Climate change is happening. As coastal residents, beachgoers, and ocean users we have an important role to play in raising awareness about the decisions we make and how the associated impacts affect the resources that we care so much about. While there is no silver bullet to solving the challenges ahead, through our collective actions we can have a meaningful impact by adapting to this change and planning ahead for our future generations and creating more resilient coastal communities.
As human activities and development in coastal areas increase, the need for preservation of our coastal zone and processes becomes ever more apparent. Coastal zones are particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise and enhanced storms, facing serious impacts including: (1) inundation and displacement of wetlands and lowlands; (2) increased coastal erosion; (3) increased coastal storm flooding; and (4) salinization. Widespread human development in many of these areas further compromises the coastal system's natural integrity, simultaneously augmenting erosion and forfeiting inherent resiliency. “Hazards” occur when naturally dynamic coastal processes encounter static human development, and when humans interfere with marine and littoral systems.
While shoreline hardening might help some landowners sleep at night, it's a temporary band-aid at best and not an effective long term solution to sea level rise and coastal erosion, and often results in a restriction of beach access.
Surfrider is in the early stages of developing a comprehensive strategy for our effective engagement on climate change and coastal adaptation. Here in Oregon, we recently published a blog post on the associated issue of Ocean Acidification, linking some of our existing programs and recommended actions that can be taken to help be a part of the solution.
One of the best things that chapter members, activists, and interested citizens can do right now is to educate themselves on climate change and coastal adaptation. We have some really good resources on our Beachapedia page under Climate Change Adaptation and Sea Level Rise that you should check out.
In Oregon, thanks in large part to our land use planning system and statewide planning goals, we have managed to mostly avoid some of the catastrophic episodes of inundation and structural failures that have plagued other coastal states. However, there are some problem areas along our coast and this issue will become more challenging with future sea level rise. Check out the Oregon Erosion Response section from our State of the Beach Report for more in-depth info. Clearly there is much work still to be done on this issue...stay tuned, read up, and speak up!