S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. Last week's Heat Wave was a reminder that climate change is pushing our weather to the extremes. On today's show , we'll talk about how that impacts our health. I'm Jade Hindman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. From the way our brains respond to the way our bodies respond , extreme heat affects us all.
S2: We have found that extreme heat really impacts almost all aspects of human health.
S1: We'll run down the list of health risks and ways to mitigate them. That's ahead on Midday Edition. Oh. I. Just last week , San Diegans were feeling the heat. And while this most recent heat wave is behind us , research shows that climate change will make these events more frequent and intense. So how will extreme heat impact our bodies in the long term ? Joining me now to talk about the health impacts of heat is Doctor Alexandra Heaney. She is an assistant professor at UC San Diego's Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. Doctor Heaney , welcome to Midday edition.
S2: Thanks so much. Thanks for having me.
S1: Glad to have you here. So when many people think of climate disasters , they're often picturing storms and wildfires , but extreme heat and especially extreme humid heat is proving to be more deadly. It's even known as a silent killer. What are you seeing in your research ? Absolutely.
S2: And I think extreme heat is actually one of the most universal impacts of climate change. Around the globe , these episodes of extreme heat are becoming , as you said , more frequent and more intense in most locations around the world. Um , so this is something that we are dealing with in a lot of different , uh , communities and people who have sort of different abilities to adapt to heat. Um , here in California , as you said , we've had some really severe heat waves this year , and we have found that extreme heat really impacts almost all aspects of human health. Um , you can start from , of course , the sort of small day to day impacts. Um , like cognition , for example , there's work showing that extreme heat makes it much harder to think clearly and to function at the high cognitive level that you're used to. I will say I definitely experienced this last week during our San Diego heatwave , because I do not have really very good air conditioning in my home , and I usually work from home , and I was really struggling to be productive and had to go into the office , which had much better air conditioning. So that's sort of one thing that we think about. We also have seen , you know , mental health , mental wellbeing impacts. Um , and then of course , there's the sort of more obvious health impacts which are , you know , directly related to heat , like dehydration , um , and heat exhaustion or heat stroke. And those are sort of the really extreme , uh , health impacts of extreme heat. There are many studies showing that mortality and sort of deaths increase , uh , above what we would expect during extreme heat events. And I have a recent study with colleagues here at UC San Diego where we are looking at also the effects on morbidity. So we look at across California , um , when there is extreme heat , what happens to emergency department visits ? Uh , within the population. And we see that there are increases in not only overall emergency department visits , but many different causes of emergency department visits , cardiovascular diseases , accidental injuries , poisonings , all of these different causes we see are sensitive to extreme heat. So the effects are really wide ranging.
S1:
S2: But I think it is something that is counterintuitive to most people. Given that we often hear about the really severe health impacts of extreme heat , like death , for example , or , you know , heat exhaustion and heat stroke. So I think that I'm glad that we are able to use this research to raise awareness of some of those sort of less severe , but still really impactful health impacts.
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S2: It was really sort of the initial educational program that focused on these intersections between climate change and health. And it was actually a little bit of a risk for me to do my education in that sort of niche area , because at the time , which , you know , wasn't that long ago , um , there was less certainty that the health effects of climate change , one were really happening , and two were really important , and three were going to be recognised on a large scale. I will say that it turns out that risk that I took for my own sort of , uh , academic security and professional security would didn't end up being a problem because unfortunately , this is the bad part of the story. Uh , the health impacts of climate change have become basically impossible to ignore for us day to day. Not only do we experience these extreme heat events ourselves , here in California , we've experienced the wildfire smoke we have experienced severe flooding in this past winter and the winter before. Um , so , you know , we it's really hard to ignore these climatic changes that are happening. And I think that that has been , of course , bad in the sense that there are many more adverse health impacts , uh , from these climate change related events. But it has also raised awareness and forced a lot of people to open their eyes , which has inspired , um , more research to be done in this area. But most importantly , more policies and interventions to , uh , be developed in order to protect vulnerable communities from climate change.
