jumping into action. >> some of them are coming in lsz than half of the body weight that they're supposed to be. it wasn't in the program, but it was expected. the anti-war protests from graduates at uc berkeley's commencement. and the northern lights paunting the bay area skies. the views around the bay area and how likely we are to get another show tonight. and later we'll meet the doctors trying to figure out what's behind a surge in lung cancer among asian american women. live from the cbs studios in san francisco, i'm brian hackney. >> and i'm andrea nakano. we begin tonight with a wildlife crisis that's playing out in the bay area and all along the california coast. thousands of pelicans are starving to death and scientists don't seem to know why. >> video efrom huntington beach in santa barbara county where it is the same story. wildlife rescues overwhelmed with the emaciated birds and more

arriving every day. >> and now one local rescue center is desperately appealing to the public for help. john ramos has the story. >> reporter: this public open house at the international bird rescue in fairfield almost didn't happen, but they decided to go through with it anyway, because they thought it was important for the public to understand the crisis they're dealing with. the international bird rescue center is accustomed to dealing with injured or sick birds, but what began slowly in april has suddenly become overwhelming. >> we were all going back and forth like is this a thing, is it not a thing. and then over the last four, five days things just kind of cratered. >> for the first time in ten year, this is the most pelicans i've seen here. >> reporter: brown pelicans are the birds you see at the beach skimming over to water in formation like a squadron of fighter plane, but lately they've been found wandering in unusual places, unable to fly away from people. >> one bird that we have in

care right now came in from santa cruz. it had tried to walk into a bar right near the boardwalk. so these birds are disoriented. >> reporter: they're not sick, they're starving. for some reason that remains a mystery, the birds cannot find the fish they need to survive. they eat the same diet as other birds, but it is only the pelicans that are being brought in by the dozens. >> one of the things that we'll be relying on is the ocean scientists and avian folks to figure out why this fishing stock is eluding them. >> some of them are coming in less than half of the body weight that they're supposed to be. so imagine a human going through that, you know, you're supposed to weigh 150 pounds, you're coming in at 75 pounds, you're going to be having some severe problems. >> reporter: the center currently has 120 pelicans and is expecting another 30 to 40 in a few days. as a result, the rescue center is facing a crisis of its own. the birds respond well to the food and vitamins they're getting, but they can't be released into

the wild until there is a food supply for them. it's putting a major drain on the center's finances. >> and right now our -- we're going through 500 pounds of fish a day. that's $1,000 a day. so you can, you know, start to multiply that out. >> reporter: so they're asking for help. donations to help pay for food and volunteers to help care for so many patients. >> i mean, especially for crises as this, we need as many hands on deck as we can get. and volunteers are the backbone of this organization. >> reporter: no one knows for sure why this is happening or when it might end. pelicans burn a lot of calories and can die within days with no food, so the fear is for each of the birds that have been captured and saved m more have already perished in the wild. >> the center says any pelican found acting strangely or listless should be reported immediately to local animal control. and if you are interested in donating or volunteering, there's a link to the center on our website.

it's at kpix.com. meanwhile, in the north bay, roanoke park police say that they are investigating a burglary which led to the discovery of a bird fighting ring. police say that they found these blades at the property designed to go on to the beaks of bird fights. police say it all started in march with an investigation into a burglary at a storage facility. evidence there led to a property on stony point road. that's where they found 1,000 game birds raised for fighting along with other malnourished animals. two people were arrested. sonoma county animal service says they are caring for the roosters as well as dogs, horses, and cows that all were rescued. commencement is a day students look forward to after years of studying and hard work, but cal's graduation today was interrupted by anti-war protests. hundreds of graduates filled a section of the stands. they were stomping their feet and chanting during the ceremony. as da lin

