Environmental groups asking residents to document 'king tides'
Melissa Pamer
Daily Breeze
02/15/2011
This week marks some of the year's highest tides, and environmental groups are using the event to voice concern about increasing sea levels on the California coast.
Santa Monica Baykeeper is among a network of groups statewide promoting the semiannual high tides - also known as "king tides" - as a way to raise awareness about climate change-induced sea-level rise.
The king tides should arrive on Wednesday and last through Friday, with the highest water levels expected between 7:30 and 9 Thursday morning.
"It's an opportunity to give a taste of what sea-level rise will look like in the future," said Liz Crosson, executive director of Santa Monica Baykeeper.
"In the Santa Monica Bay, we have sea-level rise that will affect the environment, infrastructure, power plants, wastewater treatment plants ... and the economy," Crosson said.
She also noted the potential impact to local tourism if beaches shrink because of rising sea levels.
But in general, the effects of sea-level rise in the South Bay might not be as dramatic as in places such as Malibu, where homes are built so close to the beach, Crosson said.
To get at those concerns across the Santa Monica Bay, Crosson's group is asking local environmentalists and photographers to document the high tides and submit the photos online. The images will be used to help the group portray predicted impacts from sea-level rise.
"We can use that information to demonstrate what the true threat really is," Crosson said.
Though sea-level rise is not related to tidal patterns, this February's king tides may be particularly illustrative of problems associated with the rising ocean levels. That's partly because these seasonal high tides - normally created twice yearly when the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun complement each other - come during stormy weather.
Because of a low pressure system in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the National Weather Service has issued an advisory for strong rip currents and a large coastal swell. Higher than normal surf is expected, especially on west-facing beaches, but impacts will be focused more in Ventura County, a weather service meteorologist said.
The conditions together could provide a brief glimpse of the future.
In California, sea levels have increased nearly 8 inches over the past century, experts say. Continued sea-level rise is expected to be the result of the expansion of water caused by warming oceans. Melting glaciers, small ice caps and ice sheets will exacerbate the phenomenon.
Santa Monica Baykeeper, in conjunction with a broader network of groups that make up the California Coastkeeper Alliance, has highlighted a 2009 study from the Pacific Institute that predicts 1 foot of sea level rise by 2050. By 2100, a 4- to 5-foot rise is predicted.
The study from the Oakland-based research institute said sea-level rise will "inevitably change the character of the California coast."
Commissioned by three state agencies, the study predicts that a 55-inch increase in sea levels, accompanied by a 100-year storm, could cause $100 billion in damage and threaten 480,000 people.
Partly in response to such predictions, the state Ocean Protection Council is set next month to vote on a resolution that would direct other state agencies to incorporate science-based sea-level projections into planning.
