DOCSLIB.ORG

Authors: Regan Galinato, Eric Green, Hazen O'malley, Parmida Behmardi

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Authors: Regan Galinato, Eric Green, Hazen O'malley, Parmida Behmardi Authors: Regan Galinato, Eric Green, Hazen O’Malley, Parmida Behmardi1 ANTHRO 25A: Environmental Injustice Instructor: Prof. Dr. Kim Fortun Department of Cultural Anthropology Graduate Teaching Associates: Kaitlyn Rabach Tim Schütz Undergraduate Teaching Associates Nina Parshekofteh Lafayette Pierre White University of California Irvine, Fall 2019 1 A total of eight students contributed to this case study, some of whom chose to be anonymous. TABLE OF CONTENTS What is the setting of this case? [Collective Response] 3 How does climate change produce environmental vulnerabilities and harms in this setting? [Regan Galinato] 6 What factors -- social, cultural, political, technological, ecological -- contribute to environmental health vulnerability and injustice in this setting? [Collective Response] 10 Who are the stakeholders, what are their characteristics, and what are their perceptions of the problems? [Collective Response] 15 What have different stakeholder groups done (or not done) in response to the problems in this case? 17 How have big media outlets and environmental organizations covered environmental problems related to worse case scenarios in this setting? 19 What local actions would reduce environmental vulnerability and injustice related to fast disaster in this setting? [Parmida Behmardi] 21 What extra-local actions (at state, national or international levels) would reduce environmental vulnerability and injustice related to fast disaster in this setting and similar settings? [Hazen O’Malley] 25 What kinds of data and research would be useful in efforts to characterize and address environmental threats (related to fast disaster, pollution and climate change) in this setting and similar settings? 29 What, in your view, is ethically wrong or unjust in this case? [Eric Green] 31 BIBLIOGRAPHY (GENERATE WITH ZOTERO) 34 FIGURES 38 APPENDIX 40 1. What is the setting of this case? [Collective Response] Fig 1. Selected area for the County of Riverside. EPA EJ Screen Report, County ​ of Riverside, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2019. Screenshot taken by author. ​ Fig 2: Demographic indicators for Riverside County. EPA EJ Screen Report, County ​ ​ ​ of Riverside, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2019. Screenshot taken by author. ​ Fig. 3: High scoring census tracts in Riverside County, CalEnviro Screen 3.0, 2019. ​ Retrieved November 23, 2019. Screenshot taken by author. The setting of this case is Riverside, CA. Riverside has geographical features such as rivers, mountain peaks, deserts and fertile valleys” (County of Riverside 2019). Riverside is a city of over 320,000 residents, and many of these residents struggle financially, as the City's poverty rate of 16.6% is significantly higher than California's poverty rate of 13.3%. The median household income is $66,928 per year, and the median property value is $368,600. The racial makeup of Riverside is characterized by a very large presence of Hispanic or Latino individuals. In 2017 there were almost twice as many Hispanic or Latino residents than any other race or ethnicity. The most common employment sectors for the residents of Riverside include: Retail, Health care, and manufacturing. 91.4% of Riverside residents do have health insurance plans, the majority of those are employee plans, followed by medicaid. According to Figure 2, the EJSCREEN of the city of Riverside, they are in the 99th percentile for both PM and Ozone pollution, and according to Figure 3, the CalEnviroScreen, they are in the 98th percentile for pollution burden. Because their air pollution is very significant, they are in an area called the “smog belt”, which is due to the fact that the pollution from the LA area gets blown by the wind inland towards the Riverside area, as seen in Figure 1. They are in the 83rd percentile for RMP proximity, and 93rd for wastewater discharge. The political system of Riverside is a council-manager system, where the residents elect a city manager, mayor, city council, and council committees. 2. How does climate change produce environmental vulnerabilities and harms in this setting? [Regan Galinato] Fig 4: Average annual temperature projections in Riverside up to year 2100. Taken from https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=8b910d9c7b9744 ea94e07d82f5420782 Fig 5: Average temperature projections per month in 2050. Taken from https://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=8b910d9c7b9744 ea94e07d82f5420782 Fig 6: Riverside’s agriculture industry profits in 2017. Taken from https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=4902f82d598b4b8182b 87a3c0a5867aa Fig 7: State of drought in California from 2000 to 2019. Taken from https://www.drought.gov/drought/states/california?places=Riverside%2C%20CA%2 C%20USA%20%28Riverside%20County%29 