Photo: Michael Macor / The Chronicle 2017

Bigger, more intense forest fires, longer droughts, warmer seas, and an ever-shrinking snowpack in the Sierra Nevada are unequivocal evidence of the ruinous domino-effects of climate change on California, a new report from CalEPA states. The Indicators of Climate Change in California tracks 36 indicators of climate change, including both human and ecological impacts. The report shows a dramatic increase in temperatures since 1895, especially since the early 1980s. Most alarming is an increase in night temperatures by 2.3 degrees over the past century. The drought from 2012 to 2016 was the most extreme in terms of high temperatures since records began in 1895, killing some 129 million trees while promoting infestations of bark beetles. The largest Sierra glaciers have shrunk by an average of about 70 percent. There has been an alarming increase in extreme-weather related calamities, including the five largest fire years since 1950 - all after 2006 - and the deadliest, most destructive wildfires in 2017. ( SF Chronicle)

green spaces are crucial to well-being has multiplied in recent decades. But US metropolitan areas are losing 36 million trees every year. That amounts to about 175,000 acres of tree cover, most of it in central city and suburban areas but also on the exurban fringes. This reduction translates into an annual loss of about $96 million in benefits-based on just a few well-known, easily monetized benefits. Tree cover increased in only three states, all by non-significant amounts, and declined in 45 states. "There's almost no public health, crime or environmental quality metric that you can look at that isn't made better by the presence of trees," says Deborah Marton of the New York Restoration Project. "Trees are infrastructure, and they are the cheapest way" cities can make a difference in the lives of residents. ( Link)

Photo: Dan Pelle/AP File

A new study shows that without climate change, the future would hold half as many heat waves. It also identifies areas in the US where majority climate change-driven heat waves would strike first: in California and the Southwest, as early as the 2020s. By contrast, the Northern and Southern Plains will see climate change-driven heat waves by 2050 and 2070, respectively, due to regional climate variability, such as differences in atmospheric circulation, precipitation, and existence of green spaces. ( Link)

Urban trees can help cool down cities, but a new study suggests that that effect holds true on a bigger scale too. Entire forests can help cool down the wider environment, with deforestation in the Northern Hemisphere accounting for more than half the warming that occurred over North America between 1920 and 1980. (Since the early 1980s, the deforestation-warming effect has fallen to about 30 percent as the warming effect of greenhouse gases grows.) Trees provide cooling through evapotranspiration and through breaking up an otherwise smooth landscape, helping to disperse heat. The results indicate that trees may play an even bigger role in global climate mitigation efforts than previously thought. ( Link)

For every dollar invested in planting, cities see an average US$2.25 return on their investment each year. The i-Tree tool helps to calculate some - but not all - of the benefits provided by trees, simulating how a tree's structure affects the services it provides, including flooding, air quality, and energy use. The study also found that for megacities, every square kilometer of trees provides an annual value of $967,000 in benefits, including savings in health care, energy use and cooling, carbon storage, and runoff capture. ( Link)

	Photo: NASA

New research indicates that making rural surfaces - such as farmlands - more light-reflecting can have a significant impact on lowering the heat island effect. Farmers can increase the reflectivity of farmlands by changing farming methods or switching to crops with higher albedo. Heat island is a growing issue with increasing urbanization, while climate change itself could increase the urban-rural temperature difference by 30 percent. ( Yale 360)

Los Angeles is coating its streets with a new gray paint called CoolSeal that will keep pavements cooler, helping to reduce the urban heat island effect. California-based company GuardTop produces the paint, which in pilot tests conducted in Los Angeles in August resulted in a 6.6 degree Celsius (12 degree Fahrenheit) drop in temperature. ( Link)

This guide provides a series of Storm Smart Steps that local governments, schools and other community stakeholders can follow to identify school grounds and integrate green infrastructure into projects and/or a program to achieve regulatory compliance, manage stormwater, and improve environmental literacy. ( Link)

Recordings are available from the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health's annual meeting on climate health solutions, held in April in Arlington, VA. The meeting included briefings on the health content of the 2018 National Climate Assessment and the Lancet Countdown reports, presentations on a range of solutions including pricing carbon, accelerating the transition to clean energy, and greening the health sector. ( Link)

This Four Twenty Seven webinar will provide insight into concrete actions that cities can take to more effectively attract investor financing for climate adaptation and resilience, and will familiarize participants with an approach for assessing city-level physical climate risks. Speakers will discuss how S&P is incorporating physical climate risks into its view of city and county credit risk and offer insight into the factors that investors are looking at when determining whether to make city-level climate resilience investments and what cities can do to more successfully attract investor financing for climate adaptation and resilience. ( Register)

Please join us at our quarterly adaptation exchange to hear from regional experts on the drivers of poor air quality in the Sacramento region, such as transportation and heat, as well as opportunities and solutions to improving air quality and climate resilience. Poor air quality has significant negative health implications, particularly for our most under-resourced and vulnerable community members, and is also exacerbated by extreme heat - a primary climate risk facing our region. However, there are many strategies that can simultaneously improve air quality, reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and build resilience to climate change. ( Register)

Join Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) experts from across the state for a day-long event about accelerating CCA adoption, sharing best practices, and creating more benefits for our communities. A pre-symposium workshop on June 4th will focus on distributed energy resource projects that build local resilience, provide unique customer services, and contribute to local economic development. ( Link)

The tiny house movement is no longer a fad, but becoming an integral part of housing offerings and opportunities. Communities throughout the US are amending building and zoning codes to permit tiny houses in both tiny house villages and as accessory dwelling units. This seminar will discuss tiny houses as an affordable and eco-friendly alternative to conventional housing and as a partial solution to California's housing crisis, changes in laws and building codes, regulatory issues, and more. Cost is $135, includes AIA LU/HSW credits. ( Register)