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Second California Assessment: integrated climate change impacts assessment of natural and managed systems. Guest editorial

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An Erratum to this article was published on 22 June 2012

Abstract

Since 2006 the scientific community in California, in cooperation with resource managers, has been conducting periodic statewide studies about the potential impacts of climate change on natural and managed systems. This Special Issue is a compilation of revised papers that originate from the most recent assessment that concluded in 2009. As with the 2006 studies that influenced the passage of California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32), these papers have informed policy formulation at the state level, helping bring climate adaptation as a complementary measure to mitigation. We provide here a brief introduction to the papers included in this Special Issue focusing on how they are coordinated and support each other. We describe the common set of downscaled climate and sea-level rise scenarios used in this assessment that came from six different global climate models (GCMs) run under two greenhouse gas emissions scenarios: B1 (low emissions) and A2 (a medium-high emissions). Recommendations for future state assessments, some of which are being implemented in an on-going new assessment that will be completed in 2012, are offered.

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Notes

  1. The GCMs selected for the assessment include: the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Parallel Climate Model (PCM); the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geophysical Fluids Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) model version 2.1; the NCAR Community Climate System Model (CCSM); the Max Plank Institute ECHAM5/MPI-OM; the MIROC 3.2 medium-resolution model from the Center for Climate System Research of the University of Tokyo and collaborators; and the French Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques (CNRM) models.

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This paper reflects the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the California Energy Commission or the state of California.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Interest Energy Research, California Energy Commission, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Guido Franco

  2. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Daniel R. Cayan

  3. Stanford University, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

    Susanne Moser

  4. Economics Department, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Michael Hanemann

  5. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Myoung-Ae Jones

  6. U.S. Geological Survey, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Daniel R. Cayan

  7. Susanne Moser Research & Consulting, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

    Susanne Moser

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  1. Guido Franco
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  4. Michael Hanemann
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  5. Myoung-Ae Jones
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Correspondence to Guido Franco.

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Franco, G., Cayan, D.R., Moser, S. et al. Second California Assessment: integrated climate change impacts assessment of natural and managed systems. Guest editorial. Climatic Change 109 (Suppl 1), 1–19 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-0318-z

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