, the question is, where was God?’ she said. “Don’t get me wrong. I believe in prayers. But I lived through so many disasters.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I learned East Palo Alto is ahead of some other Bay Area cities in planning for rising tides — thanks in large part to the community activism of those who emigrated to this small city along the bay.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975434\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975434\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48316_043_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Appollonia Grey ‘Uhilamoelangi, known as “Mama Dee,” and her husband, Senita Uhila, at their home in East Palo Alto on March 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>It Began in Samoa\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This idea of listening isn’t new. People likely listened (or, \u003cem>didn’t\u003c/em> listen) \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">before they even learned to write.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> But Wulf-Saena experienced an epiphany about the power of listening when she was Samoa’s first climate change officer in the early 2000s.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The government she represented wanted to move the village of Saoluafata, located on the north side of the island Upolu, upland and away from an eroding shoreline — a problem that would be exacerbated as climate change pushed tide levels even higher. Already, residents reported waves washing away the land and encroaching on homes, according to a study titled \u003ca href=\"https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2084&context=isp_collection\">“Seawalls in Samoa\u003c/a>.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While drinking kava — usually sipped to mark important occasions within Samoan society — with elders of the village in Saoluafata, Wulf-Saena quickly learned they didn’t want to move inland.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Being able to stay on their ancestral land is more important than adapting or moving to another place where their families can be safe,” she explained. “In the end, we compromised.”\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The solution? A \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/k9WcaStolhY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seawall the length of 22 San Francisco city blocks constructed of boulders\u003c/a> piled on top of sand that allowed the villagers to stay. The coastline was revegetated, the village water tank was upgraded and residents were taught about coral gardening and how to protect the reef. Residents said in the survey that the seawall solved the erosion problem, and a study suggests it was a success because the “villagers made all of the decisions.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The big lesson for Wulf-Saena in Saoluafata was that engaging residents in climate change solutions opens the opportunity for them to thrive despite the ever-increasing climate emergency. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s really about being in their shoes … trying to understand their situations, the conflicts, and the barriers that they’re facing. And also working with them to find a way forward,” she said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975435\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975435\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48287_013_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Climate Resilient Communities Executive Director Violet Wulf-Saena at Cooley Landing Park in East Palo Alto on March 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Listening to People Around the Bay\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wulf-Saena moved to California in 2005. Shortly after she took what she learned in Samoa and began applying it to the community of East Palo Alto in San Mateo County, which out of all the Bay Area counties, is the most at risk from sea level rise. The city is one of the most vulnerable to climate-driven inundation. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">About 2.5 square miles, the city is made up of mostly one-story homes. Scientists say in about a decade two-thirds of the city may regularly flood, and by 2050, those areas could be frequently underwater during high tides.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wulf-Saena partnered with Stanford students on a door-to-door climate survey, and she learned that the community did not understand the link between increased flooding and warming temperatures. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“What I found was a lot of the community members didn’t know what climate change was,” she said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Through community meetings and one-on-one peer counseling, local organizations and the county worked to help residents connect the dots. Her team fostered community buy-in for a levee project to protect against future flooding as the bay rises, much like the sea wall in Samoa. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, she understands that there’s a large percentage of the population she hasn’t reached; working with other nonprofit groups, she hopes to “help residents plan and respond [to climate change].”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975432\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975432\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49260_015_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An apartment building in North Fair Oaks on May 10, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>‘The Community Knows Best’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A similar listening session occurred 15 minutes north of East Palo Alto in the community of North Fair Oaks. In 2018, San Mateo County announced the community would receive a $50,000 grant to study climate change-related flooding impacts. The contract was finalized in 2019. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But when advocates and Stanford students once again went door to door, they were surprised with what residents like Linda Lopez, who moved to the community in 1959 when she was 9 years old, told them. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Their climate concern? Heat and smoke from wildfires, not flooding.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I just wasn’t thinking about [sea level rise] because we’ve never had any degree of flooding,” she said. “We think we live far enough from the (San Francisco) Bay that if it did rise, it’s not going to affect us.