Warming Ocean Leading to Less California Coast Fog

A recent article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel discusses the declining fog on the California coast. Throughout the second half of the 20th Century, scientist have found that the fog, which is so critical for the region's vegetation, has been affected by warming ocean temperatures. Researchers are quoted in the article as saying:

• "Redwood forests and other plants are so dependent on fog and fog is declining; this spells an uncertain future for redwood trees and redwood forest ecosystems."
• "The Central coast has such rich diversity of local endemic plants -- more so than anywhere in California. A decrease in fog could shift the vegetation in general and we could lose these species."
• "Fog formation is very much dependent on warm air interacting with the cold ocean. If you warm up the ocean surface, the contrast between the atmosphere and sea surface temperature goes down."

To see the beautiful landscape which the fog enables, check out this cool time lapse of the fog around the Santa Ynez Mountains near Santa Barbara, CA!