Effects of Global Warming/Climate Change

  • Ventura County is the fastest-warming county in the USA.  That means the Ojai Valley is one of the fastest-warming places in the United States. 
  • Many all-time-high temperature records were broken in California on September 6, 2020.  Ojai reached 118 degrees; it was 120 degrees in Oak View.
  •  Ventura County is in an extended extreme drought. Lake Casitas is one of the main water supplies to the Ojai Valley. Even with water use restrictions in place, the lake is at just over 30% capacity.  
  • Ironically, while overall the prediction is for more drought, forecasts show that global warming will increase the strength of atmospheric river storms and the potential for extreme flooding in the Ojai Valley.
  •  The destructive Thomas Fire burned 281,000 acres, completely surrounding the Ojai Valley in December 2017. Firefighters are on the front lines of climate change. 
  • Global Warming / Climate Change is causing serious problems worldwide, including extreme drought in some areas, extreme rainfall in other areas, drought-caused human migration, heat-related illness, and rapid sea level rise.  It is also a leading cause of plant and animal extinctions, and is reducing the ability to grow many agricultural crops.
  •  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently described how humans altered the environment at an unprecedented pace. It detailed how catastrophic impacts lie ahead unless the world rapidly and dramatically cuts greenhouse gas emissions.  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the findings a “CODE RED FOR HUMANITY.” He said societies must find ways to rapidly embrace the changes necessary to limit warming.  He said, “There is no time for delay and no room for excuses.” 
  • Many plants and animals are very affected by climate change and are threatened with extinction.
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Thomas Fire map, December 2017
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US Temperature Increase Map. 
Ojai is one of the fastest warming areas in the US. 
​Washington Post