Author: Alastair Bland

Working and Playing in the Coastal Zone

KneeDeep profiles Arye Janoff and Bekah Lane. Janoff surfs and manages coastal dredging and restoration projects for the Army Corps; Lane monitors whales for the Marine Mammal Center. Climate change is their newest challenge.

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Muggy Days, Sleepless Nights

Climate modeling has shown that the extreme heat events in the state’s future will be accompanied by more humidity, making it hard for coastal residents, unaccustomed to heat, to chill.

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Dryer Vents Blow Hot Air & Microplastics

New research confirms that air vents on tumble dryers – rather than washing machines – may be a leading source of microplastic fibers from clothing in the environment. The insidious little particles are being found, among other places, in ocean-caught fish, beer, and even fecal samples of newborn babies.  

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Warming to Managed Retreat

To own beachfront property was once a crown jewel of the California dream. Now, many homes at or near the water’s edge are doomed as sea level rises, and for residents, evacuations will be inevitable. In Pacifica, there is talk of moving an entire beachfront neighborhood, and near Bodega Bay, homes have already been abandoned, and roadway managers are breaking ground on rerouting a short but vulnerable stretch of the coastal highway.

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Resisting Retreat for Coastal Communities?

In the coastal getaway town of Stinson Beach, king tides and storm surges regularly put roads and parking lots underwater: wintertime events that give locals an unnerving idea of what rising sea level will look like for the small community. “We know sea-level rise is coming, but here, we say we’ve already got it,” says Stinson Beach homeowner Jeff Loomans, also the president of the Greater Farallones Association, which has been active in sea-level rise planning.

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