reports, their protest had mixed reactions from the crowd. >> reporter: many of the new graduates did not have a normal high school graduation four years ago because of the pandemic, so this commencement was supposed to help make up for some of that lost experience. hundreds of pro-palestinian protesters in cap and gown made loud noises as thousands of people at memorial stadium celebrated the graduating students. >> i'm proud that my peers feel they can have a voice here at berkeley. it wouldn't be berkeley without any protest, right? >> reporter: roommates angelina and sydney say they support free espeech. they don't think the protests take away from their big day. >> proud that people feel comfortable to be, you know, expressing how they feel. >> reporter: many students say it was somewhat expected, they're just glad cal moved forward with the commencement. they were fearful of a cancellation. >> berkeley's a very social justice-oriented school. i think perfect includes social justice in the ceremony. >> reporter: angelina and

sydney say they did a drive-by graduation back in 2020 so having their parents, sibling, and friends here made the day very special. >> having that connection, to like be able to give my parents a hug. to be able to give my friends hugs. >> i'm a first generation. this is really important for my family. >> reporter: berkeley administrators prepared by adding security. the chancellor acknowledged victims from both sides of the war. she said she's saddened the conflict divided students and staff. hundreds of protesters stood in one section to chant divest and hit the mt. tal bleachers with their shoes. they made it hard at times to hear the speakers. >> so we can talk to uc administration and carol christ. we're going to continue to do stuff like this. >> reporter: there were no counterprotests, but some held up israeli flag, and some say the disruption was distasteful.

>> we're here for our family. they worked hard. they worked hard during kov vid time, and now they're not getting to graduate peacefully, and so it's a little disappointing. >> i don't think to disrupt this moment is respectful for the people who have worked so hard. >> reporter: many students say it's okay as long as no violence. >> graduating college is a super big deal, very important, so i think we're just excited to have this moment. >> we're ready to just celebrate, have a good time, and have a peaceful, celebratory day. >> reporter: angelina and sydney say we have been the extra fireworks, the commencement ended on a positive note to wrap up their four years at uc berkeley. >> i'm just so happy. there's no other words from me. >> i'm so happy getting to be with my loved ones. >> reporter: the 90-minute ceremony ended without any arrests. berkeley officials say while the protest was loud, it was peaceful. >> and at the university of san francisco, graduation's not until next weekend but there was a rally this afternoon. you

can see several tents and signs on the plaza. we talked to one student protester who said their recent meeting with the school's president did not go well. >> the blatant disrespect from father fitz after i gave my testimony about what it's like to be a palestinian, specifically to this school, he dropped the mic and then after i -- he said that we were being disrespectful, i was being disrespectful, i told him check himself and then he left. >> protesters say they'll continue their demonstration on campus until their demands are met. scenes were much more intense on other college campuses today. students walked out of their commencement ceremony at virginia commonwealth university and police moved in to clear demonstrators and tents from the university of pennsylvania's campus. the school says it's going to step up security for commencement later this month. >> and all of this about what's happening in the middle east, where parts of east rafah are now surrounded by israeli

tanks after israel's war cabinet gave the military the green light to expand the war there. and in northern gaza, more evacuations. israeli officials say they are trying to prevent hamas from reestablishing its military capabilities. the u.n. says more than 100,000 palestinians are now homeless in the area and running out of options. the white house said israeli forces may have violated international humanitarian laws using u.s. weapons. israel disagreed and will continue to prosecute the war using u.s. taxpayer money. just yesterday president biden was met with ceasefire protesters while on a campaign fundraising visit to the bay area. that's what one demonstration looked like in portola valley, biden nearby visiting the home of a venture capitalist, and then went to visit the home of yahoo's

former ceo where in palo alto. something we almost never see in the bay area, last night's cosmic weather, and whether we'll be getten an encore tonight. >> the most impactful event in 20 years. it's a fantastic hands-on learning experience for the students. >> we'll talk about that show, plus are the clouds going to get in the way of tonight? because there's still a chance tonight if you want to see that. we'll go over all that, and of course, going to talk about the temperatures. when are they going to start coming down. you're near 90 inland. some better looking numbers if you want to cool down coming up.

