Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect

by Tom Gray

CALIFORNIA ISSUES REPORT ON GLOBAL WARMING, HOLDS HEARING -- The California Energy Commission (CEC) has issued a report on how global warming may affect the Golden State.

The CEC held a public hearing 7/5 to discus the report and global warming. Among conclusions of the report:

• There is a "high degree of risk that California will experience a 2.7 to 8.1 degree Fahrenheit warming by the middle of the 21st Century."
• A one to four degree warming "may already be unavoidable."
• That "there are indications (but no absolute proof) that recent weather phenomena are the result of greenhouse warming."
• There "are strong indications that warming would case electricity demand to increase and hydroelectric supplies to decrease."
• "The expected increase in summer heat and dryness is likely to stress many of the state's forest areas."
• "Thermal expansion of the ocean and glacial melting are likely to case a 0.5 to 1.5 meter rise in the ocean level...A one meter rise would triple the size of the San Francisco Bay system."

The CEC's intergovernmental committee concluded that "Overall, the...risks and consequences of global warming are great enough to warrant a thorough examination of possible policy measures for delaying or preventing further warming, as well as policies to prepare the state for warming that may come in any event."

For copies of the report contact the CEC's public information office at 1516 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, phone 916-324-3298. Ask for report P500-89-004.

(From Wind Energy Weekly, Vol. 8, #361, 7/15/89, published by the American Wind Energy Association. For more information on the Association, contact AWEA, 1730 North Lynn #610, Arlington, VA 22209, USA, phone 703-276-8334, fax 703-527-2833, telex 6503304640 MCI UW.)