Special Series: Extremes in 3D
When it rained this May, it felt unexpected. Based on over 150 years of climate data for San Francisco, May typically gets several days with a light rain. But context is key, and we are coming out of three years of drought—a fact which will generally color memories in a drier hue. “If I’ve learned anything it is that people’s perceptions are usually wrong,” says Jan Null….
In San Mateo County, new planning guidance may help cities account for rising seas when approving new developments. OneShoreline’s proposals are stricter than current requirements from federal, state, and local agencies, but those are also evolving. “The intent is to go where we already see regulators are going,” says Makena Wong, a project manager.
33 Fruitvale homes in Oakland could look forward to improved air quality, lowered water usage, greener energy and an innovation in the local energy system called a microgrid through a project called EcoBlock.
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Regional agencies made splashy headlines when they released a joint study on the likely cost of protecting Bay Area shores from rising seas: $110 billion. But the top-line number didn’t offer much insight into the complexities. A new inventory and map from the same agencies is much more revealing.
When it rained this May, it felt unexpected. Based on over 150 years of climate data for San Francisco, May typically gets several days with a light rain. But context is key, and we are coming out of three years of drought—a fact which will generally color memories in a drier hue. “If I’ve learned anything it is that people’s perceptions are usually wrong,” says Jan Null….
In San Mateo County, new planning guidance may help cities account for rising seas when approving new developments. OneShoreline’s proposals are stricter than current requirements from federal, state, and local agencies, but those are also evolving. “The intent is to go where we already see regulators are going,” says Makena Wong, a project manager.
33 Fruitvale homes in Oakland could look forward to improved air quality, lowered water usage, greener energy and an innovation in the local energy system called a microgrid through a project called EcoBlock.
A new public art installation, called Fencelines, redefines the only barrier separating Richmond’s residential neighborhoods from the Chevron oil refinery: a wire fence.
Debbie Harris directs Urban Adamah, a Jewish urban farm in Northwest Berkeley. She is a farmer by trade but her role at Urban Adamah requires her to be “a horticulturalist, a plumber, a therapist, a teacher, an organizer.”
This spring, Sustainable Solano hosted open gardens that they helped plan and plant, offering visitors a chance to discover these food forests: a garden layered like a natural forest that includes fruit-bearing trees and edible plants.
In this photo essay, Megan King captures the Coyote Creek watershed swollen with water after winter storms. Last year, she explored something completely different: drought.
Coastal erosion in Pacifica, drought in Brentwood, fires in the North Bay, flooding in Union City, and urban heat in San Jose. Anissa Foster takes us on a revealing virtual tour.
Climate change has a disproportionate impact on incarcerated Americans. Juan Moreno Haines, one of 2.3 million prisoners in the US, describes his experience.
Oona Khan dreams about her home of the future, after losing her Malibu retreat to fire. Caught in a quagmire of legal battles with Southern California Edison, and surging construction costs, Khan is still waiting to start construction.
Research confirms the drastic impacts wildfire smoke has had on school learning. But 16 East Bay schools now have updated air filters and more actions are in the pipeline statewide.
When we fled the house in the Santa Cruz mountains that we had been living in for just nine months, we knew exactly two of our neighbors.
In November 2022 San Rafael launched a resilience planning project that has community-based organizations playing an active role in decision-making.
The 14 graduates of the inaugural 2021 Oakland Shoreline Leadership Academy have new skills to confront the rising tide head-on. “It’s completely changed how I look at the environment,” confesses Academy alum Shy Walker.
San Francisco is increasingly seen as a “green” city but its track record doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.
Grimes and Belvedere were the only two northern California towns that FEMA shortlisted this year for flood prevention funding. But flood protection is often more easily planned than done.
A plan to protect SFO could become a critical link in a chain of resilience projects along the San Mateo County bayshore. But projects that cross jurisdictional borders, get complicated.
When he purchased a house, Ever Rodriguez noticed how North Fair Oaks differed from surrounding areas. “We don’t have the same infrastructure or services as in Menlo Park.”
