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4.37 AVERAGE
4.37 AVERAGE
“California Against the Sea” is a necessary read for not only all Californians but anyone living along the coast. It’s a critical and eye opening study of how we are presently being affected by climate change and what we as people are doing or not doing to mitigate it. Rosanna Xia gives us a comprehensive look at the people currently grappling with sea level rise, the underrepresented communities suffering and the civil servants trying to balance whats best for humanity and the ocean.
Climate Change is already affecting us and instead of fighting sea level rise, we need to embrace and prepare for the inescapable future. As cities and communities along the coast choose casualties amongst our many competing priorities the sea continues to rise, beaches disappear and critical infrastructure collapses. Xia is able to wrap these large terrifying concepts into a coherent narrative that keeps you interested and grounds you to the real people being affected. Her writing makes terms like “managed retreat” seem less daunting and actually hopeful. We have a “bridge to the future” and Rosanna Xia, makes it seem doable.
On why it’s 4/5:
I would have personally liked some more specific details and to delve a little bit deeper into to all of the different tactics and timelines and strategies for each community’s response to sea level rise. Maybe more detailed follow ups for each one.
I realize this might have lost some other readers but I wanted more hard facts.
I also can’t say I “loved” this book because it just made me too anxious and sad to think about climate change and the reality of our situation in California and what we’ve done to the this country in such a short time.
Overall: It’s a fantastic book, super glad I read it. Learned a lot. Just not the most “enjoyable” read.
Climate Change is already affecting us and instead of fighting sea level rise, we need to embrace and prepare for the inescapable future. As cities and communities along the coast choose casualties amongst our many competing priorities the sea continues to rise, beaches disappear and critical infrastructure collapses. Xia is able to wrap these large terrifying concepts into a coherent narrative that keeps you interested and grounds you to the real people being affected. Her writing makes terms like “managed retreat” seem less daunting and actually hopeful. We have a “bridge to the future” and Rosanna Xia, makes it seem doable.
On why it’s 4/5:
I would have personally liked some more specific details and to delve a little bit deeper into to all of the different tactics and timelines and strategies for each community’s response to sea level rise. Maybe more detailed follow ups for each one.
I realize this might have lost some other readers but I wanted more hard facts.
I also can’t say I “loved” this book because it just made me too anxious and sad to think about climate change and the reality of our situation in California and what we’ve done to the this country in such a short time.
Overall: It’s a fantastic book, super glad I read it. Learned a lot. Just not the most “enjoyable” read.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I feel badly about my rating. This is a 5 star worthy book but for me the reading experience was maybe 3 star worthy. Even though I disagree with the author about one particular thing and even though for me it wasn’t a page-turner and it took me almost three months to read since reading one section at a time was enough for me, and I read many other books during that time instead of picking up this one, I think it is a worthy book. Because of that I can’t give it less than 4 stars. It’s an excellent book about a topic of the utmost importance. It’s well researched. It’s well written. It’s well reported. I highly recommend it to people who have interest in climate change. It’s a must read for anyone who lives near a coast and for all Californians.
There are lovely though not detailed pictorial maps. There is one of the California coast with some towns marked and at the start of each chapter there are mini round maps of the small area to be covered in that chapter. I did not mind there being no photos until a friend said she hoped there were a lot of beautiful photos. Yes, it would be even better with photos though perhaps they would make people want to visit the coast which would be counter to this book’s purpose. I know a few of the areas but not most of them. It is easy to find photos on the internet of all the coastal areas covered.
I’ve been telling my local friends for decades to move inland, and north too. Climate change will be affecting the coastline more and more.
This author is in favor of banning cars on the Great Highway and making it into a park which I think is going to happen. I’m sad about that. As long as the Great Highway is relatively stable as land and not as sea it should be a highway for cars (and pedestrians and bicyclists; there is already a multi-use path) and having it remain so is more equitable and it’s also better for the environment. Much better. Not to mention that it borders a beach and is across the street from a huge park and is close to a lot of parks/parkland/hiking trails/wild areas. Crazy selfish people and interest groups having their way with the city is driving me and many others crazy.
I read this book for the science and the scientific parts are interesting and I learned a lot but I think my favorite parts were the many people’s personal stories and the present & past Native American parts.
