Examining climate change effects in california; at different scales. Specifically different events such as: Wildfires, Tornadoes, Heat waves, Droughts and Floods.
Weather and extreme climate patterns can put lives at risk. There have been far more extreme floods, tornadoes, wildfires and many more natural disasters. People want to know how their homes will be affected.
- “Our typically agreeable weather (current heat wave notwithstanding) is officially called a Mediterranean-type climate, defined as having cool, wet winters and dry, warm summers. Only five places in the world share this climate: California, Central Chile, southwestern Australia, South Africa and, of course, the Mediterranean Basin. “The California climate of having this several-month period of no rain that coincides with the hottest time of the year is globally really weird,” said Anna Jacobsen, plant ecology professor at California State University, Bakersfield. “It’s a really special and kind of unique climate cycle.” The location of these five ecosystems is no accident. All are on the western edge of continents, between 30 and 45 degrees latitude, with a cold polar current running along the coast. Prevailing wind patterns and the cold current effectively prevent precipitation in the summer, the season when rainfall is most likely in the rest of the world.”
- “The mudslides came after a week that saw California endure a record-long heatwave, where temperatures in many parts of the state rocket past 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and pushed the state's electrical grid to the breaking point as air conditioners sucked up power. The Fairview Fire and the Mosquito Fire burning east of Sacramento broke out and raged out of control. The tropical storm aided crews battling the Fairview Fire about 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The 44-square-mile blaze was 56% contained by late Monday. Two people died fleeing the fire, which destroyed at least 30 homes and other structures in Riverside County.”
- “Despite some rain in September, weather watchers expect a hot and dry fall, and warn that this winter could bring warm temperatures and below-average precipitation. Conditions are shaping up to be a “recipe for drought”: a La Niña climate pattern plus warm temperatures in the western tropical Pacific that could mean that critical rain and snowstorms miss California, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA and The Nature Conservancy.” “One thing that is unfortunately becoming easier to anticipate are warmer-than-average conditions due to climate change,” Swain of UCLA said.”