Community News · Sacramento, CA
CA Climate Report Projects Major Heat, Snowpack Loss for Sacramento Region
California's Fifth Climate Change Assessment, released Monday, projects statewide warming of 3.5 to 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050 and warns that Northern California snowpack supplying Folsom Lake, Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta could shrink about 40% within 25 years. The report estimates Sacramento will average 31 extreme heat days per year in roughly three decades and 46 by 2100, while wildfire smoke is projected to cause more than 5,000 additional deaths annually statewide by midcentury. Helene Margolis, a UC Davis epidemiologist who led the Sacramento Valley section, said the report is intended to help communities prepare for changing weather patterns. The article notes that about 1 in 5 Californians already live in flood-risk areas and that people without shelter account for 13% of heat-related hospitalizations despite being 0.5% of the population.