Climate Change in the Sierra

Well, that's it for fun in the Sierra (for now). Now we get the gloom and doom: an excellent article (from Sunday's Chronicle) on the effects of climate change on the Sierra. Likely scenarios include the extinction of rare amphibian and bird species; forests vulnerable to disease and catastrophic wildfires; shrinking alpine environments; and a 40-90% reduction in spring runoff, which is the primary water source for most of California.

And just to be clear, this is already happening. Average temperatures in the Sierra have risen 2 degrees over the last 30 years. Glaciers have already shrunk drastically. The yellow-legged mountain frog population has plummeted.

The word 'global' lends an unfortunate sense of abstraction to the phrase 'global warming'. People tend not to think much about the world--it's too big and varied to conceptualize. What they think about is where they live. Global warming is happening globally, but the effects are local. Every one of us will be affected at a local level; places we know love are being altered beyond recognition, not at some point in the distant future but now, within our lifetimes. That's the part we all need to understand if there is to be any mobilization to address the problem.

[That's all, folks]