Climate change will likely have dramtic impacts on California flora and fauna

A paper by Duke and UCB scientists suggest that climate change will have negative effects on endemic plants and plant communities in California.

Another potentially catastrophic consequences of the fossil fuel addiction. While I think these studies are very important, there is too much uncertainty in the models to really characterize impact. For example, this study did not include any changes in the fog regime along coastal California. This is obviously an enormous variable as the fog and marine layer provide California with its cool and wet summer along the immediate coast, making life possible for numerous species including the coastal redwoods. That critique aside, these studies are important windows into possible future climate scenarios about how we should expect ecological systems to evolve over the next 100 years. Rather than test whether or not they pan out, we should tack this on to all the other negative consequences of our fossil fuel diet, and roll out the post-carbon economy.