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Climate or Weather? Definitions WEATHER – short-term (minutes to months) changes in the atmosphere; includes sunshine, rain, snow, thunderstorms, etc. CLIMATE – long-term averages of weather over time
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Climate Change
Cl imate L i teracy 101
Climate Change
in the News
• Indicators of Climate Change in California (August 2013) • report of measured 36 "indicators of change" in
climate, physical and biological systems
• National Academy of Sciences Sea Level Rise study (2012)• covers the coasts of California, Oregon, and
Washington• • 17” – 66” Sea Level Rise by 2100
• Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Study (BEST) -2012• study validates other Earth surface temperature
studies that show current warming is unprecedented in recent geologic history
Climate or Weather?
Definitions
WEATHER – short-term (minutes to months) changes in the atmosphere; includes sunshine, rain, snow, thunderstorms, etc.
CLIMATE – long-term averages of weather over time
Climate or Weather?
Which are these?
• It’s really HOT outside right now!
Climate or Weather?
Which are these?
• It’s really hot outside right now!
• For the past 50 years the average nighttime temperature has been 42 degrees F.
Climate or Weather?
Which are these?• It’s really hot outside right now!
• For the past 50 years the average nighttime temperature has been 42 degrees F.
• Summer, 2011 was the hottest and driest on record in Texas.
Climate or Weather?
Which are these?
• It’s really hot outside right now!
• For the past 50 years the average nighttime temperature has been 42 degrees F.
• Summer, 2011 was the hottest and driest on record in Texas.
Explaining Extreme Events of 2011 from a Climate Perspective [Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 93:1041-1067]
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00021.1
Recent Observations
Warming Trend
Less Snowpack
Less snow/more rain; changing
snow thresholds
Earlier greenup dates; more tree mortalities;
enhanced wildfiresAnimals moving
northEarlier snowfed streamflow
Mike Dettinger, USGS and SIO/UCSD
Dan Cayan, SIO, UCSD and USGS , manuscript in prep
October - March Sierra Temperature
Projections
Precipitation
Snow Water Equivalent
90th %ile
10th %ile
Sierra Nevada Precipitation Projections
October - March Sierra Precipitation Projections
Dan Cayan, SIO, UCSD and USGS , manuscript in prep
DWR Climate Hawks
• DWR Climate Team currently has 12 full-time staff members plus a UC Berkeley student on contract
• Staff includes:• Assistant Deputy Director• Program Manager• 4 Regional Climate Change Specialists• 2 Engineers• 2 Water Use Mitigation Specialists• Data Analysis Specialist• Executive Administrative Officer
DWR Climate Hawks
"The fearsome climate hawk will crush the climate crisis in its mighty talons!"
A Climate Hawk*:• is not a ‘rebranded’ environmentalist
*Grist, 2010
• is concerned about climate change and clean energy
• takes an aggressive and proactive
approach to climate change problems• attacks on many fronts (clean energy is just
one)• is patriotic and believes America should lead
the world on this issue
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