geoff: At least 50 million
people in the western U.S. Have
been living with the devastating
consequences of a record
shattering heat wave for more
than a week.
There have been triple digit
temperatures and parts of
California every day, forcing
the state's electrical grid to
the point of rolling blackouts.
This week Sacramento set an
all-time temperature record, a
scorching 116 degrees.
Climate change is making the
duration and intensity of heat
waves worse and more common.
Joining us now to talk about
this is sandy Roth, a reporter
for the Los Angeles times.
Give us a sense of just how
massive and intense this
heatwave really is.
Ask I do not remember anything
like it, I have lived in L.A.
Most of my life.
I have been sitting in my
apartment with no air
conditioning sweating badly
every day.
When you look at what is going
on on the power grid, California
set a record on Tuesday on its
main electrical grid for energy
demand, and that speaks to the
intensity of the heatwave.
Everyone has been blasting their
air conditioners, electric
demand record on Tuesday we
shattered.
On Wednesday we had the
second-highest electric demand
compared only to Tuesday.
It has been 10 straight days of
the grid operator warning that
we are going to run out of power
and have rolling blackouts.
It speaks to how hot it has
been.
Geoff: How are states and the
federal government responding to
all of this?
California has taken the
unprecedented step to stop the
heatwave from causing rolling
blackouts.
Tell us more about that.
>> On the black outside governor
Newsom has been pulling and all
of his chips trying to get
people with diesel backup
generators to put them online,
natural gas plants that have
spared capacity, taking them to
put out more, calling big
businesses and saying please,
please during these critical
hours when the solar power goes
away use less of electricity.
On the heat side California is
looking at long-term, try to
reduce emissions, solve climate
change and stop these things
from getting worse and what can
we do to protect people from the
key.
Even if we reduce emissions
quickly it will keep getting
hotter at least for a while.
Geoff: What is the connection
between heat waves like this one
that we are seeing right now and
climate change? Are these heat
waves the new normal?
>> The new normal is problematic
because it is not like we are
going to settle at this point.
This might seem unprecedented,
but a few years down the road we
will be seeing even worse.
Climate change is raising the
baseline temperature of the
planet, a couple of degrees of
average temperature increase
might not seem like a lot, but
when you think about the bell
curve, you have a range of
average temperatures in the
middle and extremes, this is
placing the extremes out
further.
We will see worse and worse he
waves at the extreme end.
Geoff: Based on your reporting
out can we best get a handle on
these heat waves?
What action needs to be taken
out to protect people from these
heat waves that are on track to
get worse?
>> There was a lot of stuff that
can be done in the short medium
term and California is
attempting to pioneer these.
Plant as many shade trees as
possible, particularly
communities of color and low
income neighborhoods where there
is not a lot of shade and
asphalt raises temperatures.
Plant trees or public parks.
Putting pavement that is
reflective rather than
absorbing.
Governor Newsom actually signed
a bill just on Friday that is
going to rank heat waves like
hurricanes for the first time in
California.
The idea is to say we have a
category four heatwave coming up
and for people to understand
what that means and to realize
they need to take serious
actions to prepare and find a
way to stay cool.
In the near-term reducing
emissions and stopping the
heating of the planet long-term
is the only way.
Geoff: Sandy Roth, thank you for
sharing your reporting and
insights with us.
>> You are welcome.