I wish I’d looked at the Notes and Further Reading section before I started the book. I would have read each section immediately after its corresponding chapter rather than all of them at once after I’d finished the rest of the book.
Quotes from the book:
"We talk about the Amazon being the lungs of our planet, but studies show that coastal wetlands, left to their own devices, can capture and store three to five times more carbon dioxide than tropical forests - and sometimes much, much more."
"The best shot at saving the tidal marsh in California might just be, after all, along the San Francisco Bay."
The San Francisco Bay Area and groundwater: "already identified 25 different landfills at risk of leaching toxic chemicals as the water levels rise."
"The coast of California is marked by massive inequality."
"Floating cities might sound like science fiction...(but) no new technology is required."
"Resilience includes knowing when an unwanted transformation is inevitable."
"Crammed onto the tip of a thumb-shaped peninsula, this celebrated metropolis...owes its existence to sheer force of will...Something needs to give. But even in a city as environmentally minded as San Francisco, acquiescing to nature has not been easy."
"At its most basic, coastal armoring could be as simple as dumping giant pieces of broken concrete along the beach or at the base of a cliff. Remnants of freeways, destroyed in past earthquakes, support much of the riprap protecting some areas along San Francisco Bay."
“Sand, although it might seem limitless…it’s the most exploited and consumed natural resource in the world after fresh water…”
“In San Francisco, most people would be surprised to learn that beyond the marshlands that have been filled in or altered, there also used to be miles of sandy beach fronting the Bayshore…”
“Most responses so far to sea level rise can be placed along a ‘green-to-gray scale’…”
“Right now, managed retreat is just a slogan.”
“Here’s the hard truth…We’re already locked into a certain amount of climate change, and we need to adapt to the effects that we know we’re going to be experiencing.”
“Coastal officials have been working actively against the tendency to reinforce existing environmental injustices, and more institutions are now paying attention to Indigenous knowledge.”
“What if we saw every decision to relocate as a brave advance?”
“The coast is never saved; it’s always being saved.”
“There’s no point fighting a force as powerful as the ocean.”
“…Old photos showed the house at least 20 feet from the edge…When (a family member) opened the sliding door, “there was nothing…You looked straight down into the ocean.”
“AS the planet continues to burn and the ocean submerges more of California as we know it…We have realized, unfortunately very late into the game, that we buried a lot of wisdom around how to care for land…”
“By early 2021, Biden was urging all Americans to join together to conserve at least 30 percent of the nation’s land and water by 2030.”
“These Seeds of change have already been planted. We already have the knowledge to forge a new vision of the coast.”
“The wisdom of this coast has been here all along, and California is finally listening.”
Contents:
Introduction: The Sea Has Music for Those Who Listen
Coast under Seige:
1. California Against the Sea
2. Our Vanishing Coastline
3. A Town on the Edge
Saving the Golden Shore
4. The People’s Law
5. Protect at What Cost?
6. Choosing Casualities
Missing Pieces
7. The People’s Coast
8. Overlooked and Forgotten
9. Rebirth Between the Tides
10. Relearning the Ways of the Shore
May We Open Our Eyes to Water
11. Grappling with Retreat
12. The Little Town That Would
13. Bridges to the Future
Acknowledgments
Notes and Further Reading
Index
About the Author
There are lovely though not detailed pictorial maps. There is one of the California coast with some towns marked and at the start of each chapter there are mini round maps of the small area to be covered in that chapter. I did not mind there being no photos until a friend said she hoped there were a lot of beautiful photos. Yes, it would be even better with photos though perhaps they would make people want to visit the coast which would be counter to this book’s purpose. I know a few of the areas but not most of them. It is easy to find photos on the internet of all the coastal areas covered.
I’ve been telling my local friends for decades to move inland, and north too. Climate change will be affecting the coastline more and more.
This author is in favor of banning cars on the Great Highway and making it into a park which I think is going to happen. I’m sad about that. As long as the Great Highway is relatively stable as land and not as sea it should be a highway for cars (and pedestrians and bicyclists; there is already a multi-use path) and having it remain so is more equitable and it’s also better for the environment. Much better. Not to mention that it borders a beach and is across the street from a huge park and is close to a lot of parks/parkland/hiking trails/wild areas. Crazy selfish people and interest groups having their way with the city is driving me and many others crazy.
