Protecting California's Coastal Development Will Cost Billions

13 March 2009 - 10:00am

Computer modeling predicts sea levels rising 55 inches by 2100, and a recent report from California's interagency Climate Action Team is calling for a radical reorganization of the state's coastal development and infrastructure to avoid disaster.

"California's interagency Climate Action Team on Wednesday issued the first of 40 reports on impacts and adaptation, outlining what the state's residents must do to deal with the floods, erosion and other effects expected from rising sea levels."

"Hundreds of thousands of people and billions of dollars of Golden State infrastructure and property would be at risk if ocean levels rose 55 inches by the end of the century, as computer models suggest, according to the report."

"The group floated several radical proposals: limit coastal development in areas at risk from sea rise; consider phased abandonment of certain areas; halt federally subsidized insurance for property likely to be inundated; and require coastal structures to be built to adapt to climate change."

Source: Los Angeles Times, March 12, 2009
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Instead of demeaning so-called "third world cities", we would do well to observe, understand, and adapt such approach on a much more widescale basis.