Category: Health
North Fair Oaks Residents Create Clean Air Refuges
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.”
Teaching to Weather the Storms Within
Between gasping sobs, a boy in a viral video explains that he’s upset because of climate change. San Mateo county’s education office is trying to help.
Oakland Tailors Resilience Hubs to Neighborhood Needs
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.”
All Stories
North Fair Oaks Residents Create Clean Air Refuges
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.”
Teaching to Weather the Storms Within
Between gasping sobs, a boy in a viral video explains that he’s upset because of climate change. San Mateo county’s education office is trying to help.
Oakland Tailors Resilience Hubs to Neighborhood Needs
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.”
Muggy Days, Sleepless Nights
Climate modeling has shown that the extreme heat events in the state’s future will be accompanied by more humidity, making it hard for coastal residents, unaccustomed to heat, to chill.
Napa Bets on Bikes for Students
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.
Portola Garden District Returns to Its Roots
Down a busy street overflowing with groceries, taquerias, Chinese medicine shops, and small businesses, an unassuming dead end is home to a thriving community garden, which also got greener during the pandemic.
Pandemic Spawns Local Foods Revival
Farmers markets drew people outside during the pandemic, while CSAs and produce boxes kept them eating in but supporting local food.
The Farm That Could
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.
East Oaklanders Stand Their Ground, Rethinking Ballpark, Transit & Rising Bay
After years of historical injustice, community action and vision, coupled with ballpark redevelopment opportunities, are raising East Oakland’s resilience.
Dryer Vents Blow Hot Air & Microplastics
New research confirms that air vents on tumble dryers – rather than washing machines – may be a leading source of microplastic fibers from clothing in the environment. The insidious little particles are being found, among other places, in ocean-caught fish, beer, and even fecal samples of newborn babies.
Trees Tell A Tale of Two Cities
Trees do far more than add shade and property value to a city block; they can remove harmful pollutants from the air, reduce flooding, and perhaps most crucially in a changing climate, they can reduce heat. A 2019 investigation by NPR found that Oakland’s poorer neighborhoods are almost universally hotter than its richer regions (in fact, the city had one of the strongest correlations between heat and income in the country).
Red Meat Has Big Hoofprints
Red meat has a big carbon footprint. Yet American dietary guidelines recommend lots of it! How much do you eat? Even dialing it back a little can boost your climate resilience.