Song of the Week: 'Hot Fun in the Summertime', by Sly and the Family Stone, for a busy summer in climate news

Ilsa Setziol/KPCC

One of the few Humboldt lilies (also called leopard lilies) that survives in Big Santa Anita canyon. English Ivy has smothered most of the native plants along a 3-mile stretch of the stream.

Earlier this week I did a story about L.A.'s efforts to add 50 parks, three-quarters of them small, to the city's holdings. For the story, I interviewed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and along the way we digressed into talk about L.A.'s efforts to add renewable energy, whether he really cares about "pops of color" in drought-tolerant plants at City Hall, and how L.A.'s greening efforts stack up against other cities, states, and countries.

At one point he said he thought that mandatory limits for outdoor watering were coming…someday!…in the future, thanks to a warming planet. That's one reason he says he cares about putting native plants in public places.

It's been the kind of summer where you can't ignore the presence of news and scientific developments about climate change. So, in honor of the mayor's comments, record high temperatures, and the fact that we're all now keeping close watch on the Arctic's ice or lack thereof, here's this week's song of the week, by Sly and the Family Stone.

Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime

End of the spring
And here she comes back
Hi hi hi hi there
Well, summer days
Those summer days
I'd lie down when I want to
Out of school
County fair in the country sun
And everything is cool

That's when I had most of my fun back
Hi hi hi hi there
Well, summer days
Those summer days

Listen to all of the songs of the week.