Photo: King Tides provides a window into the Bay Area marked by the climate crisis

2021-12-14 12:18:33 By : Mr. Paul Zhou

This weekend, the King’s tides-on average two feet higher than normal tides-flooded parts of San Francisco. By doing so, they gave us a glimpse of what the city might look like in the future as sea levels rise.

Last weekend, the moon, the earth, and the sun all entered a specific arrangement, generating an unusually strong gravitational pull, causing a rare high tide on the coast of the Bay Area. According to KRON4, in some areas such as Half Moon Bay, the highest lunar tide of the year rose to 6.7 feet at 9 am, and then dropped sharply at 4 pm to about 1.5 feet lower than usual. Although high tides are a normal phenomenon that may occur multiple times a year, they can exacerbate sea level rise and may cause unusually severe coastal flooding.

can you help me? Discuss climate change with someone tomorrow. Talk about the people and places you care about and want to protect. #KingTides https://t.co/WJ3IDGyEEl.

This is exactly what happened in San Francisco this weekend.

Twitter is flooded with images showing San Francisco temporarily flooded. The sidewalks along the Embarcadero were wet by the sea; those who chose to catch their breath on the benches at Pier 39 found that their feet were soaked; a recent sand restoration project on Ocean Beach effectively disappeared into the ocean. (Other parts of the Bay Area have also experienced these exaggerated tides—this can be seen from this tweet where cyclists cross the partially submerged San Francisco Bay Trail.)

Over the next three decades, the San Francisco Bay may swell by nearly two feet—this number may more than triple by the end of this century. Due to this imminent climate disaster, the San Francisco Port Commission issued a report in November stating that according to KQED, the city needs to elevate parts of the Embarcadero by approximately 6 feet to avoid the worst flooding.

So... let this weekend’s wave as a concrete example—albeit a mild one—whether we should avoid keeping ourselves away from the worst climate crisis. And because pictures are really worth a thousand words, especially when they are related to natural phenomena, here are some of the most influential pictures of the Saturday and Sunday tide.

Riding on the water...San Francisco Bay Trail during today's King Tides @CA_king_tides #sealevelrise pic.twitter.com/4HVKTDvNft

Comparison of today's high and low #kingtides from Steamer Lane, a place we all know and love. I found the difference of 8 feet in 7 hours is amazing! pic.twitter.com/bwp4ZwpE75

Today at Pacifica Pier, the sea is roaring towards King Tide! ! I witnessed Wang Chao in San Francisco for the first time 🤩 #KingTides pic.twitter.com/YV1x29iHX0

Embarcadero high tide, 6.7' King Tide is Saturday, 7.1', about 5 inches higher than today pic.twitter.com/5pYkSTuTeG

Chao King! A flooded bike lane on the edge of Richardson Bay in Mill Valley, California pic.twitter.com/iBV0A9VRdH

Related: Embarcadero needs to raise "two to seven feet" to prepare for climate change floods

The owners of Hilda and Jesse in North Beach have apologized for rejecting SFPD officials. A black couple is suing a Marin assessment company, and the disease caused by Omicron (on average) may be lighter than Delta.

On Friday, Hilda and Jesse, the new brunch location in North Beach, asked three uniformed and armed SF police officers to leave the premises shortly after they took their seats; employees were cited as "uncomfortable with the presence of their multiple weapons ".

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