Is San Francisco Losing Its Fog?

Scientists are worried that San Francisco's iconic fog is on the decline thanks to climate change, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

More and more research is starting to find that the amount of fog in the city has declined over the decades.

According to the SF Examiner, a professor at UC Berkeley, Todd Dawson, analyzed historical fog records from coastal stations and airports back to the 1950s and discovered a 33% reduction in fog frequency since the early 20th century.

“We’re really perturbing the climate system,” Dawson told the SF Examiner. “We’re changing the way air circulates. That means that changes the way our storms behave, the severity of the storms and other things like fog formation and duration.”

He found that fog seasons are both starting later and ending earlier and the number of foggy hours per day is also taking a dive.

“We’ve lost basically three hours per day of fog,” he said.

According to the SF Examiner, fog plays a key role in regulating temperatures and supporting Northern California's hydrologic system. It's also a critical water supply and temperature regulator for forests, vineyards, and agriculture.

While not every scientist is completely sure about the future of the city's fog- fog cycles can shift dramatically from year to year- it's still an important natural phenomenon researchers will be keeping their eyes on.