captioning sponsored by wnet ( fireworks ) >> hill: on this edition for saturday, january 1: new year's celebrations, on a smaller scale, as coronavis variants continue to spread. adapting to sea level rise on the streets of portland, maine. the changing climate challeng indiana's lakeshore dunes. and, mapping every seet in cleveland-- on foot. next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington

mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine. the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. atutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group: retirement services and investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional supportas been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the

american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> hill: good evening, and thank you for joining us. i'm michael hill, in for hari sreenivasan. happy new year! we'll have some of our favorite 2021 stories from the newshour weekend team, but we begin with the start of the new year. around the world, peop celebrated the beginning of 2022, despite a record number of new covid-19 cases, driven, in large part, by the omicron variant. many cities held new year's eve celebrations for the first time since 2020. new york city held its traditional new year's eve ball drop. and, just after midnight, eric adams took the oath of office as new york city's 110th mayor. the rapid increase in covid-19 cases also affected travel again today, as at least 2,500 flights across the country were canceled due to staff shortages and weather-- the highest number of airline cancellations in a

single day since the start of the holiday season. as of yesterday, the "new york times" reported the worldwide infection rate doubled in two weeks, with an average of more than 1.3 million new cases reported every day. and, the 14-day infection rate in the u.s. tripled, averaging more than 378,000 new cases a day. the u.s. hospitalization rate increased by 25% over two weeks. however, globally, and in the u.s., the number of deaths attributed to covid-19 dipped slightly. south africa bid farewell to archbishop desmond tutu today at a state funeral. president cyril ramaphosa delivered the eulogy, calling tutu the country's “moral compass and national conscience,” and memorializing tutu as a crusader for freedom, justice, equality and peace. the president handed the national flag to tutu's widow. tutu's granddaughter recited a psalm, and the archbishop of cape town sprinkled holy water

on the coffin of the anti-apartheid hero at the intentionally humble service. the funeral at st. george's cathedral concluded a week of events honoring tutu and his decades-long fight against racial injustice. he died last sunday at the age of 90. >> hill: for more national and international news, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> hill: melting sea ice and warming oceans are causing sea levels to rise-- a threat to small, low-lying island nations and to coastal areas. one example is in the gulf of maine: the ocean waters that stretch from massachusetts to nova scotia and one of the fastest-warming bodies of saltwater on earth. in november, newshour weekend's christopher booker reported from portland, maine, a coastal city already seeing the impact of sea level rise. >> reporter: it's difficult to balance the contradiction that is this friday afternoon in

portland, maine. november, 48 degrees, light wind and barely a cloud in the sky, but despite a november day that is as good as they come, the old port is flooding. in the past, portland might see a king tide breach its streets only a handful of times. part of the natural tidal cycle, these extra high tides come in during full or new moons, when the moon is closest to the earth in but as the world warms and sea levels continue to rise, water will be coming to portland's streets with far greater regularity. models indicate that within the near future, high tides will breach these city streets as many as 100 times a year. >> and this is like an 11.5-foot tide. we're going to see much, much more than that in the very near future, and it's going to be happening much more frequently. if that storm lasts... >> reporter: gayle bowness is the manager of the municipal climate action program, with portland's gulf of maine research institute. on this day, she helped lead a

procession of local residents from the institute for a quick glimpse of the city's future. the journey was simple enough-- walk a few blocks, turn onto one of portland's many piers, and there on the street is the result of the day's king tide. >> so, in portland, we've seen our tidal levels raise eight inches over the past 100 years. so it's a pretty gradual raise. that rate of rise is about to steeply increase, due to climate change. we'll see what we saw today happen more frequently in 2030, so it might happen every month, as opposed to just the fall and the spring season. everything's coming up, not just our peak high water seasons. >> we are going to see events like this happening about 100 times a year, instead of ten. >> getting people to think about climate chan in their own communities can be really difficult, because climate change can feel like, you know, a distant or far-removed issue, whether in space or in time.

