Climate Change in California: What we know, what we don't know, and what it all means for the Golden State - Livestream

California is a land of great geographic and climatological diversity, and no stranger to drought, flood, and fire. The region already has one of the highest degrees of precipitation variability in the world, and is notably susceptible to extremes at both ends of the hydroclimate spectrum. California's cities and water infrastructure are designed with this relatively high variability explicitly in mind, and have historically been able to accommodate most of these natural swings from wet to dry (and back again) reasonably well. Yet in a warming climate, California is beginning to experience an even greater degree of "hydroclimate whiplash" that will eventually bring both droughts and floods that are outside the bounds of historical experience and will seriously threaten the state's ability to manage these hazards. In this talk, Dr. Daniel Swain will outline what we know with high certainty about California's changing climate, discuss some of the more speculative and uncertain aspects, and conclude with thoughts on what climate adaptations would be commensurate with the changes ahead.

Speaker: Daniel Swain, UC Los Angeles, NOAA, and The Nature Conservancy

Moderator: Noah Diffenbaugh, Stanford University

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