- Coming up on "Austin InSight," it's Earth Month, and we're taking a look at why some parts of Austin are actually hotter than others.

Plus a special report on a local team of free tail bat rescuers.

"Austin InSight" starts right now.

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin Insight" comes from Sally & James Gavin and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(uplifting music) (uplifting music continues) - Hello and thanks for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

Already in 2025, we're seeing more 90-degree-plus days than in previous years.

And while keeping cool can be a challenge for all of us, some parts of the city are actually hotter than others.

They're called heat islands and Decibel community multimedia journalist, Blair Waltman-Alexin explains more in this story.

(hands smacking) - [Blair] Bertha Hernandez lives in the Dove Springs neighborhood of Austin, and selling her homemade tamales and pupusas is her main source of income, but she's making less money this year.

(Hernandez speaking in non-English) (Hernandez speaking in non-English) - [Blair] Over the summer, Austin saw record-breaking heat, but some areas of the city see hotter temperatures than others, and that can mean higher energy bills for residents.

Marc Coudert is with the City of Austin's Office of Resilience.

- We have data that shows heat from satellites and mostly shows areas like parking lots, the airport and so on.

And that's valuable information but doesn't really tell you what's happening on the ground level.

- [Blair] So the City of Austin teamed up with researchers at the University of Texas to see exactly what was going on.

What they found was higher temperatures in places with less greenery.

This is called the urban heat island effect.

Dr. Dev Niyogi is a professor of geosciences and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

- The solar radiation that comes in over these urban areas, it gets absorbed into the streets, into the steel, into all the infrastructure that is required.

And so when you measure the temperatures, you will get that there are blobs which are much hotter.

It'll look like an island, and that's why it gets referred to as a urban heat island.

Those temperatures could be different by anywhere between 5 to 10 degrees.

- [Blair] This is what Hernandez and others are dealing with.

Areas with impervious cover absorb and reflect the sun's rays, increasing temperatures, but not everyone is feeling the heat.

- Some parts of the city, it is much cooler, and other parts of the city are much, much warmer.

- [Blair] Some of this can be traced back to redlining practices that started in the 1930s when the federal government labeled non-white neighborhoods as risky places to invest home loans.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, research shows that redline communities have less vegetative cover, higher temperatures and increased health risks.

- If you look at maps that look at health outcomes or map that look at race or income, they essentially show the same maps, and we, through talking to community members, understand that they are the most sensitive to heat, but also cold, bad air quality and so on.

- [Blair] These neighborhoods also often have older homes that can be harder to keep cool, according to Dr. Zoltan Nagy.

He studies architecture and climate change at the University of Texas.

- So older homes are particularly vulnerable today.

So you have, you know, your single pane windows, the holes around the windows, and what air comes in directly, not just through heat transfer but mass transfer.

So the hot air comes in, or the cold air goes out.

Plus of course over time, you deteriorate, right?

So anything built before the eighties is probably not even insulated at this point.

- [Blair] Many homes in Hernandez's neighborhood were built in the seventies, and older homes plus higher temperatures equals higher energy bills.

(Hernandez speaking in non-English) - And there is another thing that happens, which is that those who cannot afford to delay energy use, and so they turn their HVAC on a lot later, it's a lot warmer inside.

And so that creates all kinds of adverse like health effects.

And then maybe because due to climate change, it gets worse outside, right?

You maybe you delay turning on the AC, but then the condition lasts longer and longer.

So it's really not good.

- So they have to make a decision between not using energy and staying cool.

And that's a very hard conversation to have.

- [Blair] It's a conversation Hernandez has had more than once.

(Hernandez speaking in non-English) (Hernandez speaking in non-English) - [Blair] Heat has pushed electricity bills higher for everyone, but for lower income households, that increase is harder to deal with.

- [Dr. Niyogi] The cost associated, it might seem like it is $50 more, but that $50 would be quite different as against certain neighborhoods where this might be a significant dent in the monthly budget.

- [Blair] Cities can take steps to turn down the heat.