- lift the clouds off of... - virtual weather, only on kpix and pix+. well, as you know by now, people across much of the world

got a rare glimpse of the northern lights thanks to a solar flare that popped off this week. these are pictures from solano county, lake tahoe, and modesto last night. >> and check this out, photographer jay wong who often sends us great videos shared this time lapse of the light show over sfo. he tells us this clip is made out of 728 photos. and the space weather prediction center says it could be visible as far south as alabama. >> so let's head to alabama -- no, let's not. max darrow has some of the sights from the skies last night. >> in awe. >> reporter: it's hard to put words to a sight like this. >> i just couldn't believe it. >> reporter: but this is what javier mendoza saw from mount hamilton on friday night, a stunning, rare display of the northern lights. >> it just made my passion for astronomy a little bit more solidified. >> reporter: mendoza is a grad

student at san jose state, he shared his enthusiasm with professor aaron. >> this is the most impactful event in 20 years. it's just a fantastic hands-on learning experience for the students. >> reporter: the beautiful auroras seen in these photos taken in marin stem from a geomagnetic storm reaching earth. >> it's a beautiful experience. nothing too dangerous because we have our magnetic field protecting us around the earth. >> reporter: distinguished professor of astronomy at uc berkeley alex took these photos from orinda. >> the red auroras are actually more rare than the green auroras, so that was special for me to see such an intense red aurora. >> reporter: but along with the beauty comes potential for problems for us on weather telecommunications and power systems. >> when these particles come in, they twang our magnetic field. it's as though you hit a bell with a hammer, and so it

vibrates. and the vibrating magnetic field lines of earth then induce electric currents that go streaming along the power lines, especially the long distance lines, okay? and then when those currents reach transformers at local power stations, they can short circuit the transformers because they're not used to such intense currents. >> one more look at the sky, mendoza is hopeful this rare celestial event will be a source of inspiration. >> hopefully this makes an impact to especially our younger generation to pursue some field in s.t.e.m. >> reporter: if you missed it last night, you still may be in luck. both professors believe you should be able to see some auroras tonight, though the show just might not be as dramatic as it was last night. you'll have to look north at around midnight to 1:00 in the morning. your eyes may not be able to pick up on a ton of color, but if you take a long exposure photo with your phone

just two to three seconds, the colors will likely emerge. >> and if you are not above the fog, then you are out of luck. >> right, we're going to see the fog build in tonight. but i think there's another issue in terms of seeing, this because the pictures are blowing up, and everybody's seeing these photographs which look really dramatic over us. but that's not the way it looked to the person standing there taking that picture. and they're not even purposefully manipulating these pictures. iphones have gotten good at resolving out night and dark colors so you can see them much more. and that's what's happening with a lot of these photographs. let me show you some taken from two of our coworkers here. our producer for the 11:00 newscast, week nite, took this. and it was her, sophie, and sara donchey, anchor of the late night news, who got in their car last night and drove to the marin headlands, rod owe beach, and these are the photographs that sophie took on her phone. and they do look spectacular. i called her today, because i wanted some perspective on what her experience was like in real

life, not through the pictures, and i said give me a percentage. and she said i would say in real life the aurora looked about 25% as good as this. so this is more than twice as impressive as it looked to the naked eye. she could still see it. and i said, are you glad you went? was it worth the trip up there late night? and she said, absolutely, i'm so glad i got a chance to see this. a couple ways to think about it, it's not going to look like this when you go out. tonight we have another chance for this, but it's not as intense tonight. they rank these on a scale from one to five. last night we were at the max on a five, which very rarely happens. tonight we're going to be at a four, which almost as rarely never happens. a four still pretty good. we'd be making a big deal out of four. so just know that. and then, of course, the other thing are the clouds. let's go to the futurecast. what we're going to do is use the high resolution satellite imagery.

it can get real specific, and it's quite good, really, at forecasting the marine layer now. it's been a very fun item to use over the last several years. watch what happens, we're going to go slo-mo and watch the marine layer overtake the golden gate. the timeframe you need for the aurora borealis is 11:00 on. so let's go there and watch what happens as more of the marine layer starts filling the bay. here's 10:00. then we get into the window. most of us are doing okay. in the south bay, you'll have clear skies. but there's way too much light in the santa clara valley. look north if you're going to try, but you're not going to have much luck there. you've got to get rural or if you can get high elevation, you're going to have a better chance. in terms of the clouds, once we get past like 1:00 a.m., they start filling in even more of the bay. so by like 3:00 or 4:00 ap, we're clouded over. but rally the time you'd be concerned about is 11:00 to midnight anyway. 11:00 to 1:00, that's the most realistic time

