exhese horrifying images show the planet is in peril and may prove a tipping point in what we know about it. meanwhile, gray is the new orange, and it may be even worse. right now the unhealthy a settling over the bay and what scientists are doing about it. >> also at 5:00, the -- destruction for oakland schools. how it could bring a new direction to the school board. and a new word of when we might see a vaccine. our one on one with a top official. >> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc7 news. >> embers of the stark skies over the bay area are becoming iconic this evening. millions of people saw the

martian orange glow. our skyline is a new clarion call for climate change. tony bennett is tweeting about it. the painting at golden gate sunset is taking on a new meaning. it is. he implores us to take care of each other and to take care of our planet as well. good words. good evening. i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm ama daetz. thank you for joining us. yesterday's skies may have been a bit scary, but climate advocates are actually seeing an opportunity. in fact, they may mark a mind-set changing moment. abc7 news reporter kris reyes explains why. >> it was as if the day was night. >> reporter: that's exactly what this picture shows. date stamp 9-9-20, 12:00 p.m. a moment turned into a message, when the day is night, will it finally dawn on us that the time for action is now? the caption, one word. vote. the image was posted by one atmosphere, an s.f. based

nonprofit dedicated to fighting climate change. >> for people that are harder to reach, yesterday was probably a watershed moment and it really brings it home. >> reporter: san francisco supervisor rafael said he plans to use the image, too, when he tries to pass legislation, banning natural gas in new buildings in the city. >> when we're talking about the fires, we're going to talk about the day the sun didn't come out. so many images from yesterday i think will get used again and again. >> reporter: it's happening already. it brought hillary clinton and democratic presidential candidate joe biden all posting images of northern california covered in that erie glow. urging their followers to vote for a livable planet. on abc7 social media pages we asked our viewers, is climate change more urgent to you now because of wednesday's orange skies? on twitter 61% said yes. on instagram 76 said yes. >> i think for those people who live through it, it will be a lasting effect. the sun didn't come out.

>> reporter: many credit this image and others like it with launching the environmental movement in the '60s and '70s. today's advocates have this photo of san francisco like it's never been seen before will have the same powerful impact. >> i think a day like yesterday shows this is a really big deal and that the world can really change. >> all of the other images seem distant, right. or it's at some point in the future it poses a problem. yesterday was very immediate. this iconic image, no doubt. >> reporter: in san francisco, kris reyes for abc7 news. >> and late this afternoon u.c. santa cruz released the results of an extensive climate change study. researchers analyzed deep sea sediment to track variations in our climate over the past 66 million years. they found that some climate variation is normal. greenhouse gas emissions and other -- are driving the climate to a hot house state not seen in about 34 million years. >> incredible. the sky was as different as, well, night and day compared to

yesterday. these side by side comparisons show the transformation from pumpkin orange on wednesday to a drab concrete gray today. that's because there's more water vapor in the air. when sunlight is filtered through smoke and water vapor we get gray skies. our water quality is awful today. here's what it looked like toward san leandro and castro valley in oakland. our photographer said the smoke was so strong where he was it was hurting his eyes. in san jose, the smoke made the skies this afternoon look like heavy winter fog, doesn't it? the air quality was so poor in san francisco this morning that i aqi air ranked it just behind jakarta. right now experts are looking at what all of this unhealthy air is doing to our bodies. abc7 news reporter chris nguyen looks into that tonight. >> reporter: the bay area isn't looking as scary today, but that doesn't mean we're in the clear. our air quality impacted once again because of the ongoing wildfires throughout northern california. >> you breathe it in, it goes

through your nose into your lung and you can actually get into your bloodstream. >> reporter: dr. tina cinder with asthma and allergy research at stanford university is part of a team conducting research on the immune system to understand the effects of wildfire smoke. >> long-term exposure to air pollution increases your risk of cardiac disease, your risk of strokes, your risk of asthma exacerbations, and also it actually reduces your life expectancy so you have increased mortality. >> reporter: yesterday the marine layer or fog was so thick, it suspended that wildfire smoke over the bay area. that smoke layer, all 9,000 feet of it, was stuck and the tiny particles that contribute to poor air quality couldn't get through. today the marine layer is dirty. it's been polluted by the smoke and the winds have shifted. and our weakened marine layer can no longer hold back all those tiny air particles that are so dangerous. >> our exposure to it spans a much larger area and a longer

