Climate Change Has It In for the World’s Best Surfing
This story originally appeared on The Guardian and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
The climate crisis is coming for some of the world’s greatest surf breaks, submerging some as sea level rises and wiping out others as classic breaks get crushed against coastal developments.
Analysis of dozens of famous waves in World Surfing Reserves (WSR) found that more than three-quarters were at high risk because of changing tide levels, hardened shorelines, and shifting sands.
The impacts matter not only to the surfers catching the waves but also to the communities that depend on the multibillion-dollar surf economy, often located in places with little else.
The waves rated at most risk in the study include the “bombing barrels” of Croyde Beach in North Devon, UK; the point breaks at Noosa in Australia and Oriente Salvaje, El Salvador; and Santa Cruz reefs of California such as Sewer Peak and Wind...
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