to do this. that's the aurora forecast. let's talk about the other -- warm lately. these are today's daytime highs. these are the official numbers that have come in, 88 in concord. this is the peak, because from here the numbers are going to start going down. so let's use that heat risk map that we've started using during the big warm spells. this is today, the air glas orange show you with those temperatures near 90 we had a moderate level of heat-related health impact. enough to raise awareness for people who might be vulnerable. you can visualize the improvement. still a little, but not as much. monday, way less. the cooldown is coming. these are tomorrow's daytime high, which are very similar to where we were today. let's skip ahead to the end of this next coming week. and you can really see the cooldown there. we've got temperatures that are going to be going back down to at least mainly # 0s for inland valleys. there's the

seven-day forecast. san francisco and oakland are up first. you see the temperatures not budging a whole lot. we're pretty much going to stay right here. near 80 for the north bay. mid-80s in san jose for much of the next seven days and. the inland east bay will also stay around 80 for much of the next seven days as well. matt, over to you. >> giants welcoming back a key bat that should help spark the offense. plus,

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all right, giants looking to get back in the win column today at home after dropping the series opener against the reds. good timing for the return of patrick bailey. he is back in the lineup after coming off the seven-day il. let's which can in on the nba playoffs. luka having some fun pregame. mavs looking to take a 2-1 series lead against the one seed thunder. fourth quarter, dallas up three, luka's going to take it to the hoop himself after the steal. he had # 2 and a double-double. few moments

later, three-point game, kyrie showing off the handles. goes cross court, gets the basket to fall. he had 22 as well. they wouldn't look back. they win it 105-101, and the mavs do take the series lead. golf. third round of the wells fargo championship in charlotte, north carolina. rory mcilroy had his game dialled on moving day. here was the approach on the par four. fifth hole. sticks it per fktly to set up a tap-in birdie. he shot four, a bowgy-free four under to get within one of the lead. but for now it is xander at the top of the board. he carded a one under 70. he's your solo leader at 12 under for the tournament. a long time coming for re-opening of a nine-hole golf course here in san francisco, and now that it's open, with had to pay it a visit and see what all the hype was about. >> reporter: public golf in san francisco just got a major

upgrade. after closing down for nearly a year, the new and improved golden gate park golf course is back open to the public. >> people are in shock and awe once they walk up the hill and they kind of see what we've done here. >> reporter: through the first tee of san francisco, a group of private donors funded a $2.5 million renovation of the nine-hole track. >> the community at times sees opportunity to raise the community up and this was definitely one of those times. >> this course is meant to last another 50 to # 5 years due to the new irrigation, all new sprinkler systems are in place, all new pipe, so it's set up for success for the long haul. >> reporter: the new clubhouse and practice facilities make it a public playground for golfers of all skill sets, but it's the greens that keep people coming back. >> everybody remember it as a -- as like a family kind of great time out. you come out here with your kids and your

grandkids and you have a great time. but the greens right now, since it was redone, makes it more challenging, make it more fun to come out and enjoy the course. >> reporter: the course even offers something that used to be exclusive to private courses. >> looking decent. >> reporter: hot dog bill's burger dogs, fresh off the grill. >> it's been a great partnership. we get the meat on a daily basis from them. it's the same ingredient, same process, we cook it the same way. so it's the same thing just not going to cost you an olympic club initiation fee. >> reporter: the park is not just an asset to the golfing community, it also serves as a home base for the first tee of san francisco, a nonprofit that introduces the game of golf to underprivileged youths. >> the kids love it. i mean, they loved coming to this place even before it's been transformed because it has kind of this cool familial vibe to it, but now they get to play it

