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An oasis where kids learn to be climate literate amid trees, flower beds and herbs

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Sunday, September 15, 2024

Twenty years ago, a few of Los Angeles’ West Adams residents and their friends had a novel idea: take a jackhammer to break up the asphalt and cement at their neighborhood’s 24th Street Elementary School to plant shade trees and a garden.They created the Garden School Foundation to support the project, which school and foundation officials believe was a farsighted decision. Elizabeth Hall, the foundation’s head of outreach and development, says the 24th Street School gardens are critical to teaching climate literacy to 453 pre-kindergarten through fourth-grade students. About 90% of the students are classified as low-income at the Title I school. An orchard including pear trees at 24th Street Elementary School’s garden. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) There is a deep desire on the part of the school’s teachers to teach climate literacy, said Hall. But few LAUSD teachers have been trained to do it.An outdoor learning center sits at the heart of the 24th Street Elementary School garden, which now covers a lush acre with groves of shade trees, an orchard with kumquats, apples, pears and pomegranates, and too many vegetable, herb and flower beds to count. Our Climate Change Challenge Creating their own curriculum California wants climate education for its students. Meet some of the teachers, schools and nonprofits making it happen. The foundation developed the curriculum for outdoor learning, Hall said, which is integrated into regular classroom science lessons as well as other subjects, particularly language arts.24th Street Elementary is “special,” said principal Veronica Brown, now in her second year. Students learn where their food comes from, how to grow it and cook it, and then recycle the waste into compost. “These things should be replicated at every school,” she added.This spring the school was named a California Green Ribbon School — the only one in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The award recognizes campuses that have reduced their environmental impact and costs, improved the health and wellness of students and staff, and provided an effective environmental education.What’s the best thing about the garden? Earlier this year, three third-graders said they liked the sunflowers and eating fruit, particularly mulberries. They were pleased that “the juice stains your clothes.” Mildred Hernandez, center, and other students taste sour sorrel in the garden at 24th Street Elementary School. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) The nonprofit’s close relationship with school staff has made it easier to survive staff changes and LAUSD’s budget woes, Hall said. When a full-time garden teacher takes another job, the foundation is able to step in and find a temporary replacement until a permanent teacher can be hired. The foundation maintains the gardens and organizes 1,400 hours of community volunteer time each year at this particular school.It raised $210,000 last year to support the full-time garden-based teacher, part-time staff positions filled by parents, a twice-monthly free farmers market for school families and a lunchtime share table where students can leave unopened cafeteria food or take seconds.24th Street School is one of 10 Los Angeles Title I schools — where at least 40% of enrolled students are from low-income families eligible to receive a free or reduced-price lunch — with garden programs supported by the foundation. Garden assistant Nurjannah Wiryadimejo waters plants in the garden while students are at recess in the playground at 24th Street Elementary School. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) The goal of the garden program is to create lifelong sustainability habits in the students and their families, Hall said. Last year, the school turned 16,000 pounds of cafeteria food waste into 1,600 pounds of compost.“Once kids understand how to do it and why, they like the ickiness of it,” said Ann Dang, the school’s compost manager. “They dig into the muck. And push their parents to do it at home.”

At 24th Street Elementary School, students 'learn where their food comes from, how to grow it and cook it, and then, recycle the waste'

Twenty years ago, a few of Los Angeles’ West Adams residents and their friends had a novel idea: take a jackhammer to break up the asphalt and cement at their neighborhood’s 24th Street Elementary School to plant shade trees and a garden.

They created the Garden School Foundation to support the project, which school and foundation officials believe was a farsighted decision. Elizabeth Hall, the foundation’s head of outreach and development, says the 24th Street School gardens are critical to teaching climate literacy to 453 pre-kindergarten through fourth-grade students. About 90% of the students are classified as low-income at the Title I school.

Signs reading "Pear" hang from trees.

An orchard including pear trees at 24th Street Elementary School’s garden.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

There is a deep desire on the part of the school’s teachers to teach climate literacy, said Hall. But few LAUSD teachers have been trained to do it.