Coudert and his team are making recommendations to the city council that include adding trees and improving bus stops.

But they agree action needs to be taken and quickly.

- We need to be thinking about what we need today, but also what are strategies we need to be doing in the next year or two years as climate change gets worse.

- [Blair] For now, Hernandez says she'll continue to get out early and get back inside before the temperature rises.

(Hernandez speaking in non-English) - Thanks again to Blair Waltman-Alexin for that report from the year long Decibel reporting project in the Dove Springs community in 2023 and 2024.

And did you know April isn't just Earth Month, it also marks International Bat Appreciation Day.

And we like to think no city appreciates bats more than Austin.

We're home to the largest urban bat colony in North America at the Congress Avenue Bridge.

And there's a special team in town devoted to rescuing them.

This next story comes to us from our friends at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

- So the tail sticks freely beyond the tail membrane.

That's what makes them a free tail.

This is a full-grown Mexican free tail bat right here.

This is what causes all the commotion.

- [Pedestrian] Aw, is it okay?

- Yeah, they're actually getting released tonight 'cause they're perfectly healthy.

- [Pedestrian] Oh good.

- We get a lot of bats that are injured or still missing their mama, so they need to drink milk still.

But this little girl is good and ready to take off.

- [Pedestrian] Oh, wow, it's so cute.

- Right, they're super cute, surprisingly adorable.

There is a lot of like negative stigma around them, but they are just so cute and sweet.

- We love the Mexican free tail bats, they're amazing.

They're the iconic bat of central Texas and Austin right here in the heart of the city.

(bats chirping) What we're hoping to do here is make a giant impact on people's perception of bats.

Let people know that they're really gentle creatures that are just trying to make a living like all of us.

We identified a need in Austin for someone to care for the orphaned and injured and displaced bats that people may encounter.

They're fascinating, and they're misunderstood.

And we love having the opportunity to set the record straight, to let people know they're highly beneficial, completely harmless if simply left alone.

They're the first line of defense for North American agriculture.

And they're not only vital to the balance of nature, but they provide a sense of wonder.

(bat chirping) - The next thing on the list is to make sure we can find everyone.

So we have a board over here that's gonna be, we have a list of all the names and when they were fed, making sure that they were fed in the morning and the evening.

And we're gonna go ahead and find everyone and label where they are.

- It's an Easter egg hunt.

Every morning is Easter here in the flight cage.

That bat with a green band is Libby.

Next to her is Pine Cone.

So this is Kimo and Kalua.

We love that they somehow find each other every morning.

Every morning, somehow they are together.

(playful music) So who do we have over here?

He's not flying great because he's below the bar.

You're either above the bar or below the bar out here.

And he definitely landed down here and then climbed up below the bar.

If a bat is found hanging up here, it means that they flew up well enough to stick the landing on the ceiling of the cage.

We jokingly call this flight school here, but we are certainly not teaching them anything.

We're just offering them a chance to practice what they innately know how to do.

And that's really what this is all about.

Just giving them a chance to grow up to be successful adults.

We attract the insects that they need to learn how to hunt.

They can wiggle through the netting and fly around the black light.

And the bats that are hunting well enough can fill their bellies.

It's a whole different scene at night.

These little fuzzy balls that are just hanging up there looking kind of lazy.

They transform into little bug hunting machines.

We call those snackrobatics as bats do their little back flip and capture the moth.

People love that.

So what do you think, should we start with Stella?

- [Rebecca] Yeah, let's get Stella and make sure she's doing okay.

- [Lee] Stella needs a little more work.

It's all the ones that are hanging low that we have to really work on.

- And she is completely empty.

You can see there is no bulge.

Sometimes they'll have like a little like grape-looking shape, and that's their full belly, but right now she has nothing.

So we're gonna go over here to where our food and water is.

She's very thirsty, which is good that she wants to drink.

- [Lee] How they act in the morning is a big indicator of how close they are to be ready to be released.

