Environmental Issues: Wildlands

Rising sea levels could swamp some of the most heavily used beaches in the entire national park system.

California has no shortage of inviting beaches or ruggedly beautiful coastline. But the miles of soft sand and chunky rock formations included within the national parks are especially dear to Californians, and indeed, all Americans. The windswept pines of Point Reyes, the wild surf of Ocean Beach and the rocky, seal-strewn shores of the Channel Islands are securely protected from the development pressures of a booming state. But those boundaries don't provide protection from global warming. Rising sea levels prompted by heat-trapping pollution could dramatically change the shape of the coastal parks animals and humans have come to rely on.

Rising Sea Levels Endanger Treasured Beaches

It doesn't take a climatologist to realize that the greatest threat to coastal national parks from global warming is rising sea level. Global sea levels have risen about seven inches during the past century, and back in 2001, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projected another 19-inch rise by 2100. Several recent studies, however, indicate that much greater rises in sea level could be coming. These swelling seas could dramatically transform the coastal parks Americans have come to treasure, both for their wildlife and for their powers to rejuvenate. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) predicts that rising seas could erode beaches and coastlines, submerge wetlands and swallow up Native American cultural artifacts at several national parks. The agency identified the following parks as particularly at risk.

Steller sea lion

Golden Gate National Recreation Area

The broad beaches and sweeping cliffs of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area provide a critical refuge to 7 million Bay Area dwellers. Yet the USGS judged all 59 miles of beaches in this national recreation area at high or very high risk for rising seas. Vulnerable beaches include Baker Beach, China Beach and Ocean Beach, all near San Francisco and among the most heavily used areas in the entire national park system. Also vulnerable are Muir Beach and Stinson Beach, tucked among the coastal bluffs north of San Francisco Bay. A sea-level rise of three feet or more would likely inundate most, if not all, of the sandy beaches in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Point Reyes National Seashore

Though only one hour's drive from San Francisco, Point Reyes has remained a vibrant sanctuary for wildlife. Here, rolling grasslands dip down into miles of beach, where seals and sea lions come to mate. The pristine wetlands and estuaries help lure nearly 490 species of birds, giving Point Reyes the greatest avian diversity of any national park. Sea level rise, however, could endanger this rich habitat. The USGS rated all the beaches on the west side of Point Reyes -- where wave heights are highest and coastal slopes are low -- as high to very high in vulnerability. The estuaries of Abbotts Lagoon and Drakes Estero, adjacent to the coastline, are at risk as well.

Channel Islands National Park

Off the coast of Southern California, this chain of islands is often referred to as America's Galapagos. Its isolation has given rise to an abundance of animal and plant life, with 145 species found nowhere else. Marine life thrives in the islands' tide pools -- a threatened habitat back on the mainland thanks to development -- while 50,000 seals and sea lions live and breed on the shore of San Miguel Island alone. Some of these habitats could be swamped, however, due to rising tides. The USGS has identified about one half of the 250 miles of shoreline around the islands as highly or very highly vulnerable to sea level rise. San Miguel and Santa Rosa have the largest stretches of at-risk coasts. Also vulnerable are the low-lying areas in the park that harbor Native American artifacts, some dating back 11,000 years.