An outdoor learning center sits at the heart of the 24th Street Elementary School garden, which now covers a lush acre with groves of shade trees, an orchard with kumquats, apples, pears and pomegranates, and too many vegetable, herb and flower beds to count.

Our Climate Change Challenge

Creating their own curriculum

California wants climate education for its students. Meet some of the teachers, schools and nonprofits making it happen.

The foundation developed the curriculum for outdoor learning, Hall said, which is integrated into regular classroom science lessons as well as other subjects, particularly language arts.

24th Street Elementary is “special,” said principal Veronica Brown, now in her second year. Students learn where their food comes from, how to grow it and cook it, and then recycle the waste into compost. “These things should be replicated at every school,” she added.

This spring the school was named a California Green Ribbon School — the only one in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The award recognizes campuses that have reduced their environmental impact and costs, improved the health and wellness of students and staff, and provided an effective environmental education.

What’s the best thing about the garden? Earlier this year, three third-graders said they liked the sunflowers and eating fruit, particularly mulberries. They were pleased that “the juice stains your clothes.”

Children nibble on herbs.

Mildred Hernandez, center, and other students taste sour sorrel in the garden at 24th Street Elementary School.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The nonprofit’s close relationship with school staff has made it easier to survive staff changes and LAUSD’s budget woes, Hall said. When a full-time garden teacher takes another job, the foundation is able to step in and find a temporary replacement until a permanent teacher can be hired.

The foundation maintains the gardens and organizes 1,400 hours of community volunteer time each year at this particular school.

It raised $210,000 last year to support the full-time garden-based teacher, part-time staff positions filled by parents, a twice-monthly free farmers market for school families and a lunchtime share table where students can leave unopened cafeteria food or take seconds.

24th Street School is one of 10 Los Angeles Title I schools — where at least 40% of enrolled students are from low-income families eligible to receive a free or reduced-price lunch — with garden programs supported by the foundation.

A woman sprays a raised-bed garden with a hose near a playground.

Garden assistant Nurjannah Wiryadimejo waters plants in the garden while students are at recess in the playground at 24th Street Elementary School.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The goal of the garden program is to create lifelong sustainability habits in the students and their families, Hall said. Last year, the school turned 16,000 pounds of cafeteria food waste into 1,600 pounds of compost.

“Once kids understand how to do it and why, they like the ickiness of it,” said Ann Dang, the school’s compost manager. “They dig into the muck. And push their parents to do it at home.”

Read the full story here.
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Fire Disrupts UN Climate Talks Just as Negotiators Reach Critical Final Days

Fire has disrupted United Nations climate talks, forcing evacuations of several buildings with just two scheduled days left and negotiators yet to announce any major agreements