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Climate models show water encroaching only on the eastern edge of North Fair Oaks as the seas rise by mid-century. (Although, flooding could block roads and create other transportation problems, cutting off access to food.) \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Smaller than a couple square miles and home to roughly 15,000 people, the main drag of North Fair Oaks is a predominantly Latino area, lined with taquerias, paleterias and joyerias. But what’s noticeably missing are trees, says Ever Rodriguez, chair of the volunteer \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://dev.nfoc.nimbusdesign.com/about-north-fair-oaks/north-fair-oaks-community-council\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">North Fair Oaks Community Council.\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">North Fair Oaks borders Menlo Park to the south, which he describes as a “more affluent area” with many “beautiful oaks” and other trees.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Here on this side, there aren’t any trees, really. Just all cement and asphalt,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is where that fundamental part of conversation comes in again. The organizers realized they had to listen. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Early research questions were centered around flooding, but the community insisted that the blistering heat was the more imminent problem. Organizers say the community feedback helped them convince the county that the most immediate climate risk for North Fair Oaks was heat. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Community leaders and the county began working with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://canopy.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Canopy\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, to reduce temperatures by planting free trees in people’s yards. Temps in North Fair Oaks, a heat island, are higher than surrounding areas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">With little shade from sparse greenery, black asphalt streets and cement sidewalks absorb sunlight, radiating heat out into the neighborhoods.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The community knows best and I think all public servants need to be guided by listening,” Rodriguez said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rodriguez is in the process of helping organize climate change ambassadors on each block of North Fair Oaks. He wants every resident to be prepared for when the effects of climate change — fire, floods, drought, smoke — inevitably worsen. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975438 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS49270_025_NorthFairOaks_ClimateListening_05102021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A new tree planted in front of a home in North Fair Oaks on May 10, 2021. The tree was provided by the not-for-profit Canopy, which plants trees in urban environments in the mid-Peninsula region. (Beth LeBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>‘Partly a Problem of Consent’\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But why is it important for scientists and government leaders to listen to communities while creating climate solutions? \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.brittwray.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Britt Wray\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> says listening replaces the mindset that the government or scientists know best. She studies the mental health impacts of climate change as a postdoc at Stanford University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wray says listening to people is about moving past the “dark legacies” that have shaped the climate crisis and figuring out “why it hurts some people more than others,” referring to the world’s dependence on fossil fuels, corporations valuing wealth over people’s health, and how \u003ca href=\"https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/-in-california-extreme-heat-and-ozone-pollution-hit-poor-communities-hardest\">low-income people are more negatively affected by a changing climate\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Domination is the predominant force in this crisis, as compared with true partnership that centers around human values like reciprocity, trust, dignity and respect,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wray says listening empowers people to come up with climate solutions that better life at the neighborhood level. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We can actually start moving towards the world that isn’t the one we’ve been living in, but the one that we want to live in,” she said. “We can’t do that without listening deeply to the people who are most affected.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://seas.umich.edu/research/faculty/kyle-whyte\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kyle Powys Whyte\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, listening to people is about restoring consent. He’s an \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma, and \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">as a University of Michigan professor, he studies the moral and political issues around climate policy, and Indigenous people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says the issue of climate change in the country’s history “was created not just because people were addicted to the benefits of fossil fuels, but they were also addicted to getting away with taking advantage of Indigenous people and other groups without those people’s consent.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He says the consent issue hasn’t improved and he’s concerned “that we actually haven’t gotten out of the situation that got us into the climate crisis, and it’s partly a problem of consent,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whyte is on the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/news-updates/2021/03/29/white-house-announces-environmental-justice-advisory-council-members/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> advising the administration on the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">American Jobs Plan\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which calls for 40% of the proposal’s benefits to go to communities affected by environmental justice. He says his role is to remind the team that these projects will take longer to implement because these communities already have an infrastructure deficit because of a lack of federal investment — like, inadequate roads, housing and transmission lines. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“People haven’t listened to tribes for years and they don’t understand the current infrastructure situation that tribes are in,” he said. “They’re about to consider spending billions of dollars and it could just be wasted if our policymakers and legislators aren’t listening to what tribes are going to actually need to be able to use and benefit from the renewable energy and clean water infrastructure being advocated for right now in Washington.