{"id":126,"date":"2008-12-29T14:06:29","date_gmt":"2008-12-29T22:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2008\/12\/29\/ppic-analyst-start-adapting-now-to-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2008-12-29T14:06:29","modified_gmt":"2008-12-29T22:06:29","slug":"ppic-analyst-start-adapting-now-to-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2008\/12\/29\/ppic-analyst-start-adapting-now-to-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"PPIC Analyst: Start Adapting Now to Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post from Louise Bedsworth, research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.\u00a0 She and PPIC Research Director Ellen Hanak are co-authors of the report: \u201cPreparing California for a Changing Climate,\u201d\u00a0 which we wrote about here last month<\/a>. The report discusses the challenges that climate change poses for a number of the state\u2019s environmental and resource institutions and how well prepared we are for addressing these challenges.<\/em><\/p>\n

What is adaptation to climate change and why do we need it now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have discussed our report on preparing for climate change<\/a> with a variety of audiences over the past several weeks, beginning with a half-day event in Sacramento<\/a> on December 2nd that included state leaders, representatives from environmental organizations, and city officials from all over California.\u00a0 We found that while the topic of adaptation can seem to be all doom and gloom, there are several programs in place and underway that should help California prepare for the effects of climate change that we can\u2019t prevent. One important question that keeps coming up at these events is why we need to be thinking about adapting to global warming now that the state has focused on fighting it.<\/p>\n

Adaptation, or climate change preparedness, refers to the adjustments that can be made to help to cope with the effects of climate change.\u00a0 These impacts include higher temperatures, accelerated sea level rise, and disruptions to the state\u2019s water supply, all of which have real consequences for California.\u00a0 For example, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission<\/a> has prepared maps<\/a> showing what the Bay would look like with one meter of sea level rise.\u00a0 These maps show the significant impacts on San Francisco Bay communities and infrastructure, including inundation of the region\u2019s airports and Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n

Ideally, adaptive actions will help to reduce vulnerability in the face of change or to improve resiliency.\u00a0 Even under the most optimistic scenarios (e.g., successful emission reductions globally<\/em>), some amount of climate change appears to be inevitable.<\/p>\n

Adaptation goes in hand-in-hand with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0 Generally speaking, the more successful efforts to reduce emissions are, the less adaptation will be needed.\u00a0 And, some efforts to reduce emissions \u2013 such as energy efficiency \u2013 will also help us adapt by lessening energy use under high demand conditions.\u00a0 But, adaptation and mitigation efforts can be in conflict \u2013 for example, planting non-native trees either to store carbon or provide shade can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but could place additional stress on efforts to protect native species in a changing climate.\u00a0 To avoid such conflicts now and in the future, adaptation needs to be well-defined and integrated in the current climate policy discussion in California.<\/p>\n

A recent report from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies<\/a> found significant obstacles to climate change adaptation in the United States.\u00a0 These were similar to barriers that we observed for California \u2013 uncertainty in the science of climate change, lack of funding or resources, regulatory and legal obstacles, and lack of political will or incentive.<\/p>\n

But, we also found some reasons to optimistic about the prospects for adaptation in California.\u00a0 Water and electricity agencies appear to be out in front on adaptation and overcoming these obstacles.\u00a0 As service providers, both water and electricity providers have an incentive (and an obligation) to be considering adaptation.\u00a0 They are used to doing long-range planning and weathering supply uncertainties.\u00a0 Finally, and very importantly, water and electricity providers have a rate-payer base that can provide funding for undertaking adaptation.\u00a0 In addition, there are tools in other sectors that can help with adaptation.\u00a0 There are public health programs such as disease tracking and heat emergency plans that can provide a starting point for developing climate change preparedness.<\/p>\n

As the California Resources Agency develops the state\u2019s Climate Adaptation Strategy<\/a>, the knowledge and experience from these programs should provide a solid starting point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest post from Louise Bedsworth, research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. She and PPIC Research Director Ellen Hanak are co-authors of the PPIC report \u201cPreparing California for a Changing Climate.\u201d These are some follow-up notes to that report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11414,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,7],"tags":[14,131,189,435,442,444,633,654],"coauthors":[],"series":[],"affiliates":[],"programs":[],"collections":[],"interests":[],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-business","category-power","category-water","tag-adaptation","tag-coastal","tag-electricity","tag-policy","tag-power","tag-ppic","tag-urban-planning","tag-water"],"acf":{"template_type":"standard","featured_image_type":"standard","is_audio_post":false},"yoast_head":"\nPPIC Analyst: Start Adapting Now to Climate Change | Climate Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2008\/12\/29\/ppic-analyst-start-adapting-now-to-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PPIC Analyst: Start Adapting Now to Climate Change | Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Guest post from Louise Bedsworth, research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. 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