Category: Fight or Flight
When you know it’s coming for you… Weighing time, safety, efficiency, bonds.
Who’s on First at the SF Seawall?
Ten months after the Port of San Francisco lowered 288 experimental tiles into the water, these bio-friendly seawall surfaces are already crawling with crabs and covered in kelp. This August, researchers are finally getting a good look at all the tile types in their experiment, which range from large to small, and from bumpy to smooth, and which were hung from the waterfront at three different locations and tidal elevations in October 2022.
Shifting Tideline Calls For New Coast Guidance
A little-known tenet of California law may play a key role in preserving the state’s beaches—and the public’s access to them—as sea levels rise. “In a lot of places, the public trust boundary will move landward,” says Awbrey Yost…
Crunching the Adaptation Numbers – Not Peanuts
Regional agencies made splashy headlines when they released a joint study on the likely cost of protecting Bay Area shores from rising seas: $110 billion. But the top-line number didn’t offer much insight into the complexities. A new inventory and map from the same agencies is much more revealing.
All Stories
Unpacking the Hold Up on Heat Protection for Indoor Workers
A long queue of indoor laborers pleaded with the Standards Board of the Cal OSHA last spring to implement long-awaited rules, developed almost five years ago, to protect workers from heat.
Who’s on First at the SF Seawall?
Ten months after the Port of San Francisco lowered 288 experimental tiles into the water, these bio-friendly seawall surfaces are already crawling with crabs and covered in kelp. This August, researchers are finally getting a good look at all the tile types in their experiment, which range from large to small, and from bumpy to smooth, and which were hung from the waterfront at three different locations and tidal elevations in October 2022.
Shifting Tideline Calls For New Coast Guidance
A little-known tenet of California law may play a key role in preserving the state’s beaches—and the public’s access to them—as sea levels rise. “In a lot of places, the public trust boundary will move landward,” says Awbrey Yost…
Crunching the Adaptation Numbers – Not Peanuts
Regional agencies made splashy headlines when they released a joint study on the likely cost of protecting Bay Area shores from rising seas: $110 billion. But the top-line number didn’t offer much insight into the complexities. A new inventory and map from the same agencies is much more revealing.
Women At Coastal Helm Walk the Talk
A record number of women are leading coastal agencies. In this podcast, they share their visions, discuss equity and glass ceilings, and comment on work-life balance.
Being Human in Big Weather
When it rained this May, it felt unexpected. Based on over 150 years of climate data for San Francisco, May typically gets several days with a light rain. But context is key, and we are coming out of three years of drought—a fact which will generally color memories in a drier hue. “If I’ve learned anything it is that people’s perceptions are usually wrong,” says Jan Null….
Return of a Lost Lake
On the heels of the worst drought in 1,200 years, Tulare Lake, at the southern end of California’s San Joaquin Valley, filled and filled again in the heavy rains and runoff, inundating over 100,000 acres. As the Sierra snowpack melts over the next few months, the lake could spread, prompting water managers and locals to reconsider the future of this lake, long thought “dead.”
New Flood Protection Standard for the Peninsula
In San Mateo County, new planning guidance may help cities account for rising seas when approving new developments. OneShoreline’s proposals are stricter than current requirements from federal, state, and local agencies, but those are also evolving. “The intent is to go where we already see regulators are going,” says Makena Wong, a project manager.
Shores that Can Shapeshift AND Stay Put?
The region is obsessing over beach-building. Whether it’s a degraded salt marsh in downtown San Rafael or a sliver of wetlands near the old San Francisco shipyards, local practitioners are adding beaches as nature-based buffers against waves and rising seas to adaptation projects around the Bay.
Why California’s Water Extremes Are Wilder than Ever — And What We Can Do About It
While alternating between drought and deluge is nothing new for California, climate change is making these swings even more dramatic. New research and new policies will help the state prepare as the boom and bust cycle grows ever wilder.
Region Reconnoiters on 30×30 Aspirations
Keeping a third of California unpaved may be ambitious in a state where the car remains king, but politicians are coming around. The Bay Area has 117 projects lined up to be counted.
Future-Proof Homes?
Oona Khan dreams about her home of the future, after losing her Malibu retreat to fire. Caught in a quagmire of legal battles with Southern California Edison, and surging construction costs, Khan is still waiting to start construction.