>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. kristen: hi there, i'm kristen sze, you're watching "getting answers." we are asking your questions every day at 3:00 to get answers in real time. today uc berkeley is welcoming its freshman class to campus and they sure there are revised covid protocols. we will hear about their new plan for keeping students safe. and you may have heard about the recent exodus from san francisco, but gen z is flocking to the city. our media partner, the san francisco standard, will be here with a closer look at why they love the city by the bay.

but first, the triple digit temperature close threat to the -- too many. unfortunately, heat waves may become more commonplace in the u.s. in the next 30 years, according to a brand-new study that shows an emerging extreme heat belt. joining us now to talk about the findings our chief research officer of the 1st street foundation, dr. jeremy porter. dr. porter, thank you for your time today. dr. porter: thank you for having me on. kristen: the findings are alarming. what is the bottom line? dr. porter: we have focused on flood and wildfire, and this is focused on extreme heat events, as opposed to the way we communicate a lot of climate science, which tends to focus on

long-term projections or on temperature changes in the near term. we know that people don't really respond to those very well, so what we have done is build out the model, focused on extreme heat events in the short term. people -- kristen: people can relate to the thirty-year timeline. when you say extreme heat, dangerous heat, is there a temperature that we are talking about? dr. porter: we are primary -- primarily focused on the rubric put out with 90 degree, 100 degree, and 125 degree heat index. when we talk about extreme heat, were specifically talking about the 125 degree heat index. kristen: so the actual temperature could be like 100 or so. let's put up that map, we are looking at a map of two u.s.

maps. tell us what we are seeing here. one has a little bit of red and the other a whole lot of red. what does this mean? dr. porter: 95 degree air to temperature plus 20% humidity will get us to a 100 degree heat index. the map shows one area within the county that could reach 100 25 degrees heat index for one day, the county on the right is in 30 years but that same risk looks like. we are growing from about 8 million people at risk today to about 107 million peopl at risk in those counties into the future. kristen: did you say from 8 million people to over 100 million in terms of who would be living in those areas that have extreme heat conditions? dr. porter: yes, and that is holding the population constant to today's projection. if you just count those people

living in those counties today, you're going from about 8 million to 107 million. kristen: there is this other map i want to show that projects areas that will have days with over 100 degrees heat index, and we see lighter and darker shades of red. explain what this other map means. dr. porter: this map is actually the number of days above 100 moving into the future. the 100 degree threshold is loosely aligned with the weather service threshold for a dangerous day. the midwest, the atlantic coast, the southeast, and part of the southern tier of the west and up through the central valley of california are all places we are going to see big increases in 100 degree index days or dangerous days. kristen: is this pretty much how the extreme heat belt area is

reflected in the areas that are red and orange? dr. porter: it is, for the most part. the one caveat is once you get east of louisiana in you get into mississippi, alabama, georgia, florida number you will see less likelihood of hitting that 125 degree heat index because there is a protection effect of being close to the water. there is a physical limit to how hot it can get, but they will see more 100 degree days. kristen: is all of this due to climate change? dr. porter: it's due to the warming sea temperature, we are already about two degrees warmer according to a report in the last century and forecasted out using the same global climate models were likely to have another 30 degrees fahrenheit increase over the next 30 years. kristen: before we get into solutions and what we can realistically do, i just want to dive back into the maps again. here in the bay area we have always thought of ourselves as

being fairly protected, we are right along the ocean, we've got the water and the fog. but under the scenarios you guys are projecting, or we also more likely to suffer extreme temperatures, extreme heat more often? dr. porter: you are absolutely right, there is a protection effect being close to the water, especially on the west coast because the weather patterns tend to move from west to east. that light pink strip of land on the california coast, there is not a whole lot of exposure to 100 degree heat index days there. if you move just a little further inland you remove that protection effect from the water and you are starting to see increases in dangerous days at sacramento area, central valley area. kristen: what are the impacts of that consistent heat on a more consistent basis people where we live? dr. porter: if you move beyond the occurrence of the extreme events themselves, you really

