Climate Change

There has been a drastic increase of heat-related mortality in the US over the last 30 years. This disproportionately exposes poorer, nonwhite people, and the elderly. The emergence of extreme heat as a climate hazard shows the need for more nuanced cost-benefit metrics, social vulnerability analyses, and federal guidelines to ensure disaster response and preparedness funds are available to local jurisdictions.

Scientists warn of “unprecedented” levels of global heating due to worldwide all-time high release of greenhouse gas emissions. The established “carbon budget” which is amount of carbon dioxide that can be released into the atmosphere yet remain within 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures, is in danger of being surpassed by the end of the decade.

Wildfires throughout Canada have displaced over 20,000 people and are making air quality hazardous in many of its major cities and in the US. Airports delayed flights due to visibility concerns in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. This summer projects to be the worst fire season in Canadian history. Pictures of the haze in New York City are reminiscent of those eerie San Francisco Bay Area skies in 2020.

What will it cost to protect the Bay Area from sea level rise? Try $110 billion, says state agency. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission have collaborated to develop a cost estimate for adapting to rising sea level in the SF Bay Region. It will not be inexpensive, but the cost of doing nothing is much more. (John King, SF Chronicle)

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission have collaborated to develop a cost estimate for adapting to rising sea level in the SF Bay Region. It will not be inexpensive, but the cost of doing nothing is much more. (John King, SF Chronicle)

This year’s series of atmospheric rivers has revived Lake Tulare (once the largest freshwater later west of the Mississippi River), flooding out thousands of farmworkers and disrupting the agricultural industry in the Central Valley. Read more here: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/us/tulare-lake-california-storms.html (New York Times)

Juan Moreno Haines writes from inside San Quentin Prison in https://www.kneedeeptimes.org/imprisoned-with-climate-change/ on the impacts of climate change on the incarcerated; an extremely vulnerable population that often goes unrecognized.

Public Comment Period Extended to May 6th, 2022.

We welcome your input on the Draft BARC Shared Work Plan, which is available for Public Comment until 5 pm on Friday, May 6th, 2022. 

Public comment will be accepted via e-mail to abrooks@bayareametro.gov. Please include "Draft Shared Work Plan" in the subject line.

A recent article in SFGate highlights the findings from a recent report from CalTrans, predicting that State Route 37 will be permanently underwater by the end of 2040 if significant adaptive measures are not taken.

The latest tool from Climate Central displays just how drastically sea level rise is going to affect cities worldwide.

Picturing Our Future provides a prescient vision of the impacts of keeping business-as-usual with our current GHG emissions, as well as scenarios with drastic cutbacks.