Study Finds Less Fog on California Coast, Which Could Lead to Warmer & Longer Summers

A UC Berkeley study released earlier this week has found that a gradual decrease in fog over the last one hundred years could put redwood trees in danger and make summers warmer and longer. Researchers, however, are not concluding that this is global warming yet. ““The change could be natural," explained Todd Dawson, one of the two researchers, to the Orange County Register.

In Northern California, which is often bathed in fog, the impact on redwood trees could be devastating. "The redwoods along our coast are highly dependent on fog as a source of water during the summer when water in the ground is scarce," said Dawson in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. "Foggy nights are needed to rehydrate the trees that can't tolerate long droughts."

And for areas that don't experience as much fog, like in Southern California, warmer temperature changes will be noticed. “Fog has always helped cool the atmosphere,” he told the Register.

"Coastal fog in California is produced by a combination of factors, including upwelling of cool ocean water and atmospheric inversions that trap humid air at low altitudes," explains the New York Times.