Climate change is rapidly accelerating in California, state report says
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California is being hit by a combination of climate changes and extreme weather, the state’s environmental watchdog said in a report to be released Wednesday.
According to the report, the state is experiencing multiple impacts from the effects of global warming, including a projected increase in wildfires through 2050. The report, called the State of the State Report, also says greenhouse gas emissions are already outpacing population growth in California, and are projected to rise to 70 percent of the state’s total emissions in 2050.
“By 2050, we are going to see the worst of what climate change has in store,” Jonathan Carr, director of the California Air Resources Board, said in a press release. “The impacts of climate change are already being felt.”
A range of factors is behind the shift, the state report says, including a longer growing season, a longer growing season in the West and hotter summers. The report also says that sea level rise, and increased flooding from droughts in the future, are also being felt in the state.
Even if the state were to take steps to reduce emissions from fossil fuel use, a major source of warming, the report says, it would only slow the pace of change. While it could slow the rate at which sea level rise increases, it would do little to slow the pace at which temperatures grow.
California’s climate is expected to warm by about 1.2°C through 2040, compared to preindustrial temperatures, according to the report. This would lead to an additional average of about 13 extra days with temperatures above 95°F over the course of the next decade, the report says.
“And if these days don’t keep pace with the expected climate change, we are going to see higher temperatures, which is going to lead to more intense storms, which in turn is going to lead to more fires,” Carr