rising sea levels will cause portions of the san francisco bay area to eventually flood. we will talk about how that will affect residents and industrial sites like a hazardous waste treatment facility on the short. monkeypox cases are spreading across california. we will talk about what you need to know. we will visit an interfaith chapel in memory of those who have died in the aids epidemic and those who continue to fight the disease.

i am guy massarotti. last week the department of health declared monkeypox a global emergency. the virus has been endemic in africa for decades but it is now spreading in europe, canada, and the u.s. health officials have recorded more than 300 cases in the bay area. here to talk about how it spreads and more is our senior engagement editor. let's start with where the epicenter of the virus has been. >> the state of emergency is a legal order to hopefully speed things up with confronting this outbreak. at one point it looked like san francisco was accounting for half of the total cases in california. it is not quite at that stage yet, but it is definitely still

around the bay area. >> it is possible the case counts are undercounted at this point? >> there is no way that it can't be. no matter how big the official numbers are, the true numbers are probably even higher. >> we know that first dose is happened priority list for communities most impacted and at risk. >> this is primarily impacting the lgbtq community of men who have sex with men. it can also affect transgender people. those folks are definitely more vulnerable.

it is also spread by droplets. it is important to repeat this every time we get. it is not a sexually transmitted infection. this is the community to make sure they get access to the vaccinations. there is a lot of confusion. >> is asymptomatic spread happening? >> it can be spread a symptomatically. the world health organization said it is not sure. we are pretty sure that if you have monkeypox you know about it. the symptoms are there. >> it seems like the vaccine can still be health for even if you have had exposure. >> if you take it within four days of suspected exposure it is

effective. if you take it before 14 days, it can reduce painful symptoms. >> let's talk about availability. i think they got 7800 doses. what is the hold up? >> this is a shortage at the federal level. the federal government gets them and if they are not getting supply from the federal government. there is also a regulatory issue. there are vaccines that happened

sitting here until the issue has been cleared up with inspection at the vaccine factory. the doses will stop getting to there. it is a two dose regimen. >> we have heard some criticism of the response. what is at the heart of those critiques? >> i think it is the sluggishness on the federal side . it is reminding folks in the san francisco area of the early days of the hiv academic. it is important not to draw direct parallels. drawing those parallels is not something that we want to do because obviously the hiv epidemic has its own painful history but there are certain things that are ringing alarm bells, the slowness of response

especially when it affects the lgbtq community. it is bringing back painful memories. >> what kind of directive our health officials giving to folks who might have come into close contact with somebody who tested positive? >> it is important to note that originally the vaccines were only offered to people was confirmed or suspected exposure. that is no longer the case. the eligibility has been widened. if you believe you have been exposed it is important to reach out to your healthcare provider. if you do not have health insurance, contact your county or local community clinic. they can help you to navigate the process. it's not as simple as saying, just go find the vaccine. there is a real shortage of availability. there is one walk-in clinic in san francisco but they have to

keep closing because of lack of supply. if you can get an appointment, make sure that you keep the appointment. get the first dose because it is better than nothing. if you think you have monkeypox it is important to stay away from other folks and keep them safe. >> what do we know about treatment? >> there is an antiviral drug. the methods of getting that in terms of providers given it to patients is a little bit complicated because it has not formally been approved for this case. the way that it has been described to me is a lot of paperwork. it can be out there and prescribed to all ages as well. >> you are in touch with health officials in the region. how do you talk to them about prioritizing certain communities for response, tests, vaccines, but also not wanting to stigmatize anyone community? >> this is so important. i will say it again. anybody can get it. it's not a sexually transmitted

infection. it is undeniable that it is impacting a certain population. it is important to balance making sure the community of men who have sex with men get the information they need as well as access to the vaccines. what they do not want to do is to focus exclusively on that community. not only can that perpetuate stigma and homophobia, but it also belies the idea that anyone can get monkeypox. technically everybody is at risk. i making it only a problem for a certain community, it is taking the focus off where we need to be. we need to be keeping everybody safe. >> carly, thank you for staying on top of this story for us. >> thank you. the waters of the san francisco bay are predicted to

rise in the coming decades, threatening homes, businesses, and industrial complexes. it is not a matter of if the water will rise, rather by how much. one scenario predicts that it could rise by 10 feet by the end of the century. not only will that flood homes, but new research has focused on the industrial sites that will be affected from wastewater treatment to landfills and refineries. joining me now is ezra david romero. we have the founder and ceo of the marie harrison community foundation and the vice mayor of richmond eduardo martinez. ezra, i want to start with you. tell us the risk to low-lying cities in the bay area as a result of the sea level rise. >> we have all of this mileage of shoreline. if there is 10 feet of sea level rise, there is billions of dollars in damage.

