In the News

King tides hit coast, cause minor flooding

12/23/14

The highest and lowest tides of 2014 known — as the “king tides” — hit California’s coast on Monday, with this year’s event getting a leg up from the recent offshore winds, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Kathleen Lewis.

“The tides have been predicted to be just around 8 feet, but they’ve been higher,” she said. “One reason is because of the southerly winds offshore, and that helps create a surge that pushed against the coast. We have been seeing southerly winds for quite a while. That has been causing the difference in the tide to be higher than projected levels.”

The old man and the rising sea

On one of the most vulnerable islands in America, a longtime caretaker makes peace with climate change.

12/2/14

At the south end of Assateague Island, on a storm-shaped hook called Tom’s Cove, Ishmael Ennis likes to pace the beach. Autumn Sundays are the best time of year, he said, when the dawn chill clears out the crowds. In those solitary moments, the sands seem vast enough to drown any human concerns.

“No, that’s getting too romantic,” he said, suddenly self-conscious. Ennis, 59, grew up near a crabbing town on the Chesapeake Bay. He’s tall, hay-haired, and speaks with a waterman’s drawl. “I don’t feel nothing too special,” he said. “Just sometimes you’ve got to get away from all the normal stuff. The island offers that.”

Not for long, perhaps.

Rising seas: 'Living on borrowed time'

Relative sea level rise on Humboldt Bay highest in state

 11/9/14

Climate change has been called a “long emergency,” with impacts ranging from the current extreme drought in California to globe-spanning disruptions of weather patterns and ecosystems predicted for the coming decades. Here in Humboldt County, one of the many predicted impacts is sea level rise, which experts say could threaten underground utilities and U.S. Highway 101. Here’s a look at what the county is doing to adapt.

How will we plan for Sea Level Rise? Mon. Nov. 17, 2014

Why is sea level rising twice as fast here as it is along the rest of the Pacific coast? Which areas around Humboldt Bay are most likely to be under water in the future? How will sea level rise affect the agricultural lands on former bay tidelands? How will Caltrans keep Highway 101 above water? What will happen in low-lying areas of Arcata and Eureka?

The Humboldt Bay Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Project will provide an update for the public at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, 921 Waterfront Drive, Eureka.

Arcata to update coastal commission on sea level rise development plans

Sea level rise proposal will be updated;   City to provide info to coastal commission on future development plans

9/5/14  

With its local coastal development program last updated in 1989, Arcata has been working to incorporate sea level rise into its future development standards and will provide an update on its efforts next week at the California Coastal Commission’s meeting in Del Norte County.