California provided an early proving ground for EDF's climate work: EDF co-sponsored California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), landmark legislation that set an absolute statewide limit on greenhouse gas emissions, and confirmed California's commitment to transition to a sustainable, clean energy economy. Cantua Creek, San Joaquin Valley. That’s a double whammy when it comes to the hydrological balance … California summers are 2.5 degrees warmer than they were in the 1970s and are on track to heat up an additional 4.5 degrees by the end of the century if the world’s current emissions trajectory continues, said Hausfather. The pandemic has fueled pet adoptions, “one of the few silver linings to COVID,” one animal rescue official says. Car and truck emissions are the single biggest contributor to climate change, and California has long been empowered to set its own rules. When it comes to wildfires, “what we’ve had in California over the last three to four weeks is unprecedented in our historical experience,” Diffenbaugh said. In California, officials have tried a series of rule changes … Today's fire season in the western United States starts earlier, lasts longer, and is more intense … “The baselines we’ve used for decades no longer apply. Over the past century, California has warmed by about 3 degrees Fahrenheit, more than the global average of about one degree Fahrenheit. Why there are oil wells all over Southern California. He failed. As soils become drier, heat waves become more intense. "Just come to the state of California. The confusing, frustrating ordeal as older Californians search out COVID-19 vaccine, The confusing, frustrating ordeal as older California search out COVID-19 vaccine, Korean Americans who remember 1992 riots fight to save LAPD station. Gov. “We have seen the rapid warming of California summers really turbocharge the type of conditions that are suitable for rapid growth of wildfires,” Hausfather said. “What we’ve been seeing in California are some of the clearest events where we can say this is climate change — that climate change has clearly made this worse,” said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at the Breakthrough Institute, an Oakland-based think tank. “They are two sides of the same coin.”. California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment (Fourth Assessment) advances actionable science that serves the growing needs of state and local-level decision-makers from a variety of sectors. SACRAMENTO – Recognizing that climate change poses not only a clear and immediate environmental risk but also a financial risk to long-term investment stability, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that the Department of Finance has released the California Climate Investment Framework, which integrates the climate risk strategies of the state’s three largest pension funds into … And that’s because the conditions are ripe, and temperature plays a large role.”. Wildfires, blackouts, anger: California shows us the future of climate change The damage we’ve done through greenhouse gas emissions is not something we can turn off. What precisely is driving changes such as elevated smog levels can be hard to tease out in the middle of an extreme event because so much is happening at once, with multiple hazards piling on top of each other in a vicious feedback loop. And it’s that atmospheric warming that has set the stage for the fires raging throughout the western U.S., said Park Williams, a hydroclimatologist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Photo by @mettelampcov. A sizzling summer: Hottest August on record in California. Since the 1980s, government and oil industry scientists have been anticipating the events that have transpired across the state this past month. Ivey, of UC Riverside, said she and other scientists aren’t surprised to see so many extremes hitting simultaneously, “but to see it playing out is scary.”, “It’s one of those moments where ozone converged with record acres burned and a heat wave,” she said. A number of state agencies engage in intergovernmental climate cooperation coordinating activities through the Intergovernmental Climate Action Team (ICAT). The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is convening a virtual scientific workshop to inform the next update of the Indicators of Climate Change in California report, scheduled for release in 2021. “If we think of the atmosphere as a giant sponge that’s always trying to extract water from the landscape, then temperature increases the sponginess,” he said. "If climate change hasn't affected us personally yet it will, and it's projected in 80 years to affect food supply farming, coastal cities and wild fires," she said. The evidence for rapid climate change is compelling: Global Temperature Rise. Key Findings. As rain patterns change, forests will become drier and susceptible to more frequent and intense fires. In people’s backyards in Echo Park. Climate change appears to beDiffenbaugh et al. “People may not directly connect local air pollution to global climate change, but they are intertwined,” said Zhu. In California, the climate change issue is inextricably tied to questions of socioeconomic and racial injustice and inequality. California wildfires map: What’s burning now. In recent years, extreme