S1:
S2: And a lot of that has to do with some physiological difficulties in thermoregulation , um , but also some behavioral aspects of , uh , not being as able to protect themselves. And I think that the other , you know , really big group of vulnerable population that we think about are especially for extreme heat is outdoor workers. Um , and this is something that in California specifically , we hear a lot about in the context of agricultural workers. So those who are outside for most of the day in the peak heat of the day , um , they are very vulnerable to the these sort of adverse health impacts of heat , as they have really high exposures. Um , there's another sort of population of workers that are very vulnerable as well , which are actually indoor workers in , uh , warehouses that don't have adequate air conditioning. And we've seen that the exposures to really extreme heat among these workers along with sort of lack of brakes and ventilation , has made them incredibly vulnerable as well. And then the last category , I would say , are people with pre-existing health conditions like chronic respiratory or cardiovascular diseases , who we have shown are more susceptible to both sort of , uh , heat related illnesses as well as aggravation of existing symptoms and underlying conditions.
S1:
S2: One is a larger scale , which is that geographically , across California we have many different ecosystems and land use types , um , which have different sort of natural temperature variability. So for example , in the valleys like Central Valley , it's likely to get much hotter than it is on in the coastal regions , like here in San Diego. So we have these sort of regional differences in extreme heat , but we also see that urban areas are much hotter than rural areas or even suburban areas. And that has to do with something called the urban heat island effect , which is this idea that in urban areas , there's a lot of what we call impervious surfaces and surfaces that absorb sunlight and heat and re radiate that heat out. And so , in essence , the heat gets trapped in this sort of urban bubble , um , which then means that anyone who's living in these urban areas are going to experience much higher temperatures throughout the day. And very importantly , at night. Um , there's growing literature showing that nighttime temperatures might be an important indicator of adverse health outcomes. So if the heat doesn't , um , dissipate or attenuate enough at night , that might be worse for individuals health. And that is something that we see in this , uh , urban heat island effect. So , um , those are sort of two ways of thinking about who is is vulnerable in terms of where you live.
S1: Do you see any solutions to that ? Absolutely.
S2: There are many different solutions to improve , um , the sort of heat of urban areas , I think , when it comes to bigger regional differences. Um , like the Valley , you know , there's not much that we can do about making it , not a valley that traps heat. But in terms of , uh , urban areas , there are a lot of interventions that are going on in climate policies that are trying to attenuate this heat island effect , including increasing green spaces within a city like parks , planting trees that can go a long way to both reflect sort of light and sunlight away from the city , but also to provide shade , um , for people to get sort of a respite from the really extreme heat. Some other , um , things that are being done include , uh , sort of building strategies like painting the roofs of buildings white , and that helps to reflect that sunlight and that heat back away into the atmosphere , um , so that it doesn't get absorbed into those buildings and re radiated. So those are just some examples of , um , a lot of really interesting and important interventions that are going on worldwide to try to mitigate this effect.
S1: You also mentioned wildfires earlier , which are also becoming more frequent across California.
S2: Everybody was stuck in in their houses , uh , there was an extreme heat wave and those really extreme wildfires all at the same time. And that experience was actually so visceral of feeling like we had to keep all of our windows closed , run our air purifiers to protect ourselves from the smoke , but then also didn't have air conditioning in our apartment and couldn't open the windows to get , you know , the the air flowing around also couldn't really go outside because , um , you know , shelter in place was happening. It was just this confluence of really difficult situations that , uh , really had a lot of impact , as both , I'd say , on our mental and physical well-being. And that's what got me to start thinking about this idea exactly what you're talking about , which is these compound exposures. So we have done sort of broadly in , in the climate and health literature. A lot of work looking at the health impacts of individual climate related hazards. So extreme heat on its own , wildfire smoke on its own , but the next direction. And I think the step we need to go in is to really try to understand what are the health impacts of experiencing those two things together. Is it just that we have a sort of additive effect ? You know , that you know , you have the effect of extreme heat plus the effect of of wildfire smoke , or do these exposures , as I expect they would actually act synergistically , um , to really amplify those health effects that are going to be observed. Um , and so that I think is something that is a is a growing area of interest and of research and something that we really need to start to clarify , especially as with climate change , we are expecting to see the co-occurrence of these extreme events much more frequently. Um , part of my work is also looking at dust storms , which is something that is happening more frequently in the southwestern US , you know , including parts of California and in Arizona. Um , so adding that into the mix of wildfires , dust storms and extreme heat and trying to understand what are the impacts of all of those joint exposures happening at once. Wow.
S1: Wow.