>> reporter: david reidmiller is the director of the climate center with the institute. encouraging those in attendance to take photos and post to social media, as well as an online database tracking sea level rise, reidmiller says the hope is, after witnessing the floodi firsthand, residents will begin to drive the conversation. >> when people can see how this is actually manifesting in their day-to-day life, they can then go to city council hearings. they can then start writing letters to their senators. they can start calling their representatives. it's really important that pele get engaged in it and understand how it affects them, because once you have an understanding of how it's going to affect you, you're going to be compelled to act. >> reporter: it is striking, when you think about the distant projections of arctic ice melts, sea level rise in places like the maldives, versus walking down your street and seeing a noon-time king tide flood. >> yeah. you know, what happens in one place in the world really echoes across the globe.

and the experience that the maldivians are going to have, that the fijians, the samoans-- all of these places are really dealing with similar issues that we have. you know, we're fortunate in one sense, though, that we live in america. we have the resources to deal with a lot of these issues. you know, a lot of these developi countries don't have that ability. >> reporter: before joining the institute, reidmiller worked as a top science advisor for the obama administration, playing an integral role in the negotiating of the 2016 paris climate accords. next, he served in the trump administration, leading the fourth national climate assessment, a congressionally- mandated report that's an authoritative assessment of climate science and the impacts on the u.s. then he came to the gulf of maine research institute to lead the climate center and help study how rising and warmer waters will change the gulf's ecosystem, economy, and consequently, its culture. what is the gulf of maine telling us about climate change? >> there's a lot of things happening right in our own back yard. as we talk about, we've got a

living laboratory right here. and so, one of the biggest things that's happening is that the gulf of maine is warming faster than probably about 95% of the world's oceans. arguably the biggest and most climate-driven piece of this is that the gulf stream is changing. the gulf stream-- you can think about it as a garden hose, right? that's really right now kind of at full blast and bringing a whole bunch of heat from the tropics up to the north atlantic. but as climate change unfolds, that gulf stream, you're kind of twisting the dial on that hose from a jet into a shower, and so what happens then is, you have some spillover of that heat and that warm water into the gulf of maine. >> reporter: what does this portend for the immediate future? >> you know, we're seeing a lot of species shifts underway. you know, this whole waterfront, this whole coastal community-- so much of it is driven by what we can commercially harvest and grow with sustainable aquaculture in these waters. and, we need to be prepared for and understand what changes are

underway in the ecosystem out there. >> reporter: and these changes are happening, not in 30 or 50 years, but right now. and reidmiller says it's crially important that all of portland understands this. >> and so we need to engage directly, not only with the municipal leaders, but the residents, the fishermen, the local business leaders, and present them with-- frankly, information that they may not want to hear. we don't do science for science sake, right? we do user-driven science. we know what the cause is. we know what the solutions are. and now it's just a matter of mustering the political will to actually make it happen. >> hill: the earth's warming climate is not only affecting coastal areas; it's also causing changes to rivers and lakes, including the habitats and communities that surround them. newshour weekend's zachary green visited indiana dunes national park, on the southern shore of

lake michigan, last summer, to see how the region is trying to adapt to growing environmental challenges. >> reporter: on a typical summer day at indiana dunes national park, beachgoers sun themselves along the shore or take advantage of the warm coastal waters. children run along the sand or up the enormous dunes that surround the beach. this isn't the ocean. it's the southern end of lake michigan, an area known for its steefactories. but, it's also home to a unique ecology. paul labovitz is the park's superintendent. >> we continue to be one of the most biologically-diverse places in the national park system, and inorth america. a couple miles from here, i can take you to a place where there's prickly-pear cactus growing next to bearberry, which is an arctic plant. side by side. >> reporter: the most eye- catching feature of the park is the sand dunes that have run through the area for more than 10,000 years. they are the product of a natural process called erosion, when outside forces transport rock and soil from one place to another.

>> the sand dunes you see here are the product of water and wind over time, eroding sandstone into smaller and smaller particles, and then that sand moving around with wind and water. the grand canyon is a product of erosion. the badlands is a product of erosion. it's really kind of a cool thing to think about, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. >> reporter: but over the last few years, erosion along the dunes and in the surrounding area has increased in speed and intensity. >> four years ago, we would have been under 20 feet of sand here. this dune was continuous the ole way across. >> reporter: wow. and it's now back there as flat surface sand. that's-- that's-- >> reporter: wow! >> this is a notch that was formed by erosion. >> reporter: last year, lake michigan experienced record-high water levels that washed out beaches all around its southern coast. that's not surprising, as the lake typically rises and falls throughout a 30-year cycle. but an increase in the number and severity of storms over lake michigan caused the water levels

