Central Coast Summary Report – California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment
Laura Tourte, Alicia Torregrosa, Christina "Naomi" Tague, Mark Snyder, Charlotte Smith, Barry Sinervo, Joel B. Sankey, Dharshani Pearson, Madeline Nolan, Monique Myers, Michael Loik, Jason Kreitler, David B. Herbst, Lee Hannah, Laurel Fox, Amy East, Jenny Dugan, Carla D’Antonio, Na Chen, Yihsu Chen, Dan Brumbaugh, Neil Berg, Rupa Basu, Patrick Barnard | September 28th, 2018
The Central Coast Region is notable for its extensive natural ecosystems, many of which will be impacted by climate change. Hardwood forests, scrublands, and herbaceous grasslands comprise most of its land cover, with significantly less intensive agriculture and small-to medium-sized cities in the region. There is a strong demand for development in rural areas and agriculture is being developed on lands formerly supporting grazing or natural vegetation. The region continues to reflect an economic and social disconnect between prosperous coastal communities and agricultural areas with many low-income farm workers, inequalities that may result in disadvantaged groups suffering disproportionately from the impacts of climate change.
The counties included in this report are Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz, with some information for the northern part of Ventura County.
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