Climate change is dramatically altering the San Francisco Bay Area's ecosystems and raising profound questions among conservationists about how to help species best adapt to new conditions.

Letter from the Publisher

January 1, 2012 •  by

As I write this on Thanksgiving weekend, I have many things to be grateful for. For example: On Thanksgiving morning, I watched a huge raft of cormorants take off from the surface of the Bay in front of Angel Island. But behind such moments and places of great beauty, several dark clouds are gathering.

New Climate Model Zooms in on North Bay

October 7, 2011 •  by

Global climate models are critical to understanding climate change, but they don’t tell us anything about changing temperatures and other surface level changes in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is what we need to know to plan for our future. A new model for the North Bay creates a closeup view critical for watershed managers. And soon the model will expand to cover all of California, 18 acres at a time.

Sea Level Rise Could Wipe Out Ocean Beach

September 21, 2011 •  by

A new study finds flooding and episodic storm events could result in an estimated $20 million in damages by 2100. And accelerated landward erosion from an estimated 1.4-meter rise in sea-level by 2100 could result in $540 million in damages. Along the way, we’d lose habitat for plovers and bank swallows and a favorite recreation spot for millions of people.

Charting Climate Change on the Central Coast

June 7, 2010 •  by

The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, along with its sister sanctuaries to the north and south, Cordell Banks and Monterey Bay, are sentinels for the effects of global warming on ocean waters. And, as documented in a new report released, Central California’s offshore waters and coastline are already showing the effects of global warming.

Seeking Creeks, Confronting Sea Level Rise

July 1, 2009 •  by

Kids take the Creek Seeker Express to Martinez to learn about the creeks that run through our neighborhoods, while a new juried exhibit shows off designers’ ideas for confronting sea level rise.

Timing is Everything

March 25, 2009 •  by

Climate change may have arrived in your own yard, and scientists across the nation would like to hear about it. Researchers and educators in the abstruse-sounding National Phenology Network hope to harness the power of hundreds or thousands of citizen scientists across the nation all keeping notes on critical changes in the natural world.

Elephant Seals and Climate Change

March 20, 2009 •  by

A new study suggests that warmer ocean temperatures brought on by climate change may permanently skew sex ratios of northern elephant seals, the huge seals that visit a few Bay Area locations to breed.

Tule Fog

February 13, 2009 •  by

In between winter storms, the coast is clear, but the Central Valley can be socked in with thick fog. Find out why.

Letter from the Publisher

January 1, 2009 •  by

Our planet is a dynamic place, always changing. That’s a given. Some 100 million years ago, most of the rocks under the Bay Area were beneath the ocean somewhere near the equator. And 12,000 years ago, during the last ice … Read more

ACTerraGreen

January 1, 2009 •  by

Making significant reductions in your household’s energy use becomes a lot easier when people around you are making changes too. The Palo Alto-based nonprofit Acterra has developed a program that takes this into account: ACTerraGreen aims to reduce people’s carbon … Read more