>yes. is where the future is going to look. like. this is climate related. extinction. >reporter>species and habit species and habitats in danger on land and in the sea. >> it's catastrophic. >> but environmental change makers are leading the way to protect our planet. >> understanding the diversity, the biodiversity, the habitat requirements will make it sensitive to why we should keep the oceans pristine. >> i think that awareness needs more and more investment, exploration, discovery, and also story telling. >> because earth's future is in our hands. >> we are the only species on the planet that can consciously recognize their own

environmental damage and repair it. thanks so much for joining us on this monday, this earth day. i'm elizabeth cook. as climate change draws more focus across the bay area and around the world for that matter, today we'll look at how earth day got their start right here. how far we've come in protecting our planet, and what it will take to keep it thriving for generations to come. first though let's get you caught up on today's news headlines. past death penalty cases are under scrutiny in alameda county. pamela price just announced her office will be reviewing every case from the past 30 years. she says there is evidence of prosecutorial misconduct, specifically that black and jewish people may have been intentionally left off of juries and death penalty cases. price says the investigation will be overseen by a federal judge. today the u.s. supreme court is hearing a case about homelessness and cities can

punish people for sleeping outside. justices are hearing a case from grant's pass, oregon. the city was fining people for sleeping in public. the ninth circuit court rules said those fines violated the eighth amendment. homeless advocates in san francisco agree with the ninth circuit court of rulings holding a protest today asking them to side against grant's pass. >> and what we want ultimately and what we're using the lawsuit is a wedge. we want the city to have an effective and humane response to let people live off the streets. this is one right we can put in there and say look, you've got to at least consider people's housing needs. >> now on the flip side of all of this, governor newsom and the city of san francisco have filed petitions in support for grant's pass. the oakland police department is mourning the death of a former officer who died from injuries from a crash while on duty in 2018. officer jordan wingate was from walnut

creek. he joined opd as a cadet back in 2013 and was awarded rookie of the year in 2018. highway 37 is back open in the north bay. the westbound direction was shut down over the weekend between vallejo and sonoma raceway for pavement repairs. they say they will shut down again next weekend followed by eastbound closures the following weekends. ferry service could return as early as this week as they began work on the weekend over the peer. in the meantime they are offering buses to san francisco. let's go to our first alert weather now. it is so beautiful today. i hope you'll get outside and enjoy it while you can. our temperatures are about to take a turn again. and darren peck has your forecast.

>> reporter: two examples of how this week starts. and tuesday over here, watch what happens on tuesday morning. we are all going to wake up with may gray. so it is a 10-degree cooler day as a result of this and there will be a little bit of light rain with this as we visualize the southerly surge. see the green there? maybe a few drops along highway 1, city, marin, you might have the windshield wipers on for a part of the day tomorrow as we start to experience this transition. daytime highs are in the low 80s today. already noticeably cooler with a lot of these temperatures on here going to the low 70s. and that is inland. the mid to upper 60s. so let's go back to the bigger transition change. farther out in the pacific, we can see the

next system coming our way and that will get pulled over. we're going to pick up a few light showers from that and kind of falls apart as they will come on shore. the first half of the day, scattered showers will be with us. and if we put the rainfall totals to it, we are talking about a couple hundredths of an inch of rain out there and it is rain on the technicality where this might be the most exciting part going from 80 degrees today to 69 tomorrow. then we'll stay there and temperatures won't buzz a whole lot where they show up on thursday and friday and just a drop or two as we would get towards friday morning, and then we will be done by saturday. we often hear about and

talk about climate change, and today on this earth day, we are looking at the ways people are really taking action to protect our planet. a new cbs news poll finds majority of americans feel the u.s. needs to address climate change with 70% in favor and 30% opposed, those who report experiencing extreme weather are more likely to say we should address climate change right now. a big cleanup efforts as we saw a lot of volunteers picking up trash. many of them were given gloves and green trash bags. it was hosted by trash punks. the organization is dedicated to creating a cleaner environment. in richmond, ceos of a few energy companies held a discussion, focusing on california's energy transition. they talked about clean energy and climate goals. >> the combination of

distributed energy production, whether that's rooftop, solar, other distributed sources, combined with storage is sort of the holy grail of being able to actually have the energy that we will need when we need it. >> and now the annual earth day celebration as we know it got their start more than 50 years ago as a modern environmental movement. we would look into the beginnings and how it all started with the california catastrophe. hey mother, earth, it's your day, earth day. it all began in 1969. that's when u.s. senator gaylord nelson of wisconsin saw the damage caused by a massive oil spill off the coast of santa barbara. the following year, he called for a nationwide peaceful demonstration. an environmental teach in and that is how earth day took route. on april 22,