I read this book for the science and the scientific parts are interesting and I learned a lot but I think my favorite parts were the many people’s personal stories and the present & past Native American parts.
I wish I’d looked at the Notes and Further Reading section before I started the book. I would have read each section immediately after its corresponding chapter rather than all of them at once after I’d finished the rest of the book.
Quotes from the book:
"We talk about the Amazon being the lungs of our planet, but studies show that coastal wetlands, left to their own devices, can capture and store three to five times more carbon dioxide than tropical forests - and sometimes much, much more."
"The best shot at saving the tidal marsh in California might just be, after all, along the San Francisco Bay."
The San Francisco Bay Area and groundwater: "already identified 25 different landfills at risk of leaching toxic chemicals as the water levels rise."
"The coast of California is marked by massive inequality."
"Floating cities might sound like science fiction...(but) no new technology is required."
"Resilience includes knowing when an unwanted transformation is inevitable."
"Crammed onto the tip of a thumb-shaped peninsula, this celebrated metropolis...owes its existence to sheer force of will...Something needs to give. But even in a city as environmentally minded as San Francisco, acquiescing to nature has not been easy."
"At its most basic, coastal armoring could be as simple as dumping giant pieces of broken concrete along the beach or at the base of a cliff. Remnants of freeways, destroyed in past earthquakes, support much of the riprap protecting some areas along San Francisco Bay."
“Sand, although it might seem limitless…it’s the most exploited and consumed natural resource in the world after fresh water…”
“In San Francisco, most people would be surprised to learn that beyond the marshlands that have been filled in or altered, there also used to be miles of sandy beach fronting the Bayshore…”
“Most responses so far to sea level rise can be placed along a ‘green-to-gray scale’…”
“Right now, managed retreat is just a slogan.”
“Here’s the hard truth…We’re already locked into a certain amount of climate change, and we need to adapt to the effects that we know we’re going to be experiencing.”
“Coastal officials have been working actively against the tendency to reinforce existing environmental injustices, and more institutions are now paying attention to Indigenous knowledge.”
“What if we saw every decision to relocate as a brave advance?”
“The coast is never saved; it’s always being saved.”
“There’s no point fighting a force as powerful as the ocean.”
“…Old photos showed the house at least 20 feet from the edge…When (a family member) opened the sliding door, “there was nothing…You looked straight down into the ocean.”
“AS the planet continues to burn and the ocean submerges more of California as we know it…We have realized, unfortunately very late into the game, that we buried a lot of wisdom around how to care for land…”
“By early 2021, Biden was urging all Americans to join together to conserve at least 30 percent of the nation’s land and water by 2030.”
“These Seeds of change have already been planted. We already have the knowledge to forge a new vision of the coast.”
“The wisdom of this coast has been here all along, and California is finally listening.”
Contents:
Introduction: The Sea Has Music for Those Who Listen
Coast under Seige:
1. California Against the Sea
2. Our Vanishing Coastline
3. A Town on the Edge
Saving the Golden Shore
4. The People’s Law
5. Protect at What Cost?
6. Choosing Casualities
Missing Pieces
7. The People’s Coast
8. Overlooked and Forgotten
9. Rebirth Between the Tides
10. Relearning the Ways of the Shore
May We Open Our Eyes to Water
11. Grappling with Retreat
12. The Little Town That Would
13. Bridges to the Future
Acknowledgments
Notes and Further Reading
Index
About the Author
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I really enjoyed reading this I think the whole CAleg community should read
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This was an interesting look at small portions of the California seascape. The focus was on Palisades/Malibu for the first half and San Fransisco in the second half. That is a very small portion of California’s coastline. The stories were about the how folks have worked to try to save the beach, mostly all failures - for both environmental and political reasons.
There wasn’t a lot of hope or plan of action.
I did read it during the LA fires of 2025 which I’m sure impacted some of my feelings as my mental image of Malibu right now is smoldering rubble.
There wasn’t a lot of hope or plan of action.
I did read it during the LA fires of 2025 which I’m sure impacted some of my feelings as my mental image of Malibu right now is smoldering rubble.
informative
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced