The graph above shows atmospheric CO2 levels increasing from 1958 to October 2021. This graph is not a computer model, but actual measured CO2 concentrations made by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
Sea Level Rise
By JENNIE DUSHECK, FREELANCE SCIENCE WRITER BASED IN SANTA CRUZ
We all know that as global temperatures inch upward, the climate is changing. In California, climate change is bringing heat, drought and high winds that make wildfires larger and hotter and our wildfire season longer. Agriculture, urban water supplies, human health and wildlife are all under threat.
One threat that gets less attention is sea level rise. In December 2021, experts announced the formation of massive cracks in Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier. Glaciologists predicted that a massive ice dam that holds back the 100-mile-wide glacier will fail within 1 to 10 years. When that happens, the Florida-sized Thwaites Glacier will begin to break up and slide into the sea.
The loss of the ice dam alone will increase sea level rise by a small amount immediately. But the break up of the ice dam will then lead to the collapse of the Thwaites Glacier, triggering the slow collapse of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet, which holds more than 10 feet of global sea level rise.
Depending on how fast we reduce global emissions, that could take hundreds of years. But right now, other polar ice sheets in other parts of Antarctica and in Greenland are also melting and breaking up. Together, these monstrous ice sheets hold 65 meters (212 feet) of sea level rise. How much of it melts and how fast depends on what we do in the next few years.
If we keep doing what we are doing today, ice melt could cause sea level to rise by 11 feet as soon as 2100 — just 78 years from today.
It’s important to understand that things are not getting better, at least not yet. Despite decades of international climate meetings and tentative agreements, despite promises to do better in the future, despite economic approaches like carbon trading, despite hazy promises of technological breakthroughs, and despite a slight decrease in CO2 emissions by the US -- global CO2 levels are accelerating upward.
The graph at the top of the page shows atmospheric CO2 levels increasing from 1958 to October 2021. This graph is not a computer model, but actual measured CO2 concentrations made by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Atmospheric CO2 levels are not declining, they are not plateauing, and they are not even just increasing. They are accelerating. (The jagged up and down movements of the curve reflect seasonal changes in CO2 levels, due to plants taking up CO2 in spring and summer, and releasing it back into the atmosphere in fall and winter.)
Right now, we don’t know how serious the world’s governments and corporations will become about driving emissions to zero. Until we know, it makes sense to begin to plan for the worst case scenario, which is 11 feet of sea level rise in this century.
Here in Santa Cruz, a worst case scenario for sea level rise brings immediate concerns. For example, the lower wastewater treatment plant at Neary Lagoon is vulnerable to flooding. Can it be relocated? Are those living in Beach Flats, Lower Ocean, and Neary Lagoon vulnerable to sea level rise, storm flooding, and failure of San Lorenzo River levees? What are our options for equitable, planned retreat?
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“A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned,” or Is It?
By MAS HASHIMOTO
Mas Hashimoto (right) is wearing his "stylish" gardening pants, accompanied by his oxygen tank.
Photo by MARCIA HASHIMOTO
Ben Franklin’s famous quote may not be appropriate for today’s economic world. Have you checked the interest rate on your bank’s savings account and compared it with current cost-of-living expenses?
Born in 1935 during the depths of the Great Depression, as a child I never had an allowance. As the 7th and final son in the family, I never had to worry about clothes. I had hand-me-down pants that had, on the knees, patches upon patches. If I had taken off the multiple layers of patches and exhibited my bare knees today, I would be most fashionable and the envy of all my peers. Oh, pictured above are my stylist gardening pants.
Do you remember earning your first dollar? Or, wages?
I remember earning 10 cents in 1944 when I was 9 years old while caddying for James “Chic” Abe of Salinas on Poston II’s golf course. He had only a few clubs instead of the normal 14 in his golf bag. The course was all sand and dust. There were no green fairways or “putting greens.” If the golf ball landed in a bush, one had to be careful not to disturb the rattlesnakes which might be resting there.
After “camp,” while in grade school, I rarely had a nickel in my pocket. In high school, I rarely had more than a quarter.
At San Jose State College, I had 50 cents every day with which to buy lunch -- two small 19 cents burgers and one ten cent Coke. Two cents went for taxes. One day, I saw a Hindu student from India also eating hamburgers. I asked about that, and he replied, “Not my cow.”
In June of 1946, when I was ten years of age, thanks to Tom Murakami, I got a job picking strawberries and raspberries for 85 cents an hour. I was very grateful.
