California and climate change: Here's what to expect

California’s fourth, and most recent, climate assessment report reflects years of increasingly frequent and threatening natural disasters that have plagued the nation’s most populous state. In coming decades, they’re expected to become even more severe.

Active flame front of the 2007 Zaca Fire.

The state in its 2007 forecast had envisioned a tough 10 years ahead. That was the year the Witch Fire in San Diego County, which raged from October 21 to November 6, consumed nearly 200,000 acres, destroying 1,650 structures and killing one person. I remember that one distinctly: My wife and I had just returned from our honeymoon in Hawaii, and we evacuated our suburban neighborhood as thick brown clouds of smoke darkened the skies above.

The Zaca Fire in Santa Barbara County, which burned from that previous July 4 to September 4, was actually the biggest wildfire of 2007 at more than 240,000 acres. It consumed mostly rural land and destroyed just one building. At the time, it was the second largest fire in California history, behind San Diego County’s Cedar Fire in 2003, on which I reported as science writer with The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Read the story from Yale Climate Conections by Bruce Lieberman - “California and climate change: Here's what to expect.”

States leave federal government in the shade when it comes to renewables: report

NSW has the most large-scale renewable energy projects under way in Australia, and lifted its share of clean energy markedly in the past year, as states and territories take the lead in decarbonising the electricity sector, a report by the Climate Council has found.

The states are leading the way on
renewables, a new report finds. 

A jump in hydropower helped raise renewable energy share in NSW by 5 percentage points last year to 17 per cent. That was marginally above the national share of 16 per cent, and the second-biggest increase after South Australia.

The Climate Council, though, rated by the most populous state behind all but Western Australia and the Northern Territory. While NSW has a net-zero economy-wide emissions target for 2050, it has not set a goal for renewables.

By contrast, Victoria gained credit for its efforts to legislate this year a 25 per cent renewable energy share by 2020 and 40 per cent by 2025. Last year, the state's share was 12 per cent, up one percentage point from 2015.

Read Peter Hannam’s in today’s Melbourne Age - “States leave federal government in the shade when it comes to renewables: report.”