Rising sea levels may claim Southland beaches

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Southern California's beaches make Los Angeles and Orange County desirable places to live and attract visitors.

But a new study foresees a day when wide swaths of sandy beaches will be replaced by rocky coastline or will disappear altogether because of rising sea levels and winter storms.

"The ocean is going to get higher, so all beaches are going to get smaller, but that's going to have a bigger affect on beaches that are already small," said Dr. Linwood Pendleton of Duke University. "People are going to leave those small beaches and go to beaches that are already fairly large, like Huntington Beach or Will Rogers (State) Beach, Venice Beach."

Places like Redondo Beach stand to lose the most sand, according to the study. Redondo Beach has already replaced its dwindling sand, only to have it swept away again by winter storms.

Real Estate Agent Elena Vera sells homes in Redondo Beach. She says that's usually the least of her clients' concerns.

"It's always in the back of our minds, the tsunamis and earthquakes in California," she said. "In reality, it's something we really don't want to think about it. (Home buyers) ask me a lot of other questions, but not about the beach disappearing in a hundred years."

The study projects people will still be drawn to the ocean, but for activities like fishing rather than building sand castles.

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scientific study, beach, los angeles news, rudabeh shahbazi

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