S2: Um , this is , I will say , not my specific area of expertise , but I believe that what we're seeing in California is something called precipitation whiplash or sort of , uh , volatility in precipitation , which just means that we're not seeing a sort of clear trend , uh , associated with climate change to getting wetter or getting drier overall. Instead , what we're seeing are increasing extremes , so oscillating between really extreme wet conditions and really extreme dry conditions. And , you know , we had a perfect example of this over the last five years where , you know , 2019 or 2020 , for a few years we had that really severe drought. And then over the past two years we've had really anomalously wet conditions. Um , and that is something that we are seeing more and more. And part of my work actually is studying the impacts of that precipitation , um , oscillation. So really dry to really wet conditions. How does that impact a disease called valley fever , which is a fungal respiratory infection that is , um , really growing a huge amount in case numbers in California and has been over the last 20 years. And we think that this sort of oscillation between wet and dry is actually promoting the transmission of this disease. Um , and that transition between wet and dry is also a really important , um , driver of wildfire activity as well. So as you can see , all of these things really interrelate. Um , and in California , we definitely are sort of in the center of a lot of these climate change related , uh , hazards that we're experiencing more frequently.
S1: Well , as global temperatures continue to rise and there are just , ah , greater amounts of overall extreme weather events.
S2: There was a wonderful piece put out in The New York Times a couple of weeks ago , uh , that I contributed to that , talked about how residents of Death Valley have adapted their lifestyles and behaviors , um , to better be able to survive in the harsh , extreme heat conditions that they live in day in and day out. Um , and I think that , you know , hopefully we're not all going to be living in Death Valley conditions , but I think that there's a long way to go for , uh , researchers , um , and particularly in communication and collaboration with community members and policy decision makers , um , to figure out how do we best adapt to this new reality of climate change and of these climate hazards ? And how do we really prepare in order to protect our populations ? So one example , of course , is heat warnings. So with extreme heat , there's been a lot of implementation of these extreme heat warnings , uh , that go out sort of before you the heat is supposed to be really bad. They raise awareness and there is ongoing research showing that those can be effective in mitigating , uh , mitigating the adverse impacts of extreme heat on people's health. Another example , which is sometimes a little counterintuitive , is that something called social cohesion has been shown to be a really effective strategy to mitigate the adverse health impacts of extreme heat. And what that means is the strength of a community's ties and connections of individuals within a community have actually been shown to , uh , protect that community from some of the worst health impacts. And there are many different ways in which this works. But it really boils down to the fact that people check on each other and people care about each other. And in those communities with higher social cohesion , they're more likely to create these protective , uh , strategies and also to protect the most vulnerable , such as the elderly populations who may be more vulnerable to the health impacts of extreme heat and also be less able to protect themselves. Um , so those are just sort of two examples of types of interventions that can be used , uh , in a community. And I think that what's really important is that communities lead these efforts to develop these interventions a lot and have community voices be the primary driver of a lot of these interventions , because we know that that's what will create policies and interventions that really work the best.
S1: Well , very important research that I know will help shape policies from here on out. I've been speaking with Doctor Alexandra Heaney , assistant professor at UC San Diego's Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. Doctor Heaney , thank you so much for joining us today.
S2: Thank you for having me.
S1: Coming up , more on how climate change doesn't just affect our environment.
S2: Looking at how mental health is affected by climate change is very.
S3: Important and also help people understand its importance. And I think it's a very important part of disaster preparedness.
S1: Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. As you just heard , heat can take a major toll on our physical body. But what about our mental health ? As extreme weather events and climate disasters become more frequent , researchers are looking at how climate change can also impact our mental well-being. That is part of what doctor Jyoti Mishra is investigating. She is a neuroscientist and associate professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego. Here to talk about how heat and climate change as a whole can shape our brains. Doctor Mishra , so welcome to Midday Edition.
S3: I'm glad to be here , Jay. Thank you for having me.
S1: So glad you're here. Before we dive in , tell us more about your work around mental health and climate.
S3: You know , we all know about them since the late 2015 onwards. And we all know about the famous campfire that wiped out the city of Paradise and the regions around there. And since then , there hasn't been a year since we've heard about , you know , frequent wildfires. And so on. I was very concerned about the people in our community , and they had always expressed anecdotally how fires and heat was affecting mental health. And so now about , you know , from eight years ago , from the time of the campfire , we've been looking at that intersection of climate change and mental health and brain health. And so , um , yeah , it's coming up to almost a decade of doing that work.