in modern great golf standards and a little bit easier and funner for them to play. so the feedback from our students has been great. >> reporter: but first he has a deal to keep them at golden gate park for at least the next 15 years. after investing in an asset for community, public play will continue to support the program best known for growing the game. >> yeah, people coming and supporting this facility, they absolutely are in one way or another supporting first tee and our efforts to, you know, help underserved kids in the community. >> the course looks great, and you've got to wonder, people who have been golfing their there for decades, it closes down, i want to know their reaction the first time they went out there. whoa, this is way nicer than it used to be. >> well, it does look really nice. >> yeah. >> and golf courses are always needed because -- >> yes, they are, because the tee times go quickly. i'm always looking for one, so. >> anything to avoid the olympic club initiation fee. >> i don't think i have that coin to throw that down yet,

no. >> that's right. thank, matt. coming up in our next half hour, some people in san jose are so bad at recycling trash inspectors are checking bins and rating how well they did. >> well, we see some non-recyclable paper, plastic wrap. this is an, yeah. >> a pilot program meant to clear up confusion about what goes where. plus, an important study among asian american women. it's tracking an increase in lung cancer cases among people who haven't smoked. we talk with

from cbs news bay area, this is the evening edition. >> now at 6:30, bay area researchers trying to unravel a medical mystery. lung cancer is the second most common cancer in both men and women in the united states. >> and the disease is now affecting more and more asian american women and doctors aren't really sure why. and now a bay area bay study finds that 80% of asian american women with lung cancer never smoked. they're also 1.5 to 2 times more likely to be diagnosed than any other racial group. >> elizabeth cook spoke with the researchers and patients who are working to figure out what's going on. >> reporter: vicky doesn't

take walks like this for granted. each step has a purpose, and she's rarely by herself. and if you happen to pass them, you might think these are just two friends catching up, but the women who join her all share a common bond, they all have stage four lung cancer. >> living with stage four cancer means, you know, you have a bomb strapped to your chest and it could go off at any time. >> reporter: it all started five years ago when she got a call from her doctor. >> but i remember vividly that he called me while we were out having dinner and left a voicemail. >> reporter: before she knew it, vicky was sitting in an oncologist's office. >> the word cancer comes out of the doctor's mouth, so that's kind of not good. >> reporter: vicky never smoked a day in her life but yet this 48-year-old mother of two has stage four lung cancer. >> i was asking them, i'm like, okay, so how long is treatment, and you know, when are with

done with this. and no one had told me up until then that it was stage four, so it was incurable. and so, you know, i would basically have to live with this condition for the rest of my life. and the best case scenario is that i live with this condition for the rest of my life. >> reporter: vicky is now 53 and the treatments have been brutal. they've given her high blood pressure and high cholesterol. the cancer has now spread to her abdomen. but it's not the physical side effects that hurt the most, vicky has two daughters who were 13 and 15 when she was first diagnosed. >> they know they have cancer. and we don't talk about sort of staging. we don't talk about cures or anything like that. they just know that i've had cancer for, you know, five years now. >> reporter: a few years ago, vicky was asked to participate

in a research program at ucsf called fans. fans standing for female asian never smokers, launched 15 yours ago by doctors scarlet gomez and iona chang. a first of its kind study in the u.s. on why lung cancer rates were rising among asian females who never smoked. >> lung cancer rates actually have been declining over the past several decades, but what was sort of emerged was the exception was among asian american females. >> reporter: the doctors hope the fans study leads to the development of more preventive measures and screening but also grab the attention of the folks with the deep pockets. right now less than 1% of funding from the national institute of health goes to diseases that impact the asian american community. >> there is this perception that asians don't get sick. we have very low rates of disease,

and so their primary focus is to fund health research, relies on those statistics. >> it's just made us very strong advocates to really give a voice to be able to speak out about the need to look at specific asian ethnicity populations to provide the data. >> reporter: vicky isn't spending her energy wondering why or how she got lung cancer. >> well, when you get diagnosed with cancer, i think you learn to control the things that you can and let go of the things you can't. and i have not tried to probe why i got cancer. i don't think it's, like, a healthy exercise. >> reporter: instead, she's turning her pain into purpose by reaching out to other women like 34-year-old kit ho, who she recruited to also be part of the fans study. >> if my tissue, if my saliva can help the researchers to

