“This shows that in addition to flood risks exacerbated by sea-level rise, they may also be exacerbated by increased waves,” said USGS geologist Patrick Barnard. “We need to take this factor into account as we plan to create communities that are resilient to rise — not just in sea level, but also during storms.”
Ian Young, a professor of oceanography at the University of Melbourne in Australia, said Dr Bromirski’s conclusions were consistent with previous research that used satellite data from the 1980s to study wave heights and helped show that changes occur over long periods of time. longer period. “There is clearly a long-term trend,” he said.
These changes were evident earlier this year when one atmospheric river after another reached the West Coast. The severe weather caused damage to homes in Santa Cruz, California due to flooding and wind. A few months later, a landslide caused homes in an affluent area of Los Angeles County to collapse into a ravine. As for waves, flash flooding can overwhelm coastal areas, destroy infrastructure and contribute to soil erosion.
Even pro surfers worry: bigger isn’t always better.
“If the waves are huge but rough and choppy, surfers can’t ride those waves,” Tyler Fox, a big surfer in Santa Cruz, said of the ocean conditions, which can have lots of small waves. The surface of the water is rough.
Mr Fox, 42, has been surfing for more than three decades and said there are places where you can no longer enter the water at high tide. Elsewhere, he added, some parts of the rock had broken into the water, creating new dangers. He added that severe storms can also push debris from trees, houses and other damaged buildings into the ocean, “basically my shelter, which is a place I love.”
2023-08-28 18:33:12
#study #waves #bigger #California #coast
