Is extreme weather linked to climate change? Poll seeks opinions
Nearly a third of Californians were personally impacted by this year’s unusually wet weather, finds a new poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. The vast majority of those polled expect that extremely heavy rains and snowstorms, sandwiching severe droughts, will become even more commonplace in the near future. … In the Bay Area, 40% of those polled were “greatly or somewhat impacted” by weather in the past year. Atmospheric rivers fueled storms that drenched the region for months, including a bomb cyclone in January that brought gale-force winds and heavy downpours. The Bay Area also saw brutal damage during an intense round of rain and winds that killed at least five people.