Wildfire smoke. Extreme heat. Floods. With a warming climate, increasingly dramatic weather-related events are arising and the university isn’t prepared. But a class at Chico State is seeking to change that. 

Mark Stemen, faculty member in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, had his students in the Community Service in Sustainability class analyze, interpret and find solutions for three different weather-related events: floods, smoke and heat. 

“Stationary is dead,” Stemen said. He later explained: “The idea is that you can predict the future climate events based off past events, maybe not exactly, but within parameters — That is no longer true.” 

Working in teams, the students used the Climate Resiliency Framework to examine how those events could affect the campus and the community. The framework was developed by the California State University system to be part of any future infrastructure planning. It details hazards and risks affecting each of the CSU campuses relating to global warming.

The students had the opportunity to meet some of the authors of the framework, and Stemen’s class is the first in the CSU to adopt the framework to find solutions for the campus, he said. 

The three groups presented their findings and solutions to the rest of the class Wednesday of last week.

Following the presentations, they’ll take those findings to the Office of Sustainability in hopes that some of the recommendations they concluded will be adopted. 

Extreme Heat

The historical baseline for extreme heat was less than 20 days out of the year, according to the framework. That has changed in the late century, with Chico seeing 60-80 days out of the year where people are at higher risk for heat-related illnesses. These days, temperatures exceeding 100 degrees are already bleeding into the academic year, one of the presenters, Alli Brooks-Popper, explained. 

“The number of 100 plus degrees on campus is projected to exceed three-months worth,” she said. 

Heat-related illness can cause exhaustion, dizziness and even a stroke, the group said.

But there are solutions. Brooks-Popper said it begins with better communication and education about extreme heat. Then, the university should look for infrastructure that needs improvements, among them are cooling, energy storage on backpacks and planting more trees to provide shade. 

But awareness is a short fall. Graham Stirling recommended the university add extreme heat to its existing emergency alert system. 

Another presenter, Duncan Lee, said they couldn’t say when the next heat wave would come. “We know that higher temperatures are going to start spreading into the school year, and that’s going to be really detrimental for the health and well-being of students and faculty.” 

Wildfire Smoke

The Camp Fire and the Park Fire both left campus and the surrounding area covered in smoke. Mallory Miller, one of the presenters, said the university wasn’t prepared, and the effects of smoke are often overlooked. 

“Poor air quality poses a lot of health risks: breathing problems, headaches, fatigue, reduced concentration,” she said. “All of these issues aren’t really being addressed or considered when looking at a wildfire.”

The university doesn’t have an emergency evacuation plan, another presenter, Bobby Gordon, said. 

Gordon recommended clean air kits to filter out smoke from the air. He approximated about 90% of people live off campus, where they may not have access to good filters. 

The university has applied filters in University Housing and buildings across campus, but the team found a relatively cheap and easy option for those who live off campus.

For $25, a couple of N95 masks, three filters and tape can greatly reduce the amount of smoke moving through a room. The team pitched the idea to the A.S. Sustainability Fund; however, the idea was rejected. 

“They just didn’t get the real need,” Stemen said. He elaborated on the university’s stance: “Housing is taken care of; we don’t need to do anything else.”

But the team said being proactive was another way to mitigate smoke, such as controlled burns. 

When the team asked the university what it was doing in regard to dangers surrounding poor air quality and smoke, they were told classes weren’t in session during fire season, Miller said. 

Fires can occur at any point, but peak season typically runs from July through November, according to the Western Fire Chiefs’ Association.

“You know, 2018 Campfire, that was in November,” Miller said. “I’m pretty sure, not sure about you all, but I’m in school and in class in November.”

While students might not be in classes for most of the fire season, staff and administrators are on campus year-round. 

Floods

In February, the creek that runs through campus overflowed and impeded travel in some areas; no alert went out to the campus community.

The framework lists the university as having a relatively moderate risk of flooding. But students charged with evaluating the risk of flooding on campus said that’s downplaying it. Addison Winslow said the university was protected by levees, but these levees are under maintained. 

The group noted that there were numerous events that could lead to flooding, such as clogged storm drains, the creek overflowing and atmospheric rivers.

With a changing climate, the students noted rain had been coming in harsher and all at once. 

“Flooding impedes our ability to travel, and it can result in power outages that can’t easily be backed up by our generators on campus,” a presenter,  Sabrina Garden, said. 

She recommended buying or renting flood barriers, explaining the barriers can be stacked like chairs and installed even during active flooding. While traveling through a flood, markers and greater education would help people navigate to safer areas. 

When the flood team asked university officials what the plan was for a flood, they said, “We’ll just get to higher land,” she said. 

Each of the groups touched on how unprepared the university was for these events, from preparedness to alerts and evacuation plans. 

The university didn’t answer direct questions regarding the framework or preparedness. Stemen said the class presentations were meant to begin the conversation.

In past semesters, Stemen said his class has performed greenhouse gas inventories for the city and university, and climate vulnerability assessments for the county and city. 

“In the days and years ahead, there will be periods of time where Chico State students will be too hot to walk, too wet to travel and too smoky to breathe,” Stemen said. 

Chris Hutton can be reached at [email protected]