The California Environmental Protection Agency has released a report documenting how the state has already been "climate changed" and warning of plenty more change on the way.
The study,
written by 51 scientists, tracked a variety of indicators and found
widespread evidence of the toll climate change is taking across the
across the state, including more frequent and intense wildfires, rising
sea levels, shrinking glaciers, warmer lakes and oceans, and hotter
temperatures. These ripple effects of these changes threaten
communities, industry, public health, and the state’s prized natural
resources.
“Climate change is not just some abstract scientific debate,” said California EPA Secretary Matt Rodriquez. “It’s real, and it’s already here.”
Californians are already suffering from a growing number of
heat-related illnesses and deaths and those figures are projected to
rise along with temperatures. The report found that in most regions of
the state, warming has accelerated over the past three decades. During
the summer, heat extremes have increased and nighttime heat waves have
risen across the state. As climate change drives temperatures up, it
poses a serious risk to public health. As evidence of this, the report
notes that “the July 2006 heat wave, unprecedented in its magnitude and
geographic extent, resulted in 140 heat-related deaths in California.”
Coastal residents will feel climate change at work as rising seas
threaten their communities and quality of life. Sea levels measured at
San Francisco and La Jolla have already risen by eight and six inches
over the past century and as water levels continue to climb along
California’s coast, the report predicts that “it could lead to flooding
of low-lying areas, loss of coastal wetlands … erosion of cliffs and
beaches, saltwater contamination of drinking water, impacts on roads and
bridges, and harmful ecological effects along the coastline.”
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