If they're super hungry in the morning, it means that they're not hunting well enough to be able to find their own food.

- We have well over a hundred bats here right now.

They get in trouble in many ways.

They get exhausted.

They end up on the ground because they can't fly as far as they will learn to fly later.

So this is a little free tail that came in a couple of days ago from a member of the public.

They find them on the ground, they find them all kinds of places.

Little juvenile free tail bats that are just learning how to fly.

And sometimes, my sweetheart, sometimes their first flight is their last unfortunately.

This is one of the little ones that got in trouble somehow.

We never really know for sure.

And this is a blended mealworm smoothie.

It has mealworms and vitamins and minerals.

(bat chirping) We do get in over the course of a year, 350 or more.

So they're coming in all year long.

You know, we may have 120 or something right now, but they're gonna keep coming in for the rest of the year.

And some of them have to be fed every three or four hours.

- [Rebecca] We got a look earlier at what Stella's belly looks like before she was fed.

And then you can see here, she's got a nice full belly of worms.

You can see it's kind of a little grape.

- We feel real lucky to be able to rehab them and take care of them, get 'em back out to the wild whenever they're ready.

That's one of the great joys that we have is being able to release a bat that was in serious trouble and give 'em that second chance, get 'em back out to the wild.

I feel real lucky to be able to do that.

The idea of there being one and a half million bats in that bridge that creates a sense of wonder and awe right there.

And they spend the winter in Mexico.

They come back for South by Southwest, have a big party at the bridge for the whole month of March.

They soon become adapted to the Austin lifecycle and becomes slacker bats.

And don't come out until after dark when it's safe.

(bats chirping) So the best time to come see the bats will be in August, September, even into October.

(enchanting music) Alright, little Rico.

Happy life, little buddy.

There you go.

Look, good boy.

(magical music) Good boy.

Woo-hoo!

- Look at him!

- Yeah, that was a good one!

(enchanting music) Stretch those wings, little girl.

(magical music) Woo-hoo!

- Oh my gosh!

- Yeah, congratulations!

- That was so awesome!

- Yeah, nice job!

Yay!

(enchanting music) - Bats have never been cuter.

Credit for creating that story goes to Garrett Graham, Bryce Spangler, and eight more from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Their weekly TV show airs on Austin PBS on Sunday mornings at 10:00.

Be sure to watch.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) She is a chef, author, a storyteller, and a familiar face to PBS viewers.

Pati Jinich is known for her popular shows, "Pati's Mexican Table" and "La Frontera with Pati Jinich."

And now in her newest project, Pati traveled far from her native Mexico to create a three part series, "Pati Jinich explores Pan Americana."

The show will air on PBS on Tuesdays, April 29th, May 6th and May 13th at 8:00 PM.

Here's a short clip.

(uplifting music) ♪ Ooh ♪ - My life's work has been about forging bonds between my homeland of Mexico and in my new home of the US.

Bridging two worlds.

(gasping) Oh my gosh.

And transcending borders.

Now I'm taking that mission further.

Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Connecting two continents, North and South America, following a route inspired by the Pan-American Highway and through the journey sharing lessons learned.

- Do not cut, just enjoy.

I will be back.

- Don't cut the dumpling?

- Not cut, just holding.

- Just eat, okay.

- For more, let's welcome Pati Jinich to "Austin Insight."

It's great to have you with us, Pati.

- Thank you so much, Laura.

Lovely to connect.

- Absolutely.

So you are venturing all the way to Alaska in the first few episodes.

So first, can you tell us what Pan Americana means and what inspired this series?

- Absolutely.

Well, Laura, you know, I've been doing "Pati's Mexican Table" for the past almost 14 years.

We're going on our 14th season, and after going back and forth Mexico and the US to different regions of Mexico, I wanted to go to the US border to where my two, you know, my home country and my new home meet.

So we did the docuseries called "La Frontera," where I went from one end to the other of the US Mexico borderlands, which was fascinating.

And after doing that, I just felt this urge to connect with people throughout the Americas.

