California's climate change future

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California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Google have unveiled a map of the state's climate-changed future, part of the first steps in planning to adapt to "inevitable" global warming.

California leads the United States in its legal mandate to cut greenhouse gases that warm the planet, from auto mileage standards adopted by the rest of the nation to green building codes.

But the state is also planning what to do about warming that it thinks is impossible to stop. Some US$2.5 trillion of property and assets are threatened by climate change, Schwarzenegger said, citing a University of California study.

Nearly half a million Californians are at risk from rising sea levels, while a longer dry season has worsened the fire season and a smaller winter snowpack is affecting water supplies, said the state's first adaptation report, released on Wednesday.

This is illustrated in add-ons to a Google Earth map also unveiled by the state.

On the map, the edges of San Francisco Bay appear coloured to show the devastating effects of sea level rises of up to 150cm. All of San Francisco International Airport would be under water.

Other add-ons show snow pack decreases since the 1950s and projected through the end of the century, temperature change, and growing fire risks.

They appear under Visualisation Tools on the CalAdapt website.

Schwarzenegger argued in an animated video simulating a flight over California, that cutting carbon dioxide emissions would not be enough.

"We must also be prepared for some continued climate change, which is now inevitable," he said.

The governor introduced the video, as well as a new panel to advise on adaptation priorities and an adaptation strategy report, on man-made Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay - which could be under water in a century as sea levels rise, he said.

- AP