Pendleton quoted on risks of climate change to L.A. beach homes
Scientists predict that by 2100, thanks to global warming, Earth's oceans could swell six feet higher than they are today. If that happens, melting ice caps would inundate southern Florida and huge swaths of Louisiana, where "there's not a lot of land above sea level," says Linwood Pendleton, an environmental economist at the European Institute for Marine Studies. In New York City — average elevation 33 feet — whole blocks would be underwater only 80 years from now, including the East Village almost touching Tompkins Square Park and some 50 blocks fronting the Hudson River.
By contrast, much of Los Angeles — average elevation 305 feet — would stay happily high and dry. Six feet of sea-level rise in L.A. wouldn't submerge the beaches in Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Venice and Manhattan Beach (all widened decades ago by trucking in millions of tons of sand), though scores of multimillion-dollar houses in Malibu and parts of Marina del Rey would be sitting in water. Say goodbye to much of Malibu Colony, where residents include Jason Statham and Rob Reiner.