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975436\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975436\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/RS48282_008_EastPaloAlto_SeaLevelRise_03292021-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A family looks out into the bay from Cooley Landing Park in East Palo Alto on March 29, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The Wake-Up Call\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wulf-Saena and Stanford lecturer \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://profiles.stanford.edu/derek-ouyang\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Derek Ouyang\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> will soon start recruiting 500 families for a big listening project over the next five years in Redwood City, East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Alviso in San Jose. They’ll routinely check in with participants to see how climate change is challenging their lives. Participants have the option to be contacted through an app, over the phone or in-person. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ouyang had a major realization several years ago that if his research doesn’t help regular people he feels like it’s worthless. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Listening from the bottom up ensures that you’re identifying the most important challenges that communities are facing and the most feasible, and holistic solution,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He hopes the study illuminates blind spots to exactly what impacts floods, heat waves and wildfires can have on the most housing insecure.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The only way to really understand the deep underlying challenges households face is if you can really follow them for the next few years, until those events inevitably occur,” he said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The team of scientists, students and community organizers will lead the five-year study to examine the social and psychological effects of climate exposure, while building relationships with the families as warming alters their lives. The goal is to come up with the best solutions with the families involved.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Our hypothesis is that we’ll find that the things that work are exactly the kinds of things that organizations like Climate Resilient Communities are best poised to offer,” he said. “Because they look like the neighborhood, they’re more trusted and have built those networks already.”\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">He thinks that the impacts of climate change are being felt “much deeper than we like to admit right now” and could “look like [families] increasingly foregoing healthy food and the kinds of care you want to provide for your children,” he said. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ouyang wants to examine how vulnerable communities in the South Bay really are, and if they need greater access to mental health services, sandbags for flood times, ventilators for smoky times, and cooling centers for hot times. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wulf-Saena says that she’s involved because she believes it will lead to solutions for people.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m also on the other side protecting the interests of the communities,” she said. “I’m there thinking, ‘Okay, Stanford, this is not just a study.’ Whatever the outcome of this project will be, let’s have something that will give back to the communities that we’re going to work with.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Here's What You Need to Know About the More Transmissible Delta Variant",
"headTitle": "Here’s What You Need to Know About the More Transmissible Delta Variant | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"big-cap-wrap\">\u003cspan class=\"big-cap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/span>t’s getting even riskier to remain unvaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The United States, as a whole, is still in good shape for the summer of reunions and revived activities. But for those who haven’t been immunized against COVID-19, there is a new concern: the emergence of yet another coronavirus variant, one with a nasty combination of features that makes it even more dangerous than the other strains that have caused global alarms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The variant, known as Delta, was first spotted in India and helped power that country’s recent explosive outbreaks. Also called B.1.617.2, it seems to be the most transmissible version of the coronavirus seen thus far, but also carries some ability to get around the body’s immune protection generated after vaccination or an initial infection. (There’s also some evidence that it is more likely to cause severe disease, though researchers are still trying to confirm that.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“It’s really like the worst of both worlds,” said epidemiologist Nathan Grubaugh of the Yale School of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Globally, the variant’s march around the world could ignite major epidemics, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/uganda-south-africa-cape-town-africa-coronavirus-pandemic-c5d7c2b0f927c8bd4d8d91fbf2cda1ea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">given vaccine shortages\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in many nations. In unvaccinated populations, experts generally have greater fears about more transmissible variants than ones that are, say, just deadlier, because by causing more cases than would have occurred otherwise, the faster spreading strains can result in greater hospitalizations and deaths overall. Delta appears to be able to do that and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Taken all together, this is something which is really, really anxiety-inducing from a global health perspective,” said epidemiologist William Hanage of Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In the United States, Delta accounts for just 6% of sequenced cases, federal health officials said this week, though its prevalence is building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">On an individual level, people who have had their full vaccine regimens — a figure that this week in the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">crossed\u003c/span>\u003c/a> 50% among those 12 and older — don’t need to be particularly worried about Delta. The COVID-19 immunizations retain the large bulk of their effectiveness against the variant, though with different vaccines used in different parts of the world, scientists are still parsing how each of them fare. Experts so far have been particularly impressed with how strongly the two-dose mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, which account for the bulk of shots delivered in the U.S., stand up to different versions of the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But it’s not as if the SARS-CoV-2 virus has disappeared from the United States. It’s been clear that it would continue to circulate among unvaccinated people going forward. Now, any clusters that emerge and are driven by Delta will grow bigger and faster. And for those who do contract it — with some evidence from England indicating that people infected with Delta are more likely to be hospitalized — “it’s going to be worse for them,” Hanage said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">With so many people vaccinated, whatever outbreaks occur likely won’t lead to huge spikes that inundate hospitals — but they will lead to some people dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Nationwide, cases have plunged from where they were just months ago, though the pace of decline has slowed. Study after study has shown the vaccines aren’t just protecting people from COVID-19, but are blunting transmission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">That wall of protection will benefit people who are unvaccinated as well, as will other factors that could be contributing to lower transmission rates, including immunity levels from natural infection and seasonal factors that seem to put some brake on spread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But some unvaccinated people remain more vulnerable than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The story of the pandemic — both globally and within the United States — has been one of hot spots and areas that are better protected. Now, states where immunization rates are lagging — like Idaho, Wyoming, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi — are going to be more susceptible to ongoing outbreaks than states like those in the Northeast, where vaccine uptake has been much higher, particularly as communities slough off remaining countermeasures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Plus, more transmissible variants like Delta require a higher level of population immunity to be slowed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1402321777200611336?s=20\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The silver lining of the appearance of different variants is that, for whatever twists evolution has thrown our way, \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2021/05/13/vaccines-work-variants-complicated/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">the vaccines have largely been able to withstand them\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. Variants that have some capability to “escape” the immune response elicited by vaccines might cause breakthrough infections at higher rates, and their transmission might not be slowed as quickly. The shots, however, have maintained their incredibly robust ability to prevent sickness and severe outcomes from COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But research into Delta has also underscored the importance of getting both shots of the two-dose vaccines. \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-b-1-617-2-variant-after-2-doses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">A study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> from Public Health England last month showed the Pfizer regimen was 88% effective at protecting against symptomatic illness from the variant, and the AstraZeneca vaccine was 60% effective — just slight drops in performance compared to other forms of the virus. But after just one shot, those figures plummeted to 33% for both vaccines. (The AstraZeneca vaccine has not been authorized in the United States.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“After the second dose, we see the amount of antibody in a person’s blood is even higher than after the first dose, and therefore more people will be above a threshold,” Wendy Barclay, a virologist at Imperial College London, said at a press briefing Wednesday. “There’s a certain level of antibody and immunity you need to be protected. We know that’s a certain level for the Alpha variant, and there will be a slightly higher level required to protect against Delta variant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The Alpha variant Barclay referenced is also known as B.1.1.7 and first appeared last fall in the United Kingdom. Before Delta, it was the most transmissible variant and became dominant in a number of countries, including the United States, but does not have any meaningful immune escape prowess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Scientists have estimated that Delta is perhaps 60% even more transmissible than Alpha. And in the U.K., it’s overtaken Alpha in frequency — which some experts have speculated could happen in the United States as well. \u003ca href=\"https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">The latest U.S. data\u003c/span>\u003c/a> indicate Alpha accounted for nearly 70% of sequenced cases, but Delta is amassing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The urgency, then, is to get as many people immunized as quickly as possible, so more people are protected and there are fewer infections overall, as Delta increasingly accounts for more of the country’s cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“If you’ve had your first dose, make sure you get that second dose, and for those who have been not vaccinated yet, please, get vaccinated,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a White House briefing Tuesday, where he highlighted the threat of Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">There are several factors that appear to give Delta its transmission boost over Alpha. For one, Delta “can transmit more easily in a vaccinated population than the Alpha variant can,” epidemiologist Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London told reporters Wednesday. That advantage will become particularly noticeable in countries with higher vaccination coverage, like the United Kingdom and the United States, because Alpha will encounter greater barriers as it tries to spread. (It’s not that Delta can run rampant through vaccinated populations; it’s a matter that it can transmit comparatively more efficiently because of its immune escape capability.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In fact, some experts anticipate that in the United States, variants like Delta, Beta and Gamma could start to claw away at Alpha’s dominance because they have greater abilities to spread among vaccinated populations, though the likelihood of that will depend on how many people remain unvaccinated. (Beta, or B.1.351, first appeared in South Africa, while Gamma, or P.1, emerged in Brazil.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But Delta also appears to have some other advantages. “The virus itself is fitter in human airway cells,” Barclay said about what early research indicates. That means that an infected person will likely emit more virus into the air, and that the virus is more adept at infecting cells, so people need to be exposed to less of it to contract it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2021/06/10/more-transmissible-variant-covid-19-vaccinations-even-more-crucial/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">story\u003c/a> was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">STAT\u003c/a>, an online publication of Boston Globe Media that covers health, medicine, and scientific discovery.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"big-cap-wrap\">\u003cspan class=\"big-cap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/span>t’s getting even riskier to remain unvaccinated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The United States, as a whole, is still in good shape for the summer of reunions and revived activities. But for those who haven’t been immunized against COVID-19, there is a new concern: the emergence of yet another coronavirus variant, one with a nasty combination of features that makes it even more dangerous than the other strains that have caused global alarms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The variant, known as Delta, was first spotted in India and helped power that country’s recent explosive outbreaks. Also called B.1.617.2, it seems to be the most transmissible version of the coronavirus seen thus far, but also carries some ability to get around the body’s immune protection generated after vaccination or an initial infection. (There’s also some evidence that it is more likely to cause severe disease, though researchers are still trying to confirm that.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“It’s really like the worst of both worlds,” said epidemiologist Nathan Grubaugh of the Yale School of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Globally, the variant’s march around the world could ignite major epidemics, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/uganda-south-africa-cape-town-africa-coronavirus-pandemic-c5d7c2b0f927c8bd4d8d91fbf2cda1ea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">given vaccine shortages\u003c/span>\u003c/a> in many nations. In unvaccinated populations, experts generally have greater fears about more transmissible variants than ones that are, say, just deadlier, because by causing more cases than would have occurred otherwise, the faster spreading strains can result in greater hospitalizations and deaths overall. Delta appears to be able to do that and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Taken all together, this is something which is really, really anxiety-inducing from a global health perspective,” said epidemiologist William Hanage of Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In the United States, Delta accounts for just 6% of sequenced cases, federal health officials said this week, though its prevalence is building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">On an individual level, people who have had their full vaccine regimens — a figure that this week in the U.S. \u003ca href=\"https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">crossed\u003c/span>\u003c/a> 50% among those 12 and older — don’t need to be particularly worried about Delta. The COVID-19 immunizations retain the large bulk of their effectiveness against the variant, though with different vaccines used in different parts of the world, scientists are still parsing how each of them fare. Experts so far have been particularly impressed with how strongly the two-dose mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, which account for the bulk of shots delivered in the U.S., stand up to different versions of the virus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But it’s not as if the SARS-CoV-2 virus has disappeared from the United States. It’s been clear that it would continue to circulate among unvaccinated people going forward. Now, any clusters that emerge and are driven by Delta will grow bigger and faster. And for those who do contract it — with some evidence from England indicating that people infected with Delta are more likely to be hospitalized — “it’s going to be worse for them,” Hanage said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">With so many people vaccinated, whatever outbreaks occur likely won’t lead to huge spikes that inundate hospitals — but they will lead to some people dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Nationwide, cases have plunged from where they were just months ago, though the pace of decline has slowed. Study after study has shown the vaccines aren’t just protecting people from COVID-19, but are blunting transmission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">That wall of protection will benefit people who are unvaccinated as well, as will other factors that could be contributing to lower transmission rates, including immunity levels from natural infection and seasonal factors that seem to put some brake on spread.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But some unvaccinated people remain more vulnerable than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The story of the pandemic — both globally and within the United States — has been one of hot spots and areas that are better protected. Now, states where immunization rates are lagging — like Idaho, Wyoming, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi — are going to be more susceptible to ongoing outbreaks than states like those in the Northeast, where vaccine uptake has been much higher, particularly as communities slough off remaining countermeasures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Plus, more transmissible variants like Delta require a higher level of population immunity to be slowed.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The silver lining of the appearance of different variants is that, for whatever twists evolution has thrown our way, \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2021/05/13/vaccines-work-variants-complicated/\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">the vaccines have largely been able to withstand them\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. Variants that have some capability to “escape” the immune response elicited by vaccines might cause breakthrough infections at higher rates, and their transmission might not be slowed as quickly. The shots, however, have maintained their incredibly robust ability to prevent sickness and severe outcomes from COVID-19.