Climate change is rapidly increasing the rate at which natural disasters are happening, and in Riverside’s case it is wildfires. California is known to have wildfires, and recently they have been becoming stronger and more frequent. They are caused by a large amount of dry vegetation that may catch fire when exposed to fast, dry winds. Climate change has significantly warmed summer temperatures in California by 3.5 Fahrenheit since the 1800s, and “The area burned across California during the summertime is about eight times higher today than it was only in the 1970s.” (Borunda 2019). As the temperature gets warmer, the dryer the vegetation will be, and the stronger the wildfires. According to a study done by Janin Guzman-Morales, who is a researcher at the University of California, San Diego, winds that may cause wildfires may become less frequent during the usual wildfire season in fall, and instead shift into winter “with longer and more intense fires later in the year” (Fountain 2019). In 2017, Santa Ana experienced winter wildfires, where in December of that year the dry winds picked up and started the Thomas fire, which burned for more than a month, which may be a sign that this can happen across California. As temperatures rise, the climate of California will change as well. The average precipitation is expected to stay relatively constant as time goes on, but the years will vary from extremely dry to extremely wet. As seen in figure 7, there was a very serious drought in California from 2014 to 2017, and in 2018 the drought was resolved by a large amount of precipitation. This trend will continue, and get more extreme as temperatures get higher. In the years of drought there will be problems with water shortages which can affect irrigation for agriculture, and in the years of more rain there will be problems with flooding. In addition, “Such sudden swings between severe drought and intense storms will increase the threat to aging dams and flood-control networks, accentuate the wildfire threat and make management of the state’s complex waterworks even more daunting” (Boxall 2018). Climate change will also have an impact on public health and economy in the region. Agriculture will become harder to sustain and less profitable as temperatures go up. Some of the crops that are grown in the Riverside area, such as broccoli, thrive in more temperate or cooler temperatures. As seen in figure 5, the lowest average temperature barely hits 60 degrees fahrenheit in January on the lower end of the spectrum by 2050, and this means that it may be too warm in California all year round to grow certain winter crops such as broccoli. Looking at figure 6, large parts of the profit are from certain vegetables and citrus fruits, and because certain varieties of vegetables and citrus fruits thrive in lower temperatures, it may lower profits from agriculture and weaken the economy. Temperature changes can also affect Riverside’s already high levels of ozone. Ground level ozone is caused by nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds reacting with heat. Looking at figure 4, temperatures are projected to increase by approximately 3 Fahrenheit in 2050, which may cause ozone levels to increase. Ozone is a pollutant that aggravates the lungs, and “ Long-term exposures to higher concentrations of ozone may also be linked to permanent lung damage, such as abnormal lung development in children” (EPA 2019). This has the potential to cause more hospital visits for people who are susceptible to lung damage from ozone pollution, particularly children and people with lung diseases such as asthma. 3. What factors -- social, cultural, political, technological, ecological -- contribute to environmental health vulnerability and injustice in this setting? [Collective Response] Fig. 8: Average wind speed patterns in Riverside, California. Wind is a huge opponent of fire containment, as it spreads embers in the air to other drier locations starting more fires. Graph courtesy from Weather Sparks. Fig. 9: Location of the recent Hill fire in Riverside, California which shows the area in gray as the area that was burned and forced nearby houses to evacuate from. screen shot graph from The San Francisco Chronicle. Fig. 10: General map of Riverside, California showing disadvantaged communities within the county. This disadvantage only hurts the residents dealing with fires, and the threat of anymore fires puts these communities at even greater disadvantages. Screenshot taken from California Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment. Fig. 11: This shows the frequency of fires in the year of 2019 alone. Riverside has a long history of fires, in which residents have to respond to and find ways to protect their homes through homeowners
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Mitigation Plan for City of Yucaipa
