Climate Change Introduction

Global climate change is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth in recent years that is causing changes in weather patterns all over the world and right here in Fresno County. The Earth’s average temperature rose about 1.1 ± 0.4° Fahrenheit (°F) in the 20th century. The increased amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG) are the primary causes of the warming caused by humans. The change of climate is causing changes to weather and is contributing to extreme weather such as excessive heat and flooding.

GHGs are released by burning of fossil fuels like gasoline, land clearing, agriculture, and other industrial activities. Over the last 200 years, humans have caused a lot of GHGs to be released into the air. These extra emissions are increasing the amount of GHGs in the air high above the Earth. More GHGs in the air worsen the natural greenhouse effect that causes global warming. 

An initial list of emissions for the County found that total emissions were about 13,209,106 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2019. If nothing is done to reduce GHG emissions, they would likely increase by 15 percent by 2050. The main sources of GHG emissions in Fresno County are transportation, agriculture, and energy use for homes and other buildings.

Fresno COG’s CCAP will organize and rank ways to reduce GHG emissions in the future across sources of GHG emissions in Fresno County. There are a range of ways to reduce emissions, with different costs and benefits. Fresno COG is working to find the best approach for the region. Reducing GHG emissions is called climate change mitigation.

This plan will primarily focus on climate change mitigation. Climate change adaptation, which means adjusting to actual or expected climate change impacts (i.e., hotter weather, flooding or extreme weather events) to lessen or avoid harm to humans, will also be considered. However, Fresno COG has other efforts in progress right now to identify ways to improve adaptation in the region. Please visit the Fresno COG website to learn more about the plans and planning process.