El Niño may not have brought much rain to Southern California, but it has taken its toll on the Golden State’s beaches.
A new study looking at the waves, water levels and coastal changes at 29 beaches across California, Oregon and Washington has found that the 2015-16 El Niño winter season triggered unprecedented erosion across much of the West Coast.
–
The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, document a sharp decline from which these natural systems may not be able to recover, which could have far-reaching environmental and economic impacts.
“This is likely the kind of El Niño we may experience more in the future,” said lead author Patrick Barnard, a coastal geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Santa Cruz. …