Climate Change and Resilience

The City of San Leandro, along with experts around the world, recognizes the urgency of the climate crisis and recommends taking bold climate action that prioritizes equity and well-being of frontline communities, and helps San Leandro become more resilient.

The San Leandro Climate Hazards Map 2020 detailing potential sea level rise, wildfire hazard zones, and groundwater flooding zones. 

What climate hazards will San Leandro face?

There are a number of climate impacts that people are already encountering in their day-to-day, with devastating health impacts. Read more about the connection between climate and health here. More technical details can be found in San Leandro's Climate Hazards Assessment 2017 and Climate Vulnerability Assessment 2020. 

• Wildfire smoke: We've already seen several years of poor air quality during late summer and fall due to wildfires around the state. Fire season used to be only five months of the year statewide in 1970s, but now it has increased to seven months. More frequent and severe wildfires means more smoke days and poor air quality, which have many health impacts. 
• Power outages: With utilities preemptively shutting down power to prevent wildfires, people must deal with losing power for hours or even days. This can cause business or school closures, disruption of lights and communication methods, risk for food spoilage, risk for medical and mobility device users, and changes to routines for managing daycare and eldercare. 
• Hot days and heat waves: Historically we only had four days of the year with daytime temperatures over 89F in Alameda County, but these will increase to 16 days by 2050. Heat waves may increase from two consecutive hot days to 3.7 days. Hot temperatures pose high risk for heat-related illnesses and mortality for certain communities. 
• Drought interspersed with extreme rainstorms: Rain will be more variable in the future, with longer periods of drought interspersed with more intense rainstorms. Extreme storms will also become more frequent, more than doubling by 2070. 
• Sea level rise: Sea level rise is occurring and expected to accelerate through the 21st century, with compounding by glacial melt, king tides, and storm surges. Exact parameters of flooding will depend on the level of greenhouse gas emissions, but with each foot of predicted sea level rise, more of the shoreline and surrounding landmarks will be permanently inundated by flooding, 

Regional Collaboratives

Many of these hazards occur regionally and require the cooperation of multiple agencies and local governments. City of San Leandro participates in several regional collaboratives to address issues such as sea level rise, climate equity, and wildfire smoke.

• San Leandro Bay/Alameda-Oakland Estuary Adaptation Working Group: The Working Group coordinates San Leandro Bay/Oakland-Alameda Estuary flood and adaptation projects to protect and restore water quality, habitat, and adjacent community vitality. The interagency group is coordinated by City of Alameda.
• Bay Climate Adaptation Network (BayCAN): BayCAN is a collaborative network of local government staff and partnering organizations working to help the Bay Area respond effectively and equitably to the impacts of climate change on human health, infrastructure and natural systems.
• BayAdapt: The Bay Adapt Joint Platform is a roadmap for how the Bay Area will adapt faster, better, and more equitably to a rising Bay. It focuses on the people, information, plans, projects, and progress that will catalyze protection of communities, businesses, infrastructure, and natural habitats throughout the Bay Area. Bay Adapt is facilitated by the Bay Conservation Development Commission (BCDC).