San Diego’s Climate Challenges Will Still Remain the same in 2021 – and Beyond

Unfortunately, just because we see light at the end of one global crisis tunnel doesn’t mean we can let our guard down on another – this is true for climate change in San Diego.
The two are inextricably linked, as the suspected animal-to-human spread of COVID-19 is widely seen in the scientific community as a symptom of human caused-climate change. That’s because deforestation and intensive agriculture push wildlife out of their natural habitats and closer to interacting with us.
All the more reason for metropolises to plan well for the balance of its ecosystems and learn to live with the damage already done. Now that the hell of 2020 is officially wrapped, I’m taking a dive into some of the localized climate problems we left boiling on the back burner.
The Sea Is Still Coming
Picture this: It’s 2100 and we as a species weren’t able to nip fossil fuel consumption in the bud in a major way. (Imagine 20 successive Donald Trump presidencies with hundreds of climate regulatory rollbacks even though the United States is the No. 2 contributor of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.)
In San Diego, the worst-case climate scenario means ocean levels are 10 feet higher, swallowing Mission Beach’s iconic boardwalk and lapping dangerously close to Belmont Park’s Giant Dipper roller coaster. Most of the city’s infrastructure responsible for controlling wastewater is compromised. The majority of our beaches as we know them today are gone.
The city knows all of this but there are no plans yet in place to move people and property away from the shoreline or put stuff in the ocean to try and slow down the onslaught of wave energy, like a sea wall, cobblestone or artificial reef.
San Diego’s working on it, though. The city calls it Climate Resilient SD and the plan is still, well, in the planning phase. Staff are collecting public feedback via a survey (available in many languages) slated to close on Feb. 19. It’s not gathering feedback on whether you’d support a sea wall versus expanding a natural wetland as an ocean buffer. It’s more of a value-gathering survey, like, do you support clean air and water for everyone? Gosh, I hope so.
Most cities in the United States are sort of on their own to plan for these kinds of challenges. California lawmakers are slowly starting to recognize the need to get municipalities linked with the kind of scientific expertise San Diego leveraged for its assessments of its vulnerability to climate change. That’s not a cheap process. And San Diego has so far used state grants to get there.
We’ll see if bills to provide that support and funding introduced by San Diego lawmakers will make any headway in the state Legislature next year.