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — Fire disrupted United Nations climate talks in Brazil on Thursday, forcing evacuations of several buildings with just two scheduled days left and negotiators yet to announce any major agreements. Officials said no one was hurt.The fire was reported in an area of pavilions where sideline events are held during the annual talks, known this year as COP30. Organizers soon announced that the fire was under control, but fire officials ordered the entire site evacuated for safety checks and it wasn't clear when conference business would resume.Viliami Vainga Tone, with the Tonga delegation, had just come out of a high-level ministerial meeting when dozens of people came thundering past him shouting about the fire. He was among people pushed out of the venue by Brazilian and United Nations security forces.Tone called time the most precious resource at COP and said he was disappointed it's even shorter due to the fire.“We have to keep up our optimism. There is always tomorrow, if not the remainder of today. But at least we have a full day tomorrow,” Tone told The Associated Press.A few hours before the fire, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged countries to compromise and “show willingness and flexibility to deliver results,” even if they fall short of the strongest measures some nations want.“We are down to the wire and the world is watching Belem,” Guterres said, asking negotiators to engage in good faith in the last two scheduled days of talks, which already missed a self-imposed deadline Wednesday for progress on a few key issues. The conference, with this year's edition known as COP30, frequently runs longer than its scheduled two weeks.“Communities on the front lines are watching, too — counting flooded homes, failed harvests, lost livelihoods — and asking, ‘how much more must we suffer?’” Guterres said. "They’ve heard enough excuses and demand results.” On contentious issues involving more detailed plans to phase out fossil fuels and financial aid to poorer countries, Guterres said he was “perfectly convinced” that compromise was possible and dismissed the idea that not adopting the strongest measures would be a failure.Guterres was more forceful in what he wanted rich countries to do for poor countries, especially those in need of tens of billions of dollars to adapt to the floods, droughts, storms and heat waves triggered by worsening climate change. He continued calls to triple adaptation finance from $40 billion a year to $120 billion a year.“No delegation will leave Belem with everything it wants, but every delegation has a duty to reach a balanced deal,” Guterres said.“Every country, especially the big emitters, must do more,” Guterres said.Delivering overall financial aid — with an agreed goal of $300 billion a year — is one of four interconnected issues that were initially excluded from the official agenda. The other three are: whether countries should be told to toughen their new climate plans; dealing with trade barriers over climate and improving reporting on transparency and climate progress.More than 80 countries have pushed for a detailed “road map” on how to transition away from fossil fuels, like coal, oil and natural gas, which are the chief cause of warming. That was a general but vague agreement two years ago at the COP in Dubai. Guterres kept referring to it as already being agreed to in Dubai, but did not commit to a detailed plan, which Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pushed for earlier in a speech.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.This story was produced as part of the 2025 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Nov. 2025

Engineered microbes could tackle climate change – if we ensure it’s done safely

Engineering microbes to soak up more carbon, boost crop yields and restore former farmland is appealing. But synthetic biology fixes must be done thoughtfully

Yuji Sakai/GettyAs the climate crisis accelerates, there’s a desperate need to rapidly reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, both by slashing emissions and by pulling carbon out of the air. Synthetic biology has emerged as a particularly promising approach. Despite the name, synthetic biology isn’t about creating new life from scratch. Rather, it uses engineering principles to build new biological components for existing microorganisms such as bacteria, microbes and fungi to make them better at specific tasks. By one recent estimate, synthetic biology could cut more carbon than emitted by all passenger cars ever made – up to 30 billion tonnes – through methods such as boosting crop yields, restoring agricultural land, cutting livestock methane emissions, reducing the need for fertiliser, producing biofuels and engineering microbes to store more carbon. According to some synthetic biologists, this could be a game-changer. But will it prove to be? Technological efforts to “solve” the climate problem often verge on the improbably utopian. There’s a risk in seeing synthetic biology as a silver bullet for environmental problems. A more realistic approach suggests synthetic biology isn’t a magic fix, but does have real potential worth exploring further. Engineering microorganisms is a controversial practice. To make the most of these technologies, researchers will have to ensure it’s done safely and ethically, as my research points out. What potential does synthetic biology have? Earth’s oceans, forests, soils and other natural processes soak up over half of all carbon emitted by burning fossil fuels. Synthetic biology could make these natural sinks even more effective. Some researchers are exploring ways to modify natural enzymes to rapidly convert carbon dioxide gas into carbon in rocks. Perhaps the best known example is the use of precision fermentation to cut methane emissions from livestock. Because methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, these emissions account for roughly 12% of total warming potential from greenhouse emissions. Bioengineered yeasts could absorb up to 98% of these emissions. After being eaten by cattle or other ruminants these yeasts block production of methane before it can be belched out. Synthetic biology could even drastically reduce how much farmland the world needs by producing food more efficiently. Engineered soil microbes can boost crop yields at least by 10–20%, meaning more food from less land. Precision fermentation can be used to produce clean meat and clean milk with much lower emissions than traditional farming. Engineered microbes have the potential to boost crop yields considerably. Collab Media/Unsplash, CC BY-NC-ND If farms produce more on less land, excess farmland can be returned to nature. Wetlands, forests and native grasslands can store much more carbon than farmland, helping tackle climate change. Synthetic biology can be used to modify microbe and algae species to increase their natural ability to store carbon in wetlands and oceans. This approach is known as natural geoengineering. Engineered crops and soil microbes can also lock away much more carbon in the roots of crops or by increasing soil storage capacity. They can also reduce methane emissions from organic matter and tackle pollutants such as fertiliser runoff and heavy metals. Sounds great – what’s the problem? As researchers have pointed out, using this approach will require a rollout at massive scale. At present, much work has been done at smaller scale. These engineered organisms need to be able to go from Petri dishes to industrial bioreactors and then safely into the environment. To scale, these approaches have to be economically viable, well regulated and socially acceptable. That’s easier said than done. First, engineering organisms comes with the serious risk of unintended consequences. If these customised microbes release their stored carbon all at once during a drought or bushfire, it could worsen climate change. It would be very difficult to control these organisms if a problem emerges after their release, such as if an engineered microbe began outcompeting its rivals or if synthetic genes spread beyond the target species and do unintended damage to other species and ecosystems. It will be essential to tackle these issues head on with robust risk management and forward planning. Second, synthetic biology approaches will likely become products. To make these organisms cheaply and gain market share, biotech companies will have an incentive to focus on immediate profits. This could lead companies to downplay actual risks to protect their profit margins. Regulation will be essential here. Third, some worthwhile approaches may not appeal to companies seeking a return on investment. Instead, governments or public institutions may have to develop them to benefit plants, animals and natural habitats, given human existence rests on healthy ecosystems. Which way forward? These issues shouldn’t stop researchers from testing out these technologies. But these risks must be taken into account, as not all risks are equal. Unchecked climate change would be much worse, as it could lead to societal collapse, large-scale climate migration and mass species extinction. Large scale removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is now essential. In the face of catastrophic risks, it can be ethically justifiable to take the smaller risk of unintended consequences from these organisms. But it’s far less justifiable if these same risks are accepted to secure financial returns for private investors. As time passes and the climate crisis intensifies, these technologies will look more and more appealing. Synthetic biology won’t be the silver bullet many imagine it to be, and it’s unlikely it will be the gold mine many hope for. But the technology has undeniable promise. Used thoughtfully and ethically, it could help us make a healthier planet for all living species. Daniele Fulvi receives funding from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, and his current project investigates the ethical dimensions of synthetic biology for climate mitigation. He also received a small grant from the Advanced Engineering Biology Future Science Platform at CSIRO. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government or the Australian Research Council.

