State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, will hold a hearing Friday in Santa Barbara that will examine what California’s state agencies and local governments are doing to prepare for the potentially serious impacts of climate change and what more needs to be done.

The hearing will be held from 1:30 to 4 p.m. in the fourth-floor Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Hearing Room at 105 E. Anapamu St. in Santa Barbara.

The hearing of the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management, which Jackson chairs, will examine how climate change is impacting California, and what state agencies, local governments and others are doing to plan and prepare for extreme climate change events such as sea-level rise, hotter and drier summers, and a longer fire season. Discussions will also examine how climate change will impact the state’s water, energy, communications, transportation and public safety infrastructure.

Speakers at the hearing will include Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, representatives from the Santa Barbara County’s Office of Emergency Management and Ventura County’s Office of Emergency Services and many others.

“It isn’t a question any more of whether climate change is happening. We know it is happening right now. And not only do we need to fight climate change with policies to reduce carbon emissions, we also need to plan and prepare for how it is going to impact our communities over the coming years,” Jackson said. “California is facing a ‘new normal’ as a result of climate change that we’re just beginning to get a glimpse of with this year’s very severe drought.”

The hearing is open to the public and will include time for public comment. It will also be streamed live and can be watched from this link: http://sd19.senate.ca.gov/livestream.

— Lisa Gardiner is the communications director for state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson.