Resilient Habitats Newsletter | Articles | Podcasts | Videos
Maps
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
The NOAA has created an interactive map that allows you to view all of California’s marine sanctuaries. These santuaries are home to a variety of wildlife and are protected to ensure the longevity of our marine ecosystems. Calfornia’s marine sanctuaries encompass areas such as deep ocean gardens, near shore coral reefs, whale migration regions, deep sea canyons and historic archeological sites. Interactive map→
The Pacific Institute
The Pacific Institute has generated a variety of maps projecting sea-level rise for 2050 and 2100. The Pacific Institute has also prepared a report to summarize the impacts of sea level rise, which can be downloaded from this website. List of Maps→
Government Plans
California Climate Adaptation Strategy
The California Climate Adaptation Strategy is the first ever multi-sector strategy to guide California’s mitigate efforts for climate change planning. In this report, the California Natural Resources Agency summarizes the best known science on climate change impacts in seven specific sectors and provides recommendations on how to manage these threats. The strategy is in direct response to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s November 2008 Executive Order S-13-08 that specifically asked the Natural Resources Agency to identify how state agencies can respond to rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, sea level rise, and extreme natural events.
Technical Studies
California Coastal Erosion Response to Sea Level Rise – Analysis and Mapping
The CA Coastal Erosion Response Report This report documents future coastal erosion hazards and the methodology used to estimate potential erosion from the Oregon Coast to Santa Barbara. As part of the Coastal Infrastructure and Vulnerability Assessment Project, this erosion methodology is applicable to other areas along the west coast of the United States, and was developed to be modular so that updated estimates could be more rapidly accomplished with improved data and refined methods.
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ARTICLES
October 13 2011 | BCDC Policy Amendment Making Waves, Sierra Club California Responds
On Thursday, October 6, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) voted unanimously to adopt an amendment to the San Francisco Bay Plan to specifically address the impacts of climate change. The vote marks the first time that a California regulatory agency has adopted policies that specifically plan for climate change impacts such as sea level rise.
Read about the BCDC decision and Sierra Club California’s response in the news! visit Scientific American, Redwood City Patch, San Francisco Bay Keeper, and Mercury News
September 20 2011| “The stars are aligning to win national marine sanctuary status for California’s central coast” -Sierra Club California Resilient Habitats Campaign
The 14 national marine sanctuaries in the United States celebrate and safe-guard the nation’s richest underwater treasures. San Luis Obispo coastal waters, however, is in the cross-hairs. San Luis Obispo is not considered a National Sanctuary–but it should be. Read article→
September 13 2011| “Beach towns’ tourism revenue will slide as sea rises, study finds” -LA Times
As rising sea levels eat away at the California coastline over the next century, the changing beachfront may cause huge economic damage to coastal communities stemming from lost tourism and tax revenues, according to a state-commissioned study released Tuesday. Read Article –>
September 1 2011| “Enviros vs. SF over anti-erosion ‘armor’” -Capitol Weekly
An environmental advocacy group spawned by the Santa Barbara oil spill is taking San Francisco to court, contending that the city for almost 15 years has illegally dumped rocks, cement shards and other debris – even iron – along thousands of feet of ocean front to block erosion. Read Article –>
July 28 2011| “Slow stirrings among conservatives on adaptation—just don’t mention climate change” -the New York Times
Conservative platforms often oppose the seemingly liberal bias that climate change carries. Local planning officials and outreach scientists are beginning to find new non-partisan ways to promote adaptation policies. These topics include, storm water management, conservation easements, and hazard planning. Read article→
July 27 2011| “U.S. House Shows Strong Support for Wildlife Protection.” - Press Release
The House voted down a measure added to the budget bill that would prevent new listings under the Endangered Species Act and the protection of key wildlife areas. Fran Hunt, Director of Sierra Club’s Resilient Habitats Campaign, speaks. Read article→
July 22 2011| ”Flood-prone land likely to increase by 45%” -the New York Times
