Rising sea levels are probably three of the scariest words having to do with global warming, and according to the Los Angeles Times, California is now forced to pay attention to them. New research shows that Malibu's Broad Beach is shrinking at a faster rate than originally thought, and coastal development isn't helping matters either.
The LA Times writes:
Sandwiched between the advancing sea and coastal armor built to protect multimillion-dollar homes, the strip of sand is being swept away by waves and tides. Soon, oceanographers and coastal engineers contend, the rising ocean will eclipse the clash between the beach-going public and the private property owners: There will be no dry sand left to fight over.
"If the latest projections of sea level rise are right, you can kiss goodbye the idea of a white sandy beach," said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. "You are going to be jumping off the sea wall onto the rocks below."
The rise of sea levels, which have swelled about eight inches in the last century, are projected to accelerate with global warming.
Depending on the slope of the beach, every inch of sea-level rise claims an average of 50 inches of land. Currently scientists among the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change are predicting that sea levels could expect to rise anywhere from two to four feet over the next century, making the prospects of California beaches all the more questionable.
Coastal development is also making it more difficult for the beaches to replenish their natural sand. Rivers and streams that ordinarily deposit sediment to the beaches are being continually dammed and channeled through concrete to send flooding waters safely out to sea.
As far as finding any hope in the situation, scientists are proposing that residential and commercial development retreat landward so waves and tides can naturally gnaw away at the back-beach dunes and hillsides as they have for millenniums, thus creating the beaches of the future.
Trying to tell Malibu home owners they'll have to give up their ocean-front views is a story for another day, however.
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