San Diego, CA–The San Diego City Council Tuesday adopted the city’s first-ever climate adaptation and resiliency plan designed to address the effects of climate change in the region. The plan, titled Climate Resilient SD, provides strategies to prepare, respond and recover from potential climate change hazards, as well as how the proposed investments can improve […]
California moves to prevent new oil drilling near communities
Los Angeles, CA–Moving to protect communities as the state works to phase out fossil fuels, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) has released a proposed regulation that would prohibit new wells and facilities within a 3,200-foot exclusion area – or setback – from homes, schools, hospitals, nursing […]
Arctic seabirds are less heat tolerant, more vulnerable to climate change
(Newswise)–The Arctic is warming at approximately twice the global rate. A new study led by researchers from McGill University finds that cold-adapted Arctic species, like the thick-billed murre, are especially vulnerable to heat stress caused by climate change. “We discovered that murres have the lowest cooling efficiency ever reported in birds, which means they have […]
Lecture series to focus on regional climate change impacts
LA JOLLA–Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is launching the next iteration of its renowned Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series with a three-part virtual series dedicated to Scripps Oceanography’s multifaceted work on the changing planet. The series will focus on the regional impacts of climate change in […]
Global warming likely to increase disease risk for animals worldwide
(Newswise)–Changes in climate can increase infectious disease risk in animals, researchers found — with the possibility that these diseases could spread to humans, they warn. The study, conducted by scientists at the University of Notre Dame, University of South Florida and University of Wisconsin-Madison, supports a phenomenon known as “thermal mismatch hypothesis,” which is the […]
City of San Diego ranked sixth nationally for climate action
SAN DIEGO–Five years following the adoption of a landmark Climate Action Plan, the City of San Diego has been ranked sixth in the country for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a national scientific study by The Brookings Institution. Examining climate action progress in the 100 largest U.S. cities, the “Pledges and Progress” report provides a […]
In the Arctic, spring snowmelt triggers fresh CO2 production
(Newswise)–Studies have shown the Arctic is warming roughly twice as fast as the rest of the world, and its soil holds twice the amount of carbon dioxide as the atmosphere. New research from San Diego State University finds that water from spring snowmelt infiltrates the soil and triggers fresh carbon dioxide production at higher rates […]
Continued CO2 emissions will impair cognition
(Newswise)–As the 21st century progresses, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations will cause urban and indoor levels of the gas to increase, and that may significantly reduce our basic decision-making ability and complex strategic thinking, according to a new CU Boulder-led study. By the end of the century, people could be exposed to indoor CO2 […]
How stimulus dollars are spent will affect emissions for decades
(Newswise)–The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have led to a record crash in emissions. But it will be emission levels during the recovery—in the months and years after the pandemic recedes—that matter most for how global warming plays out, according to a new Nature commentary from researchers at the University of California San Diego. While […]
Climate change could shrink sea ice and affect polar bears
SAN DIEGO–San Diego Zoo Global researchers studying the effects of climate change on polar bears are using innovative technologies to understand why polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea are showing divergent movement patterns in the summer. In recent decades, about a quarter of this population of bears have chosen to come on land instead […]