The state of California is once again leading the way as an innovative, visionary force for developing solutions to complex societal issues. Last week, the California Energy Commission launched a very exciting project called Cal-Adapt. Its purpose is to "synthesize existing California climate change scenarios and climate impact research and to encourage its use in a way that is beneficial for local decision-makers." More simply, it's a place for the public to see how climate change will affect their local area, which will help them plan for place-specific adaptation.
A collaboration between UC-Berkeley, Google, California Natural Resources Agency, and others, the website brings together the most current climate change research available so that a user can visualize how their local sea level, temperature, wildlife, precipitation, etc, will be affected by a changing climate. The user is also able to compare data from the past thirty years with current and projected scenario measurements, making for powerful side-by-side analysis. The projections are given in ranges for high-emissions and low-emissions futures, which could prove to be a powerful motivator for strong emissions reductions when people see how those two pathways lead to two very different outcomes for their hometowns.
Climate change has proven to be a difficult issue for which to elicit strong action from the public, in part because with a global problem, global averages are the main data presented to the public. When given averages of possible temperature, precipitation, or sea level change on a global scale, it can be hard for the projections to resonate with people on a personal level. This site has the potential to show people how their individual lives will be affected and why they need to care about climate change. Hopefully, this will translate to faster and stronger actions toward fighting climate change.
Now we just need to get this started in the other 49 states and every other country...
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