to rise much faster than normal. so much so that the beach we're standing on now didn't exist last year. >> we basically rebuilt the beach, probably from where this metal fence ends, straight across to where those rocks are piled. >> reporter: so, basically, the beach that we're looking at right now is kind of manmade? >> oh, yeah. yeah, yeah. >> reporter: we only have a beach here because you guys basically just piled up sand. >> correct, correct. >> reporter: scientists believe that one of the effects of global warming is an increase in volatile weather, like the storms over lake michigan. labovitz says that, since 2014, those storms have contributed to a dramatic increase in the water level. >> the change in lake elevation from '14 to '19 was five feet. so, think about the volume of water in lake michigan at that time. i don't even know what the trillions of gallons conversion would be. but the lake level changed five feet in five years. >> reporter: and it's not just the rise and fall of water that's eating away the dunes. a warming climate also means less ice in winter. >> so, when the weather gets cold but the lake's not frozen,

we'll get a gigantic layer of ice built up on the beach. could stack 40, 50 feet high. that ice protects the lakefront from erosive forces of waves through the winter. well, if we don't have it and you get a big storm that whips up in the winter, there's nothing to protect the dune from tho-- those waves. >> reporter: but labovitz says the biggest factors speeding up osion on the dunes are residential and commercial structures built on the waterfront that change the way sand flows into and out of the lake, such as the two large harbors th sit on either side of the park. >> those two projections into the la have interrupted the way sand moves naturally from east to west on the lakefront to replenish the beaches. we actually put sand here artificially to replace some of that sand that wasn't being deposited there naturally. >> reporter: all along the coasts of lake michigan, homes and buildings are literally sliding into the water due to a combination of lake level rise and the eroding shoreline. labovitz says that climate change could actually play a

role in stopping further construction along the lakefront. more intense weather from the warming climate could cause water levels to not just climb higher, but stay higher for longer-- although he says it could also have the opposite effect. >> the good news is,ell, if it gets that high and stays high, maybe people will learn and stay away from it. but if it comes down low and stays low longer, the memory lapse kicks in, and we could build up to the lake and then, repeat as necessary. >> reporter: labovitz says that the staff at indiana dunes national park are rking to educate visitors about the behavior of lake michigan, and about how limiting development along the ore can actually help the dunes weather the changing climate. >> the dunes are made to erode and build up over time, to absorb that change in lake level and lake energy. >> reporter: mm-hmm. >> so, again, the most resilient lakefront is a natural lakefront. and so, we as people continue to trand test that. and i joke and i say, "the lake always wins.

always." >> hill: during the pandemic, running one became a crucial outlet for millions of americans when other exercise, from gyms to team sports, didn't seem se. this past summer, newshour weekend special correspondent karla muhy traveled to cleveland, where she met a runner turning his pandemic hobby into a way to learn more about his adopted city, with a project called “every street cleveland.” >> reporter: phil kidd is on one of his runs: about six miles long on average, and at a pace that would leave many weekend warriors in the dust. but the 42-year-old isn't training for a race. he's systematically running every street in cleveland-- about 3,000 miles or so-- as part of a project to document and better understand this rust belt city. >> cleveland is a city that was built for a million people, but

only about 3,000 people live here now, and there's been a lot of loss over time. there's been a lot of demolition. there's been a lot of change. but running these streets, you can still see a lot of the original infrastructure and, really, the history of the city. >> reporter: for the last year and a half, kidd has been posting his runs, along with photos and historical context on his blog, "every street cleveland." it's aersonal project, but one that he says informs his work as a city planner with a local non-profit. >> it gives you such a deeper context to the history of how and why certain parts of the neighborhood developed the way they did; what immigrant groups came in initially, and then after, and after. you can see that reflected in everything from architecture style, to names of businesses that change, to street names. when you're thinking about doing the type of work that i do, which oftentimes has to do with redevelopment, things that could impact longtime residents that have lived here, having that deep level of understanding and

that context helps inform all these decisions that you make. so, its been really, really important. >> reporter: kidd extensively researches and plans each route in advance to make sure he doesn't miss atreet or known landmark. and he tracks himself using g.p.s. on his phone, creating a paan-like record of where he's run. >> it's just a constant, kind of balance between keeping my eye on my g.p.s., then stopping, photo documenting, turning this back on, you know, and i still got the music playing and not get hit by a car, so... >> reporter: it's a lot! >> it's a lot. >> reporter: that's a lot to juggle. >> it's a lot going on, yeah. >> reporter: we followed him on a run in his west cleveland neighborhood, and first stop was an old industrial building at the end of a dead end street. >> this is the old westinghouse building, which was one of the two major industrial businesses that helped form this neighborhood. >> reporter: westinghouse used to manufacture industrial lighting here, and employed more than 500 people. in recent years a developer has proposed turning this building into a residential development. kidd says this historical building is just one example of

