SACRAMENTO – Climate change is having a significant and measurable impact on California’s environment, according to a new state report that tracks 36 indicators of climate change and its effects.
The indicators highlighted in the report show that climate change is occurring throughout California, from the Pacific Coast to the Central Valley to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Impacts of a warmer climate include decreasing spring snowmelt runoff, rising sea levels along the California coast, shrinking glaciers, increasing wildfires, warming lakes and ocean waters, and the gradual migration of many plants and animals to higher elevations.