time. it takes the atmosphere a much longer time to flush out this larger mass of pollution compared to the normal situation with industrial pm 2.5. >> reporter: dr. frank freidman from the san jose state university department of meelt yorology says if you can't smell the smoke it doesn't mean the air quality is good. >> make sure you keep the indoor environment as clean as possible inside. the indoor environment is the one area, one place humans have control over. >> reporter: and as exhausting as it may be, a reminder to not let your guard down. in the south bay, chris nguyen, abc7 news. >> all right. so let's check on our current conditions. abc7 news meteorologist sandhya patel has a look at our air quality right now. sandhya. >> yeah, it is awful, ama. take a look at this live picture from our san jose camera. the shark tank is surrounded by what appears to be fog, but it's actually a thick deck of smoke across the region. that was the upper layers of the

atmosphere, has translated down to the surface and now our air quality is suffering. look at our region. pretty much everyone in the unhealthy to very unhealthy with some scatterings of poor air quality. so we look at santa rosa. it's unhealthy right now. san francisco very unhealthy in magenta. san jose is moderate right now. as we head to the santa cruz mountains, we have poor air quality. at the lower levels, winds are coming out of the south. visibility is awful. combination of fog and smoke a mile over half moon bay. you take a look at the smokey skies from the visible satellite picture, it's coming from all different directions, not just the fires to our north. i'll let you know how the air quality is coming up. ama, dan? >> sandhya, thank you. much of the bay area smoke is coming from the mendocino national forest. it is at state's largest fire ever. it's a combination of more than 30 fires burning across glen, lake, mendocino, to he'ahema

counties. it has surpassed the 2018 mendocino complex fire which burned more than 459,000 acres. two other fires in august are also in the record books. the seu complex fireess east of the bear is 396,000 acres. cal fire said full containment of this fire is expected saturday. meanwhile the lmu fire in the north bay is number 4 with 363,000 acres burned. >> three people are dead and at least 12 others still missing in the north complex fire in butte, plumas and yuma counties. the bear fire is the biggest fire in the northern complex. part of the town of oroville is under evacuation orders now. an evacuation order has been lifted in the town of perris devastated by the 2019 camp fire. officials are telling people to remain vigilant. here's a satellite image of all

of the smoke from the oregon border to nevada down to mexico. a layer of smokes that really reflects the unrelenting wildfires across the state. more than 3 million acres have burned in california since january. and guess what. things could get worse. lanina, that weather phenomenon off the coast of peru from warm ocean waters, they say it could destroy the atmosphere. noah says la nene i can't is likely to persist it through the winter. it is marked by cooler 2457b average ocean water in the central pacific. el nino is when it warms up. it generally brings dry weather across california and the southwest and it contributes to an increase in atlantic hurricane activity and brings rain and snow to the northwest. >> all right. well, still ahead, we do have some breaking news out of san francisco. city officials say the next phase of reopening will begin on monday. that's ahead. plus the head of the hhs talks

with abc7 news about hopes for a vaccine and exactly what he thinks about vaccine deniers. >> also coming up here, heated demonstrations take their toll. we look at the future of the oakland school district now that a majority of the school board is actually walking away. and playing music together online just got better. stanford creates a revolutionary music studio.

it's made for this guy a veteran who honorably served and it's made for her she's serving now we made it for all branches and all ranks whether they served one tour or made a career of it. we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids usaa is easy to work with and can save you money on auto, home and renters insurance. become a member today. get an insurance quote at usaa.com/quote

usaa. what you're made of we're made for starting monday san francisco says it will allow some indoor businesses to reopen with limited capacity. hair salons, barber shops, massage services, nail salons and fitness centers. the city will require all employees and patrons to wear masks. some of these businesses have been closed since march because of the pandemic. it's still seven weeks away, but san francisco and contra costa counties are already encouraging families not to trick or treat. officials say sharing food, candy and other items is risky.

>> certainly the way we've trick or treated in the past is not going to be the way that it's done this year. it may, in fact, be the safest thing not to do it the way we have done in the past or not at all. we're working hard to come up with good, clear, consistent guidance. >> san francisco suggests decorating your door, windows and yard and wearing a halloween mask on top of your protective face. >> good tip. the consumer health of human services says we can expect doses of coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year. abc7 news reporter melanie woodrow spoke one on one with secretary alex azar today about the challenges including the political pressures of meeting that goal. >> reporter: three covid-19 vaccine candidates are currently in phase three clinical trial. each involving 30,000 patients. some of the largest vaccine trials ever. >> we're playing this by the book. we're going to work to deliver safe, effective vaccines

according to the fda standards. >> reporter: the race to develop a vaccine has taken center stage in president donald trump's reelection campaign. he has suggested a coronavirus vaccine could be available before the november election. still, health and human services secretary alex azar insists -- >> politics and elections will play no role in the approval and authorization of a vaccine by the food and drug administration. it will be based on data, science, evidence and the appropriate legal and regulatory standards. >> reporter: he explained how it works. the vaccine in a clinical trial is given to half participants. 15,000 in this case. the other half gets a placebo injection. once enough people in the trial get the disease according to a prespecified statistically significant end point, a data and safety monitoring board looks to the numbers for differences in those who got the vaccine from those who didn't. >> if there are enough cases, we can see data in october on a couple of these trials. and if not, we see data when we see it.