    Yucaipa Valley Water District Hazard Mitigation Plan Update Hazard Mitigation Plan Update FEMA Approval Date: 02-26-2021 Date of District Board Approval 03-09-2021 Yucaipa Valley Water District Hazard Mitigation Plan for Review Sturdivan 2021 Primary Contact During Development Sturdivan Emergency Management Consulting Gary Sturdivan 909-658-5974 [email protected] Agency Primary Contact: John Wrobel Yucaipa Valley Water District (909)-790-7597 [email protected] Yucaipa Valley Water District Hazard Mitigation Plan for Review Sturdivan 2021 Table of Contents SECTION 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1.0 Purpose of the Plan. .................................................................................................... 1.1 Community Profile. ..................................................................................................... 1.1.1 Physical Setting. .......................................................................................................... 1.1.2 History ........................................................................................................................ 1.1.3 Demographics.............................................................................................................. 1.1.4 Population. .................................................................................................................. 1.1.5 Existing Land Use ......................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Mission Springs Water District Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
    Mission Springs Water District Local Hazard Mitigation Plan CalOES Approval Date: XX-XX-XXXX FEMA Approval Date: XX-XX-XXXX Date of District Board Approval XX-XX-XXXX Mission Springs Water District Hazard Mitigation Plan 2021 Primary Contact During Development Sturdivan Emergency Management Consulting Gary Sturdivan Mobile: (909)658-5974 Email: [email protected] Agency Primary Contact: Bassam Alzammar Mission Springs Water District Phone: (760)660-4943 Email: [email protected] Mission Springs Water District Hazard Mitigation Plan 2021 Table of Contents SECTION 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………... 1.0 Purpose of the Plan………………………………………………………………… 1.1 Authority…………………………………………………………………………… 1.2 Community Profile…………………………………………………………………. 1.3 Physical Setting……………………………………………………………………. 1.4 Demographics……………………………………………………………………… 1.5 Existing Land Use…………………………………………………………………. 1.6 Development Trends………………………………………………………………. SECTION 2. Plan Adoption…………………………………………………………………... 2.1 Adoption by Local Governing Body ........................................................................... 2.2 Promulgation Authority .............................................................................................. 2.3 Primary Point of Contact ............................................................................................. SECTION 3. Planning Process……………………………………………………………...... 3.1 Preparing for the Plan ................................................................................................. 3.2 Planning Team ...........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Mandatory Moratorium on Non-Renewals After Recent Wildfire Activity
    RICARDO LARA CALIFORNIA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER BULLETIN PURSUANT TO INSURANCE CODE SECTION 675.1(b) AMENDED* TO: All Admitted and Non-Admitted1 Insurers Writing Residential Property Insurance in California FROM: Commissioner Ricardo Lara DATE: December 18, 2019 RE: Mandatory Moratorium on Non-Renewals After Recent Wildfire Activity *This bulletin supplements the bulletin of the same title issued on December 5, 2019 to provide additional information regarding ZIP Codes within or adjacent to the fire perimeters for the fires identified in the Governor’s various Emergency Declarations discussed herein. Recent insurer actions in California have created considerable disruption for California’s residents; particularly those who live in or near regions of the state potentially threatened by wildfires. The Commissioner continues to receive information from Californians who have struggled to obtain residential property insurance coverage in the voluntary market. In August of this year, the Department of Insurance published data, which shows an increasing trend of non-renewals for people at risk of wildfires.2 California’s property insurers are retreating from areas they identify as having higher wildfire risk. In many communities across the state, finding affordable comprehensive fire insurance has become difficult. So difficult that real estate transactions have stalled or been cancelled. If this trend is allowed to continue, it could further disrupt local real estate markets and cause property values to decline, reducing tax revenue available for vital services to residents such as fire protection, community fire mitigation, law enforcement, road repairs, and hospitals in these communities. Commissioner Lara has met with many of these affected communities and policyholders over the last year who are facing non-renewals and rising premiums.
