The organizations partnering on the recently launched Oregon Beaches Forever campaign have announced a series of webinars describing threats to the Oregon coast and opportunities for shoreline protection. The webinars are free and open to the public.
The first of these, featuring internationally known expert on coastal erosion Gary Griggs, takes place on Thursday, Oct. 17.
The Surfrider Foundation and Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition joined forces in the Oregon Beaches Forever campaign to address the long-term future of Oregon’s beaches and explore policies for protecting them. The shoreline is caught in what is known as the “coastal squeeze,” as higher tides and stronger storms due to climate change come up against human infrastructure, such as shoreline armoring (riprap and seawalls).
The webinars are co-sponsored by the Oregon King Tides Project, a partnership between the Oregon Coastal Management Program and Oregon Shores’ CoastWatch volunteer program.This project organizes volunteer photographers to document the reach of the year’s highest tides, revealing current vulnerabilities and the future effects of climate change.
“We could lose our beaches if we don’t take steps to preserve them,” says Phillip Johnson, Shoreline and Land Use Manager for Oregon Shores. “These webinars are designed to provide us with the information we need to understand the threat and explore solutions.”
Here are the webinars planned for this fall:
Thursday, Oct. 17, 6 p.m.: “Coastal Erosion: A Global and West Coast Perspective” presented by Gary Griggs, Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Science at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Dr. Griggs, a world-renowned coastal geomorphologist, will describe erosion due to sea level rise and extreme storms as a worldwide challenge, and then bring the focus down to our coast. To register visit: bit.ly/erosion-worldwide
Thursday, Nov. 21, 6 p.m.: “Oregon’s Changing Shoreline: Sea Level Rise and Tsunamis,” presented by Jonathan Allan, a geologist with the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, who established the Oregon Beach Shoreline Mapping and Analysis Program and currently leads tsunami modeling and mapping for the state. He will set the geological scene for the Oregon shoreline, and explore the current state of knowledge about sea level rise and tsunami inundation as they would affect, To register, go to https://bit.ly/sealevel_tsunamis.
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 6 p.m.: “Building Climate Resilience for the Oregon Shore” with Peter Ruggiero, a Professor in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. His primary research interests include coastal geomorphology and coastal hazards, and he has over two decades of experience in assessing the impacts of storms and climate change to beaches and dunes. He will discuss how we can transform Oregon’s coastal communities to meet climate challenges in an equitable way.
The recording of a previous webinar in this series, “Managing the Coastal Squeeze,” is now available online: https://oregonshores.org/news-events-and-resources/.
To learn more about the webinars, visit oregon.surfrider.org/obf-events or oregonshores.org/coastal-events.
To learn more about the Oregon Beaches Forever campaign and future activities, go to https://oregonshores.org/ or https://oregon.surfrider.org/.
To learn more about the Oregon King Tides Project, and a chance to be involved in participatory science, go to www.oregonkingtides.net