S1:
S3: And there's a lot of policy and action that can happen around health and climate action. Of course , as you said , mental health is just starting to become noticed as something that can be affected by climate related changes , but is a it is a very serious concern. This is because the effects on mental health from climate change are not just short lived changes that happen due to the immediate impact of heat. I think we all know we feel more tired on days when there's extreme heat and we have lack of focus. But , you know , in um , regions where people are witnessing disasters , the trauma can be long lasting as well , and it can last , you know , a year or more even from a given disaster. So really looking at how mental health is affected by climate change is very important and also help people understand its importance. And it's a I think it's a very important part of disaster preparedness.
S1: Yeah , well , let's dig into those long term changes and trauma more.
S3: Term. Climate trauma itself comes from the experience of individuals being affected by a climate change driven disaster. This in California we witnessed this often in the form of wildfires. But around the country there are floods and hurricanes and now extreme heat waves that can also contribute to climate trauma. It is a complex term because it can lead to mental health , symptoms of anxiety , depression , post-traumatic stress. There's stress from emotional aspects , but also from the practical aspects of losing home and property or injury to loved ones and that sense of loss of place. So it's a very complex set of emotions that come together. And not just emotions , but also cognition and brain function can get affected by such climate change related disasters. So climate trauma aims to encompass these various effects.
S1: That's so interesting. I mean , even in some of the larger cities , when a heat wave comes , sometimes there's this uptick in violence and in violent crime.
S3: There have been studies showing this that there is an uptick not just in violent crime towards others , but also in injury to self. And climate change has even been linked to increase in suicidal rates. And this is definitely a significant phenomena. There's increase in medications related to psychiatric illnesses after extreme heat events or extreme weather events or wildfires and so on. It's because the human brain gets affected and there are parts of our cognitive abilities , such as how we pay attention and how we how impulsive we are , that are all impacted by climate change. And in recent work , we also see that decision making can get heavily impacted as well. So we just get more impatient and impulsive , and that can lead to sequelae like the violence that you're noting.
S1: You mentioned the campfire of 2018 earlier. You were actually part of a study that that looked into how that specific wildfire affected the brain.
S3: Some of the results are still under review for publication. But in 2023 , we had our first study of the brain effects related to the campfire. And and that study , we found that , um , the ability to suppress distracting information in our environment is , um , specifically impacted by the , the wildfires. And why that's important is because we're actually constantly making these decisions in our life where we're attentive to a given piece of information , such as , we're listening to this conversation , trying to come up with the next thing I want to say and , uh , trying to suppress other , uh , thoughts in my head about , you know , what am I going to do next ? What am I going to pick up my child or dinner or whatever else might be happening in my head , and we're able to go about our daily lives by being able to pay attention to what is at hand and then suppressing other information that that is not necessary to be in our heads at that point in time. So that ability of attentional capacities is especially affected in individuals who are exposed to the to the campfire. And we see that the , um , the brain is also affected in that in that context.
S1: Well , this is also an issue of equity. I mean , not all communities experience the effects of heat and climate change the same. Does all of that factor into your research ? Absolutely.
S3: I think environmental justice and equity are huge issues. Heatwaves and climate disasters disproportionately affect climate vulnerable regions. These regions are not just the ones that are geographically more prone to climate change. Uh , such as in California. There are many communities who live at this , uh , interface between the wildland jungles and the urban areas. Those are the regions that get most affected by the forest fires , and those are the ones who have both the health and mental health impacts. Um , these are not , uh , cities that are by the coast , uh , so much now , we also get fires by the coast more , but the the cities that are inland , the suburban areas that are inland , they're much more effective , have much higher temperatures. And so equity or inequity plays a huge role. Um , the areas that are most impacted by climate change in terms of health and mental health are also the ones that are poorer regions have greater poverty , great , uh , lesser health care access overall. So environmental justice is is a huge concern. And I think our state does have policies that it continues to work on , you know , help out these communities. So , for example , California has a cap and trade system which tries to reduce greenhouse emissions in the state. And through that system the investments are made in environmental justice communities. So , um , yes , absolutely. Inequities need to be taken into account , uh , while doing this research and also when creating solutions.
S1: Well , you talked about local and state policies , our mental health systems really equipped to respond to climate trauma.