This fall, Sonoma County officially enlisted its abundance of undeveloped lands in the fight to adapt to climate change. Last month, the county approved a “Climate Resilient Lands” strategy.
An East Palo Alto affordable housing project is at the forefront of a trend cities across California are trying to encourage: switching from natural gas appliances to electric ones. But the transition isn’t without headaches.
Faced with a health crisis, or stifling heat or smoke, most people will go somewhere familiar for help, a place they feel welcome. Oakland Chinatown’s Lincoln Center is that kind of safe haven, the perfect location for one of the city’s new “resilience hubs.”
Suisun City has been exploring ways to increase its resiliency to sea level rise and storm surges, including updating infrastructure, building an ecotone levee, and holding a resiliency workshop.
My sister and I joke that any temperature above 75 is too hot to leave the house. But I decided to venture outside during the heat wave after Labor Day to see how the people of Sacramento were faring.
In the capital region and Silicon Valley, two cities have been experimenting with cooler roofs, walls and leafy canopies. Turns out cooling measures in one spot help those downwind.
What’s flat, covered in pavement, and unsafe for cyclists? Most Bay Area cities. But a Napa coalition recently published “Safe Routes to School” reports for 31 schools in the county. The routes also offer a healthier alternative to back seat commutes to class.
A new well will allow the North Marin Water District to transition away from aging wells situated where high tides (and rising sea level) can cause increased salinity in tap water.
In April, a developer proposed a new gas station near a busy intersection in the City of Napa. But thanks to footwork of high schoolers, citizens and elected leaders Napa County and a growing number of North Bay cities have set zero-emissions goals for 2030, and declared a climate emergency. As a result, the new gas station was a no-go.
On an overcast June afternoon at Bay Farm Island’s Veterans Court, Danielle Mieler explains that if it weren’t for low tide, water might be at her feet.
Santa Clara’s National River Cleanup Day brought together 596 volunteers and resulted in over 25,000 pounds of trash collected. “It was one of the first times since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when we could actually organize group cleanups,” says Valley Water’s Nick Ingram
From tattoo parlors to senior housing, San Pablo Avenue has it all. Now the busy thoroughfare is also a testbed for a distributed network of rain gardens.
I’ve watched an army of white trucks topped with cranes and chippers remove the oaks, redwoods, bays and manzanitas from around the power lines on our mountain in Napa. PG&E is felling a million trees per year and spending over a billion to do it.
Take a drive from the Oakland Airport to the Coliseum, and it’s impossible not to feel the consequences of urban decay: potholes. Luckily, a trio of high school sophomores are proposing an unlikely solution: tree sap.
On a drizzly Thursday in April, dozens gathered beside a weedy San Jose shoreline to break ground on four miles of new levee and 2,900 acres of restored habitats, a future buffer from the rising Bay.
When Gary Kremen delivered his State of Valley Water Address on February 8th, he had Herculean beasts and ecological balance sheets on his mind.
Agencies in San Mateo and Sonoma count are floating new rules for development in flood and fire prone areas. “Where and how you build can be among the most important decisions that are made in any community,” said a FEMA official.
Suisun City has always had the waterfront and nearby wetlands at its heart but it won’t be long before the entire area is vulnerable to flooding from sea level rise.
In 2019, Governor Newsom signed AB 1486 into law which connects developers interested in building more affordable homes with surplus public land suitable for housing. In the Bay Area, the housing crisis is nothing new. Using public land to create affordable housing is a step towards solving the crisis. However, taking Happy Lot Farm and Gardens land to service one need would also be squandering another need, in this case, urban farming in food deserts.
After years of historical injustice, community action and vision, coupled with ballpark redevelopment opportunities, are raising East Oakland’s resilience.
When Sonoma County residents smell smoke, they usually hop on social media or check some alert services like Nixle or PulsePoint to find out what’s going on. But social media isn’t really designed for quickly and accurately sharing disaster alerts.