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But research into Delta has also underscored the importance of getting both shots of the two-dose vaccines. \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-b-1-617-2-variant-after-2-doses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">A study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> from Public Health England last month showed the Pfizer regimen was 88% effective at protecting against symptomatic illness from the variant, and the AstraZeneca vaccine was 60% effective — just slight drops in performance compared to other forms of the virus. But after just one shot, those figures plummeted to 33% for both vaccines. (The AstraZeneca vaccine has not been authorized in the United States.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“After the second dose, we see the amount of antibody in a person’s blood is even higher than after the first dose, and therefore more people will be above a threshold,” Wendy Barclay, a virologist at Imperial College London, said at a press briefing Wednesday. “There’s a certain level of antibody and immunity you need to be protected. We know that’s a certain level for the Alpha variant, and there will be a slightly higher level required to protect against Delta variant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The Alpha variant Barclay referenced is also known as B.1.1.7 and first appeared last fall in the United Kingdom. Before Delta, it was the most transmissible variant and became dominant in a number of countries, including the United States, but does not have any meaningful immune escape prowess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Scientists have estimated that Delta is perhaps 60% even more transmissible than Alpha. And in the U.K., it’s overtaken Alpha in frequency — which some experts have speculated could happen in the United States as well. \u003ca href=\"https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">The latest U.S. data\u003c/span>\u003c/a> indicate Alpha accounted for nearly 70% of sequenced cases, but Delta is amassing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The urgency, then, is to get as many people immunized as quickly as possible, so more people are protected and there are fewer infections overall, as Delta increasingly accounts for more of the country’s cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“If you’ve had your first dose, make sure you get that second dose, and for those who have been not vaccinated yet, please, get vaccinated,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a White House briefing Tuesday, where he highlighted the threat of Delta.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">There are several factors that appear to give Delta its transmission boost over Alpha. For one, Delta “can transmit more easily in a vaccinated population than the Alpha variant can,” epidemiologist Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London told reporters Wednesday. That advantage will become particularly noticeable in countries with higher vaccination coverage, like the United Kingdom and the United States, because Alpha will encounter greater barriers as it tries to spread. (It’s not that Delta can run rampant through vaccinated populations; it’s a matter that it can transmit comparatively more efficiently because of its immune escape capability.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In fact, some experts anticipate that in the United States, variants like Delta, Beta and Gamma could start to claw away at Alpha’s dominance because they have greater abilities to spread among vaccinated populations, though the likelihood of that will depend on how many people remain unvaccinated. (Beta, or B.1.351, first appeared in South Africa, while Gamma, or P.1, emerged in Brazil.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">But Delta also appears to have some other advantages. “The virus itself is fitter in human airway cells,” Barclay said about what early research indicates. That means that an infected person will likely emit more virus into the air, and that the virus is more adept at infecting cells, so people need to be exposed to less of it to contract it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/2021/06/10/more-transmissible-variant-covid-19-vaccinations-even-more-crucial/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">story\u003c/a> was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://www.statnews.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">STAT\u003c/a>, an online publication of Boston Globe Media that covers health, medicine, and scientific discovery.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A climate justice march led by a small group of young activists that began in Paradise ended in San Francisco on Monday, after more than 100 climate activists from the youth-led Sunrise Movement marched across the Golden Gate Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young activists are calling on California lawmakers to support the “most progressive version possible” of President Biden’s plan to retool former President Franklin Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, a Great Depression-era program that created jobs by putting people to work building roads and bridges, installing telephone lines and establishing campgrounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Biden administration has proposed a $10 billion revamp called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/05/11/993976948/reaching-back-to-the-new-deal-biden-proposes-a-civilian-climate-corps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Civilian Climate Corps,\u003c/a> a program geared toward fighting climate change by employing people to restore wetlands and remove invasive species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975380\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975380\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Climate activists on the final leg of a march from Paradise to San Francisco on June 14, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Seven of the marchers began walking the 266-mile stretch \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11875863/a-266-mile-walk-youth-climate-activists-march-from-paradise-to-san-francisco\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">last month\u003c/span>\u003c/a> as part of a national campaign called \u003ca href=\"https://www.sunrisemovement.org/campaign/generation-on-fire/\">Generation on Fire\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their ranks swelled to more than 20 last week, with dozens more joining for the final leg, many of them beating drums and singing as they crossed from Marin to San Francisco over the iconic bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the marchers, Ema Govea, a 17-year-old high school student from Santa Rosa, spoke with KQED’s Brian Watt last week. The following has been lightly edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975377\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975377\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Rosa resident Ema Govea,17, speaks before the marchers by the Golden Gate Bridge on June 14, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How did this idea come together? You’re walking from Paradise? