Climate experts release study on sea level rise vulnerability on California’s coast

Sea levels have been on the rise, and they are rising even faster than scientists expected. Experts presented their findings to state officials Wednesday, calling for cities and counties to get ready.

Professor Gary Griggs from University of California Santa Cruz worked on that report, along with six other scientists from top universities and research centers.

“It’s real, it’s now, it’s us,” Griggs said.

Most scientists have long agreed that sea levels have been on the rise. Griggs said what they didn’t know was just how fast the water level would go up.

“Greenland is melting faster than we had imagined,” Griggs said.

And so have the Antarctic ice sheets. Both are happening in places half a world away, but the scientists found
cities across the country have already been affected.

“High tides in Boston and Charleston, and Annapolis, there are already finding sea level is in their backyard. Miami is in really bad shape,” Griggs said.

In California, where an estimated 75 percent of the people live on the coast, cities such as Capitola are taking the hit.

“Some of the big wave events that we’ve had in recent years have had impacts on our wharf, and have even over topped the seawall, and to bring sand and debris onto the esplanade,” said city manager Jamie Goldstein.

Scientists said sea levels are currently rising at the thickness of a couple of quarters a year, too subtle for many to notice, but that could change if we don’t curb greenhouse gas emissions, a major contributor to global warming..

“We are going to see low-lying areas like East Cliff Drive, in Capitola, Rio Del Mar getting hit more frequently. And then we are also going to see the cliffs and the bluffs are going to get hit by high tides and waves more frequently,” Griggs said.

Some Capitola residents said they are concerned.

“We’ve had friends who live on the cliff here, and it seems that they always have erosion of one type or another . some years they would lose a foot — sometimes even more,” Mario Beltramo said.

Candace Bianchi lives by the water in the San Francisco Bay area, and she said if the water gets any closer, it will take her house next.

“So when we have a big heavy winter like we did this winter, then we are really concerned, because the water is practically at the level of the bank,” Bianchi said.

PREVIOUS STORY: Over two months, a team of seven experts studied the factors that affect how much the ocean will rise along California’s coast, including Capitola, in coming decades.

The report alludes to rapidly rising levels: “Greenland is melting faster than we had imagined,” Griggs said.

And so have the Antarctic ice sheets. Both are happening in places half a world away, but scientists say coastal cities such as Capitola are already feeling the effects, and it will get worse if no actions are taken.

“We are going to see low-lying areas like East Cliff Drive, in Capitola, Rio Del Mar, getting hit more frequently. And then we are also going to see the cliffs and the bluffs are going to get hit by high tides and waves more frequently,” Griggs said.