Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Fresno State researchers identify regional climate challenges

Central Valley Business Times (Fresno, California): A climate-change study by California State University, Fresno researchers, commissioned by the city of Fresno, forecasts significant challenges ahead to water, air quality, agriculture and landscapes, transportation, energy use, buildings and settlements in the central San Joaquin Valley Projections include rising temperatures, more extreme-heat days, 15 percent to 20 percent variation in rainfall, fewer but more intense storms and higher-elevation snows.

...The report suggests a number of ways in which the greater Fresno community could adapt to or mitigate the effects of climate change, including the following:
• Reduce water consumption, especially from aesthetic uses such as landscaping
• Increase the area’s ability to capture, store and retrieve water from less frequent and more intense precipitation events
• Develop crop contingency plans in case changing temperature and precipitation regimes reduce the viability of current, major crops supporting our economy
• Support the Fresno Green Building Program and expand it where possible into retrofit and renovation projects
• Support compact growth and New Urbanism principles
• Develop green jobs
• Showcase green technologies and green communities in the Fresno area
• Develop a long-term sustainability research and development program with local educational institutions

A Fresno corner store, shot by Dorothea Lange for the WPA in 1939

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