Exclusive-Europe Plans Service to Gauge Climate Change Role in Extreme Weather

By Alison Withers and Kate AbnettCOPENHAGEN (Reuters) -The EU is launching a service to measure the role climate change is playing in extreme...

By Alison Withers and Kate AbnettCOPENHAGEN (Reuters) -The EU is launching a service to measure the role climate change is playing in extreme weather events like heatwaves and extreme rain, and experts say this could help governments set climate policy, improve financial risk assessments and provide evidence for use in lawsuits.Scientists with the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service told Reuters the service can help governments in weighing the physical risks posed by worsening weather and setting policy in response. "It's the demand of understanding when an extreme event happens, how is this related to climate change?" said the new service's technical lead, Freja Vamborg.The European Commission did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.The service will perform attribution science, which involves running computer simulations of how weather systems might have behaved if people had never started pumping greenhouse gases into the air and then comparing those results with what is happening today.Funded for about 2.5 million euros over three years, Copernicus will publish results by the end of next year and offer two assessments a month - each within a week of an extreme weather event.For the first time, "there will be an attribution office operating constantly," said Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus Climate Change Service. "Climate policy is unfortunately again a very polarized topic," said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London who helped to pioneer the scientific approach but is not involved in the new EU service. She welcomed the service's plans to partner with national weather services of EU members along with the UK Met and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre."From that point of view, it also helps if the governments do it themselves and just see themselves really the evidence from their own weather services," Otto said. Some independent climate scientists and lawyers cheered the EU move. "We want to have the most information available," said senior attorney Erika Lennon at the non-profit Center for International Environmental Law."The more information we have about attribution science, the easier it will be for the most impacted to be able to successfully bring claims to courts."By calculating probabilities of climate change impacting weather patterns, the approach also helps insurance companies and others in the financial sector.In a way, "they're already using it" with in-house teams calculating probabilities for floods or storms, said environmental scientist Johan Rockstroem with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research."Financial institutions understand risk and risk has to be quantified, and this is one way of quantifying," Rockstroem said.In litigation, attribution science is also being used already in calculating how much a country's or company's emissions may have contributed to climate-fuelled disasters.The International Court of Justice said in July that attribution science is legally viable for linking emissions with climate extremes - but it has yet to fully be tested in court. A German court in May dismissed a Peruvian farmer's lawsuit against German utility RWE for emissions-driven warming causing Andean glaciers to thaw. The case had used attribution science in calculating the damage claim, but the court said the claim amount was too low to take the case forward.So "the court never got to discussing attribution science in detail and going into whether the climate models are good enough, and all of these complex and thorny questions," said Noah Walker-Crawford, a climate litigation researcher at the London School of Economics. (Reporting by Ali Withers in Copenhagen and Kate Abnett in Belem, Brazil; Writing by Katy Daigle; Editing by David Gregorio)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

Billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer is running for governor

Billionaire hedge fund founder, climate change warrior and major Democratic donor Tom Steyer is running for governor. Fossil fuel and migrant detention facility investments will likely draw attacks from his fellow Democrats.

Billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer announced Wednesday that he is running for governor of California, arguing that he is not beholden to special interests and can take on corporations that are making life unaffordable in the state.“The richest people in America think that they earned everything themselves. Bulls—, man. That’s so ridiculous,” Steyer said in an online video announcing his campaign. “We have a broken government. It’s been bought by corporations and my question is: Who do you think is going to change that? Sacramento politicians are afraid to change up this system. I’m not. They’re going to hate this. Bring it on.” Protesters hold placards and banners during a rally against Whitehaven Coal in Sydney in 2014. Dozens of protesters and activists gathered downtown to protest against the controversial massive Maules Creek coal mine project in northern New South Wales. (Saeed Khan / AFP/Getty Images) Steyer, 68, founded Farallon Capital Management, one of the nation’s largest hedge funds, and left it in 2012 after 26 years. Since his departure, he has become a global environmental activist and a major donor to Democratic candidates and causes. But the hedge firm’s investments — notably a giant coal mine in Australia that cleared 3,700 acres of koala habitat and a company that runs migrant detention centers on the U.S.-Mexico border for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — will make him susceptible to political attack by his gubernatorial rivals. Steyer has expressed regret for his involvement in such projects, saying it was why he left Farallon and started focusing his energy on fighting climate change. Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer addresses a crowd during a presidential primary election-night party in Columbia, S.C. (Sean Rayford / Getty Images) Steyer previously flirted with running for governor and the U.S. Senate but decided against it, instead opting to run for president in 2020. He dropped out after spending nearly $342 million on his campaign, which gained little traction before he ended his run after the South Carolina primary.Next year’s gubernatorial race is in flux, after former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla decided not to run and Proposition 50, the successful Democratic effort to redraw congressional districts, consumed all of the political oxygen during an off-year election.Most voters are undecided about who they would like to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cannot run for reelection because of term limits, according to a poll released this month by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times. Steyer had the support of 1% of voters in the survey. In recent years, Steyer has been a longtime benefactor of progressive causes, most recently spending $12 million to support the redistricting ballot measure. But when he was the focus of one of the ads, rumors spiraled that he was considering a run for governor.In prior California ballot initiatives, Steyer successfully supported efforts to close a corporate tax loophole and to raise tobacco taxes, and fought oil-industry-backed efforts to roll back environmental law.His campaign platform is to build 1 million homes in four years, lower energy costs by ending monopolies, make preschool and community college free and ban corporate contributions to political action committees in California elections.Steyer’s brother Jim, the leader of Common Sense Media, and former Biden administration U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy are aiming to put an initiative on next year’s ballot to protect children from social media, specifically the chatbots that have been accused of prompting young people to kill themselves. Newsom recently vetoed a bill aimed at addressing this artificial intelligence issue.

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