Climate report warns of upheaval to California life
The gist
California's Fifth Climate Change Assessment projects about 4 degrees Fahrenheit of warming and 135-day summers by midcentury.
The report details faster-than-expected shifts affecting agriculture, tourism and urban water security.
How it unfolded
- Oct 19, 2026California's Fifth Climate Change Assessment is published, projecting hotter and longer summers, more widespread and extreme floods, and thousands more deaths per year from wildfire smoke exposure.
- Oct 19, 2026The report projects average temperatures in California will rise about 4 degrees Fahrenheit by midcentury and 5 to 8 degrees by 2100.
- Oct 19, 2026It projects summer conditions will last 135 days on average by midcentury, compared with 90 days between 1981 and 2010.