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 not counting methane leaks from idle wells

Drew Costley / AP

After 21 idle wells were found to be leaking methane — some of them explosive levels of it — in Bakersfield in May and June, the California Air Resources Board told the Associated Press that it’s not tallying leaks from idle wells.
National

These hurricane flood maps reveal the climate future for Miami, NYC and D.C.

Jenny Staletovich

Nick Underwood

Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky

Rosemary Misdary

Jacob Fenston

National Hurricane Center data for Miami, Washington, D.C., and New York City show development happening in at-risk areas, even as climate change brings more frequent and intense storms.
Local

De Anza Point will be redeveloped into marshland and camping space

Maureen Cavanaugh

Harrison Patiño

The decision is part of a larger plan to transform northeast Mission Bay to include a campground, open space and marshland.
Opinion: Blistering summers are the future

Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon takes a look at the world's temperature maps, and asks what summer will mean to future generations.
Local

MTS approves contract to massively expand electric bus fleet

Andrew Bowen

The deal includes the purchase of new buses that run on compressed natural gas.
Local

Solar supporters rally in front of Sempra’s San Diego Headquarters

Erik Anderson

Protesters wanted Sempra Energy officials to stop supporting rule changes that would hike the cost of installing and having rooftop solar.
Local

Yosemite wildfire threatens grove of iconic sequoia trees

The Associated Press

The largest grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park is still closed as firefighters battle a blaze that threatens the trees and has forced hundreds of campers to evacuate.
National

Withering drought shows Lake Mead boat graveyard

The Associated Press

The reservoir is now below 30% of capacity. Its level has dropped 170 feet (52 meters) since reaching a high-water mark in 1983, leaving a bright white line of mineral deposits on the brown canyon walls that looms over passing motor boats as high as a 15-story building.
KPBS Midday Edition

Climate change needs to be viewed through economic lens, new book argues

Andrew Bracken

Maureen Cavanaugh

Bob Keefe says that people will pay more attention to climate change when it becomes a "pocketbook issue."
Environment

A U.S. uranium mill is near this tribe. A study may reveal if it poses a health risk

Lucas Brady Woods

The Utah mill has long concerned a tribal community next door. They hope a new health study will answer their questions. "A lot of our people mysteriously started getting sick," a tribal member says.