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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.
The 106-page “Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change in
Fresno, California” was presented Tuesday, Jan. 27, to the Fresno City
Council by Joseph Oldham, Fresno’s interim sustainability manager.
Oldham also chairs the city’s sustainability program, Fresno Green, in
which Fresno State is a partner.
No action is requested of the council at this time, Oldham said, but he
hopes the conclusions and recommendations will guide Fresno’s
sustainability efforts.
The primary purpose of this study was to review voluminous published
literature on climate change; identify direct and indirect effects of
primary relevance to the greater Fresno area; and recommend strategies
for adapting to and/or mitigating these effects.
Projections highlighted include rising temperatures, more extreme-heat
days, 15-20 percent variation in rainfall, fewer but more intense storms
and higher-elevation snows.
The report was written by professors Dr. Peter Van de Water (Department
of Earth and Environmental Sciences) and Dr. Vivien Yupeng Luo
(Construction
Management Program in the Lyles College of Engineering); Dr. Fraka Harmsen, associate dean of the
College of Science and Mathematics; and Dr. Donald Hunsaker, director of
Fresno State’s new Institute of Climate Change, Oceans and Atmosphere.
The climate-change projections identified from the published literature
could have important implications for Fresno in many areas. For example,
“Early snowmelt and reduced storms will result in longer dry periods,”
disrupt traditional irrigation patterns, make it more difficult to store
runoff and cause vegetation changes that could adversely affect tourism,
thereby further straining the local economy.
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:
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Reduce water consumption,
especially from aesthetic uses such as landscaping
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Increase the area’s
ability to capture, store and retrieve water from less frequent and
more intense precipitation events
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Develop crop contingency
plans in case changing temperature and precipitation regimes reduce
the viability of current, major crops supporting our economy
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Support the Fresno Green
Building Program and expand it where possible into retrofit and
renovation projects
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Support compact growth
and New Urbanism principles
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Develop green jobs
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Showcase green
technologies and green communities in the Fresno area
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Develop a long-term
sustainability research and development program with local
educational institutions
Climate change, concludes the
report, “is a fundamental challenge for the citizens of Fresno and the
metropolitan region to continue to support and build community while, at
the same time, providing the greatest number of opportunities for
success and continued, if not improved, quality of life.”
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