Climate Change

The urgency of addressing human causes of climate change has long been apparent. To amplify this issue that's paramount to us all, KPBS has launched a Climate Change Desk to step up our coverage of this existential threat including reported stories and interviews with experts and newsmakers.

Local

California moves toward phasing out gas-fueled vehicles

Kathleen Ronayne

The move gives the most populous U.S. state the world’s most stringent regulations for transitioning to electric vehicles.
Science & Technology

Tim Barnett, prominent San Diego climate researcher, dies

Erik Anderson

Barnett, the scientist responsible for work that makes computer climate models accurate forecasting tools, died at the age of 83 at his La Jolla home.
Renewable energy is maligned by misinformation. It's a distraction, experts say

Laura Benshoff

The new climate spending package boosts wind and solar power to clean up the country's electricity grid. But these efforts face an ongoing misinformation campaign.
Local

Wildfire sweeps through Pine Valley area

City News Service

A wildfire burned over swaths of rugged hilly terrain in the Pine Valley area Monday, blackening dozens of acres but posing no immediate structural threats as ground and airborne crews worked to subdue the flames.
Environment

In a flood-ravaged Tennessee town, uncertainty hangs over the recovery

Damon Mitchell

It's been one year since a flood tore through Waverly, Tenn., and killed 20 people. There's been lots of effort to rebuild, but it's still unclear if the town will ever be the same.
Local

California desert parks still working to repair flood damage

The Associated Press

Timelines for repairs of flash flood damage to roads in California’s vast desert wilderness parks are being extended even as monsoonal rains cause new problems along with unseasonal plant and animal activity.
National

Climate bill's unlikely beneficiary: US oil and gas industry

Matthew Brown and Michael Phillis

The legislation mandates several oil and gas lease sales. It also locks renewables and fossil fuel together for 10 years. So if the Biden administration wants solar and wind, it must first offer new oil and gas leases.
Local

High heat prompts calls for voluntary energy conservation across California

City News Service

With above-normal temperatures expected in the San Diego area and many parts of the state, a statewide Flex Alert will be in effect from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, urging residents to voluntarily cut back on power use to avoid strain on California's electrical grid.
The Arctic is heating up nearly four times faster than the whole planet, study finds

Rebecca Hersher

The Arctic is very sensitive to climate change. In the last 40 years, the region has warmed much more rapidly than the Earth as a whole, a new study finds.
Local

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria signs ambitious Climate Action Plan update

City News Service

Mayor Todd Gloria signed into law an update to the city's Climate Action Plan Wednesday.