Report: Calif. should gird for heat, rising sea

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Even if the world is successful in cutting carbon emissions in the future, California needs to start preparing for rising sea levels, hotter weather and other effects of climate change, a new state report recommends.

It encourages local communities to rethink future development in low-lying coastal areas, reinforce levees that protect flood-prone areas and conserve already strapped water supplies.

“We still have to adapt, no matter what we do, because of the nature of the greenhouse gases,” said Tony Brunello, deputy secretary for climate change and energy at the California Natural Resources Agency, who helped prepare the report. “Those gases are still going to be in the atmosphere for the next 100 years.”

The draft report to be released Monday by the California Natural Resources Agency provides the state’s first comprehensive plan to work with local governments, universities and residents to deal with a changing climate. A final plan is expected to be released in the fall after the public weighs in.

AP