find more medicine or find more ways to identify people early, then i want to be part of it. >> reporter: kit was diagnosed on thanksgiving of last year. doctors discovered four tumors in her brain that they believe were linked to lung cancer. just like vicky, she never smoked. she's also a mom. >> i was just thinking, why did i get it? yeah, and the most thing i was thinking when i was diagnosed was my two little kids. because they are 2 and 4, and so -- and lung cancer, being a nurse, i know it's not a good outcome. >> reporter: kit will often join vicky on her walks. they are allies in the same fight. >> it's like a safety blanket for me to know other people are in the area. >> reporter: if cancer has taught her anything, it's that life can change in an instant. vicky is focussing on the things that bring her joy, family, friends, and helping others know that even in their

hardest moments they won't have to walk this path alone. >> i want to do everything i can to make this diagnosis sort of meaningful for the world. >> the fans study looks at a patient's genetics and family history as well as environmental and lifestyle exposures. they are still looking for participant, especially older asian women who do not have lung cancer. to join the study for more information on the study, go to our website, kpix.com. and that's where you can also find all of our special story this is month highlighting asian cultures, history, and issues important to the bay area's aapi community. >> and community members in san francisco's alamo square rallying against hate after a neighbor had been targeted for extremely hateful racist attacks. the victim says he was sent two hateful packages within a span of ten days. a doll with a noose was even delivered to his front door.

video efrom nearby surveillance cameras show the person that neighbors claim left the doll on the night of april 26th. people gathered at alamo square park to support terry williams and speak out against the hateful messages that he received. neighbors say that they have been sending williams door camera videos and will continue to support him. we contacted san francisco police to get more detail, and they did confirm that a hate crime investigation is underway. spokesperson did not confirm the incidents are connected but said no one should be targeted because of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or any other shared characteristic. a house fire on l.j. ridge lane not far from evergreen valley high school. it broke out around 3:30 this afternoon. it took firefighters about an hour and a half to put it out. no one was hurt but two residents have been displaced. in west oakland a fire damaged a church and destroyed a nearby

home. this one at can last night at 27th and west streets. here is video showing big plumes of smoke from the burning buildings. around 60 firefighters were on scene of this fire. crews had the blaze under control before it reached most of the church. the fire started at the home next door and the cause is still under investigation. and speaking of oakland, today was the first day on the job for the police department's new chief. lloyd mitchell is an air force veteran who previously served as the police chief of lubbock, texas. mitchell replaced opd's former chief, leronne armstrong, who the mayor, sheng thao, fired more than a year ago. she is getting a college degree more than 80 years after she graduated high school. how an east bay college honored longtime park ranger betty reid soskin next. ( ♪♪ ) you made a cow! actually it's a piggy bank. my inspiration to start saving.

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today was the grand opening of san francisco's newest park atop yerba buena island. panorama park features 360-degree views of the bay area and this point of infinity sculpture by a japanese architect. the park is just the latest addition to the larger plan to revitalize yerba buena and treasure island. every day we can show you beautiful views of san francisco from the bay cameras on top of the mark hopkins hotel and when it comes to

views, it is hard to beat the top of the mark, which turned 85 today. it did. standby one. we had to get the drummers seated and give him his cue before he could begin playing. earlier this week they marked the anniversary with a live band, great drink, great vibes. it was 1939 when top of the mark became san francisco's very first rooftop bar. >> it was a very bold idea. nobody had done it before in the city, and he wanted to do it. he was concerned with two things. one, he didn't know what name he would give it. and two, he was really scared that people wouldn't take an elevator up to have a view with their drink. go figure how times have changed, right? >> and also while we are broadcasting to you live tonight from the spacious studios on battery street, we actually began broadcasting 75 years ago from the attic above

the bar, becoming the first television station in northern california. well, the oldest u.s. national park ranger can now add doctor to her list of accolades. betty reid soskin was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree at cal state east bay. soskin graduated high school in oakland at the start of #w0rd war ii and then worked as a file clerk at the richmond ship yards. today she was honored for her hard work and service. >> california state university bay is proud to confer upon betty reid soskin the honorary degree of doctor of humane letters. >> soskin didn't become a park ranger until she was 85 and retired two years ago. she is

now 102 years young. >> looking pretty good too. >> mm-hmm. you can see bumper stickers everywhere, keep tahoe blue. when we come back, a look at what makes the lake so distinctly blue in the first place and how its color is shaping up for this summer. we started making san francisco bay gray today. it is may gray season after all. marine layer is back in this morning and it's going to be more widespread tomorrow. that's good news if you wanted to start cooling the temperatures down, particularly inland. i'll show you how we're going to start doing that in this forecast coming up.