focus on the long-term issues and the focus on being exposed to not necessarily 100 degrees but may be 80 degrees at night and 90 degrees on consecutive days. all of a sudden you start to have problems with dehydration, heat cramps, fatigue, heat becomes more likely and on the far end if there are extreme heat events in areas that are not ready for, you can see death. there was a heat wave important last year where we saw over 100 people died after being exposed to the heat. kristen: so how can we prepare, perhaps there are things we can do to slow the march toward that kind of future, but what can we do to prepare? dr. porter: that is a really good point. we project out only 30 years. when you get beyond 30 years, there is a lot more disagreement in the climate models, if you only got out 30 years, there is

pretty good agreement in those climate models. we are basically locked in for the next 30 years as to where we are going to be. what we really need to do to prepare is make sure that people have information around exposure to extreme heat events as opposed to projections around temperatures. if we focus on making sure people are able to protect themselves, having air conditioning, making sure they stay inside on those days, and set up emergency response plans and just prepare for the inevitable extreme heat exposure we will see in the future. kristen: on a macro level, i'm sure you closely follow the inflation reduction act which president biden signed today. there are climate provisions in their, mainly incentives for companies to the carbonized. do you think that will make a dent? dr. porter: it will, but probably not in the short term.

we are pretty locked in for the next 25 or 30 years. if we can actually implement a lot of these integrations for cleaner energy and electric vehicle uses and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there is potentially the opportunity to mitigate some of these extreme heat exposures and moving far into the future beyond 30 years. kristen: dr. jeremy porter with the 1st street foundation, thank you so much for coming on and sharing the results of your study. coming up next,uc berkeley hopes to tackle another year with ♪good vibes by moa l.m. munoz & ryan t. short♪ ♪♪

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kristen: today as freshman

check-in day for uc berkeley and the university welcomes students back for third school year under covid. it has revised its protocol to meet changing conditions. joining me is the assistant vice chancellor university health services. thanks for coming on the show. welcome back. >> thanks for having me. kristen: freshman started moving in today, and we have some video courtesy of my niece. tell us how secure you feel this fall, compared to last fall when students came back for the new year. >> i guess first i really want to say we should appreciate those folks who are really on the front lines of this. our team here is amazing, they are experienced with helping our students navigate the pandemic

and support their academic pursuits while we are all dealing with covid. i would say, to be fully frank, we've had a lot of twists and turns here. so i hate to be too comfortable thinking we've got it all figured out. that said, this is our third move in since covid, and we start frankly before students arrive. as it pertains to covid, the messages have suggested that folks test before they come. once you get here, each bed, for those students living on campus, each bed has eight rapid antigen test. kristen: in fact we have a picture of it right there, also courtesy of my niece.

>> rapid antigen test there, the pcr test at strategic locations around campus. we've got the movie and aspects covered, and i think we are ready for a number of positive. that's just the nature of the pandemic right now. kristen: this is interesting, the vending machine. that will be available all year, is that right? >> yes, there is a saliva based pcr test available. and kristen: -- and the rapid test kits got on arrival. >> we've been through this a couple of times, the housing and

resident staffs are helping students navigate things, and within an hour so they fill out and to -- an attestation. they get a call and put on a mask, a high quality mask and we will lead them through the process. kristen: does the process still involve isolation for five days? how does it differ this year from last year? dr. nicollete: it is different from last year. of course we are following all the rules, so yes, isolation guidelines are still being followed. this year is different in that students would be isolated in their dorm room instead of going to a separate facility. what we are doing this year is

that those roommates that are at high risk for severe disease, we are offering them to go off-site , so were offering temporary housing for the off-site students. kristen: so if you are not at high risk factors, do you stay in the same dorm room? dr. nicolette: that's right. we don't advise anyone to sleep in n95 masks. this is what we do for influenza and other viral respiratory illnesses, have students isolate in place. so really we are trying to give folks that are at higher risk

the option to maintain the academic capabilities for those students that are isolating. kristen: so what about the masking policy now? most campuses do not have a mandate anymore. what is it this year? dr. nicolette: we are following the city of berkeley on that one. there is no mandate fort masking in the city of berkeley. kristen: that is also different from the last school year as you began last fall. dr. nicolette: right, and we have a supply of n95's that are available at several locations free of charge for students that want mask. kristen: our visitors allowed in dorms or campus buildings now? are there any restrictions? dr. nicolette: yes, visitors are allowed, but we are limiting the amount of people just because of