people's lives, big tech companies, it is the whole bay area at risk. >> eduardo, from where you sit, how do you see the issue? >> we have 39 miles of shoreline so it affects discreetly. we have a lot of data and we need to use the data to prepare. there is a lot of preparation that needs to take place. we need to make sure that we account for the lower income people because they are the ones most adversely affected. >> harrison, you are dealing with this across the bay area. how do you see this issue of sea level rise. how will that affect members of your community? >> i would like to tell you that it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

. i have been watching this for a long time. i am a legacy child five generations strong. we also need to let you know that we receive 80% of san francisco sewage. what is more prevalent is the stormwater 100%. it is going to affect children, seniors, and people that are ready have health issues. we have the highest rate of respiratory disease and cancer from across the nation right there concentrated in bayview hunters point. if you want to ask me why, i think one of the factors we have to say is the brownfield sites. they are industrial and abandoned contaminated sites that are filled with lead, silica, and all kinds of different chemicals that offer disease for people that worked in those places.

i want to also say that we have a state and government superfund site there that is filled with contaminated toxic chemical waste. for us, as san franciscans we need to start addressing this issue not yesterday, right now. i do not to leave another legacy of toxic chemical waste. with the urgency of sea level rise, do you know that those contaminants will go out into the greater bay area? >> ezra, you have done reporting on new research that has found that there could be hundreds of potentially toxic sites that could be affected by sea level rise. >> ucla and uc berkeley did this study and they found that more than 1000 hazardous sites across the state and sewage treatment to armory places to superfund sites like the one in

bayview hunters point or pharmaceutical sites like in richmond and across the bay area, there are hundreds and hundreds of these from san francisco to richmond to san jose. they are all over the place. it is prevalent in almost every community here. >> we see these projections talk about the end of the century. you and your colleagues probably will not be in office at that point in time, but how do you approach this in the daily land-use decisions that you are making as a member of the city council? >> we try to change the way we look at it. we need to start planning for the future instead of the next 10 or 20 years. one of the things we need to do is to make sure that development is in a smart place as opposed to a place that could be affected by sea level rise. we also need to make sure that toxic sites are cleaned up

along the shoreline. once the sea level rise comes in, the toxins in the soil will start moving with the sea level and into the groundwater. even houses that are not close to the shoreline will start being affected. >> what is driving your urgency and passion and activism to deal with this? >> i am glad that you asked. i participated in a project. part of that besides being a community activist is in my nature and legacy, it is getting my urinalysis test it was kind of mind blowing. it is like i wonder why i have these presenting health issues and albums that i do. no wonder the kids in the community are sick and people are complaining. the difference is we have a science going along. we are finding things like

chromium, copper, uranium, and led at very high rates above acceptable rates for human bodies. anyplace that you built something like this to think that there would not be some human carnage, that is ridiculous. >> we are talking about sea level rise in the future but you are gathering the information right now. what are you finding? >> when i am finding is that we have definitely have been carrying around all the evidence they need to know that this is a serious problem. we are finding that we have these toxins in our body that are above reference range. saying that it's no wonder that we have the highest rate of cancer and respiratory disease across the nation. people in foreign-born

countries know about bayview hunters point. i want to explore the possibilities of how we can preserve life in a real way and show up for each other. i would also like to say that this is the time to remain. get out of the benches and get into life and show up and be present. there are things you can do to call your city representative. you can call your governor. this is not just a bayview hunters point issue. this is a san francisco issue. we have to save the city. >> you are talking about federal response. the maybe says a lot of these contaminants are in the ground and kept. what happens to that if we see sea level rise? >> scientist talk about. it's not just water going over the banks and the sea level rising them that way.

