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cooking are the primary sources of GHG emissions. A general description of the GHG emissions is
<br />provided in Table 1.
<br />Global Warming Potential (GWP) is one type of simplified index based upon radiative properties used
<br />to estimate the potential future impacts of emissions of different gases upon the climate system. The
<br />GWP is based on several factors, including the radiative efficiency (heat -absorbing ability) of each gas
<br />relative to that of CO2, as well as the decay rate of each gas (the amount removed from the atmosphere
<br />over a given number of years) relative to that of CO2. The higher the GWP, the more that a given gas
<br />warms the Earth compared to CO2 over that period. A summary of the atmospheric lifetime and GWP of
<br />selected gases is presented in Table 2.' As indicated on the table, the GWP ranges from 1 to 22,800.
<br />Projected Impacts of Global Warming in California. The scientific community's understanding of the
<br />fundamental processes responsible for global climate change has improved over the past decade, and
<br />its predictive capabilities are advancing. However, there remain significant scientific uncertainties in, for
<br />example, predictions of local effects of climate change, occurrence, frequency, and magnitude of
<br />extreme weather events, effects of aerosols, changes in clouds, shifts in the intensity and distribution of
<br />precipitation, and changes in oceanic circulation. Due to the complexity of the Earth's climate system
<br />and inability to accurately model it, the uncertainty surrounding climate change may never be eliminated.
<br />Nonetheless, the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report, Summary for Policy Makers states that, "it is
<br />extremely likely that more than half of the observed increase in global average surface temperature from
<br />1951 to 2010 was caused by the anthropogenic increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and other
<br />anthropogenic forces together."8 A report from the National Academy of Sciences concluded that 97 to
<br />98 percent of the climate researchers most actively publishing in the field support the tenets of the IPCC
<br />in that climate change is very likely caused by human (i.e., anthropogenic) activity.9
<br />According to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the potential impacts in California due to global
<br />climate change may include: loss in snow pack; sea level rise; more extreme heat days per year; more
<br />high ozone days; more large forest fires; more drought years; increased erosion of California's coastlines
<br />and sea water intrusion into the Sacramento and San Joaquin Deltas and associated levee systems;
<br />and increased pest infestation. Below is a summary of some of the potential effects that could be
<br />experienced in California because of global warming and climate change.
<br />Air Quality. Higher temperatures, conducive to air pollution formation, could worsen air quality in
<br />California. Climate change may increase the concentration of ground -level ozone, but the magnitude of
<br />the effect and, therefore, its indirect effects, are uncertain. If higher temperatures are accompanied by
<br />drier conditions, the potential for large wildfires could increase, which, in turn, would exacerbate air
<br />quality. Additionally, severe heat accompanied by drier conditions and poor air quality could increase
<br />Atmospheric lifetime is defined as the time required to turn over the global Atmospheric burden. Source:
<br />Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC Third Assessment Report: Climate Change 2001 (TAR),
<br />Chapter 4: Atmospheric Chemistry and Greenhouse Gases, 2001, p. 247.
<br />Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Fifth Assessment Report, Summary for Policy Makers, page 5,
<br />2013, http://ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/. Accessed April 2020.
<br />Anderegg, William R. L., J.W. Prall, J. Harold, S.H., Schneider, Expert Credibility in Climate Change,
<br />Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2010;107:12107-12109.
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