San Diego’s weather, including the winters, has been affected by climate change, becoming noticeably warmer since 2000.

   According to National Geographic, “On average, winters are getting warmer and shorter, with fewer places experiencing extremely cold temperatures.” Climate change is affecting temperatures in California all year round (nationalgeographic.org).

   According to the City of San Diego’s official website, “Extreme heat days can pose health risks, particularly if the temperatures do not drop at night, limiting the body’s ability to cool down” (sandiego.gov).

   With increasing temperatures, rising sea levels could result in reduced beach access and economic impacts for San Diego. “Warmer coastal and ocean temperatures will have a devastating effect on our precious coastal ecosystems. They also lead to algal blooms that are a health concern for surfers and anyone else who spends time in the ocean,” said Environmental Science Teacher Sean Stevenson.

   Freshman Gabriel Rubin said, “I noticed it is as hot in winter as in the summer, pretty often. Not only does this cause droughts, it can also affect winter sports that are supposed to be in the cold.”

   “Scientists at Scripps are identifying more complex and extreme weather patterns than just climate change. Tree ring data shows us that Southern California historically has been subject to ebbs and flows of megadroughts that may last decades,” said Stevenson.

   Also according to the City’s website, “During warmer weather, water evaporates from soil and plants quicker, exacerbating the effects of these droughts. Climate change is accelerating sea level rise. During the Twentieth Century, sea levels rose 0.71 feet in San Diego. By 2100, San Diego could experience another 3.6 to 10.2 feet of sea level rise. Sea level rise will mean more flooding and faster rates of erosion along the coastline” (sandiego.gov).

   Stevenson said, “The last part of the 1900s was a relatively wet era, so that’s what our generation has come to expect. Unfortunately, that has not been normal for California over the past 100 years.”

  Stevenson explained that scientists at Scripps are also predicting that San Diego’s rainy seasons in the winter time will become more vigorous. This may be both a blessing and a curse for the environment, as much of our water supply comes from massive atmospheric rivers (narrow stretches of atmospheric moisture), but natural disasters such as hurricanes can cause more damage with increased intensity. Scripps researchers found that these atmospheric rivers can pose huge financial risk.

   “Southern California relies heavily on the Sierra mountain snowpack melt in the spring and summer as a significant part of our water supply. Unfortunately, due to climate change, more of the precipitation will be falling as rain instead of snow. Instead of having a slow, steady supply of snowpack melt, our water reservoirs will become overwhelmed with drastic rain vents,” said Stevenson.