In California, Climate Change Will Transform the Land, Lifestyles

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published December 31, 2007 at 6:06 AM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

In California, climate change is predicted to transform the land and our lifestyles by the end of this century. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has more on what scientists are predicting for the

In California, climate change is predicted to transform the land and our lifestyles by the end of this century. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has more on what scientists are predicting for the Golden State.

Many of the scientific predictions are gloomy. Some already are coming true.

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California's ski season will likely be hit first. Snow is expected to fall for a shorter period of time and melt more quickly. That could shorten the ski season by a month even in wetter areas and perhaps end it in others.

The Southern California ski season has already started to shrivel, whether from short-term drought or long-term changes. Scientists say by the end of this century, temperatures will increase from 3 degrees to as much as 10 degrees statewide. That could mean even less rainfall for Southern California, already under pressure from the increased frequency of wildfires and population growth.

Many of the state's beaches are expected to shrink as sea levels rise. Jeff Severinghaus is a professor of geosciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He says if the sea level rises by a foot, it pushes a cliff back 100 feet. In San Diego County and elsewhere, that could mean a lot of houses falling into the ocean.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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