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Poll: Californians Support State Policies to Tackle Climate Change

Californians across the state are concerned about climate change and support plans to reduce harmful emissions and focus on renewable sources of energy. But there are stark differences when it comes to which residents of the Golden State see pollution as a serious threat to their family’s health.

A Heat Wave Is Coming: What to Expect in San Diego Over Next Few Days

A summertime heat wave is on the way for San Diego County and the wave’s peak temps could come close to record highs. NBC 7 meteorologist Sheena Parveen said it’ll be “unseasonably hot” across the county starting Thursday. That heat will peak Friday.

NOAA’s La Niña Watch Could Signal a Dry Winter for Los Angeles

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a La Niña watch earlier this month, meaning that conditions are favorable for development of a La Niña in the next six months.

Bigger, Badder Storms Coming In Years Ahead, and California Is Right In Their Path

California’s wild weather swings, from pounding rain to drought and from fires to floods, are widely expected to worsen as the climate warms. A new study shows just how severe things might get, and it’s not pretty.

As If the Pandemic Weren’t Enough, 2020 Might Be the Hottest Year Ever

Welcome back to Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. If this is your first edition, we’re glad to have you.

Future Precipitation Increase from Very High Resolution Ensemble Downscaling of Extreme Atmospheric River Storms In California

Precipitation extremes will likely intensify under climate change. However, much uncertainty surrounds intensification of high-magnitude events that are often inadequately resolved by global climate models. In this analysis, we develop a framework involving targeted dynamical downscaling of historical and future extreme precipitation events produced by a large ensemble of a global climate model.

Sacramento Region Plans to Store Water Underground as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy

The Sacramento region is preparing for the long term impacts of the climate crisis when it comes to water supply. Central to the plan is a groundwater storage program with two to three times the space of Folsom Lake.

As the climate warms it’ll likely become harder to fill up reservoirs, because the snowpack could be small for multiple years. Think of the nearly empty reservoirs across California during the most recent drought.

Two Ways to Measure Annual Rainfall

Last Tuesday marked the end of the 2019 rain year, which runs from July 1 through June 30. Wednesday was the start of the 2020 rain year.

The 2018 rainfall season that occurred from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019, produced 15.68 inches of rain at the Santa Maria Public Airport, or about 121% of normal.

California Megadrought? Not If You Look at Precipitation

If you want to know what climate change means for California’s water supply, consider the last two Februaries. In 126 years of statewide record-keeping, you can’t find a drier February than the one we just experienced. But February 2019 was the third-wettest on record.

Some New Climate Models are Projecting Extreme Warming. Are They Correct?

Recent climate models are ‘running hot,’ projecting catastrophic global warming. Puzzled scientists are weighing whether the models need correcting or whether severe warming is a real threat.