>> reporter: secretary azar understands that some people may be skeptical. >> we have so many preventable diseases and unfortunately not enough people do get the vaccines and our work is going to be to try to convince them through transparent information, to have a discussion with their health care provider and make a decision about what's right for them. >> reporter: he says the biggest challenge is going to be manufacturing the large-scale vaccine quickly. >> what we're doing is leveraging the existing vaccine systems we have in the united states. >> reporter: in the meantime, secretary azar is encouraging people to exercise personal responsibility. wash your hands, watch your distance, and wear a face covering when you can't practice social distancing. melanie woodrow, abc7 news. >> this election day will bring big changes to the oakland school board. four of the seven current members decided not to run. critics are hoping it means a change in direction.

abc7 news anchor eri the story. >> when i ran, my kids were in first grade and third grade. they are now in college. >> reporter: she served three terms, 12 years on the board. she says that's long enough. >> i'm not a fan of term limits, but i am a fan of knowing when to move aside and let others step in. >> reporter: she and three other members will not be on the ballot in november by choice. they all served during a turbulent period for oakland schools with the district suffering more than one debt crisis, divisive teacher strikes, and -- school mergers that grew so big and heated that police had to be called on several occasions. the merger fight also led to an unsuccessful attempt to recall london. during a strike last year, board member got into a physical altercation on the picket line. she also says it's time for new blood, but the blow-ups didn't

help. >> if it turns into this divisive personal attack and ideological wars, that is tiring. that is exhausting. >> reporter: we reached out to school board members jose torres and james torres for why they're not running, but they're not available today. this version of the school board has also had run-ins with education advocacy groups like oakland reach. executive director lakeisha young who also has children in district schools says her group didn't get far in trying to get the old board to focus on successful outcomes, but will demand it of the next school board. >> and focus on how we move student outcomes. less than 30% of black and brown kids in oakland are reading on grade level and less than 50% of all kids in oakland are reading on grade level. >> reporter: new oakland school board members, just winning the election may be the easiest task. in oakland, eric thomas, abc7 news. >> the weather is definitely cooler. will we see a warm up for the

the $6.99 super slam is your perfect meal, it's buttermilk pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon and hash browns. it's enough breakfast for dinner and it's as good as it sounds. see you at denny's.

meteorolo many drivers are getting the aschoff their cars today at broadway car wash in oakland. folks say the -- >> it was just brown gucky solid stuff. gunk. >> i don't know that i need to be afraid of the ash. this is not volcanic ash. this is acidic, right? but i don't know what's in this stuff. i don't want it to eat away at my finish, you know. >> and john's right. according to driving.com, ash mixed with fog or rain can create substances that are quite harsh on a vehicle's paint and trim. >> announcer: now your accuweather forecast with sandhya patel. >> and that's why you need to limit your exposure to the smoke and the ash and just stay inside with the doors and windows closed. at least here's the good thing. it's not hot, and so you don't have to worry about opening up your windows to get some fresh

air. as a matter of fact, the temperature is being held down by what you're seeing here from our exploratorium camera, a combination of fog and smoke. the smoke will still impact us tomorrow. spare the air alert for friday. moderate quality expected saturday, sunday and monday. so perhaps a slight improvement. now let me show you the smoke forecast. it's going to be bad. there's no way to sugar coat it. right on through tomorrow morning we're looking at oranges and violet pinks there right across the bay area. the smoke will still be thick. air quality will be awful right down to the surface. but look what happens as we head toward saturday. if this model is right, we're going to start to see a bit of stronger sea breeze pushing that smoke out of the region. and so perhaps even though we will still see smoke, some improvement coming for your weekend. here's a look at our emeryville camera. you will notice how socked in it is with the fog and the smoke. san francisco 62. oakland in the upper 60s along with san jose. 59 in half moon bay. these temperatures well below average for this time of year. from our san jose camera you are