S3: Now , unfortunately , mental health systems are not well equipped to respond to climate trauma. They're already overburdened by , um , the existing mental health concerns that do not , uh , fully accommodate climate trauma. But when once one sees that when climate trauma events happen , when climate change related disasters happen , there's an uptick in emergency room visits related to mental health. There is an uptick in mental health prescriptions. Systems like the , the hospitals and the and the tertiary care systems are not very well equipped to deal with such trauma. And I think one of the things that's definitely coming up in this context is community health based systems , such as social workers and health counselors and a field based therapy work that people are , uh , learning and learning to do psychological first aid. And there's a huge role for community health to play , to help out with the mental health consequences of climate trauma , to help out the mental health systems overall that are already pretty overburdened.
S1:
S3: It is absolutely expected that one would feel depression or anxiety or post-traumatic stress from such events and beyond acknowledging that looking for help for that from mental health providers , whether it's in the form of medications or therapy , and reaching out to local groups who can help to address that kind of trauma. And and what we've also found in our work is that social ties are very important in protecting one from the mental health consequences of such trauma. So people who have stronger family ties and community ties are better protected. So , you know. So do not take it lightly that to talk to your friends and your neighbors and to really inculcate these bonds , what you're going through and what you'll realize is that others are also going through similar traumas. It's really not just an individual trauma. It's actually a community wide trauma that happens , and many people are suffering from it at the same time. And so , um , there is a collective community healing that can happen when one has these conversations with others. So it really , um , like people to have these conversations around climate and mental health more. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And there's also climate resilience.
S3: And it's also about future preparedness. And in terms of mental health , it's when we think about future preparedness. It includes , um , better awareness and education , better training in psychological first Aids , and then , you know , really looking at all that that the state and the national and federal governments are doing around climate change related solutions , how that's actually benefiting mental health. So , you know , when we have a better infrastructure for our communities , especially the ones that are more vulnerable , when we provide them better infrastructure and cooler buildings or air conditioned schoolrooms , is that actually helping their mental health or not ? So that's part of the resiliency building. And these are efforts that need to continue to happen to have a future in which we can survive and thrive. You know , even when there are heat waves and wildfires happening in our regions.
S1: I've been speaking with Doctor Jyoti Mishra , neuroscientist and professor of psychiatry at UCSD. Doctor Mishra , thank you so much.
S3: Thank you. Thank you for your time.
S1: Still ahead , how schools are adjusting to the challenges of climate change.
S4: Schools are kind of caught between these two priorities of keeping their kids safe and meeting this new state mandate.
S1: KPBS Midday Edition returns after the break. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hyndman. We've been talking about the toll extreme heat can have on our physical and mental well-being , while it also impacts young kids and their ability to play. While a new state law requires elementary schools to set aside 30 minutes of unstructured recess time. Extreme heat events are complicating that. Reporter Corey Suzuki covered the story. He joins me now to talk about how teachers and students are adapting. Corey , welcome back to midday. Hi.
S4: Hi. Thanks for having me back. Yeah.
S1: Well , first tell us about this new mandate and the right to recess.
S4: Well , starting this year , elementary school students in California have a right to 30 minutes of free , unstructured recess time every day. And teachers are banned from taking that time away as punishment. That's important. And it's a new development , because before now , California didn't have any laws regulating recess , just sort of loose guidelines. But last year , lawmakers passed this new law that says having time to play is really important for young kids , and that schools should be prioritizing that more. A lot of schools already do offer 30 minutes of recess or more , but now it's an official part of the state education code. Wow.
S1: Wow. Okay. Well , walk us through it.
S4: Some also argue that this is a mental health issue. I spoke with Peter Gray , who's a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College , about this back earlier this year , and he says that play also helps kids develop an internal sense that they're capable and have some control over their lives. If kids don't get that time to explore in a free and unstructured way , then gray says it might make it more likely that they'll experience anxiety and depression going forward. But kids who who do have that time to play might also be more kind of mentally resilient and able to to handle problems or fluid situations in a way that might , might make it less internally troubling for them.