the challenge with moving and having the students over that short period of time. but visitors are allowed. the dorms are pretty secure. it's not like people can walk in and out. there is card key access to the dorms and things like that. so it is not just a wide open space. kristen: in addition to dealing with covid, and it sounds like you have a robust plan in place, but this year you also had to deal with monkeypox is a new issue. what is your plan to educate students and minimize transmission in the community and support students who become infected? dr. nicolette: i'm so glad you asked that. we have a website, as you would expect, and we will get that link to you. what we will do as a connected response, particularly with students, certain campus groups,

and really trying to get the messaging right, not only just the capability of medical support and vaccination, but really helping support our students and those groups most affected. we do have vaccines, so right now we have a supply of vaccines and we've been reaching out, and right now they are reserved for. that got -- guideline will expand as we get more vaccines, but right now, that is where we are at. hopefully it will be a seamless, touchless process. kristen: do keep us posted, dr. nicolette, thank you so much. great seeing you. coming up next, san francisco is

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kristen: san francisco has its challenges, from crime to homelessness to high rent. there are a lot of issues to unpack. new research shows one group is criticizing the city a lot less and embracing it a lot more. were talking about generationz. a study explains far resident born between 1997 and 2012, so people between 10-25 years oklahoma love the city by the bay. joining us live to talk about this is anna tong. nice to have you on. the headline reads, gen z loves san francisco. what are we looking at here?

anna: gen z is the happiest segment of folks here. glassdoor, where employees write their employers, they just released a study internally where they found that sf was the city with the most happy gen z'ers of large cities. kristen: so of all the large cities, they looked at the largest number of happy gen z'ersboutna: a lot of it has toh the types of jobs that are available in san francisco. if you're under 25, you're likely to have a tech job. tech companies are really focused on employee happiness, and unlike new york or l.a., those jobs you might have to

work a lot longer so you would be unhappier. they just love the vibe of san francisco, you can be outside all the time and you can do activities that are cheaper. instead of having to go to an expensive bar in new york, you can hang out in the park with your friends in san francisco and it's totally free. it is really expensive to live in san francisco, but they don't mind that, they've been cooped up in the suburbs with their parents for couple of years so they want to live with 10 other people in dorm like quarters. the actually want that. kristen: so some of the things that would make older people cringe, gen z doesn't mind it is what you are saying, right? anna: exactly. kristen: we have some pictures you sent as part of your article, and they do like like they are enjoying the city. i'm seeing a lot of active

looking young people enjoying the great outdoors with their buddies. anna: exactly. kristen: what else about the san francisco lifestyle is appealing to this group in the survey? anna: apart from the jobs, they are really happy with their jobs, and they like that sf is a really progressive city. they value diversity and social justice initiatives. a lot of the companies here are really into that. they love the weather, they love the openness, the green spaces and common nation with the dense urban city life. so they can easily meet other young people. kristen: why is it such welcome news for the city that this demographic is so into the city? anna: sf has kind of a pr problem right now, it's all over national and international news, our issues with crime and homelessness, whatever.

young people are the trendsetters in a really coming here and really embracing the sf lifestyle. kristen: in those same surveys, where their hints, suggestions or things that could appeal to the other generations that are less happy? anna: that's a good question, stuff like building more housing is a common one, people that are older don't tend to want to live with the ton of roommates, so if you bring down the cost of housing, that would be really important. increasing, making the streets cleaner, making it a more walkable city and that kind of thing. kristen: interesting. i appreciate this conversation, we have about 20 seconds left, so i want to ask you, i'm sure you have some gen z'ers working

at the standard. do they say the same thing? anna: they totally do. they are loving san francisco. they are out with their friends all the time, in the parks. they think san francisco is a clean place to live. they don't have the same complaints that some older people do. kristen: i just want to let our viewers know, this segment was not brought to you by the chamber of commerce. they did the research. check out more of these san francisco standards other original reporting. we will continue to bring you more segments featuring their city focused journalism. you can get our life newscasts with our streaming tv app,

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kristen: thanks for joining us

on this interactive show, "getting answers." survive today's primary? we're live from washington to wyoming tonight. first, president biden signing the nearly $740 billion bill into law today. lowering the cost of health care and of prescription drugs and insulin. the largest ever investment in the u.s. to fight climate change. incentives for american families on electric vehicles and solar. taxes corporations and bringing down the deficit. cecilia vega at the white house tonight zbliflt also news this evening involving the fbi search at mar-a-lago and who the fbi has already interviewed from inside the trump white house. and the battle tonight over whether to release the