By Congressman Bob Filner
Democratic Representative from the 51st Congressional District

The impacts of the climate crisis are already being seen around the world through increasing hurricane intensity, melting ice caps, and refugees fleeing extreme weather conditions. Here in Southern California, we are particularly vulnerable to a variety of threats posed by unchecked global warming – threats to our environment, our economic stability, and our overall quality of life.

While residents of San Diego are no strangers to drought and emergency water conservation measures, climate change will bring a new generation of drought’s stranglehold on our communities as we see our water supply shrink from increasing average global temperatures. Local Scripps researchers concluded in an April 2009 report that if human-induced global warming continues to reduce runoff from the Colorado River, San Diego will be unable to deliver a regular water supply to the region (The press release can be found online at http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/Releases/?releaseID=977).