San Diego region takes on climate change
As international talks about global warming conclude in South Africa, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography plans to bring the issue closer to home next week with a series of scientific talks aimed at the general public. At the same time, San Diego city officials are holding a series of forums about their climate mitigation and adaptation plan.
The research gathering on Dec. 13 includes leading climate experts from across the state who will discuss California’s vulnerability to extreme weather events such as sea-level rise, heatwaves, floods and drought. Presentations will put those events in historical context and explore how they might be altered if the world warms as scientists expect.
Many in the public still harbor doubts and questions about the causes of climate change, climate projections and whether future problems can be reduced by affordable actions today.
"We do have a real strong challenge to get this message across. It's a tough message," said Dan Cayan, a climate researcher at Scripps, which is part of the University of California San Diego. "We all hope that California will continue to be a role model at least for the U.S. in dealing with these issues and I think that time will justify the attention and seriousness that we have been putting into this."
Cayan's studies underscore the likelihood that the Sierra Nevada will have dramatically reduced snow packs by the end of the century, creating more challenges for water management. This could have sweeping consequences in San Diego and the rest of the Southwest because millions of residents rely on snow melt from the mountain range for drinking water.
Cayan won't be speaking on Dec. 13, but he's fashioned a panel of experts from across the UC system and beyond. Speakers include Gary Griggs of UC Santa Cruz, Terry Root of Stanford University, Marty Ralph of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Tony Westerling of UC Merced.
“It's always hard when you have scientists ... but we are trying to make this more at a Scientific American level rather than a peer-review journal kind of format," Cayan said. "It is meant to be approachable an educated layperson."
The day-long workshop is called, “Vulnerability and Adaptation to Extreme Events in California in the Context of a Changing Climate: New Scientific Findings." It costs $25, which pays for breakfast and lunch, and is open to the public. For more information about the workshop and to register, go to sio.ucsd.edu/extreme_climate/
The Scripps forum is part of a series of events focusing on climate change that state officials are pushing over the next few months. It includes a meeting called by Gov. Jerry Brown in San Francisco on Dec. 15 in hopes of preparing residents for the impacts of climate change.
Also next week, San Diego is holding three free public forums that will discuss the city’s Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Plan. The city's plan will identify and prioritize actions to conserve resources, reduce waste, create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It also highlights the vulnerabilities the region faces from climate change and possible responses.
The meetings are:
•Dec. 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Market Creek/Jacobs Center, 404 Euclid Ave., 2nd Floor, Chollas View Room.
•Dec. 14 from Noon to 2 p.m. at the San Diego Concourse, 202 C St., 2nd Floor, Copper Room.
•Dec. 14 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Ridgehaven "Green Building" (Environmental Services Department), 9601 Ridgehaven Ct., auditorium.
Register by Dec. 9 at sdclimateforum.eventbrite.com/ and click on Climate Mitigation and Adaptation."
While California ramps up climate planning, global attempts to minimize the impacts of climate change are moving toward an uncertain end in Durban, South Africa. Participating countries at the United Nations climate conference are trying to craft a pact for reducing greenhouse gases that scientists link to climate change.
Talks are set to conclude Friday. If history is a guide, they will end without widespread agreement on how to address greenhouse gases.
“While a binding international agreement would clearly be most effective in addressing climate change, we are seeing that local, national and regional programs have a meaningful impact on reducing GHG emissions and can eventually pave the way to a more concerted global effort,” said Gary Gero, president of the Climate Action Reserve, an environmental nonprofit that runs the largest carbon offset registry in North America.