1970 from coast to coast, more than two million americans showed up to participate including logan airport and boston massachusetts. a rally in manhattan with school kids attending their very first protest. a call in chicago to eliminate all burning cars. a determined plea. >> it is terribly important for us to begin to involve ourselves in politics to turn the system around. >> reporter: earth day would change the nation and secure the political will and action that led to the creation of the epa, as well as clean water and clean air act. and now 54 years later in 2024, earth day will focus on plastics. plastic production has now grown to more than 380 million tons a year. that includes hundreds of billions of plastic bags and

plastic beverage containers, sold every year in the u.s. more than 95% of plastics in the nation won't be recycled at all. they made it clear there was enough public support, energy, and commitment to change the environment. the hope that every day is an earth day. well still ahead, getting a taste of the ocean without really diving in. how this bay area aquarium will help visitors get an upclose and personal look at marine life. understanding the challenges they face in the wild. plus it was sheep verses robots. what's behind

looking live at pier 39 in san francisco now where marine conservation is a big focus on this earth day and really every day for that matter. our shawn chitnis spoke to leaders of the aquarium of the bay about their work year round. >> reporter: thousands of marine animals are on review. many call the bay home. seeing them upclose helps visitors understand the challenge we face at earth including climate change, plastics in the ocean, and natural habitats going away. >> this will immerse you straight into the oceans. you

begin to appreciate the incredible biodiversity. >> reporter: dr. george jacob is the ceo of the aquarium. their underground tunnels is one of the largest of its kind in the u.s. creates a connection between people and the ocean. >> understanding the diversity, the biodiversity and the habitat requirements makes it sensitive to why we should keep the ocean twisting. >> reporter: the aquarium's director of animal care says they help their guests who love the san francisco bay to remember that they share this water with so many creatures that also call it home. >> and i feel like it immerses people and they are animals swimming all around you. they will come right up to you with a face to face upclose and personal encounter with them. >> comes a chance to remind residents protecting the planet. >> and i think that awareness needs more and more investment, discovery, and also story telling. >> reporter: earth day's

origin is in the ocean. it is as much of the focus that will lean towards the land. >> and it is a simple thing if there is no green, there's no blue. >> reporter: a global approach to preserve the entire earth with the local call to action, making sure we all have a place on this planet. >> natural disasters like hurricanes can pose a real threat to wildlife. in some cases, wipeout a species completely. cbs correspondent introduces us to the people trying to save some of the most incredibly endangered birds in the world. >> reporter: emerald green like the forest that shelters them, this is the endangered puerto rican parrot, and it teeters on the brink of extinction. >> 4:45 a.m. and this morning we're going to witness the release of the puerto rican parrot from captivity out into

the wild. >> reporter: the people of the u.s. fish and wildlife service are excited to release ten birds that they have raised in captivity. >> okay, we'll open the cage here in about 10 to 15 minutes. so everybody needs to be at their position. >> this is the way i think i'm contributing to my island. >> reporter: marisol lopez flores runs the program. she's telling me feeders have been set up outside the habitat. >> and they will shoot out of the cage? >> no, hopefully not. what we're doing, this is called a soft release. we open the door before, and after the door is open, we will allow them to fly. >> very casual, huh? >> exactly. >> reporter: in puerto rico, it pushed the parrots towards

extinction. when birds lose their habitat to land development, it limits where they can live, find food, and raise their young. research from cornell university found since 1970, a loss of almost 30%. the future is looking brighter for these birds. taking cautious steps. a quick meal and they're off to join their friends on the outside, become wild birds. the >> i wanted to be a biologist ever since growing up in tennessee. >> reporter: tom white has been working with the parrots since the early 90s, helping to rebuild the population until 2017 when hurricane maria made landfall in puerto rico, killing 3,000 people, causing historic floods and landslides. they found the rainfall was five times more likely because

of climate change. making hurricanes a major threat to the survival. the birds were rushed into a shelter. and they rode out the storm, carrying for the birds. >> late that afternoon we were able to actually open the door and go outside. and we were speechless. they went from being green and lush to brown in the question of hours. >> reporter: the breeding birds that tom was sheltering all survived. crews could not reach the wild birds out in remote parts of the jungle that were starving from the lack of vegetation. of the 56 wild birds in the national forest, this was the only parrot that lived. >> i would admit that i had a couple of times i would cry because you would see 20 years of work and progress, and then

