With 3,427 miles of tidal coastline, California is one of the states expected to be most affected by sea-level rise. California coastal communities are in the midst of planning for a future where high tides lap up against coastal homes, and storms block roads and damage businesses. According to the state’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment, released in 2018, rising seas could cause over $17 billion in damage to residential and commercial buildings by 2100. That doesn’t include damage to rail lines, roads and bridges that lie in the path of rising waters.
“It’s not just individual places that are at risk, it’s the risk of local and regional connectivity. How can you move your product from the port to the store if the road is flooded? How do you commute to your job? How to you get your kids to school if it’s unsafe? What happens if public transportation goes down and you don’t have a car?” says Brenna Mahoney, coordinator of the NOAA San Francisco Bay and Outer Coast Sentinel Site Cooperative and part of the California Sea Grant Extension Program…
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