16 | August 3, 2017 | Malibu surfside news Malibu malibusurfsidenews.com
malibusurfsidenews.com sound off Malibu surfside news | August 3, 2017 | 17 Ashley’s angle Beneath the sea: the erosion of the Malibu coastline Ashley Hamilton Contributing columnist Malibu resident The California coastline is like the mane of a famous lion. This symbol of golden strength and kingly distinction, with its shades of brown, black, yellow and rust, with its variations of beige, chestnut, chocolate and coffee, with its tufts (and tints) of tan, khaki, russet and taupe — this sign of health and status would seem to be a crown of power and maturity. A closer look belies any notion of authority. That mane is now as recessive as the toothless gums of this aged beast: Its 840-mile-long ribbon of royal colors continues to narrow and vanish, a victim of disease and destruction, where thin wisps of copper and silver are all that remain of so many formerly dense layers of lush sand and space. One need only walk along Carbon Beach to see the devastation caused by rising sea levels and the erosion of the coastline. Were I to retrace my steps from not so many years ago, were I to try to revisit the physical path of my childhood – were I to cut through the haze and smog to sit beside a campfire beneath a fiery sky – I would be underwater. I would find my past at the bottom of the sea. Such is the result of a battle between man and nature, where the latter – with every resource at its disposal, including time – can defeat the former, where the forces of planetary rage – of wind, fire and rain – sweep across the mountains with the speed of the devil winds, where homeowners reap the whirlwind of a flood from the west and an inferno from the east, where there is no escape to the north or the south. If we choose to do nothing, if we choose to believe there is nothing we can do to reverse this tide, we will lose more than a beach. Our descendants will see nothing but a vast sea, whose waves break against a wall of concrete rather than a strip of sand, whose artificial reefs are the sunken homes and drowned estates of a bygone era, whose cliffs collapse and crash into the Pacific. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, up to 67 percent of Southern California beaches face complete erosion (up to existing coastal infrastructure) by the year 2100 under scenarios of a rise in sea levels of one to two meters. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science also reports that methane can expand this oceanic crisis for centuries. So, while this gas dissolves quickly in the atmosphere, it poisons the oceans for a long time. The acidification of the ocean kills fish, thereby killing jobs from San Diego to Seattle. If we cannot live near the ocean, if we cannot feed ourselves with the bounty of the ocean because nothing will live in the ocean, if the water is too toxic to sustain life and too noxious to maintain the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people – from fishermen and firemen to realtors and restaurateurs, from hoteliers and household staff to lifeguards and guardians of our way of life – there will be nothing to save. The coastline is a gift from nature, for which our ingratitude speaks volumes. In the end, nature will have the final say. We would be wise not to scorn a force like no other, lest we suffer unimaginable fury. Now is the time to heal our planet. Ashley’s Angle is a new monthly column from Malibu resident Ashley Hamilton. Hamilton is an artist and father who seeks to express the truth through his work. Ashley’s Angle will cover issues and politics which are relevant to the Malibu community at large. The opinions of this column are that of the writer. 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