Erosion threatens scenery and real estate along iconic California coastline
This is supposed to be a beautiful beach, but instead it looks like a disaster area because a sea wall built about a decade ago to protect homes has failed. Now property owners are spending millions to fix it. From Mexico to Oregon, the iconic California coastline runs more than 3,400 miles.
Judge blocks exclusive, gated community from putting tons of rocks on public beach
Residents of an exclusive gated community who want to put tons of boulders on a public beach lost a court battle this week. This ruling comes as battles simmer in South Carolina over how to deal with the effects of global warming and rising sea levels.
Who will pay for the huge costs of holding back rising seas?
U.S. coastal cities face billions of dollars in costs for the extensive infrastructure projects needed to protect against rising seas and worsening storms. From Boston to Miami, government officials are only beginning to grasp the enormous expense of what will be required.
The California coast is disappearing under the rising sea. Our choices are grim
While other regions grappled with destructive waves and rising seas, the West Coast for decades was spared by a rare confluence of favorable winds and cooler water. But lines in the sand are meant to shift. In the last 100 years, the sea rose less than 9 inches in California. By the end of this century, the surge could be greater than 9 feet.
Coastal Hazards & Targeted Acquisitions: A Reasonable Shoreline Management Alternative: North Topsail Beach, North Carolina Case Study
This study is the first of several case studies to be released by the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines examining the feasibility and economics of targeted acquisition strategies in oceanfront, resort communities. Buyouts of vulnerable properties have become an increasingly popular tool for reducing future exposure in flood-prone communities across the U.S.
After Major Hurricanes, Communities Are Building Back Bigger, Not Smarter
In the aftermath of major coastal storms, the mantra to “build back better” is often touted repeatedly in rebuilding strategies, with promises to construct resilient houses more capable of surviving the next storm. But a new study of five American coastal communities finds that homes are actually being built back bigger, not better, after catastrophic weather events, dwarfing the structures that were lost…
California prepares policy for coastal ‘retreat’
Oceanfront homes could be demolished along California’s coastline under a groundbreaking proposal to preserve the state’s made-for-movies beaches before they’re destroyed by rising seawater. The California Coastal Commission plans to release guidance early next year for dealing with sea-level rise in residential areas.
Coastal Warning: An Unwelcome Messenger on the Risks of Rising Seas; By Orrin H. Pilkey
Marine scientist Orrin Pilkey has long been cautioning about sea level rise and the folly of building and rebuilding along coastlines. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he talks about why an eventual retreat from oceanfront property on the U.S. coast is inevitable.
‘Washaway Beach,’ fastest-eroding place on the West Coast, cobbles together a solution
There’s a reason a quiet and desolate strip of sand here is nicknamed Washaway Beach. Coastal erosion has claimed an average of 100 feet of this shoreline every year for the last century. That makes North Cove the fastest-eroding place on the West Coast.