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Ema Govea:\u003c/em> We are really excited to have started in Paradise because it’s such a flashpoint for all the [conversations around] fire in California. And this idea really came together out of an urgency of really wanting to do something as big as we can. I was really excited to organize this march and participate in it. We walked so far because we have an opportunity right now politically, and as young people at this moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paradise is a very important place to start a march like this. But I’m thinking about your feet. How are you feeling at this moment after all this walking?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> The first week was over 100 degrees and I had a lot of blisters. I was really feeling it. At this point, my legs have gotten used to it. And thinking about what we’re fighting for, plans that we have for the future, and future actions has kept me going. It honestly doesn’t matter if my legs are sore or if my feet hurt, at this point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975381\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975381\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students from Analy High School in Sebastopol sit at the Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I imagine you’ve done some travels like this through California by car on a freeway. What did you notice about the landscape as you walked?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> One thing that was especially amazing was talking to people in towns who I would have never met before. We walked through some of the reddest parts of the state and had really amazing conversations with a lot of people. Also, we passed hills that had burned, trees that were all black and didn’t have any growth on them — it really brought home what is at stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>When you say walking through and meeting people in some of the reddest parts of the state, I think I know what you mean. But what kinds of feedback did you get on your march from the people you met?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> We would walk by and we have these big flags. People would ask us: “What are you doing?” We would say: “We’re marching to San Francisco and we’re demanding good jobs to stop the climate crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that would start a conversation with a lot of people. And we would talk to them about what jobs are like in their areas. A lot of times the job opportunities are not great. A lot of people, regardless of political affiliation, were really supportive of the cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975382\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975382 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The rally was the culmination of a 266-mile march from Paradise, California, to San Francisco led by seven youth activists. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You’re in this group of seven people who are around your age. And in what way does your experience growing up in California shape how you’re doing this work for climate justice?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> I am really grateful for this group of seven people. And now, actually, as we’re speaking, there’s an even larger group of over 20 people who are now marching with us, who have joined us along the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Your group grew as you walked, is what you’re telling us?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It started with a group of seven and now we’re around 30 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975383\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975383 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The young climate activists prepare to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You’re doing all of this while you are a high school student. I’m kind of curious how you were thinking about this issue during the pandemic?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> The pandemic and the recession that has come along with it has really shown the inequalities people face in this county. I have talked to a lot of people who’ve lost their jobs and who have even more instability than they had before. And there’s a need right now for good paying jobs. And the Civilian Climate Corps would be one of those things that could provide really good paying union jobs that would also benefit society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Now, you want to end this march, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco — all in support of the Civilian Climate Corps. What do you make of congressional action on the issue?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> It’s been wholly inadequate. We’re demanding that our politicians step up and be brave and pass the boldest version of the Climate Corps possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office told KQED that “congressional Democrats support the goals of the Civilian Climate Corps and look forward to working with the administration to enact it in the jobs plan.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A climate justice march led by a small group of young activists that began in Paradise ended in San Francisco on Monday, after more than 100 climate activists from the youth-led Sunrise Movement marched across the Golden Gate Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young activists are calling on California lawmakers to support the “most progressive version possible” of President Biden’s plan to retool former President Franklin Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, a Great Depression-era program that created jobs by putting people to work building roads and bridges, installing telephone lines and establishing campgrounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Biden administration has proposed a $10 billion revamp called the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/05/11/993976948/reaching-back-to-the-new-deal-biden-proposes-a-civilian-climate-corps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Civilian Climate Corps,\u003c/a> a program geared toward fighting climate change by employing people to restore wetlands and remove invasive species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975380\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975380\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/048_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Climate activists on the final leg of a march from Paradise to San Francisco on June 14, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Seven of the marchers began walking the 266-mile stretch \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11875863/a-266-mile-walk-youth-climate-activists-march-from-paradise-to-san-francisco\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">last month\u003c/span>\u003c/a> as part of a national campaign called \u003ca href=\"https://www.sunrisemovement.org/campaign/generation-on-fire/\">Generation on Fire\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their ranks swelled to more than 20 last week, with dozens more joining for the final leg, many of them beating drums and singing as they crossed from Marin to San Francisco over the iconic bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the marchers, Ema Govea, a 17-year-old high school student from Santa Rosa, spoke with KQED’s Brian Watt last week. The following has been lightly edited for length and clarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975377\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975377\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/029_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Rosa resident Ema Govea,17, speaks before the marchers by the Golden Gate Bridge on June 14, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How did this idea come together? You’re walking from Paradise? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Ema Govea:\u003c/em> We are really excited to have started in Paradise because it’s such a flashpoint for all the [conversations around] fire in California. And this idea really came together out of an urgency of really wanting to do something as big as we can. I was really excited to organize this march and participate in it. We walked so far because we have an opportunity right now politically, and as young people at this moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Paradise is a very important place to start a march like this. But I’m thinking about your feet. How are you feeling at this moment after all this walking?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> The first week was over 100 degrees and I had a lot of blisters. I was really feeling it. At this point, my legs have gotten used to it. And thinking about what we’re fighting for, plans that we have for the future, and future actions has kept me going. It honestly doesn’t matter if my legs are sore or if my feet hurt, at this point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975381\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1975381\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/006_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students from Analy High School in Sebastopol sit at the Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I imagine you’ve done some travels like this through California by car on a freeway. What did you notice about the landscape as you walked?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> One thing that was especially amazing was talking to people in towns who I would have never met before. We walked through some of the reddest parts of the state and had really amazing conversations with a lot of people. Also, we passed hills that had burned, trees that were all black and didn’t have any growth on them — it really brought home what is at stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>When you say walking through and meeting people in some of the reddest parts of the state, I think I know what you mean. But what kinds of feedback did you get on your march from the people you met?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> We would walk by and we have these big flags. People would ask us: “What are you doing?” We would say: “We’re marching to San Francisco and we’re demanding good jobs to stop the climate crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that would start a conversation with a lot of people. And we would talk to them about what jobs are like in their areas. A lot of times the job opportunities are not great. A lot of people, regardless of political affiliation, were really supportive of the cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975382\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975382 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/057_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The rally was the culmination of a 266-mile march from Paradise, California, to San Francisco led by seven youth activists. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You’re in this group of seven people who are around your age. And in what way does your experience growing up in California shape how you’re doing this work for climate justice?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> I am really grateful for this group of seven people. And now, actually, as we’re speaking, there’s an even larger group of over 20 people who are now marching with us, who have joined us along the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Your group grew as you walked, is what you’re telling us?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It started with a group of seven and now we’re around 30 people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1975383\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1975383 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/06/050_SanFrancisco_YouthClimateActivists_06142021.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The young climate activists prepare to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You’re doing all of this while you are a high school student. I’m kind of curious how you were thinking about this issue during the pandemic?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> The pandemic and the recession that has come along with it has really shown the inequalities people face in this county. I have talked to a lot of people who’ve lost their jobs and who have even more instability than they had before. And there’s a need right now for good paying jobs. And the Civilian Climate Corps would be one of those things that could provide really good paying union jobs that would also benefit society.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Now, you want to end this march, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco — all in support of the Civilian Climate Corps. What do you make of congressional action on the issue?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Govea:\u003c/em> It’s been wholly inadequate. We’re demanding that our politicians step up and be brave and pass the boldest version of the Climate Corps possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office told KQED that “congressional Democrats support the goals of the Civilian Climate Corps and look forward to working with the administration to enact it in the jobs plan.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"id": "here-and-now",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
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},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
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