California
Climate expert links recent California snowfall to warming planet
SAN FRANCISCO — In just four days at the beginning of March, an epic blizzard dropped more than 100 inches of snow in parts of California.
Any concern over California’s snowpack may have, for the moment, evaporated. The Golden State’s reservoirs and drinking water supplies are in good shape.
Experts told CBS News Bay Area that we have not dug ourselves out of the much bigger problem: the impacts of our slowly warming planet. In fact, the blockbuster blizzard that dropped six to 10 feet of snow likely has links to climate change.
“Climate change is really affecting the underlying possibility — set of possibilities — for what a weather system is capable of doing,” said Dr. Andrew Jones.
Jones is a climate scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research involves hydroclimate extremes and snow dynamics. This blizzard, in particular, caught his attention.
“This was a very interesting storm to me,” he said.
One would think that a warming planet should mean less snow and climate scientists predict that, in California, we’ll see diminishing snowfall. But this recent blizzard was a lollapalooza. That too is linked to warming temperatures.
“It really does highlight this conundrum that we see climate change kind of causing two counteracting forces at the same time,” Jones explained.
With this blizzard, cold arctic air out of the Bering Strait made a beeline at California. On the way, it traveled over the Pacific Ocean which is warming in part because of climate change.
Higher temperatures — in the ocean and the air — allow the atmosphere to hold more water.
“So, this cold mass of air that moved down from the Bering Strait has picked up heat and picked up moisture as it was moving across the Pacific,” Jones said.
That created a warmer, wetter storm that was still below freezing. Jones is now keeping his eye on the snowpack — with good reason.
February was the ninth month straight to be the warmest on record globally.
“Because overall conditions are warmer, that snow might melt faster than usual,” Jones warned.
Overall, Jones said he remains hopeful for new strategies that aim to capture excess runoff to recharge California’s aquifers. He also said it’s not too late to slow down climate change.
“We do have to be aware of the changes that are happening and start to prepare for them,” Jones said.
WEBLINKS
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Ocean Warming
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A California mother was arrested on felony child abuse charges after a viral video showed her 19-month-old child falling from a moving SUV at a busy Fullerton intersection, police said Monday.
The Fullerton Police Department said it became aware of the video, which shows a black SUV turning at an intersection when a passenger-side door suddenly opens. A small child then falls out of the vehicle and onto the roadway.
The SUV immediately stops, and a car following behind narrowly avoids colliding with it. The car stops just short of the child on the roadway.
The video shows an adult woman running from the driver’s side, picking up the child and placing the toddler back inside the SUV before driving away.
MAN RUNS INTO FLORIDA STREET TO SAVE TWO YOUNG CHILDREN WHO WANDERED AWAY FROM RENTAL HOME
A black SUV turns at an intersection when a passenger-side door suddenly opens and a small child falls out of the vehicle and onto the roadway. (Fullerton Police Department)
A witness called police on Saturday and provided identifying information about the vehicle. Officers traced the SUV to a home in La Habra, where they located the vehicle, the child and a suspect believed to be the woman seen in the video.
A car following the SUV narrowly avoided hitting the child and SUV. (Fullerton Police Department)
Police identified the child as a 19-month-old who suffered injuries consistent with the fall. The toddler was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.
FLORIDA DEPUTIES RACE TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD WHO STOPPED BREATHING AND HAD NO PULSE ON INTERSTATE, VIDEO SHOWS
The suspect was identified as Jacqueline Hernandez, 35, of La Habra, and the child’s mother. She was arrested and booked into the Fullerton City Jail for felony child abuse, police said.
The child’s mother, identified as Jacqueline Hernandez, 35, of La Habra, picks the child up from the road. Hernandez was later arrested and charged with felony child abuse, police said. (Fullerton Police Department)
Neighbors told FOX11 Los Angeles that the family has several children and could not believe the mother would put her children in such a dangerous situation.
“I can’t excuse something like that, I’m sorry,” a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous told the local station.
Investigators believe the incident occurred between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Jan. 20. Police said they did not receive any emergency calls related to the incident at the time.
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The investigation remains ongoing, and police are asking anyone with additional information to contact the Fullerton Police Department’s Sensitive Crimes Unit.
Several of the candidates vying to become California’s next governor gathered Monday at the University of California, San Francisco to make their case to voters.
Seven Democrats took the stage at UCSF to outline their priorities for their first 100 days in office. Republican candidates were invited but declined to participate.
On June 2, California voters will narrow the field to two candidates in an open primary. Those two will then face off on Nov. 3.
NBC Bay Area’s Velena Jones has more in the video report above.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom decried the United States’ move on Friday, calling it a “reckless decision” that will hurt many people.
“California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring,” Newsom said in a statement. “We will continue to foster partnerships across the globe and remain at the forefront of public health preparedness, including through our membership as the only state in WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network.”
The governor’s office said he met with the WHO’s Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, where they discussed collaborating to detect and respond to emerging public health threats.
The WHO did not immediately respond when reached for comment.
Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington
Editing by Rod Nickel
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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