The Big Five of California: Fire, Flood, Quake, Drought, and Rising Seas

Many people talk about "California weather."  They think and say that California weather is easy and wonderful.  California, they say, is an easy place to live.  No weather problems.  No natural disasters.

This is not true.

Weather in San Mateo and California:  Not the Same!

San Mateo has wonderful weather.  It has a very mild climate.  But this is not the typical climate for California.  It is not even the typical climate for the Bay Area.  San Francisco is often cold and foggy, especially in the summer.  Other parts of the Bay Area are very hot or cold, depending on the season.

Sierra Mountain snow storm

Fog in the San Francisco Bay

Many parts of California are very hot in the summer and cold in the winter.   In the mountains, there are snow storms in the winter and thunder storms in the summer.  The mildest weather is on the coast.  This is because the ocean breezes cool down the heat.  This is also why the coast has so much fog.  When the ocean breezes meet the hot air of California, fog is created. 



Redwood City
and their famous sign:
"Climate Best by Government Test"


So, maybe you want to say San Mateo or Foster City or Redwood City has wonderful weather and a mild climate.  Redwood City is famous for their climate.  They put a big sign up to tell everyone about their wonderful climate. 


But for all of California, we cannot say this.  In many parts of California, there are many weather extremes - very, very hot or very, very cold.  Very wet or very dry.  You might call them beautiful - but not easy or wonderful.


The desert in California, Nevada, and Arizona
can reach extremely high temperatures

In addition to weather challenges, California has five of what we can call natural or landscape or environmental challenges.













We have five big challenges in California:

1.  Fire

Everywhere in California except in the extreme desert, fire is a big problem.  Climate change is making this problem worse. 

You can learn more about fire in this special blog post for ESL students.










2.  Flood

Everywhere in California, flooding is a problem.  Even in the desert, flooding is a problem.  Winter rains can bring flash floods in the desert.

Most of California has two seasons - the Wet Season and the Dry Season.  The Wet Season is in the Winter and the Dry Season is in the Summer.  In the Wet Season, the rains can come hard and fast.  Too fast for the earth to absorb.   Too much for the river beds.  When this happens, we have floods.

Sometimes we have an El Nino and we get lots and lots of rain.  In an El Nino, California has more rain and the Northwest is dryer. The last big El Nino we had was in 1997. 



Homes in Pacific
EL Nino, 1997-98

This year, they predict a very big El Nino.  Maybe the biggest El Nino in fifty years.   We must prepare for it. 










3.  Drought

Drought in California
Depletion of Aquifers

Everywhere in California, drought is a problem.  Drought means not enough water.  We are in an extreme drought now.  

You can learn more about drought in these special blog posts for ESL students:

* Water in California

* Water and Drought in San Mateo and the Bay Area



4.  Earthquakes

Loma Prieta Earthquake
Collapse of Oakland Freeway

Everywhere in California, earthquakes are a problem.  We have had very big earthquakes in the past.  The last big and very destructive earthquake was the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.  It was centered near Santa Cruz but it affected many parts of the Bay Area.  People died.  Buildings fell down.  Part of the Bay Bridge broke.  Freeways collapsed. 

You can learn more about earthquakes in this special blog post for ESL students.








5.  Rising Seas

This last problem is something new.  Because of Climate Change, the water in the ocean and bay is rising.  Some people predict it might rise 10 feet before the year 2100.  You can learn more about predictions of rising sea levels here.

Of course, this is a huge problem.  We need to do many things to prepare.

San Mateo County is at high risk of problems because the county has two coastlines - one on the Bay and one on the Pacific Ocean.



Sea Change of San Mateo County is a website with information about rising seas in San Mateo California.    Here are two facts from the website:

"The Bay Area is among the top 10 hot spots for sea level rise impacts across the country."

"In San Mateo County alone, rising sea levels put $24 billion of assets at risk."

Many leaders, including Congresswoman Jackie Speier, County Supervisor Dave Pine, Assemblyman Rich Gordon, are bringing people together to find solutions.  We need to be serious about finding solutions because this is a very serious and big problem.



Working Together to Meet the Challenges

In Adult Education, we are working together in a new system, the Regional Consortia system, to provide Adult Education.  Schools in our Regional Consortia, ACCEL, are working together to provide Adult Education for the whole county of San Mateo.

We can do the same with all these challenges - fire, flood, quake, drought, and rising seas.

Together, we can learn and prepare, find strategies and solutions.

Together, we can respond to these challenges.