Google Map Shows Climate-changed California Future

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Google unveiled a map of California’s climate-changed future on Wednesday, part of the most populous U.S. state’s first steps in planning to adapt to “inevitable” global warming.

California leads the United States in its legal mandate to cut greenhouse gases that warm the planet, from auto mileage standards adopted by the rest of the nation to green building codes.

But the state also is planning what to do about warming that it thinks is impossible to stop. Some $2.5 trillion of property and assets are threatened by climate change, Schwarzenegger said, citing a University of California study.

Nearly half a million Californians are at risk from rising sea levels, while a longer dry season has worsened the fire season and a smaller winter snowpack is affecting water supplies, said the state’s first adaptation report, released on Wednesday.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

This is illustrated in add-ons to a Google Earth map also unveiled by the state on Wednesday.

On the map, the edges of San Francisco Bay appear colored to show the devastating effects of sea level rises of up to 150 cm (60 inches). All of San Francisco International Airport would be under water.

Other add-ons show snow pack decreases since the 1950s and projected through the end of the century, temperature change, and growing fire risks. They appear under Visualization Tools on the CalAdapt website here

Schwarzenegger argued in an animated video simulating a flight over California that cutting carbon dioxide emissions would not be enough.