    [Show full text]
  • The Paleohistory of California Oaks1
    1 The Paleohistory of California Oaks 2 Scott Mensing Abstract Oak woodlands are a fixture of California geography, yet as recently as 10,000 years ago oaks were only a minor element in the landscape. The first fossil evidence for California’s oaks is in the early Miocene (~20 million years ago) when oaks were present across the west, intermixed with deciduous trees typical of eastern North America. As climate became drier, species dependent upon summer precipitation went locally extinct and oaks retreated west of the Sierra Nevada. During the Pleistocene (the last 2 million years) oak abundance declined during cool glacial periods and expanded during warm interglacials. After the last glacial maximum (~18,000 years ago), oaks expanded rapidly to become the dominant trees in the Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, and Peninsular Ranges. During the Holocene (the last 10,000 years) oaks in the Sierra Nevada were most abundant during a warm dry period between 8000 and 6000 years ago. Native American use of fire to manipulate plants for food, basketry, tools, and other uses helped maintain oak woodlands and reduce expansion of conifers where these forest types overlapped. Fire suppression, initiated by the Spanish and reinforced during the American period has allowed oak woodland density to increase in some areas in the Coast Range, but has decreased oaks where pines are dominant. Extensive cutting of oaks has reduced their populations throughout much of the state. Key words: California, oak woodlands, paleoecology, Quercus, vegetation history Introduction Oak woodlands characterize much of the California landscape, but widespread oak communities are of relatively recent origin in the state.
    [Show full text]
  • A Surface Observation Based Climatology of Diablo-Like Winds in California's Wine Country and Western Sierra Nevada
    fire Short Note A Surface Observation Based Climatology of Diablo-Like Winds in California’s Wine Country and Western Sierra Nevada Craig Smith 1,2,*, Benjamin J. Hatchett 1 ID and Michael Kaplan 1 1 Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV 89512, USA; [email protected] (B.J.H.); [email protected] (M.K.) 2 Cumulus Weather Solutions, LLC, Reno, NV 89511, USA * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-541-231-4802 Received: 23 May 2018; Accepted: 20 July 2018; Published: 23 July 2018 Abstract: Diablo winds are dry and gusty north-northeasterly downslope windstorms that affect the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. On the evening of 8 October 2017, Diablo winds contributed to the ignitions and rapid spread of the “Northern California firestorm”, including the Tubbs Fire, which burned 2800 homes in Santa Rosa, resulting in 22 fatalities and $1.2 B USD in damages. We analyzed 18 years of data from a network of surface meteorological stations and showed that Diablo winds tend to occur overnight through early morning in fall, winter and spring. In addition to the area north of the San Francisco Bay Area, conditions similar to Diablo winds commonly occur in the western Sierra Nevada. Both of these areas are characterized by high wind speeds and low relative humidity, but they neither tend to be warmer than climatology nor have a higher gust factor, or ratio of wind gusts to mean wind speeds, than climatology. Keywords: Diablo winds; downslope windstorms; Northern California; wildfire meteorology 1.
    [Show full text]
  • California History Online | the Physical Setting
    Chapter 1: The Physical Setting Regions and Landforms: Let's take a trip The land surface of California covers almost 100 million acres. It's the third largest of the states; only Alaska and Texas are larger. Within this vast area are a greater range of landforms, a greater variety of habitats, and more species of plants and animals than in any area of comparable size in all of North America. California Coast The coastline of California stretches for 1,264 miles from the Oregon border in the north to Mexico in the south. Some of the most breathtaking scenery in all of California lies along the Pacific coast. More than half of California's people reside in the coastal region. Most live in major cities that grew up around harbors at San Francisco Bay, San Diego Bay and the Los Angeles Basin. San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay, one of the finest natural harbors in the world, covers some 450 square miles. It is two hundred feet deep at some points, but about two-thirds is less than twelve feet deep. The bay region, the only real break in the coastal mountains, is the ancestral homeland of the Ohlone and Coast Miwok Indians. It became the gateway for newcomers heading to the state's interior in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Tourism today is San Francisco's leading industry. San Diego Bay A variety of Yuman-speaking people have lived for thousands of years around the shores of San Diego Bay. European settlement began in 1769 with the arrival of the first Spanish missionaries.
    [Show full text]
  • Safety Element
    TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 6: Safety Element 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 PURPOSE, SCOPE, AND CONTENT ...................................................................................................................... 1 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................................... 2 RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER DOCUMENTS .............................................................................................................. 3 Other General Plan Elements .................................................................................................................... 3 Area Plans .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan ....................................................................................... 3 RELATIONSHIP TO THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT ....................................................................... 4 HAZARD REDUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 4 2. ISSUES AND POLICIES ............................................................................................................................ 6 CODE CONFORMANCE AND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS
    [Show full text]
  • The Sierra Nevada Climate of California: a Cold Winter Mediterranean?