A three-year study to determine the possible impacts of climate change on federal flood insurance will warn of huge increases to the amount of land that could be inundated by rising sea levels, heavier downpours and stormier coastlines. Read article→
July 5 2011| “Scientists finally get angry about indifference to climate change” -Guardian UK
“For decades, scientists have been seen as meek, dispassionate souls. But now, faced with widespread indifference to global warming, a small band of science radicals are getting angry. Will more follow suit?” Read article→
July 3 2011| “Coastal California Developers Now Must Consider Sea Level Rise”-the Sacramento Bee
“From Crescent City to San Diego, state and local planning authorities have started telling developers to factor sea-level rise into project designs.” Read article→
June 20 2011| “Ocean Change Causes Consternation“ -KQED News
The California current is warming up, threatening the California Coast’s biodiversity. Read Article→
June 4 2011| “Development Guidelines Prompt Clash” -the New York Times
The San Francisco Conservation and Development Commission has proposed guidelines that would limit development along the SF shoreline, creating friction with the business community. DMB Associates, the firm behind the proposed Redwood City Saltworks development, spent more than $350,000 on lobbyists over the past year to influence and monitor the proposal and other state regulations and legislation, records show. Read article→
May 11 2011| ”The wetlands that time forgot” Pacific Sun News
Wetlands and marshes, once dismissed as the province of nature enthusiasts and environmentalists, can be a key to protecting residents, development and commercial interests along the shores of San Francisco Bay. Read article→
April 18 2011| “OUR VIEW: Don’t tear down efforts to protect US wilderness” -The Bakersfield Californian
The rumbling sound you may have noticed coming from the general vicinity of the Sierra Nevada is Teddy Roosevelt rolling over in his grave. Read article→
April 2011| Conserve & Protect California’s Coast! -Chapter Newsletter
The California Coast Resilient Habitats Campaign! Sierra Club California launched the California Coast Resilient Habitats Campaign (CCRHC) to address the effects of climate change on the state’s coastal regions. The campaign will focus on protecting, connecting, and restoring California’s coastal habitats in order to allow our wildlife to adapt to changing conditions caused by sea level rise and variations in temperature and precipitation due to climate change. Read Newsletter→
March 6 2011| “Coastal cities prepare for rising sea levels” - LA Times
Newport Beach and other communities on California’s coast are planning to build up wetlands, construct levees and seawalls or move structures inland as climate change raises sea levels. Read article→
PODCASTS
July 22 2011| “The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme S
torms, and Other Scenes from a Climate-Changed Planet,” -NPR Fresh Air
Heidi Cullen talks with Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross about how climate change appears to be creating extreme weather in winter and summer. Cullen, a research scientist for Climate Central, is the author of the book, ”The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and other Scenes from the Climate Changed Planet” which describes the serious effects climate change will have on our future. Listen here→
April 25 2011| NPR’s Morning Edition – “A Struggle To Fight Back The Sea,” - NPR’s Morning Edition
Some of the nation’s richest and most important ecosystems lie where the ocean meets the land. It’s these same coastal areas that are going to disappear as sea level continues to rise as a result of climate change… Listen here→
VIDEOS
February 25 2011| ”Climate Change at the Doorstep in Norfolk,“ - PBS Need To Know
In any debate over federal spending priorities, the underlying argument is over policy. For example, defunding Planned Parenthood is a way to further limit abortion. If you defund environmental legislation, you’ve effectively crippled the government’s response to climate change. Watch here→
ACROSS CALIFORNIA—CALVIN FRENCH’S TREK
Cal, 74, a member of the Sierra Club for 42 years, is trekking 530 miles from the Colorado River to the Pacific Ocean to highlight the threatened natural corridors of Southern California. Cal sits on the Sierra Club Santa Lucia Chapter Board. He is blogging from a BlackBerry – when he can find a cellphone tower. Follow his journey in short anecdotes and pictures athttp://sierraclub.typepad.com/explore/across-california/.
For donations and inquiries, please contact California Coast Resilient Habitats Campaign Organizer Amanda Wallner at Amanda.Wallner@sierraclub.org or (916) 557-1100x106 at the Sierra Club California 801 K Street, Suite 2700 Sacramento, CA 95814
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