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Climate change impacts on our County will include public health impacts from reduced air quality.

Climate Change Impacts on Our County

Climate change is already impacting Alameda County and we can expect to see more impacts that will affect our quality of life and the services the County provides. These include:

  • Flooding from sea level rise and increased storm intensities that will have an impact on local buildings and infrastructure
  • Water shortages from summer droughts that will impact all water users from residents to agriculture
  • Increased risk of wildfires from drier conditions
  • Community health impacts from warmer temperatures that allow tropical and subtropical disease to spread
  • Reduced local air quality from warmer temperatures that increase the rate of smog formation (a leading cause of respiratory problems in children) and have a direct on human health (heat exhaustion and stroke)
  • Impacts on local plants and animals from general changes in temperature and precipitation

All of these potential effects will also impact the local economy, including the loss of agricultural productivity, increases in energy use for air conditioning, health related productivity losses, and direct outlays for new water infrastructure and disaster prevention.

Many of these effects will also have a disproportionate impact on underprivileged individuals and communities within the County.