    Department of Fish and Wildlife Biogeographic Data Branch 1416 9th Street, Suite 1266 Sacramento, CA 95814 http://atlas.dfg.ca.gov The Sierra Nevada Climate of California: A cold winter Mediterranean? By Eric Kauffman California is at a juncture of several major climate types, each distinctive in its own way, and yet they all have a "Mediterranean" character. Generally speaking, most of these climates have wet winters and dry summers as is typical of Mediterranean climates around the world. The Mediterranean climate type only occurs in four locations outside of the region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Sometimes it is considered relatively "rare" when compared to other world climate types — many of which cover wide regions across the globe. However, even rarer in this regard is the cold forest climate of the Sierra Nevada Range. This "cold-forest" climate is spread across the Sierra Nevada northward into the interior mountains of Oregon and Washington's Cascades, and eastward through Idaho's Bitterroot and Salmon Mountains. It is also mapped to a lesser degree in other western states, such as the high mountain ranges of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and southwestern Colorado. Outside North America, this climate type has been mapped only in the region extending from eastern Turkey to northwestern Iran. Using the Köppen Classification System, this cold forest climate could be classified as "Mediterranean" in many respects. It is mostly dry and warm, not too hot during the summer, and wet during the winter. Unlike the Mediterranean climate type, however, winter precipitation is often in the form of snow as a result of temperatures falling consistently below freezing — a condition not typical of Mediterranean climates.
    [Show full text]
  • 2019-2020 SAR Monitoring Annual Report
    • SECTION 11 Santa Ana Region 2019-2020 Monitoring Annual Report P8/235139 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK SANTA ANA REGION 2019-2020 Monitoring Annual Report Executive Summary Strawberry Creek SMC Bioassessment Trend Site Monitoring was conducted by the Riverside County Watershed Protection Program during the 2019-2020 monitoring year to address the objectives of the Monitoring and Reporting Program (MRP) of the 2010 Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit. This report presents the results of this ninth year of monitoring under the MRP of the 2010 MS4 Permit. The MRP is limited to the area of Riverside County under Permittee jurisdiction within the Santa Ana River Watershed, referred to throughout this report as the Santa Ana Region or SAR. The climate of the SAR is SAR Boundary and Monitoring Sites Mediterranean, characterized by warm, dry summers and cool, rainy winters. Annual precipitation ranges from less than 10 inches in the alluvial valleys to over 36 inches in the mountains. In general, shading from the coastal western boundary of the Santa Ana Mountains translates to very little precipitation throughout valley areas of the inland SAR. Under natural conditions, the majority of streams in the SAR are ephemeral, meaning they are dry and only flowing during and immediately after rain. PERMITTEES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - SANTA ANA REGION MONITORING ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 YEAR 1 MONITORING ANNUAL REPORT Monitoring and Assessment Requirements During the 2019-2020 monitoring year, the SAR Monitoring Program was implemented in accordance with the requirements of the 2010 MS4 Permit. All wet and dry weather monitoring components of the MS4 outfall monitoring program, receiving water monitoring program, and bioassessment monitoring (through participation in the Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition [SMC] regional monitoring program) were completed.
    [Show full text]
  • Bulletin 2020-1 Mandatory Moratorium on Residential Non-Renewals
    RICARDO LARA CALIFORNIA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER BULLETIN PURSUANT TO INSURANCE CODE SECTION 675.1(b) 2nd AMENDED* TO: All Admitted and Non-Admitted1 Insurers Writing Residential Property Insurance in California FROM: Commissioner Ricardo Lara DATE: February 3 , 2020 RE: Mandatory Moratorium on Non-Renewals After Recent Wildfire Activity *This bulletin supplements the bulletins of the same title issued on December 5, 2019 and December 18, 2019 to provide additional information regarding ZIP Codes within or adjacent to the fire perimeters for the fires identified in the Governor’s various Emergency Declarations discussed herein. Recent insurer actions in California have created considerable disruption for California’s residents; particularly those who live in or near regions of the state potentially threatened by wildfires. The Commissioner continues to receive information from Californians who have struggled to obtain residential property insurance coverage in the voluntary market. In August of this year, the Department of Insurance published data, which shows an increasing trend of non-renewals for people at risk of wildfires.2 California’s property insurers are retreating from areas they identify as having higher wildfire risk. In many communities across the state, finding affordable comprehensive fire insurance has become difficult. So difficult that real estate transactions have stalled or been cancelled. If this trend is allowed to continue, it could further disrupt local real estate markets and cause property values to decline, reducing tax revenue available for vital services to residents such as fire protection, community fire mitigation, law enforcement, road repairs, and hospitals in these communities. Commissioner Lara has met with many of these affected communities and policyholders over the last year who are facing non-renewals and rising premiums.
