California’s ocean surge

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When sea levels rise, what happens to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, vital engines in the economic life of Southern California and the principal hub for U.S. goods imported from Asia?

California on Monday issued a comprehensive and detailed report showing exactly where the ocean will surge along its 2,000-mile coast as global warming increases during the 21st century. The report, by the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, with input from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the California Energy Commission, includes maps that zoom into an overlay of coastal regions showing which areas could suffer floods and erosion. It predicts a 4.6-foot average sea level rise by 2100.

As for the ports, David Pettit, a lawyer in Los Angeles for the Natural Resources Defense Council, writes in a blog post that they ‘propose to spend billions of dollars on expansion projects to handle expected increases in cargo from Asia (notwithstanding recent decline in cargo from Asia). Those projects will be worthless if they are underwater, unless the Chinese start shipping goods here in submarines.’

— Margot Roosevelt