the warm temperatures inland this weekend are giving us a little bit of a preview of summer. >> with that, there's a lot of anticipation for how blue lake tahoe will appear following two consecutive winters with above average snow pack. but there are a lot of factors at play that give the lake that pristine blue look it's known for. >> and andrew haubner how sediments and tiny creatures called zooplankton give lake tahoe its iconic blue hue. >> reporter: one of the nation's most pristine bodies of water. and for longtime residents zach and valerie, gazing out over the lake never gets old. >> oh, it can't be beat. >> ten out of ten. >> it's just a gem. people

leave here and always come back. >> reporter: but what makes the watt sore blue? experts say underneath the surface you have phytoplankton, which are plant, and zooplankton, which are animals. both are tiny creatures but vital to the ecosystem. zooplankton feed on phyto plankton and each other depending on size. >> sometimes the phytoplankton, different types of phytoplankton flourish at different times. that will affect the color and clarity of the water. >> reporter: however, uc davis professor and interim direct fer tahoe environmental research center alexander forest says that's only one piece to a much larger puzzle. >> it depends on the sediments, the inorganic particles in the water. >> reporter: it comes down to balance, the color and clarity is dictated by factors including snow melt runoff, sediments carried down by stream, annual water temperature, and their collective impact on the various species of phyto and

zooplankton. >> we as scientists really need to understand how they all link together to understand how to control the clarity, because clarity's part of it, but also the color. >> reporter: last year the lake was the clearest it's been in decades. dr. forest says it boils down to the quantity and quality of snow melt. last year they were both high. this year the snow came in much later in the season, impacting the quality of the runoff. >> we are at the same water quantity but the quality, the water that's coming into the watershed is much warmer. >> reporter: it impacts growth, sediments from the mountain and roads will also play a big factor in the lake's clarity. it is too early to tell. >> hoping for more clarity to continue. >> reporter: but for zach and valerie, the lake is already off to a good start. >> i think so because i think just the weather we've gotten, a lot of the precipitation and everything, so it's been really helpful. >> and tahoe's environmental

research center says it will be conducting its first official clarity test of the season in about two weeks. and darren's got something happening up in canada, i guess. >> yeah, not the most pleasant reminder, but i got to start out with an image of today's satellite, which is going to bring back memories of last year and maybe even for us years before that. if you look at high resolution satellite on here, can you see the big plume of smoke this afternoon coming out of british columbia? here we are, things look clear. a marine layer showing up. there's that big plume of smoke. several new fires burning in british columbia. it's early, mid-may, and they've started wildfire season out there, after what was a warmer and drier than average winter. we're coming off our winter, which was pretty good, but british columbia was not that way. it was warm and dry up there, and the forecasts coming out of canada for this summer are for another intense wildfire season. we saw so much smoke coming out of canada last year that it's a little concerning to be in may and see it

starting up all over again this early in the season. it's not the most fun thing to look at. here's the forecast over the next few days. doesn't look like that plume of smoke is going to turn into anything serious for the lower 48, but there are hazardous levels of air quality across the plains of canada, across alberta. they're breathing in unhealthy air today from that. here's our story back at home. we were near 90 today for concord, livermore, san jose was 83. santa rosa was 81. these numbers are about 11 degrees above average for this time of year. this is the top. we're going start coming down after this. temperatures start cooling, and you can see part of the reason for that, obviously, time lapse of this morning into the afternoon as the marine layer was streaming in through the golden gate. let's put it into the futurecast and watch it do that again tonight. we've got it on slow motion here to pick out as much detail as we can considering you still have a chance tonight to see some of the aurora. it's less intense than it was last night. last night it was a five on a scale from one to five, and a way to

