Despite the state’s push toward renewable energy, most Californians can’t choose solar power at home — perhaps they rent, don’t have roofs with good exposure to the sun, or can’t afford solar panels. But a bill moving through the state legislature may soon provide a way for more people to jump on board the clean energy bandwagon.
This aired on The California Report on August 17, 2012, with an accompanying blog post on the Climate Watch blog.
Rising seas from warming oceans are generally seen as a threat to the future. But archaeologists are realizing that they also threaten the past. Coastal erosion is destroying Native American sites, including graves and places where people once cooked and camped.
This aired on The California Report on July 30, 2012, with an accompanying blog post on the Climate Watch blog.
There are more than 1,400 dams in California. When the earliest of them was built, the goals were clear: store water, control floods and generate electricity. Since then, new priorities have been added, such as protecting endangered species, which makes relicensing the dams a very pricey and lengthy process.
Powerlines crisscross the Yuba River, just below the New Colgate Powerhouse.
State and local officials are under increasing pressure to plan for the changes that California will see in the decades ahead with its shifting climate. They need answers about what those changes will look like and mean for the state. Scientists are searching for those answers on several fronts, from marshes to mountaintops, to the bottom of California’s oldest lake.
This aired on The California Report on May 4, 2012, with an accompanying blog post and video on the Climate Watch blog.
When Congress created the National Park Service nearly 100 years ago, the goal was to protect places with historic or natural value for future generations. But climate change is throwing a wrench into those plans. Sequoia National Park could be heading toward a future without its signature gigantic trees.
This aired on The California Report on 12/2/11. Read more about giant sequoias on the accompanying blog post on Climate Watch.
Scientists often wish they had a crystal ball when it comes to climate predictions. But there’s a place to get a sneak peek of changes on the way: on high mountain peaks. There, the climate is shifting faster than it is closer to sea level. We join a team of botanists determined to get to the bottom of issue by going to the top.
This aired on The California Report on 9/16/11. There are more pictures and a post about the GLORIA Survey on the Climate Watch blog.
Today, state water officials will trek into the Sierra for one last snow survey of the season. All of the late-season storms — there was snow falling in Tahoe as recently as this week–would seem to portend a shot in the arm for California’s water supply. But there is still much we don’t understand about how and when the mountain runoff offers up its annual gift of water for reservoirs and irrigation.
This aired on The California Report on 4/31/10 and was accompanied by a blog post on the Climate Watch blog.
