Estimated Prophet

According to a new report from the California EPA, average temperatures in the state could rise by anywhere between 3 and 10.5 degrees F in the Golden State by the end of this century, depending on whether or not greenhouse gas emissions are sharply curtailed or continue to grow. The report comes in the wake of a searing heat wave that baked most of the state, killing both people and livestock -- an event expected to become more commonplace in the future. As the San Francisco Chronicle's Jane Kay writes:

If industrial and vehicle emissions continue unabated, there could be up to 100 more days a year when temperatures hit 90 degrees or above in Los Angeles and 95 degrees or above in Sacramento, the report states. Both cities have about 20 days of such extreme heat now.

The report's good news: If emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are significantly curtailed, the number of extremely hot days might increase by only half those figures.

Even more troublesome than rising temperatures is the prognosis for the Sierra Nevada snowpack and the state's freshwater supply. Under the middle-of-the-road emissions scenario, the state stands to lose 70 to 80 percent of its snowpack by 2100 and 90 percent if nothing is done. As if that weren't bad enough, rising sea levels could swamp the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, from which Californians currently take two-thirds of their drinking water, with salt water.

The report was the first biennial assessment on climate change and its consequences for California as required under an executive order signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor made international headlines today when he and British Prime Minister Tony Blair signed a pact aimed at reducing emissions by creating a market for carbon credits. That move was widely seen as a rebuke to the Bush Administration and its do-nothing approach on climate change. In a statement, Schwarzenegger said, "California will not wait for our federal government to take strong action on global warming."

If there's one thing the report makes clear, it's that waiting would be a grave mistake.