To learn how it could affect Los Angeles, city officials commissioned a climate change study by UCLA researchers. The results of that study predict a significant and dangerous rise in temperatures across the Southland.
"We see two to six times as many extremely hot days by midcentury. But because of the influence of the region's mountains, the most significant warmings will be in the valleys and inland areas," said UCLA climate change expert Professor Alex Hall.
UCLA researchers say it took two years to compile their study, including eight months of number crunching on a state of the art super-computer. What they came up with are forecasts so precise that they differ from neighborhood to neighborhood.
"So instead of making climate change projections for the arctic, we're giving them for Atwater Village. Rather than examining climate change impacts on the polar bear, we're looking at how climate change affects people in Palms," said Hall.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said city leaders have already made significant changes to reduce the impact of climate change. From increased mass transportation options, to improving emissions from ships and trucks at the port.
And even though the predicted temperature jumps are still more than 30 years away, the mayor says the time for action is now.
"We have to prepare L.A. for the realities of a climate that will be hotter and drier, a climate with rising sea levels and more intense storms," said Villaraigosa.
It's a forecast that some may question, but with its predictions of drought, extreme weather and deadly heat waves, it's a forecast no one looks forward to.
