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Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center

PCMSC News Special

VIPs Learn about Climate Change Impacts along San Francisco’s Outer Coast

Photos from a coastal climate change field trip led by USGS research geologist Patrick Barnard on December 18, 2014, to show VIPs erosion along the outer coast of San Francisco, California, and explain how climate change could make the coast even more vulnerable to erosion and flooding.

Click each photo for a larger version with caption.

Photograph from VIP field trip December, 2014.
Above: Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell (second from right) and USGS Acting Director Suzette Kimball (third from right) stand with USGS geologist Patrick Barnard (far right) above a rapidly eroding coastline near San Francisco. New York Times reporter Kenneth Chang (glasses) and USGS Western States Communications Chief Justin Pressfield look on from behind. Photo courtesy of Tami Heilemann.
Photograph from VIP field trip December, 2014.
Above: Sally Jewell faces the field trip entourage on Ocean Beach, where a major part of the road has eroded. Behind USGS geologist Patrick Barnard (arms crossed), Phil Ginsburg, General Manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, chats with the Mayor of San Francisco, Ed Lee (red cap). In the foreground is Ben Grant, Public Realm and Urban Design Program Manager at SPUR. Photo courtesy of Tami Heilemann.
Photograph from VIP field trip December, 2014.
Above: USGS geologist Patrick Barnard (third from left) between Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell (second from left) and USGS Acting Director Suzette Kimball (far right) near the city of Pacifica. USGS Western States Chief of Communications Justin Pressfield on the far left. Photo courtesy of Tami Heilemann.
Photograph from VIP field trip December, 2014.
Above: USGS geologist Patrick Barnard tells Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee about the coastal hazards facing southern Ocean Beach—one of California’s most rapidly eroding stretches of coast. Photo courtesy of Tami Heilemann.
Photograph from VIP field trip December, 2014.
Above: While overlooking Pacifica State Beach (a.k.a. Linda Mar Beach), USGS geologist Patrick Barnard shows Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell the predicted extent of flooding that could occur in the city of Pacifica during future large storms. Photo courtesy of Tami Heilemann.
Photograph from VIP field trip December, 2014.
Above: Secretary Jewell poses questions to USGS geologist Patrick Barnard about the persistent erosion of the southern part of Ocean Beach. Photo courtesy of Tami Heilemann.

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last modified: 20 January 2015