Residents of coastal town divided over future plans amid looming crisis: 'The stakes really couldn't be higher'

Pacifica, a beachside town south of San Francisco, is in danger of losing property value due to coastal erosion and rising sea levels, yet no one can agree on the best way forward.

What's happening?

A Californian town is caught in a debate on how to protect itself from rising sea levels, as The San Francisco Chronicle reported. Some argue that "managed retreat" is the only option, meaning that at-risk people, businesses, and homes are evacuated out of the area and rehomed. Others believe that this is accepting defeat, and wish to build stronger sea walls and fight to protect Pacifica's community and land.

Gary Griggs, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, said he believes it is impossible to build sea walls high enough to protect the town permanently.

"It's either going to be managed retreat or unmanaged retreat," he said, according to the Chronicle. "It's up to each community to decide."

Why is the impact on Pacifica important?

Towns across the world are being impacted by increasing global temperatures just like Pacifica. Whether through droughts, extreme weather conditions, or rising sea levels, it is always the most vulnerable communities who suffer the most. 

Although unexpected extreme weather events have occurred throughout history, the rising global temperatures are said to act "like steroids" to storms, supercharging them and making them more dangerous to local communities. Unsustainable actions such as burning fossil fuels that overheat the planet have a tangible knock-on impact on extreme weather impacting towns like Pacifica — and the lives of the people who live there.

What's being done about extreme weather?

Critical issues pertaining to this problem, such as rising sea levels and other forms of extreme weather, are constantly being researched by scientists and other experts. 

Homes are being designed to be wildfire-proof and hurricane-proof, as great steps in the right direction. MIT has also developed a free web tool that allows people to check how the changing weather will impact how much they can enjoy the outdoors. But the most important thing that must change is the rate of carbon dioxide and methane pollution rates that are causing global average temperatures to rise in the first place. 

If people are more attuned to the physical ways pollution is impacting themselves and their neighbors, they may become empowered to make personal lifestyle changes to benefit the environment — and also to hold corporations and governments to account and call for greater regulations.

Suzanne Drake, a Pacifica local campaigning for new seawalls, told the Chronicle, "The stakes really couldn't be higher. We're talking about the future of our community here."

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