By 2100, Sacramento is expected to feel much like Phoenix, which last year had more than 100 days over 100 F. In this Unfold episode, co-host Kat Kerlin discusses her 鈥溾 series, which looks at how to prepare for a hotter future. We also examine how cities nationwide are dealing with triple threats: rising temperatures, racial inequities and a pandemic. And we鈥檒l discuss the efforts needed to build socially just, climate-resilient communities.
In this episode:
, professor, and landscape and urban ecologist at 麻豆传媒
, professor of landscape architecture and urban design at 麻豆传媒
, associate adjunct professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, 麻豆传媒 School of Medicine
, senior director for the
, graduate student in the
, South Sacramento NeighborWoods organizer,
Episode Transcript
Kat Kerlin: Hey, Amy. You been to Arizona, right?
Amy Quinton: Oh, yeah. Gorgeous state. I actually got to raft down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon with a 麻豆传媒 class a few years ago. It was amazing.
Kat Kerlin: Dude, I know I invited you.
Amy Quinton: Oh yeah. Right.
Kat Kerlin: Ok, so have you ever been there in the summer?
Amy Quinton: Yeah, actually. I used to live in Phoenix when I was a kid.
Kat Kerlin: Really? Well, I have a ton of family there, so I鈥檝e visited a lot. It never really cools down in the summer. I mean, never.
Amy Quinton: Well, I live there and like the late 70s and early 80s. So that means I'm old. But I remember it being really hot. But I had a pool and I was a kid. And kids don't mind anything if there's a pool.
Kat Kerlin: That is true. Well, to refresh your memory, in August, you can go outside at 3:00 in the morning and it is still in the 90s.
Amy Quinton: They say it's a dry heat, though.
Kat Kerlin: Yeah, but it's still really bad. I mean, last year, Phoenix had 100 days over 100 degrees.
Amy Quinton: Oh, my God. 100 days? That's crazy. Why does anyone live there?
Kat Kerlin: Oh, now, don't get me wrong. I actually love Arizona. But for comparison, Sacramento, where we live, had nine days over 100 last year. So I was a little taken aback when I read California's 4th Climate Change Assessment that 麻豆传媒 led for the Sacramento Valley. It said that our region could expect to feel much like Arizona by 2100 at the rate we're going with climate change.
Amy Quinton: I'm so glad I'll be dead.
Kat Kerlin: That's one perspective.
Amy Quinton: Dude, I read that the number of extreme heat days, those over 103 degrees Fahrenheit, would grow from just four days a year to 40 by the end of the century. And that's an average. I mean, there could be more days. I can't imagine that. I mean, how is Sacramento going to deal?
Kat Kerlin: You know, I wondered the same thing, so I decided to dig in. It resulted in a five-part series of articles called Becoming Arizona. It's on our climate website at climatechange.ucdavis.edu.
Amy Quinton: And it's awesome.
Kat Kerlin: Thank you. It doesn't dwell too much on these shocking changes to come. Instead, I looked at how the Sacramento region can prepare for these changes now and maybe even prevent some of them. And by the way, this is not just specific to Sacramento. There are lessons for how many cities can prepare for a hotter future.
Amy Quinton: But wait, even in a pandemic?
Kat Kerlin: Even in a pandemic. But it's going to take some work.
Amy Quinton: Naturally.
Kat Kerlin: Because just like with climate change, it's the poor and vulnerable people who are affected the most when it comes to rising temperatures. And we're going to talk about that as well in this episode of Unfold.
Theme: Coming to you from our closet studios as we shelter in place across the Sacramento region, this is Unfold, a 麻豆传媒 podcast that breaks down complicated problems and discusses solutions.
Kat Kerlin: This week, we unfold Becoming Arizona. I'm Kat Kerlin.
Amy Quinton: And I'm Amy Quinton.
Amy Quinton: So, Kat, when I think about how cities are going to adapt to warming temperatures, I just think people will crank up the AC and a lot of us are just going to have to suffer through it all.
Kat Kerlin: There are ways to help cool warming cities besides cranking the AC, which, by the way, can crank up the carbon too. So clean, reliable energy is also really important. But it turns out a lot of heat-related illnesses are actually preventable. And when I began to research this topic, it became obvious really quickly that disadvantaged communities are the most vulnerable.
Amy Quinton: And by disadvantaged communities, you mean communities that suffer a combination of economic, health and environmental burdens?
Kat Kerlin: That's right. And those communities are predominantly comprised of people of color.
Amy Quinton: And now we're also dealing with a pandemic. So really, Sacramento and so many cities nationwide are dealing with triple threats.
Kat Kerlin: Exactly. Rising temperatures, racial injustice and a pandemic.
Amy Quinton: Good times.
Kat Kerlin: Before we unfold all that, we need to first understand what makes cities hot, because it's not just about the temperature outside. It's also about the built environment. You've heard about urban heat islands, right?
Amy Quinton: To some degree. Get it? Degree?
Kat Kerlin: Oh, Amy, you are too punny. So urban heat islands are cities that are significantly warmer than their surrounding non-urban environment. So Phoenix is an urban heat island. And when nighttime temperatures drop in the desert that surrounds it, the city remains hot.
Amy Quinton: So for Sacramento to be a heat island, it would have to be a lot hotter than, say, the grasslands and ranch lands that surround it. Jeez, is that what we can expect?
Kat Kerlin: What Sacramento is dealing with is an urban heat island effect. So we have a little pockets of heat within the city where there are very few trees, little shade and a built environment that soaks up heat and releases it into the air.
Amy Quinton: So really they are more like heat archipelagos, little islands of asphalt perhaps?
Kat Kerlin: You could say that. And this is something tha