Over Half Of CA's Beaches To Vanish By 2100, Per Report

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — More than half of America's sandy shores will be lost by 2100 due to climate-driven sea level rise, with that number at 70 percent in California, the Surfrider Foundation announced Tuesday.

The nonprofit's 2024 State of the Beach Report highlights how coastal communities are combating this change successfully with nature-based solutions, even as federal climate support diminishes.

"The predictions are grim. ... But this report also reveals reasons for optimism," Emma Haydocy, Surfrider's coasts & climate initiative senior manager, said in a statement. "Through Surfrider's Climate Action Program and regional policy campaigns, coastal communities are leading successful resilience efforts using nature-based solutions that traditional approaches like seawalls and sand renourishment cannot match."

According to the foundation, erosion of sandy beaches is a normal coastal process, but climate change is intensifying and compounding its impacts, leading to sea levels rising more quickly and more frequent extreme weather events.

At the same time, rampant private development in idyllic coastal areas continues encroaching on eroding beaches and contributing to what is known as "coastal squeeze." Where beaches would naturally migrate inland in response to rising seas, development such as buildings, roads and seawalls block their path, and they gradually narrow, erode or disappear altogether.

"On the West Coast, climate-fueled wildfires rendered Los Angeles area beaches unsafe for months, and in 2024, one of Southern California's marquee surf destinations, San Onofre State Beach, was inaccessible due to the impacts of erosion," the group said.

The report features nine case studies from beaches across the country, including San Clemente and San Onofre State Beach, straddling the Orange County-San Diego County border.

According to Surfrider, the coastline is experiencing the impacts of decades of diminishing sand supply due to developed watersheds and coastal armoring, including the construction of Dana Point Harbor in the 1960s.

In San Clemente, the group says poorly planned development and climate change has exacerbated coastal erosion, storm impacts and infrastructure vulnerability. Landslides during heavy rains in 2021, 2022 and 2024 repeatedly shut down the Pacific Surfliner rail line, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in repair costs.

At San Clemente State Beach, both the shoreline and nearby bluffs are rapidly receding, leading to the loss of sandy beach areas that once provided critical habitat and recreation space, as well as a natural buffer for the rail line.

City News Service contributed to this report.