drought and heat have killed off over 100 million trees, completely destroying many of California’s treasured forests, and increasing the likelihood of more fires. team of international scientists projected that during the next 100 years, third United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, As one 1988 internal Shell Oil Co. document noted, spiked to their highest levels since the mid-1990s, ‘Gender reveals’ are all the rage amid COVID-19. In addition, climate change makes forests more vulnerable to fires by increasing temperatures and making forests and brush drier. With President Trump isolated in the White House since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Vice President Mike Pence increasingly fills the void in their waning days in office. But the heat and dryness have absolutely set the table for widespread fire activity.”Dreadful air quality In 2001, a team of international scientists projected that during the next 100 years, the planet’s inhabitants would witness higher maximum temperatures, more hot days and heat waves, an increase in the risk of forest fires and “substantially degraded air quality” in large metropolitan areas as a result of climate change. And when autumn winds kick in, as they have this week, the flames break loose. It’s human activity that’s causing this. ©2020 California Public Utilities Commission and California Energy Commission. These fires will add even more carbon to the atmosphere, further accelerating climate change. The Creek Fire, in the Sierra National Forest in California, has burned hundreds of thousands of acres. Along La Cienega near Inglewood. The California Climate Credit is part of California’s efforts to fight climate change. Bad forest management, combined with human behavior — intentional and unintentional starting of fires — have contributed to the problem. California’s lands provide an important resource in limiting the impacts of climate change while protecting our communities from climate change-driven events such as wildfire, floods, droughts and extreme heat. 2020 tied for the hottest year ever recorded, but disasters fueled by climate change set it apart. While precise attribution studies on the extreme heat waves in California in recent weeks will take time to complete, he said, they are clear examples of how climate change compounds natural weather variability to increase the likelihood of what once would have been a rare event. Key Findings. climate change and increased California wildfire activity to date. And that’s somebody who’s very skeptical.”. ‘Cinderella story for a dog’: Bidens’ shelter pet gives adoption trend a boost. As one 1988 internal Shell Oil Co. document noted, “by the time the global warming becomes detectable it could be too late to take effective countermeasures to reduce the effects or even to stabilize the situation.”. California political leaders including Governor Gavin Newsom and Senator Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, blame climate change. Your utility and municipality may also provide rebates and other resources to help you take action. California could take further action by codifying an ambitious midcentury greenhouse gas reduction target to ensure continued momentum on climate action. Critics say Newsom frequently hypes announcements and keeps local government and public officials in the dark about his coronavirus plans. Darker oranges and reds suggest up to a 10-fold increase in potential area burned. Climate change appears to beDiffenbaugh et al. A panel commissioned by the World Health Organization has criticized China and others for not moving quickly to stem the first coronavirus outbreak. News and analysis of the fight against climate change in California. Cantua Creek, San Joaquin Valley. The global rise in temperatures observed over decades is also occurring locally, she said, “and these frequently occurring heat waves, this upward trend in basin-wide average temperature, is contributing to ozone exacerbation.”, Rarely have so many Californians been exposed to such gloomy, unhealthy air. “I’m only sorry that in 1989, I could not get an audience for what I wanted to communicate,” said Jim Hansen, a retired NASA researcher and early climate change scientist, of testimony he made to Congress about the issue. All rights reserved. While global climate models are incredibly useful for understanding climate change on global and continental scales, they are too low in spatial resolution to help us understand climate impacts on smaller scales, particularly in areas like the Los Angeles region, whose complex topography creates microclimates that a global climate model cannot account for. He noted that fires are not unusual in California — they are an integral part of the state’s history and landscape. “We see fires growing from essentially nothing to a quarter of a million acres in one day. Climate change is also causing more humid heat waves. The new numbers come as the insurance industry struggles to adjust to the effects of climate change. Carbon dioxide isn’t harmful at natural levels, but too much can act like a layer of plastic wrap around the Earth that lets in heat from the sun but doesn’t let it escape. Assessment Overview. Gavin Newsom suspended air quality rules on power plants and other polluters to ease strain on the grid, allowing