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<br /> <br />2021 Multijurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan <br /> <br /> Heat-related deaths and illnesses in California increased dramatically in 2006 following a record-breaking <br />heat wave. At least 140 deaths occurred between July 15 and August 1. Deaths related to this heat wave <br />were largely attributed to elevated nighttime temperatures. <br /> The number of acres burned by wildfires statewide has been increasing since 1950. Large fires affecting <br />1,000 acres or more account for most of the area burned each year. <br /> <br />San Mateo County and Bay Area Indicators <br />The California Climate Assessment, led by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, California Natural <br />Resources Agency, and the State of California Energy Commission, has produced nine regional climate impact <br />and adaptation solution reports. San Mateo County is covered in the San Francisco Bay Area Region. Notable <br />examples of climate impacts in San Mateo County and the broader Bay Area Region include the following <br />(California 4th Climate Assessment; San Francisco Bay Area Report, 2019): <br /> Overall, the Bay Area’s average annual maximum temperature increased by 1.7 °F from 1950 to 2005. <br /> Several studies suggest that coastal fog along the California coast is less frequent than before. <br /> Sea level in the Bay Area has risen over 8 inches in the last 100 years. <br /> The 2015-2016 El Niño, one of the three largest in the historical record, resulted in winter wave energy <br />that was over 50 percent larger than the typical winter in the Bay Area, driving significant outer coast <br />beach erosion. <br /> The 2012-2016 California drought led to the most severe moisture deficits in the last 1,200 years and a <br />1-in-500-year low in Sierra snowpack. The record low snowpack resulted in $2.1 billion in economic <br />losses and 21,000 jobs lost in the agricultural and recreational sectors statewide and exacerbated an <br />ongoing trend of groundwater overdraft. <br /> <br />17.1.4 Projected Future Impacts <br />Climate change projections contain inherent uncertainty, largely derived from the fact that they depend on future <br />greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Generally, the uncertainty in greenhouse gas emissions is addressed by the <br />presentation of differing scenarios: low-emissions or high-emissions scenarios. In low-emissions scenarios, <br />greenhouse gas emissions are reduced substantially from current levels. In high -emissions scenarios, greenhouse <br />gas emissions generally increase or continue at current levels. Uncertainty in outcomes is generally addressed by <br />averaging a variety of model outcomes. Despite this uncertainty, climate change projections present valuable <br />information to help guide decision-making for possible future conditions. <br /> <br />Global Projections <br />The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes more than 1,300 scientists from the <br />United States and other countries, project that Earth’s average temperatures will raise between 2.5ºF and 10ºF by <br />over the next 100 years (NASA, 2020a). Some research has concluded that every increase of 2ºF in average global <br />average temperature can have the following impacts (National Research Council, 2011): <br /> 3 to 10 percent increases in the amount of rain falling during the heaviest precipitation events, which can <br />increase flooding risks <br /> 200 to 400 percent increases in the area burned by wildfire in parts of the western United States <br /> 5 to 10 percent decreases in stream flow in some river basins <br /> <br /> <br />17-4