KALW News

Future Loss: Grieving A Changing Climate

What was true before COVID is even truer now: When we try to think and talk about climate change, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed. In fact, there's a growing movement of psychologists who identify those feelings as unprocessed grief. This is a series about the physical and emotional impacts of climate change.

The Unseen Consequences Of Wildfire Smoke (Ep. 2)

KALW | By Lee Romney

Published August 4, 2020 at 6:31 PM PDT

A comparison of the Bay Bridge in San Francisco California before the camp fire smoke and during. The shot on the left was taken November 16th and the one on the right October 14th. Both photos were taken from the same position on Treasure Island.

Many of the extraordinary consequences of climate change are happening in a way we can't immediately feel in our everyday lives — like desertification, sea-level rise, mass human migration. But for Californians, there is one glaring exception: Wildfires. Over the last several years, they’ve become a constant presence in our lives, and the long-term effects of wildfire smoke is worse for some than others. In this episode, we start with the story of Ta'Kira Dannette Byrd, an 11-year-old girl who lives in Vallejo. Then, we hear why some domestic workers' jobs could get even riskier.

This series, "Future Loss: Grieving a Changing Climate," was edited by Lisa Morehouse and engineered by Gabriel Grabin. Click here to listen to all the episodes.