also looking at a very gray view. 67 in santa rosa and napa currently 69 in concord and livermore. live doppler 7 showing you a lot of smoke blanketing the bar along with the fog near the coast. here's where that fog is going. it's going to push into some of our valleys tomorrow morning. we're also going to see a little drizzle. it's also misty in half moon bay. as we head towards the afternoon hours, the fog will hang around near parts of the coast and the rest of you will be looking at sunshine. drizzle, fog and haze tomorrow morning. i think we're all pretty much getting used to the story. low 50s to low 60s. afternoon highs will look like this. it doesn't mean we want it, i'm saying we're getting used to it because we've been in the pattern awhile. hazy skies, 67 oakland. 65 in san francisco. up to 74 san jose and in santa rosa. here's a look at the accuweather seven-day forecast. it's a spare the air for tomorrow. poor air quality again. a little warmer as we see perhaps better air quality and more sunshine as opposed to all

the smoke preventing the sun from penetrating. you will notice cool to mild for your sunday. breezy as we head into early next week. but temperatures really remaining in the comfort zone. 60s to 80s. fire danger remaining low because of this. and wednesday partly cloudy, possibility of some showers. i know models keep going back and forth. but stay tuned. that's exactly what we need. dan and ama. >> we're hanging onto the edge of our seats. thank you, sandhya. >> desperately. being virtually in sync is not

[horns honking] ms. robinson: we're ready! ms. zamora: ¡estamos listos! ms. duncan: we're ready! ms. williams: we have missed you so much. ms. zamora: we're with you every step of the way. narrator: making our school buildings safer. ms. williams: no one wants to be back in the classroom more than teachers. mr. hardesty: but we all have to be safe. ms. robinson: we take great pride in making sure all of our students achieve. ms. duncan: remember to wear your mask. ms. robinson: wash your hands. ms. zamora: and stay safe. narrator: because the california teachers association knows quality public schools make a better california for all of us. quality public schools propit provides property tax mostfairnessble. for disabled homeowners like cynde, stuck living with a broken elevator. nineteen helps wildfire victims, like ellie,

one of 24,000 who've lost their homes to fire. and seniors like pam who need to move closer to family or medical care, without a tax penalty. prop 19 limits taxes on our most vulnerable. yes on 19. coming up on abc7 news at 6:00, pg&e's latest public safety power shut off is over. how customers are grading their performance. traffic on our freeway is milking picking up. you may have noticed. what this means in the long term. plus wedding bills without the wedding bells from 7 on your side. that's all coming up on abc7 news at 6:00. >> finally tonight, anyone who has used a platform like zoom knows it's designed for one speaker at a time. a problem for singers and musicians. >> there is a solution.

abc7 news reporter david louie gives it a demo. >> reporter: the pandemic put a stop to live musical performances. it also marked a shift to zoom and other online sharing platforms. coral groups and musicians faced a real hurdle. delays in sound over the internet that caused them to be out of sync. here's an example. ♪ ♪ the delays are measured in seconds. that's latent enough to have a negative impact on harmony and rhythm. the solution lies in this device designed by sutter research and acoustics. it goes by the name jack trip. >> as long as you have your microphone and headphones, you can plug it into your router or your internet through ether net and get up and running and singing with it. >> reporter: listen again to a choral group without jack trip. ♪ ♪ now with jack trip. ♪ ♪

it has been beta tested by several choral groups of 30 people and up to 500 in simulation. >> we want to get it to a range where it feels natural that you're not waiting. you're not thinking about it, you're just making music together as you would if you were in the same room together. >> reporter: this is a breakthrough for rehearsals and for doing music classes online. the software is open source and free. a dozen volunteers globally are fine tuning it. a solution has been found to distribute the device at low or no cost. the reward for all this labor is music to their ears. >> when they started singing their first song, their faces got me. i realized this is something special. >> reporter: david louie, abc7 news. >> they sound so nice, ama. >> yeah, they do. >> "world news tonight" with david muir is next. we appreciate your time as always. i'm dan ashley. >> i'm ama daetz.

for sandhya patel and all of us, thank you for joining us. we

tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. president trump before the cameras late today. what he said about his own words recorded by bob woodward. the president defending those recorded comments in which he admitted to downplaying the dangers of the coronavirus, telling woodward he knew the virus was deadlier than the flu, and that it goes through the air. you breathe the air, that's how it's passed. different from what he told the american people, and jon karl pressing the president. how he responded. the horror unfolding tonight for so many families. the deadly wildfires exploding. the death toll rising tonight. the staggering new images coming in. towns incinerated. a father driving through the flames, trying to save members of his own family. authorities then finding the bodies of his 12-year-old son and the