alt Hacker NewsIt's annoying for coastal areas, and a problem for beach houses, but California isn't really that vulnerable to rising sea levels. The Pacific Coast is mountainous and the ground slopes upward in short distances.
Here's the US topo map.[1] Look at vulnerable spots, such as Malibu and Oceanside. Three blocks inland you're 20 feet above sea level. Almost all problems are on the ocean side of the Pacific Coast Highway, which was a marginal place to build anyway.
Cliff edge erosion is an ongoing problem. That's why CALTRANS gave up on Devil's Slide as a road route and built the Tom Lantos Tunnels further inland. Small changes in sea level don't affect hundred-foot cliffs that much, though.
The places that really suffer from rising sea level are river deltas, sitting on deposited sand just barely above sea level. In the US, New Orleans has the worst problem. New York City has problems, and they're building coast defenses against storms. China's coastal cities are mostly on river deltas with really flat terrain. That's why China has to build ports way off shore, reached by miles of bridges, to get to deep water.
[1] https://en-us.topographic-map.com/map-9t5k57/Venice-Beach/?c...
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CA already floods at high tide so I think another 10 ft is really gonna mess stuff up. There are so many rivers that empty at sea level and a lot of roads that cross over low points that will need reworking.
The Bay Area is one big river delta, going inland to Sacramento.
It's not the Pacific coast communities you have to worry about like Half Moon Bay or Santa Cruz. They have a beach, and then cliffs, and then the actual city is like 50-100 feet above sea level.
It's the bayside communities. Foster City. Redwood Shore. The Embarcadero. SFO. Port of Oakland. Highway 101.
All of these are pretty critical parts of Bay Area infrastructure, and gone with as little as a 1.6' sea level rise + 20yr storm.
https://www.kqed.org/science/1973624/maps-see-which-bay-area...
Isn’t the Bay Area quite vulnerable? I’m thinking they’re going to have to build a dam with locks in front of the golden gate
This is a pretty cool map. I'm at 20' above sea level. That should be good enough right?
I'm used to people assuming California = LA + Bay area, but it's the first time I see someone arguing that they don't count…
I just dodged being stuck on the Outer Banks or evacuating for a hurricane which has now closed Hwy 12 based on which week the family agreed on for the annual beach vacation:
https://www.outerbanksnews.org/post/n-c-highway-12-damaged-c...
(and they have an on-going beach replenishment effort as well)