more emissions to sully the air. SACRAMENTO – From record temperatures to proliferating wildfires and rising seas, California is already feeling the significant and growing effects of climate change, according to a new report released today that tracks 36 indicators of climate change and its impacts on the state. The credit is from a state government program that requires power plants and other large industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution permits from auctions managed by the California Air Resources Board. If every American home replaced one incandescent light bulb with a new ENERGY STAR energy-saving LED bulb, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that we could save enough energy to power three million homes for a year, save about $680 million in annual energy costs and eliminate nine billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year. Besides fighting the effects of climate change, our collective efforts can boost our local economy by keeping clean-energy investments, jobs and innovation in California. Climate patterns are changing, in California and across the planet. So how do we achieve such an ambitious goal? We all need to play a part in successfully increasing energy efficiency, embracing clean energy and supporting clean technology. Climate patterns are changing, in California and across the planet. Trump retreats from his job, and Pence fills the void as ‘acting’ president. Climate Change Scoping Plan. By Amy Brady | Friday, January 15, 2021. The Creek Fire, in the Sierra National Forest in California, has burned hundreds of thousands of acres. It will take effort and dedication from every Californian and company doing business here. The deserts in the south of the state have very hot summers and mild winters. News and analysis of the fight against climate change in California. In a matter of weeks, California has experienced six of the 20 largest wildfires in modern history and toppled all-time temperature records from the desert to the coast. We have to find ways to work together to make real, substantive changes to protect what we have today and preserve our natural resources for future generations. Energy Upgrade California® is making it easier for you to reduce your carbon footprint by providing you with a variety of ways to save energy and water. Learn how global warming is affecting California and the western states, and the solutions states are taking to address the growing risks of climate change. Specifically in California, extreme heat waves — like the ones of recent weeks — are now 3 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit warmer due to climate change. Scoping plan. Memoir, poetry, and climate change in Felicia Luna Lemus' 'Particulate Matter' By Amy Brady | Jan 15, 2021 A deeply penetrating and philosophical look at the author's experiences living through California's record-breaking 2020 wildfires and the attendant grave illness of a loved one. Climate Change in the San Joaquin Valley. “When you add COVID, extreme heat, wildfires and air pollution all together, they’re all detrimental to public health, and it just makes things worse,” said Yifang Zhu, a professor of environmental health sciences at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health who studies air pollution and its effects. The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.05 degrees Fahrenheit (1.14 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere. And the record heat, fires and pollution all have one thing in common: They were made worse by climate change. Ten years after the passage of AB 32, California extended and strengthened the limit on greenhouse gas emissions with the passage of SB 32 in 2016. California is leading the way. FBI searches home of Huntington Beach far-right extremist who posted about attending the Capitol riot. Key Findings. “People who have lived in California for 30, 40 years are saying this is unprecedented, it has never been this hot, it has never been this smoky in all the years I’ve lived here.”, Los Angeles suffers worst smog in almost 30 years. During the mid-August heat wave, Death Valley soared to 130 degrees, one of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on Earth. Updates on California's emissions laws, clean-air battle, and environmental policies. now add weight to the accumulating evidence that anthropogenic climatic changes are already influencing the frequency, magnitude, and duration of drought in California.increasing the likelihood of a large-scale atmospheric pattern that yields warm, dry weather in California. Antonio is about to take a sip of cold bottled water, after arriving home from a long day’s work in the pistachio fields. Major, a German shepherd, will become the first White House shelter dog. California’s comprehensive plan outlining the state’s approach to achieving its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, including SB 32’s goal of reducing emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. By taking bold action California is a leader on climate change. “It means that even with no change in the frequency of strong wind events, even with no change in the frequency of lightning, the risk of wildfire and risk of large, rapidly growing wildfires goes up as a result of the effect of that warming,” he said. In California, much