Sea level rise, time to sell?

"The West Coast will see an ocean several inches higher in coming decades, with most of California expected to get sea levels a half foot higher by 2030, according a report released Friday

 ....  Although the 6 inches expected for California by 2030 seem minor, the report estimated that sea levels there will be an average of 3 feet higher by 2100. About 72 percent of the state's coast is covered by sandy cliffs, and the rest include beaches, sand dunes, bays and estuaries.

Seaside cliffs will be cut back about 30 yards over the next 100 years, and sand dunes will be driven back even more, said Robert A. Dalrymple, a professor of civil engineering at Johns Hopkins University and chairman of the group that wrote the report. After about 50 years, coastal wetlands will eventually be overwhelmed without new sources of sand or room to move inland. "San Francisco Chronicle/Associated Press/Environment/Jeff Barnard, 6/22/12."  Read Article, includes two Pacifica storm damage pictures, 1/2010.

Seas could rise higher along the California coastline this century than in other places in the world, increasing the risk of flooding and storm damage, dune erosion and wetland destruction, the U.S. National Research Council reported Friday.  Rising sea levels have long been seen as a consequence of climate change, because as the world warms, glaciers melt and contribute water to the Earth's oceans. At the same time, ocean waters tend to expand as they heat, pushing sea levels higher.
The report looked at how much seas could rise by 2100 along the U.S. West Coast, and found that the water off California's coast from the Mexican border to Cape Mendocino could rise between 16.5 inches and 66 inches by century's end, compared to what they were in 2000. San Francisco Examiner from Reuters/Deborah Zabarenko, 6/22/12, "Rising sea levels to hit California hard by 2100.  Read Article.

Beyond any real estate permanently inundated, such an increase would bring some $100 billion worth of facilities that currently are high and dry into a new 100-year flood plain, according to previous studies that assumed a comparable increase in sea levels. Those facilities include power plants, airports and seaports, and other big-ticket pieces of infrastructure." The Christian Science Monitor/Pete Spotts/Business Insider, "New sea level estimates will make you scared to live in California."  Read Article.

Note:  "The study was commissioned by various state agencies of the three states, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey." (from Reuters above).  The states are Washington, Oregon and California. 

Related  - Cal Adapt threatened areas map and other information, (California's scientific community, developed by UC Berkeley Geospatial Innovation Facility).

Posted by Kathy Meeh