Climate is defined as the average statistics of weather, which includes temperature, precipitation, and seasonal patterns, in a particular region. Climate change refers to the long term and irrevocable shift in these weather related patterns, either regionally or more globally. The Earth and its natural ecosystem are very closely tied to the climate and any permanent climate change will lead to an imbalance in the existing ecosystem, impacting the way people live, the food they grow, their health, the wildlife, the availability of water and many more.
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Research indicates that much of this warming is due to human activities, primarily burning fossil fuels and clearing forests, that release carbon dioxide (CO2) and other gases into the atmosphere, trapping in heat that would otherwise escape into space. Once in the atmosphere, these heat-trapping emissions remain there for many years—CO2, for example, lasts about 100 years. As a result, atmospheric concentration of CO2 has increased more than 30 percent above pre-industrial levels. If left unchecked, by the end of the century CO2 concentrations could reach levels three times higher than pre-industrial times, leading to dangerous global warming.
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Climate change is already affecting California. Sea levels have risen by as much as seven inches along the California coast over the last century, increasing erosion and pressure on the state’s infrastructure, water supplies, and natural resources. The state has also seen increased average temperatures, more extreme hot days, fewer cold nights, a lengthening of the growing season, shifts in the water cycle with less winter precipitation falling as snow, and both snowmelt and rainwater running off sooner in the year.
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The extent and severity of global warming depends on the rate at which human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels,continue. Rate of population growth, economic development will be crucial. How much and how quickly heat-trapping emissions accumulate in the atmosphere and how the climate responds to these emissions will determine the projected climate change. There are two different heat-trapping emissions scenarios on the basis of which these projections have been made.
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Projecting future climate requires sophisticated computer models. The 2009 Climate Scenarios Project used projections from six global climate models, all of which had been run with two selected emissions scenarios (A2—mid-high; B1—lower). On one hand we have different emission scenarios, on the other we have different models to predict how the environment will react to these scenarios. This is called “climate sensitivity” which depends on Earth’s response to certain physical processes, including a number of “feedbacks” that might amplify or lessen warming.
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California has been a leader in both the science of climate change and in identifying solutions. Strong, in-depth research is critical for developing effective strategies for addressing global warming in California. The state has also been at the forefront of efforts to reduce heat-trapping emissions, passing precedent-setting policies such as aggressive standards for tailpipe emissions, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.
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