Report: Climate change is impacting California
Alicia Chang at: http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- That's just a snapshot of how climate change is affecting California's natural resources, a report released Thursday found.
"There's certainly reason for concern," said Dan Cayan, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who contributed to the report.
The findings are an update to a 2009 report that documented how a warming California is impacting the environment, wildlife and people.
Among the known impacts:
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- That's just a snapshot of how climate change is affecting California's natural resources, a report released Thursday found.
"There's certainly reason for concern," said Dan Cayan, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who contributed to the report.
The findings are an update to a 2009 report that documented how a warming California is impacting the environment, wildlife and people.
Among the known impacts:
- Butterflies in the Central Valley are emerging from hiding earlier in the spring.
- Glaciers in the Sierra Nevada have shrunk.
- Spring runoff from snowmelt has declined, affecting Central Valley farmers and hydroelectric plants that rely on snowmelt to produce power.
Officials hope it would spur the state and local governments to plan ahead and adapt to a hotter future.
Monitoring should continue "to reduce the impacts of climate change and to prepare for those effects that we cannot avoid," George Alexeeff, head of the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, said in an email.
Annual average temperatures across the state have risen by about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1895, with the greatest warming seen in portions of the Central Valley and Southern California.
Levels of carbon dioxide, methane and other heat-trapping gases in the state increased between 1990 and 2011. In recent years, there has been a slight drop -- the result of industries and vehicles becoming more energy efficient, the report said.
Some of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is being absorbed by the ocean, altering its chemistry. Scientists have documented changes to waters at Monterey Bay, which have turned more acidic in recent years, raising concerns about impact to marine life.
Ocean warming, among other factors, may be behind the dramatic drop of chinook salmon in Central California since 2004. And certain plant and animals species -- such as conifers in the Sierra Nevada and small mammals in Yosemite National Park -- have responded to a changing climate by moving to higher ground.
Expect more heat waves, wildfires and higher sea levels as the state warms, the report said.
