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report released Aug. 27 by the state of California, the fourth in a series of assessments, puts the blame squarely on climate change. California Gov. Jerry Brown is hosting an international summit, beginning Wednesday, in San Francisco to search for solutions. The worst fires in California’s history came this year and last, with the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire scorching 186,000 hectares. Parts of northern California are still burning. The largest of the fires, in Shasta County, has burned more than 20,000 hectares and is only 5 percent contained.
Climate research
The California Climate Change Assessment summarizes current climate research and finds a litany of problems caused by greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, which is emitted by the use of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. If nothing or little is done, the reports say to expect temperature rises of 3 to 5 degrees Celsius (5.6 to 8.8 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100; a two-thirds decline in water supplies from the mountain snow pack by 2050; a nearly 80 percent increase in the area scorched by fires by the end of the century; and up to two-thirds of Southern California beaches eroding in the same time frame.
A firefighter sprays the smoldering remains of a vehicle on Interstate 5 as the Delta Fire burns in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Calif.
From flooding to a strained electrical grid and premature deaths and illnesses, the
list is extensive. “I think we’ve reached the point where the impacts of climate change are no longer subtle,” said Michael Mann, who directs the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University. Mann was not involved in the study, but said he thinks its finding are, if anything, conservative. “We are literally seeing them play out in real time in the form of record heat waves, floods, droughts and wildfires,” he said.
The Delta Fire burns in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Calif.
The Trump administration, however, has pledged to overturn emissions curbs and has promised to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, an accord of nearly 200 countries that requires national targets for emission cuts but which lacks enforcement powers. President Donald Trump said the pact is ineffective and kills jobs.
Climate experts say something must be done to slow the climate shifts that are underway. “A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, so there’s the potential for greater rainfall events, worse flooding,” Mann said. “A warmer atmosphere also dries out the soils, causing drought.” He added, “You’re moving the probability curve, and at the tail of the curve are the extreme weather events.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/cali-wildf...41.html]Health effects of climate change[/B]