SACRAMENTO, California—Hints of a changing climate can be found all over central California.

In the western Sierra Nevadas, the air is filled with smoke and haze from wildfires. In the Central Valley south of Sacramento, dust whips across fallow fields, thanks to lack of rain and a record drought. Near the coast, people worry about bigger storms.

"Scientific predictions say that with global warming, we'll see more variability in California's climate, with more intense storms, longer dry periods, and less snowpack," hydrogeologist and geology department chair Tim Horner said from his office at California State University, Sacramento.

All this means climate change is going to force the state to "make some really tough decisions" over the coming years, Horner said.

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