What Would Happen If It Was 116 Degrees in San Francisco?

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2021

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Last week temperatures hit 116 degrees in Portland, 108 in Seattle, and 121 degrees in western Canada. According to news reports, nearly one billion sea animals may have cooked to death in British Columbia. San Francisco, a similarly temperate climate, has had its own moments of extreme heat. It reached 106 degrees during the 2017 heat wave, breaking all previous records. But what would happen if San Francisco’s temperatures reached as high as Portland's did last week? How would roads, bridges and the health system respond to 116 degree temperatures? Could the electrical grid manage to stay on line? Forum talks to a panel of experts about what a future with extreme heat looks like and what we should be doing to prepare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Kikiweedy Podcasts comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort on 4,000 acres located 45 minutes from downtown San Diego.
0:08.7	Established in 1940, Rancho LaPuerta offers adult summer camp-like vacations for individuals and groups.
0:15.0	Rancho LePuerta.com.
0:16.7	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:24.5	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:30.7	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia.
0:34.8	When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable
0:40.2	test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade
0:47.2	plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now
0:54.0	at Broadwaysf.com.
0:57.6	From KQED.
0:59.1	From KQED Public Radio in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:15.3	I grew up outside Portland, Oregon, and weathered many rainy winters and hot summers.
1:20.6	So when I opened up my phone and saw forecast high of 116 degrees for that city last month, I was stunned.
1:28.5	That's more than eight degrees higher than the previous all-time high
1:32.0	and hotter than Dallas has ever been.
1:35.1	And it got me thinking,
1:36.3	what if the heat dome that set up over the Pacific Northwest
1:39.0	had hit here in the Bay Area?
1:41.3	Could our electrical grid take it?
1:43.1	How would our cities respond? I wanted a panel
1:45.8	of experts to run through those scenarios with us so we could all be better prepared. So that's
	...

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