many years before that happens it will push in underneath the ground and start pushing up. it's like if you put sand in the box and start filling it up with water. you don't see the water in the sand immediately but over time it all becomes wet. it can eat away and spread into the community and the bay. that's why scientists are really worried that communities and people and animals can be harmed. >> you are no stranger to debates over environmental cleanup in richmond. how do you approach that from the perspective of the city that may not have the resources to take on that kind cleanup? >> it is something that has to happen. legislation is a way to go. that is where we find money and force the people who left the toxins there to become responsible and to the cleanup it is a major issue. this is a

land of earthquakes. we are going to have earthquakes and when they happen the capsule cracked. the question is, how do we deal with the cracks if we build communities on top of the caps. >> a lot of these questions come back to land use and development you have been on how this intersects with housing. how are the issues colliding in place like new york? >> it is a very interesting issue. it's more of a conservative place they have a city council that has made decisions to build homes on a wetland. the whole idea is they want to build homes but they are exactly thinking of the long term and what will happen with 10 feet of sea level rise. a lot of the cities and counties are looking at lower levels. scientists that i have talked to say we need to look at the higher rates. we do not have faith that

greenhouse emissions will decrease. >> should there be development on places we know will be flooding in the decades to come or is it billed now, mitigate now, keep mitigating later. >> i think the answer is obvious. we should not be building where there will be sea level rise. we need to start building smart instead of for profit. we also need to start coming up with a green solution. one of the green solutions would be to train richmond residents to do the cleanup. it is not only going to pollute the land further away from them but it will pollute the bay.

it will become unsafe for humans, fish, it needs to be cleaned. >> in your activism, what is the response you have gotten from the mayor, the board of supervisors. do you feel like you are being heard? >> the district supervisor has been present and he has been at the table and engaged in the community. we love our mayor. >> allow me to interject. you have done reporting in san mateo county. the most at risk in the area of sea level rise. >> there is an area called one shoreline they want to prepare the entire shoreline for 10 feet of sea level rise.

that is the higher limit. i believe it is going to happen. if the most at risk place in california so why not prepare it so once again, sea level rise plans are very local. they happen at the county and city level so it is very dependent on each place, who you vote for, and your local politicians and the decisions they are making. >> this seems like an issue for regional collaboration. >> absolutely. we have formed an organization called climate emergency mobilization task force which is trying to get all of the jurisdictions who are responsble for the health of the bay together so we can come up with the regional solution. what we do in san mateo will affect the other cities who share the shoreline.

this is definitely a regional issue that needs a regional solution. >> it is an issue of environmental justice. i am curious how you see justice. i've heard you talk about this through the lens of reparations. >> folks think you are going to go to their bank and with their check away. that is not the case. when i'm talking about this specific portion, everybody can generally relate to this. people, the residents of bayview hunters point are going to need specific medical care and attention. our normal current systems of care do not provide those services. what i am asking for as far as and mental justice is that we know the number one killer of finances his medical. especially if you have all of the mitigating factors that we have going on.

when i am hollering reparations, that is specifically what i am advocating for. i would love to have the opportunity to meet with our interim district attorney to ask her, the important question is that we have industrial polluters that are operating with impunity. who was addressing environmental law and enforcing the law. can somebody hire somebody and create a team around them so we úcan address some of these prevalent issues in these low income communities of color across the nation. especially here in san francisco. this is very important. this is san francisco. we are the do it first city. we raise our hands up high. we

are the climate justice leaders in the nation. until you address that it is nothing but fluff. it sounds good saying we are climate justice but for this to go on for decades, we have to say it and put the work in behind it to mean it. we can do it. we are san franciscans. it takes all of us. i am here for it. i do not want to leave another legacy of toxic and chemical waste. i don't think that is too much to ask for. >> so what is the cost of inaction? >> williams of dollars, people's lives, we are all at risk of being inundated with feet of water. >> we believe that there.

thank you all so much for the conversation. >> thank you. you can find more of the reporting on our website, kqed.org. a powerful tribute to the lives lost to the hiv epidemic. an intimate chapel in the north tower with the final major artwork. this week something beautiful, the aids interfaith memorial chapel is a reminder of the fragile and beautiful world we live in.

that is the end of our show for tonight. you can find us online or on twitter or email us . you can reach me on twitter

as well. thank you for joining us. we will see you next friday night. health a great weekend.

yamiche: biden's shifting political fortune. and trump returns to washington. >> the government announced what every american has been feeling for nearly a year. we are in a recession. pres. biden: we have a record job market, record unemployment, that doesn't sound like a recession to me. yamiche: democrats and republicans battle it out as the economy shrinks for the second time this year. the president scores a rare bipartisan legislative win. and his agenda gets a surprise boost as key democrats in the senate appear to strike a deal on his top domestic priorities. plus -- >> it looks like my father's handwriting. yamiche: the january 6 committee drills down on former president trump's role around that violent day.