Living with the Changing California Coast - by Gary Griggs & Kiki Patsch & Lauret Savoy (Paperback)

About the Book

"The goal of "The Changing California Coast" is to provide perspective on the realities of living on the California coast, its challenges and issues, and the nitty gritty of what to consider before buying or building a house. The book achieves this aim by providing a tutorial on the potential hazards of coastal living, and systematically covering the coast from border to border. A must read for anyone whose idea of the coast is based on too many episodes of Baywatch."--Paul D. Komar, author of "Beach Processes and Sedimentation"
"California's coast is a living landscape endlessly besieged by waves and tides, upland erosion, seismic forces, and human efforts to secure land's edge in place. A geography of awesome beauty and constant conflict, the coast is where people want to be. "Living with the Changing California Coast "is a must read for property owners, developers, investors, public officials, and activists who care about our coast's future. This book lays out the consequences of our tendency to wall up the coast and what we might do to reverse the trend. A most thorough, alarming and compelling tale of what is happening to our shoreline. Will policy makers listen?"--Peter Douglas, Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission

Book Synopsis

Crowded into the beautiful, narrow strip at the edge of the ocean, the large number of people who live near California's dynamic coastline often have little awareness of the hazards--waves, tides, wind, storms, rain, and runoff--that erode and impact the coast and claim property on a regular basis. This up-to-date, authoritative, and easy-to-use book, a geological profile of the California coast from Mexico to the Oregon border, describes the landforms and processes that shape the coastline and beaches, documents how erosion has affected development, and discusses the options that are available for dealing with coastal hazards and geologic instability.

A completely revised and updated edition of Living with the California Coast (1985), this book features hundreds of new photographs and the latest data on human activity on the coast, on climate change, on rising seas levels, and on coastal erosion and protection. With its dramatic photographs and mile-by-mile maps, Living with the Changing California Coast will be an essential resource for those intending to buy or build along the coast, those who need specific information about various coastal regions, and those who are seeking information about how this remarkable coastline has evolved.

*279 photographs portray natural coastal features and processes and illustrate many instances of what can happen to buildings on the coast

*81 maps, covering the entire coast, detail types of coastal landforms, coastline erosion rates, locations of seawalls or armor, and other specific areas of interest

*Offers specific advice for homebuyers, residents, and developers on which areas to avoid, on what safety measures should be taken, and on what danger signals should be heeded

From the Back Cover

"The goal of The Changing California Coast is to provide perspective on the realities of living on the California coast, its challenges and issues, and the nitty gritty of what to consider before buying or building a house. The book achieves this aim by providing a tutorial on the potential hazards of coastal living, and systematically covering the coast from border to border. A must read for anyone whose idea of the coast is based on too many episodes of Baywatch."--Paul D. Komar, author of Beach Processes and Sedimentation

"California's coast is a living landscape endlessly besieged by waves and tides, upland erosion, seismic forces, and human efforts to secure land's edge in place. A geography of awesome beauty and constant conflict, the coast is where people want to be. Living with the Changing California Coast is a must read for property owners, developers, investors, public officials, and activists who care about our coast's future. This book lays out the consequences of our tendency to wall up the coast and what we might do to reverse the trend. A most thorough, alarming and compelling tale of what is happening to our shoreline. Will policy makers listen?"--Peter Douglas, Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission

Review Quotes

"For anyone who lives near the coast, this book will prove illuminating. For anyone comfortable with the idea that life is uncertain, it will prove instructive. For anyone actually living on the shore, it might be imperative. For those who think that we humans have everything under control, it might prove frightening. . . . It is erudite, informative, meticulous, and good reading to boot."-- "California Coast & Ocean"

"The authors and coastal geologists familiar with specific regions describe these individual areas, including what we know about their geology, hazards, and histories."-- "SIDA, Contributions to Botany"

"This revised edition . . . offers a much-needed update of what scientists have learned about rising sea level, sand movement, and other processes affecting the shoreline. It is essential reading for prospective beach-front home buyers, residents, developers and coastal managers at all levels of government."-- "San Diego Union-Tribune"

About the Author

Gary Griggs is Professor of Earth Sciences and Director of the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is coauthor, with John A. Gilchrist, of Geologic Hazards: Resources and Land Use Planning (1983) and The Earth and Land Use Planning (1977). Kiki Patsch is Post-Graduate Researcher in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Lauret Savoy is Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies at Mount Holyoke College.