Because in the United States of America, there's people from all over in this hemisphere.

So I just wanted to connect to meet people in the communities where they're from and share lesson-learn, and just get to experience new things just out of the box, out of the ordinary for me.

And it was absolutely fascinating.

- And it sounds like it just from watching the trailer, and you bring up the concept of connection, and cuisine, culture, community, the three Cs all inevitably are connected.

So in this journey, what are some of the most unique dishes or discoveries you've made in your travels?

- It was absolutely fascinating, Laura.

So the idea is to loosely follow the Pan-American Highway, which is a series of roads that connects North and South America all the way from the top of North America, Utqiagvik, which where we started, and then it ends in Ushuaia at the tip of Argentina.

So for season one, we crossed all of Alaska and then connected to Canada in the Yukon and then went down western Canada in Alberta.

And I would say two things.

One, as a Mexican, I love to take the pulse over Mexican food and people have gone, and we've gone everywhere, Laura.

I was finding caribou chili, and salmon quesadillas and chicken burritos.

I mean, it is just incredible how far Mexican food and ingredients have gone.

But other than that, it was incredible to learn about the cuisines of the different places where we were and the different migration waves.

So for example, we were in Juneau, Alaska, and we ate some of the most delicious Filipino food.

It turns out that Filipinos are one of the biggest minorities in Alaska.

And the food there is non-par.

I have never eaten Filipino food so delicious.

- Wow, that's something just now learning.

It's so fascinating, and Alaska's like, for the US's final frontier.

So really excited to see all that you discover there.

And why do you think it's so important to understand culinary or cooking traditions from other places, maybe even places that are far away from your home?

- I just think food and cooking in the kitchen is the most noble space to understand one another and how we enrich one another.

And you realize that we're all the same.

We're all humans.

We're trying to survive.

We're trying to make a living.

And we all connect in that food is not only sustenance, but food brings us back to family, to memories, to community.

And this series is much more than food, but food is definitely a vehicle that ties us all together.

- And you know, when people watch your series, what do you hope they take away?

- I really hope that we are able to change the narrative to make people feel like what we think are labels or categories, many times they're in our minds and in the narrative and in the news.

But it seems to me that life is more a continuous shade of gray than, you know, what we find much these days in the news, which is a lot of division and polarization.

We're all one in the same, Laura.

And when you get out there in the road, and you meet people, and you meet their grandparents, and you meet the families just trying to live their daily lives, you just realize how, again, how much we take for granted here.

- Absolutely, well said.

And we cannot wait to see the rest of your series from Alaska to Argentina.

It's kind of hard to wrap your mind around.

We look forward to watching your journey across Pan Americana.

And thank you so much, Pati, for joining us.

- Thank you, Laura, for having me on today.

(bright music) - We talked about climate change at the beginning of the show, and for many of us its impact is most directly seen in our home landscapes.

Tending to our yards and gardens amid climate challenges can be tricky.

But we have just the right expert to help us sort things out.

Linda Lehmusvirta, the longtime producer of "Central Texas Gardener," one of the most popular programs here on Austin PBS.

Linda, thanks so much for being with us.

- It is a lot of fun to be here.

Thank you for having me.

- Absolutely, Linda.

Well, let's start with a few basics.

So given our drought situation, what do you think are the most important things to keep in mind about watering too much, not enough?

What's the tea?

- Okay, the main thing to consider is your soil and the light the plant gets, and the plant, okay?

So those three things are gonna determine how much you water.

Then for the first year or two with trees, you want to go deep watering.

And then for other plants, with new plants, you want to establish them until their roots are settled.

So there's not any hard and fast rule about how much to water, you just need to pay attention to what's going on.

- And speaking of plants specifically, you recommend planting primarily native plants.

So why is that, and what are some good examples of some good go-to native plants that really thrive in our area that we can plant?

- Well, first of all, let's back up just a little bit on this native plant thing.

So people like to say, oh, a native plant, but it depends on where it's native to.

So what's native or endemic to the hill country may not work in East Austin.

