UC scientist weighs in on climate change on VOA Russia

Common ground in the climate change debate can be found in agreement over the need to adapt to warmer temperatures, said Mark Lubell, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Environmental Science and Policy, during an interview with Rob Sachs of Voice of America Russia edition.

Lubell said there is a wide consensus among scientists that longterm climate models show a warming trend. There is less agreement about the cause of the warming temperatures, but most everyone would support the effort to make communities more resilient to the probable affects of a warmer planet.

Lubell said people need to be ready to adapt to more heat waves, a rising sea level and more fires in arid areas. He also discussed the potential repercussions of climate change on California agriculture.

"Climate change is likely to have a pretty big impact on water availability and the productivity of different types of crops," Lubell said "A farmer who says I'm just going to do what I've always done, 10 years from now might find himself with a much less profitable agricultural enterprise. If they try to change crops and the ways they manage their crop to be more in sync with climate change, they may be able to maintain their enterprise and profitability at the levels that they want."

Adapting to climate change is critical whether one believes it's human caused or not.

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