Climate models

New climate models show much of Southern California underwater – CBS Los Angeles


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LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A climate-focused nonprofit has shown in models how some 50 cities around the world could potentially change or even disappear due to climate change.

“Their ability to exist in the future depends on the actions we take,” said Benjamin Strauss, CEO of Climate Central.

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Strauss’s nonprofit Climate Central researched and created striking images of landmarks around the world, including parts of Southern California like Long Beach and Huntington Beach, affected by the rise in the sky. sea ​​level.

The Santa Monica Pier is a landmark seen from both the ground and the sky, but these models show that everything could be gone and, in 100 years, could be very different.

The model shows Santa Monica’s walk underwater, according to climatologists’ projections, which could come true over the next few centuries if temperatures and sea levels rise without human intervention.

“It’s really sad to think that he might one day disappear under the rising sea,” Strauss said.

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Projections range from 1 to 4 degrees of warming, with the worst-case scenarios showing an increase in the sea of ​​more than 20 feet.

Visualization of the Long Beach climate model. (credit: Climate Central)

In the Long Beach photos, high tides push all the way up to Highway 405 and much of Huntington is also underwater.

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“Really, the neighborhoods from Golden West to Los Altos would all be way below sea level, could be almost 10 feet,” Strauss said.

While images like these could be thousands of years into our future, scientists have said climate change is already wreaking havoc along our coastline.

“It’s not something that’s in the future. It’s happening right now, ”said John Dorsey, professor at Loyola Marymount.

Dorsey studies sea level rise and points out that the loss of our beaches and the tourists they bring could drain our local economy. He also said that we would lose infrastructure, like water pipes, sewers and highways.

“IF we get this coastal erosion that could erode and start destroying this kind of infrastructure, we’ll pay billions of dollars to try to move this area inland,” Dorsey said.

Climate scientists say part of this could be avoided if we take significant steps to reduce emissions over the next decade.

On Thursday, it was announced that President Biden will be traveling to Europe for the annual United Nations climate change conference in a few weeks.

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