ISLA VISTA, Calif. — The bluffs in Isla Vista are a prime example of how erosion is speeding up along California’s coastline. There is a growing threat to coastal homes because of rising sea levels and climate change.
Charles Lester, the Director of UC Santa Barbara’s Coastal Policy Center, posed an important question that experts are studying year after year, “How do we deal with an eroding shoreline that’s going to be eroding even faster?”
Historically, the Isla Vista bluffs erode at an average rate of six inches per year, but Lester warned that six inches might turn into six feet if the current trend continues. Lester explains that even though this isn’t a perfect science, it is a well developed science that points to the sea levels increasing rapidly…