The city of Los Angeles is known for its wide sandy beaches, mild temperatures, and lack of humidity.
The combination of cool winters and warm summers sets it apart from almost every other city in the nation.
"Los Angeles is a hedonist’s paradise," Matthew Kahn wrote in his 2010 book Climatopolis.
But rising temperatures are already putting that paradise at risk.
"Climate change will likely degrade LA’s ideal climate," wrote Kahn. "In the future LA’s climate will look like Jacksonville, Florida’s, climate today."
Sea level rise also threatens L.A. county's famous beaches, piers, and boardwalks, which attracted almost 41 million tourists who accounted for more than $16 billion in expenditures in 2012, according to a study by the University of Southern California Sea Program.
We've outlined some of the most significant effects of climate change today and how this will affect the L.A. region in the future.
Los Angeles County, which includes the city of Los Angeles, covers a land area of 4,000 square miles (shown in red). It stretches north along the coast past Malibu, south to include Long Beach, and includes two islands, 88 cities, and Angeles National Forest.
Los Angeles County is home to about ten million people, making it among the most populated counties in the U.S.
Los Angeles is known for its mild weather and year-round pleasant temperatures. It has warm winters with a January average of 59 degrees F and cool summers with an average July temperature of 73 degrees F.
But the thermometer is rising.
From 1878 to 2005, Los Angeles temperatures rose 4 degrees on average, climbing from around 62 degrees to 66 degrees.
NASA Earth Observatory
Source: NASA Earth Observatory
That trend is expected to continue. Coastal cities like Santa Monica and Malibu are likely to warm 3 to 4 degrees F by mid-century, according to a 2012 study led by UCLA climate expert Alex Hall.
Urban areas, like downtown LA, will likely warm 4 to 4.5 degrees.
AP/Nick Ut
The people in the poorest parts of L.A. are expected to be hit the worst since many live in some of the most intensely warming areas and may not have access to air conditioners.
REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
California's extreme drought isn't helping. Local groundwater sources only meet 30 to 40% of the county's demands.
REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
To make up the difference, Los Angeles imports water from northern California among other areas. But Los Angeles County isn't the only rain-starved region in California. Almost all the state's reservoirs were at less than 50% capacity this January.
REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
Lack of rain and high temperatures are triggering more and more wildfires. “This year fire season never ended in Southern California,” Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told The New York Times.
REUTERS/Gene Blevins
Source: California Fire Department
Wildfires will remain a growing threat to the Los Angeles region. Most models predict that warming will cause more frequent and larger fires by the end of the century.
REUTERS/Gene Blevins
More wildfires and hot days could lower air quality. This is because smog is created when pollutants, like those from cars, interact with heat and sunlight.
Air pollution has been linked to everything from lung damage to heart disease.
One concern in coastal areas is sea level, which is expected to rise anywhere from 5 to 24 inches from 2000 to 2050, according to the National Resource Council.
REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
This will lead to higher storm surge and waves, resulting in more extensive flooding.
AP Photo/Tammy Lechner
This could affect coastal infrastructure including two wastewater treatment plants, two power plants, and the Port of Los Angeles.
REUTERS/David McNew
The Port Of Los Angeles is one of the world's busiest ports and has already seen a three inch sea level rise from 1923 to 2006.
Millions of dollars have already been spent to replenish sand at Venice beach and more will have to be done in the future to stabilize beaches as sea levels rise.
Source: USC Sea Grant
Los Angeles is taking actions to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions that lead to warming, especially in the transportation sector.
Flickr/Neil Kremer
In 2012, the Southern California Association of Governments released a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles by 13% by 2035.
REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn
One strategy will be to vastly improve public transportation. Projects are currently underway to extend railway systems into heavily visited areas like Culver City, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Crenshaw, and Los Angeles International Airport. Some of these projects may be done as early as 2016.
California as a whole is also off to a good start with its year-and-a-half-old cap and trade program. The program aims to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, with the cap shrinking by 3% each year.
REUTERS/Bret Hartman
California won't be able to determine the true success of the program until the end of the first compliance period in November.
Until then, Los Angeles continues to plan for climate change and protect infrastructure that is vulnerable to flooding.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-affect-on-los-angeles-2014-6?op=1#ixzz34u9GkVwg
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