California regulators approve huge Ocean Beach seawall – San Francisco Chronicle

Ocean Beach in San Francisco, along the Great Highway. (by Sara Rosado, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, via Flickr).

On Thursday, California’s main coastal protection agency approved a $175 million climate-related project that will transform the southern portion of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach despite fierce opposition from some members of the public. A sticking point is a massive seawall that some surfers fear could make the beach disappear…

Elections and Oceans – Gary Griggs | Op-Ed

Northeaster (1895) by Winslow Homer. Original from The MET museum. (digitally enhanced by rawpixel, public domain).

While I typically try to inform rather than advocate in my columns, in the United States, we are currently about two weeks from what may be the most consequential election of our lives, and the outcome of our collective voting will have major impacts on all of us and the oceans in the years ahead…

Beach Nourishment: A Critical Look – Gary Griggs | Journal of Coastal Research

An aerial view of the Virginia Beach Hurricane Protection and Renourishment project. which replenished 1.25 million cubic yards of sand, increasing the beach from 150 and 280 feet wide to as much as 300 feet (Courtesy of the Norfolk District, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).

More than $15 billion, mostly federal dollars, have been spent moving sand to the shoreline for both recreational and shoreline protection benefits. Still, whether in New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Florida, or California, the life span of the sand added artificially to these beaches in many cases has been relatively short and in some instances has been less than a year…

Denial and Deception – Gary Griggs

Hackberry Gas Pumps, Route 66, Arizona (by Eric Kilby CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED via Flickr).

Earth’s temperature continues to climb to uncharted levels. Two weeks ago, NOAA announced that April was the 11th month in a row that set a new record for the highest monthly temperatures. While there are many enviable records, in sports for example, when it comes to global temperatures, this is not a record anyone wants to own. While 2023 was the hottest year on record since we began tracking temperatures nearly 150 years ago, there is a high probability based on the first four months of this year that 2024 will surpass 2023. Another statistic in which we cannot rejoice…