Commentary: California faces a cascade of catastrophes as sea level rises
The first thing to go will be California's calling card: its beaches.
Between a third and two-thirds of Southern California beaches will succumb to sea-level rise by the end of this century unless global fossil fuel emissions are dramatically reined in, according to a 2017 U.S. Geological Survey report. They will be "completely eroded (up to existing coastal infrastructure or sea-cliffs)." Zuma, Redondo and Del Mar, among many others, could all but disappear.
As the beaches recede, California will lose a crucial economic driver. The state's last major free
