Sea-Level Rise for the Coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington
Sea-Level Rise for the Coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0309255945

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Tide gauges show that global sea level has risen about 7 inches during the 20th century, and recent satellite data show that the rate of sea-level rise is accelerating. As Earth warms, sea levels are rising mainly because ocean water expands as it warms; and water from melting glaciers and ice sheets is flowing into the ocean. Sea-level rise poses enormous risks to the valuable infrastructure, development, and wetlands that line much of the 1,600 mile shoreline of California, Oregon, and Washington. As those states seek to incorporate projections of sea-level rise into coastal planning, they asked the National Research Council to make independent projections of sea-level rise along their coasts for the years 2030, 2050, and 2100, taking into account regional factors that affect sea level. Sea-Level Rise for the Coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington: Past, Present, and Future explains that sea level along the U.S. west coast is affected by a number of factors. These include: climate patterns such as the El Niño, effects from the melting of modern and ancient ice sheets, and geologic processes, such as plate tectonics. Regional projections for California, Oregon, and Washington show a sharp distinction at Cape Mendocino in northern California. South of that point, sea-level rise is expected to be very close to global projections. However, projections are lower north of Cape Mendocino because the land is being pushed upward as the ocean plate moves under the continental plate along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. However, an earthquake magnitude 8 or larger, which occurs in the region every few hundred to 1,000 years, would cause the land to drop and sea level to suddenly rise.

Living with the Changing California Coast
Living with the Changing California Coast

Author: Gary B. Griggs

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 566

ISBN-13: 9780520244474

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"The goal of The Changing California Coast is to provide perspective on the realities of living on the California coast, its challenges and issues, and the nitty gritty of what to consider before buying or building a house. The book achieves this aim by providing a tutorial on the potential hazards of coastal living, and systematically covering the coast from border to border. A must read for anyone whose idea of the coast is based on too many episodes of Baywatch."--Paul D. Komar, author of Beach Processes and Sedimentation "California's coast is a living landscape endlessly besieged by waves and tides, upland erosion, seismic forces, and human efforts to secure land's edge in place. A geography of awesome beauty and constant conflict, the coast is where people want to be. Living with the Changing California Coast is a must read for property owners, developers, investors, public officials, and activists who care about our coast's future. This book lays out the consequences of our tendency to wall up the coast and what we might do to reverse the trend. A most thorough, alarming and compelling tale of what is happening to our shoreline. Will policy makers listen?"--Peter Douglas, Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission

Living with the Changing California Coast
Living with the Changing California Coast

Author: Gary Bruce Griggs

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2005-11-07

Total Pages: 553

ISBN-13: 0520938674

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Crowded into the beautiful, narrow strip at the edge of the ocean, the large number of people who live near California's dynamic coastline often have little awareness of the hazards—waves, tides, wind, storms, rain, and runoff—that erode and impact the coast and claim property on a regular basis. This up-to-date, authoritative, and easy-to-use book, a geological profile of the California coast from Mexico to the Oregon border, describes the landforms and processes that shape the coastline and beaches, documents how erosion has affected development, and discusses the options that are available for dealing with coastal hazards and geologic instability. A completely revised and updated edition of Living with the California Coast (1985), this book features hundreds of new photographs and the latest data on human activity on the coast, on climate change, on rising seas levels, and on coastal erosion and protection. With its dramatic photographs and mile-by-mile maps, Living with the Changing California Coast will be an essential resource for those intending to buy or build along the coast, those who need specific information about various coastal regions, and those who are seeking information about how this remarkable coastline has evolved. *279 photographs portray natural coastal features and processes and illustrate many instances of what can happen to buildings on the coast *81 maps, covering the entire coast, detail types of coastal landforms, coastline erosion rates, locations of seawalls or armor, and other specific areas of interest *Offers specific advice for homebuyers,residents, and developers on which areas to avoid, on what safety measures should be taken, and on what danger signals should be heeded

Ecosystems of California
Ecosystems of California

Author: Harold Mooney

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2016-01-19

Total Pages: 1008

ISBN-13: 0520278801

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This long-anticipated reference and sourcebook for CaliforniaÕs remarkable ecological abundance provides an integrated assessment of each major ecosystem typeÑits distribution, structure, function, and management. A comprehensive synthesis of our knowledge about this biologically diverse state, Ecosystems of California covers the state from oceans to mountaintops using multiple lenses: past and present, flora and fauna, aquatic and terrestrial, natural and managed. Each chapter evaluates natural processes for a specific ecosystem, describes drivers of change, and discusses how that ecosystem may be altered in the future. This book also explores the drivers of CaliforniaÕs ecological patterns and the history of the stateÕs various ecosystems, outlining how the challenges of climate change and invasive species and opportunities for regulation and stewardship could potentially affect the stateÕs ecosystems. The text explicitly incorporates both human impacts and conservation and restoration efforts and shows how ecosystems support human well-being. Edited by two esteemed ecosystem ecologists and with overviews by leading experts on each ecosystem, this definitive work will be indispensable for natural resource management and conservation professionals as well as for undergraduate or graduate students of CaliforniaÕs environment and curious naturalists.

The Human Impact on the Natural Environment
The Human Impact on the Natural Environment

Author: Andrew S. Goudie

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-04-25

Total Pages: 573

ISBN-13: 1118688155

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The new edition of this classic student text provides an up-to-date and comprehensive view of the major environmental issues facing the world today, and is an essential introduction to the past, present and future impact of humans on Earth. Explores the impact of humans upon vegetation, animals, soils, water, landforms, and the atmosphere. Updated extensively, with many new figures and up-to-date statistics. Four completely new chapters explore the ways in which global climate change may have an impact on Earth in the future. A new design makes the text even more accessible and easy to use. Visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/humanimpact to access the artwork from the book.

The Human Impact on the Natural Environment
The Human Impact on the Natural Environment

Author: Andrew Goudie

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-06-10

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 1118576586

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The seventh edition of this classic student text explores themultitude of impacts that humans have had over time uponvegetation, animals, soils, water, landforms and the atmosphere. Italso looks into the future and considers the ways in which climatechanges and modifications in land cover may change the environmentin coming decades. Extensively re-written, it contains many newstatistical tables, figures, and references. It is essentialreading for undergraduates in geography and environmental science,and for those who want a thorough, wide-ranging and balancedoverview of the impacts of humans upon naturalprocesses and systems from the Stone Age to the Anthropocene andwho wish to understand the major environmental issues that concernthe human race at the present time. Additional resources for this book can be found at: ahref="http://www.wiley.com/go/goudiehumanimpact"www.wiley.com/go/goudiehumanimpact/a.