Climate Change

What will it cost to protect the Bay Area from sea level rise? Try $110 billion, says state agency. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission have collaborated to develop a cost estimate for adapting to rising sea level in the SF Bay Region. It will not be inexpensive, but the cost of doing nothing is much more. (John King, SF Chronicle)

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission have collaborated to develop a cost estimate for adapting to rising sea level in the SF Bay Region. It will not be inexpensive, but the cost of doing nothing is much more. (John King, SF Chronicle)

This year’s series of atmospheric rivers has revived Lake Tulare (once the largest freshwater later west of the Mississippi River), flooding out thousands of farmworkers and disrupting the agricultural industry in the Central Valley. Read more here: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/us/tulare-lake-california-storms.html (New York Times)

Juan Moreno Haines writes from inside San Quentin Prison in https://www.kneedeeptimes.org/imprisoned-with-climate-change/ on the impacts of climate change on the incarcerated; an extremely vulnerable population that often goes unrecognized.

Public Comment Period Extended to May 6th, 2022.

We welcome your input on the Draft BARC Shared Work Plan, which is available for Public Comment until 5 pm on Friday, May 6th, 2022. 

Public comment will be accepted via e-mail to abrooks@bayareametro.gov. Please include "Draft Shared Work Plan" in the subject line.

A recent article in SFGate highlights the findings from a recent report from CalTrans, predicting that State Route 37 will be permanently underwater by the end of 2040 if significant adaptive measures are not taken.

The latest tool from Climate Central displays just how drastically sea level rise is going to affect cities worldwide.

Picturing Our Future provides a prescient vision of the impacts of keeping business-as-usual with our current GHG emissions, as well as scenarios with drastic cutbacks. 

A recent article in FastCompany highlights the troubling trend in U.S. Census data of people moving to areas of high climate risk -- such as the drought and heat-stricken Southwest or the flood-prone Florida coast-- rather away from them. The data, which show that climate change may not yet be top of mind for Americans as they decide where to live, underscore a problematic trend and a potentially important area of focus for the federal government in the future. 

An interactive article in the San Francisco Chronicle today highlights the North Bay's State Route 37, perhaps the stretch of highway in the Bay Area most threatened by rising sea levels. SR 37 is bellwether for the costly and complex issues the region will face as sea level rise, combined with high tides, already threatens to flood the roadways and nearby farms.