KQED Science Editor Craig Miller talks with Newsroom host Thuy Vu about the early start to this year’s fire season, and its connections to higher nighttime temperatures and climate change. They also discuss recent attempts by U.S. cities to sue fossil fuel companies for the costs of climate change impacts.
“Scientists are already noting a shrinkage of the Sierra snowpack and the transition line between rain and snow moving uphill,” says Miller. “Then there’s the massive tree die-off in the Sierra and reduced flows in rivers and streams — both driven by drought, down to an extended fire season and all the way to the coast, where rising seas are causing cliff erosion and high-tide flooding.”
Given this reality, Miller says that California is probably experiencing “a wider range of climate effects than any other state in the nation.”