think of it would be for visibility for those of us that are this low latitude. today it's at a four on that scale. so one notch lower. still a pretty good place to be, but it wasn't a super impressive show to the naked eye last night, but you could see it if the skies were clear and you got away from city lights. probably the same way again tonight. so just watch where the marine layer is here in the overnight hours. it wouldn't matter because you don't want to be in the immediate bay. if you really want to see the northern lights tonight, you've got to get as far away from city lights as you can and anywhere the marine layer would be, obviously. those daytime high, you still have areas of orange shading all of the interior valleys, showing you on the scale there that we're still getting up to a moderate category for heat-related health impacts. scale goes a lot higher than this. it's not an overly concerning situation, but it's something to raise the awareness on. here's the good news, watch tomorrow. less of it. that's sunday. here's monday. less of it. so let's go to the seven-day forecast and i'll show you what this

looks like. san francisco and oakland, you're up. your numbers for oakland stay around 70. temperature, north bay, you're in the mid-70s for the next few days and then near 80 for much of the early part of this week. san jose in the mid 80s for much of this seven-day forecast. and the inland east bay will stay right around 80 degrees as well. all right, brian, over to you. >> thanks, darren. coming up next, tougher than you think to recycle properly. how one bay area city is flipping the script to help the community find the right answers.

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boy is that ever a typical summertime shot of fog. tonight this week's project earth report as californians, we have a reputation for being environmentally conscious. >> but in many way, the data tells a different story. 95% of californians have recycling bins, but only 30% of recyclables actually get recycled. most ends up in landfills. >> in san jose, instead of flipping its lid, the city decided to flip yours. anne makovec explains. >> reporter: anthony santa maria is a man on a mission. early in the morning he flips the lids of dozens of recycling bins. >> well, we see some non-recyclable paper, plastic wrap. >> reporter: anthony is part of a new pilot program run by the

city of san jose. the idea? to eyeball the contents of curbside bins on collection day to give residents a little feedback as to why now. >> we are seeing a lot of increase in unacceptable materials in the recycling carts that are non-recyclable or either recyclable materials that are too dirty to recycle. >> reporter: contaminated bins are on the rise. the city's director of environmental sciences explains. >> so a recycling cart becomes contaminated when the wrong materials are in it, particularly liquids and food. because then they spread out on the paper and other products in the cart that make it so we can't recycle it anymore. >> reporter: if they can't be repsychled, the item ends up in a landfill, where the food and drinks slowly rot, creating methane. >> it impacts rates. so the more that we have garbage in the recycling cart, the more the program costs, which means the more the rates go up for a

community. >> reporter: back to the bins. stickers get attached to each cart, either a green good job or a red oops with tips on how to do better. >> this is an oops, yeah. >> oops is sort of semihumorous. it's not that negative. from my perspective, it's far more effective the light touch than the negative touch. >> reporter: dr. david is an expert in human behavior at stanford school of medicine, he applauds san jose's approach, especially the added visual tips. >> if on top of that you'd show people how to do it, you feel a part of the team rather than part of the problem. >> reporter: as for the locals -- >> i think it's good. >> reporter: -- san jose resident dirk with his two kids benjamin and amelia. >> i think it's a good way to help the citizens of san jose doing a better job. >> reporter: the family will soon move back to the netherlands where the recycling rate is 80 % compared to san

jose's 57%. >> if you see a change, that's a perfect result of the project. >> reporter: it is a work in progress. >> out of all the ones i tagged, i believe there were two good jobs out of -- i tagged 85. >> reporter: the hope? to make recycling as simple and easy as child's play. >> and if you want to change your recycling habits, go to kpix.com to check out a list of items that aren't recyclable that usually end up in the bin. i'm sure i'm guilty of some. >> oh, once or twice i may have

- lift the clouds off of... - virtual weather, only on kpix and pix+. announcer: it's time to play "family feud"! give it up for steve harvey! [cheering and applause] steve: [indistinct]. come on. i appreciate y'all. thank y'all. thank y'all very