    [Show full text]
  • P2.19 Diurnal and Seasonal Wind Variability for Selected Stations in Southern California Climate Regions
    P2.19 DIURNAL AND SEASONAL WIND VARIABILITY FOR SELECTED STATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CLIMATE REGIONS Charles J. Fisk * NAVAIR-Point Mugu, CA 1. INTRODUCTION The State of California’s diverse and complex topography - its varying mountain range orientations, coastline configurations, basins, and valleys produces a diverse assortment of surface wind climatologies for its numerous meteorological stations. Diurnal and seasonal wind character for some localities may exhibit significant contrasts relative to the large-scale west to northwesterly flow patterns that predominate the free atmosphere overhead [WRCC, 2007]. Given this likelihood, for contingency planning and decision-aid purposes it should be useful to have quick- study individual-hour wind data in hand that characterize this wind variability for stations of interest. The recent (in the last several years) online availability of hourly observational sets extending back 60 years or more (e.g., the Integrated Surface Hourly data site or “ISH” at the NOAA National Climate Data Center) makes the every-hour option convenient for those who wish to analyze hourly data for many stations. Also, the availability of powerful desktop data analysis and visualization software, itself a fairly recent development, enables results to be presented in a concise and Figure 1. NOAA Western Regional Climate Center preferably graphical way. (WRCC) California Climate Regions [WRCC, 2007] The following analyzes/compares hourly wind climatologies for a collection of Southern California stations, in the process demonstrating a three-chart 2. METHODS AND PROCEDURES graphical methodology for presenting results. The graphical scheme is an hour by month climogram Three types of climograms are presented: 1.) Mean approach [Fisk, 2004], analogous to topographic maps.
    [Show full text]
  • California's Climate Change
    em • feature by Edie Chang and Steven Cliff California’s Climate Change Edie Chang, MSME, is a deputy executive officer at the California Air Resources Board of the California Environmental Protection Agency in Sacramento, CA. She oversees the Climate Change Program and the Solution Stationary Source Division. E-mail: [email protected]. An Integrated Model Steven Cliff, Ph.D., is an assistant division chief of the Stationary Source Division. Climate change poses a serious and significant threat to the planet, with dire consequences for the world’s environment, economy, and social welfare. Many of the negative environmental impacts associated with climate change are now increasingly Downtown Los becoming visible in California, including Angeles Aerial reduced snowpack and earlier runoff of California’s trans- portation sources the stored water supply, rising sea levels, contribute nearly and seasonal changes affecting crop 40% of the state’s GHG emissions, and production. This article provides a brief 55% percent of NOX overview of the state’s approach to finding in the San Joaquin Valley and South solutions to climate change. Coast Region. Thus, reducing emissions from transportation would play a critical role in meeting both the state’s midterm air quality goals, as well as its long-term climate targets. Daniel Stein/iStock/Thinkstock 14 em june 2014 awma.org Copyright 2014 Air & Waste Management Association Figure 1. California state- Statewide Emission Trends (tons/day) wide emissions trends. 4,000 Historical Projected 3,500 3,000 VOC 2,500 NOX 2,000 SOX DPM 1,500 PM2.5 Statewide Emissions PM10 (tons/day, annual average) 1,000 500 0 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 The latest climate science underscores the urgent tremendously, and are projected to continue to need to accelerate greenhouse gas (GHG) emis- decrease in the coming years (see Figure 1).
    [Show full text]