the kind of thing he likes to highlight on his blog. >> a lot of people are going to drive on the shoreway right down here. and they see this, this huge towering facade, and they see westinghouse on top, and the logos there, but they're not going to see this. they're not even really see the rest of that facade unless they're coming up in this neighborhood. and this is a dead end street. so, what reason would someone have to really even come down here? that's the reason why i do the blog, and why i run every street, is, i want to tell those stories and expose those cool things. and there's lots of this on, in every neighborhood, all throughout cleveland. >> reporter: telling those stories means capturing what he sees. >> we can get a sense of this ornate metal artwork, but then also, you can kind of catch a glimpse of the new development at the end. so, it tells a story in some way. >> reporter: after running past some newer residential developments, and a park which he notes the city will be redoing with community input in the next couple of years, kidd ends up in another formerly industrial area, this one famous for manufacturinenergizer batteries. >> a lot of those former industrial sites have been

repurposed for new residential housing. so, that's kind of been the trend here. but it still, you know, has kind of an industrial kind of feel to it. there's still an active rail line. so it's really kind of a mix of old and new. >> reporter: next stop is a pedestrian tunnel under the train line, with an intricate mosaic mural designed by a local artist more than 15 years ago. >> and that's a map of the neighborhood and the streets we just ran through. so, yeah, really, really cool. >> reporter: documenting details in the mural, kidd notes the significance of a nondescript travel agency building that was run by the family of a former council member. >> his father was the one that prevented a highway from cutting right through this area and bisecting this neighborhood during the whole urban renewal process. so, it's kind of a cool little nod to them. >> reporter: so far, kidd has completed 55 runs, and a total of 336 miles-- which is only about 10% of cleveland's streets. he says the length and depth of the project is part of the

point. each run exposes him, and his readers, to things he didn't see before. >> to me, it's like seeing the matrix. you know, you can kind of see the layers, the history, and i know what's on all the little back alleys. i know the story behind why this street is named after this person. i know how the city got the land for this park from a landfill development project that went awry. you know, all of that kind of information is really interesting. d i think when people are reading about that, they find it fascinating, too. >> hill: finally tonight, we have the story of volunteers making a difference in a small michigan city that's facing a crisis that began in 2018, when reports of lead exposure from water pipes surfaced. replacing the pipes in benton harbor, michigan is an ongoing project, and residents are still being told not to drink water from their taps.

the environmental protection agency says there is no safe level of leain drinking water because the toxic metal "can be harmful to human health, even at low exposure levels." the government is providing free bottled water, but getting the thousands of bottles into homes every day is not easy. and now, volunteers are stepping up to meet the need. donnel kyle is on a mission. >> i'm a marine. they say "once a marine, always a marine." so, i did serve in desert storm, desert shield. so, i'm used to voluntring and-- and doing things for my community. >> hill: kyle, a former marine, is part of a team from greater community christian fellowship church delivering cases of bottled water in benton harbor, michigan. like flint before it, benton harbor is in the midst of a water crisis. the water flowing through the city's pipes and into homes is not safe to consume because of a

possible risk of lead exposure. there are just more than 9,000 residents in this small community, most of them african american. more than 40% live below the poverty line. >> it just seemed like it's always-- the situation is in the community where there's poverty. and we have this crisis going on where it's very unfair that it's happening in our community. >> hill: water is available to be picked up at specific locations, but not all residents have transportation, and some are unable to leavtheir homes. so, kyle and his team deliver six days a week. >> to your right just a little bit... >> hill: they load a rented van with two skids of water totaling 168 cases for each trip. the team works for six hours, making three runs and delivering almost 600 cases of water. some homes get just a few cases. some get as many as two dozen, depending on how many residents

are at each location, and their needs. their goal is to keep benton harbor's residents safe. recent testing has shown that lead levels have dropp somewhat, but residents are still advised to use bottled water for drinking and cooking. >> and we're all doing our part to make sure that-- that everyone gets what they need, that they get this water. >> hill: meanwhile, the state of michigan has called for the replacement of benton harbor's lead water service lines within 18 months, at a cost of nearly $30 million. until then, donnel kyle will see his mission through. >> we're in it for the long haul. and everybody in the community is banding together. we're going to continue to deliver water, however long it takes. if it takes five years, ten years, we're in it. we're in it. we're in it to-- to get this water out to our community. >> hill: benton harbor volunteers took a break today, but they will be back on the job tomorrow, starting the new year as so many people

will in organizations nationwide-- with service to their communities. that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm michael hill. happy new year! thanks for watching. stay healthy, and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine. the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural diffences in our communities.

barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group: retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.

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