For the next 13 summers, I remained a farm worker. At the time there were no protective child labor laws or farm workers’ union. Much later, from age 14, one had to obtain a California “work permit.” We were not to use dangerous equipment or be subject to dangerous sprays, like insecticides. Once, pilots flew over and sprayed us! We were coughing and coughing, and so mad. The pilot from Salinas flew over the wrong fields.
If it grew here, I picked it—strawberries, raspberries, black berries, apples (in those days the trees were huge, and as the smallest picker, I had to go get the apples at the very top of the trees.) Those wooden triangular ladders were so heavy—heavier than me! and clumsy to move around. Now, dwarf apple trees are grown. Also there were string beans, apricots, tomatoes for catsup (oh, the “fuzz” got onto your skin and clothes and so they were itchy. One didn’t wash the clothes. One had to throw them away), lettuce, artichokes (oh, the thorns hurt!), celery (the white milk from the stalks that got onto your skin would stink, and you smelled of celery for weeks. You didn’t want to go to a YBA dance at the Buddhist Temple smelling of celery; the girls didn’t want to dance with you), and the hardest job—thinning lettuce with a short-handle hoe! One is bent over for ten hours. I am so grateful to the California legislature for outlawing short-handle hoes for use in the fields.
Have you ever picked a strawberry? If so, you learned all there is to know about picking strawberries. What are you going to learn the rest of summer? There was no portable radio in those days. Now, workers have smart phones.
The summer farm work of 13 years paid for my college education. The last summer of work in 1958, I was making $1.25 an hour!
I am grateful to H. A. Rider, Akiyoshi Brothers, A&K (Akiyoshi and Kizuka), Maruyama, Aoki, Y. Kimoto, and lettuce and other growers whose names I can no longer remember.
After working in the fields all day, we were not so tired we couldn’t play softball in the city youth league at Watsonville High School’s baseball field. In 1950, we, the Lions Club, won the champion-ship! We had to be careful not to stain our white uniforms with the berry stains on our hands.
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Bread and Roses
As we come marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill-lofts gray
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing, "Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses."
As we come marching, marching, we battle, too, for men—
For they are women's children and we mother them again.
Our days shall not be sweated from birth until life closes—
Hearts starve as well as bodies: Give us Bread, but give us Roses.
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient song of Bread;
Small art and love and beauty their trudging spirits knew—
Yes, it is Bread we fight for—but we fight for Roses, too.
As we come marching, marching, we bring the Greater Days—
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler—ten that toil where one reposes—
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses.
James Oppenheim, 1911.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Canada geese coming in for a landing at Harkins Slough in Watsonville.
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Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report
By SARAH RINGLER
The Santa Cruz County Health Department regularly releases data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county. There have been no new deaths this week. Since April, 2020, the total number of known cases reported on Thursday totaled 23,543, up 1,144 or 5% from Dec. 30.
Because of all the home tests currently available, these numbers are underestimates according to Corinne Hyland, County Health Services Agency spokesperson. Hyland also stated that many people are going to the hospital emergency rooms to be tested. If they don't have serious life-threatening symptons, it can impact the hospital's ability to treat other patients who made need their care. She recommends people with minor symptoms stay home, isolate and rest.
Monitoring hospitalizations may become a better way to monitor the spread of serious Covid-19 cases. Click to view a graph of hospitalizations here.
There have been some changes in the last week. Active cases in south county dropped by 7%. Mid county rose 1% and and north county increased by 5%. See details in the chart below.
On the county's vaccination webpage, as of Jan. 2, 77% of the county has had at least one dose and 71% has had two doses. That has not changed since Dec. 12. Here are more details on the county's vaccination data.
This webpage also has a link where you can get a digital copy and scannable QR code of your vaccination record. Keep track of your four digit code because that is your access to the site.
The county's Effective Reproductive Number is now below one. See chart below. Numbers above one show the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing.
There are many COVID-19 testing locations around the county and a few sites have free testing. For information on how to get tested, visit this site. Click here to make an appointment to get tested.
Any Californian age 12 or up can get vaccinated for free. For information on getting vaccinated, click here.
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% deaths by ethnicity:
White - 55%
Latinx - 36%
Black - 0%
Asian - 7%
American Native - 0%
Unknown - 0%
% deaths by gender/% of population:
Female - 49%/50%
Male - 51%/50%
Deaths by age/228:
25-34 - 2%
35-44 - 3%
45-54 - 4%
55-59 - 1%
60-64 - 6%
65-74 - 18%
75-84 - 22%
85+ - 43%
% active cases testing positive by region/% of population:
Mid-county - 15%/12%
North county - 57%/56%
South county - 26%/32%
Under investigation - 2%
Weekly increases in positive tests:
June 12-19 - 7%
June 19-26 - 23%
June 26 to July 3 - 22%
July 3-9 - 23%
July 9-16 - 40%
July 16-23 - 20%
July 23-30 - 27%
July 30-Aug. 6 - 13%
Aug. 6-13- 12%
Aug.14-20 - 16%
Aug.20-28 - 10%
Aug. 28-Sept. 3 - 10%
Sept. 3-10 - 6%
Sept. 10-17- 8%
Sept. 17-24 - 7%
Sept. 25- Oct.1 - 5%
Oct. 1 - 9 - 4%
Oct. 9-15 - 4%
Oct. 15-22 - 5%
Oct. 23-29 - 4%
Oct. 30-Nov. 5 - 6%
Nov. 5-12 - 10%
Nov. 12-19 - 11%
Nov. 19-26 - holiday
Nov. 19-Dec. 3 - 29% 2 weeks of data for this week only
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Dec. 3-10 - 16%
Dec. 10-17 - 17%
Dec. 17-24 - 14%
Dec. 24-31 - 19%
Jan. 1-7 - 13%
Jan. 7-14 - 14%
Jan. 15-21 - 11%
Jan. 21-28 - 5%
Jan. 28-Feb. 4 - 5%
Feb. 5-11 - 2%
Feb. 11-18 - 2%
Feb. 18-25 - 1%
Feb. 25-March 5 - 1%
March 5-11 - 1%
March 11-18 - 2%
March 18-25 - .5%
March 25 - Apr. 1 - .7%
Apr. 1-8 - 0.1%
Apr. 9-15 - 1%
Apr. 16-22 - 2%
Apr. 22-30 - 2%
Apr. 30 - May 6 - .3%
May 6-13 - 2%
May 13-20 - 0%
May 24 - Data readjustment by county means percentages cannot be calculated this week.
May 27 - June 3 - 0%
June 3-10 - 0%
June 11-17 - .25%
June 18-24 - 0%
June 25-July 1 - 0%
July 2-8 - .3%
July 9-15 - .2%
July 16-22 - .5%
July 23-29 - 1.2%
July 30-Aug. 5 - 2%
Aug. 6-12 - .7%
Aug.13-19 - 4%
Aug. 20-26 - .7%
Aug. 26-Sept. 2 - 3%
Sept. 2-9 - 2%
Sept. 10-16 - 1%
Sept. 17-22 - 1%
Sept. 23-30 - 2%
Oct. 1-7 - 0%
Oct. 8-14 - 1%
Oct. 15-21 - 1%
Oct. 22-28 - 1%
Oct. 29-Nov. 4 - 1%
Nov. 5-11 - 1%
Nov. 12-18 - 2%
Nov. 19 - Dec. 2 - 2 weeks 2%
Dec. 2-9 - 2%
Dec. 9-16 - 1%
Dec. 16-23 - 1%
Dec. 24-30 - 2%
Dec. 31 - Jan. 6 - 5% Growth of home tests underestimates cases-see above
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street -
This bugle, in its case, showed up beside a huge trash heap in San Lorenzo Park after recent rains flooded the area.
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Labor History Calendar for Jan. 7-13, 2022
Jan. 7, 1918: Police fire on striking metal workers and kill 5 in Buenos Aires beginning Semana Trágica, Tragic Week.
Jan. 7, 1939: Tom Mooney, activist and socialist, was freed after 22.5 years in San Quentin after international pressure and evidence came out that he had been framed for a bombing at a Preparedness March in San Francisco that was in favor more defense spending. Ten people died from the bombing.
Jan. 8, 1811: More than 500 enslaved sugar cane workers marched on New Orleans chanting "Freedom or Death."
Jan. 8, 1883: Trial of International Workers Association members in Lyon, France.
Jan. 8, 1892: Anarchist revolt in Jerez, Spain.
Jan. 9, 1905: Revolution in St. Petersburg, Russia. Known as the First Russian Revolution, a wave of political and social unrest around the country against the government brought some reform and later was followed by the 1917 Revolution that ended the monarchy and created the Soviet Union.
Jan. 9, 1939: Southern Tenant Farmers' Union led highway sit-down of 1,700 tenant families.
Jan. 9, 1973: Brick strike starts strike wave by black workers in Durban, S. Africa.
Jan. 10, 1859: Birth of Francisco Ferrer, libertarian educator.
Jan. 11, 1908: General Strike in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Jan. 11, 1912: IWW Bread & Roses strike began in textile mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts and ended March 14.
Jan. 12, 1928: Police raid IWW hall in Walsenburg, Colorado to break strike.
Jan. 12, 1933: Failed anarchist uprising and reprisal massacre at Casas Verdes, Spain leaving 23 peasants dead.
Jan. 13, 1957: Death penalty decreed for strikers in Hungary.
Jan. 13, 1993: 3,500 Cathay Pacific flight attendants strike against overtime in Hong Kong.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Chicken Kaarage - Japanese style chicken nuggets
By SARAH RINGLER
You can easily make your own chicken nuggets. What keeps the chicken tender and flavorful is a soak in a marinade made with cooking sake, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and ginger. I got the recipe from RasaMalaysia, a website that features Asian cooking that I have found to be doable and reliable. Called Chicken Karaage, it refers to a Japanese technique that translates as “Tang fry” and can be used with other meats or fish.
This recipe is particularly simple but does involve marinating and deep fat frying. Put aside a few hours or overnight to marinate the chicken. Deep fat frying is always a challenge and its danger should never be underestimated; in this recipe, you are going to fry the nuggets twice.
Most chicken nuggets that come from fast food restaurants are unsurprisingly not very healthy. Taking ground chicken products, breading and shaping them, and then finally frying them so that they wouldn't fall apart was the 1950 invention of Robert C. Baker, a Cornell University poultry and food science professor, according to the Cornell Chronicle of March 16, 2006. Initially they weren't very popular but over time have grown in popularity especially with kids. According to a 2013 study by deShazo, Bigler and Skipworth in The American Journal of Medicine titled “The Autopsy of Chicken Nuggets Reads ‘Chicken Little,’” most fast food nuggets are made up of other chicken parts ground up with meat resulting in almost 60% fat and 20% protein. The gory details, if you’re interested, are in the article.
This recipe calls for chicken breast and thigh meat. Chicken thighs have more fat and therefore more flavor. You can also fry up chicken heart, liver and gizzards if you can find them. In Busan, a coastal city in southern South Korea, there is a fried chicken and beer place by the water that served up a good sized basket of fried gizzards which I got to enjoy all on my own.
1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts/thighs, cut into cubes
6 tablespoons mirin, Japanese cooking sake
3 inches fresh ginger, peeled, grated and pounded with a mortar and pestle to extract 2 tablespoons of ginger juice
1 cup cornstarch or potato starch - more if necessary
1/2 teaspoon salt
Peanut or avocado oil, for deep frying
Use paper towels to pat dry the chicken and transfer to a bowl. Peel about 3 inches of fresh ginger and grate or pound to extract 2 tablespoons of ginger juice. Add to the bowl with the chicken, the mirin, soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. Marinate for at least 30 minutes or at best 2 hours.
Take a sturdy plastic bag like a Ziplock and add the cornstarch and the salt. Take the chicken pieces out of the marinade and coat evenly with cornstarch. Shake off the excess cornstarch.
Prepare area around your stove for deep fat cooking. Put a metal strainer over a bowl to drain the nuggets after they come out of the fryer. Next to that, put a cookie tin covered with paper towels.
Heat up a wok/pot of cooking oil. When the cooking oil is hot enough for frying (350F – 375F), drop the chicken into the oil and quickly deep-fry them until they float. Work in batches transferring the chicken out of the oil, into the strainer and then finally onto the paper towels.
When chicken has sat for a few minutes, refry them again until they are golden brown and crunchy. Dish out on a plate or bowl lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil and serve hot with a slice of lemon and mayonnaise or gochujang, a Korean hot chili sauce. Serves two to four people.
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Your story, poetry or art here: Please submit a story, poem or photo of your art that you think would be of interest to the people of Santa Cruz County. Try and keep the word count to around 400. Also, there should be suggested actions if this is a political issue. Submit to coluyaki@gmail.com
If you are enjoying the Serf City Times, forward it on to others. We need readers, artists, photographers and writers.
Thanks, Sarah Ringler
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Welcome to Serf City Times Over time, our county has grown more stratified and divided with many people feeling left out. Housing affordability, racism and low wages are the most obvious factors. However, many groups and individuals in Santa Cruz County work tirelessly to make our county a better place for everyone. These people work on the environment, housing, economic justice, health, criminal justice, disability rights, immigrant rights, racial justice, transportation, workers’ rights, education reform, gender issues, equity issues, electoral politics and more. Often, one group doesn’t know what another is doing. The Serf City Times is dedicated to serving as a clearinghouse for those issues by letting you know what is going on, what actions you can take and how you can support these groups.This is a self-funded enterprise and all work is volunteer.
Copyright © 2022 Sarah Ringler - All rights reserved
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