Google map shows climate-changed California future

* State panel to consider how best to adapt to effects
* Online map shows sea level, fire risk, other changes
* Adaptation plan to be adopted along with carbon cuts

Peter Henderson, Reuters 2 Dec 09;

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Google unveiled a map of California's climate-changed future on Wednesday, part of the most populous U.S. state's first steps in planning to adapt to "inevitable" global warming.

California leads the United States in its legal mandate to cut greenhouse gases that warm the planet, from auto mileage standards adopted by the rest of the nation to green building codes.

But the state also is planning what to do about warming that it thinks is impossible to stop. Some $2.5 trillion of property and assets are threatened by climate change, Schwarzenegger said, citing a University of California study.

Nearly half a million Californians are at risk from rising sea levels, while a longer dry season has worsened the fire season and a smaller winter snowpack is affecting water supplies, said the state's first adaptation report, released on Wednesday.

This is illustrated in add-ons to a Google Earth map also unveiled by the state on Wednesday.

On the map, the edges of San Francisco Bay appear colored to show the devastating effects of sea level rises of up to 150 cm (60 inches). All of San Francisco International Airport would be under water.

Other add-ons show snow pack decreases since the 1950s and projected through the end of the century, temperature change, and growing fire risks. They appear under Visualization Tools on the CalAdapt website here

Schwarzenegger argued in an animated video simulating a flight over California that cutting carbon dioxide emissions would not be enough.

"We must also be prepared for some continued climate change, which is now inevitable," he said.

The governor introduced the video, as well as a new panel to advise on adaptation priorities and an adaptation strategy report, on man-made Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay -- which could be under water in a century as sea levels rise, he said. (Editing by Eric Walsh)

Google offers a glimpse of how climate change might affect California
LA Times 2 Dec 09;

Researchers and policymakers have long rued that it’s hard to illustrate the perils of global warming when its most serious impacts won’t be visible for decades.

But thanks to the state Natural Resources Agency and Google, a graphic view of climate change’s potential effect on California -- based on scientific modeling -- is now just a mouse-click away.
Do you want to know if global warming will wipe out the Sierra snowpack before your great-great-grandchildren hit college?

Whether rising sea levels will obliterate landmarks in Baghdad by the Increasingly Deep Bay?
Whether your neighborhood will be safe from wildfires whipped by rising temperatures 76 years from now?

If Google Earth already lives in your computer, see for yourself in living color. Dodger fans take note: Much of the field at AT&T Park, where San Francisco Giants play, could someday be under five feet of water.

The interactive initiative is called CalAdapt, and it was unveiled Wednesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Google CEO Eric Schmidt on scenic Treasure Island in the middle of San Francisco Bay.
Why there? “Within a century, Treasure Island, this place where we are right now, could be totally under water,” Schwarzenegger said during a late-morning news conference. But when it comes to climate change, “it is technology in the end that will save us.”

CalAdapt, which is still in the prototype stage, isn’t a forecaster but rather an electronic way to visualize the possible effects of climate change based on current scientific data, according to the site.

“It’s a whole new way of communicating research,” said Anthony Brunello, deputy secretary for climate change and energy. Although “grandmas, mothers and individuals are a key audience,” the main focus for the site is local planners and scientific researchers.

CalAdapt is part of what Schwarzenegger described as a first-ever, comprehensive state-level strategy to adapt to the future effects of climate change, including rising sea levels, increased temperatures and disappearing snowpacks.

The governor also released the final 200-page report on California’s climate change strategy Wednesday and introduced a new climate adaptation advisory panel composed of 23 leaders from business, labor, government and the private sector.

--Maria L. La Ganga in San Francisco