Now because plants can be, they don't really care what you want.

They are out there to do what they want.

There are plants that will go both ways.

Say Turk's cap, that's a very good one to plant a perennial.

It will take sun, it will take part shade, some sun, part shade, low water, doesn't mind the freezes.

Things like rock rose Pavonia works really well.

So there are some plants that can go either way and other plants that are very opinionated, and you have to go along with their opinions.

- Plants, they're just like people, you know?

Sometimes, they get set in their ways, you can't change it.

And I get it, you know, if I'm in one mood, and, you know, like I have a plant, I don't want sunlight, I don't want, you know, sometimes I wanna be in the dark too and like not talk to anyone and just hide away.

I get it.

And I just need, Linda, some plants that like are unkillable.

I just need some, some ones that will be resistant to everything, including me.

- That would be Turk's cap.

Turk's cap would be a very, very good one to add to that arsenal.

- Note to self, okay, note to self.

And another concern for home gardeners is ground cover, whether in plant form or otherwise like mulch or rock.

So first, for those of us that might not exactly know what that means, can you explain what that is and why it's important?

- There's a lot of different opinions about mulch as there are with everything, especially in this plant world.

So if you think, look about, think about where the plant naturally grows.

If it's native to the hill country and grows in a rock outcropping, it's not gonna want a bunch of bark mulch.

It's not a forest plant.

Some plants are, you know, they're used to trees, limbs and things falling on them, and so they're more used to it.

So think about that.

If you have a dry plant, like a succulent, you don't really wanna pile a bunch of bark mulch around it.

You might wanna give it more of a gravelly kind of thing.

You see in parking lots, people put this, it's called, what is it called?

Volcano mulching.

- Volcano.

Okay, that's a bold name.

- Around a tree.

That's a really fast way to kill your tree.

So you don't wanna do that.

- Good to know.

- You wanna create a bowl, the mulch can collect the water.

So that's the main thing about mulch.

- There's so much that goes into it, and it's definitely, I'm learning so much.

And I know gardening for some folks can be intimidating, but it's important to remember that gardening can also be fun and creative and expressive.

And you've talked with so many great gardeners over the years.

So Linda, can you talk about why people get so passionate about this, and your advice to maybe some beginner gardeners like myself that might be a little scared to get going?

- Well, the main thing is just to get out there and do it.

There's something very pleasurable about abandoning, abandoning your other responsibilities, sloughing off the hamster in your head, the struggle, the things constantly going around.

- I need that.

- And just going out, digging in the dirt or sitting there and listening to the birds, planting a seed, watching the butterflies, whatever it is.

And I hear that over and over again, that people find this joy that they created this something, and it was just a matter of putting together a few little plants.

It wasn't like trying to change the world, but they're changing the world in their own little way by having this little pollinator habitat.

Even on a balcony, you can make a difference, and the butterflies and the bees will come to you where maybe they didn't before.

You'll have a toad, or you'll have a lizard, and suddenly, you know, it's all okay.

- I love that.

You know, you're creating a little plant and animal sanctuary maybe in your own backyard and how can you not be at peace surrounded by that?

I love that.

Well, you've given me a lot to think about.

And Linda, you, full disclosure, you've coached me through the loss of my poor baby cactus that I've had for like five years that I bought from someone on the side of the road, and I've had with me.

But you know what, now I'm gonna take your advice.

- Get another one.

- I'm gonna get another one.

I'm gonna build a whole habitat.

And I hope the next time we chat it will still be alive.

- It will, good luck.

- We're manifesting, thank you, Linda.

Linda Lehmusvirta with "Central Texas Garden."

Thanks so much for sharing your tips and joining us today.

- Thank you.

(bright music) And that's our show.

Thanks so much for watching.

You can catch up on our stories in the Austin PBS YouTube channel or catch up on all "Austin InSight" episodes in the PBS app.

We'll see you next time.

(uplifting music) (uplifting music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally & James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in Central Texas.

(light flute music)