By Camille Fine
The impact of historic weather and changing
climate trends threaten up to 70% of California beaches, which could be lost to
erosion by the end of this century, a recent U.S. Geological survey found.
The government report released earlier this
year, which is in the process of being peer-reviewed for publication, found
that between 25% and 70% of California's beaches – and up to two-thirds of the
state’s approximately 840 miles of coastline – could be washed away by 2100 due
to rising sea levels caused by global temperature increases and greenhouse gas
emissions.
In 2017, a study conducted by the same
researchers found that between 31% and 67% were at risk of disappearing.
"Beaches are perhaps the most iconic
feature of California, and the potential for losing this identity is
real," Sean Vitousek, the lead researcher, said in 2017. "Losing the
protecting swath of beach sand between us and the pounding surf exposes
critical infrastructure, businesses and homes to damage.”

Severe coastal bluff erosion , along the
southern end of Ocean Beach, san Fransisco, California on Jan. 19, 2010. This
strom damage occurred during the 2009-2010 EL Nino, which, on average, eroded
the shoreline 55 meters that winter. Jeff Hansen, USGS Pacific Coastal And
Marine Science Center.
In the next 25 years, the West Coast faces
a potential sea level rise of up to eight inches, according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The report’s estimates of how the entire
state's coastline will shift were determined by combining rising sea level
models due to global temperature increases with two decades of satellite
imagery of Ocean Beach in San Francisco.
Researchers say the report can help guide
the state’s coastal preservation and monitoring efforts. To maintain existing
beach widths, the state will need to “ require substantial management efforts,”
including beach nourishments, sand retention, armoring, dune restorations as
well as other engineering and nature-based solutions, the survey said.
“eaches are natural resources, and it is
likely that human-management efforts must increase in order to preserve them,”
Vitousek said in 2017.
‘A balancing act’: Band aids versus
longterm solutions to coastal erosion
Shalini Vajjhala, Executive Director of the
nonprofit PRE Collective, says that determining a sustainable plan to address
coastal erosion and beach maintenance is “a balancing act” between allocating
resources towards “urgent needs” that arise from something like extreme
weather, while also reducing the overall root causes of climate change’s impact
on the landscape. PRE Collective works with communities across the U.S. to help
them plan resilient and sustainable infrastructure development.
“The balancing act is making sure that we
address the urgent needs and help folks who are suffering and still reduce the
underlying risks and damages,” Vajjhala said.
Nourishment is not a long-term solution to
beach erosion but protects property, ports and tourist destinations in the
short-term, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
"Keeping beaches nourished with sand
helps them to absorb waves and storm surges, which protects property from
coastal hazards. Sandy beaches are important habitats for birds, turtles and
other wildlife. Tourism at recreational beaches is a vital part of the economy
in many coastal regions. For all these reasons, beach restoration and
renourishment are valuable sediment management activities," the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers said.
Beach nourishment is an example of a band
aid that addresses immediate needs, Vajjhala said, but it can have significant
impacts on local ecosystems when sand is deposited on coral reefs or other
fragile ecosystems.
Beach nourishment has been more prevalent
on the East Coast historically, but West Coast initiatives have also occurred,
and California has made efforts to better coordinate coastal sediment
management and beach nourishment activities.
Beach maintenance is often determined on
past-use and whether it’s historically been a sandy or rocky beach, Vajjhala
said. If sandy beaches in states like Florida and North Carolina turned into
rocky ones, similar to much of the West Coast's shore, it would deeply impact
their local economy and environment, Vajjhala said.
“Band aids triage things that help you deal
with the immediate symptoms. But they don't actually change the underlying
problem, right? They don't make a storm less bad. They just deal with the
results of it. And so a lot of our solutions for coastal erosion that are more
long term are preventing it from happening in the first place,” Vajjhala said.
Vajjhala said that more federal funding in
recent years and improvements in land, agriculture, water and fire management
are helping to promote more sustainable, longterm solutions to coastal erosion.
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/06/05/california-beaches-erosion-threat/70288927007/