S1: Well , we recently experienced a heat wave across the region , and it created challenges for elementary schools. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. That's right. I mean , I think what we saw during this last heat wave was that this is one factor. Extreme heat is one factor that is creating some issues with this recess mandate. That's because heat waves are really dangerous for kids , especially elementary school students. These these younger kids who are kind of the focus of this mandate. Experts say kids are more vulnerable to extreme heat because they get dehydrated faster. They don't always have the judgment to slow down and take it easy during heat waves. So schools really have to be careful , which a lot of the time means moving everybody inside where there's shade and hopefully air conditioning or a fan. But when you're indoors , some educators say it's not as easy to have that kind of free and unstructured recess time. So schools are kind of caught between these two priorities of keeping their kids safe and meeting this new state mandate.
S1: Well , and you spoke with Fernando Hernandez for this story. He's the principal at Perkins K through eight. Here's what he had to say about the state mandate.
S5: The intent of the law to have free and unstructured time outside , very manageable in a classroom , not as easily to implement , I'll tell you that.
S1: We'll talk more about that.
S4: The students are all being pulled inside classrooms. So you have a bunch of students in a space that's not that big. And he says teachers need to rely on more structured activities to really manage everyone and to prevent chaos from happening. His words well.
S1:
S4: Once everyone was kind of safely out of the sun , Hernandez says some teachers let kids play board games or play games on computers. Others had them do art projects. Some even. It sounds like from from what we heard , some even , uh , use that time as extra lesson time and kept teaching well.
S1:
S4: Schools get to set their own official plans , but the district's guidelines say that they should do things like cut down on P.E. time , let students eat and shaded areas during lunch , and restrict recess to quiet games that don't involve a lot of running around. These are these are guidelines that apply to schools across the district.
S1: And do their guidelines account for this new recess mandate ? No.
S4: As far as I was able to tell , that is one thing that they don't really account for. To be fair , this is a new mandate that's just going into effect this school year. But I asked the district about this , how they're balancing these two priorities of keeping kids safe and also prioritizing recess time and time to to play freely and in , in an unstructured way. And they didn't really have too much of an answer. Um , they sort of just said that safety is the priority , which , you know , is understandable for for these schools. But I think is is going to become a growing question about how , um , how individual schools should be balancing those two priorities going forward as , as climate change makes , uh , heatwaves more intense and more extreme in San Diego County. Well , the.
S1: Big question that comes to my mind , and I'm sure many others are wondering this too.
S4: I mean , something that Principal Hernandez emphasized is that it really depends on the built environment of these different schools. Each school is sort of structured differently , and some are going to have , like you said , big gyms or auditoriums where you can let students just run around and play freely. But for others like Perkins , they just don't have that space indoors. And so those schools are going to have to find other , other solutions or , you know , other ways to kind of navigate these conflicting priorities. And so it really it really does depend on the resources that are available to each school. Hernandez does say that Perkins has been lucky so far. You know , another point he makes is that it really depends where these schools are in the state and how much heat , how many heat events they actually experience. And for the most part , Hernandez doesn't remember any heat events like this past one happening at Perkins , which is which is in Barrio Logan in San Diego. And he says that that's part of why they , at the school , leave most of the decisions to individual teachers and haven't really developed a plan for what should happen during extreme heat and specifically around recess. But he says that as heat waves become more frequent and more intense in San Diego , he and his staff will probably have to sit down and come up with a formal protocol for handling these going forward.
S1: So what's next for schools across San Diego ? How are they preparing , especially with more heat waves on the horizon and really just more severe weather due to climate change.
S4: Yeah , I think I mean , to me that's really the the big question. I think , um , schools and other education institutions are sort of one area where all of these different , these different parts of our lives are going to be having to to brace for more heatwaves , more extreme storms , and more other kinds of intense weather events. And I think they're , you know , they're they're sort of the big the big impacts that we think of , like storm damage. But there are also kind of these different ways that these extreme weather events are going to be interacting with other specific parts of what it's like to be in school and to be a student or be a teacher. And so I feel like that's a it's certainly a question right now , clearly , that schools are having to deal with. And I think it's going to become an even more important question going forward , as as climate change does continue to to really make extreme weather , um , something that we're going to have to continue to live with in California.
S1: I've been speaking with Cory Suzuki , KPBS is South Bay and Imperial Valley reporter Corey. Thank you very. Much.
S4: Much. Thank you so much , Jade.
S1: That's our show for today. If you missed anything , you can download KPBS Midday Edition on all podcast apps. Don't forget to watch KPBS Evening Edition tonight at five for in-depth reporting on San Diego issues. We're back here tomorrow with our Arts and Culture show. Please join us. I'm Jade Hindman. Thanks for listening.
