Santa Barbara prepares by balancing the needs of nature and people
A new vulnerability study of the Santa Barbara coastline will help local government, residents and habitats adapt to the effects of climate change on beaches, wetlands and watersheds.
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n decades to come, the famously beautiful coastline of America’s Santa Barbara County and life for its nearly half a million residents could change beyond recognition. As sea levels and temperatures reach new extreme highs, the coastal region will be forced to confront its place on the frontline of climate change and its natural and human systems will suffer the effects.
New research suggests that the area is likely to experience twice as many extremely hot days by 2050 – and potentially 10 times as many by 2090. These more frequent and intense heat waves will affect the health of locals and natural habitats, as well as placing increased demand on water and energy to provide relief from the heat, such as air conditioners.
Hotter and wetter
The study, supported by projects and departments at multiple US universities and the US Geological Survey and published in the journal Ocean and Coastal Management, looks at the impact of climate change on watersheds, coastal hazards, wetlands and sandy beach systems. Crucially, it also looks at ways in which policy-makers and local land and coastal management teams might adapt to them. It suggests that both major floods and more frequent drought will hit the region. An increase in dry spells will affect water supplies and raise the risk of fire, while heavier bouts of rainfall will lead to floods and erosion.
A thermal satellite image of wildfires around Santa Barbara. Source: Nasa
Floods will also result from rising sea levels reaching higher extremes more frequently, says the research. This will also lead to coastal erosion and big losses for beach and wetland ecosystems by 2050 with upper beach zones (above the high-tide mark) and areas defined as high marsh habitats most at risk. Biodiversity is high in these areas and the study warns of the risk to rare and endangered regional species. Built environments, including local transport infrastructure and residential areas, would also be affected by the increase in severe flooding.
“That’s new about this study is its consideration of multi-faceted climate changes of physical and biological elements of the Santa Barbara coastal region,” says the study’s lead author Monique Myers.
Balancing needs
“Further, we identify actions that local governments can take to balance the needs of ecosystems and human populations in the face of climate change. While climate change is a global problem, there is a lot we can do at the local level to protect our communities and natural environment.”
The recommended actions expand climate adaptation planning to include natural ecosystems in addition to the local man-made environment. This includes local government and policy-makers enabling coastal habitats to creep inland.
A reduction in beach grooming, where seaweed and debris is removed by rakes on large tractors, and the removal of shoreline armouring (structures that were originally built to combat erosion but which can have detrimental effects) would also help maintain coastal ecosystems, says the report.
“Revising current management regimes could provide new opportunities for local adaptation that conserves sandy beach ecosystems and the vital functions and services they provide to coastal communities in the face of climate change,” says Jenny Dugan, a co-author of the study and a UC Santa Barbara researcher.
“With climate changes projected to increasingly add to existing stresses that affect the Santa Barbara coast, ongoing community adaptive measures will need to account for emerging climate drivers and emerging information,” adds Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher Dan Cayan.
Researchers believe the way in which they produced the vulnerability study could provide a model for other urban, coastal communities, particularly those with similar Mediterranean climates in California and beyond.
The ideas presented in this article aim to inspire adaptation action – they are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Global Center on Adaptation.
