6 thoughts on “PBS: In California, the Consequences of Climate Change”
So many consequences, so many lives affected, so little time left.
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“Weather is a resource that draws in money just like other resources do. If that gets redistributed it could have severe impacts on peoples’ lives both physically and economically.”
Meanwhile, global warming is shrinking the range of Joshua trees and accentuating the swings between wet years that produce bumper crops of grassy invaders and drought that stresses the natives.
Serious question: How soon will California fire seasons “top out” because there’s less eligible forest to burn (that is, some forest doesn’t grow back quickly if at all). They’re already losing some big sequoias to heat and drought.
This year is already the worst in California’s history, but it’s looking like it’ll top at maybe 1/10th that total forest area of the state (something like 3.3 million acres): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_California_wildfires
But 2019 was an unusually mild fire year for California (259,823 acres burned), and the average for the past 5 years has been about 1 million acres per year.
And keep in mind that not all of the burned areas are designated forest land, they’re grassland and chaparral instead, or fully grown back forested areas.
Dire warnings about climate change’s impact on financial markets from a Federal report, commissioned by President Trump’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission .
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Federal Report Warns of Financial Havoc From Climate Change
“A world wracked by frequent and devastating shocks from climate change cannot sustain the fundamental conditions supporting our financial system.”
So many consequences, so many lives affected, so little time left.
====================================
“Weather is a resource that draws in money just like other resources do. If that gets redistributed it could have severe impacts on peoples’ lives both physically and economically.”
https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2020/09/07/climate-change-will-decimate-palm-springs-coachella-valley-tourism
Meanwhile, global warming is shrinking the range of Joshua trees and accentuating the swings between wet years that produce bumper crops of grassy invaders and drought that stresses the natives.
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-09-06/mojave-desert-fire-destroys-the-heart-of-a-beloved-joshua-tree-forest
Serious question: How soon will California fire seasons “top out” because there’s less eligible forest to burn (that is, some forest doesn’t grow back quickly if at all). They’re already losing some big sequoias to heat and drought.
It might happen, but it would take even worse years than this one, and consistently so for multiple years.
California has about 33 million acres of forest:
https://ucanr.edu/sites/forestry/California_forests/
This year is already the worst in California’s history, but it’s looking like it’ll top at maybe 1/10th that total forest area of the state (something like 3.3 million acres):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_California_wildfires
But 2019 was an unusually mild fire year for California (259,823 acres burned), and the average for the past 5 years has been about 1 million acres per year.
And keep in mind that not all of the burned areas are designated forest land, they’re grassland and chaparral instead, or fully grown back forested areas.
Dire warnings about climate change’s impact on financial markets from a Federal report, commissioned by President Trump’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission .
===========================================
Federal Report Warns of Financial Havoc From Climate Change
“A world wracked by frequent and devastating shocks from climate change cannot sustain the fundamental conditions supporting our financial system.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/climate/climate-change-financial-markets.html