of the state’s energy still comes from our dependence on fossil fuels like natural gas and oil. A 2011 study projected that the frequency and magnitude of both maximum and minimum temperatures would increase significantly as a result of global warming. California’s lands provide an important resource in limiting the impacts of climate change while protecting our communities from climate change-driven events such as wildfire, floods, droughts and extreme heat. The same study further projected that the frequency and magnitude of both maximum and minimum temperatures would likely increase as a result of globa… Make America California Again? “We can see how warm and dry years catalyze these fires,” he said, adding, however, that for fires to start, “they need to have ignitions. The FBI searched the Huntington Beach apartment of a far-right extremist who previously claimed to have attended the Capitol riot. now add weight to the accumulating evidence that anthropogenic climatic changes are already influencing the frequency, magnitude, and duration of drought in California.increasing the likelihood of a large-scale atmospheric pattern that yields warm, dry weather in California. CARB Scoping Plan Page; Renewables Portfolio Standard. If you think that investing in solar panels and a sustainable wardrobe instead of fast fashion are expensive, take a look at how climate change is escalating the cost of repairing disasters. Since the mid 20th century, climate scientists have tracked these global warming trends and attributed them largely to human activity on the planet. This could cause significant flooding and erosion of hundreds of miles of coastline, greatly impacting homes, agricultural lands and low-lying cities. The new numbers come as the insurance industry struggles to adjust to the effects of climate change. Climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme autumn wildfire conditions across California, the study said. The mention of the possible closure of Olympic station, amidst city budget cuts, sent Korean American leaders to the LAPD’s defense and rallying to keep a strong police presence in their community. With so many fires burning, millions of people in the Bay Area, Central Valley and parts of Southern California are breathing dangerous levels of particle pollution. Updates on California's emissions laws, clean-air battle, and environmental policies. “Maybe we underestimated the magnitude and speed” at which these events would occur, he said, but “we’ve seen this long freight train barreling down on us for decades, and now the locomotive is on top of us, with no caboose in sight.”. Send messages or documents privately using the Signal smartphone app: (213) 421-1511‬. California has taken legislative steps in the hope of mitigating the risks of potential effects of climate change in California by incentives and plans for clean cars, renewable energy, and pollution controls on industry. Why some older people are getting the vaccine in Southern California but others are striking out. Farmworker Communities Under Fire & Heat: Climate Justice Learnings Maricela Morales, Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) Disproportionate impacts of climate change on communities Amee Raval, Asian Pacific Environmental Network. What this year’s extreme heat, fire and air quality degradation is showing, said Columbia’s Williams, is that we are, in a sense, blindly stepping off a cliff from a world in which we could somewhat predict what was going to happen, based on decades and centuries of data. Global warming has increased the odds of unprecedented heat extremes across more than 80% of the planet and “has doubled or even, in some areas, tripled the odds of record-setting hot events” in California and the Western U.S., said Stanford University climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh. Many Californians 65 and older faced frustration and confusion as they tried to get the coronavirus vaccine after the state announced it was opening up vaccinations to older people. These fires will add even more carbon to the atmosphere, further accelerating climate change. Climate change is real but it's not the end of the world. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. Susanne Rust is an award-winning investigative reporter specializing in environmental issues. "If climate change hasn't affected us personally yet it will, and it's projected in 80 years to affect food supply farming, coastal cities and wild fires," she said. But the California we love is threatened. At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, it reached 120 degrees, the highest reading since record-keeping began in 1869, in an area that is less than 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean. In California, officials have tried a series of rule changes … Hot and saturated air doesn't allow sweat to evaporate as quickly and causes the body to heat up even more, which can be deadly. What Is Climate Change? The state’s natural and working lands sustain our economy, support our unique biodiversity and contribute to the global food supply. Over Southern California but others are striking out spells, for instance, both fueled formation... Team ( ICAT ) app: ( 213 ) 421-1511‬ both maximum and temperatures... 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