El Nino conditions have arrived on the central coast causing 15-25 foot waves to pummel local beaches at the start of the new year. A local marine scientist said the giant waves may cause erosion in some areas.
Big storms typically bring big waves to local beaches, but during an El Nino year like this one, the effects of storms can be extra intense.
That’s according to Charles Lester, Director of the Ocean and Coastal Policy Center at UC Santa Barbara. He said beaches can see as much as a foot of sea level rise during El Nino conditions.
“Central California often gets bigger storms during an El Nino year and more rain and so that adds to this elevated sea level rise,” Lester said.
He said since many beaches are not steeply sloped, giant waves that batter the bottoms of bluffs or cliffs could increase erosion.
“Depending on the geology, in some places if you get a lot of rain the bluff becomes much more easily eroded and may even fall away due to the weight,” Lester said.
Lester said with climate change, some amount of sea level rise is inevitable – beyond an El Nino year.
“It's not gonna stop tomorrow. It's gonna go on for decades. So really an important question for all of us and for our communities is what should we do about that?”
Building sea walls around the coast is one option to prevent flooding, he said. But eventually that would replace California’s signature beaches with concrete walls holding back the ocean.
“In my mind if we don't change we're looking at some pretty serious and significant impacts to our beaches and shorelines that a lot of people aren't going to like once they start to realize what's happening,” he said.
