Did you think that climate change was just going to drown the whole California coast in saltwater and seaweed? Nope, it's going to screw some areas way more than others, according to a new study called "Estimating the potential economic impacts of climate change on Southern California beaches." The LA Times reports that "Using models to project how climate change would alter the width of the sand, attendance and visitor spending at 51 public beaches in Los Angeles and Orange counties, a team of researchers found some would shrink or even disappear. But others would remain relatively large." The study looked at the effects of a one meter rise in sea levels--all beaches will get smaller, "But a lot of these beaches aren’t low-lying and they’re going to do just fine in the face of sea level rise. So Californians are just going to change what they do at the beach and the places they go," according to the study's lead author (this, of course, discounts the human race's probable enslavement at the hands of mermen by that point). Here are the top five beaches that would net the most money and the top five that would lose the most if sea levels were to rise by a meter:
Increased revenue:
1. Huntington City Beach: +$16 million?
2. Will Rogers State Beach: +$15 million?
3. Newport Beach: +$13 million
?4. Manhattan Beach: +$8 million
?5. Sunset Beach: +$6 million
Decreased revenue:
1. Laguna Beach: -$15 million
?2. Bolsa Chica State Beach: -$11 million
?3. Crystal Cove State Park: -$11 milion
?4. Redondo Beach: -$10 million
?5. Long Beach: -$7 million Image via Wikipedia
· California beach towns: Who wins, who loses as sea levels rise [LAT]
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