, Columnist
Big Waves and High Tides Can Be Just as Insidious as Hurricanes
Cities on every coast are facing hard, expensive decisions because of the seemingly more mundane effects of a warming planet.
Tides of change.
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images
A couple of days before Christmas last year, battered by heavy waves, the end of the half-mile-long Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf unexpectedly tumbled into Monterey Bay.
A tourist magnet claiming to be the longest fully wooden structure of its kind in the Western hemisphere, the wharf was open for business when the collapse happened, forcing visitors and workers to evacuate. Two engineers and a project manager at the wharf’s terminus fell in the water but escaped serious injury. Some heavy construction equipment and a large public restroom weren’t so lucky.