it's wiped out in less than a day. >> reporter: since maria, the team now encourages newly released birds to nest much closer to the aviary, so they could be fed in an emergency. thanks to human intervention. there is now a growing population of 300 wild parrots on the island. >> we are the only species that can recognize their own environmental damage and repair it. >> reporter: it is a lot of work. and they show us that we can as humans try to repair some of the damage that we have done. >> they are so beautiful, aren't they? here is an unusual earth day celebration in san mateo county. pitted old school verses new school. our john ramos shows us the lawn mowing showdown between sheep and robots. >> reporter: the purpose of earth day is to get people to

think about ways to protect the planet where that will boil down to a plan to mow your lawn. at the festival in atherton, they wanted to use friendly lawn equipment and that is where it ended, sheep verses robot put to a vote. >> and this seems like it's funny, but it's not. it is very serious. >> reporter: the competition for eco-friendly lawncare pitted a sheep of flocks against the lawnmower. the mower acts like an outdoor roomba cutting the grass automatically using a gps sensing tower. >> and it will talk to the gps to the satellite and will talk to the base station and then

you draw points along the line and it will make a little square and knows where to go. >> it will make no noise and will find its way back to the charging station when the battery gets low. >> the first part looks like a car, but also kind of like a black panther or something like that. >> reporter: and they say it causes a lot less shock to lawns than normal weekly mowing. >> with the robot, you have a couple days a week, no cost, because you're running on battery, and they do no damage. in fact, the lawns are much healthier. >> reporter: not everyone is sold on the technology. >> you want to watch me vote? look at that. here we go. vote for the sheep. sheep mowers kick robot grass. >> reporter: haven cures has had enough of the robots. the professor says her sheep have something that trumps high-tech. they're cute and kind of fun to watch. >> let's look at the people

watching, photographing the sheep, oh, and then there's the robotic mower. do you see anyone or is it hidden in the corner with no one watching? >> reporter: the sheep can also graze on hilly terrain. they say watching them has a calming affect on people. and it was the cute factor that seemed to be swaying the public vote. >> well, they're cuter. i mean if you should -- if it has to be something cute for me in order to win because yeah, i like cute stuff. >> i just voted for the sheep, you know? >> reporter: the 8-year-old voted for the robot because he likes ai better than sheep. he was wondering if there was a way to get there. >> and that they could curl their fur faster and have that machine where they could last forever. >> reporter: this is no popularity contest. so it wasn't a big surprise when they were counted and the

result was announced. >> the competition is 20-103 and the sheep won. by a lot. >> reporter: score one for organic matter over metal. the sheep seemed happy about it. waiting patiently waiting. >> cute will always beat the computer, right? well, you might be wondering why atherton pit the sheep against the robot in the first place. the city says it is a way to remind people the state of california has banned gas powered lawn equipment effective july 1 of this year. coming up today at 4:00 and 10:00 tonight, be sure to watch our cbs news bay area earth day special. a look at how everyday people here in the bay area are working together to protect our planet. our earth day special streams on kpix.com. the free

cbs news app and on pluto tv. and still ahead here at 3:00, we know them as towering giants here in california. why scientists say the sequoia is now flourishing across the day you get your clearchoice dental implants makes every day... a "let's dig in" day... mm. ...a "chow down" day... a "take a big bite" day... a "perfectly delicious" day... - mm. [ chuckles ] - ...a "love my new teeth" day. because your clearchoice day is the day everything is back on the menu. a clearchoice day changes every day. schedule a free consultation.

scientists say climate change is threatening the world's largest trees.

california's endangered giant sequoias. there is one unlikely place where they are thriving. the english countryside, believe it or not. these giant trees located just outside of london. scientists say they are relatively younger compared to the sequoias here in california. these trees are about 110 years old. giant sequoias could live for more than 3,000 years and soar nearly 300 feet into the air. but climate change is threatening their native habitat. that's a problem in the u.k. >> sierra, nevada mountains can be centered here. it's cooler and more damp, and that is very british weather. >> today more than half a million giant sequoias are thriving in the u.k. compared to fewer than had 80,000 here in the u.s. in the victoria era, scientists brought the giant sequoias to the u.k. because people marveled at their size. we'll be right

cbs evening news is next. local ♪ ♪ >> turmoil at some of america's top university. >> safety has to be for all students. all of us. >> palestinian protests spread to other college campuses leading to a rest and safety concerns for jewish ss